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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=DE>Dear colleagues,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>please find below the call for papers for our workshop “<b>Exploring Possession Across Indigenous Central and South America: Expanding Perspectives Through Underdescribed Languages”</b>, to be held in hybrid mode at the University of Warsaw, Poland, on January 17, 2025. The deadline for abstract submission is November 21, 2024.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>Call for papers<br></b>Possessive constructions have garnered recent scholarly attention, both from theoretical (e.g. Heine 1997; Haspelmath 2017) and typological (e.g. Aikhenvald & Dixon 2013; van Rijn 2016a; 2016b) perspectives, including areal and microvariational studies (e.g. Chappell & Lü 2022; Wagner-Nagy 2020). Crosslinguistic variation in possessive constructions has been noted early on, with examples such as alienability splits in Oceanic languages described by Lévy-Bruhl (1914). In the realm of Amazonian languages, possessive constructions have been extensively examined in descriptive accounts, both in reference grammars and dedicated writings (Krasnoukhova 2011; Labrada 2023; Overall, Vallejos & Gildea 2018; van der Voort 2009). Addressing recent developments related to possessive constructions, our workshop seeks to investigate variation within possessive constructions – primarily across hitherto un(der)described indigenous American languages. While Amazonian languages will be a central focus, the workshop also aims to explore possessive constructions beyond the Amazon, extending to other languages from Central and South America. By doing so, we aim to uncover new broader cross-linguistic patterns and enrich our understanding of possession in typologically and geographically distinct language families from this part of the world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The framework employed in this workshop is fundamentally anchored in linguistic description, thereby providing a solid foundation for exploring complex theoretical paradigms. Its primary aim is to investigate possession in languages that have little or no prior detailed description of their possessive systems. By focusing on new data, this workshop seeks to uncover fresh insights and not yet well-described patterns. Some questions that will be addressed in this workshop include:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• How is the possessive construction expressed? What does the construction depend on (e.g. the nature of the possessor, the possessive relationship, or the possessed)?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• Are there any non-possessive functions associated with possessive markers?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• Does the language express alienable vs. inalienable possessive constructions? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• Does the language have classifiers in possessive constructions?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• What are other means for establishing predicative possessive constructions (e.g. verbs like ‘have’, copula constructions, an intransitive verb ‘exist’)?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• Do any of such patterns correspond to areal, genetic, or macrotypological tendencies?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• What insights can be drawn about the historical development and diffusion of the possessive constructions described?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• Are there sociolinguistic factors contributing to variation in possessive constructions?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>• How does language contact shape and potentially alter the possessive constructions in the language?<br>• Do possessive constructions reflect indigenous perspectives on ownership and the conceptualization of 'belonging' (e.g., land, language)?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>Further information<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal>We look forward to engaging discussions that contribute to our understanding of possessive constructions in South and Central America. We are planning a potential publication of either a special issue (e.g., of Journal of Language Diversity) or an edited volume (e.g., John Benjamins, de Gruyter) through the contents of this workshop. Anonymized abstracts should be sent to both k.wojtylak@uw.edu.pl and jmensch2@uni-koeln.de by November 21, 2024.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Workshop length: Full day <br>Presentation format: Hybrid <br>Presentation length: 30 minutes (20min for presentation, 10min for questions)<br>Fee: free of charge<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Invited speakers: Alexandra Aikhenvald, Justyna Olko, John Sullivan<br><br>Convenors:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><i>Dr Katarzyna (Kasia) Wojtylak<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal>Assistant professor at the University of Warsaw. Kasia focuses on the typology of languages of Northwest Amazonia, especially the Witotoan and Boran language families. She’s worked on language contact and the nature of relationships between the zones in the world with the highest concentrations of both biodiversity and linguistic and cultural diversity.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><i>Jacob Menschel <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal>Researcher at the University of Cologne, conducting language documentary work with the Andoke language isolate of Southern Colombia, as well as contact-related investigations related to Northwest Amazonia and further typological studies on Amazonian languages.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best regards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jacob Menschel<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kasia Wojtylak<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>