[lg policy] Calls: The Formation of Regiolects in the Low Countries

[Harold Schiffman]

The Formation of Regiolects in the Low Countries


Full Title: The Formation of Regiolects in the Low Countries

Date: 20-Nov-2009 - 20-Nov-2009
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Contact Person: Gunther De Vogelaer
Meeting Email: < click here to access email >

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): Dutch

Call Deadline: 15-Jul-2009

Meeting Description:

In this workshop we hope to provide an overview of the more recent
developments in the field, thereby focusing on the following three
issues:

1. Methodological innovations: since the 1990s, new, mainly
quantitative methods have been introduced to measure the effect of the
relevant factors (see, e.g., Britain 2002 for geographical mobility;
Gooskens 2007 for intelligibility), yielding more precise estimates on
the weight of each of the alleged factors.

2. Theoretical innovations: the fact that regiolectization phenomena
have been described for a large number of European languages (e.g.,
Auer 2005; Auer, Hinskens & Kerswill eds. 2005) allows for
cross-linguistic comparison, which should, in turn, facilitate
language-independent theorizing on the nature of the factors in
regiolectization.

3. Broader empirical coverage: the past decade has witnessed the
emergence of a wealth of empirical data, such as new dialect atlases
for Dutch phonology, morphology and syntax, and the Corpus of Spoken
Dutch. These new data allow a considerable refinement of the current
theories, as well as a proper description of the developments that
have occurred the past 10-20 years, including the rise of new,
regionally flavoured varieties of Standard Dutch (e.g.
Poldernederlands in the Netherlands, ‘tussentaal’ in Flanders).

Invited Speakers:

The following invited speakers have confirmed their participation:
Peter Auer (Freiburg)
David Britain (Essex)
Frans Hinskens (Meertens Institute / Vrije Universiteit)
Jürgen-Erich Schmidt and Roland Kehrein (Marburg)

The Organizing Committee:

Sjef Barbiers (Meertens Institute – University of Utrecht)
Luk Draye (University of Leuven)
Gunther De Vogelaer (FWO-Flanders – Ghent University)
Magda Devos (Ghent University)
Wilbert Heeringa (Meertens Institute)
Roeland van Hout (Radboud University Nijmegen)

Venue:

The workshop will take place in Ghent, in the ‘Royal Academy for Dutch
Linguistics and Literature’ (or ‘Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en
Letterkunde’ (KANTL)), Koningstraat 18 (i.e. in the historical centre of the
city). Anyone in need of accommodation for the night may contact the organizers
(gunther.devogelaerugent.be).

Call for Papers:

As in many European languages, traditional dialects in the Low
Countries are shifting towards regiolects, i.e. non-standard
vernacular varieties characterizing a region rather than a specific
locality. For Dutch, the relevant developments have been described in
the 1990s (e.g., by Hoppenbrouwers 1990 and Hinskens 1996 for the
Netherlands, and by Vandekerckhove 2000 for Flanders; see also
Hinskens, Hoppenbrouwers & Taeldeman, eds. 1993). The main factors in
regiolectisation include both sociological and linguistic ones, such
as an increased social and geographical mobility on the language
user's part, changing attitudes towards dialects and standard
languages, intelligibility differences between dialects and standard
languages, and tendencies towards simplification in situations of
dialect contact (where 'koineization' is observed).

While the workshop centers on the Dutch language area, we also welcome
contributions targeting other areas. To participate, send your
one-page abstract (including references) to gunther.devogelaerugent.be
or wilbert.heeringameertens.knaw.nl, to arrive no later than July, 15.
Talks are 20 min. (+ 10 min. discussion). Decisions on the acceptance
of the abstract can be expected before September, 1. A selection of
papers will appear as a theme issue of Taal & Tongval
(http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/taalentongval/).

http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-2272.html
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