19.715, Confs: Pragmatics, Semantics, Syntax, General Linguistics/Germany

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LINGUIST List: Vol-19-715. Mon Mar 03 2008. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 19.715, Confs: Pragmatics, Semantics, Syntax, General Linguistics/Germany

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1)
Date: 03-Mar-2008
From: Edgar Onea < edgar.onea at ling.uni-stuttgart.de >
Subject: Focus at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:23:02
From: Edgar Onea [edgar.onea at ling.uni-stuttgart.de]
Subject: Focus at the Syntax-Semantics Interface 
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Focus at the Syntax-Semantics Interface 

Date: 06-Apr-2008 - 07-Apr-2008 
Location: Stuttgart, Germany 
Contact: Edgar Onea 
Contact Email: edgar.onea at ling.uni-stuttgart.de 
Meeting URL: http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/~arndt/focusWS/ 

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Pragmatics; Semantics; Syntax 

Meeting Description: 

Workshop on Focus at the Syntax-Semantics Interface 2008 at the University of
Stuttgart 

Our aim for the workshop is that it should address some of the major issues of
focus interpretation at the syntax-semantics interface. The following two
questions are the key aspects to be discussed:

1) Syntax and focus interpretation
Do different syntactic realizations of focus affect focus interpretation and if
so how exactly? Do we need specific focus interpretation machineries for
different syntactic realizations of focus such as clefts vs. intonational focus,
information focus vs. identificational focus etc. or can the effect of focus be
treated in a unified way? If there is something like a focus position, to which
focussed elements are systematically moved, what is the compositional semantics
of such a position? Do we need specific operators, such as an exhaustivity
operator for free focus in some languages?

2) Focus sensitivity
What is focus sensitivity? What forms of focus sensitivity are matters for
syntax, for semantics and pragmatics? In particular we wish to discuss new
research on discourse accounts of focus sensitivity and explore the implications
of such approaches on free focus interpretation in different syntactic
positions. We would also like to include into our discussion data from languages
with specific focus positions and interpretation mechanisms like Hungarian.

Dealing with these different questions requires both syntactic and semantic
expertise and we would like the workshop to promote the discussion and
cooperation between syntacticians and semanticists that we think are necessary.

Invited Speakers

David Beaver (Austin)
Katalin É.Kiss (Budapest)
Kjell-Johan Sæbø (Oslo)
Daniel Wedgwood (Edinburgh)

Organizers

SFB 732 ''Incremental Specification in Context'' at the University of Stuttgart
Projects A1 ''Incremental Specification of Focus and Givenness in a Discourse
Context''
& C2 ''Case and Referential Context'' 

Contacts
arndt.riester at ims.uni-stuttgart.de
edgar.onea at ling.uni-stuttgart.de

If you would like to participate, please contact
edgar.onea at ling.uni-stuttgart.de and check our website
http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/~arndt/focusWS/ for details.






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LINGUIST List: Vol-19-715