[Lingtyp] CfP; ALT15 Workshop on the morphosyntactic coding of proper names; Zhuhai, China, Nov 8-10, 2024

Mon Jan 22 13:42:03 UTC 2024

Dear Typologists,

the next biannual conference of the Association of Linguistic Typology
(ALT15), November 8-10, 2024, at the Beijing Normal University in Zhuhai, China
(close to Hong Kong) will host a workshop that is exclusively dedicated to the
morphosyntactic properties of proper names. See
https://sites.google.com/view/alt2024/home for all practical information.

The title of the workshop is: 
"Proper names and their morphosyntactic behavior – special or not?"
The organizers of the workshop are: 
Johannes Helmbrecht (University of Regensburg, Germany), and 
Thomas Stolz (University of Bremen, Germany).

Workshop description.

Proper names (= PNs) are linguistic expressions that are used to refer to
unique, singular entities in the universe of discourse. PNs are semantically
almost empty, even if their etymology is often transparent. Their subdivisions
reflect the ontological classes of their referents. The most important PNs are
person names (anthroponyms = ANTHs) and place names (toponyms = TOPs). There is
a plethora of further name classes (see Nübling 2015:101-6 for an overview)
whose cross-linguistic properties have not been extensively studied yet. On
account of their better representation in the descriptive-linguistic
literature, the workshop’s focus will be on ANTHs and TOPs. 
PNs are inherently definite (cf. Van Langendonck 2007:154; Nübling et al.
2015:17) with distinct NP status. This is why PNs usually count as a "special"
subclass of nouns in individual languages as well as cross-linguistically. PNs
are "special", because they display grammatical properties which differ from
those of common nouns (= CNs) without constituting a homogeneous class either.
ANTHs and TOPs tend to differ grammatically as in Standard German where
definite articles are disallowed with ANTHs but mandatory with TOPs (except
settlement names). 
Numerous differences between PNs and CNs are known from other languages as
e.g. (i) different case allomorphs for PNs and CNs (Western Desert,
Pama-Nyungan, Dixon 1980:302), (ii) different case forms and categories for PNs
and CNs (Sinyar, Central Sudanic, Boyeldieu 2019), (iii) person names play a
role in DOM (Romance, Caro Reina 2020), (iv) PNs show variably ergative
alignment (like CNs) or accusative alignment (like pronouns) in split ergative
languages (Helmbrecht et al 2018), (v) PN show proper tripartite alignment
(Meryam Mir, Eastern-Trans Fly, Piper 2013), (vi) in contrast to CNs and ANTHs,
TOPs may undergo zero-marking for basic spatial relations (Stolz et al. 2014),
etc.
Research on the morphosyntactic properties of PNs is quite recent (Anderson
2004, 2007; Nübling 2005; Nübling et al. 2015; Van Langendonck 2007; Stolz et
al. 2017; Helmbrecht et al. (eds.) 2017; Helmbrecht 2020; Dammel & Handschuh
(eds.) 2019; Handschuh 2017). Systematic cross-linguistic studies on the
morphosyntax of PNs have only recently begun to take shape (Handschuh 2022,
Stolz & Nintemann 2023) and thus need to be refined and complemented.

This workshop brings together language-specific and cross-linguistic studies
on the morphosyntactic coding and grammatical behavior of PNs diverging from
those of CNs. We invite paper proposals that present investigations of these
differences in domains such as: 
- case marking of arguments, and/or adjuncts, 
- verbal agreement/ indexing, 
- word order, 
- grammatical relations, 
- alignment types, and the 
-  morphology of case paradigms and agreement markers,
- definiteness marking. 

In addition, we invite papers that survey more general questions: 
- are there functional explanations for the morphosyntactic differences? 
- do the morphosyntactic differences have an impact on the word class
categorization? 
- are ANTHs, TOPs, and other PNs always nouns? 
- how do PNs fit into the theory and typology of parts of speech (as e.g.,
prototype approach of Croft’s 2001, 2003)? 
- do the marking properties of PNs correspond to their frequency in discourse
(Haspelmath 2021)?
- the Animacy Hierarchy (Silverstein 1976; Dixon 1979:85; Croft 2003:130)
claims a similarity of person names with kinship terms, is there evidence for
this claim? 
- and Anderson (2004, 2007) puts forward the idea that there are similarities
between personal pronouns and PN on theoretical grounds thus raising the
question if there is corresponding morphosyntactic evidence across languages?

Abstracts for this workshop should be submitted to ALT15_2024 at proton.me.
Abstracts submitted for a workshop but not accepted there will be automatically
considered for inclusion in the general or poster session. Abstracts submitted
to a workshop will be jointly reviewed by members of the ALT 2024 Abstract
Review Committee and the workshop organizers (see
https://sites.google.com/view/alt2024/call-for-papers?authuser=0). 

Abstracts must be anonymous, max. one single-spaced page, 12pt font, with a
second page at most for examples and references. In addition, abstracts should
contain the following information on top of the page: abstract title, abstract
category (oral/poster), and workshop title.

Notification of acceptance will be sent around by May 20, 2024.

References:

Anderson, John M. 2004. On the grammatical status of names. Language 80.
435–474.
Anderson, John M. 2007. The grammar of names. Oxford University Press.
Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2019. Proper names and case markers in Sinyar (Chad/Sudan).
STUF - Language Typology and Universals (Special Issue: Grammar of Names),
72(4). 467-504.
Caro Reina, Javier. 2020. Differential object marking with proper names in
Romance languages. In Luise Kempf, Damaris Nübling & Mirjam Schmuck (Hg.),
Linguistik der Eigennamen, 225–254. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.
Croft, William. 2001. Radical Construction Grammar: syntactic theory in
typological perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Croft, William. 2003. Typology and universals. (2nd edition). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Dammel, Antje & Handschuh, Corinna (eds.). 2019. Grammar of Names. (Special
Issue: Grammar of Names) Language Typology and Universals STUF 72(4).
Dixon, R. M.W. 1980. The Languages of Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Handschuh, Corinna 2017. Nominal category marking on personal names. A
typological study of case and definiteness. In: Folia Linguistica
51(2):483-504.
Handschuh, Corinna. 2022. Personal names versus common nouns. Crosslinguistic
findings from morphology and syntax. In: Caro Reina, Javier & Helmbrecht,
Johannes (eds.). Proper names versus common nouns. Morphosyntactic contrasts in
the languages of the world (= Studia Typologica 29). 21-50. Berlin, Boston: De
Gruyter Mouton.
Haspelmath, Martin 2019. Differential place marking and differential object
marking. In: Language Typology and Universals STUF 72,3:313-334.
Haspelmath, Martin 2021. Explaining grammatical coding asymmetries:
Form–frequency correspondences and predictability. In J. Linguistics
57:605–633.
Helmbrecht, Johannes & Nübling, Damaris & Schlücker, Barbara (eds.). 2017.
Namengrammatik. (Special Issue) Linguistische Berichte 23.
Helmbrecht, Johannes 2020. Form and function of personal names: dimensions of
the morphosyntactic diversity. In: Levkovych, Natalia & Nintemann, Julia
(eds.). Aspects of the grammar of names. Empirical case studies and theoretical
topics. (LINCOM Studies in Language Typology, 33). 1-25. München: LINCOM.
Helmbrecht, Johannes, Lukas Denk, Sarah Thanner, and Ilenia Tonetti. 2018.
Morphosyntactic coding of proper names and its implications for the Animacy
Hierarchy. In: Typological Hierarchies in Synchrony and Diachrony, ed. by Sonja
Cristofaro and Fernando Zúñiga, 377–402. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: Benjamins.
Nübling, Damaris. 2005. Zwischen Syntagmatik und Paradigmatik: Grammatische
Eigennamenmarker und ihre Typologie. Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik
33, 25–56. 
Nübling, Damaris. 2017. The growing distance between proper names and common
nouns in German. On the development of onymic schema constancy. In: Tanja
Ackermann & Barbara Schlücker (eds.). The Morphosyntax of Proper Names.
(Special issue). Folia Linguistica 51(2):341-367.
Nübling, Damaris, Fabian Fahlbusch & Rita Heuser. 2015. Namen. Eine Einführung
in die Onomastik. 2., überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Tübingen: Narr. 
Piper, Nick. 2013. A sketch grammar of Meryam Mir. München: LINCOM EUROPA
Stolz, Thomas & Lestrade, Sander & Stolz, Christel. 2014. The
cross-linguistics of zero-marking of spatial relations. (Studia Typologica 15).
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Stolz, Thomas & Levkovych, Natalia & Urdze, Aina 2017. Die Grammatik der
Toponyme als typologisches Forschungsfeld. In: Helmbrecht et al. (eds.).
Namengrammatik. (Special Issue) Linguistische Berichte 23:121-146.
Stolz, Thomas & Nintemann, Julia. 2023. Special onymic grammar in typological
perspective. Cross-linguistic data, recurrent patterns, functional explanations
(= Studia Typologica 34). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. 
Silverstein, Michael. 1976. Hierarchy of features and ergativity. In
Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages, Robert M. W. Dixon (ed.),
112–171. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
Van Langendonck, Willy. 2007. Theory and typology of proper names. Berlin, New
York: Mouton de Gruyter.

-- 
Professor Dr. Johannes Helmbrecht
Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft
Geschäftsführer IIMSK
(Institut für Information und Medien, Sprache und Kultur)
Universität Regensburg
Universitätsstrasse 31
D-93053 Regensburg, Deutschland
Tel. 0941/943-3388
Tel. 0941/943-3387 (Sekretariat)
Fax. 0941/943-2429
Website: 
http://www-avs.uni-regensburg.de/
E-mail:
johannes.helmbrecht at ur.de

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