37.2521, Confs: Theme Session at 11th International Conference on Grammar and Corpora: Storyboards for Data Collection in African Languages (Germany)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2521. Fri Jul 31 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2521, Confs: Theme Session at 11th International Conference on Grammar and Corpora: Storyboards for Data Collection in African Languages (Germany)

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Date: 29-Jul-2026
From: Jens Fleischhauer [fleischhauer at phil.uni-duesseldorf.de]
Subject: Theme Session at 11th International Conference on Grammar and Corpora: Storyboards for Data Collection in African Languages


Theme Session at 11th International Conference on Grammar and Corpora:
Storyboards for Data Collection in African Languages

Date: 30-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Viersen, Germany
Contact: Jens Fleischhauer
Contact Email: fleischhauer at phil.uni-duesseldorf.de
Meeting URL: https://gac2027.phil.hhu.de/

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Morphology; Text/Corpus
Linguistics; Typology
Language Family(ies): African Unclassified

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

African languages are still underrepresented in linguistic research;
as a result there are almost no corpora. One way to quickly and
efficiently build a corpus that allows for the investigation of a
specific research question is to create one on the basis of
storyboards.
Storyboards are rudimentary picture stories that speakers can retell.
The design of the storyboards can be used to specifically elicit
certain linguistic constructions. In this way, natural language data
can be obtained that (i) constitutes a coherent narrative and thus
also contains linguistic context, and (ii) ensures comparability
across speakers and languages.
In this theme session, we will discuss the use of storyboards for
collecting linguistic data and building corpora. The focus of the
theme session will be on the use of storyboards to elicit and describe
grammatical structures (e.g., voice constructions, focus
constructions) in African languages. Questions we are interested in
and would like to address include, among others:
- How can we use storyboards to examine grammatical phenomena –
including, but of course not limited to voice constructions like
applicative constructions – both within a single language and across
languages?
- How can data generated from storyboards be used to create a
consistent corpus format for comparative analyses (transcription
standards, annotations, data coding; for example, coding different
types of applicative constructions)?
- How should storyboards be designed so that they can be used across
languages and cultures?
- Are there any special considerations—and if so, what are they—that
we need to take into account when designing storyboards for African
languages?
- What standards must storyboards meet in order to reliably capture
specific grammatical phenomena?
In particular, we hope to receive submissions that present specific
case studies on the use of storyboards to examine, for example,
applicative constructions in African languages.
Submissions must be made through the general submission system for the
Grammar and Corpora conference (https://gac2027.phil.hhu.de/); all
submissions will undergo peer review. Please indicate that you would
like your submission to be considered for the theme session.  For more
details on abstracts, see the general guidelines on the conference
website.



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