[Lingtyp] Invitation SHAPE kick off colloquium, Paris, June 8-9, 2026

[Noor Efrat-Kowalsky]

We're delighted to invite interested colleagues to the colloquium "*SHAPE **in
Language and Cognition*" to be held in Paris and online on June 8-9, which
marks the launch of the ERC Synergy project SHAPE. Attached please find a
flyer and below the program for your reference. For the abstract of the
talks, see https://www.ntnu.edu/shape/events.

Best wishes,
The organising committee
Magdalena Lemus Serrano, Nour Efrat-Kowalsky, Mila Vulchanova, Lia Călinescu,
Valentin Vulchanov, Frank Seifart



*SHAPE in Language and Cognition: An International Colloquium*

Monday, June 8, 2026, 14:00-17:00, and Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 13:45-17:00

Shape is a prominent feature of the visual world and determines how we perceive
and store information about objects, how we interact with them, and what
uses they can be put to. Shape is also richly encoded in the languages of
the world. For instance, languages such as Mandarin Chinese and Amazonian
Bora have special grammatical categories for long vs. flat vs round
objects. And in sign languages, shape prominently organizes the lexicon and
grammar, with the hands representing visuo geometric properties of
real-world referents. During early language acquisition, children attend to
shape as a vital cue for acquiring the label of objects. This process
develops at the intersection between spatial ability skills and language,
especially vocabulary size. But interestingly, children on atypical
developmental trajectories tend to have problems in using this strategy for
word learning. All of this suggests that there is a rich, and probably
bi-directional relationship between the visual perception of shape and its
representation in language. The colloquium "SHAPE in Language and
Cognition" brings together an interdisciplinary and international group of
experts to discuss the relationship between the visual perception of shape
and language. The talks will address the two-way relationship between spatial
cognition and language from the perspectives of global linguistic and
cultural diversity, language acquisition, and cognitive development, and
the factors that contribute to difficulties in this domain for children on
atypical developmental paths. The colloquium marks the initiation of the
six-year international research project "The System of Shape
Representations in Cognition, Development and Across Languages", funded by
an ERC Synergy Grant (see
https://www.ntnu.edu/shape/).

Venue: INALCO Maison de la recherche, 2 Rue de Lille, 75007 Paris, and online
at https://zoom.us/j/98346033268 (Passcode : 024336)

Admission: Free no registration required

Program:
Monday, June 8
14:30-15:00
Welcome addresses by Alexandre Toumarkine (INALCO) and Stefano Manfredi
(SeDyL)
15:00-15:30
Pamela Perniss (U Cologne) and Frank Seifart (SeDyL): Shape in spoken and
signed languages across the world: What we know and how to know more
15:30-16:00
Linda B. Smith (Indiana U) and Mila Vulchanova (NTNU): Shape in vision and
in cognitive development: It's abstract, yet complex
16:00-17:00
Round table discussion: The relationship between the visual perception of
shape and language with SHAPE Advisory Board members Östen Dahl (Stockholm
U and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), Jenny Saffran (U of
Wisconsin-Madison),
Inge-Marie Eigsti (U of Connecticut), Jim Magnuson (U of Connecticut, BCBL,
Donostia-San Sebastián).
Moderation: Larissa Samuelson (U of East Anglia).
17:00-19:00
Reception

Tuesday, June 9
13:45-14:30
Mary Peterson (U of Arizona): Shape Perception: More Complex than Feed-Forward
Theories Suppose
14:30-15:15
John Mansfield (U of Zurich): Inheritance and diffusion of ungrounded
concepts
15:15-16:00
Marie Coppola (U of Connecticut): Shape gets you off the ground but not across
the finish line: Conventionalization of tool labels in homesign.
16:00-17:00
Round table discussion: The relationship between the visual perception of
shape and language with SHAPE Advisory Board members Karla McGregor
(Boys Town National Research Hospital), Lynn Perry (U of Miami), Kenny Coventry
(U of East Anglia), and Jürgen Bohnemeyer (U at Buffalo).
Moderation: Caroline Larson (U of Missouri)
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