Call for Papers

[Juhani Klemola]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
                               Call for Papers

       International Colloquium on Early Contacts between English and
                             the Celtic Languages
          University of Joensuu Research Station, Mekrijarvi, Finland
                              24-26 August, 2001

Scholars interested in historical and linguistic contacts between
English and the Celtic languages are invited to offer contributions to
 the "International Colloquium on Early Contacts between English
and the Celtic Languages", which will be held from August 24 to
26, 2001, at the University of Joensuu Research Station in
Mekrijarvi, North Karelia, Finland.

The aim of the Colloquium is to bring together distinguished
scholars – historians, Celticists, Anglicists, and general linguists –
 to discuss the nature and extent of the historical and linguistic
contacts between speakers of Celtic languages and speakers of
Germanic languages and their impact on the development of the
English language. Despite the recent rise of interest in the
possibility of Celtic substratum influences in English, there have so
 far been few opportunities for scholars working on different aspects
 of this question to come together and exchange their findings. It is
 the purpose of this Colloquium to provide a forum for such
discussion. A selection of the papers will be published.

The contributions are expected to address questions relating to the
 following broad topics:

(i) the historical background to the early (i.e. medieval and  early
    modern) contacts between speakers of Celtic and  Germanic
    languages;

(ii)the linguistic outcomes of the early contacts in phonology,
    grammar and lexis.

The following speakers are already confirmed: Anders Ahlqvist
(Galway), Andrew Breeze (Navarra), Richard Coates (Sussex),
Nick Higham (Manchester), Cathair Ó Dochairtaigh (Glasgow),
Erich Poppe (Marburg), Peter Schrijver (Munich), Hildegard L.C.
Tristram (Potsdam), Theo Vennemann (Munich), and Kalevi Wiik
(Turku).

The Colloquium will be organised by the project group “English and
Celtic in Contact”, whose members are Prof. Markku Filppula
(University of Joensuu), Dr. Juhani Klemola (University of Helsinki),
and Ms Heli Pitkanen (University of Joensuu). Funded by the
Academy of Finland, this project is run jointly by the Department of
 English, University of Joensuu, and the Research Unit for Variation
 and Change in English, University of Helsinki.
(For more information about the project please check the website
http://www.joensuu.fi/fld/ecc/)

Please note that only a limited number of papers (20+10 minutes)
can be accepted because of the limitations of space at the
Mekrijarvi Research Station. The conference fee of FIM 1000
(approx. £100 sterling) will cover 3 nights’ full board and lodging at
Mekrijarvi from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon, and coach
transportation from Joensuu to Mekrijarvi on the evening of
Thursday 23 August and back to Joensuu on Sunday 26 August.
The programme will run from Friday morning till Sunday afternoon.

Abstracts (maximum 1 page) and all enquiries should be sent to Dr
 Juhani Klemola, e-mail juhani.klemola at helsinki.fi (conventional
mail: Department of English, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 3,
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland). The deadline for
submission  is 15 March, 2001.