34.836, Calls: General Linguistics, Linguistic Theories / Lingvisticae Investigationes (Jrnl)

Fri Mar 10 16:05:04 UTC 2023

LINGUIST List: Vol-34-836. Fri Mar 10 2023. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 34.836, Calls: General Linguistics, Linguistic Theories / Lingvisticae Investigationes (Jrnl)

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Date: 
From: Laure Gardelle [laure.gardelle at univ-grenoble-alpes.fr]
Subject: General Linguistics, Linguistic Theories / Lingvisticae Investigationes (Jrnl)

Call for Papers:

Fuzziness, Vagueness and Underdetermination in Reference

The act of reference links a linguistic expression, called a referring
expression, to one or more entities that belong to the extralinguistic
world or to a mental representation of a possible world. Most
referring expressions, in their context of use, allow for the precise
identification of a referent. For instance, the properties specified
in a proper noun or a nominal phrase ('the big car on the forecourt',
'that white rabbit', 'the unicorn in Blade Runner') may exclude any
ambiguity, so that the act of reference leads to the identification of
the right referent. Some expressions, for example the anaphoric
pronoun 'he' or 'she' when several antecedents are possible, lead to
ambiguity, i.e. to two or three potential candidates which are clearly
identified, but among which a choice remains to be made. In yet other
cases – which will be the focus of the present issue – it is not clear
which referent(s) are really involved in the act of reference. This
concerns, among others, the following phenomena, which are sometimes
described as a case of fuzzy, vague or underdetermined reference:

– plural references, for example: the pronoun 'we' when it is
alternately exclusive or inclusive (Truan 2016); the institutional
pronoun 'they' as in 'at the hospital, they treated him energetically'
(Kleiber 2001, Johnsen 2019 for French, Emmott 2015 for English); some
plural phrases, whether specific or generic, whose scope is difficult
or even impossible to determine, as in 'the Americans have reached the
Moon', where for, the referring expression 'the Americans' might
designate a vague set including at least the astronauts, perhaps also
the staff involved directly or indirectly (Radden 2009), or even
perhaps all Americans through collective credit (Gardelle 2023);
– evolving referents, which undergo such a metamorphosis that they
eventually become something else (Achard-Bayle 2001), as in the
following recipe: 'Kill an active, plump chicken. Prepare it for the
oven, cut it into four pieces and roast it with thyme for 1 hour'
(Brown & Yule 1983). Here, the anaphoric pronouns 'it' do not seem to
designate exactly the same referent as the text progresses;
– human impersonal pronouns (Cabredo Hofherr 2008; Van der Auwera et
al. 2012), indefinite pronouns, such as French 'l'un/l'autre'
(Schnedecker 2006), underspecified pronouns, such as French 'on'
(Fløttum et al. 2007; Landragin & Tanguy 2014; Delaborde 2021) or
‘ça’, or English 'it' (Cadiot 1988; Anscombre 1998; Sales 2008),
aphorisms (Béguelin 2014); similarly in a number of other languages
(cf. German 'man'), and also the unspecified use of the second person
pronoun (Derringer et al. 2015).

With these examples, the very nature of fuzzy reference challenges the
principle of an absolute search for the exact referent. Why can we say
'the Gauls invented many Celtic cosmetic instruments and products',
when it was not the same Gauls who invented each of the instruments or
cosmetic products? Why choose ‘it’, not ‘them’, even though the
referent is clearly in several pieces, and why is it that some
languages, such as French, do not license a personal pronoun in an
exact translation? Why does the language offer so many possibilities
to switch from singular to plural ('Paul bought a Toyota because they
are sturdy', Kleiber 2001), from part to whole ('Brussels'... 'the
European Commission'), from a given referent to a near-identical one
(Recasens et al. 2010), from several referents to resumptive anaphora
capable of regrouping and recategorizing? Above all, why do these
cases of vagueness and imprecision pose no problem at all for the
recipient (Sanford et al. 2008), who interprets the message without
wondering whether they have identified the referent?

Practical details:
– Lay-out & guidelines for the submissions: please follow the
conventions and the template from https://benjamins.com/catalog/li,
section 'Guidelines' (Firefox works best).
– Indicative length: 20 pages once styled as indicated in the style
sheet.
– The papers may be written in English or French.
– The manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Scientific coordinators: Laure Gardelle (U. Grenoble Alpes, France) /
Frédéric Landragin (CNRS, Paris, France)
Scientific Committee: Guy Achard-Bayle (U. Lorraine, Metz), Johan van
der Auwera (U. Antwerp), Sarah E. Blackwell (U. Georgia), Patricia
Cabredo Hofherr (CNRS), Michel Charolles (U. Sorbonne Nouvelle), Denis
Creissels (U. Lyon 2), Catherine Emmott (U. Glasgow), Catherine Fuchs
(CNRS), Barbara Hemforth (CNRS), Massimo Poesio (Queen Mary U. of
London), Catherine Schnedecker (U. Strasbourg).

Contact and submission:
laure.gardelle at univ-grenoble-alpes.fr; frederic.landragin at ens.psl.eu

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