16.1424, Calls: Socioling/China; Typology/Germany

Wed May 4 15:55:31 UTC 2005

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1424. Wed May 04 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1424, Calls: Socioling/China; Typology/Germany

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1)
Date: 04-May-2005
From: Daming Xu < xudaming at hotmail.com >
Subject: 3rd Urban Language Survey Seminar 

2)
Date: 04-May-2005
From: Michael Cysouw < cysouw at eva.mpg.de >
Subject: Current Issues in Areal Typology, Workshop at the meeting of the German Society for Linguistics 

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 11:53:20
From: Daming Xu < xudaming at hotmail.com >
Subject:  3rd Urban Language Survey Seminar 

Full Title: 3rd Urban Language Survey Seminar 
Short Title: URL-2005 

Date: 25-Jun-2005 - 27-Jun-2005
Location: Nanjing, China 
Contact Person: Daming Xu
Meeting Email: xudaming at 263.net
Web Site: http://www.iccsl3.com/ULS-2005/index.htm 

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics 

Call Deadline: 15-May-2005 

Meeting Description:

The Sociolinguistics Laboratory at Nanjing University and The Association of
Chinese Sociolinguistics are jointly organizing the Third Urban Language Survey
Seminar to be held on 25-27 June 2005. 

Scholars involved with any of the following research areas are welcome to
participate:
-Language issues in rapid urbanization.
-Language survey methodology
-Speech community theory
-Language and identity issues in the urban contexts
-Urban dialectology
Rapid and large-scale urbanization characterizes many regions of the world today
and it brings language issues in communication, cultural identity, and social
organization. Original research addressing these issues is especially needed and
is welcome for presentations at the seminar. Other research in linguistics and
sociolinguistics, such as impact of urbanization on rural dialects, dialect
contact and dialect-levelling, etc., will also be welcome.

-------------------------Message 2 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 11:53:28
From: Michael Cysouw < cysouw at eva.mpg.de >
Subject:  Current Issues in Areal Typology, Workshop at the meeting of the German Society for Linguistics 

Full Title: Current Issues in Areal Typology,Workshop at the meeting of the
German Society for Linguistics 

Date: 22-Feb-2006 - 24-Feb-2006
Location: Bielefeld, Germany 
Contact Person: Michael Cysouw
Meeting Email: cysouw at eva.mpg.de
Web Site: http://email.eva.mpg.de/~cysouw/meetings/dgfs2006.html 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Genetic Classification;
Historical Linguistics; Language Description; Typology 

Call Deadline: 01-Sep-2006 

Meeting Description:

Over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that hardly any
typological variable is evenly distributed over the world; most reveal
systematic areal skewings. Such typological findings have renewed a strong
interest in areal linguistics, but because they often involve larger
geographical areas than traditional Sprachbünde, they demand new methods for
testing and explaining areal skewings. This workshop invites contributions to
these issues of testing and explaining areal skewings in typological variables. 

Over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that hardly any
typological variable is evenly distributed over the world; most reveal
systematic areal skewings. For example, inclusive/exclusive distinctions, or
numeral classifiers, show frequency peaks around the Pacific; velar nasals are
common everywhere except in the Americas where they are exceedingly rare; clicks
are found in substantial frequency only Southern Africa, relative pronouns only
in Europe, etc. And often these skewings have exceptions, which are themselves
significant, e.g. South Asia has mid-to-low degree of synthesis, but the Munda
languages systematically depart from this trend.

Such typological findings have renewed a strong interest in areal linguistics,
but because they often involve larger geographical areas than traditional
Sprachbünde, they demand new methods for testing and explaining areal skewings.
With regard to testing, methods are currently discussed to distinguish real
skewings from chance, to filter out dependent structural factors (as when e.g.
an area reveals not only OV but also, as a consequence, postpositions) or to
measure the gradience of areal extent. With regard to explanation, large-scale
areas, and their exceptions, can often only be understood against what is known
from population history through genetic, archeological and social anthropology.
And proper understanding requires a detailed model of language contact and its
effects over (deep) time.

This workshop invites contributions to these issues of testing and explaining
areal skewings in typological variables. Possible topics include, but are not
limited to:

- Presentation and discussion of particular (large-scale) areal patterns
- Exceptions to areal patterns
- Explanations for areal clusters
- Statistical methods to validate areal distributions
- Methods to display areal information (GIS and the like)
- Relations to other disciplines (Archeology, Genetics, Ethnology, etc.)

Please send your one-page abstract to Michael Cysouw at the address below,
either by email (in plain text or in PDF format) or as hard copy, to arrive no
later than September 1st, 2005. Notification of acceptance is by October 1st, 2005. 

To keep in sync with the rest of the programm, the normal time allotted for
presentation is 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion. Please note if you
would be interested in a longer time-slot, when available.

Michael Cysouw
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany

email: cysouw at eva.mpg.de

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