23.2944, Calls: Anthropological Ling, Cognitive Science, Historical Ling/ Journal of Language Contact (Jrnl)

[linguist at linguistlist.org]

LINGUIST List: Vol-23-2944. Thu Jul 05 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.2944, Calls: Anthropological Ling, Cognitive Science, Historical Ling/ Journal of Language Contact (Jrnl)

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Veronika Drake, U of Wisconsin Madison
Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin Madison
Rajiv Rao, U of Wisconsin Madison
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin Madison
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin Madison
       <reviews at linguistlist.org>

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Do you want to donate to LINGUIST without spending an extra penny? Bookmark
the Amazon link for your country below; then use it whenever you buy from
Amazon!

USA: http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlist-20
Britain: http://www.amazon.co.uk/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlist-21
Germany: http://www.amazon.de/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlistd-21
Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlist-22
Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlistc-20
France: http://www.amazon.fr/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=linguistlistf-21

For more information on the LINGUIST Amazon store please visit our
FAQ at http://linguistlist.org/amazon-faq.cfm.

Editor for this issue: Brent Miller <brent at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  


Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:01:19
From: Robert Nicolaï [nicolai at unice.fr]
Subject: Journal of Language Contact

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=23-2944.html&submissionid=4549228&topicid=3&msgnumber=1
 
Full Title: Journal of Language Contact 


Call Deadline: 01-Oct-2012 

Thematic issue of Journal of Language Contact (JLC)

Limits of contact, contact at its limits. Questioning language contact as 
'phenomenon', 'concept' and 'construction'.

Abstracts of approximately 300 words should be submitted by 1st October 
2012. 

Please send your proposals (in English or French) to: nicolai at unice.fr. 

First drafts due October 1st 2013 for a thematic issue (Spring 2014).

Full instructions for submission can be found on http://brill.nl/jlc 

The study of language contact has become a popular topic in present 
linguistic research and is thus considered today as a worthwhile scientific 
interest. But how to continue for those who have been studying this topic for 
long and how to avoid the negative consequences of mainstreamed 
research? The purpose here shall be to critically review the development of 
this issue at distance by focusing on the following points: 

1. What can we learn in general from the study of language contact for our 
knowledge of languages, their dynamics and their functions (systemic 
elaborations, language practices, semiotic developments)? 
2. How should linguistic theory incorporate the empirical findings of language 
contact studies and the underlying postulates of existing models be altered 
(in our analysis's choices and epistemic frameworks), 
3. Is the metaphorical concept of 'contact' including all its potential readings 
and extensions sustainable and operational (in the same way as 'border', 
'frontier', 'disruption, 'divide' ...), 
4. Which role does language contact play or has it played for the history of 
linguistic research and academic life, in which way has this idea been 
influential to individual researches and their approaches. 

What we expect: papers that critically expose problems in present language 
contact analysis and make progress in the above mentioned issues on the 
basis of empirical findings. 

Additional comments:

a) Limits of 'contact'. As an empirical phenomenon as such, language 
contact has opened a field of linguistic research in which the dynamics and 
circumstantial conditions of language are under scrutiny, including the 
dynamics of social meaning and anthropology. This reflexive consideration 
has led to new perspectives and concepts in linguistic theory; not only with 
regard to the inventory of descriptive categories (such as code- switching, 
convergence, language mixing), but also concerning theoretical and analytical 
frameworks. Still, whatever may be the role of contact, not anything that is 
attributed to contact must figure under this heading as there is a risk of 
misinterpreting other phenomenon as outcome of contact. Thus, we need to 
reflect on the limits and test the explanatory value of 'contact' in empirical 
studies. The issue will be how our understanding of 'language contact' might 
be revisited, by comparing it with related but alternative approaches. 
b) 'Contact' at its limits. Contact should not be perceived either exclusively 
as a given phenomenon or an object to describe, but moreover as a 
constructed concept. This is why it is not intended to be a catch-all 
explanation. It shall be designed as a conceptual tool that can be used for the 
categorization of dichotomies such as homogeneity/heterogeneity and 
stability/variation. 
c) The construction of the 'Contact' issue. Figuring as actors in practices of 
scientific communication, theory building and description, it seems finally 
necessary to reflect on our roles in the epistemological process; as we, at the 
same time, produce and judge our own interpretations.






----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-23-2944	
----------------------------------------------------------