37.3571, Confs: Grammar From Space: How Spatial Elements Become Applicatives (Belgium)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3571. Fri 30 Oct 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.3571, Confs: Grammar From Space: How Spatial Elements Become Applicatives (Belgium)

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Valeriia Vyshnevetska
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Daniel Swanson
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Valeriia Vyshnevetska <valeriia at linguistlist.org>

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


Date: 29-Oct-2026
From: An Van linden [an.vanlinden at uliege.be]
Subject: Grammar From Space: How Spatial Elements Become Applicatives


Grammar From Space: How Spatial Elements Become Applicatives
Short Title: SPACEGRAM

Date: 20-May-2027 - 21-May-2027
Location: Liège, Belgium

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Historical Linguistics;
Morphology; Syntax; Typology

Submission Deadline: 18-Dec-2026

Convenors: An Van linden, Lieselotte Brems, Isa Hendrikx, Cristian
Juárez & Kristel Van Goethem
Keywords: applicatives, grammaticalization, lexicalization, spatial
verb morphology, spatial adpositions
Call for abstracts:
We invite English-language abstracts (max. 500 words, excluding
references) addressing any of the above issues or related questions,
for 20 minute-presentations (+ 10’ discussion time) to be delivered
in-person or online. Anonymized files should be submitted to
ann-sophie.vrielynck at uliege.be, with the title, author’s name and
affiliation in the message of the e-mail.
Workshop Description:
This workshop marks the final stages of the SPACEGRAM project, which
set out to investigate how elements with spatial meaning develop
applicative functions, both from a typological and diachronic
perspective. Whereas applicatives have been described to originate in
adpositions with spatial meaning for a long time, for example in Bemba
(Atlantic-Congo, Bantu, Zambia; Givón (1975: 85), cited in Peterson
(2007: 126)), spatial verb morphology was established as a source for
applicatives not long ago (e.g. Payne (2021) on Nilotic languages).
For instance, this recent pathway of grammaticalization was proposed
on the basis of present-day examples like (1) from Harakmbut
(non-classified, Peru), featuring the spatial prefix ok-~k-, which
expresses ‘separation’.
(1) Harakmbut (An Van linden 2022: 131, 142)
(a)     Lupe    o-k-tegŋ-me     mbiʔigŋ
        Lupe    3SG.IND-SPAT:separation-cut-REC.PST     fish
        ‘Lupe cut the fish into pieces.’
(b)     i-k-totok-me-y  eʔ-pidn abuela-ta
        1SG-SPAT:separation-pull-REC.PST-1.IND  NPF-thorn
grandmother-ACC
        ‘I pulled a thorn out of grandmother(ʼs knee).’
In (1a), the spatial prefix specifies the internal spatial
configuration of the O-participant resulting from the action denoted
by the verb; the fish ended up being cut into separate pieces rather
than showing cuts but still being in one piece. The prefix does not
affect the valency of the verb, which remains transitive. In (1b), by
contrast, it introduces a Source argument to the clause (viz.
accusative-marked abuela-ta ‘grandmother’), and thus turns a
transitive root into a ditransitive stem. Similarly, the prefix be- in
Dutch (Indo-European, Belgium, the Netherlands and Suriname), thought
to descend from the Proto-Germanic prefix *bi-, which also gave rise
to the spatial adposition bij ‘near’ (De Haas and Trommelen 1993: 52),
can turn intransitive verbs to transitive ones, as in (2). In addition
to general spatial markers, applicative uses have also been attested
for directionals (e.g. in Nilotic languages, see Payne (2021: 719)),
associated motion markers (e.g. in Bystraja Even (Tungusic, Russia),
see Pakendorf & Stoynova (2021: 857)), incorporated spatial nouns
(e.g. in Abaza (Northwest Caucasian, Russia), see Arkadiev (2021)), as
well as spatial particles in compound verbs in Dutch (e.g. overlopen
‘go through’, lit. ‘overrun’).
(2) Dutch
(a)     ik      klom    op      de      berg
        I       climb.PST       up      the     mountain
        ‘I climbed up the mountain.’ (Sonar-corpus; Oostdijk et al.
2013)
(b)     hij     be-klom de      berg
        He      APPL-climb.PST  the     mountain
        ‘He climbed up the mountain.’ (Sonar-corpus)
Research within the SPACEGRAM project found that these ‘old’ and ‘new’
pathways from spatial element to applicative marker are in fact
widespread and that the outcomes show considerable typological
variation – in terms of both the spatial and applicatives uses of the
markers concerned (Mukhin et al. Forthc). Diachronic research on Dutch
verb-particle constructions revisited the adposition-to-applicative
pathway standing unchallenged for over 20 years (Vrielynck et al.
Forthc.), while synchronic corpus-based and experimental studies have
pinned down systematic meaning differences between separable and
inseparable compound verbs (Vrielynck et al. 2026), as well as between
be-prefixed verbs and their unprefixed counterparts. Although we have
made good progress, relevant data keep being collected and expanding
our current understanding.
The workshop will bring together linguists working on these and
related issues, either on the basis of historical corpus data for
languages with written records or based on first-hand data collected
in the field for those languages that do not have historical data. We
invite language-specific contributions, as well as cross-linguistic or
areal studies. More specifically, the questions to be addressed
include, but are not limited to, the following:
 - What type of spatial markers can develop applicative functions? And
do these also still show non-applicative functions?
 - What are the thematic/semantic roles of the applied phrases
introduced by applicatives of spatial origin?
 - What is the syntactic effect of such applicative markers? How is
the applied phrase treated syntactically (cf. P , D  and
X-applicatives in Zúñiga & Creissels 2024)? Do the applicatives
increase the valency of the verb or do they merely rearrange the
semantic roles of its arguments?
 - When or why do language users employ such applicatives? Do we
observe stacking of applicatives?
 - What stages and cognitive mechanisms can be proposed for diachronic
pathways from spatial element to applicative marker? What are the
etymological sources of these spatial elements? After having become
applicatives, do they show any further development beyond
applicativization?
 - What do we observe with respect to the semantic classes of verbs
that take applicatives of spatial origin? Are there any semantic or
syntactic constraints that prevent or favour applicativization?
 - Do we observe any lexicalization effects in the applicative or
non-applicative uses of spatial markers? Do we see any patterns in
these lexicalization effects?
 - Where do we find hotbeds of applicative markers of spatial origin?
Are there any areal or genetic patterns?
Important Dates:
18 December 2026: deadline for abstract submissions
15 February 2027: notification of acceptance of papers
30 April 2027: deadline for registration
20-21 May 2027: workshop in Liège (hybrid)
References:
Arkadiev, P. (2021). Between noun incorporation and lexical affixation
in Northwest Caucasian (with focus on Abaza). Paper presented at
Stockholm University, 9 Dec 2021, online.
Givón, Talmy. (1975). Promotion, Accessibility and Case Marking:
Toward Understanding Grammars. Working Papers on Language Universals
19: 55–125.
Haas, W. de & M. Trommelen. 1993. Morfologisch handboek van het
Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvorming. Den Haag: SDU
Uitgeverij.
Mukhin, T., A. Van linden & D. Louagie. Forthcoming. A typological
study of applicative markers of spatial origin. In A. Van linden & D.
Louagie (eds.), Applicative markers of spatial origin. Berlin:
Language Science Press.
Oostdijk, N., M. Reynaert, V. Hoste & I. Schuurman. (2013). The
construction of a 500-million-word reference corpus of contemporary
written Dutch. In P. Spyns & J. Odijk (eds.), Essential Speech and
Language Technology for Dutch, Theory and Applications of Natural
Language Processing, 219-247. Heidelberg: Springer.
Pakendorf, B. & N. Stoynova. (2021). Associated motion in Tungusic
languages: a case of mixed argument structure. In A. Guillaume & H.
Koch (eds.), Associated Motion, 855-898. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
Payne, D. (2021). The extension of associated motion to direction,
aspect and argument structure in Nilotic languages. In A. Guillaume &
H. Koch (eds.), Associated Motion, 695-746. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
Peterson, D. A. (2007). Applicative constructions. Oxford: OUP.
Van linden, A. (2022). Spatial prefixes as applicatives in Harakmbut.
In S. Pacchiarotti & F. Zúñiga (eds.), Applicative morphology:
Neglected syntactic 18 and non-syntactic functions, 129-159. Berlin:
De Gruyter.
Vrielynck, A.-S., D. Pijpops & J. Perrez. (2026). Does iconicity shape
Dutch verb-particle constructions? A multimethod study on the
semantics of verb separability, Cognitive Linguistics 37(3), 429-460.
Vrielynck, A.-S., D. Pijpops & A. Van linden. Forthcoming. Pathways to
applicatives: The diachrony of preverbs in Dutch. In A. Van linden &
D. Louagie (eds.), Applicative markers of spatial origin. Berlin:
Language Science Press.
Zúñiga, F. & D. Creissels. (2024). Applicative constructions: An
introductory overview. In F. Zúñiga and D. Creissels (eds.),
Applicative Constructions in the World’s Languages, 3-56. Berlin,
Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List, a U.S. 501(c)(3) not for profit organization:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Australian Linguistics Society https://als.asn.au/Home

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Brill https://www.degruyterbrill.com/?changeLang=en

Edinburgh University Press http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

European Language Resources Association (ELRA) http://www.elra.info

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

MDPI Languages https://www.mdpi.com/journal/languages

MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Peter Lang AG http://www.peterlang.com

SIL International Publications http://www.sil.org/resources/publications

University of Toronto Press https://utppublishing.com


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-37-3571
----------------------------------------------------------