36.2559, Confs: The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description and Formal Theories (Germany)

Fri Aug 29 14:05:02 UTC 2025

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2559. Fri Aug 29 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2559, Confs: The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description and Formal Theories (Germany)

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Date: 28-Aug-2025
From: Mary Amaechi [mary.amaechi at uni-bielefeld.de]
Subject: The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description and Formal Theories

The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description
and Formal Theories
Short Title: SyNCC

Date: 23-Sep-2026 - 24-Sep-2026
Location: Bielefeld, Germany
Contact: Mary Amaechi and Jutta Hartmann
Contact Email: syncop at uni-bielefeld.de
Meeting URL: https://t1p.de/syncc2026

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Language Documentation;
Linguistic Theories; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 30-Apr-2026

The conference on "The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses:
Cross-linguistic description and formal theories'" (SyNCC) is part of
the AHRC/DFG-funded SynCop project (http://syncop.info). It will focus
on the syntax and semantics of sentences with a nominal predicate,
aiming for a discussion with both breadth and depth. The immediate
goal of the conference is to bring together both theoretical insights
from in-depth analysis and a broadening of the empirical landscape to
include work on un(der)-studied languages. The longer-term goal is to
further advance our understanding of the principles underpinning the
syntactic and semantic characteristics of non-verbal predication.
The topic of non-verbal predication has attracted significant
interest. Copular sentences provide a valuable framework for
exploring, among other topics: the source of asymmetry in linguistic
representations (den Dikken 2006; Heycock 2012), agreement (Moro 1997;
Béjar & Kahnemuyipour 2017, 2018; Heycock 2012; Hartmann & Heycock
2017, 2020; Coon & Keine 2020), case (Sigurðsson 2006), information
structure (Heggie 1988; Mikkelsen 2005; Heycock & Kroch 2002; Hartmann
2016), cross-linguistic variation (Arche et al 2019), and the relation
of identity/equation in semantics (Schlenker 2003, Percus & Sharvit
2024, Fiorin & Delfitto 2025, Delfitto & Fiorin 2025).
Questions related to how predicative nominal phrases are semantically
and syntactically different from argumental nominal phrases have also
attracted significant interest. For example, what is the syntax of
nominal phrases that occur in predicative and argument positions? How
does the internal structure of the phrases contribute to the different
interpretations (Roy 2013; Cheng, Heycock & Zamparelli 2017)? Which
aspects of definiteness (familiarity or uniqueness) can be encoded
within a predicative DP, and which ones must be expressed in an
argument DP (Coppock & Beaver 2015)?
We invite contributions on topics on the syntax of nominal
predication; these include but are not limited to the following:
- The syntactic and semantic structure(s) properties of nominal
copular clause subtypes, taking into account their clausal
environment(s).
- The internal structure of nominals in copular sentences as
predicates, individual concepts, concealed questions, etc.
- The nature of the syntactic structures in which nominals in copular
clauses are embedded.
- The relation between nominal and other types of non-verbal
predication (APs, PPs).
- Accounts of case, agreement and concord properties, information
structure, and the distribution of copular elements of nominal copular
clauses both within and between languages.
- Connectivity effects in non-verbal predication.
Invited Speakers:
Isabelle Charnaval (University of Geneva)
Susana Bejar (University of Toronto)
Abstract Submission:
We invite abstracts for 30-minute presentations (+ 10-minute
discussion) and/or poster presentations. You may submit at most two
abstracts, of which only one may be single authored. Abstracts must be
anonymised and should not exceed two pages including examples and
references (DIN A4, 2.5cm margin, 12pt font).
Please submit your abstract as .pdf via:
https://openreview.net/group?id=SyNCC/2026
Deadline for abstract submission: Thursday, 30th April 2026
Notification of acceptance: early June 2026
Short Proposals:
As the conference also aims to expand the empirical basis of research
on copular clauses, we particularly welcome research that builds on
recent and original fieldwork utilizing the Fieldwork Questionnaire on
Copular Clauses/Nonverbal predication that is under development by the
project (available here: https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/3005664).
To encourage such work, we also invite short (maximum one page, DIN
A4, 2.5cm margin, 12pt font) proposals for posters that will set out
key aspects of how nominal predication plays out in one or more
un(der)-described languages, on the basis of original data obtained
utilizing the questionnaire. For such proposals we offer an
accelerated process of review/acceptance. These short proposals should
state: a) the proposed language(s) of investigation; b) any prior
experience of the author(s) in working on that language / those
languages; and c) who the language consultants will be / how data will
be obtained. There will be an earlier deadline for these short
proposals, and we will aim to respond within 2 weeks.
You may submit at most two short proposals, of which only one may be
single authored. This does not restrict your ability to submit
long-form abstracts by the April deadline as outlined above.
Please submit your short proposal by email to syncop at uni-bielefeld.de
; use “Submission - Fieldwork poster - AuthorLastName” as the header.
Deadline for short proposals: Monday, 3rd November 2025
Notification of acceptance: mid-November 2025
Organisation:
Mary Amaechi (Bielefeld University),
Jutta M. Hartmann (Bielefeld University),
Caroline Heycock (The University of Edinburgh),
Esther Lam (The University of Edinburgh),
Isabelle Roy (University of Nantes),
Roberto Zamparelli (University of Trento)

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