33.2887, Calls: General Linguistics/Greece

Sat Sep 24 03:05:07 UTC 2022

LINGUIST List: Vol-33-2887. Sat Sep 24 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 33.2887, Calls: General Linguistics/Greece

Moderator: Malgorzata E. Cavar (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Student Moderator: Billy Dickson
Managing Editor: Lauren Perkins
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Everett Green, Sarah Goldfinch, Nils Hjortnaes,
        Joshua Sims, Billy Dickson, Amalia Robinson, Matthew Fort
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Hosted by Indiana University

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everett at linguistlist.org>
================================================================

Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2022 03:04:34
From: Chris Lasse Däbritz [chris.lasse.daebritz at uni-hamburg.de]
Subject: Locative and existential predication - Core and periphery

Full Title: Locative and existential predication - Core and periphery 

Date: 29-Aug-2023 - 01-Sep-2023
Location: Athens, Greece 
Contact Person: Chris Lasse Däbritz
Meeting Email: sle2023.exloc at gmail.com

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics 

Call Deadline: 13-Nov-2022 

Meeting Description:

Locative and existential predications and their interaction have been studied
for a long time from many perspectives using various approaches, including
formal semantics, generative syntax, typology and functional grammar (Lyons
1967, Clark 1978, Freeze 1992, Koch 2012, Haspelmath 2022 among others). Here,
we consider locative and existential predication as structures expressing the
temporary presence/absence of a given referent (henceforth: figure) at a
certain location (henceforth: ground). Thus, we do not focus on constructions
such as English “there are many unhappy people”, but rather on locative and
locational-existential clauses which contain a ground element such as English
“the book is on the table” vs “there is a book on the table”. Following i.a.
Creissels (2019), we assume locative predications being perspectivized
starting from the figure, whereas existential predications are perspectivized
starting from the ground. As a corollary, the figure is often definite and
topical in locative predication, but indefinite and focal in existential
predication (see e.g. Freeze 1992, Bentley et al. 2015).

Many works on locative and existential predication concentrate on
constructions, which include a copula or an existential item as the linking
element. Still, many languages exhibit less-studied and less-described means
to express locative and existential predications. Ameka & Levinson (2007)
account for locational (be located etc) and posture (stand, sit, lie, hang
etc) verbs playing a crucial role in locative predication. Additionally,
Basile (2021, 2022) accounts for situative constructions in European
languages. Situatives are a class of locational verbs that, despite their
complex semantics, have the mere function of situating a figure in a ground.
In many languages, situative constructions are characterized by the verb ‘to
find’, usually marked by a reflexive or passive strategy, e.g. German “sich
befinden”, lit. ‘find oneself’, or Finnish “löytyä”, the reflexive derivation
of “löytää” ‘find’.  
It sparks the eye that all constructions – containing copulas, posture,
locational and situative verbs – may cover a similar domain, namely locating a
figure in a ground. Formally, however, they diverge to a noticeable extent,
e.g. forming instances of non-verbal predication or not. Therefore, it is
often hard to decide whether a posture or a situative verb in a relevant
sentence must be analyzed as a full semantic verb or as semantically bleached.

The aim of this workshop is to target the question whether the above-discussed
constructions are indeed instances of locative and existential predication,
establishing criteria to answer this question. Thereby, both
formal-morphosyntactic and functional-semantic aspects shall be taken into
account. Furthermore, the role of the semantics of the figure element shall be
targeted: Does e.g. its animacy or geometrical shape constrain its use in
locative/existential predication? Finally, it shall be discussed to what
extent the named criteria and restrictions are language-specific, or whether
cross-linguistic criteria and restrictions can be established.

Call for Papers:

To account for the questions described above, we invite contributions dealing
with various aspects of non-prototypical instances of locative and existential
predication, i.e. morphosyntax, semantics and pragmatics. We favor functional
and typological approaches over formal and derivational accounts, but may
recognize the latter as well, if they clearly target the above-mentioned
questions. Finally, we aim at a cross-linguistic perspective so that
contributions targeting single languages should also connect their results to
a wider background.

To indicate your interest in participation, please send a short abstract of
max. 300 words by 13 November 2022 to the following e-mail-address:
sle2023.exloc at gmail.com. 

By 20 November 2022, we will submit the workshop proposal to the SLE
organizing committee. Note that, after the acceptance of the workshop as such,
you will still have to submit your abstract for anonymous review by 15 January
2023. Further information will be provided, when it becomes relevant;
additionally, you find further information at:
https://societaslinguistica.eu/sle2023/second-call-for-papers/.

Selected References: 
Ameka, F. K. & Levinson, S. C. 2007. Introduction: The typology and semantics
of locative predicates: posturals, positionals, and other beasts. Linguistics
45(5/6), 847–871. 
Basile, R. 2021. Situative Constructions in European Languages. Paper
presented at 54th SLE Meeting.
Basile, R. & Ivaska, I. 2021. Löytyä-verbin konstruktioiden yhteydessä
esiintyvä subjektin sijanvaihtelu. ESUKA/JEFUL 12(1), 11–39. 
Bentley, D. & Ciconte, F. M. & Cruschina, S. 2015. Existentials and locatives
in Romance dialects of Italy. Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online. 
Creissels, D. 2019. Inverse-locational predication in typological perspective.
Italian Journal of Linguistics, 31(2), 37–106. 
Freeze, R. 1992. Existentials and other locatives. Language 68(3), 553–595. 
Koch, P. 2012. Location, existence, and possession: A
constructional-typological exploration. Linguistics 50(3), 533-603.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***************************    LINGUIST List Support    ***************************
 The 2020 Fund Drive is under way! Please visit https://funddrive.linguistlist.org
  to find out how to donate and check how your university, country or discipline
     ranks in the fund drive challenges. Or go directly to the donation site:
                   https://crowdfunding.iu.edu/the-linguist-list

                        Let's make this a short fund drive!
                Please feel free to share the link to our campaign:
                    https://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-33-2887	
----------------------------------------------------------