Discovering Linguistics — Linguistic Discoveries

Linguistic analysis can be applied to better understand

means of expression that transcend language,

such as music and dance (Patel-Grosz et al. 2022)

 

 

Since the academic year of 2022/23, we have changed the way DLLD works. Instead of three different lecturers per semester, we now invite one lecturer per semester to give three lectures (two online, one on campus) on different aspects of their work. The focus is on the journey they take to find what they’re searching.

All lectures take place at 19:30 (CET).

Semester 1 2024/25

Pritty Patel-Grosz (Oslo): From Linguistics to Super Linguistics

Semester 2 2024/25

Silvio Cruschina (Helsinki): Incorporating variation in syntactic theory

In this lecture series we will deal with the approaches and research methods that incorporate variation in syntactic theory. The first two lectures will be online and will focus on some core assumptions of Generative Grammar about its object of study and the source of data. In the third session, which will be on campus, we will look at how the study of the interfaces between syntax and other components of the grammar (semantics, pragmatics, and prosody) can help us answer our research questions about syntactic variation. A common thread through all lectures is the perspective and methodological changes that have characterized the generative investigation in recent decades, which have also shaped my career and ‘journey’ as a linguist.

Programme 2023/24

Semester 1: Joachim Kokkelmans (Bozen/Bolzano): Fonetisch-fonologische variatie: van geluidsopnames tot universele typologieën

In deze lezingenreeks wordt er ingegaan op vragen over de taalvariatie op het gebied van de fonetiek en de fonologie: hoe kan men variatie in de uitspraak van individuen meten, daarmee generalisaties formuleren over het fonetisch-fonologische systeem van een bepaalde taal en zo de variatie in de talen van de wereld verstaan en verklaren? Waar houdt mogelijke taalvariatie op, dwz. waar ligt de grens tussen taalsystemen die mogelijks zouden kunnen bestaan en onmogelijke taalsystemen? Er wordt aangetoond hoe men aan de hand van geluidsopnames een fonetisch onderzoek opbouwt, hoe taalkundige theorieën fonetisch detail en fonologische categorieën met elkaar verbinden en hoe ze de variatie op het vlak van de fonologie modelleren om te voorspellen welke talen al dan niet mogelijk zijn.

Semester 2: Metin Bağrıaçık (Boğaziçi): When two tongues meet: linguistic investigation of contact situations

Languages are not spoken in a vacuum, and as far as we can trace them back in the history, they have always been in interaction with their distant or close kin across all possible borders, whether these borders are geographical, in minds or among societies. In this lecture series, we will delve into the study of this interaction, language contact that is, with an emphasis on case studies in Asia Minor. We will look at how we can identify contact-induced phenomena, what mechanisms lead to these phenomena, and what factors constrain the possible contact space.

Programme 2022/23

Semester 1: Marieke Meelen (Cambridge): How to do historical linguistics with scarce data

In this lecture series we’ll dive into the challenges of diachronic linguistic research and how to address and overcome them. The first two lectures will be online through zoom and focus on methodology: how to annotate historical data and how to get more data to fill the gaps in transmission. In the third session, which will be in-person, we’ll look at how the presented methods can help us answer research questions about language variation and change.

Semester 2: Oliver Niebuhr (SDU Sønderborg, Denmark): The charisma journey

As a phonetics student, I was constantly asked two things: (1) What is that? And (2) what can you do with it later in life? Do you know that, too? Then you are exactly right in my lecture series. Well, you should roughly know the answer to question (1) in advance to participate. But then, based on that, we will together discover a series of answers to question (2). Some answers are more informative and conceptual in nature, as in the first lecture; Some are more application-oriented and go far beyond phonetics itself, as in the second lecture; and some you can experience interactively yourself, as in the third lecture. I look forward to your participation.

Programme 2021/22

Programme 2020/21

Programme 2019/20

Programme 2018/19

Programme 2017/18

Programme 2016/17

Programme 2015/16