This is the first announcment for LISSIM 10, the 10th version of the internationally renowned annual Summer School organised by FOSSSIL. LISSIM 10 will take place in Solang Valley, Himachal pradesh, from May 22 -5th June, 2017. Surrounded by the Himalayan mountains, the Summer School venue is ideal for communal living and learning, devoid of the usual distractions of a city, town or even a touristy hill station. The admission to the School is highly competitive and since the number of student participants is limited to 20, prospective participants are therefore requested to apply as soon as possible. Students from India are requested to apply for membership to FOSSSIL by writing an email of intention to secretary.
The teaching faculty will consist of the following established experts in formal linguistics:
- Hagit Borer, Queen Mary University of London
- Mark C. Baker , Rutgers University
- Tor Anders Åfarli, Norwegian University of Science & Technology
- Terje Lohndal,Norwegian University of Science & Technology and UiT The Arctic University of Norway
- Pritty Patel-Grosz, University of Oslo
- Patrick G. Grosz, University of Oslo
- Utpal Lahiri, EFLU, Hyderabad
ESSAY
Selection for the School is based on previous records, written essay and an interview. This year, LISSIM will explore verbal morphosyntax, the lexicon-syntax connection, and syntactic variation, and the following essay problem is designed to address these topics:
Combinations that make up a verbal complex often display variant properties; the complexes can be made up of any combination or overlap of converbs, serial verbs, complex predicates or verbal clusters. For example, the following examples from Bangla (1) and Hindi (2) show a number of variant participial/ non-finite endings (marked here only as ‘nf’) that vary across these genetically related languages, in addition to the internal compexity of the complex predicate itself:
(1) bhat khe-ye film dekh-te gElo
rice eat-nf film see-nf went
(2) caawal khaa-kar film dekh-ne gayaa
rice eat-nf film see-nf went
‘having eaten rice, (s/he) went to watch the film.’
(3) bhat khe-ye film watch-kor-te gElo
rice eat-nf film watch-DO-nf went
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(A) How are verbal complexes of various types structured in your language? Is there a cross-linguistic or dialectal variation in this structuring?
(B) How does “loan” English or/and Other language word “borrowing” into one or more of the verbal complex structures in your language alter/ say something more/ obey the structuring constraints of your/ the other language?
(C) What do verbal complexes of various types in your language – “mixed” or not mixed – tell us about the Lexicon-Syntax connection? Are there alternative conceptualisations possible for their derivations?
Since entries will be evaluated for originality and novelty, avoid standard analyses of textbook examples (in case you find such examples!) of the above issues. Entries must not be more than 2 A4 pages long, and typeset in a font no less than 11 pt in size with 1 inch margin on all 4 sides; essays exceeding the size limit will be rejected without any further considerations. Submit the entries in both DOCX AND PDF with all fonts embedded in the former, both formats should be anonymous.
Entries must be submitted by 25th March 2017 mid-night IST, along with a brief bio-data, including a brief resume that lists the courses in syntax and semantics you have taken plus a brief write-up of your research and/or reading activities in the last year. A recommendation from your supervisor or your MA syntax teacher must be attached with your email or mailed to us separately.
Our venue remains the same as the last year, which we all liked, only if we can negotiate the ride from Delhi better!
I am writing this letter in support of the funding request by the organizers of LISSIM. I taught at LISSIM last year. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I am grateful to the Central Institute of Indian Languages for making the event possible with their funding. Read more
