36.334, Confs: Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Syntax / France

Fri Jan 24 03:05:07 UTC 2025

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-334. Fri Jan 24 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.334, Confs: Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Syntax / France

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Date: 24-Jan-2025
From: Elena Soare [elena.soare at univ-paris8.fr]
Subject: Third factors in language design: the view from heritage languages

Third factors in language design: the view from heritage languages

Date: 06-Jun-2025 - 06-Jun-2025
Location: Inalco Paris, France
Contact: Elena Soare
Contact Email: elena.soare at univ-paris8.fr
Meeting URL:
https://sites.google.com/view/thirdfactorsheritagelanguages/accueil

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; General Linguistics; Syntax

The workshop "Third Factors in Language Design: the view from Heritage
Languages" will be held in Paris (Inalco) on June 6 2025. It is
organized within the IRN project "Heritage Languages in Europe" (CNRS
& University of Paris 8)
Invited speaker: Roberta D'Alessandro (University of Utrecht)
Organizers: Elena Soare (Univ. Paris 8 & CNRS), Alexandru Mardale
(Inalco & CNRS) and Larisa Avram (Univ. Bucharest)
General description
Since Chomsky’s (2005) seminal paper on language design, the role of
factors not specific to the faculty of language (third factors,
henceforth F3) has been addressed in a growing number of generative
studies. These factors “have the flavor of the constraints that enter
into all facets of growth and evolution” (Chomsky 2007). They include
principles of data analysis, of structural architecture (e.g.
efficient computation) and developmental constraints (Chomsky 2005).
General cognitive principles involved in the acquisition of language
and “properties of the human brain that determine what cognitive
systems can exist” (Chomsky 2007) have also been tentatively included
in the inventory. Once F3 explicitly became part of language design,
the course of inquiry has shifted from “how much must be attributed to
UG”  in order to account for language acquisition and language
variation to “how little can be attributed to UG” with a focus on the
interaction between UG and F3 principles (see van Gelderen 2022).
In spite of real progress, however, the inventory of F3 principles is
still a tentative one. Little is yet known about the division of
labour between UG principles and F3 principles (see, for example, the
case of Minimal Search, Economy) or whether F3 assumed to be relevant
to both language and other cognitive domains operate similarly across
the board. A related issue is whether variation in (linguistic)
experience might be reflected in the relevance and the significance of
particular third factors. The extent to which such variation might
exist could be clarified by studies of language development triggered
by various types of linguistic experience.
A recent exploratory area for generative grammar has been the one of
heritage languages (HL). HL are acquired in the family in contact with
another language, the environmental one (Montrul 2008, 2016, 2023,
Benmamoun et al. 2013, Polinsky 2018, a.o.). They are L1 languages,
acquired and used in “restrictive environments” (Rothman 2007) in
language contact situations. Input amount and frequency of use
generally decrease in later stages of acquisition, leading to a
gradual weakening of the HL. Given the specificity of the linguistic
experience involved, the study of HL could shed light on the
interaction between linguistic experience and F3. However, this
research angle has been poorly addressed so far in the literature.
This workshop aims to investigate the role of F3 in the development of
HL and their interaction with UG principles and linguistic experience.
The questions we seek answers to include, but are not limited to:
 - Can the study of HL shed light on the inventory of F3?
 - Are there F3 which are more relevant/significant to HL development
and maintenance?
 - Can this specific relevance/significance be traced to
characteristics of the linguistic experience involved in HL?
 - How do these F3 interact with UG principles?
 - Can the study of HL contribute to our understanding of how much can
be attributed to F3 in the account of language acquisition and
language variation?
We invite submissions for 25 minute talks (+10min discussion) in
English.
Abstracts should not be longer than two pages (Times New Roman 12 pt,
single space, 2,4 cm margins). References can be on a 3rd page.
Abstracts have to be anonymous.
Please submit your abstract in pdf format here:
https://openreview.net/group?id=F3HL/2025
Submission Start Date: 20January 2025 00:00
Abstract Registration Deadline: 30 March 2025 23:59
Submission Deadline: 30 March 2025 23:59
Venue Start Date: 06 May 2025
Location: Inalco Paris
References:
Benmamoun, E, S. Montrul & M. Polinsky, 2013, „Defining an “ideal”
heritage speaker: Theoretical and methodological challenges”. reply to
peer commentaries. Theoretical Linguistics 39(3-4). 259–294.
Chomsky, N. 2005. Three factors in language design. Linguistic Inquiry
36.1: 1–22.
Chomsky, N. 2007. Approaching UG from below. In Uli Sauerland and
Hans-Martin Gärtner (Eds.), Interfaces + Recursion = Language, 1–29.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Chomsky, N. 2015. Problems of projection: Extensions. In Elisa Di
Domenico et al. (Eds.), Structures, Strategies, and Beyond, 3–16.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
van Gelderen, E. 2022. Third Factors in Language Variation and Change.
Cambridge University Press.
Montrul, S., 2008, Incomplete Acquisition in Bilingualism:
Re-examining the Age Factor. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Montrul, S., 2016, The acquisition of heritage languages. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Montrul, S., 2023a, „Heritage languages: language acquired, language
lost, language regained”. Annual Review of Linguistics,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-030521-050236
Polinsky, M. 2018. Heritage Languages and their Speakers. Cambridge
University Press.

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