The Penn Syntax Lab is pleased to announce a workshop on Locality in Theory, Processing and Acquisition that will take place on March 31 and April 1 2023 at the University of Pennsylvania.
Invited speakers:
Amy Rose Deal (University of California, Berkeley)
Claire Halpert (University of Minnesota)
Dave Kush (University of Toronto)
Shota Momma (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Description. Locality phenomena can be found in different domains of syntax (e.g., filler-gap dependencies, agreement, and binding) and have played a prominent role in linguistics and in cognitive science more generally. The fundamental question surrounding locality constraints is their source. Do locality phenomena show that the grammar requires complex, abstract constraints? Or can they be explained by appealing to other, perhaps independently motivated, principles of cognition? Given that locality phenomena involve long-distance dependencies and generally very complex structures, they obviously raise the possibility that they can be reduced to independently motivated principles of sentence processing, such as working memory limitations. Despite many years of intense research on the topic, many issues are still unresolved. To contribute to progress in this research question, this workshop, organized by the Penn Syntax Lab, plans to bring together experts on locality constraints from different backgrounds, viz., theory, acquisition and processing, and provide an environment for dialogue between different perspectives on this theme.
Call for papers. We welcome papers that address the theme of locality in syntax from different perspectives, i.e. theory, processing, and acquisition. Speakers will have twenty minutes for each presentation, followed by ten minutes for discussion. The deadline for abstract submission is January 15 2023.
The University of Pennsylvania is home to a vibrant interdisciplinary community that studies language and meaning across several departments. The Penn Syntax Lab acknowledges support from Penn’s Integrated Language Sciences and Technology (ILST) Initiative; mindCORE, Penn’s hub for the integrative study of the mind; and Penn’s Department of Linguistics.
Organizers:
Julie Anne Legate (University of Pennsylvania)
Martin Salzmann (University of Pennsylvania)
Gesoel Mendes (University of Pennsylvania)
For more information, please check our webpage: https://web.sas.upenn.edu/workshop-locality/