28.2736, Calls: Gen Ling, Historical Ling, Morphology, Syntax

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-28-2736. Mon Jun 19 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.2736, Calls: Gen Ling, Historical Ling, Morphology, Syntax

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Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2017 11:43:11
From: Svenja Kranich [skranich at uni-bonn.de]
Subject: Lost in change (DGfS 2018 Workshop)

 
Full Title: Lost in change (DGfS 2018 Workshop) 

Date: 07-Mar-2018 - 09-Mar-2018
Location: Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany 
Contact Person: Svenja Kranich
Meeting Email: skranich at uni-bonn.de

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Historical Linguistics; Morphology; Syntax 

Call Deadline: 15-Aug-2017 

Meeting Description:

Lost in change: Causes and processes in the loss of grammatical constructions
and categories

Workshop at DGfS 2018, 7-9 March 2018, Stuttgart

Organisers: Svenja Kranich (University of Bonn) and Tine Breban (University of
Manchester)

Studies in language change have taken great steps in uncovering how new
grammatical constructions and categories come into being and explaining why
they emerge. Comparatively little is known about the ‘negative end’ of change.
While some general concepts have been put forward (e.g. Givón’s (1979) cline
from discourse > syntax > morphology > morphophonemics > zero) and individual
cases been discussed (e.g. loss of V2 in English), neither the possible
motivations nor the typical steps constructions and categories undergo ‘on
their way out’ have been systematically investigated on a broad
cross-linguistic basis. The aim of this workshop is to close this gap. 

More detailed information is provided in the Call for Papers.


Call for Papers:

Background and aim of the workshop:
Studies in language change have taken great steps in uncovering how new
grammatical constructions and categories come into being and explaining why
they emerge. Comparatively little is known about the 'negative end' of change.
While some general concepts have been put forward (e.g. Givón's (1979) cline
from discourse > syntax > morphology > morphophonemics > zero) and individual
cases been discussed (e.g. loss of V2 in English), neither the possible
motivations nor the typical steps constructions and categories undergo 'on
their way out' have been systematically investigated on a broad
cross-linguistic basis. The aim of this workshop is to close this gap. Some of
the specific questions the workshop seeks to shed light on are:

Motivations/causes: Under which conditions do constructions or categories get
lost? Are there particular language-internal or external contexts favoring
loss (e.g. competition, language contact, other changes in a grammatical
system)?
Steps in the process: Are cross-linguistic generalizations possible of these
steps (e.g. drop in frequency, context restrictions)? Is loss always gradual? 
Consequences: How does the language system cope after loss of especially a
whole category (e.g. new means of coding vs. loss of coded distinction
altogether)?  
Theoretical modeling: Which theoretical models (e.g. competition model,
optimality theory, grammaticalization) can account best for the reasons and
paths of loss?

We invite contributions from all areas of diachronic linguistics, and aim to
bring together papers on a wide variety of phenomena dealing with a
typologically diverse set of languages from different theoretical
perspectives. Contributions should ideally focus on far-reaching grammatical
changes such as the complete loss of a category, a major reduction of
grammatical distinctions or loss of the prototypical member of a paradigm and
address their general implications for our understanding of loss.

Practical information: 
Abstracts should be submitted by August 15, 2017 via email to
skranich at uni-bonn.de. Preferred formats: pdf and doc. Maximum length: 500
words excluding references. 
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by August, 31, 2017.

References
Givón, Talmy. 1979. On Understanding Grammar. New York: Academic Press.




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