36.1773, Confs: Ontology as Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics 5 (United Kingdom)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-1773. Thu Jun 05 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.1773, Confs: Ontology as Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics 5 (United Kingdom)

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Date: 05-Jun-2025
From: Dan Lassiter [oasis5edinburgh at gmail.com]
Subject: Ontology as Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics 5


Ontology as Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics 5
Short Title: OASIS 5
Theme: Nominals in non-referential use

Date: 03-Dec-2025 - 05-Dec-2025
Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Contact: Daniel Lassiter
Contact Email: dan.lassiter at ed.ac.uk
Meeting URL: https://oasis-5.webflow.io/cfp

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Pragmatics; Psycholinguistics;
Semantics; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 15-Aug-2025

OASIS 5 (Ontology As Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics 5)
will take place at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, December
3-5, 2025.
The OASIS conference series aims to promote conversation across
different disciplines that interface with semantics, using ontological
questions as shared reference points. The broad questions in the
background are these:
 - What basic ontological building blocks do we use to talk and think
about the world?
 - How do these building blocks get combined?
 - How do grammatical and cognitive phenomena motivate the answers to
the first two questions?
For more information, see the OASIS credo.
Invited Speakers:
Fabienne Martin, Universiteit Utrecht
Tadeg Quillien, University of Edinburgh
Roberto Zamparelli, Università di Trento
Satellite workshop:  Nominals in non-referential use (December 3)
In this session we are looking to explore the syntax and semantics of
nominal projections, particularly in non-referential and/or
non-argumental uses. First, there is the question of ontology. How
rich a semantic ontology do we need to capture the various meanings of
nominal expressions that have been categorized as non-referential in
some sense? Do we need individual concepts, properties, kinds, tropes,
etc ? How should we best analyse the attributive use of nominals? Do
all weak definites refer? Second, and relatedly, do we have good
diagnostics for distinguishing between these different types of
meaning? To take one example, there is disagreement over whether the
subject of a copular clause like "The best candidate is Hannah"
denotes a property or an individual concept. Arregi et al. 2021 give
empirical arguments for the latter, but it is not clear whether these
would allow a similar question to be answered concerning the status of
the same nominal if the sentence is reversed ("Hannah is the best
candidate"). In such an example, is "the best candidate" ambiguous
between denoting a property and an individual concept? How could we
decide? Third, what is the mapping between the syntax and the
semantics? Does our semantic ontology map in a predictable way onto
different projections within nominal phrases (and vice versa)? What is
the internal structure of nominals as predicates, individual concepts,
concealed questions, V-N light verb constructions, etc? Is there a
relation between the syntax of definite predicates and weak definites
in other uses?
We welcome submissions on any of these topics for the satellite
workshop; we are particularly interested in work that explores these
questions in lesser-studied languages.
Reference:
Arregi, K., Francez, I. and Martinović, M., 2021. Three arguments for
an individual concept analysis of specificational sentences. Natural
Language & Linguistic Theory, 39, pp.687-708.
Abstract Submission:
Abstracts are due on August 15, 2025. Submission will be via the
conference OpenReview page.
If you are submitting for the satellite workshop, please indicate this
by including “[for satellite workshop]” under the title of your
abstract.
Abstracts must be anonymous, in pdf format, 2 A4 pages, in a font size
no less than 12pt. You may submit at most two abstracts but can be
single author on only one.
Linguists and others submitting very technical research: It is
absolutely necessary that you do what you can to make your abstract
accessible to an interdisciplinary audience. This doesn't mean
eschewing all formalism, but do pitch your abstract so that a
non-technical reader can get something interesting out of it.
Important Dates:
August 15, 2025: Abstract deadline
September 15, 2025: Notification
December 3, 2025: Satellite workshop
December 4-5, 2025: Main conference
‍
Website:
https://oasis.cnrs.fr/meetings/oasis-5
Contact:
oasis5edinburgh at gmail.com



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