21.1617, Confs: Syntax, Discourse Analysis, Ling & Literature/France

Sun Apr 4 02:57:41 UTC 2010

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-1617. Sat Apr 03 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.1617, Confs: Syntax, Discourse Analysis, Ling & Literature/France

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1)
Date: 02-Apr-2010
From: Eric Corre < eric.corre at wanadoo.fr >
Subject: Representation of Events

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 03 Apr 2010 22:56:10
From: Eric Corre [eric.corre at wanadoo.fr]
Subject: Representation of Events

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Representation of Events 

Date: 28-Oct-2010 - 30-Oct-2010 
Location: Paris, France 
Contact: Eric Corre 
Contact Email: eric.corre at univ-paris3.fr 
Meeting URL: http://sesylia.com/colloques.html 

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Discourse Analysis; Lexicography; Ling &
Literature; Syntax 

Meeting Description: 

The SESYLIA-LILT linguistic research team at  Institut du Monde Anglophone,
Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle, is organizing a conference on the notion(s) of
"events" with the following goals:
- to take stock of current research on event structure and the verb from the 
perspective of lexical or generative syntax, cognitive linguistics or
'énonciative' (utterer-centered) frameworks;
- to consider the event in relation to language acquisition;
- to encourage a cross-fertilization of ideas on the discursive, historical, 
philosophical, poetic and literary uses of events;
- to promote dialogue and interaction between different approaches to the 
notion of events. 

Non Linguistic Perspective

The term "event" immediately calls to mind a number of synonyms such 
as : "fact, situation, accident, incident". The etymology of the last two 
suggests different ideas: an accident  is what "falls into" (ad+cadere) a 
landmark; an incident describes an external entity that "comes out" onto a 
scene, i.e. an observable presence manifests itself on a previously empty 
scene. An event is linked to the emergence, the appearance, revelation or 
inchoation of some fact, some situation that stands out against the normal 
flow of things and deserves to be remarked upon. From that perspective, the 
role of the narrator/observer is central in presenting an event. Moreover, an 
event is a construction that is linked to a given period and a particular 
context.

>From a philosophical perspective there are two schools of thought: some 
philosophers (for example Kim, Chisholm) conceive of events as universal and
generic entities (properties of moments of time) with individual events 
obtained from special axioms. Others (for example Davidson) think that events
are individual entities with the same ontological status as objects or 
substances: generic events are types (of individual events). For D. Van de 
Velde (2006), it so happens that these two conceptions of events correspond to
two types of events nominalizations, which she calls "complete" and "incomplete"
nominalisations.

It is therefore interesting to review the multiple definitions of the notion of
"event" . In literature, we may wonder under what circumstances a fact or an
accident becomes an event. Why does a narrator choose to name facts 
or persons "events" as in the Joyce quote? What is the connection between 
events and the narrative process in general ? 

Which event or person emerged as the salient point in his narration?
Stephen Dedalus, professor and author. (J. Joyce, Ulysses)

Linguistic Perspective 

It is the individualizing and constructional aspect of events, the notion 
that events are objects that have the ontology of a substance AND can be 
broken down into instants with variable temporal  thickness, which helps 
explain the use of the notion "event" in linguistic analysis. Since the work 
of Davidson  (1967), research on events and their representation has been rich
and varied in several domains of linguistic analysis, from syntax to discourse
pragmatics. The following aspects will be of relevance in the conference:

1) From the perspective of the morphosyntax of verbs/events, of lexical and/or
generative semantics:
- an event-based ontology has allowed linguists to better identify the meaning
components associated with the structure of verbs and VPs (Aktionsart
components, causativity, resultativity, etc.), and the term "event structure"
has become very popular indeed among linguists who deal with events and/or verb
classes;
- a parallel investigation of verbal roots has emerged with the goal of better 
representing verb meaning. Of particular interest is the relation of verbal 
roots to structural templates.
- work on event nominalisations has revealed certain differences, between 
simple and complex derived nominals (Grimshaw 1991 for English) and between
complete or incomple nominalizations (Van de Velde 2006 for French). Amongst
other things this helps us to make a distinction between facts and actions.

2) From a theoretical perspective, events are either not represented or 
represented differently: Role and Reference Grammar (Van Valin) never uses an
eventual or subeventual notation, Pustejovsky's Generative Lexicon theory
constantly uses it, Generative and Transformational Grammar (Guéron, Ramchand)
distinguishes between lexical (encyclopaedic) and functional information with
event structure phrases belonging to the first level of representation but
somehow finding their way onto higher nodes. Other theories (Cognitive Grammar,
the French Theory of Predicative and Enunciative Operations) do without a
(sub)eventual notation and defend the view that eventive lexemes (verbs,
verb-particle combinations, prefixed verbs) can be represented in the form of
abstract scenarios or configurations which do not need that level of
representation. 

3) From the perspective of language acquisition and the use of events in 
discourse studies :
- it is interesting to study how and how fast (or slowly) children assimilate 
the difference between events classes and/or verb classes? The question can best
be asked in relation to multiple languages;
- In literary types of discourse, is the notion of event relevant to the shaping
of narrations? Are works carried out in the framework of Discourse
Representation Theory applicable to literary analysis? 

Conference Convenors:

Eric Corre
Geneviève Girard-Gillet
Aliyah Morgenstern
Claude Delmas

Plenary Speakers (for linguistics):
Hagit Borer (University of Southern California)
Jacqueline Guéron (Université Paris 3)
Jean-Pierre Koënig (University at Buffalo)
Robert D. Van Valin, Jr. (University at Buffalo & Heinrich-Heine-University 
Düsseldorf)

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