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Description

The usage and polysemy of spatial expressions have been researched in a number of linguistic works. Prolific research into space and its expression in different languages has contributed to supporting the weak hypothesis of linguistic relativity (cf. Levinson and Wilkins 2006). There are interesting papers dealing with motion events (Talmy 1985; 2000), acquisition of spatial expressions in the first (e.g. Hickmann 2003) and second language (e.g. Tyler 2012). Since 1980s research into space has increasingly relied on the cognitive framework. However, inflecting languages have received very little attention. It is worth mentioning several papers, all of them dealing with Slavic languages, for example, Przybylska (2002), Šarić (2008) and Pawelec (2009).

Space conceptualization in the Baltic languages has been so far rather under-researched. Besides some older descriptive and structural works on the expression of space, currently there have been attempts to investigate spatial relations within the cognitive linguistic framework across several languages. Some typological works based on the material of the Baltic languages have also appeared. Still there is an obvious niche in the field and many more discussions are needed.

This workshop welcomes papers on space conceptualization in the Baltic languages. Different methodological frameworks and different materials (not limited to language) are also appreciated.

The workshop primarily focuses on (but is not limited to) the following topics:

  1. Methodologies of researching space: trends and approaches. Methodologies applicable to the Baltic languages.
  2. Strategies of space construal and conceptualization.
  3. Linguistic expression of topological and projective spatial relations, motion events.
  4. Linguistic expression of size, measurement, orientation, etc.
  5. Space typology (including materials from the Baltic languages).
  6. Polysemy of spatial expressions. Motivation of meaning.
  7. Expression of space and diachronic studies.
  8. Expression of space and grammaticalization.
  9. Expression of space across languages. Translation.
  10. Acquisition of spatial language.
  11. Expression of space in the Baltic sign languages.

References

Hickmann, Maya. 2003. Children’s Discourse: Person, time, and space across languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Levinson, Stephen C. and David P. Wilkins. 2006. Grammars of Space. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pawelec, Andrzej. 2009. Prepositional Network Models. A hermeneutical case study. Kraków: Wydawnictwo UJ.

Przybylska, Renata. 2002. Polisemia przyimków polskich w świetle semantyki kognitywnej. Kraków: Universitas.

Šarić, Ljiljana. 2008. Spatial Concepts in Slavic: A Cognitive Linguistic Study of Prepositions and Cases, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Talmy, Leonard. 1985. Lexicalization patterns: semantic structure in lexical forms. In: Timothy Shopen (ed.) Language Typology and Syntactic Description 3: Grammatical categories and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 57–149.

Talmy, Leonard. 2000. Toward a Cognitive Semantics 1, 2. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Tyler, Andrea. 2012. Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. New York / London: Routledge.

Accepted papers

 

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