ZAS Conference announcement: Focus in African languages

[Michael Cysouw]

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The ZAS (Project P7) and SFB 632 (Humboldt 
University, Berlin, and the University of 
Potsdam) are pleased to announce that they are 
organizing an:
       International conference on FOCUS IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES,
       to be held  at the ZAS, Berlin, from 6-8 October 2005.

Invited Speakers (confirmed):
Enoch Aboh, Larry Hyman, Victor Manfredi, Stéphane Robert, Russell Schuh.

The theme of the conference is the expression of 
information structure in African languages. 
Papers are particularly welcome discussing the 
following aspects of Information Structure:

- Formal marking of information structure, including focus particles
- Suprasegmental encoding of information structure
- The interaction of suprasegmental and segmental 
encoding of information structure
- Fixed positions for the expression of topic, focus
- WH-questions and question-answer pairs
- Focus vs. topic: how can these be distinguished?
- Topic-focus organization vs. thetic statements
- Types of focus

Papers will be chosen by the organizing committee 
on the basis of abstracts submitted. The final 
program is intended to represent a broad range of 
African languages and also a broad range of 
themes and approaches to this topic.

In conjunction with the Conference, the following Workshop will be held:
Date: Sunday, 9 October 2005
Theme: Information structure in Bantu languages
(co-organized with the London-Leiden-Berlin Bantu 
Grammar network: 
http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/users/lm5/bantu_project.htm)

Important Dates:
Abstract submission deadline: 3 April 2005
Program finalized: 1 June 2005

Abstract submission information:
Abstracts should be no longer than one page 
(approximately 500 words of text), including data 
and references. (Font size must be at least 12 
point Times or equivalent; the margins should be 
at least 1 inch (2,5 cm) on all sides or 
equivalent.)
Talks are 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes for discussion.
Please indicate on the abstract if you would like 
it to be considered for the workshop on Bantu 
languages.
We prefer for the abstracts to be submitted 
electronically, as an attachment sent to the 
email address below. Please submit the abstract 
as a pdf file, if possible. MSWord is acceptable 
if the abstract contains no special fonts. In 
case of electronic submission, attach the 
abstract without name and affiliation and send 
this information separately in the body of the 
message.
If the abstract is faxed or sent by post, two 
copies of the abstract should be submitted, one 
anonymous and the other including the author's 
name and affiliation just under the title. Mailed 
abstracts must be sent in time to be received by 
the deadline.

Address: FiAL, ZAS, Jaegerstr. 10-11, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
email: fial05 at zas.gwz-berlin.de; Fax: +49-30-201.92.402

Organizing and Abstract Review Committee:
   Tom Gueldemann, Laura Downing, Sabine Zerbian 
(ZAS); Brigitte Reineke, Ines Fiedler, Katharina 
Hartmann, Anne Schwarz, Malte Zimmermann 
(Humboldt);
Lutz Marten (SOAS) and Lisa Cheng (Leiden) for the Bantu workshop

Participants in the Berlin Focus conference are 
encouraged to attend the Gur Workshop held at the 
University of Bayreuth, Germany on 12 - 14 
October 2005:
Theme: " Aktuelle Fragen der 
Gursprachenforschung. Zwischen Ton und Text" 
["Current questions in Gur Language Research: 
Between Tone and Text"]
(http://www.uni-bayreuth.de/departments/afrikanistik/tagu/gurcon1.html)


--
**********************
Dr. Laura J. Downing
Zentrum fuer Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)
Jaegerstr. 10-11
10117 Berlin, Germany
email:  downing at zas.gwz-berlin.de
Phone: 49-30-201.92.424		Fax:  49-30-201.92.402
Web Page: http://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/mitarb/homepage/downing/ljdindex.html
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