Conference information

Going Romance is the European conference series that focuses on Romance languages from the perspective of current linguistic theorizing.

In the two decades of its existence, it has developed into the major European discussion forum for theoretically relevant research on Romance languages where current ideas about language in general and about Romance languages in particular are discussed.

The twenty-eighth symposium on Romance linguistics will be held in Lisbon at Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas as a joint initiative of the Linguistics centers of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Universidade de Lisboa.

The conference includes two days of general sessions, for which papers on all aspects and disciplines of Romance linguistics are invited, and three workshops with parallel sessions on the third day: 1. Constituent Order Variation; 2. Subordination in Old Romance and 3. Crosslinguistic microvariation in language acquisition. A joint plenary conference by Luigi Rizzi will open the workshops sessions.

Keynote speakers

Alain Rouveret (University of Paris 7), Guido Mensching (University of Göttingen), Luigi Rizzi (University of Siena), Roberta d’Alessandro (University of Leiden)

Organization

Alexandra Fiéis (CLUNL), Ana Maria Martins (CLUL), Ernestina Carrilho (CLUL), Maria Lobo (CLUNL), João Costa (CLUNL), Sandra Pereira (CLUL).

Scientific Committee

Adriana Belletti, Adriana Cardoso, Alain Rouveret, Alexandra Fiéis, Ana Lúcia Santos, Ana Madeira, Ana Maria Martins, Anabela Gonçalves, Carlo Ceccheto, Cecilia Poletto, Ernestina Carrilho, Esther Rinke, Francisco Ordoñez, Frank Drijkoningen, Guido Mensching, Inês Duarte, Ioanna Sitaridou, Jairo Nunes, Jenny Doetjes, João Costa, Johan Rooryck, Karen Lahousse, Luigi Rizzi, M. Lluïsa Hernanz, Manuela Ambar, Manuela Pinto, Maria Lobo, Maria Teresa Espinal, Maria Teresa Guasti, Montse Batllori, Olga Fernández Soriano, Petra Sleeman, Pilar Barbosa, Ricardo Etxeparre, Roberta d’Alessandro, Rui Marques, Sandra Pereira, Telmo Móia, Vidal Valmala Elgueao.

Description of the workshops

Workshop #1: Constituent Order Variation
Organized by Ana Maria Martins, Ernestina Carrilho and Sandra Pereira (Project WOChWEL http://alfclul.clul.ul.pt/wochwel/)

Word order is at the core of natural language grammatical systems, interacting with all their structural components, linking syntax with sound (prosody) and meaning (semantics/pragmatics), manifesting the characteristic ‘displacement property’ that lays behind the opposition between base-generated and derived word orders, and feeding variation across the geographic and temporal axes. After a long path of investigation on word order phenomena, novel findings may arise from a good articulation between the successful but often separate efforts of typologists, historical and theoretical linguists so as to take full advantage of both large-scale cross-linguistic surveys and the more circumscribed and in depth analyses of theory-oriented research.

As a contribution to that goal, we welcome abstract submissions for oral presentations on any topic in Constituent Order Variation in particular Romance varieties, across Romance languages or in a broader comparative perspective that includes Romance. Both synchronic and diachronic approaches are welcome. Paper proposals should be framed within a theoretical framework.

Workshop #2: Subordination in Old Romance
Organized by Alexandra Fiéis, Maria Lobo and Ana Madeira (Project PTDC/MHC-LIN/4564/2012)

The idea that every sentence has a lexical and a functional domain is consensual. Recent debates in syntactic theory discuss whether the functional structure is universal or parametrized, and how to determine the value of functional categories. The question of how these domains interact also remains on the cutting edge of research in formal syntax, and the study of the mechanisms of subordination may help shed light on these questions. For example, an analysis of complementation and adverbial subordination in diachronic data may show that in certain domains of subordination some functional nodes might be absent depending on the properties of the constituent introducing the subordinate clause. This will help determine functional structure. Moreover, there are good groundsfor expecting important results in relating the findings of diachronic research to other domains, namely, L1 and L2 language development, which is important in order to answer the central questions of linguistic theory, namely what is linguistic knowledge and how it is represented in the mind.

As a contribution to that goal, we welcome abstract submissions for oral presentations on any topic relating to Subordination in particular Romance varieties, across Romance languages or in a broader comparative perspective that includes Romance. Paper proposals should be framed within a theoretical framework.

Workshop #3: Crosslinguistic microvariation in language acquisition
Organized by João Costa, Alexandra Fiéis and Maria Lobo (Project “Crosspopulation and Crosslinguistic Approaches to Dependencies)

The literature on language acquisition from the last two decades has shown that children set parameters very early and are sensitive to crosslinguistic differences from very early on. The evidence mostly focuses on major syntactic differences, such as the availability of null subjects, V-to-I, I-to-C or directionality. The acquisition of microvariation, however, has not been studied. It remains to be shown whether children are sensitive to minor crosslinguistic differences, and whether such differences are acquired as early as major parametric contrasts.

Important dates

July 25, 2014: Abstract submission deadline
September 30, 2014: Notification of acceptance
October 31, 2014: Deadline for pre-registration
December 4-6, 2014: Workshop