36.3711, Confs: Workshop: Wh-elements in Relative and Adverbial clauses – Perspectives on Polyfunctionality (Germany)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3711. Tue Dec 02 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3711, Confs: Workshop: Wh-elements in Relative and Adverbial clauses – Perspectives on Polyfunctionality (Germany)

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Date: 01-Dec-2025
From: Svenja Hauerstein [svenja.hauerstein at ruhr-uni-bochum.de]
Subject: Workshop: Wh-elements in Relative and Adverbial clauses – Perspectives on Polyfunctionality


Workshop: Wh-elements in Relative and Adverbial clauses – Perspectives
on Polyfunctionality
Short Title: WRAPP 26

Date: 08-Apr-2026 - 10-Apr-2026
Location: Göttingen, Germany

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Historical Linguistics;
Morphology; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 20-Jan-2026

We invite you to submit your papers for the WRAPP workshop, to be held
in Göttingen from April 8 to 10, 2026, organized by Marco Coniglio,
Eric Fuß, Svenja Hauerstein and Alberto Valiera. The workshop aims to
bring together perspectives on wh-elements in relative and adverbial
clauses, their origin and development, as well as their
polyfunctionality.
In many Germanic languages, the functions of wh-words have increased
diachronically, especially as elements introducing subordinate
clauses. While wh-pronouns primarily appear as interrogatives and
indefinites in the earliest historical stages, they subsequently
spread first to free relative clauses and later to headed relative
clauses. In addition, they begin to appear as adverbial
complementizers from the early modern German period onwards. These
processes should not be viewed in isolation from one another, as
adverbial wh-connectors developed from relative wh-adverbs (wie ‘how’,
wo ‘where’, wenn ‘when’) or prepositional adverbs such as wobei
‘whereby’. The result is a system in which wh-elements are highly
polyfunctional. The details of the processes that lead to the
formation of new relative and adverbial construction types have so far
been insufficiently researched for the history of German. Previous
studies have primarily focused on specific aspects, such as the the
development of morphologically simple wh-relativizers (wer ‘who’, was
‘what’) and wh-determiners (welch- ‘which’). The aim of the project is
to systematically review the relevant historical developments, taking
into account qualitative and quantitative aspects to gain a better
understanding of the diachronic pathway and possible causes of the
spread of wh-forms in relative and adverbial clauses. In addition, a
theoretical model is developed that places the individual processes in
a larger explanatory context. This context incorporates recent
findings on the internal structure and properties of wh-forms, while
also embedding historical facts within a restrictive theory of
polyfunctional elements.
This workshop is part of a research project on the theory and
diachrony of subordinating wh-elements in German and will be held in
Göttingen from April 8 to 10, 2026. The project is funded by the
German Research Foundation and is being carried out in Bochum and
Göttingen. We are pleased to announce the following confirmed keynote
speakers and discussants:
 - Julia Bacskai-Atkari
 - Ellen Brandner
 - Werner Frey
 - Łukasz Jędrzejowski
 - Karin Pittner
 - Radek Šimík
Abstract Submission
 - Abstracts must be anonymous and should not exceed 2 pages
(including references, examples, tables etc.) with 2.5 cm margins on
all sides, and be set in Times New Roman (12pt).
 - Abstracts should be submitted in PDF format to
svenja.hauerstein at ruhr-uni-bochum.de
 - Deadline for submissions: January 20, 2026
Submission Topics:
Relevant topics for the workshop include, but are not limited to, the
following areas:
 - origin and development of wh-elements
 - adverbial and relative clauses
 - adverbial subordinators
 - syntax of free relative clauses
 - prepositional adverbs



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