Dear all,
I am pleased to invite you to submit an abstract for the session
THE LEXICAL BASES OF GRAMMAR: ISSUES ON THE LEXIS-GRAMMAR INTERFACE
planned for the
2nd International Conference of the
Association Française de Linguistique Cognitive
Lille, May 10th-12th, 2007
Note that deadline for **abstract sumission** is December 5th, 2006.
Please notify me about your **intention to submit an abstract** by November
20th, 2006.
For more details, see please the invitation and Call for Papers below.
Best regards,
Susanna
Paper Session
THE LEXICAL BASES OF GRAMMAR: ISSUES ON THE LEXIS-GRAMMAR INTERFACE
Organisator:
Susanna Bartsch
Centre for General Linguistics, Typology, and Universals Research
Berlin
bartsch@zas.gwz-berlin.de
planned for the
2nd International Conference of the
Association Française de Linguistique Cognitive (AFLiCo)
University of Lille 3, Lille, France
10-12 May 2007
RECENT BACKGROUND AND INVITATION
At the the 2nd International Conference of the German Cognitive Linguistics
Association, Munich, October 5th-7th, 2006, the theme session "Lexical
Bootstrapping in Child Language Acquisition and Child Conceptual
Development" took place as one of the first events dedicated to the
discussion on the central role of lexis for the whole of language
development. It is planned to continue this discussion in an edited paper
collection (Bartsch & Bittner, in prep.) to appear in the Cognitive
Linguistics Research series.
After the success of the Lexical Bootstrapping session, I would like now to
invite scholars interested in an enlarged discussion on the lexical bases of
grammar from the perspectives of language development, evolution, diachrony,
synchrony, as well as human and machine processing.
For this discussion, a proposal for a special session to be held at the 2nd
International Conference of the Association Française de Linguistique
Cognitive (AFLiCo), Lille, May 10th-12th, 2007, is currently under review.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
Linguistic research has been for several decades determined by generative
axioms about modularity of cognition and of linguistic domains, autonomy and
primacy of syntax over lexis and the rather epiphenomenal nature of lexis
and semantics.
However, over the last 2-3 decades, empirical research (especially the one
done within functionalist-cognitivist frameworks) has provided mounting
evidence for the notion that language cannot be properly studied from a
‘syntactocentric’ perspective (to use a term coined by Jackendoff 1997),
i.e., without considering the interplay between linguistic domains, the
interplay between lexical semantics and grammar, and the central role lexis
plays therein.
For instance, from the developmental perspective, the empirical work of
Elizabeth Bates and associates has been crucial for the view on the
“emergence of grammar from the lexicon” (Bates & Goodman 1999; also see
Bates, Bretherton, & Snyder 1987; and, as examples for more recent studies
inspired by Bates’ work, Kauschke 2000; and Bassano, Laaha, Maillochon, &
Dressler 2004). This is also the idea underlying the Lexical Bootstrapping
Hypothesis (LBH), i.e., the hypothesis that early lexical development, as
mapping of words to referents or their conceptualisations, and even to whole
propositions, is not only prior to, but also pre-requisite for the emergence
of morpho-syntactic constructions, as well as, in later developmental
stages, for the enhancement of other linguistic abilities (Bartsch 2006,
Bartsch in prep.).
But LBH can be situated within a language-general lexicalist hypothesis in
that it attributes a fundamental role to lexis over grammar (strong
version), resp. a continuity or complex interplay of lexis and grammar (weak
version), not only in language development, but also in evolution,
diachrony, synchrony, as well as human and machine processing. The
lexicalist hypothesis is in line with an increasing corpus of empirical
findings, theoretical proposals and methodological approaches from the last
decades, such as the following:
a) Developmental Perspective:
- lexical bootstrapping (grammar from lexis) (see studies mentioned above);
- syntactic bootstrapping (lexis from grammar) (Landau & Gleitman 1985; Lee
& Naigles 2005).
b) Diachronic Perspective:
- lexico-semantic evolution shapes and determines grammaticalisation
processes (Lemmens 1999; Bybee 2005);
- grammaticalisation (grammar from lexis) and lexicalisation (lexis from
grammar) as complementary bidirectional processes (Brinton & Traugott 2005).
c) Synchronic Perspective:
- lexico-semantic structures constrain constructional possibilities (Lemmens
1998);
- merely methodological/terminological, but by no means ontological,
differentiation between lexis and grammar (Köller 2004);
- grammar as an outcome of lexical structure in language use (Hoey 2005);
- grammatical investigation by means of the “method of lexical exceptions”
(Beedham’s 2005).
d) Human Language Processing:
- interplay of “lexical and structural effects” in infant speech perception
(Höhle, Schmitz, Santelmann, & Weissenborn, 2006 to appear);
- “lexical and referential influences” in sentence processing by humans
(Kidd & Bavin 2005).
e) Computer Modelling:
- grammar as an outcome of lexical structure in connectionist modelling of
language development (Howell & Becker under review);
- “coevolution of lexicon and syntax” in connectionist modelling of language
evolution (phylogeny) (Gong & Wang 2005).
These and other studies have repeatedly confirmed Jackendoff’s view of
“syntactocentrism” as a “scientific mistake” (Jackendoff 2003: 654), as
“just an assumption that itself was partly a product of historical accident”
(Jackendoff 1997: 19), even though Jackendoff’s motivations and goals are
somewhat different from the ones to be pursued in this theme session.
This special session is intended as a forum for discussion on the general
lexicalist theory of language in its strong and weak versions, from the
perspectives just mentioned.
The individual contributions should focus on the following general questions
(for instance, as discussed in the studies mentioned above):
1) How, concerning which aspects, and to which extent are grammatical
categories and structures shaped and determined by lexico-semantic
categories and structures (lexicalist view)?
2) How, concerning which aspects, and to which extent are lexico-semantic
categories and structures shaped and determined by grammatical categories
and structures (‘syntactocentric’ view)?
3) Are the lexicalist and the ‘syntactocentric’ view compatible with each
other? And if so, how, concerning which aspects, and to which extent?
The session is intended to have at least one contribution focussing on
aspects of one of these areas:
- child language development
- language change
- language evolution
- synchrony
- human language processing
- machine language processing.
Papers combining one of these areas with computer modelling or
neurolinguistic investigations, as well as offering a survey on the research
relevant for their respective areas are especially encouraged. The papers
might focus on the researcher’s original empirical research, on theoretical
synthesising reflexions reviewing a corpus of empirical research, as well as
on methodologies.
The papers will be 20 minutes for presentation plus 10 minutes for
discussion. In addition, one slot (30 minutes) at the end of the session
will be reserved to a general discussion.
GUIDELINES FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Please send your abstracts according to the following specifications:
- detailed abstracts (about 1000 words) plus complete list of references
and, where it applies, tables, diagrams, and the like;
- including your name, affiliation, and e-mail address;
- indicating the equipment needed (lap-top, digital projector, over-head
projector, other)
- paper size: A4
- font: Times New Roman 12 pt
- all margins: 3 cm
- space between lines: simple space
- space between paragraphs: 6 pt
- in English or French
- as doc or rtf file
- as e-mail attachment only
- to my e-mail adress: bartsch@zas.gwz-berlin.de
IMPORTANT DATES
- deadline for abstract submission: December 5th, 2006
- acceptance notification: December 20th, 2006
- deadline for sending ppt presentations in advance: May 7th, 2007
- registration & welcome reception: May 9th, 2007, from 17h00
- conference: May 10th-12th, 2007
PUBLICATION
I intend to check the possibility of publishing an edited collection with
the presented papers.
REFERENCES
Bartsch, S. (2006). Introducing and situating the lexical bootstrapping
hypothesis (LBH) in theories of language and language development. Paper
presented at 2nd International Conference of the German Cognitive
Linguistics Association (GCLA), Munich, October 5-7, 2006.
Bartsch, S. (in prep.). Introducing and situating the lexical bootstrapping
hypothesis (LBH) in theories of language and language development.
Introductory chapter for Bartsch & Bittner (ed.) (in prep.).
Bartsch, S. & Bittner, D. (eds.) (in prep.). Lexical Bootstrapping in Child
Language Development. Cognitive Linguistics Research series. Mouton de
Gruyter.
Bassano, D., Laaha, S., Maillochon, I., & Dressler, W. U. (2004). Early
acquisition of verb grammar and lexical development: Evidence from
periphrastic constructions in French and Austrian German. First Language,
24(1), pp. 33–70.
Bates, E., Bretherton, I., & Snyder, L. (1988). From First Words to Grammar:
Individual Differences and Dissociable Mechanisms. Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Press.
Bates, E., & Goodman, J. C. (1999). On the emergence of grammar from the
lexicon. In B. MacWhinney (Ed.), The Emergence of Language (pp. 29–79).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Beedham, C. (2005). Language and meaning: The structural creation of
reality. Studies in functional and structural linguistics, 55. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.
Brinton, L. J., & Traugott, E. Closs. (2005). Lexicalization and language
change. Cambridge UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bybee, J. L. (2005). Implications of grammaticalization for a theory of
language. Paper presented at the 10th International Congress of the
International Association for the Study of Child Language (IASCL), Berlin,
July 25-29, 2005.
Gong, T. & Wang, W. S.-Y. (2005). Computational modelling on language
emergence: A coevolution model of lexicon, syntax and social structure.
Language and Linguistics, 6(1), pp. 1-42.
Höhle, B., Schmitz, M., Santelmann, L. M., & Weissenborn, J. (2006, to
appear). The recognition of discontinuous verbal dependencies by German
19-month-olds: Evidence for lexical and structural influences on children's
early processing capacities. Language and Language Development.
Hoey, M. (2005). Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language.
London: Routledge.
Howell, S. R., & Becker, S. (under review). Grammar from the lexicon:
Evidence from neural network simulations of language acquisition. Language
and Speech.
Jackendoff, R. (1997). The architecture of the language faculty. MIT Press.
Jackendoff, R. (2003).Précis of Foundations of language: Brain, meaning,
grammar, evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26, 651-707.
Kauschke, Christina (2000): Der Erwerb des frühkindlichen Lexikons. Eine
empirische Studie zur Entwicklung des Wortschatzes im Deutschen. Tübingen:
Narr.
Kidd, E. & Bavin, E. (2005). Lexical and referential influences on on-line
sentence processing: A comparison of school-agend and adults. IASCL
Conferene, Berlin, July 2005.
Köller, W. (2004). Perspektivität und Sprache: Zur Struktur von
Objektivierungsformen in Bildern, im Denken und in der Sprache. Berlin; New
York: Walter de Gruyter.
Landau, B., & Gleitman, L. R. (1985). Language and experience. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Lee, J. N. & Naigles, L. R. (2005). The input to verb learning in Mandarin
Chinese: A role for syntactic bootstrapping. Developmental Psychology,
41(3), pp. 529-540.
Lemmens, M. (1998) Lexical Perspectives on Transitivity and Ergativity.
Causative Constructions in English. [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory
166] Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, .
Lemmens, M. (1999). Diachronic perspectives on lexical and constructional
interdependency in English, 6th ICLC, Stockholm, Sweden.
**************************************************************************
Susanna Bartsch
https://www.zas.gwz-berlin.de/mitarb/homepage/bartsch/
bartsch@zas.gwz-berlin.de
Zentrum für allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Typologie und
Universalienforschung (ZaS)
Centre for General Linguistics, Typology, and Universals Research
Jägerstr. 10-11
10117 Berlin
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)30 20192562
Fax +49 (0)30 20192402
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