2008 events
Workshop on Locating Variability: Formal Approaches
April 24-26, 2008
Recent trends in linguistic theory have led to increased interest in the role of features and formal grammar in language variation, its expression as dialectal difference, and speakers’ choices of forms within dialects. While it is true that research on dialects of English has focused mainly on the impact that social factors have on the use of linguistic constructions, variation in dialects of languages such as Italian, German, Dutch, and Flemish have been productively analyzed using variation models developed within theoretical syntax. This workshop will bring together researchers from the US and abroad for a discussion of the treatment of variation within current formal linguistic theory. Participating researchers will address the following themes:
- The status of linguistic features in grammar and their relation to the way languages and dialects vary
- Intra-speaker variability due to selection of multiple grammars or parameters
- Patterns of variation in language acquisition
- David Adger (University of London)
- Sjef Barbiers (The Meertens Institute, KNAW)
- Lisa Green (UMass Amherst)
- Randall Hendrick (UNC - Chapel Hill)
- Alison Henry (University of Ulster)
- Richard Kayne (New York University)
- William Labov (University of Pennsylvania)
- Karen Miller (Calvin College)
- Andrew Nevins (Harvard University)
- Jeffrey Parrott (LANCHART Center, University of Copenhagen)
- Joe Pater (UMass Amherst)
- Thomas Roeper (UMass Amherst)
- Cristina Schmitt (Michigan State University)
- William Snyder (University of Connecticut)
- Joseph Paul Stemberger (University of British Columbia)
- J. Michael Terry (UNC - Chapel Hill)
- Christina Tortora (CUNY (College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center))
- James Walker (York University)
- Jessica White (University of Texas at Austin)
- Charles Yang (University of Pennsylvania)
If you are interested in attending this workshop, please email us at csaal@hfa.umass.edu. We do not have a formal registration process for this event. In order to make sure that we have enough room to accomodate you, we ask that you let us know at least two weeks ahead of time if you plan to attend.