Talk by Janek Guerrini (Frankfurt) in the Semantics Colloquium

by Lennart Fritzsche Comment Closed
We are happy to announce another talk by Janek Guerrini (Frankfurt) in the Semantics Colloquium. The talk will take place on campus in IG 4.301. If you wish to participate virtually via Zoom, please contact Lennart Fritzsche for the link.  Date: December 19, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm c.t. Title: Similatives as inherent generics Abstract: In this paper, I give an account of constructions expressing similarity such as like John and like a lawyer. The main point of the paper is that in like a lawyer, the indefinite receives a generic interpretation, which explains why under its most available reading, John looks like a lawyer is equivalent to John looks like a typical lawyer. However, this indefinite is generic in a surprising way. Generic quantification is standardly thought to be brought about by a silent quantificational adverb, Gen, bearing a meaning akin to generally (see e.g. Krifka et al. 1995). It is therefore expected, on the standard picture, that an indefinite that can receive generic interpretations should...
Read More

Talk by Lea Schäfer (Kassel) in the Historical Linguistics Colloquium

by Nelli Kerezova Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Lea Schäfer (Kassel) in the Historical Linguistics Colloquium.   The talks will take place in person. Date: December 19, 2024 Time: 2 pm – 4 pm ct Place: Room IG 1.201 Title: "Sprachhistorische und dialektale Aspekte zur Entwicklung von selb" Abstract: Wie in vielen anderen Sprachen gibt es auch in den germanischen Sprachen Verstärker, um reflexive Strukturen zu markieren. Im Standarddeutschen geschieht dies meist mit der Partikel selbst; daneben existiert noch die "stilistischen Variante" (Siemund 2000: 10) selber. Das Nebeneinander beider Formen wird als freie Variation betrachtet, bei der selbst die von der Norm bevorzugte Form ist (z. B. Gast 2006: 70; Hole 2002: FN 1). Der Vortrag wird mögliche funktionale Unterschiede beider Formen aufzeigen, diese diachron, typologisch und auf Basis von Daten aus Textkorpora und Sprecherbefragungen einordnen und diskutieren....
Read More

Talk by Roland Hinterhölzl (Venice) in the Syntax Colloquium

by Anke Himmelreich Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Roland Hinterhölzl (Venice) in the Syntax Colloquium. The talks will take place in person. Room IG 4.301 Date: December 16, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct Title: "Privileged Access, Verb Second and the that trace effect" Abstract: In this talk, I present a novel approach to the that trace-effect that is based on the insight that subjects stand out in having privileged access to the C-domain. Paradoxically, this privilege of subjects that is visible in various effects appearing with local, that is, clause-internal movement leads to a handicap in long distance movement. I argue that the effect is due to an economy condition operative with flexible phase edges in the C-domain. Flexible phase edges are also visible in V2-languages, which distinguish each other between low and high V2, corresponding to a low (FinP) or high (ForceP) phase edge in the C-domain.  ...
Read More

Talk by Constantijn Kaland (Universität zu Köln)

by Tina Bögel Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Constantijn Kaland in the Phonology Colloquium. Room: IG 4.301 Date: December 3, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm ct Title: "Categorizing productions of prosody and intonation" Abstract: In recent years, there is an increased interest in the application of cluster analysis in the analysis of f0 contours. Studies have used this technique to explore previously under-documented languages and to confirm and refine intonation theory of well-studied languages. Cluster analysis is useful, because it is able to group contours based on their numerical similarity, facilitating the analysis and interpretation of f0 variation. While the output of the clustering does not constitute intonational phonology, it is informative to our understanding of phonological categories. The R application 'Contour Clustering' primarily focuses on f0 contours, and recent updates also allow for the inclusion of other prosodic cues such as intensity and duration (https://constantijnkaland.github.io/contourclustering/). In this way, the methodological approach offers an effective way of scrutinizing prosodic variation of all kinds. It poses no limits to the type of data (spontaneous to...
Read More

Talk by Alla Paslawska (Lwiw) in the Semantics Colloquium

by Lennart Fritzsche Comment Closed
We are happy to announce a talk by Alla Paslawska (Lwiw) in the Semantics Colloquium. The talk will take place on campus in IG 4.301. If you wish to participate virtually via Zoom, please contact Lennart Fritzsche for the link.    The talk will be held in German.  Date: December 5, 2024 Time: 4 pm – 6 pm c.t. Title: Wie viele Gesichter hat die Negation? Abstract: Jede der Wissenschaft bekannte Sprache verfügt über morphologische Mittel, die Negation zum Ausdruck bringen können. Dazu werden Partikeln, Affixe, Konjunktionen etc. zugerechnet. Bedeutet das, dass die Negation eine morphologische Kategorie ist? Bei näherem Hinsehen merkt man, dass im Fall der Negation die Morphologie uns oft im Stich lässt. Denn was bedeutet eigentlich niemand? Man denkt wohl nicht an Odysseus, der unter dem Namen „Niemand“ dem Polyphem einen glühenden Pfahl in das einzige Auge gerammt hat. Niemand bedeutet vielmehr jemand, nichts ist etwas etc., d.h. die Antwort nach dem kategorialen Status der Negation ist im Bereich der Semantik zu finden. Trotzdem haben auch die Syntax, Prosodie...
Read More