Verbal complex predicates in a theoretical and cross-linguistic perspective
(Workshop at DGfS 2025)
Date: 04-Mar-2025 – 07-Mar-2025
Location: Mainz, Germany
Contact Person: Patryk Czerwinski
Meeting Email: czerwinski@uni-mainz.de
Web Site: https://converia.uni-mainz.de/frontend/index.php?folder_id=1020
Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories; Morphology; Syntax; Typology
Call Deadline: 08-Sep-2024
Meeting Description:
Organisers: Patryk Czerwinski, Andrej Malchukov (University of Mainz)
The domain of verbal complex predicates poses a number of theoretical challenges that continue to attract attention of linguists within a variety of different approaches (see e.g. Alsina et al. 1997; Amberber et al. 2010). Within the broader goals of the ComPLETE project (Vanhove et al. 2021), the workshop aims to address relevant theoretical issues (including but not limited to multi-/mono-clausality; light verb vs auxiliary distinction), and investigate the degree to which modelling the domain within different theoretical approaches for a variety of structurally diverse languages can help resolve those issues. Specifically, we aim to combine the general linguistic and typological approaches by investigating how the generalisations and empirical predictions by modern theoretical proposals with regards to the relevant grammatical factors (syntactic dependency; argument sharing; operator sharing) are borne out by testing them on a wide range of cross-linguistic data, including new data from less described languages. Particular research questions to be addressed would be a) theory-specific arguments for multi-/mono-clausality and their motivations; b) different levels of complex predication in traditional classifications as well as various theoretical approaches (levels of projection in Minimalist syntax/levels of “juncture” in the Role and Reference Grammar); and c) the mechanisms of argument sharing (argument unification) available at different levels. The workshop aims to contribute to our understanding of whether theory-specific assumptions and analyses can appropriately account for the observed facts of a broad and diverse range of languages.
The workshop will take place over the course of three days, with 30-min. slots including Q&A.
Methodologically, the workshop’s main goal is to promote interaction between linguistic typology and general (theoretical) linguistics. We therefore welcome papers from a wide spectrum within these approaches, particularly those that spell out empirical predictions and generalisations, and those that involve data from less studied languages. Specific theoretical issues we would be particularly interested in include, but are not limited to:
a) what are the mechanisms of argument sharing within different theoretical frameworks and what they predict;
b) what are the arguments for mono- vs multi-clausality within different frameworks and how they are motivated;
c) how different theories view the mechanisms of grammaticalisation and lexicalisation in the domain (cf. the distinction between auxiliaries and Light Verbs in LFG);
d) how the syntactic units within the domain are regimented (e.g., 3-way distinction in RRG; other theories predict fewer or more).
Additionally, we welcome papers dealing with the diachrony of the domain of complex predicates, including but not limited to:
a) the role of grammaticalization and lexicalization in rise of complex predicates;
b) the universal and areal factors in the diachronic evolution of the domain.
Please submit an abstract of max. 500 words (including examples but excluding references) per e-mail to czerwinski@uni-mainz.de by September 8. Making the references in the format required by the ‘Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft’ will save you effort later.
Notification of abstract acceptance: 15 September 2024