From paoram at unipv.it Thu Nov 1 09:29:09 2007 From: paoram at unipv.it (Paolo Ramat) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:29:09 +0100 Subject: sandhi phenomena and "linking morphemes" Message-ID: Dear E.Ribeiro, I wonder whether prefixes can be considered as 'linking morphemes' in the sense of your examples: <<(1) Karajá (Karajá family, Macro-Jê stock) (a) N d-e 'N's wing' (b) t-e '(its) wing' (2) Parkatêjê (Jê family, Macro-Jê stock) (a) N j-arkwa 'N's mouth' (b) h-arkwa '(its/his/her) mouth' Not surprisingly, similar alternations are also found in the Jabutí family, whose inclusion in the Macro-Jê stock was only made possible (in solid grounds) by recent documentation efforts (cf. Djeoromitxí hako ~ -rako 'mouth', a cognate of Parkatêjê h-arkwa ~ j-arkwa above.>> If it is the case, then obligatory proclitic pronouns such as Fr. je, tu, il and preverbal adpositions such as re-prendre, dé-faire etc. (vs. prendre, faire etc.)should be counted among your linking morphemes. But maybe this is too large an extension of the 'linking' you have in mind... Best, prof.Paolo Ramat Università di Pavia Dipartimento di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata tel. ##39 0382 984 484 fax ##39 0382 984 487 ----- Original Message ----- From: Eduardo Ribeiro To: histling-l at mailman.rice.edu Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 2:50 AM Subject: [Histling-l] sandhi phenomena and "linking morphemes" Dear colleagues, I'm interested in obtaining information on "linking morphemes" (that is, elements that "join together" two constituents in a compound or phrase). I'm particularly interested in possible cases where "linking morphemes" may have emerged through the morphologization of once-predictable phonological alternations. In lowland South American linguistics, "linking morphemes" (traditionally called "relational prefixes") are a hotly debated topic. While some linguists deny their existence as segmentable morphemes, some find them to be important pieces of evidence for a purported genetic relationship between three major South American families--Tupí, Karib, and Macro-Jê. The similiarities between the "linking morphemes" in all three families are pointed out by Aryon Rodrigues (see data sample below, from Rodrigues 2000:102). In languages of the three families under consideration here (which are typically SOV), the "linking morpheme" occurs whenever a (noun, verb, and postpositional) root of the relevant morphological class is preceded by its absolutive argument (a possessor, for nouns; an object, for transitive verbs and postpositions; etc.). Roots belonging to this class will have at least two different stem-forms: one, with the "linking morpheme", the other, with a default, third-person marker (although, in some languages, a few stems can also occur "bare", prefixless). Proto-Tupí-Guaraní *r- ~ *s- Panará (Jê family) j- ~ s- Hixkaryána (Karib) j- ~ 0- etc. My opinion falls somewhere between both extremes: although there are cases in which "linking morphemes" are obviously inherited, they cannot be necessarily seen as an example of "shared aberrancy" when comparing different families, since their distribution seems to point to an origin that may ultimately have been phonologically motivated. That is, given the right (phonological and syntactic) environments, "relational prefixes" could have developed independently in different families. My own Macro-Jê comparative studies strongly suggest that the alternations involving the so-called relational prefixes (see examples below) can indeed be traced back to Proto-Macro-Jê. For instance, the linking prefix in the Parkatêjê example, j-, is clearly a cognate with the Karajá linking prefix d-, whereas the Parkatêjê third-person marker h- is clearly a cognate with the Karajá third-person marker t- (as fully corroborated by the ongoing lexical comparison). (1) Karajá (Karajá family, Macro-Jê stock) (a) N d-e 'N's wing' (b) t-e '(its) wing' (2) Parkatêjê (Jê family, Macro-Jê stock) (a) N j-arkwa 'N's mouth' (b) h-arkwa '(its/his/her) mouth' Not surprisingly, similar alternations are also found in the Jabutí family, whose inclusion in the Macro-Jê stock was only made possible (in solid grounds) by recent documentation efforts (cf. Djeoromitxí hako ~ -rako 'mouth', a cognate of Parkatêjê h-arkwa ~ j-arkwa above; Ribeiro & van der Voort 2005). Recent advances in the comparative studies of the other families, however, seem to suggest independent origins for the "relational prefixes" in those languages. For Karib, a possibility is that the "linking morpheme" *j- is, after all, a cognate of the third-person marker *i- (a result of glide formation in constructions such as "John his-house"). A similar origin cannot be discarded for (Pre-)Proto-Macro-Jê either. [Maybe the fact that a geographically distant (and genetically unrelated) language family, Algic, presents a similar phenomenon--the "intercalated -t-" discussed by Greenberg (1987:47) in support of his "Amerind"--makes the "shared aberrancy" status of "linking prefixes" even more questionable] In all the language families discussed here, linking morphemes occur in environments which may favor sandhi phenomena of some sort (for instance, all the stems are vowel-initial and tend to form a stress unit with the preceding co-constituent). In addition, the alternations generally involve a "hard" consonant and its "softer" counterpart; etc. Therefore, I would very much appreciate any examples that may contribute to a better understanding of the genesis of linking morphemes (not only in the aforementioned languages), including the following possible scenarios: >> Insertion of new phonological material (for instance, cases similar to r-insertion in English, etc.). >> Modification of existing phonological material (such as lenitition/fortition, etc.). Any examples will be very much appreciated. I'll post a summary if there is enough interest. Thank you very much, and my apologies for such a long message. Eduardo References: Greenberg, Joseph. 1987. Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Ribeiro, Eduardo & Hein van der Voort. 2005. The inclusion of the Jabuti language family in the Macro-Jê stock. Paper presented at the "Simpósio Internacional sobre Lingüística Histórica na América do Sul", Belém: UFPA & Museu Goeldi. Rodrigues, Aryon. 2000. 'Gê-Pano-Carib' x Jê-Tupí-Karib': sobre relaciones lingüísticas prehistóricas en Sudamérica. In Miranda, Luis (editor), Actas: I Congresso de Lenguas Indígenas de Sudamérica, tomo I Lima: Universidad Ricardo Palma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk Thu Nov 1 10:24:12 2007 From: q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk (q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:24:12 +0000 Subject: help In-Reply-To: <20071101093109.44BCFDF220@amanita.mail.rice.edu> Message-ID: Hi, Could you please take this email address off Histling - q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk - and replace it with my new email address - quentin.atkinson at anthro.ox.ac.uk That would be much appreciated. Quentin Atkinson On Nov 1 2007, histling-l-request at mailman.rice.edu wrote: >Send Histling-l mailing list submissions to > histling-l at mailman.rice.edu > >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > histling-l-request at mailman.rice.edu > >You can reach the person managing the list at > histling-l-owner at mailman.rice.edu > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >than "Re: Contents of Histling-l digest..." > -- PLEASE NOTE - CHANGE OF CONTACT DETAILS My new email address is: quentin.atkinson at anthro.ox.ac.uk My new postal address is: Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology University of Oxford 58A Banbury Road Oxford, OX2 6QS United Kingdom _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From bowern at rice.edu Tue Nov 6 17:26:37 2007 From: bowern at rice.edu (Claire Bowern) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 11:26:37 -0600 Subject: PhD position: Rice University Message-ID: Rice University's Department of Linguistics is seeking expressions of interest from students to write a dissertation on language contact, variation and/or change in Australian Indigenous languages. Funding is guaranteed for four years (including stipend, tuition remission, field equipment and basic field work expenses). The position is funded through NSF CAREER BCS-0643517 "Pama-Nyungan and the Prehistory of Australia", awarded to Dr Claire Bowern. The start date is August (Fall), 2008. The successful applicant would also complete the requirements for a Rice linguistics PhD (for requirements, see http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/programs.html). General information about the department and graduate program can also be found at this address. *Requirements* While a first degree in linguistics is not required for entry into Rice's program, applicants for this position should have a strong background in linguistics. An MA is preferred, but BA candidates with a strong background in the field are also welcome to apply. *Procedure for Application* Applicants for the position need to apply to Rice's linguistics program and satisfy departmental admission requirements (application fee, GRE scores, TOEFL scores (if applicable), letters of recommendation, transcripts, application form, and other required application materials). Applicants should include in their statement of purpose that they are applying for this position. They should also state whether they would like to be considered in the general linguistics application pool should this position go to another applicant. We can only consider applications which have been submitted through official channels. In addition, applicants should send a letter to the PI which includes a summary of the student's background, interests, experience, and why they would like to work on this project. Address for applications: The application to Rice should be submitted online; see http://rgs.rice.edu for more information. The letter of application should be addressed to Dr Claire Bowern Department of Linguistics, MS-23 Rice University 6100 Main St Houston, TX, 77005 USA Fax: (713) 348-4718 Deadline for applications: February 1st, 2008. For more information, please contact Dr Claire Bowern (bowern at rice.edu). _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From lcw21 at cam.ac.uk Wed Nov 7 17:17:55 2007 From: lcw21 at cam.ac.uk (Laura Wright) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 17:17:55 +0000 Subject: conference announcement and call for papers Message-ID: The Sixth International Conference on Middle English Date: 24-26 July 2008 Location: Cambridge, England Contact: Laura Wright Contact email: icome6 at english.cam.ac.uk Meeting URL: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/icome6/ Linguistic Fields: Middle English Meeting Description: The sixth Internation Conference on Middle English will be held at the English Faculty of the University of Cambridge, UK, 24-26 July 2008. Like its predecessors, ICOME6 will include sessions on Middle English language and linguistics, textual studies, and literature. The conference begins on Thursday 24th July and finishes on Saturday 26th July. Plenary papers will be given by the following: Roger Lass (Cape Town) Margaret Laing (Edinburgh) Gabriella Mazzon (Cagliari) Ad Putter (Bristol) Participants are invited to submit proposals for 20-minute presentations (to be followed by 10-minute discussions) on any topic within the abovementioned areas. Such proposals should be submitted in the form of 400-word abstracts and should be sent to the organising committee by the 31st January 2008. Abstracts should be in .doc or .rtf format (preferably in Times 12 fonts) and sent by e-mail to icome6 at english.cam.ac.uk. Notice of acceptance will be sent in March 2008. Participants can also submit proposals for workshops or panels on specific topics; such proposals should reach the organising committee no later than the 27th December 2007. _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be Wed Nov 14 18:59:43 2007 From: gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be (Gunther De Vogelaer) Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:59:43 +0100 Subject: CFP: Dialects as a testing ground for theories of change Message-ID: SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: 'Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change' 1-day session at Methods in Dialectology XIII Leeds, UK, 04-Aug-2008 - 08-Aug-2008 Submission deadline: December, 1st, 2007 (Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 20th, 2008) MEETING DESCRIPTION In recent years, historical linguists have highlighted the importance of grammatical variation and variant spread for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of linguistic change. Many approaches distinguish between the emergence of novel variants vs. the selection of variants in the course of speakers' use (cf., e.g., Weinreich, Labov & Herzog's 1968 distinction between the 'actuation' and 'transition problem'). This is most obvious in evolutionary inspired approaches. But the perhaps most central ingredient of a model for linguistic change is still relatively little understood, and therefore controversial: Which factors are responsible for variant selection and spread? For instance, Croft (2000) assumes language-internal factors to be relevant only for the emergence of novel variants, but variant selection is claimed to be guided exclusively by social, extra-linguistic factors. Others (Haspelmath 1999, Seiler 2005, De Vogelaer 2006) have claimed that language-internal factors play a role in variant selection, too. It is our opinion that the study of dialect variation has the potential to play a central role in the process of finding answers to such fundamental questions (see Kortmann 2002, Horvath 2004, and Filppula et al. 2005:vii for similar observations). There are several reasons for this: First, dialects are relatively free of standardization and therefore more tolerant against variant competition in grammar. Second, variants gradually spread not only on the temporal, but also on the spatial dimension. By a careful study of subtle dialect differences in space we therefore might expect to uncover the minimal differences of implementational steps that have taken place in the course of linguistic history. Furthermore, we think it is the right time for dialectologists to engage in debates on variation and change since there are several large research projects on dialect variation being conducted in a number of European countries (cf. the recently launched website http://www.dialectsyntax.org/). The following provides a (non-exhaustive) list of suggested research questions: -Which is the contribution of current linguistic theory for the explanation of spatial variation and variant spread? -Which is the contribution of dialect data for the further development of theories of linguistic change? -What are the driving forces of variant selection? Are these factors social or linguistic? -Is variation the result or the cause of change, or both? In particular, we encourage papers adopting a dialect geographical approach. Additional questions that emerge when taking a dialect geographical approach have to do with the existence of transitional zones, where competing variants co-occur. This poses a potential problem for many models of grammar: what does the existence of transitional zones mean for our modeling of linguistic competence, i.e., can the linguistic competence of individuals living in transitional zones best be described in terms of competing grammars, the interaction of categorical rules or constraints, or do we need a probabilistic model? Other relevant questions include the following: -Do geolinguistic data provide evidence for and/or against particular models of change? -What can we conclude from the mechanisms of variant spread with regard to our understanding of linguistic competence? -Can we find a speaker-based explanation for the fact that some variants spread at the expense of others? Organizers Gunther De Vogelaer (FWO Flanders / Ghent), Guido Seiler (Konstanz / Zurich) Keynote speaker William Labov (University of Pennsylvania) Practical information: The workshop is part of the Methods in Dialectology-conference. More information concerning travelling, lodging etc. can be found on the Methods XIII-homepage: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/methods.htm Publication Since it is our intention to publish a volume with papers from the section, we will prefer unpublished research over papers presenting data that have been published elsewhere. Format Presentations are allotted 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be as specific as possible, with a statement of topic, approach and conclusions, and may be at most 400 words (not including data and references, which may be placed on an optional second page). Please submit your abstract anonymously as an email attachment (only Microsoft Word or PDF formats) to Gunther De Vogelaer (gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be) or Guido Seiler (gseiler at ds.unizh.ch). The body text of the email message must contain the following information: (1) paper title (2) name(s) of author(s) (3) affiliation(s) of author(s) (4) address where notification of acceptance should be sent (5) phone number for each author (6) email address for each author (7) subfield (syntax, phonology, etc.) _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be Tue Nov 27 10:46:55 2007 From: gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be (Gunther De Vogelaer) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:46:55 +0100 Subject: Final CFP: 'Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change? Message-ID: FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS: ?Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change? 1-day session at Methods in Dialectology XIII Leeds, UK, 04-Aug-2008 - 08-Aug-2008 Submission deadline: December, 1st, 2007 (Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 20th, 2008) DETAILED CALL In recent years, historical linguists have highlighted the importance of grammatical variation and variant spread for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of linguistic change. Many approaches distinguish between the emergence of novel variants vs. the selection of variants in the course of speakers' use (cf., e.g., Weinreich, Labov & Herzog's 1968 distinction between the 'actuation' and 'transition problem'). This is most obvious in evolutionary inspired approaches. But the perhaps most central ingredient of a model for linguistic change is still relatively little understood, and therefore controversial: Which factors are responsible for variant selection and spread? For instance, Croft (2000) assumes language-internal factors to be relevant only for the emergence of novel variants, but variant selection is claimed to be guided exclusively by social, extra-linguistic factors. Others (Haspelmath 1999, Seiler 2005, De Vogelaer 2006) have claimed that language-internal factors play a role in variant selection, too. It is our opinion that the study of dialect variation has the potential to play a central role in the process of finding answers to such fundamental questions (see Kortmann 2002, Horvath 2004, and Filppula et al. 2005:vii for similar observations). There are several reasons for this: First, dialects are relatively free of standardization and therefore more tolerant against variant competition in grammar. Second, variants gradually spread not only on the temporal, but also on the spatial dimension. By a careful study of subtle dialect differences in space we therefore might expect to uncover the minimal differences of implementational steps that have taken place in the course of linguistic history. Furthermore, we think it is the right time for dialectologists to engage in debates on variation and change since there are several large research projects on dialect variation being conducted in a number of European countries (cf. the recently launched website http://www.dialectsyntax.org/). The following provides a (non-exhaustive) list of suggested research questions: -Which is the contribution of current linguistic theory for the explanation of spatial variation and variant spread? -Which is the contribution of dialect data for the further development of theories of linguistic change? -What are the driving forces of variant selection? Are these factors social or linguistic? -Is variation the result or the cause of change, or both? In particular, we encourage papers adopting a dialect geographical approach. Additional questions that emerge when taking a dialect geographical approach have to do with the existence of transitional zones, where competing variants co-occur. This poses a potential problem for many models of grammar: what does the existence of transitional zones mean for our modeling of linguistic competence, i.e., can the linguistic competence of individuals living in transitional zones best be described in terms of competing grammars, the interaction of categorical rules or constraints, or do we need a probabilistic model? Other relevant questions include the following: -Do geolinguistic data provide evidence for and/or against particular models of change? -What can we conclude from the mechanisms of variant spread with regard to our understanding of linguistic competence? -Can we find a speaker-based explanation for the fact that some variants spread at the expense of others? Organizers Gunther De Vogelaer (FWO Flanders / Ghent), Guido Seiler (Konstanz / Zurich) Keynote speaker William Labov (University of Pennsylvania) Practical information: The workshop is part of the Methods in Dialectology-conference. More information concerning travelling, lodging etc. can be found on the Methods XIII-homepage: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/methods.htm Publication Since it is our intention to publish a volume with papers from the section, we will prefer unpublished research over papers presenting data that have been published elsewhere. Format Presentations are allotted 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be as specific as possible, with a statement of topic, approach and conclusions, and may be at most 400 words (not including data and references, which may be placed on an optional second page). Please submit your abstract anonymously as an email attachment (only Microsoft Word or PDF formats) to Gunther De Vogelaer (gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be) or Guido Seiler (gseiler at ds.unizh.ch). The body text of the email message must contain the following information: (1) paper title (2) name(s) of author(s) (3) affiliation(s) of author(s) (4) address where notification of acceptance should be sent (5) phone number for each author (6) email address for each author (7) subfield (syntax, phonology, etc.) _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From A.v.Kemenade at let.ru.nl Thu Nov 29 21:17:13 2007 From: A.v.Kemenade at let.ru.nl (Ans van Kemenade) Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:17:13 +0100 Subject: Conference programme Transmission and Diffusion, RU Nijmegen, NL Message-ID: The conference programme of ‘Transmission and Diffusion’, organised by the research group ‘Language in Time and Space, RU Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies, can be found via the following link: HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/cls/research_programmes_0/language_in_time_and/lits_co ngress/"http://www.ru.nl/cls/research_programmes_0/language_in_time_and/ lits_congress/ . Ans van Kemenade Radboud University Nijmegen, dept. of English Postbus 9103 6500 HD Nijmegen Tel. #31 (0)24 36 11422/12157 Fax. #31 (0)24 36 11882 HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/facultyofarts/englishdept/"http://www.ru.nl/facultyofa rts/englishdept/ HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/cls/"http://www.ru.nl/cls/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.9/1158 - Release Date: 28-11-2007 21:11 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.9/1158 - Release Date: 28-11-2007 21:11 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From paoram at unipv.it Thu Nov 1 09:29:09 2007 From: paoram at unipv.it (Paolo Ramat) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:29:09 +0100 Subject: sandhi phenomena and "linking morphemes" Message-ID: Dear E.Ribeiro, I wonder whether prefixes can be considered as 'linking morphemes' in the sense of your examples: <<(1) Karaj? (Karaj? family, Macro-J? stock) (a) N d-e 'N's wing' (b) t-e '(its) wing' (2) Parkat?j? (J? family, Macro-J? stock) (a) N j-arkwa 'N's mouth' (b) h-arkwa '(its/his/her) mouth' Not surprisingly, similar alternations are also found in the Jabut? family, whose inclusion in the Macro-J? stock was only made possible (in solid grounds) by recent documentation efforts (cf. Djeoromitx? hako ~ -rako 'mouth', a cognate of Parkat?j? h-arkwa ~ j-arkwa above.>> If it is the case, then obligatory proclitic pronouns such as Fr. je, tu, il and preverbal adpositions such as re-prendre, d?-faire etc. (vs. prendre, faire etc.)should be counted among your linking morphemes. But maybe this is too large an extension of the 'linking' you have in mind... Best, prof.Paolo Ramat Universit? di Pavia Dipartimento di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata tel. ##39 0382 984 484 fax ##39 0382 984 487 ----- Original Message ----- From: Eduardo Ribeiro To: histling-l at mailman.rice.edu Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 2:50 AM Subject: [Histling-l] sandhi phenomena and "linking morphemes" Dear colleagues, I'm interested in obtaining information on "linking morphemes" (that is, elements that "join together" two constituents in a compound or phrase). I'm particularly interested in possible cases where "linking morphemes" may have emerged through the morphologization of once-predictable phonological alternations. In lowland South American linguistics, "linking morphemes" (traditionally called "relational prefixes") are a hotly debated topic. While some linguists deny their existence as segmentable morphemes, some find them to be important pieces of evidence for a purported genetic relationship between three major South American families--Tup?, Karib, and Macro-J?. The similiarities between the "linking morphemes" in all three families are pointed out by Aryon Rodrigues (see data sample below, from Rodrigues 2000:102). In languages of the three families under consideration here (which are typically SOV), the "linking morpheme" occurs whenever a (noun, verb, and postpositional) root of the relevant morphological class is preceded by its absolutive argument (a possessor, for nouns; an object, for transitive verbs and postpositions; etc.). Roots belonging to this class will have at least two different stem-forms: one, with the "linking morpheme", the other, with a default, third-person marker (although, in some languages, a few stems can also occur "bare", prefixless). Proto-Tup?-Guaran? *r- ~ *s- Panar? (J? family) j- ~ s- Hixkary?na (Karib) j- ~ 0- etc. My opinion falls somewhere between both extremes: although there are cases in which "linking morphemes" are obviously inherited, they cannot be necessarily seen as an example of "shared aberrancy" when comparing different families, since their distribution seems to point to an origin that may ultimately have been phonologically motivated. That is, given the right (phonological and syntactic) environments, "relational prefixes" could have developed independently in different families. My own Macro-J? comparative studies strongly suggest that the alternations involving the so-called relational prefixes (see examples below) can indeed be traced back to Proto-Macro-J?. For instance, the linking prefix in the Parkat?j? example, j-, is clearly a cognate with the Karaj? linking prefix d-, whereas the Parkat?j? third-person marker h- is clearly a cognate with the Karaj? third-person marker t- (as fully corroborated by the ongoing lexical comparison). (1) Karaj? (Karaj? family, Macro-J? stock) (a) N d-e 'N's wing' (b) t-e '(its) wing' (2) Parkat?j? (J? family, Macro-J? stock) (a) N j-arkwa 'N's mouth' (b) h-arkwa '(its/his/her) mouth' Not surprisingly, similar alternations are also found in the Jabut? family, whose inclusion in the Macro-J? stock was only made possible (in solid grounds) by recent documentation efforts (cf. Djeoromitx? hako ~ -rako 'mouth', a cognate of Parkat?j? h-arkwa ~ j-arkwa above; Ribeiro & van der Voort 2005). Recent advances in the comparative studies of the other families, however, seem to suggest independent origins for the "relational prefixes" in those languages. For Karib, a possibility is that the "linking morpheme" *j- is, after all, a cognate of the third-person marker *i- (a result of glide formation in constructions such as "John his-house"). A similar origin cannot be discarded for (Pre-)Proto-Macro-J? either. [Maybe the fact that a geographically distant (and genetically unrelated) language family, Algic, presents a similar phenomenon--the "intercalated -t-" discussed by Greenberg (1987:47) in support of his "Amerind"--makes the "shared aberrancy" status of "linking prefixes" even more questionable] In all the language families discussed here, linking morphemes occur in environments which may favor sandhi phenomena of some sort (for instance, all the stems are vowel-initial and tend to form a stress unit with the preceding co-constituent). In addition, the alternations generally involve a "hard" consonant and its "softer" counterpart; etc. Therefore, I would very much appreciate any examples that may contribute to a better understanding of the genesis of linking morphemes (not only in the aforementioned languages), including the following possible scenarios: >> Insertion of new phonological material (for instance, cases similar to r-insertion in English, etc.). >> Modification of existing phonological material (such as lenitition/fortition, etc.). Any examples will be very much appreciated. I'll post a summary if there is enough interest. Thank you very much, and my apologies for such a long message. Eduardo References: Greenberg, Joseph. 1987. Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Ribeiro, Eduardo & Hein van der Voort. 2005. The inclusion of the Jabuti language family in the Macro-J? stock. Paper presented at the "Simp?sio Internacional sobre Ling??stica Hist?rica na Am?rica do Sul", Bel?m: UFPA & Museu Goeldi. Rodrigues, Aryon. 2000. 'G?-Pano-Carib' x J?-Tup?-Karib': sobre relaciones ling??sticas prehist?ricas en Sudam?rica. In Miranda, Luis (editor), Actas: I Congresso de Lenguas Ind?genas de Sudam?rica, tomo I Lima: Universidad Ricardo Palma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk Thu Nov 1 10:24:12 2007 From: q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk (q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk) Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:24:12 +0000 Subject: help In-Reply-To: <20071101093109.44BCFDF220@amanita.mail.rice.edu> Message-ID: Hi, Could you please take this email address off Histling - q.d.atkinson at reading.ac.uk - and replace it with my new email address - quentin.atkinson at anthro.ox.ac.uk That would be much appreciated. Quentin Atkinson On Nov 1 2007, histling-l-request at mailman.rice.edu wrote: >Send Histling-l mailing list submissions to > histling-l at mailman.rice.edu > >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > histling-l-request at mailman.rice.edu > >You can reach the person managing the list at > histling-l-owner at mailman.rice.edu > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >than "Re: Contents of Histling-l digest..." > -- PLEASE NOTE - CHANGE OF CONTACT DETAILS My new email address is: quentin.atkinson at anthro.ox.ac.uk My new postal address is: Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology University of Oxford 58A Banbury Road Oxford, OX2 6QS United Kingdom _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From bowern at rice.edu Tue Nov 6 17:26:37 2007 From: bowern at rice.edu (Claire Bowern) Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 11:26:37 -0600 Subject: PhD position: Rice University Message-ID: Rice University's Department of Linguistics is seeking expressions of interest from students to write a dissertation on language contact, variation and/or change in Australian Indigenous languages. Funding is guaranteed for four years (including stipend, tuition remission, field equipment and basic field work expenses). The position is funded through NSF CAREER BCS-0643517 "Pama-Nyungan and the Prehistory of Australia", awarded to Dr Claire Bowern. The start date is August (Fall), 2008. The successful applicant would also complete the requirements for a Rice linguistics PhD (for requirements, see http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/programs.html). General information about the department and graduate program can also be found at this address. *Requirements* While a first degree in linguistics is not required for entry into Rice's program, applicants for this position should have a strong background in linguistics. An MA is preferred, but BA candidates with a strong background in the field are also welcome to apply. *Procedure for Application* Applicants for the position need to apply to Rice's linguistics program and satisfy departmental admission requirements (application fee, GRE scores, TOEFL scores (if applicable), letters of recommendation, transcripts, application form, and other required application materials). Applicants should include in their statement of purpose that they are applying for this position. They should also state whether they would like to be considered in the general linguistics application pool should this position go to another applicant. We can only consider applications which have been submitted through official channels. In addition, applicants should send a letter to the PI which includes a summary of the student's background, interests, experience, and why they would like to work on this project. Address for applications: The application to Rice should be submitted online; see http://rgs.rice.edu for more information. The letter of application should be addressed to Dr Claire Bowern Department of Linguistics, MS-23 Rice University 6100 Main St Houston, TX, 77005 USA Fax: (713) 348-4718 Deadline for applications: February 1st, 2008. For more information, please contact Dr Claire Bowern (bowern at rice.edu). _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From lcw21 at cam.ac.uk Wed Nov 7 17:17:55 2007 From: lcw21 at cam.ac.uk (Laura Wright) Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 17:17:55 +0000 Subject: conference announcement and call for papers Message-ID: The Sixth International Conference on Middle English Date: 24-26 July 2008 Location: Cambridge, England Contact: Laura Wright Contact email: icome6 at english.cam.ac.uk Meeting URL: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/icome6/ Linguistic Fields: Middle English Meeting Description: The sixth Internation Conference on Middle English will be held at the English Faculty of the University of Cambridge, UK, 24-26 July 2008. Like its predecessors, ICOME6 will include sessions on Middle English language and linguistics, textual studies, and literature. The conference begins on Thursday 24th July and finishes on Saturday 26th July. Plenary papers will be given by the following: Roger Lass (Cape Town) Margaret Laing (Edinburgh) Gabriella Mazzon (Cagliari) Ad Putter (Bristol) Participants are invited to submit proposals for 20-minute presentations (to be followed by 10-minute discussions) on any topic within the abovementioned areas. Such proposals should be submitted in the form of 400-word abstracts and should be sent to the organising committee by the 31st January 2008. Abstracts should be in .doc or .rtf format (preferably in Times 12 fonts) and sent by e-mail to icome6 at english.cam.ac.uk. Notice of acceptance will be sent in March 2008. Participants can also submit proposals for workshops or panels on specific topics; such proposals should reach the organising committee no later than the 27th December 2007. _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be Wed Nov 14 18:59:43 2007 From: gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be (Gunther De Vogelaer) Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:59:43 +0100 Subject: CFP: Dialects as a testing ground for theories of change Message-ID: SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: 'Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change' 1-day session at Methods in Dialectology XIII Leeds, UK, 04-Aug-2008 - 08-Aug-2008 Submission deadline: December, 1st, 2007 (Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 20th, 2008) MEETING DESCRIPTION In recent years, historical linguists have highlighted the importance of grammatical variation and variant spread for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of linguistic change. Many approaches distinguish between the emergence of novel variants vs. the selection of variants in the course of speakers' use (cf., e.g., Weinreich, Labov & Herzog's 1968 distinction between the 'actuation' and 'transition problem'). This is most obvious in evolutionary inspired approaches. But the perhaps most central ingredient of a model for linguistic change is still relatively little understood, and therefore controversial: Which factors are responsible for variant selection and spread? For instance, Croft (2000) assumes language-internal factors to be relevant only for the emergence of novel variants, but variant selection is claimed to be guided exclusively by social, extra-linguistic factors. Others (Haspelmath 1999, Seiler 2005, De Vogelaer 2006) have claimed that language-internal factors play a role in variant selection, too. It is our opinion that the study of dialect variation has the potential to play a central role in the process of finding answers to such fundamental questions (see Kortmann 2002, Horvath 2004, and Filppula et al. 2005:vii for similar observations). There are several reasons for this: First, dialects are relatively free of standardization and therefore more tolerant against variant competition in grammar. Second, variants gradually spread not only on the temporal, but also on the spatial dimension. By a careful study of subtle dialect differences in space we therefore might expect to uncover the minimal differences of implementational steps that have taken place in the course of linguistic history. Furthermore, we think it is the right time for dialectologists to engage in debates on variation and change since there are several large research projects on dialect variation being conducted in a number of European countries (cf. the recently launched website http://www.dialectsyntax.org/). The following provides a (non-exhaustive) list of suggested research questions: -Which is the contribution of current linguistic theory for the explanation of spatial variation and variant spread? -Which is the contribution of dialect data for the further development of theories of linguistic change? -What are the driving forces of variant selection? Are these factors social or linguistic? -Is variation the result or the cause of change, or both? In particular, we encourage papers adopting a dialect geographical approach. Additional questions that emerge when taking a dialect geographical approach have to do with the existence of transitional zones, where competing variants co-occur. This poses a potential problem for many models of grammar: what does the existence of transitional zones mean for our modeling of linguistic competence, i.e., can the linguistic competence of individuals living in transitional zones best be described in terms of competing grammars, the interaction of categorical rules or constraints, or do we need a probabilistic model? Other relevant questions include the following: -Do geolinguistic data provide evidence for and/or against particular models of change? -What can we conclude from the mechanisms of variant spread with regard to our understanding of linguistic competence? -Can we find a speaker-based explanation for the fact that some variants spread at the expense of others? Organizers Gunther De Vogelaer (FWO Flanders / Ghent), Guido Seiler (Konstanz / Zurich) Keynote speaker William Labov (University of Pennsylvania) Practical information: The workshop is part of the Methods in Dialectology-conference. More information concerning travelling, lodging etc. can be found on the Methods XIII-homepage: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/methods.htm Publication Since it is our intention to publish a volume with papers from the section, we will prefer unpublished research over papers presenting data that have been published elsewhere. Format Presentations are allotted 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be as specific as possible, with a statement of topic, approach and conclusions, and may be at most 400 words (not including data and references, which may be placed on an optional second page). Please submit your abstract anonymously as an email attachment (only Microsoft Word or PDF formats) to Gunther De Vogelaer (gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be) or Guido Seiler (gseiler at ds.unizh.ch). The body text of the email message must contain the following information: (1) paper title (2) name(s) of author(s) (3) affiliation(s) of author(s) (4) address where notification of acceptance should be sent (5) phone number for each author (6) email address for each author (7) subfield (syntax, phonology, etc.) _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be Tue Nov 27 10:46:55 2007 From: gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be (Gunther De Vogelaer) Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:46:55 +0100 Subject: Final CFP: 'Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change? Message-ID: FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS: ?Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Change? 1-day session at Methods in Dialectology XIII Leeds, UK, 04-Aug-2008 - 08-Aug-2008 Submission deadline: December, 1st, 2007 (Notification of acceptance will be sent by January 20th, 2008) DETAILED CALL In recent years, historical linguists have highlighted the importance of grammatical variation and variant spread for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of linguistic change. Many approaches distinguish between the emergence of novel variants vs. the selection of variants in the course of speakers' use (cf., e.g., Weinreich, Labov & Herzog's 1968 distinction between the 'actuation' and 'transition problem'). This is most obvious in evolutionary inspired approaches. But the perhaps most central ingredient of a model for linguistic change is still relatively little understood, and therefore controversial: Which factors are responsible for variant selection and spread? For instance, Croft (2000) assumes language-internal factors to be relevant only for the emergence of novel variants, but variant selection is claimed to be guided exclusively by social, extra-linguistic factors. Others (Haspelmath 1999, Seiler 2005, De Vogelaer 2006) have claimed that language-internal factors play a role in variant selection, too. It is our opinion that the study of dialect variation has the potential to play a central role in the process of finding answers to such fundamental questions (see Kortmann 2002, Horvath 2004, and Filppula et al. 2005:vii for similar observations). There are several reasons for this: First, dialects are relatively free of standardization and therefore more tolerant against variant competition in grammar. Second, variants gradually spread not only on the temporal, but also on the spatial dimension. By a careful study of subtle dialect differences in space we therefore might expect to uncover the minimal differences of implementational steps that have taken place in the course of linguistic history. Furthermore, we think it is the right time for dialectologists to engage in debates on variation and change since there are several large research projects on dialect variation being conducted in a number of European countries (cf. the recently launched website http://www.dialectsyntax.org/). The following provides a (non-exhaustive) list of suggested research questions: -Which is the contribution of current linguistic theory for the explanation of spatial variation and variant spread? -Which is the contribution of dialect data for the further development of theories of linguistic change? -What are the driving forces of variant selection? Are these factors social or linguistic? -Is variation the result or the cause of change, or both? In particular, we encourage papers adopting a dialect geographical approach. Additional questions that emerge when taking a dialect geographical approach have to do with the existence of transitional zones, where competing variants co-occur. This poses a potential problem for many models of grammar: what does the existence of transitional zones mean for our modeling of linguistic competence, i.e., can the linguistic competence of individuals living in transitional zones best be described in terms of competing grammars, the interaction of categorical rules or constraints, or do we need a probabilistic model? Other relevant questions include the following: -Do geolinguistic data provide evidence for and/or against particular models of change? -What can we conclude from the mechanisms of variant spread with regard to our understanding of linguistic competence? -Can we find a speaker-based explanation for the fact that some variants spread at the expense of others? Organizers Gunther De Vogelaer (FWO Flanders / Ghent), Guido Seiler (Konstanz / Zurich) Keynote speaker William Labov (University of Pennsylvania) Practical information: The workshop is part of the Methods in Dialectology-conference. More information concerning travelling, lodging etc. can be found on the Methods XIII-homepage: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/methods.htm Publication Since it is our intention to publish a volume with papers from the section, we will prefer unpublished research over papers presenting data that have been published elsewhere. Format Presentations are allotted 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be as specific as possible, with a statement of topic, approach and conclusions, and may be at most 400 words (not including data and references, which may be placed on an optional second page). Please submit your abstract anonymously as an email attachment (only Microsoft Word or PDF formats) to Gunther De Vogelaer (gunther.devogelaer at ugent.be) or Guido Seiler (gseiler at ds.unizh.ch). The body text of the email message must contain the following information: (1) paper title (2) name(s) of author(s) (3) affiliation(s) of author(s) (4) address where notification of acceptance should be sent (5) phone number for each author (6) email address for each author (7) subfield (syntax, phonology, etc.) _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l From A.v.Kemenade at let.ru.nl Thu Nov 29 21:17:13 2007 From: A.v.Kemenade at let.ru.nl (Ans van Kemenade) Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:17:13 +0100 Subject: Conference programme Transmission and Diffusion, RU Nijmegen, NL Message-ID: The conference programme of ?Transmission and Diffusion?, organised by the research group ?Language in Time and Space, RU Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies, can be found via the following link: HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/cls/research_programmes_0/language_in_time_and/lits_co ngress/"http://www.ru.nl/cls/research_programmes_0/language_in_time_and/ lits_congress/ . Ans van Kemenade Radboud University Nijmegen, dept. of English Postbus 9103 6500 HD Nijmegen Tel. #31 (0)24 36 11422/12157 Fax. #31 (0)24 36 11882 HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/facultyofarts/englishdept/"http://www.ru.nl/facultyofa rts/englishdept/ HYPERLINK "http://www.ru.nl/cls/"http://www.ru.nl/cls/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.9/1158 - Release Date: 28-11-2007 21:11 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.9/1158 - Release Date: 28-11-2007 21:11 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Histling-l mailing list Histling-l at mailman.rice.edu https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/histling-l