workshop on mixed languages in Aarhus

[Peter Bakker]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
WORKSHOP ON MIXED LANGUAGES IN AARHUS, DENMARK
May 6,7, 8.

This workshop will bring together a number of people who have been
working on the genesis of mixed languages from a variety of
perspectives. We consider as mixed languages not Pidgins and Creoles,
but rather those languages which cannot be classified in a genetic
tree model, because they inherit one component (e.g. the lexicon)
from one language and another component (e.g. the grammatical system)
from different language. Prime examples are languages like Ma'a,
Media Lengua, Michif, Mednyj Aleut and Para-Romani verieties such as
Angloromani.
     At the Leiden workshop on mixed languages in 1994 (1), the
participants spoke about particular languages that they had been
working on. Few people at that time were aware of the existence of
class (or classes) of mixed languages. In the meantime, more and more
linguists have become aware of the fact that they do constitute a
special type, be it not necessarily homogenous in structure or
function. A handful of books and a number of articles on the subject
have been published in the last five years, and a few others are in
preparation. These mixed languages pose special challenges, not only
as to the question of their genesis and their structural similarities
and differences, but also for linguistic theories and
psycholinguistic models. At this workshop, the focus will not
be on the individual languages, but on the general properties and
issues. Participants are asked to give informal presentations about
special subjects. We hope to have speakers on the following subjects:
- codeswitching and the genesis of mixed languages
- Creoles and mixed languages
- types of mixed languages
- functions of mixed languages
- phonology of mixed languages
- registers and mixed languages
- use of historical data in mixed language research
- language death and mixed languages
- bilingual acquisition and mixed languages
- intergenerational competence differences and the genesis of mixed
languages
- relexification and mixed languages
- lexically mixed pidgins, Creoles and other languages
- bilingual production/processing and mixed languages
- distortion of form in mixed languages
- how many structurally different types of mixed languages are there
- mixed languages and historical linguistics
- mixed languages without systematic mixture
- diachronic evolution of mixed languages
- alternatives to the genetic tree model
- mixed languages, predictability and retrospection
- convergence and mixed languages
- language contact phenomena in the Chinese-Mongolian-Turkic-Tibetan
area
- field report on Danish Romani
- mixed languages and typology
- extreme borrowing and mixed languages
- secret languages and mixed languages

Hopefully, there will not only be linguists, but also some people
from other disciplines, notably biology and psychology, who will be
able to give their view on some of the matter.
      The workshop will take place on the University Campus,
Conference Centre, Nordre Ringgade 1, Richard Mortensen Stue, on
Thursday May 6 (afternoon), May 7 (whole day) and May 8 (morning
only?).
      Aarhus is the second city of Denmark, and the capital of
Jutland. The University has some 20.000 students. The linguistic
department has a small, but growing staff, and the number of students
increases each year. Visit the institute's websites on
http://www.au.dk/uk/hum/lingvist/index.html and
http://ling.hum.aau.dk. The campus of Aarhus university is found on
the fringe of the city centre. Aarhus can be reached by car, train,
bicycle, boat and aeroplane. The bus to and between Aarhus Tirstrup
Airport takes 50 minutes and the bus trip between Billund Airport and
Aarhus 80 minutes.

There is still room for more people, both as participants and
speakers. Please contact Peter Bakker as soon as possible if you want
to come.

(1) The book which resulted from this workshop (Bakker & Mous
eds., 1994) is still available. Its new distributor is  HAG
(Holland Academic Graphics) in The Hague. Address: P.O. Box 53292,
2505 AG The Hague, Netherlands. E-mail: mail at hag.nl

Information:
linpb at hum.aau.dk

Peter Bakker
Linguistics
Aarhus University
Willemoesgade 15-D
8200 Aarhus N
Denmark

tel.  00-45-8942.2178
fax: 00-45-8942.2175