Budapest Conference on Projection and Representation in Syntactic Theory
in honour of Michael Brody
Research Institute for Linguistics
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Budapest
13-14 April 2015
Meeting Description:
The notion of projection in generative linguistic theory has for the
most part been a matter of stipulation. In syntax, X-bar theory codified
the projection of a head to a phrase, via an intermediate projection
level involving complementation; adjuncts could freely be added to the
structure via the adjunction operation. Movement of a phrase into the
periphery of a higher projection involved either substitution for a
specifier position or adjunction; either way, the target of movement was
guaranteed to project, by virtue of the X-bar-theoretic principles. In
the minimalist program, the requirement that the target of movement
project was derived independently, and X-bar structure was simplified or
abolished altogether (Kayne 1994, Chomsky 1995:Chapter 4, Brody 1998,
2000). Without X-bar structure stipulating the organization of syntactic
phrases, fundamental questions arise regarding the nature of and
constraints on projection. Projections might not have to have a (unique)
head. Perhaps the labelling problem posed by XP-YP structures could help
derive a central ingredient of the standardly adopted derivation of
long-distance filler-gap dependencies: successive-cyclic movement
(Chomsky 2013). Thus exploited, problems of projection may then turn
from explanandum into explicans.
The notion of projection is centrally tied in with the representation of
syntactic structure. Are syntactic structures projected from a head to a
phrase, or are phrases traced back to their heads? Are filler-gap
dependencies, constructions in which an element is pronounced in a
position in which it seems unable to perform its role as an argument,
predicate or modifier, derived via upward displacement of the filler or
instead base-generated in a representational approach that traces the
filler from its pronunciation position back to the gap (see Brody 2002
for critical discussion)? The derivational approach has had the upper
hand in the generative approach, leading to the postulation of
intermediate links in a chain derived by successive-cyclic movement. The
applicability of the derivational approach to all cases of apparent
displacement has frequently been called into question; the successive
cyclicity that the standard approach embodies has become the subject of
debate as well. If non-derivational approaches are desirable for certain
cases, perhaps a purely representational approach would be applicable to
all filler-gap dependencies uniformly. With this comes the prospect of
the grammar and the parser being folded into a single mechanism for the
building of structures and the dependencies within them.
This conference is held in honour of the 60th birthday of Michael Brody.
It will feature talks by invited speakers from Brody's circle (former
and present colleagues and students) who have contributed to questions
of projection and representation in syntactic theory. In addition, the
conference will have a POSTER SESSION that is open for submissions on
any topic related to the theme of the conference (projection and
representation in syntactic theory).
List of speakers
Michael Brody, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Huba Bartos, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Marcel den Dikken, Hungarian Academy of Sciences & CUNY Graduate Center
Katalin É. Kiss, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Liliane Haegeman, University of Ghent
Hans van de Koot, University College London
Rita Manzini, University of Florence
Ad Neeleman, University College London
Balázs Surányi, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Kriszta Szendro"i, University College London
2nd Call for Posters
Abstracts are solicited for POSTERS on any topic related to the theme of
the conference (projection and representation in syntactic theory).
Submissions should meet the following restrictions:
- Abstracts must not exceed two pages (A4 or letter size), including
examples and references, set in a font no smaller than 11pt with single
spacing.
- Abstracts must be anonymous.
- Abstracts should be submitted in PDF, via the conference's EasyChair
site:
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=prorep2015.
You can find instructions on how to submit on the conference website.
- Submissions are restricted to two abstracts per author, at most one of
which may be single-authored.
The DEADLINE for submission of abstracts is 1 February 2015.
Conference website:
http://www.nytud.hu/prorep/
Contact: budconf.2015(a)nytud.mta.hu