25.3154, Calls: Cognitive Sci, Psycholing, Socioling, Applied Ling/USA

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-25-3154. Sun Aug 03 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.3154, Calls: Cognitive Sci, Psycholing, Socioling, Applied Ling/USA

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Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 02:12:15
From: Nikolay Khakimov [Nikolay.Khakimov at germanistik.uni-freiburg.de]
Subject: Usage-based Contact Linguistics

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Full Title: Usage-based Contact Linguistics 

Date: 20-May-2015 - 24-May-2015
Location: New Brunswick, NJ, USA 
Contact Person: Nikolay Khakimov
Meeting Email: Nikolay.Khakimov at germanistik.uni-freiburg.de

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Cognitive Science; Psycholinguistics; Sociolinguistics 

Call Deadline: 22-Aug-2014 

Meeting Description:

Usage-based views on language propose that lexicon and grammar are not separate modules but regions on a continuum that ranges from phonologically specific lexical items to phonologically schematic (or 'empty') syntactic constructions (Langacker 1987, 1988, 1999; Croft 2002; Tomasello 2003; Bybee 2006, 2010). This view implies that generalizations emerge at variable degrees of specificity: patterns co-exist in a speaker's mental representation with stored exemplars of word strings that instantiate them. While simple words and fully abstract patterns, e.g. the ditransitive construction, form the two poles of the continuum, many constructions occupy in-between points on the continuum, e.g. 

- Lexical chunks, defined as frequent word strings of compositional nature, e.g. don't have to worry 
- Formulaic sequences, e.g. How are you?; I think 
- Idioms, e.g. the bane of my existence 
- Partially schematic constructions, whether morphological in nature, e.g. plural [N-(e)s], or morphosyntactic, e.g. predicative [I'm Adj] or quotative [and she's like X] 

The various phenomena exemplified above have been noted to make the jump from one language to another in bilingual speech. Insertional codeswitching often involves lexical chunks (Backus 1996, 2003); alternational codeswitching relies on formulaic sequences and frequently used turns of phrase; loan translations introduce not just new lexical combinations but also constructional features associated with the model expressions in the source language; and grammatical interference brings in new schematic constructions.

The premise of this thematic session is that an integration of diverse explanations for the aforementioned phenomena is possible once the perspective of the usage-based approach is adopted, since under this approach function (or 'meaning'), structure (or 'form') and processing (or 'cognitive basis of speech') are explicitly related to each other. Various recent studies have explored these issues (e.g. Doğruöz & Backus 2009; Doğruöz & Gries 2012; Frick 2013; Backus 2013; Zenner, Speelman & Geeraerts 2013; Khakimov forthc.). Empirically, much of this work is concerned with multiword insertions, and contact-induced constructional change, but interest in other domains, such as fixed expressions instantiating alternational codeswitching is growing.

Convenors:

Ad Backus (Tilburg University)
Nikolay Khakimov (University of Freiburg)

Call for Papers:

Although work on multiword units (Wray 2007; Kapatsinski 2010, Tremblay & Tucker 2011, Janssen & Barber 2012, Arnon & Cohen Priva 2013) and partially and fully schematic constructions (Goldberg 2006, Allen et al. 2012) has contributed to the emergence and ongoing development of a coherent theory of language knowledge and use (Bybee 2010), overt links to fields that put language change center stage, including sociolinguistics and contact linguistics, are strikingly absent (Backus 2013).

We argue that studying bilingual speech from a usage-based perspective is a marriage made in heaven. Explanations for code-switching patterns suggested to date include conveying sociolinguistic and pragmatic functions, adhering to structural constraints on mixing, and the cognitive characteristics of psycholinguistic switching and triggering mechanisms. These functional, structural and processing-based explanations, while not without obvious merits, do not share a common underlying view on linguistic competence and language use, and are, therefore, hard to combine or contrast. The premise of this thematic session is that an integration of these diverse explanations is possible once the perspective of the usage-based approach is adopted, since under this approach function (or 'meaning'), structure (or 'form') and processing (or 'cognitive basis of speech') are explicitly related to each other. Various recent studies have explored these issues (e.g. Doğruöz & Backus 2009; Doğruöz & Gries 2012; Frick 2013; Backus 2013; Zenner, Speelman & Geeraerts 2013; Khakimov forthc.). Empirically, much of this work is concerned with multiword insertions (cf. am Montag in 1), and contact-induced constructional change (cf. the Dutch 'either … or' construction in 2), but interest in other domains, such as fixed expressions instantiating alternational codeswitching is growing.

(1) Russian-German codeswitching (Khakimov, forthc.)
a   my      chemie    že   am              montag pisa-l-i
but 1PL.NOM chemistry PTCL at.ART.DAT.SG.M Monday write-PST-PL
''But we wrote chemistry on Monday.''

(2) Dutch Turkish (Demirçay & Backus 2014)
of düdüklü-de 	       yap-ıyo 	  of	gewoon 	pan 
or pressure.cooker-LOC do-PRS.3SG or	just 	pan
''She cooks it either in the pressure cooker or in a regular pan''

The aim of this thematic session is to present state of the art contact linguistic research that focuses empirically on issues relevant to the lexicon-grammar continuum, such as the transfer of multiword units and partially schematic constructions, and discusses its findings in the light of general contact linguistic theory and the usage-based perspective on language.

Procedure:

If you are interested to contribute to our thematic session, please send a preliminary abstract (max. 500 words) to nikolay.khakimov AT germanistik.uni-freiburg.de by August 22, 2014. You will hear back from us by September 4, 2014.







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LINGUIST List: Vol-25-3154	
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