Exclamation: Form(s) and Function(s)

Date: 10-Dec-2026 – 11-Dec-2026
Location: Paris, France
Contact Person: Olivia Reneaud-Jensen
Meeting Email: olivia.reneaud-jensen@sorbonne-universite.fr

Linguistic Field(s): Pragmatics; Semantics; Syntax; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Call Deadline: 20-Jun-2026

Call for Papers:

Deadline Extension

This conference seeks to refine our understanding of the relationship between form and meaning in exclamative structures. It aims to provide as comprehensive an account as possible of form-meaning correspondences in exclamative structures by bringing together scholarly contributions on a broad range of languages and corpora.

A key challenge lies in the terminological ambiguity of the term exclamation as it applies to different levels of language and to a variety of meanings. This issue, which is already central in Austin’s seminal work (1962), can also be found in the distinction between exclamation and (true) exclamative (see in particular Castroviejo Miró 2008; Rett 2008).

If we draw on the etymology of the term to delimit the focus of this conference (ex-clamare), any utterance conveying outwardly expressed subjective intensity can be considered exclamative, as broadly construed. The conference addresses utterances in which the speaker expresses an emotional state in a vivid and immediate manner, but also a judgement. Exclamation is therefore not restricted to the expression of emotion. Among attempts to systematise the paradigm, Fillmore, Kay & O’Connor (1988) propose ‘the expression of a judgment of non-canonicity’ (see also Michaelis 2001). Under this definition, interjections (Wow!, Ouch!), syntactic structures expressing surprise at a high degree (You wouldn’t believe the day I had, What a lovely dress!), as well as potentially elided structures (Amazing!, The car!) can all be viewed as belonging to the field of ‘exclamation’.

The study and characterisation of these utterances requires disentangling syntactic, semantic, and prosodic parameters, which necessarily involves investigating the interfaces between these levels.

From a syntactic point of view, exclamative structures are identified by a specific configuration and/or by the presence of markers or cues (ellipsis, wh- words, complement selection, clause embedding, etc.). From a semantic perspective, they express high degree, and are associated with factivity and scalar implicature (Kiparsky & Kiparsky 1970). In discourse, they are paired with a speech act (Austin 1962; also see the distinction established by Rett 2008).

The study of exclamation and exclamative structures proceeds through entry points at different interfaces, which in turn raises broader theoretical questions. Examples include the syntax semantics interface of the embedding of clauses and noun phrases (Elliott 1974; Grimshaw 1979), analyses of sentence types (Sadock & Zwicky 1985), as well as research highlighting (non?) canonical relationships between syntactic patterns and prosody within the paradigm (Pierrehumbert & Hirschberg 1990; Rett & Sturman 2020). Related issues are also addressed in investigations of mirativity and expressivity (DeLancey 2001; Celle, Jugnet, Lansari & L’Hôte 2017; Celle, Jugnet & Lansari 2021; Neveux 2024).

Across all linguistic levels, the study of exclamative structures raises the question of how form and meaning interact. It therefore provides a particularly fruitful ground for comparing and cross examining theoretical perspectives – even those whose foundational assumptions may appear incompatible: is the form of these structures inherently motivated, or conversely, do they result from a ‘horizontal’ form-meaning pairing between non‑motivated constructions? Examining these utterances may thus reveal potential points of convergence and divergence between constructionist (Michaelis & Lambrecht 1996), enunciativist (Culioli 1974), Guillaumian (Guillaume 1944; 1947-48), generative (Zanuttini & Portner 2003), and other approaches.

Identifying the mechanisms underlying the construction of exclamative meaning greatly benefits from cross-linguistic research. For example, the use of nominal structures such as La voiture ! and The audacity! varies significantly from one language to another. Other examples include the different strategies languages use to encode surprise, such as coordinated structures in German (Thomas und Doktor?!) or the -tshug morpheme in Ladakhi (Mélac, forthcoming).

We welcome papers on all languages, especially on the following (non-exhaustive) topics:
– The syntax-prosody interface of exclamative structures.
– The evolution and conventionalisation of constructions: micro-diachrony, transition from spoken to written language, and particularly emerging patterns on social media.
– The embedding of subordinate clauses.
– Challenges related to data collection and to corpora (written, oral, and multimodal corpora), particularly strategies and methods, and the influence of certain types of corpora on observed results.
– Theoretical questions related to the link between form and meaning in exclamative constructions.
– Issues of expressivity in exclamative structures.
– Discourse markers.
– Lexical and syntactic creativity in response to novel expressive needs (in literature, on social media platforms, etc.).

Proposals can be in English or in French. The languages of the conference will be English and French.

Keynote speaker and provisional title:

Elena Castroviejo Miró (Universitat de Barcelona) — title to be confirmed

Timeline:

Submissions should include a clear statement of the research problem, a concise description of the methodology, and a summary of the preliminary results. Each submission should be accompanied by a bibliography (maximum 10 references). Submissions should not exceed 800 words, excluding the bibliography, and must be submitted in PDF format by June 20th 2026 to the following addresses:
laure.lansari@u-picardie.fr
vincent.hugou@sorbonne-universite.fr
olivia.reneaud-jensen@sorbonne-universite.fr

Advisory Board:
Agnès Celle, Université Paris Cité
Gaétane Dostie, Université de Sherbrooke
Richard Faure, Université de Tours
Lobke Ghesquière, Université de Mons
Sophie Herment, Aix-Marseille Université
Vincent Hugou, Sorbonne Université
Christelle Lacassain, Sorbonne Université
Laure Lansari, Université de Picardie Jules Verne
Dominique Legallois, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Olivia Reneaud-Jensen, Sorbonne Université
Jessica Rett, University of California, Los Angeles
Agnès Tutin, Université Grenoble Alpes
Stephan Wilhelm, Université Grenoble Alpes
Raffaella Zanuttini, Yale University