20.174, Calls: Ling Theories/United Kingdom; Lang Acquisition,Pragmatics/France

Tue Jan 20 16:36:04 UTC 2009

LINGUIST List: Vol-20-174. Tue Jan 20 2009. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 20.174, Calls: Ling Theories/United Kingdom; Lang Acquisition,Pragmatics/France

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1)
Date: 19-Jan-2009
From: Glenda Newton < gen21 at cam.ac.uk >
Subject: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders 

2)
Date: 19-Jan-2009
From: Emmanuelle Mathiot < emmanuelle.mathiot at univ-lille3.fr >
Subject: From Gesture to Sign: Pointing in Oral and Signed Languages

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:32:12
From: Glenda Newton [gen21 at cam.ac.uk]
Subject: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders

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Full Title: Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders 

Date: 30-May-2009 - 01-Jun-2009
Location: Newcastle, United Kingdom 
Contact Person: Glenda Newton
Meeting Email: gen21 at cam.ac.uk
Web Site: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/linearization/index.php 

Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories; Syntax; Typology 

Call Deadline: 01-Feb-2009 

Meeting Description:

The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers working on
disharmonic (i.e. mixed head-initial and head-final) word orders from both
theoretical and empirical perspectives. The conference is funded by the AHRC
through the project 'Structure and Linearisation in Disharmonic Word Orders'
(AH/E009239/1) 

Call for Papers

Theoretical Approaches to Disharmonic Word Orders
Newcastle University
May 30th- June 1st 2009

Invited speakers: Guglielmo Cinque (Venice), Matthew Dryer (SUNY Buffalo), Jim
Huang (Harvard), Richard Kayne (NYU)

One of the salient results of Greenberg's pioneering work in language typology
was the notion of a "harmonic" word-order type. Greenberg's work initiated a
research program, successful in many ways, of formulating inductive
cross-linguistic generalizations on the basis of comparison of languages sampled
so as to be representative of all the languages of the world. Although language
typology has contributed much to our understanding of comparative grammar, it
lacks formal, theoretical grounding. There have been numerous attempts, arguably
beginning with Hawkins (1983), to express Greenbergian generalisations,
including the notion of cross-categorial harmony, using the formal mechanisms of
Chomskyan theory, and thereby to integrate the two approaches. These have always
suffered from difficulties, however, in dealing with "mixed" or "disharmonic"
systems. This has created particular difficulties for principles-and-parameters
approaches to word-order typology, since these predict that, other things being
equal, any grammatical system must fall on one side or other of any
cross-linguistic dichotomy.  As a result, certain basic questions concerning
word-order typology remain unanswered. Among the most important questions are
the following: since it seems that a single word-order parameter is too strong,
given the attested variation, are word-order parameters then to be stated for
each (lexical/functional) category, for classes of categories, or for all
categories subject to some defeasibility constraint? Is it then true that, in
fact, anything goes, beyond each category having to have a fixed internal order?
If not, what generalisations can be made aside from the simple observation that
most languages are tendentially head-initial or head-final? These are the
central themes this conference is intended to address.

Accordingly, we invite abstracts dealing with aspects of disharmonic word
orders. These include:

- evidence for or against given possible generalisations concerning subtypes of
harmony (e.g. clause-internal vs nominal-internal orders, etc);
- evidence for or against asymmetries in disharmonic orders;
- evidence for or against the role of historical or areal factors in determining
disharmonic orders, particularly the role of and limits on language contact;
- evidence for or against different surface triggers for word-order parameter
settings;
- evidence for or against limiting word-order variation to a specific subpart of
the grammar (functional heads, the lexicon, PF, etc.);
- evidence regarding the learnability of disharmonic parametric systems.

Papers may deal with these questions from any theoretical or empirical
standpoint, including, for instance language acquisition and language change.
Presentations will last one hour each (forty-five minutes for the presentation
followed by fifteen minutes for questions). 

Abstract Submission Details:
Abstracts should not exceed two pages of A4, formatted with one-inch (2.5cm)
margins on all sides with text in 12-point type. Data and examples must be given
within the body of the text, but references may be included on an extra page if
necessary. 

Please submit two versions of your abstract, one anonymous and one showing your
name and affiliation, in pdf format by e-mail to Glenda Newton (gen21 at cam.ac.uk) 

Submission deadline: February 1st 2009. 

Notification of acceptance will be no later than April 1st 2009.

-------------------------Message 2 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:32:18
From: Emmanuelle Mathiot [emmanuelle.mathiot at univ-lille3.fr]
Subject: From Gesture to Sign: Pointing in Oral and Signed Languages

E-mail this message to a friend:
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Full Title: From Gesture to Sign: Pointing in Oral and Signed Languages 

Date: 04-Jun-2009 - 05-Jun-2009
Location: Lille, France 
Contact Person: Emmanuelle Mathiot
Meeting Email: colloque.pointage.soumission at univ-lille3.fr
Web Site:
http://stl.recherche.univ-lille3.fr/colloques/20082009/Du_geste_au_signe/colloqueLSF2009_accueil.html

Linguistic Field(s): Language Acquisition; Pragmatics; Psycholinguistics 

Call Deadline: 30-Jan-2009 

Meeting Description:

International Conference
4-5 June 2009
Université Lille 3, France

>From Gesture to sign: Pointing in Oral and Signed Languages 
Organised by UMR 8163 « Savoirs, Textes, Langage » (CNRS, Lille3 & Lille1) 

Call for Papers

Key Dates
First call for submissions: 1 October 2008
Second call for submissions : 1 December 2008
Deadline for submissions: 30 January 2009
Notification of acceptance: 15 March 2009
Preliminary programme: 1 April 2009
Conference: 4-5 June 2009

Theme
This conference follows two other conferences on signed languages organised at
Université Lille3. This time again the aim is to assess and highlight research
on signed languages, while at the same time strengthening comparative work on
spoken and signed languages by bringing together researchers for discussion and
collaboration on the topic of Pointing.

Pointing is a universal gesture used in both spoken and signed languages, by
children before the emergence of language as well as by adults. It can be
observed in the transition from pre-linguistic to linguistic communication in
hearing children, and it is concurrent with the first signs in deaf-signing
children. Yet, as recent research in gestural studies has underlined, pointing
is not limited to early interaction. It is also widely used in adult dialogues,
whether oral or signed. One central question the conference wishes to address is
whether pointing should be analysed as gesturing or as a linguistic sign.
Pointing is therefore a topic which invites discussion and collaboration between
researchers from different fields:

Language acquisition: first observed before the use of children's first words,
pointing has generally been considered as one of the first manifestations of
children's symbolising capacities. It enables children to identify and single
out certain elements as a focus for joint attention. Pointing is often seen as a
transitional phenomenon between pre-linguistic and linguistic productions, and
studies have shown its role in early word combination.

Gestural studies, where the part played by gestures in communication and
discourse informs cognitive development and processes.

Syntax of signed languages : in signed languages, units are combined mainly
through spatial constructions in which pointing is always central, whether
authors see it as a proper linguistic marker or as a mixture of linguistic and
deictic information. 

Whether in spoken or signed languages, in language development or in adult
communication, pointing is related to prosody, facial expression and gaze.

Research in these domains should therefore inform studies on pointing.

For this conference, proposals focusing on pointing will be given full
attention. Yet, proposals dealing with other aspects of the relationship between
gestures and signs will also be considered.

Organising Committee
Georgette Dal, Emmanuelle Mathiot and Annie Risler (UMR 8163 «Savoirs, Textes,
Langage», CNRS Lille1 & Lille.

Programme Committee
The abstracts will be double-blind peer-reviewed by referees working on spoken
and/or signed languages in one of the following fields: syntax of signed
languages, gestural studies, language acquisition.

Languages
Abstracts can be submitted in French or in English.
Presentations will be in French, French Signed Language (LSF) and/or English.

Interpreters will provide instant translation from LSF into French/English and
from French/English into LSF.

Organisation
The conference is organised by UMR « Savoirs, Textes, Langage » and Université
Lille3.

Submission
Submissions should include :
An anonymous abstract in French or English. It should not exceed two A4 pages in
Times 12 (including references).
The topic and conclusions should be stated clearly in the abstract.

The author(s)' name(s), affiliation, postal address, e-mail address, as well as
the title of the presentation, should be sent on a separate document.

All submissions will be submitted electronically at:
colloque.pointage.soumission at univ-lille3.fr in .rtf, .doc or .pdf versions.

The abstract and author information should be sent in separate files.

Deadline for submissions is 30 January 2009.
If you are unable to submit your proposal electronically, please send two copies
of your abstract and information to the following address before 30 January 2009 :

Université de Lille 3
UMR « Savoirs, Textes, Langage »
Colloque « Du geste au signe : le pointage dans les langues orales et Signées »
BP 60149
59653 VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ CEDEX

Paper Selection
We solicit proposals on original, previously unpublished research.
Submissions will be reviewed anonymously by two referees in the field.
The evaluation of the submissions will be based on the following :

Importance and originality of the proposal in the field
Empirically-based analysis
Detailed and accurate scientific content
Clearly organised outline

Proceedings
The conference proceedings will be published in Silexicales (a publication by
UMR STL, CNRS & Lille3).

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