25.4041, Calls: Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Text/Corpus Ling, Historical Ling, Anthropological Ling, General Ling, Pragmatics/Netherlands

Tue Oct 14 03:55:03 UTC 2014

LINGUIST List: Vol-25-4041. Mon Oct 13 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.4041, Calls: Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Text/Corpus Ling,  Historical Ling, Anthropological Ling, General Ling, Pragmatics/Netherlands

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Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:54:26
From: Olga Spevak [spevak at univ-tlse2.fr]
Subject: Pragmatics and Classical Languages

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Full Title: Pragmatics and Classical Languages 

Date: 02-Sep-2015 - 05-Sep-2015
Location: Leiden, Netherlands 
Contact Person: Olga Spevak
Meeting Email: spevak at univ-tlse2.fr

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; General Linguistics; Historical Linguistics; Pragmatics; Text/Corpus Linguistics 

Subject Language(s): Greek, Ancient (grc)
                     Latin (lat)
                     Sanskrit (san)

Call Deadline: 19-Nov-2014 

Meeting Description:

The pragmatic point of view is increasingly taken into account in Classical studies. Latin and Greek share some characteristics with other ancient languages, especially the lack of native speakers preventing us from checking the results in a direct way. On the other hand, they cannot be said to be part of the growing movement of historical pragmatics. The corpora of Classical texts are specific in several respects: (a) Latin and Greek provide us with substantial texts encompassing various text types coming from various periods; (b) the Classical texts are mainly highly stylised literary texts, which implies considerations about stylistics (rhythmical or metrical prose, metrics in poetry). Such characteristics require a special methodology.

This workshop aims at stimulating the discussion of more general pragmatic issues concerning Classical languages in order to share the results of various investigations and draw conclusions of a more general concern. It has two goals: to address issues specific to these languages and to provide new insights in pragmatic phenomena encountered. Additionally, this workshop will focus on a comparison of the results obtained for Latin and Greek and on methodological problems connected with pragmatics in these languages.

Issues to Address:

(i) Specificity of the corpora

Pragmatically oriented studies of Classical languages face similar difficulties as other ancient languages. How do we guarantee that our interpretations are valid? Which factors can be determined as reliable in order to compensate the lack of native speakers and, consequently, the lack of information about intonation? The influence of transmission of the texts and the low reliability of punctuation (as an outcome of more recent interpretation(s) of the texts) can represent additional complications.

(ii) Linguistic parameters

– Context
The role played by the context, both immediately preceding and more distant, is crucial for determining the information structure of a sentence. A systematic treatment of this question is necessary.
– Discourse structure
Particles and other discourse indicators are essential for a description of the discourse structure. This topic is far from being an exhausted subject.
– Genres and text types
Classical texts are (mostly) highly stylised literary texts. The question is how stylistic factors correlate with pragmatic ones. For example in prose, it is important to determine the relationship between metrical or rhythmical clausulae and the pragmatic saliency of constituents. In poetry, information structure is supposed to be based on the same principle as that in prose; however, stylistics can involve additional variation.
Studies about non-literary texts (technical texts or inscriptions) are welcome.

(iii) Extra-linguistic parameters

– Shared knowledge
Shared knowledge is an important factor that determines the choice of linguistic means and/or the placement of constituents. This domain needs to be explored in a detailed way.
– Social context
The respective position of the speaker and the addressee (relationships of power and/or intimacy, for example) is another parameter which plays an important role in the linguistic form chosen during the interaction.
– Sensibility to cultural context
In a culturally distant context, the evaluation of cultural norms, which can vary according the sub-groups under discussion, is a difficult but necessary issue, when facing topics such as politeness.

Call for Papers:

Call deadline: November 19, 2014

We invite contributions addressing the issues listed above. Contributions concerning Ancient languages other than Ancient Greek and Latin such as Sanskrit, presenting similar characteristics and specificity of corpora, are welcome. Short abstracts (300 words, docx or pdf) should be sent to the contact address before November 19, 2015.

Convenors:

Camille Denizot (Université de Paris-Nanterre) and Olga Spevak (Université de Toulouse 2)

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