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International Workshop "The Grammar of Reference: functions, variation, and change"

The International Workshop ‘The grammar of reference: functions, variation, and change’ took place at the University of Cologne (Germany), May 13-14 2016, as the 2016 edition of the series ‘Workshops on Referential Expressions in Discourse (RED)’. It is organized by Chiara Gianollo, Klaus von Heusinger (Universität zu Köln), and Maria Napoli (Università del Piemonte Orientale ‘Amedeo Avogadro’, Vercelli).

The aim of the workshop was to innovatively contribute to our understanding of the grammar of reference, by pursuing a multidimensional study of strategies by which speakers introduce and manage referents in context, encoding properties such as identifiability (familiarity, uniqueness), information status with respect to speaker, hearer and discourse, saliency in previous and forthcoming discourse. Particular emphasis was given to the role played by variation in the use of referential expressions. We also addressed the evolution of referential systems in time, and the formal modeling thereof.

With our call for papers we aimed to bring together theoretical and historical linguists interested in the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of reference from a synchronic as well as a diachronic perspective.

Organisation

  • Chiara Gianollo (University of Cologne)

  • Klaus von Heusinger (University of Cologne)

  • Maria Napoli (Università del Piemonte Orientale)

Invited Speakers

  • Artemis Alexiadou (Berlin, Germany)

  • Manuel Leonetti (Alcalá, Spain)

  • Edgar Onea (Göttingen, Germany)

  • Svetlana Petrova (Wuppertal, Germany)

  • Mario Squartini (Torino, Italy)

Scientific Committee

  • Artemis Alexiadou (Berlin, Germany)

  • Stefan Hinterwimmer (Köln, Germany)

  • Manuel Leonetti (Alcalá, Spain)

  • Edgar Onea (Göttingen, Germany)

  • Svetlana Petrova (Wuppertal, Germany)

  • Miriam Ravetto (Vercelli, Italy)

  • Petra Schumacher (Köln, Germany)

  • Mario Squartini (Torino, Italy)

  • Roberto Zamparelli (Trento, Italy)

Program: pdf

Friday 13.05.2016

9.30 Welcome / Introduction
10.00 - 11.15 Mario Squartini - Romance indefinite plurals: Number and Seinsart
11.15 - 11.45 coffee
11.45 - 13.00 Artemis Alexiadou - Definit plural generic noun phrases in English? A case study in language variation and change
13.00 - 14.15 Lunch break
14.15 - 15.30 Marija Runic - Resian Demonstrative System - An Instance of Definiteness Cycle?
15.30 - 16.45 Ann Reed - Good-enough the
16.45 - 17.45 Coffee
17:45-19.00 Urtzi Etxeberria - The definite artikle and its uses: The case of Basque

 

Saturday 14.05.2016

 

9.30-10.45 Svetlana Petrova - Bare vs. indefinite nominal predicates in the history of German
10.45- 11.15 coffee
11.15 - 12.30 Edgar Onea - Reference and Questions
12.30 - 13.00 Plans and farewell

Partial support for this workshop comes from a Mobility Grant of the University of Cologne for cooperation between junior researchers.