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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:16.0pt;line-height:115%">Workshop on substance and structure in linguistics<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN-US">University of Copenhagen, February 27-28, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Workshop description<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">For the old structuralists (especially the European variety), the distinction between substance and structure (or form) served two important purposes. Firstly, it provided a means for simultaneously allowing for language-particular
and universal aspects of language: structural properties were seen as language-particular modulations of substance, which was taken to be at least potentially universal (e.g. Hjelmslev 1943). Secondly, it made possible a definition of linguistics as an autonomous
discipline dealing with an area of phenomena that are specifically properties of languages: according to structuralism, structure (and thus language-particular issues) were taken to be the central concern of linguists, rather than substance (and universal
issues) (e.g. de Saussure 1916).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">From the beginning, then, substance played a marginal role in 20th century linguistics, and with the fading of structuralist frameworks such as Hjelmslev’s and Ulldal’s Glossematics and the rise and increasing dominance
of generative grammar in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the distinction between substance and structure fell into almost complete oblivion. In two respects, the notion of substance would in fact seem useful to Chomsky. Firstly, like the structuralists, Chomsky and
his followers had the ambition of defining linguistics (at least, grammar) as an autonomous discipline. Secondly, unlike the structuralists, they took an interest in universal issues. However, the idea of Universal Grammar and thus universal linguistic structure
left little need and room for substance in the theory. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Still, the distinction between structure and substance was not entirely forgotten. It lived on in some individual linguists and scholarly environments that did not follow the Chomskyan way, and did not reject structuralist
ideas en<i> </i>bloc. As one example, Danish Functional Linguistics – a research community established around Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, Lisbeth Falster Jacobsen, Michael Fortescue, Peter Harder and Lars Heltoft in the 1990’s (cf. Engberg-Pedersen & al. 1996)
– adopted </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">(</span><span lang="EN-US">in modified form) Hjelmslev’s version of the distinction, and in this community it continues to play a central role (especially, Harder 1996). Other examples
are found in linguistic typology, where Gilbert Lazard has stressed the importance of distinguishing between structure and substance (e.g. Lazard 2005), and Bybee has discussed grammaticalization and semantic change in terms of the distinction (e.g. Bybee
1988, Bybee, Perkins & Pagliuca 1994). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Recent years have witnessed a revitalization of the distinction within functional typology and cognitive linguistics. Haspelmath has explicitly invoked the notion of substance in his discussions of the basis of crosslinguistic
comparison and categorization (e.g. Haspelmath 2007, 2010), and Croft has used a similar notion, conceptual space, to point out the common ground of semantic mapping and multidimensional scaling (e.g. Croft 2001, 2003). In connection with the issue of linguistic
relativity, Slobin’s work on ‘Thinking for Speaking’ (e.g. Slobin 1996) may be seen as an argument that it is not a one-way issue of substance constraining structure – the way we form substance for the purpose of linguistic formulation may have an impact on
the conceptual substance itself, i.e. on how speakers conceptualize the world around them. In a similar vein, Levinson (2003) makes a distinction between semantic structure (language-particular) and conceptual structure (potentially universal), and simultaneously
argues that there is an interface between the two. All these scholars – including those affiliated with Danish Functional Linguistics – seem to converge in stressing the importance of the structuralist distinction between substance and structure, while at
the same diverging from the old structuralists by including substance in the focus of linguistics.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Aim<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The aim of this workshop is to discuss the distinction between substance and structure itself and linguistic phenomena and problems that can fruitfully be approached in terms of the distinction. Specific areas of interest
include (but are not restricted to) the following:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Crosslinguistic comparison</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">How is substance-based crosslinguistic comparison carried out in practice? Are Haspelmath’s (2010) “comparative concepts” necessarily entirely subjective, or can they be objectified?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Crosslinguistic categorization<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">What are the criteria for identifying substance-based descriptive categories like Tense, Aspect, and Modality?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Linguistic relativity<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In what respects does substance constrain structure, and in what respects may structure influence on substance? Can a strict distinction between substance and structure always be maintained?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">The nature of substance</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">What is substance, conceptual structure, functional-communicative potential, both or neither?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Substance and structure in semantics</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">How do we tell substance from structure in semantics, and how is the distinction relevant?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Substance and structure in phonology and phonetics<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">How do we tell substance from structure in phonetics and phonology, and when is it at all relevant?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US">Conceptual dependency and layered structure</span></i><span lang="EN-US">?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Is it possible to distinguish between Langackerian conceptual dependency (as substance) and layered structure (as structure)?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:54.0pt;text-indent:-54.0pt;line-height:12.6pt;mso-line-height-rule:exactly">
<b><span lang="EN-US">References</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">
<span lang="EN-US">Bybee, J. 1988. “Semantic substance vs. contrast in the development of grammatical meaning.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Berkeley Linguistics Society</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> 14: 247-64.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.6pt;mso-line-height-rule:exactly"><span lang="EN-US">Bybee, J., R. Perkins & W. Pagliuca. 1994.
<i>The evolution of grammar: Tense, aspect, and modality in the languages of the world</i>. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.6pt;mso-line-height-rule:exactly"><span lang="EN-US">Croft, W. 2001.
<i>Radical Construction Grammar: Syntactic theory in typological perspective</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12.6pt;mso-line-height-rule:exactly"><span lang="EN-US">Croft, W. 2003.
<i>Typology and universals</i>, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth, Michael Fortescue, Peter Harder, Lars Heltoft & Lisbeth Falster Jakobsen (eds.). 1996.
<i>Content, expression and structure: Studies in Danish Functional Grammar</i>. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Harder, P. 1996. <i>Functional semantics</i>. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Haspelmath, M. 2007. “Pre-established categories don’t exist: Consequences for language description and typology”.
<i>Linguistic Typology</i> 11 (1): 119-132.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Haspelmath, M. 2010. “Comparative concepts and descriptive categories in cross-linguistic studies”.
</span><em><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Language</span></em> 86 (3): 663-687.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hjelmslev, L. 1943. <i>Omkring sprogteoriens grundlćggelse</i>. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Lazard, G. 2005. “What are typologists doing?”. Z. Frajzyngier, A. Hodges & D. S. Rod (eds.).
<i>Linguistic diversity and language theories. </i>Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1-24.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Levinson, S. C. 2003. “Language and mind: Let’s get the issues straight!”. D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (eds.).
<i>Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought</i>. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. 25-46.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Saussure, F. de. 1916. <i>Cours de linguistique générale</i>. Lausanne: Payot<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Slobin, D. I. 1996. “From ‘thought and language’ to ‘thinking for speaking’”. J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (eds.).
<i>Rethinking linguistic relativity</i>. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 70-96.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Invited speakers<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Confirmed invited speakers:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">William Croft<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Peter Harder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Martin Haspelmath<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Venue<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">University of Copenhagen, Denmark<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Time</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">February 27-28, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Call</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We invite papers which discuss aspects of the substance-structure distinction as indicated above.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Submission procedure</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Abstracts not exceeding 500 words (exclusive of references) for 20 minutes oral presentations are to be submitted electronically no later than October 1, 2014, to eep@hum.ku.dk. Notification of acceptance will be given
no later than November 1st, 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Website</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://inss.ku.dk/english/calendar/substance-and-structure-seminar/?1"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">http://inss.ku.dk/english/calendar/substance-and-structure-seminar/?1</span></a><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Organizers</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Kasper Boye (boye@hum.ku.dk)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen (eep@hum.ku.dk)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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