call for papers: 3/97 language structure & constituency workshop
David Robertson
drobert at tincan.tincan.org
Fri Dec 6 03:16:58 UTC 1996
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Hello to all Endangered Languages subscribers! In case you've not seen
this yet:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 19:54:29 PST
From: nat-lang at gnosys.svle.ma.us
To: Multiple recipients of list NAT-LANG <NAT-LANG at TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: call for papers: 3/97 language structure & constituency workshop
Original Sender: allen at mpi.nl (Shanley Allen)
Mailing List: NAT-LANG (nat-lang at gnosys.svle.ma.us)
CALL FOR PAPERS
WORKSHOP ON
STRUCTURE AND
CONSTITUENCY
IN THE
LANGUAGES
OF THE
AMERICAS
University
of
Manitoba
March
21-23,
1997
Invited
Speakers:
Henry
Davis,
University
of
British
Columbia
Alana
Johns,
University
of
Toronto
Special
Session:
The
Pronominal
Argument
Hypothesis
Roundtable:
Language
Endangerment
We
invite
papers
on
specific
topics
which
speak
to
the
general
questions
of
phonological,
morphological
and
syntactic
structure
and
constituency
in
the
analysis
of
native
languages
of
North
and
South
America. Individual
papers
might
address
questions
in
such
areas
as
constraint
interaction,
templatic
approaches
to
phonology,
analysis
and
formal
treatment
of
syllable
structure,
interface
and
division
of
labour
between
syntax
and
morphology
and
phonology,
inventory
and/or
projection
of
lexical
and
functional
categories,
analysis
and
formal
treatment
of
syntactic
or
semantic
relations,
structural
restrictions
on
syntactic
or
semantic
relations,
etc. Papers
for
the
special
session
on
the
pronominal
argument
hypothesis
are
especially
welcome. The
workshop
will
also
include
a
roundtable
discussion
of
linguistics
and
language
endangerment
with
participation
encouraged
from
all
workshop
contributors.
Abstracts
should
be
no
longer
than
1
page
(a
second
page
with
references
and
extra
examples
may
be
included).
Abstract
submission
by
e-mail
is
preferred.
Abstracts
may
also
be
submitted
by
regular
mail
in
3
copies:
1
camera-ready
copy
with
the
author's
name
and
affiliation,
and
2
anonymous
copies.
An
additional
page
giving
the
title
of
the
paper
and
the
author's
name,
address,
affiliation,
phone
number,
fax
number,
and
e-mail
address
should
accompany
the
abstracts.
Each
talk
will
be
allotted
30
minutes
plus
time
for
questions.
Deadline
for
submissions
is
February
2,
1997.
E-mailed
abstracts
should
be
sent
to
Leslie
Saxon
at
<saxon at uvic.ca>.
Please
use
the
header
"Structure
Workshop".
Surface
mail
abstracts
should
be
sent
to:
STRUCTURE
WORKSHOP
c/o
Leslie
Saxon
Department
of
Linguistics
University
of
Victoria
Victoria,
British
Columbia
Canada
V8W
3P4
The
program
will
be
announced
in
the
second
week
of
February.
For
further
information,
contact
Leslie
Saxon
(e-mail:
saxon at uvic.ca)
or
Shanley
Allen
(e-mail:
allen at mpi.nl).
----
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=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 10:20:59 -0500 (EST)
From: DORIAN at HENRY.BOWDOIN.EDU
To: endangered-languages-l at carmen.murdoch.edu.au
CC: DORIAN at HENRY.BOWDOIN.EDU
Subject: factors in holding endangerment at bay seometimes
Sender: owner-endangered-languages-l at carmen.murdoch.edu.au
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One item among Henry Kammler's listing of fields of
interest would lend itself especially well to discussion of
the dynamics of language fortunes and maybe shed some light on
the complexities of social and linguistic factors that combine
in sometimes predictable but sometimes startling ways to help
or hinder the viability of a language, namely those villages
in Mexico in some of which Nahuatl is held in high esteem but
in others of which it's not. Can Henry Kammler himself shed
any light on why Nahuatl is well regarded in some locations
but not in others? Are there differences in degree of prosperity
from locality to locality, differences in the availability of
educational or intellectual leadership, differences in the
degree of politicization, or perhaps even differences in
regional prestige dating back to pre-conquest days (e.g.
localities which were leadership centers pre-conquest that
still retain an aura of indigenous prestige for that reason)?
What's the role of greater or lesser geographic isolation, &
of greater or lesser participation in the national economy?
Along with Nicholas Ostler & Nancy Lutz, I'd welcome
more discussion of these issues, and especially some consideration
of particular cases. To mention a couple that I've found interesting
recently, there seems to be some consensus among Welsh speakers
that one man's mobilizing speech made a real difference in the
long-term fortunes of Welsh, namely Saunders Lewis' radio
broadcast in 1962, 'The fate of the language' (given in Welsh).
And in Macedonia (former Yugoslavia) one man seems to have made
a difference, too, both in mobilizing intellectual and sociopolitical
well and in more or less single-handedly crafting a standard form
of the Macedonian language (Blaze Koneski, who died in 1993). I
mention these two cases as instances of the difference intellectual
and political leadership can make, and I wonder if others can add
to them? One other that occurs to me, maybe more relevant to the
indigenous Americas, is the case of "Miss Nora, rescuer of the
Rama language: A story of power and empowerment", described by
Colette Craig in a volume called "Locating Power. Proceedings
of the Second Berkeley Women & Lg Conference" (1992). I'm not
arguing in any way for the primacy of individual impact or
charismatic leadership, but only offering an example of one
potential factor as it seems to have appeared in several very
different locations and sets of circumstances.
At a completely different part of the spectrum of
possible factors, there's a potential power in appropriating
cultural purity as a rallying point (& a very effective weapon
in maintenance of cultural & linguistic tradition). There's a
wonderfully successful case of this in Pulap Island, in
Micronesia. Pulap wasnt one of the islands particularly high
up in the pre-colonial hierarchy of dominance (which is still
very much in evidence -- that's why I mentioned it as a possible
factor among Nahuatl-speaking villages above), but the Pulapese
have successfully turned relative economic backwardness to
their own advantage by proudly retaining indigenous dress,
indigenous food-preparing techniques, indigenous navigational
techniques, & even the highly conspicuous traditional practice
in which females stoop in the presence of their brothers. The
Pulapese glory in these traditional practices and claim a
superiority in retention of their own culture. Their claim
is acknowledged by residents of other islands, and the
Pulapese assert their claim so successfully that they
carry their traditional behaviors over onto the land (a
sort of community-in-exile) they own in the capital of
their Micronesian state, which is to say, since that capital
is a center of American political & social influence, they
maintain a proud traditionalism under the very nose of the
heaviest assimilationist pressure in their part of the world.
Juliana Flinn writes about Pulap Island and its cultural
retentions, & it makes wonderful, slightly improbable reading.
I'll be glad to supply references to anyone who might be
interested.
These are just a couple of instances, particularly
interesting ones to me, of factors that can play a role in
helping potentially "weak" languages assert themselves. There
must be many more cases that some of our members are aware of
& I hope some of you will add more examples of the two factors
I've offered cases for here and also let us hear about other
factors you've found to be important elsewhere.
Nancy Dorian
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