Invitation and call for papers for

International Symposium on Clause Linking in Semitic Languages

5-7 August 2012 in Kivik, Sweden

A Marcus Wallenberg symposium

Post-conference information:
For inquires regarding the conference proceedings please contact the organizers through this address:

(maria.persson@mellost.lu.se)

The symposium welcomes papers dealing with clause linking in all varieties of Semitic languages. A strong incentive for the symposium is the renewed interest in recent years in the nature of non-main clause linking, which has brought into focus the concept of a main line and digressions from this main line in various discourse types. Recent research has also questioned the traditional view that non-main clauses must be introduced by a conjunction (Dixon 2009, Givón 2001, 299, Isaksson et al. 2009).
The conference committee invites scholars to submit papers on all related topics with emphasis on "ways of combining clauses other than through relative clause and complement clause constructions" (Dixon 2009, 1). Specific areas of interest are:

• the concept of a main line and digressions from a main line
• features of specific discourse types in the coding of a main line and its digressions
• the use and non-use of conjunction in non-main clause linking
• the use and function of gram-switching in clause linking (Fleischman 1985, 1990)
• non-main clauses functioning as focal clauses (Dixon 2009, 4)
• the nature and coding of conditional clause linking
• the encoding of hierarchies in non-main clause linking (non-main clauses having mutually "unequal status", Halliday 2004, 374)

Key-note speakers: Dr. Eran Cohen, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Dr. Reinhard G. Lehmann, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Germany Assoc. Prof. Tsvetomira Pashova, Sofia University, Bulgaria Important dates and practical information: Dead-line for abstracts: 21 May 2012. Conference fee: 800 SEK (25% VAT included). To be paid according to instructions on the conference website (visible to registered participants). Online payment is enabled. For information on other alternatives for payment please contact the conference administration. Dead-line for payment: 25 May 2012. Venue: Agda Lund Hotel, Kivik, Sweden. Accommodation: The conference board recommends accommodation at Hanöbris Hotel. Participants who wish to stay at the hotel need to make a reservation by contacting the hostel. The accommodation cost is paid directly to the hotel upon arrival. Please follow the link in the left hand menu to find more information on costs and alternatives. Conference e-mail: scls-2012@ling.lu.se Conference board: Professor Bo Isaksson and PhD Maria Persson on behalf of The International research project on “Circumstantial Clause Combining in Semitic”, Swedish Research Council project 2010-2012 (Dnr 2009-2197), Uppsala University, Gothenburg University, Lund University, Hebrew University. Other relevant information  To register and upload abstracts, please follow these steps:

Go to the Registration Page (via the left column menu on this page) and fill in your personal data and save them to register. Return to the Registration Page, log in with the email address and the password you entered in the previous step (the email address being your user id), then follow the link "Upload Abstracts and/or Delete Them". References Dixon, R. M. W. 2009. “The semantics of clause linking in typological perspective”. In The semantics of clause linking: A cross-linguistic typology, edited by R. M. W. Dixon and Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald. 1-55. Explorations in linguistic typology 5. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reprint, paperback edition 2011. Fleischman, Suzanne. 1985. “Discourse functions of tense-aspect oppositions in narrative: Toward a theory of grounding”. Linguistics 23 no. 6: 851-882. Fleischman, Suzanne. 1990. Tense and narrativity: From medieval performance to modern fiction. Croom Helm romance linguistics series. London: Routledge. Reprint, 2002. Givón, Talmy. 2001. Syntax: An introduction. Rev. ed. Vol. 1. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: J. Benjamins. Halliday, Michael A. K. 2004. An introduction to functional grammar. Edited by Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen. 3rd rev. ed. London: Arnold. Isaksson, Bo, Heléne Kammensjö, and Maria Persson. 2009. Circumstantial qualifiers in Semitic: The case of Arabic and Hebrew. Edited by Bo Isaksson. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 70. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. Isaksson, Bo. 2011. “The textlinguistics of the Suffering Servant: Subordinate structures in Isaiah 52,13-53,12”. In En pāsē grammatikē kai sophiā. Saggi di linguistica ebraica in onore di Alviero Niccacci, ofm, edited by Gregor Geiger and Massimo Pazzini. 173-212. Collana Analecta: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 78. Jerusalem; Milano: Franciscan Printing Press; Editioni Terra Santa. Matthiessen, Christian, and Sandra A. Thompson. 1988. “The structure of discourse and ‘subordination’”. In Clause combining in grammar and discourse, edited by John Haiman and Sandra A. Thompson. 275-329. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Persson, Maria. “Circumstantial clause”. In Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online, edited by Lutz Edzard and Rudolf de Jong. Leiden – Boston: Brill