27.4606, Calls: Causal Connectives: Cross-Linguistic Parallels : Cog Sci, Gen Ling, Pragmatics, Semantics, Text/Corpus Ling/Switzerland

Fri Nov 11 16:33:39 UTC 2016

LINGUIST List: Vol-27-4606. Fri Nov 11 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.4606, Calls:  Causal Connectives: Cross-Linguistic Parallels : Cog Sci, Gen Ling, Pragmatics, Semantics, Text/Corpus Ling/Switzerland

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Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 11:33:31
From: Joanna Blochowiak [Joanna.Blochowiak at unige.ch]
Subject: Causal Connectives: Cross-Linguistic Parallels

Full Title: Causal Connectives: Cross-Linguistic Parallels 

Date: 10-Sep-2017 - 13-Sep-2017
Location: Zurich, Switzerland 
Contact Person: Joanna Blochowiak
Meeting Email: Joanna.Blochowiak at unige.ch

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; General Linguistics; Pragmatics; Semantics; Text/Corpus Linguistics 

Call Deadline: 18-Nov-2016 

Meeting Description:

The differences between backward causal connectives (because, since, for) have
been extensively studied in many languages since Groupe Lambda-l (1975)’s
famous work on French connectives ('parce que', 'puisque' and 'car'). The
differences between these connectives within one language have been described
using various methodological and theoretical frameworks that focus on
different aspects and ingredients necessary to constitute a fully descriptive
and explanatory theory of (causal) connectives, as the following
(non-exhaustive) list shows:   

- Type of connective and relation expressed (syntactical dichotomies, semantic
vs. pragmatic, explicative vs. justificatory/argumentative, causal vs.
inferential, direct vs. indirect causality)
- Relevance theory (conceptual vs. procedural meaning, implicature vs.
explicature)
- Cognitive coherence approach on subjectivity and Mental Spaces Theory 
- Perspective, polyphony
- Assertive and information status (new vs. given, focus vs. background,
presupposition vs. assertion, factivity, evidentiality)
- Order of segments, position of connective
- Intonational patterns and prosody
- Diachronic changes 
- Distribution and frequency 
- Psycholinguistic studies and acquisition

Despite such a large theoretical and methodological treatment, causal
connectives still continue to be an actively discussed topic with respect to a
range of theoretical issues that have not been settled yet and numerous
empirical studies involving mono- and cross-linguistic comparisons. Especially
important are the analyses relating less-studied languages whose causal
connectives have not been analyzed before within the above-mentioned
perspectives, since they have the potential to shed a new light on this old
topic. 

Thus, given the current growing interest in this subject, it is worth
gathering in a 1-1.5 day workshop researchers working on homologous causal
connectives from cross-linguistic perspective especially on less illustrated
languages that work in different frameworks and use various methodologies like
corpus or experimental analyses. 

The workshop seeks to address some basic research questions: 

(1) Are the particularities and differences described for causal connectives
in one language (French, English, Dutch being the most documented languages)
extendable to other languages? Are these properties simple analogies or strong
parallels caused by deeper cognitive and/or linguistic features? 
(2) How can we measure the degree of the similarities and differences between
the homologous causal connectives and what are the aspects that need to be
taken into account for such an evaluation?
(3) What do the differences between languages reveal at the syntactic,
semantic and pragmatic levels on the nature of causality in language and in
cognition?
(4) To what extent the differences in uses of causal connectives in different
languages are compatible with a general account of causality and causal
connectives in natural languages?

Call for Papers:

The workshop “Causal connectives: cross-linguistic parallels” is planned as a
part of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europea (SLE),
which takes place in Zürich, 10-13 September 2017.

We welcome contributions addressing one or more of the above-mentioned issues.
In particular, we encourage the presentation of less studied languages, as
well as studies having other methodological interests beside the
cross-linguistic comparisons: those involving, for instance, corpus analyses
and/or experimental, acquisitional, diachronic dimensions, or studies having a
theoretical impact within a given framework. We invite you to submit a
preliminary abstract of 300 words (excluding references), for a 20-minute
presentation with 10 minutes for discussion, that address any of the topics in
the workshop description. Abstracts in .doc(x) format should be sent to both
of the following addresses: 

hasmik.jivanyan at unige.ch  
joanna.blochowiak at unige.ch

Please submit your abstracts by 18 November 2016 at the latest. 

If the workshop proposal is accepted, all preliminary workshop participants
will be invited to submit the full versions of their abstracts to the general
call for papers. Final abstracts of max 500 words (excluding references)
should be resubmitted to the SLE organizing committee before 15 January 2017. 

Covenors of the Workshop: 

Hasmik JIVANYAN (University of Geneva, Department of Linguistics)
Joanna BLOCHOWIAK (University of Geneva, Department of Linguistics)
Jacques MOESCHLER (University of Geneva, Department of Linguistics)

Important Dates:

18 November 2016: Deadline for submission of 300-word abstracts (excluding
references) to the workshop organizers
25 November 2016: Notification of acceptance by the workshop organizers and
submission of the workshop proposal to SLE 
15 December 2016: Notification of acceptance of workshop proposals from SLE
organizers to workshop organizers 
15 January 2017: Submission of full abstracts (500 words, excluding
references), taking into account any feedback from the covenors, for review by
SLE 
31 March 2017: Notification of acceptance of individual workshop contributions
10-13 September 2017: SLE conference.

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