37.2679, Confs: Theme session at ÖLT 2026 - Grammar and Pragmatics: New Perspectives on Pragmatic Functions of Grammatical Structures (Austria)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2679. Mon Aug 17 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2679, Confs: Theme session at ÖLT 2026 - Grammar and Pragmatics: New Perspectives on Pragmatic Functions of Grammatical Structures (Austria)

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Date: 14-Aug-2026
From: Elisabeth Scherr [elisabeth.scherr at uni-graz.at]
Subject: Theme session at ÖLT 2026 - Grammar and Pragmatics: New Perspectives on Pragmatic Functions of Grammatical Structures


Theme session at ÖLT 2026 - Grammar and Pragmatics: New Perspectives
on Pragmatic Functions of Grammatical Structures

Date: 20-Nov-2026 - 21-Nov-2026
Location: University of Salzburg, Austria

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology; Pragmatics; Syntax

The core premise of functionalist frameworks is that pragmatic utility
dictates structural grammar. Viewing language fundamentally as an
instrument for social engagement and conceptual transmission, these
models argue that linguistic design is externally motivated.
Grammatical configurations are shaped and restricted by cognitive
processing thresholds, interactional norms, and iconic principles. In
many instances, these pragmatic pressures entirely drive the
development, application, and comprehension of syntactic forms.
Building on this functionalist perspective, the workshop invites
contributions presenting recent observations and analyses of
grammatical structures in spoken and written language whose form, use,
interpretation, or emergence can be explained in terms of the
pragmatic functions they fulfil. ˈPragmaticsˈ here is understood in a
broad sense as the study of language use in context. This includes
both the cognitive processes underlying language use—such as
attention, memory, conceptualization, categorization, and
inference—and its interactional functions, including knowledge
transfer, turn-taking, speech acts, rhetorical strategies, the
expression of emotion and epistemic stance, and the indexing of social
identities and relationships (cf. Deppermann 2011).
We are particularly interested in new insights into recently emerging
or previously overlooked grammatical structures and their pragmatic
functions.
Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following
questions:
 - Which grammatical phenomena are shaped by pragmatic factors, both
with regard to their diachronic emergence and their situated use?
 - How are grammatical structures adapted to pragmatic preferences and
functions?
 - How do grammatical structures reflect the interactive and
situational contexts in which they are used?
 - Do grammatical structures as such carry pragmatic meaning?
The workshop welcomes contributions from a broad range of linguistic
subfields and theoretical frameworks that view grammar as rooted in
pragmatic motivations. These include, but are not limited to:
 - Functional Grammar and Functional Discourse Grammar (Dik 1997,
Hengeveld and Mackenzie 2008)
 - Systemic-Functional Grammar (Halliday 1985)
 - Functional Pragmatics (Ehlich 1991, Redder 2008)
 - Cognitive Linguistics and Construction Grammar (Lakoff 1987,
Goldberg 1995, 2006, Croft 2001, Langacker 1987, 2008)
 - Usage-based approaches (Barlow and Kemmer 2000; Bybee 2006, 2007)
 - Interactional Linguistics
The workshop will be part of the ÖLT (50th Austrian Linguistics
Conference), which takes place November 20-21, 2026 in Salzburg,
Austria.
Submission Guidelines:
We invite submissions of anonymous abstracts for 30-minute talks (20
presentation + 10 discussion) in German or English.
Submissions should not exceed 300 words (excl. references), 12pt.
single spaced, with 2.5cm (= one-inch) margins on all sides. Either
PDF or Word format is accepted. Please make sure to adhere to the
unified style sheet for linguistics (available here:
https://clas.wayne.edu/languages/students/resources/linguistics/style).
Please submit your abstract via e-mail to: rebecca.karrer at uni-graz.at
by the deadline listed below.
Submission deadline: September 15, 2026
Notification: October 1, 2026
Workshop: November 20-21, 2026
Organizers:
Rebecca Karrer & Elisabeth Scherr, University of Graz (Austria),
Department of German Studies
References:
Barlow, Michael & Suzanne Kemmer (eds.). 2000. Usage-based models of
language. Stanford CA: Center for the Study of Language and
Information.
Bybee, Joan. 2007. Frequency and the organization of language. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Bybee, Joan. 2006. From usage to grammar: The mind`s response to
repetition. In: Language 82,4. 711 – 733.
Croft, William. 2001. Radical construction grammar. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Deppermann, Arnulf. 2011. Pragmatics and grammar. In: Wolfram Bublitz
& Neal R. Norrick (ed.), Foundations of Pragmatics. Berlin, New York:
De Gruyter Mouton. 425 – 460.
Dik, Simon C. 1997. The Theory of Functional Grammar. 2 vols. Berlin:
de Gruyter.
Ehlich, Konrad. 1991. Funktional-pragmatische Kommunikationsanalyse.
In: Dieter Flader (ed.), Verbale Interaktion. Stuttgart: Metzler. 127
– 143.
Goldberg, Adele. 2006. Constructions at work: the nature of
generalization in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goldberg, Adele. 1995. Constructions. A construction grammar approach
to argument structure. Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press.
Halliday, Michael A.K. 1985. An Introduction into Functional Grammar.
London: Edward Arnold.
Hengeveld, Kees & J. Lachlan Mackenzie. 2008. Functional Discourse
Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, fire and dangerous things. What
categories reveal about the mind. Chicago IL: University of Chicago
Press.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2008 Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1987. Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 1:
Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.
Redder, Angelika. 2008. Functional pragmatics. In: Gerd Antos & Eija
Ventola (eds.), Handbook of applied linguistics. Vol 2. Interpersonal
communication. Berlin: de Gruyter. 133 – 178.



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