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SNAKLAB Lecture | Barbara Sonnenhauser (Zürich) In the Eyes of the Beholder: Seeking and finding areas

The ScienceCampus is pleased to be collaborating with the new Volkswagen Foundation-sponsored project on Southeast European Studies in Regensburg as part of the SNAKLAB Lecture Series. Barbara Sonnenhauser, Professor of Slavic linguistics, (Zürich) will give a talk on Seeking and finding areas via Zoom.

The ScienceCampus is pleased to be collaborating with the new Volkswagen Foundation-sponsored project on Southeast European Studies in Regensburg as part of the SNAKLAB Lecture Series. Barbara Sonnenhauser, Professor of Slavic linguistics, (Zürich) will give a talk on Seeking and finding areas in Room 017 at IOS at 17:15 on 20 July.

Abstract

Slavic varieties are assumed to partake in an abundance of lingustic areas, such as a Central-European, Danubian, Circum-Baltic, Carpathian, Alpine etc. sprachbund. However, identifying linguistic areas on a strictly empirical basis is challenging in several respects. And even for the – allegedly – most prototypical cases, such as the Balkans, Campbell's (2007) question on why it is so hard to define a linguistic area is as valid as ever. In face of the challenges involved in distinguishing linguistic similarity because of contact, because of shared ancestry or because of more general principles, it becomes obvious that defining areas is a mission impossible. Areas arise in the eyes of the beholder: what an area 'is' depends on the data considered, the assumptions underlying their choice and their status within the descriptive model.

The paper makes us of an algorithm designed to quantify this kind of information in order to identify potential contact zones. On the example of the Balkans, it will be shown how the results complement previous knowledge and invite for their broader contextualisation. Applying the algorithm to an even larger data base will give a brief illustration of its overall value to identify potential linguistic areas – if combined with proper philological expertise.

  • Campbell, Lyle (2017). “Why is it so hard to define a linguistic area?” In: The Cambridge handbook of areal linguistics. Ed. by Raymond Hickey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19–39

When? 20.07.2022, 17:15

Where? via Zoom: https://uni-regensburg.zoom.us/j/65813600517?pwd=ZkJWZU15ZkFIOVo4eDlHUlBhQkFxdz09 
Meeting-ID: 658 1360 0517 Kenncode: 244760

 

 

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