37.710, Confs: Exclamation: Form(s) and Function(s) (France)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-710. Fri Feb 20 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.710, Confs: Exclamation: Form(s) and Function(s) (France)

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Date: 19-Feb-2026
From: Laure Lansari [laure.lansari at u-picardie.fr]
Subject: Exclamation: Form(s) and Function(s)


Exclamation: Form(s) and Function(s)

Date: 10-Dec-2026 - 11-Dec-2026
Location: Paris, France
Contact: Olivia Reneaud-Jensen
Contact Email: olivia.reneaud-jensen at sorbonne-universite.fr

Linguistic Field(s): Pragmatics; Semantics; Syntax; Text/Corpus
Linguistics

Submission Deadline: 20-Apr-2026

This conference seeks to refine our understanding of the relationship
between form and meaning in exclamative structures. It aims to provide
as comprehensive an account as possible of form-meaning
correspondences in exclamative structures by bringing together
scholarly contributions on a broad range of languages and corpora.
A key challenge lies in the terminological ambiguity of the term
exclamation as it applies to different levels of language and to a
variety of meanings. This issue, which is already central in Austin’s
seminal work (1962), can also be found in the distinction between
exclamation and (true) exclamative (see in particular Castroviejo Miró
2008; Rett 2008).
If we draw on the etymology of the term to delimit the focus of this
conference (ex-clamare), any utterance conveying outwardly expressed
subjective intensity can be considered exclamative, as broadly
construed. The conference addresses utterances in which the speaker
expresses an emotional state in a vivid and immediate manner, but also
a judgement. Exclamation is therefore not restricted to the expression
of emotion. Among attempts to systematise the paradigm, Fillmore, Kay
& O’Connor (1988) propose ‘the expression of a judgment of
non-canonicity’ (see also Michaelis 2001). Under this definition,
interjections (Wow!, Ouch!), syntactic structures expressing surprise
at a high degree (You wouldn't believe the day I had, What a lovely
dress!), as well as potentially elided structures (Amazing!, The car!)
can all be viewed as belonging to the field of ‘exclamation’.
The study and characterisation of these utterances requires
disentangling syntactic, semantic, and prosodic parameters, which
necessarily involves investigating the interfaces between these
levels.
>From a syntactic point of view, exclamative structures are identified
by a specific configuration and/or by the presence of markers or cues
(ellipsis, wh- words, complement selection, clause embedding, etc.).
>From a semantic perspective, they express high degree, and are
associated with factivity and scalar implicature (Kiparsky & Kiparsky
1970). In discourse, they are paired with a speech act (Austin 1962;
also see the distinction established by Rett 2008).
The study of exclamation and exclamative structures proceeds through
entry points at different interfaces, which in turn raises broader
theoretical questions. Examples include the syntax semantics interface
of the embedding of clauses and noun phrases (Elliott 1974; Grimshaw
1979), analyses of sentence types (Sadock & Zwicky 1985), as well as
research highlighting (non?) canonical relationships between syntactic
patterns and prosody within the paradigm (Pierrehumbert & Hirschberg
1990; Rett & Sturman 2020). Related issues are also addressed in
investigations of mirativity and expressivity (DeLancey 2001; Celle,
Jugnet, Lansari & L’Hôte 2017; Celle, Jugnet & Lansari 2021; Neveux
2024).
Across all linguistic levels, the study of exclamative structures
raises the question of how form and meaning interact. It therefore
provides a particularly fruitful ground for comparing and cross
examining theoretical perspectives – even those whose foundational
assumptions may appear incompatible: is the form of these structures
inherently motivated, or conversely, do they result from a
‘horizontal’ form-meaning pairing between non‑motivated constructions?
Examining these utterances may thus reveal potential points of
convergence and divergence between constructionist (Michaelis &
Lambrecht 1996), enunciativist (Culioli 1974), Guillaumian (Guillaume
1944; 1947-48), generative (Zanuttini & Portner 2003), and other
approaches.
Identifying the mechanisms underlying the construction of exclamative
meaning greatly benefits from cross-linguistic research. For example,
the use of nominal structures such as La voiture ! and The audacity!
varies significantly from one language to another. Other examples
include the different strategies languages use to encode surprise,
such as coordinated structures in German (Thomas und Doktor?!) or the
-tshug morpheme in Ladakhi (Mélac, forthcoming).
We welcome papers on all languages, especially on the following
(non-exhaustive) topics:
 - The syntax-prosody interface of exclamative structures.
 - The evolution and conventionalisation of constructions:
micro-diachrony, transition from spoken to written language, and
particularly emerging patterns on social media.
 - The embedding of subordinate clauses.
 - Challenges related to data collection and to corpora (written,
oral, and multimodal corpora), particularly strategies and methods,
and the influence of certain types of corpora on observed results.
 - Theoretical questions related to the link between form and meaning
in exclamative constructions.
 - Issues of expressivity in exclamative structures.
 - Discourse markers.
 - Lexical and syntactic creativity in response to novel expressive
needs (in literature, on social media platforms, etc.).
Proposals can be in English or in French. The languages of the
conference will be English and French.
Keynote speaker and provisional title:
Elena Castroviejo Miró (Universitat de Barcelona) — title to be
confirmed
Timeline:
Submissions should include a clear statement of the research problem,
a concise description of the methodology, and a summary of the
preliminary results. Each submission should be accompanied by a
bibliography (maximum 10 references). Submissions should not exceed
800 words, excluding the bibliography, and must be submitted in PDF
format by April 20th 2026 to the following addresses:
laure.lansari at u-picardie.fr
vincent.hugou at sorbonne-universite.fr
olivia.reneaud-jensen at sorbonne-universite.fr
Advisory Board:
Agnès Celle, Université Paris Cité
Gaétane Dostie, Université de Sherbrooke
Richard Faure, Université de Tours
Lobke Ghesquière, Université de Mons
Sophie Herment, Aix-Marseille Université
Vincent Hugou, Sorbonne Université
Christelle Lacassain, Sorbonne Université
Laure Lansari, Université de Picardie Jules Verne
Dominique Legallois, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Olivia Reneaud-Jensen, Sorbonne Université
Jessica Rett, University of California, Los Angeles
Agnès Tutin, Université Grenoble Alpes
Stephan Wilhelm, Université Grenoble Alpes
Raffaella Zanuttini, Yale University



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