26.774, Calls: Germanic, Computational Ling, Historical Ling, Lang Acquisition, Syntax, Text/Corpus Ling/Netherlands

Fri Feb 6 01:09:31 UTC 2015

LINGUIST List: Vol-26-774. Thu Feb 05 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.774, Calls: Germanic, Computational Ling, Historical Ling, Lang Acquisition, Syntax, Text/Corpus Ling/Netherlands

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Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2015 20:09:13
From: Lotte Hendriks [workshopvc at gmail.com]
Subject: Workshop Verb Clusters

Full Title: Workshop Verb Clusters 

Date: 28-May-2015 - 29-May-2015
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands 
Contact Person: Lotte Hendriks
Meeting Email: workshopvc at gmail.com

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics; Historical Linguistics; Language Acquisition; Syntax; Text/Corpus Linguistics; Typology 

Language Family(ies): Germanic 

Call Deadline: 01-Mar-2015 

Meeting Description:

The University of Amsterdam and the Meertens Institute organize a Workshop on Verb Clusters in Amsterdam on 28 & 29 May 2015.

A subset of the West-Germanic languages are (in)famous for their constructions in which multiple verbs group together, also known as 'verb clusters'. Although this phenomenon has been studied extensively over the last decades, many questions are still unanswered. During the last years research in verb clusters has revived, leading us to the conclusion that it is time for a reassessment of the various approaches to this exciting topic. In order to get a good overview of the current state-of-the-art, we organise a thematic workshop on the syntax of verb clusters aimed at bringing together researchers from various frameworks, performing formal-theoretical, experimental, descriptive or computational research. 

Invited speakers include Griet Coupé, Evie Coussé, Jack Hoeksema, Martin Salzmann and Jan-Wouter Zwart. 

Call for Papers:

Of particular interest are presentation proposals that address one or more of the following topics:

- The analysis of verb clusters. This not only concerns the purely syntactic aspects regarding cluster formation, but also various language-internal or language-external factors that play a role in the formation of verb clusters.
- The construction/word order of verb clusters versus the construction/word order of other constituents in the sentence.
- Word-order variation within the cluster. Can this variation tell us more about the construction of verb clusters?  How can we relate this variation to the types of verbs in the cluster?
- Typological variation and historical change in verbal clusters. Some West-Germanic languages have verbal clusters and others don't, and among the languages and dialects with verbal clusters, a lot of different word orders have been attested. Where did all this variation come from?
 - Unattested word orders. Are alleged 'unattested' word orders a (sociolinguistic) coincidence or can they be motivated by deeper explanations? What would those explanations look like and do they concern language-internal or language-external factors?
- Interruption of the verb cluster by nonverbal material. How are these constructions analysed and how can we account for the observed variation in the phenomenon?
- Status of particles with respect to verb cluster formation. Particles seem to play a special role, as they are more commonly allowed to interrupt the verb cluster. What is the structure and function of these elements both inside and outside the verb cluster?
- Verb cluster acquisition: how do children learn the mechanisms of verbal clusters? Are some kinds of verbal clusters learned faster or more easily than others, and can this tell us anything about the syntactic processes involved in verbal cluster formation?
- Syntax-semantics interface: Some theories, such as construction grammar, claim that a difference in form always implies a difference in meaning. Verbal clusters can be seen as a counterexample to this, since word order variation here does not seem to correspond to a clear meaning difference. Or can a meaning difference be found?
- Methodological issues regarding the study of verb clusters.

The abstract is limited to one page, including references. The abstracts should be sent to workshopvc at gmail.com by March 1, 2015. Applicants will receive notification of acceptance by April 20, 2015. 

Organizers:

Liesbeth Augustinus, Sjef Barbiers, Hans Bennis, Jelke Bloem en Lotte Hendriks

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