“Language Contact through Time and Space” (CoTiSp) is an international and interdisciplinary conference at the University of Bayreuth from 2nd-3rd April 2020 focusing on the processes and outcomes of contact between people(s) and languages. The conference aims at bringing together scholars working on different languages with the goal of stressing both general phenomena of language contact as well as specific features in a comparative approach. Insights from diachronic and synchronic language contact research have essential linguistic and societal implications, particularly considering current global migration streams. The contributions to the conference will thus especially focus on past and present contact scenarios between languages of unbalanced political and symbolic power. We are particularly interested in language contact settings involving Romance languages, Semitic languages, and English(es).
The conference will be followed up by a publication of the talks in the form of an edited collection.
We welcome contributions on phenomena of language contact between and with Romance languages, Semitic languages, and English(es) addressing:
* the linguistic and sociolinguistic outcomes including contact-induced language change
* the diachronic development of language contact scenarios and the ensuing (linguistic) effects
* language acquisition (L1/L2/LX) in multilingual settings
* the linguistic and sociolinguistic dimensions of codeswitching
* creole studies from a diachronic or synchronic perspective
* language contact and asymmetrical power relations in multilingual and/or creole communities
* language contact phenomena and their societal implications
* migration and language contact
* any other issues related to the general topic of the conference (temporal and spatial aspects of language contact and change).
The conference is funded by the WiN Bayreuth grant scheme and we are thus able to contribute to the travel and accommodation costs of all participants with an accepted presentation.
Abstract Submission Guidelines:
We invite the submission of abstracts for full papers (30 minutes presentation + 15 minutes Q&A) on topics that include, but are not limited to, the issues mentioned in the description above. Abstracts of 400-500 words, excluding references, should be submitted in pdf-format by email to cotisp@uni-bayreuth.de. The deadline for abstract submission is 31st October 2019. Notification of acceptance will be sent out before the end of December 2019.
