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***APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING***
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Call for papers: Exaptation in Language Change -- Constraining the
Concept
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Call deadline
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November 8, 2011
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convenors
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Freek Van de Velde, University of Leuven, <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:Freek.VanDeVelde@arts.kuleuven.be">Freek.VanDeVelde@arts.kuleuven.be</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:Freek.VanDeVelde@arts.kuleuven.be"><mailto:Freek.VanDeVelde@arts.kuleuven.be></a>
<br>
<br>
Muriel Norde, University of Groningen, <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:M.Norde@rug.nl">M.Norde@rug.nl</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:M.Norde@rug.nl"><mailto:M.Norde@rug.nl></a>
<br>
<br>
call for papers
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<br>
This is a workshop propsal to be submitted to the 45th Annual
Meeting of the /Societas Linguistica Europaea, /to be held at the
University of Stockholm, 29 August - 1 September 2012.
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<br>
If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please send
both of us a title + a 300 word abstract by November 8, 2011, so we
can submit our proposal (including a provisional list of
participants and abstracts) to the SLE Conference Manager by
November 15. If our proposal is accepted, participants will be
invited to submit a full abstract (500 words) by January 15. All
abstracts will be reviewed by the convenors as well as by the SLE
Scientific Committee.
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Conference website
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.sle2012.eu/">http://www.sle2012.eu/</a>
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Workshop description
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Exaptation is a concept that was first used in evolutionary biology
(Gould & Vrba 1982), to refer to co-optation of a certain trait
for a new function.A typical example is the use of feathers,
originally serving a thermo-regulatory function, for flight. The
term was borrowed into linguistics by Roger Lass (1990) for a
specific type of morpholoical change in which "junk" morphemes come
to serve different function. In Lass's own words, exapation is "the
opportunistic co-optation of a feature whose origin is unrelated or
only marginally related to its later use. In other words (loosely) a
'conceptual novelty' or 'invention'." In order to meet this
definition of exaptation, a change thus needed to satisfy two
criteria: the source morpheme had to be functionless "junk", and its
new function needed to be entirely novel.
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<br>
Both criteria have been criticized. With regard to the first
criterion, Vincent (1995: 435), Giacalone Ramat (1998), Smith (2006)
and Willis (2010) pointed out difficulties with regard to the notion
of junk. And indeed, Lass later stretched his notion of exaptation,
admitting that linguistic exaptation - just like biological
exaptation - could also affect non-junk morphology (see Lass 1997:
318), to the effect that the old and the new function may co-exist.
Doubt has also been raised with regard to the second criterion, the
novelty of the new function, which is central to the notion of
exaptation according to Lass (1990: 82) (see also Norde 2001: 244,
2009: 117 and Traugott 2004). Some scholars have argued against the
purported novelty of the function after exaptation (Vincent 1995:
436; Giacalone Ramat 1998, Hopper & Traugott 2003: 135-136). If
this criterion is jettisoned, we arrive at a fairly broad definition
of exaptation, like for instance in Booij (2010: 211), who defines
it as "[t]he re-use of morphological markers". Such a broad
conception of exaptation is in line with the notion in evolutionary
biology, where neither of the two criteria is decisive for the
application of the term to shifts in function, but the question then
arises whether this does not make the concept vacuous (see De
Cuypere 2005).
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<br>
Despite these criticisms, exaptation has been used as a convenient
label for morphological changes that at first sight seem to proceed
unpredictably, e.g. by running counter to grammaticalization clines
(see Norde 2009: 115-118). It has been applied to various cases of
morphological change, discussed in Lass (1990), Norde (2002),
Fudeman (2004), Van de Velde (2005, 2006), Narrog (2007), Booij
(2010, ms.), Willis (2010) among others.
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<br>
In this workshop, we aim to explore if exaptation is a useful
concept in language change and if it is, how it can be constrained
so as to avoid over-application. Apart from specific case studies
drawing on original data, we welcome papers that address the
following issues:
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<br>
(1)Do we need the concept of exaptation in historical linguistics,
or does it reduce to more traditional mechanisms such as reanalysis
and analogy (De Cuypere 2005)?
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<br>
(2)What is the relation between exaptation and grammaticalization?
Do they refer to fundamentally different kinds of changes (Vincent
1995), is exaptation a final stage of grammaticalization (Greenberg
1991, Traugott 2004), or are exaptation and grammaticalization just
two different labels for the same type of change? After all, both
processes involve reanalysis (Narrog 2007), both processes can come
about through pragmatic strengthening (see Croft 2000: 126-130).
Furthermore, if the old and new function of the exaptatum co-exist
(see above) and if the new function is related to the old one, then
exaptation involves 'layering' and 'persistence', respectively (see
Van de Velde 2006: 61-62), which are also key features of
grammaticalization (see Hopper 1991).
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(3)What is the relation between exaptation and degrammaticalization?
Does exaptation always entail some sort of 'degrammaticalization'
(as argued by Heine 2003 and arguably Narrog 2007: 9, 18), or does
exaptation often, but not always, go together with
degrammaticalization (Norde 2009: 118)?
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(4)Does exaptation only apply to morphology (Heine 2003: 173), or is
it relevant to syntactic change as well, as Brinton & Stein
(1995) have argued?
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(5)Is exaptation language-specific (as argued by Heine 2003: 173,
but see Narrogfor evidence to the contrary)?
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(6)Does exaptation happen primarily in cases of 'system disruption',
such as typological word order change or deflection (see Norde 2002:
49, 60, 61)?
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(7)How should we define the concept of 'novelty', and is it a useful
criterion for a change to be qualified as exaptation? Currently,
there seem to be different views in the literature on what is
exactly understood by a 'new' function. Does this mean (a) an
entirely new category in the grammar, (b) a function unrelated to
the morpheme's old function, or (c) a different though perhaps not
totally unrelated function from the old function?
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(8)Is exaptation infrequent (Heine 2003:174, Traugott 2004) and
non-recurrent (as argued by Heine 2003: 172)? Or can one morpheme
undergo several successive stages of exaptation (as argued by
Giacalone Ramat 1998: 110-111 with regard to the -<i
class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>sk<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>- suffix and by Van de Velde
2006 with regard to the Germanic adjective inflection)?
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(9)Is exaptation the same thing as what Greenberg (1991) understands
by 'regrammaticalization' and as what Croft (2000) understands by
'hypoanalysis', or are there significant differences between these
concepts? And what is the overlap with related concept such as
'functional renewal' (Brinton & Stein 1995)?
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(10)Morphosyntactic change is often <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>constrained<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>
by the overall grammatical structure of a language, in particular
when a grammaticalizing element provides a new way of expressing an
older formal arrangement (see Heath 1997, 1998). Does this also hold
for exaptation? To what extent are exaptation processes triggered,
influenced, directed or constrained by the overall structure of the
language in which they take place? Can exaptation generally be
considered as restorative change, whereby language users
opportunistically seize on available morphology to preserve the
system, or is it the other way around, and do language users try to
attribute meaning to functionless morphology, irrespective of the
question whether this new meaning aligns with the older grammatical
system?
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<b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>References<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b>
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<br>
Booij, G. 2010 (to appear). <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Construction morphology<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
<br>
<br>
Booij, G. manuscript. Recycling morphology: Case endings as markers
of Dutch constructions. <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://www.hum2.leidenuniv.nl/booijge/pdf/Recycling%20morphology.pdf"><http://www.hum2.leidenuniv.nl/booijge/pdf/Recycling%20morphology.pdf></a>.
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Brinton, L. & D. Stein. 1995. Functional renewal. In: H.
Andersen (ed.), /Historical Linguistics 1993/. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
33-47.
<br>
<br>
Croft, W. 2000. /Explaining language change. An evolutionary
approach. /Harlow: Longman.
<br>
<br>
De Cuypere, L. 2005. Exploring exaptation in language change. /Folia
Linguistica Historica/ 26: 13-26.
<br>
<br>
Fudeman, K. 2004. Adjectival agreement vs. adverbal inflection in
Balanta. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Lingua<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 114: 105-23.
<br>
<br>
Giacalone Ramat, A. 1998. Testing the boundaries of
grammaticalization. In: A. Giacalone Ramat & P.J. Hopper (eds.),
/The limits of grammaticalization/. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 227-270.
<br>
<br>
Gould, Stephen J. & Elizabeth S. Vrba. 1982. Exaptation: a
missing term in the science of form. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Paleobiology<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 8:1, 4-15.
<br>
<br>
Greenberg, J.H. 1991. The last stages of grammatical elements:
Contractive and expansive desemanticization. In: E.C. Traugott &
B. Heine (eds.), <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Approaches
to grammaticalization<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
Amsterdam: Benjamins. 301-314.
<br>
<br>
Heath, J. 1997. Lost wax: abrupt replacement of key morphemes in
Australian agreement complexes. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Diachronica<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>
14: 197-232.
<br>
<br>
Heath, J. 1998. Hermit crabs: formal renewal of morphology by
phonologically mediated affix substitution. <i
class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Language<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 74: 728-759.
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Heine, B. 2003. On degrammaticalization. In: B.J. Blake & K.
Burridge (eds.), /Historical linguistics 2001/. Amsterdam:
Benjamins. 163-179.
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<br>
Hopper, P.J. 1991. On some principles of grammaticalization. In:
E.C. Traugott & B. Heine (eds.), <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Approaches to grammaticalization<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 17-35.
<br>
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Hopper, P.J. & E.C. Traugott. 2003. Grammaticalization. 2^nd
edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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<br>
Lass, R. 1990. How to do things with junk: Exaptation in language
evolution. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Journal
of Linguistics<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 26: 79-102.
<br>
<br>
Lass, R. 1997. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Historical
linguistics and language change<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
<br>
<br>
Narrog, H. 2007. Exaptation, grammaticalization, and reanalysis. <i
class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>California
Linguistic Notes<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 32 (1). <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/cln/pdf/Exaptation_Narrog.pdf"><http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/cln/pdf/Exaptation_Narrog.pdf></a>.
<br>
<br>
Norde, M. 2001. Deflexion as a counterdirectional factor in
grammatical change. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Language Sciences<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i> 23: 231-264.
<br>
<br>
Norde, M. 2002. The final stages of grammaticalization: Affixhood
and beyond. In: I. Wischer & G. Diewald (eds.), /New reflections
on grammaticalization/. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 45-81.
<br>
<br>
Norde, M. 2009. <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Degrammaticalization<span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
<br>
<br>
Smith, J.C. 2006. How to do things without junk: the
refunctionalization of a pronominal subsystem between Latin and
Romance. In: J.-P.Y. Montreuil (ed.), <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>New perspectives on Romance
linguistics<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>. Volume II: <i
class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Phonetics,
phonology and dialectology<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
Amsterdam: Benjamins. 183-205.
<br>
<br>
Traugott, E.C. 2004. Exaptation and grammaticalization. In: M.
Akimoto (ed.), <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Linguistic
studies based on corpora<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo. 133-156.
<br>
<br>
Van de Velde, F. 2005. Exaptatie en subjectificatie in de
Nederlandse adverbiale morfologie [Exaptation and subjectification
in Dutch adverbial morphology]. /Handelingen der Koninklijke
Zuid-Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Taal- en Letterkunde en
Geschiedenis/ 58: 105-124.
<br>
<br>
Van de Velde, F. 2006. Herhaalde exaptatie. Een diachrone analyse
van de Germaanse adjectiefflexie [Iterative exaptation. A diachronic
analysis of the Germanic adjectival inflection]. In: M. Hüning, A.
Verhagen, U. Vogl & T. van der Wouden (eds.), <i
class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Nederlands
tussen Duits en Engels<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
Leiden: Stichting Neerlandistiek Leiden. 47-69.
<br>
<br>
Vincent, N. 1995. Exaptation and grammaticalization. In: H. Andersen
(ed.), /Historical linguistics 1993/. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 433-445.
<br>
<br>
Willis, D. 2010. Degrammaticalization and obsolescent morphology:
evidence from Slavonic. In: E. Stathi, E. Gehweiler & E. König
(eds.), <i class="moz-txt-slash"><span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span>Grammaticalization:
current views and issues<span class="moz-txt-tag">/</span></i>.
151-178.
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Prof. dr. Muriel Norde
Scandinavian Languages and Cultures
University of Groningen
P.O. Box 716
9700 AS Groningen
The Netherlands
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.murielnorde.com">http://www.murielnorde.com</a></pre>
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