Conference: Workshop on Verbal Elasticity

Workshop on Verbal Elasticity
Framing the Verb/Satellite Distinction from a Biolinguistic Perspective
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - October 3-5, 2011.

Much recent literature has been devoted to study the parametric factors that determine what information (path, manner, result, etc.) can be encoded in verbs, which lies at the heart of typological distinctions such as Talmy's cut between 'satellite-framed' vs. 'verb-framed' languages (Acedo 2010, Demonte 2010, Folli 2002, Talmy 2000, and references therein). Most proposals on this topic focus on the question whether such a distinction is to be attributed to the differences between the categories V and P (Fábregas 2007, Gehrke 2008), the availability of some additional mechanism available only in certain languages ('manner incorporation', 'lexical subordination', etc.; Harley 2005, Haugen 2009, Mateu & Rigau 2008, McIntyre 2004, Zubizarreta & Oh 2007), and the possibility that the relevant parameter has additional consequences outside the VP domain (Demonte 1991, Folli & Ramchand 2005, Snyder 1995, 2001, Svenonius & Son 2008).

This workshop aims at discussing the nature of the 'satellite-framed' vs. 'verb-framed' distinction, its cross-linguistic complexities (resultatives, the P-V interaction, N-N compounding, P stranding, etc.), and its relevance for the study of variation within the context of the biolinguistic enterprise (Boeckx 2006, 2009, Di Sciullo & Boeckx 2011, Piattelli-Palmarini et al. 2009, and references therein) and minimalism (Biberauer 2008, Biberauer et al. 2010, Chomsky 1993 and sub., Chomsky & Berwick 2011, and others).

The workshop is organized by Centre de Lingüística Teòrica at UAB within the research project FFI2010-20634 (subprograma FILO) ‘A New Biolinguistic Orientation for Linguistic Variation’, whose PI is Cedric Boeckx.

Invited Speakers:

Heidi Harley (University of Arizona)
Jaume Mateu (Centre de Lingüística Teòrica - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Gillian Ramchand (University of Tromsø)
Koji Sugisaki (Mie University)
Juan Uriagereka (University of Maryland)
María Luisa Zubizarreta (University of Southern California) & Dong-sik Lim (Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

Call for Papers:

Abstracts are invited for oral presentations (30 minute presentation, plus 10 minute question period) on any topic that contributes to improving our understanding on the described topics. Abstracts should be at most two pages long (A4 paper), including examples and references, with 1 inch/2.5 cm. margins on all sides and 12 font size. The abstract should have a title but should not identify the author(s). Submissions are limited to 1 individual and 1 joint abstract per author.

Abstracts should be written in English, and must be submitted electronically only in PDF format to the following address: biolinguistics.bcngmail.com

The deadline for submission is May 23rd 2011.

Organizing Committee:

Víctor Acedo-Matellán (CLT-UAB)
Cedric Boeckx (ICREA & CLT-UAB)
Ángel J. Gallego (CLT-UAB)