Talks

We are very happy to announce the next talk in the Phonology Colloquium, which will take place on Wednesday, July 10, 4 – 6 pm in IG 4.301. Fatima Hamlaoui (Toronto) will present „Pre-Stem Object Markers and the Verb-Subject Word Order in (Proto-)Bantu“. Abstract: Inversion constructions are a widespread phenomenon in Bantu languages. Some languages, like Basaá (A43, Cameroon), however do not allow postverbal subjects, neither in matrix nor in embedded clauses. In a family in which word order is generally considered flexible, the question arises as to why some languages have a fairly rigid word order and which type of word order characterized Proto-Bantu. This talk concentrates on SV/VS order in relative clauses, a type of clause in which word order can hardly be motivated by the information status of its arguments. Based on a sample of 150 Narrow Bantu languages, 6 (non-Bantu) Bantoid languages and 9 (non-Bantoid) Niger-Congo languages, we first discuss issues relating to the most frequent word order in...

We are very happy to announce the next talk in the Semantic Colloquium, which will take place on Thursday, July 4, 4 – 6 pm in IG 4.301. Hans Christian Schmitz (Frauenhofer FKIE) will present „Herausforderungen der angewandten KI“. Abstract: Ich habe vor, (i) Grundbegriffe aktueller KI-Methoden zu erläutern. Darauf aufbauend möchte ich diskutieren, (ii) wie rationale und heuristische Entscheidungen unterstützt werden sollten und (iii) wie kollektives Entscheiden zur Verbesserung von Systemen beitragen kann, womit ich das Gebiet der Informatik „ein Stück weit“ verlasse. Der KI wird derzeit ja einiges an Aufmerksamkeit zuteil und große Hoffnungen („Schlüsseltechnologie […], um erfolgreich im internationalen Wettbewerb zu bestehen“, KI-Strategie der Bundesregierung) und sonstige Erwartungen werden mit ihr verbunden, so dass das Thema vielleicht von allgemeinem Interesse ist. Um es anteilig auch im engeren Rahmen der Linguistik interessant zu machen, bemühe ich mich, verschiedene Querbezüge zur (linguistischen) Sprachanalyse herzustellen und dadurch anregend zu wirken.   You are cordially invited!...

We are very happy to announce the next talk in the Syntax Colloquium, which will take place on Monday, July 1, 4 – 6 pm in IG 254. Zheng Shen will present „The second type of Closest Conjunct Agreement“. Abstract: Closest conjunct agreement (CCA) has been granted a special status in linguistics research since it indicates potential relevance of the linear order in a grammar that is considered hierarchical. Previous literature has largely treated CCA as a homogeneous set of phenomena. This paper argues for two different types of Closest Conjunct Agreement with distinct properties which grant different analyses. Using experimental data, this study begins to look into properties of the less-studied second type of CCA.     You are cordially invited!...

We are very happy to announce the next talk in the Phonology Colloquium, which will take place on Wednesday, June 26, 4 – 6 pm in IG 4.301. Franziska Krüger will present „Exploring the perception and production patterns of second dialect learners -- An investigation into the laryngeal contrast for word-initial stops when perceived and produced by Upper Saxon dialect and Standard German speakers“. Abstract: Exploring the perception and production patterns of second dialect learners -- An investigation into the laryngeal contrast for word-initial stops when perceived and produced by Upper Saxon dialect and Standard German speakers Standard German (SGer) maintains a contrast between lenis (voiceless unaspirated) stops and fortis (voiceless aspirated) stops. For the non-standard German variety Upper Saxon (USax), traditional accounts report that only lenis stops are retained. Thus, <Bass> (bass) and <Pass> (passport) are a minimal pair in SGer but homophones in USax. However, more recent phonetic investigations suggest that USax speakers might produce fortis stops with aspiration just like SGer. My research...

We are very happy to announce the next talk in the Semantic Colloquium, which will take place on Thursday, June 27, 4 – 6 pm in IG 4.301. Bartosz Wieckowski will present „Modes of assumptions and moods of implications“. Abstract: We define a natural deduction system for factual and counterfactual implication IFC on top of an intuitionistic natural deduction system S which serves as a reference system for making assumptions in IFC. Intuitively, the set of formulae canonically derived in S comprises what is counted as a fact in the IFC-system based on it. In IFC-systems one may distinguish three modes of making assumptions. A formula can be assumed factually in case it is contained in the set of facts, it can be assumed counterfactually in case it is not so contained, and it can be assumed in an independent mode, that is, regardless of whether it is a fact or not. Factual (counterfactual, standard) implications are derived by appeal to factual (counterfactual,...