Archives: Events
Didier Demolin (Université Sorbonne nouvelle, CNRS & Rhodes University Makhanda) & Francisco Mendes (Federal University of Brasilia) – “Acoustic features and grammatical structures of Muriqui vocalizations”
Vocal communication of the Muriqui
Abstract:
What can we learn from animal communication, if we set this issue in terms of evolution? Comparisons with animal communication lead to a better understanding of some of the principles underlying human languages. Muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxantus) show that the acoustics of their vocalizations are generated from a set limited features in addition to showing non-linear characters in their voice source. A close examination of the communication system of the muriqui also shows that the recombination of discrete elements in part of their vocal communication shows both recursion and grammatical structure.
Jóhanna Barðdal (Ghent University) – “How to Reconstruct Case and Argument Structure for Inconsistent Correspondence Sets Across Daughter Languages”
The verb ‘suffice’ in the Germanic languages is of major interest to syntactic reconstruction for several reasons. First, two different, but etymologically related, verbs exist in the early daughter languages with the meaning ‘suffice’, reconstructable as *ga-nahan and *ga-nōgjan. Second, major inconsistencies are found between the case and argument structure constructions across the two verbs and across the daughter languages, including Nom-Gen, Acc-only, Acc-Nom, Acc-Gen, Dat-Gen and Dat-Nom. These case frames are not particularly compatible with each other, severely limiting the chances of a successful reconstruction. A further scrutiny reveals that the younger verb may also occur as a ditransitive, which complicates matters even further. Here both verbs are reconstructed for Proto-Germanic with different case frames, including how the internal development may, or even must, have been in order for the two verbs and the different case and argument structure constructions to be reconcilable. This study also shows that the lexical semantic meanings range from ‘satiate’, ‘endow’ and ‘satisfy’ to ‘be satisfied’, ‘find sufficient’ and ‘suffice’, all depending on the relevant case and argument structure constructions, calling for a further investigation into the role of argument structure for semantic change with lexical verbs.
Chiara Zanchi – t.b.a.
Bernat Bardagil (Ghent University) – Argument marking patterns as a proxy for social contact in the Guaporé-Mamoré region of Amazonia
To what extent can we use a high-resolution comparative linguistics approach to open a window into human history when we lack tangible historical information? The Guaporé-Mamoré region, overlapping significant territory in the Bolivian and Brazilian lowlands, is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions in the continent. In spite of that, we know extremely little about the history of a vast majority of the languages, and the indigenous nations who speak them, before the 20th century. In this talk I will discuss my ongoing research examining grammatical properties in order to triangulate historical information about the nations inhabiting of this area.
Jointly organised with BantUGent. To join the meeting online via MS teams, please contact Nina van der Vlugt.
Gina Saviano (Ghent University) – “Mapping the Regional Linguistic Space between Italian and Dialect: A Computational Analysis of Phonetic Features in Neapolitan”
Abstract
“Continuum con addensamenti”, ‘continuum with agglomerations’: this is how Berruto once described the Italian linguistic repertoire. Much has been discussed about the extremes of this continuum; however, little do we know about those intermediate “agglomerations”. How many are there? How are they organized? Do they share features? To address these questions, we adopt a phonetic perspective and borrow a technique typically used in commercial profiling. Examining established Neapolitan phonetic features alongside new prosodic parameters, we identify possible speaker profiles and features agglomerations, shedding a new light on the intermediate varieties of the Italian standard-dialect continuum. In this talk, I will discuss preliminary studies and findings, applying this innovative methodology to offer new insights into the nature of the concept of variety.
Isabelle de Meyer (Ghent University) – “A solid metaphor: the etymology of Ancient Greek áristos ‘best’, areíōn ‘better’ and aretḗ ‘excellence’”
Duccio Guasti (Ghent University) – “Greek kēlōn “stallion”: etymology and original meaning”
Abstract: In this paper, after rejecting all proposed etymologies, I reconstruct the Greek κήλων, a word that can refer both to stallion donkeys and to hypersexual men, as a formation in-ων from κήλη “hernia, swelling, tumor.”
Lorenzo Maselli (Ghent University) – “Documenting the implosives and labial-velars of the Ubangi River Basin”
Documenting the implosives and labial-velars of the Ubangi River Basin
This contribution reports on a recent field mission carried out in the Ubangi River Basin (Central African Republic). Work focused on 31 varieties belonging to the Bantu, Ubangi, and Central Sudanic subfamilies of Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan. The primary objective was to document implosive and labial-velar consonants. To this end, acoustic, electroglottographic, and aerodynamic (pneumotachographic) data were collected. In the context of this presentation: I will present a detailed report on activities within the framework of this mission; I will illustrate the quality and typology of the data and exemplify the usefulness of integrated phonetic research with instances from Central Sudanic Bagiro; I will present a few general remarks on the merit of instrumental data collection for phonetic typology and phonological theory. The hope is that this will serve as a handy reference for fellow researchers interested in instrumental work in the field.