37.2742, Confs: The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description and Formal Theories (Germany)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2742. Wed Aug 26 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2742, Confs: The Syntax of Nominal Copular Clauses: Cross-linguistic Description and Formal Theories (Germany)

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================================================================


Date: 23-Aug-2026
From: Mary Amaechi and Jutta Hartmann [syncop 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

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 conference will take place at Bielefeld University on 23-24
September 2026. For registration and further details, please visit the
conference website:  https://t1p.de/syncc2026.
Programme
Wednesday, 23 September 2026
9:00—9:20
Registration
9:20—9:30
Opening
9:30—10:10
Sebastian Zawada (Polish Academy of Sciences) & Adam Przepiórkowski
(University of
Warsaw & Polish Academy of Sciences)
Non-canonical agreement in predicational copular clauses: Evidence
from Polish
10:10—10:50
Stanislao Zompì (Universität Potsdam)
Case as a feature-gluttony repair in Italian assumed/mistaken-identity
copular clauses
10:50—11:15
Coffee break
11:15—11:55
Luke James Adamson (Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft)
Nominal predicates and gender
11:55—12:55
Susana Bejar (University of Toronto)
Invited talk:  A person restriction on nominal predication in
Inuktitut
12:55—14:00
Lunch break
14:00—15:00
Poster session (see below)
15:00—15:40
Masashi Harada (Williams College)
Context-Dependent Interpretations and Case in Copular Sentences
15:40—16:20
Paul Roger Bassong & Edmond Ossoko (University of Yaounde 1)
Focus movement and criterial freezing in copular clauses in Bantu
16:20—16:40
Coffee break
16:40—17:20
Esther Lam (University of Edinburgh)
Specificational sentences are identity sentences: New evidence from
Muong
17:20—18:00
Isabelle Roy (Nantes Université), Ekadish Bal (University of Mumbai),
Marina Chumakina (Surrey Morphology Group, University of Surrey),
Aritz Irurtzun (IKER, CNRS) & Daniel Shevchenko (USC)
Predicational vs. Specificational Copular Sentences: Evidence from
Tsova-Tush
19:00— Dinner: Nichtschwimmer, Arndtstrasse 6-8, 33602 Bielefeld
Thursday, 24 September 2026
9:30—10:10
Denis Creissels (Université Lumiére (Lyon II))
Typologically unusual properties of nominal copular clauses in Mande
languages
10:10—10:50
Piyapath T Spencer (Universität Konstanz)
Why the Copula Appears: Predicate Type and Copula Selection in Thai
10:50—11:15
Coffee break
11:15—11:55
Caroline Heycock (University of Edinburgh) & Sten Vikner (Aarhus
University)
Danish reflexives and the limits of connectivity in copular clauses
11:55—12:55
Isabelle Charnavel (University of Geneva)
Invited talk: Indexical binding and agreement in French: what do they
reveal about copular clauses?
12:55—14:00
Lunch break
14:00—14:40
Faruk Akkus (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Ouras Aljani
(Nantes Université), Maris Camilleri (University of Essex), Lina
Choueiri (American University of Beirut), Isabelle Roy (Nantes
Université) & Ur Shlonsky (University of Geneva)
Specificational copular clauses in Semitic: Pron, word order and focus
14:40—15:20
Sebastian Zawada (Polish Academy of Sciences)
The fine structure of Slavic pronominal copula construction: Empirical
investigations in Polish
15:20—15:45
Coffee break
15:45—16:25
Caroline Heycock (University of Edinburgh) & Roberto Zamparelli
(University of Trento)
Predicative Relatives as Manner Relatives
16:25—17:30
Discussion
17:30—17:40
Closing
Posters
Léa Nash (Université Paris VIII/CNRS), Isabelle Roy (Nantes Université
/ CNRS) & Estate Antadze (Nantes Université / CNRS)
The Syntax of Georgian Copular Constructions
Isabel Compes (University of Cologne), Elsadig Omda (University of
Khartoum/University of Cologne), Mika Hausmann (University of Cologne)
& Celina Renner (University of Cologne)
Specificational copular clauses in Beria: A preliminary report
Samuel Herrera Castro (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
Morphological Characterization of Nonverbal Predication in Huave
(isolated), México
Yolanda Acosta Aguilera (El Colegio de México)
Nominal Predication in Caltimacán Otomí: Preliminary Observations
Andargachew Getu (University of Gondar, Ethiopia)
Copula and Existential Constructions in Gwama
Cecilia Fernández-Altonaga (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (EHU) &
Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA))
Two copulas and a definite determiner: copular predication in Basque
Muhammed Emir Tayız & Ümit Atlamaz (Bogazici University)
Case and Agreement in Turkish Equative Copular Clauses
Marianna Lohmann (Freie Universität Berlin)
Wo Kopula? Copula-less wh-questions in German



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