29.4035, Calls: Gen Ling, Genetic Classification, Hist Ling, Typology/Germany

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-29-4035. Wed Oct 17 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.4035, Calls: Gen Ling, Genetic Classification, Hist Ling, Typology/Germany

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Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2018 14:26:01
From: Rik van Gijn [erik.vangijn at uzh.ch]
Subject: Language Contact within and across Phylogenies

 
Full Title: Language Contact within and across Phylogenies 

Date: 21-Aug-2019 - 24-Aug-2019
Location: Leipzig, Germany 
Contact Person: Anja Hasse
Meeting Email: anja.hasse at ds.uzh.ch
Web Site: https://www.ivs.uzh.ch/de/vangijn/Workshops/WS_contact.html 

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Genetic Classification; Historical Linguistics; Typology 

Call Deadline: 11-Nov-2018 

Meeting Description:

(Session of 52nd Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea)

Convenors: Carlota de Benito Moreno, Rik van Gijn, Anja Hasse, Patrick Mächler
& Max Wahlström

A long-standing debate in historical linguistics concerns the question how
language change progresses. Two competing models were proposed in the 19th
century: the tree model (Schleicher 1853) and the wave model (Schuchardt 1870;
Schmidt 1872). Although there are good reasons to regard these models as
complementary rather than oppositional, they represented an opposition at the
time, and often have been presented as opposed, mutually exclusive models
since. This has led to quite separate traditions in historical linguistics
that focus on inheritance on the one hand, and contact on the other. 
One consequence of this is that the empirical basis for theories of
contact-induced change is skewed towards situations involving unrelated or
distantly related languages. This is perhaps especially apparent in areal
linguistics, which clearly focuses on areas with unrelated or distantly
related languages, excluding - sometimes by definition (e.g. Aikhenvald &
Dixon 2001) - contact between closely related languages.
With this workshop we would like to explore whether there are systematic
differences between contact-induced areal patterns in contact situations
involving (closely) related languages on the one hand, and unrelated or
distantly related languages on the other? We would like to focus on the
following two related general questions:

Are there systematic differences between contact involving (closely) related
languages on the one hand, and unrelated or distantly related languages on the
other?

In spite of Thomason and Kaufman's (1988) famous claim that, linguistically
speaking, anything is possible in language contact, general tendencies have
been established, e.g. in the borrowability of types of words, or features of
language (see e.g. Moravcsik 1978, Curnow 2001, Field 2002, Matras & Sakel
2007, Haspelmath & Tadmor 2009, Dediu & Cysouw 2013). 
Given that related languages are generally more similar to each other than
unrelated languages, transfer of features from one variety to another can be
expected to be easier than with unrelated languages. Moreover, a higher degree
of mutual intelligibility may facilitate communication between speakers,
increasing the intensity of contact. When it comes to dialects in contact,
similarity between such closely related languages is considered to be a factor
facilitating contact as well as a result of contact. Furthermore, phylogenetic
and geographic distance tend to correlate (Bowern 2013). These factors can
have consequences for what is possible in language contact. 

To what extent do we need separate methodologies for studying contact
situations between related and unrelated languages?

Detecting contact signals rests on establishing similarities between languages
that are spoken closely together, which cannot be explained by parallel
development due to universal pressures or genetic inheritance. Detecting
contact effects between related languages is made more difficult because of
the dominant presence of genetic inheritance as a source of similarity, and
rests heavily on exceptions to established regular change.

See https://www.ivs.uzh.ch/de/vangijn/Workshops/WS_contact.html for a full
description and cited references.


Call for Papers:

We invite contributions that address these and related questions, to submit an
abstract for a 20-minute presentation of maximally 300 words by November 11 to
anja.hasse at ds.uzh.ch notification of acceptance: November 16.

Since this workshop is intended to be part of the annual meeting of the SLE
(Leipzig, 21-24 August, www.sle2019.eu), it needs to go through a preliminary
round of evaluation. If the proposal is successful, the participants will be
asked to submit a full abstract.
 
Important dates:

Internal deadline workshop proposal: November 11
Notification of inclusion in the workshop: November 16 November
Notification of acceptance for workshop: December 15
Deadline submission full abstract if workshop proposal is successful: 15
January




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