Morphological Complexity: Workshop

Workshop description

The Surrey Morphology Group (University of Surrey, UK) and the Department of Linguistics at Harvard University is hosting a one-day workshop entitled ‘Morphological Complexity: Implications for the Theory of Language', as part of a European Research Council project (grant number: ERC-2008-AdG-230268 MORPHOLOGY). The workshop will be held on January 22, 2010 (Friday) at Harvard University, Barker Center 133, Plimpton Room. The conference is organized by Matthew Baerman, Greville Corbett and Dunstan Brown (Surrey) and Maria Polinsky (Harvard).

By the term 'morphological complexity', we understand the extra layer of structure that morphological systems may introduce in between meaning and its expression. This layer may operate at cross-purposes to functional distinctions, attaining in some languages an astonishing degree of complexity. Such apparently arbitrary distinctions in form (inflection classes, irregularity and similar phenomena) are the particular focus of the project. They are a key resource for understanding mental processes as they represent an unconscious and yet highly structured autonomous system. This will be the first in a series of workshops, to be held in various locations, addressing the implications that morphological complexity has for (i) general linguistic theory, (ii) psycholinguistics, (iii) historical linguistics and (iv) computational linguistics.

Attendance is free and open to all. For planning purposes, please send us a note by January 15, 2010 if you're planning to attend, to: morphological.complexity AT googlemail.com.

Programme

10:00-10:15. Welcome
Maria Polinsky (Harvard University)

10:15-11:15. Introduction to the Surrey Morphology Group project
Greville Corbett, Matthew Baerman, Dunstan Brown & Scott Collier (Surrey)

11:15-11:45. Break

11:45-12:45. Principal parts and morphological analysis
Gregory Stump & Raphael Finkel (Kentucky)

12:45-1:45. Lunch

1:45-2:15. Compression and morphological complexity:an evaluation
Dunstan Brown (Surrey)

2:15-2:45. Paradigm entropy as a measure of morphological simplicity
Rob Malouf & Farrell Ackerman (San Diego State & U.C. San Diego)

2:45-3:15. Relational-realizational modeling for complex morphology in parsing
Reut Tsarfaty (Amsterdam)

3:15-3:45. Break

3:45-4:15. Discontinuous exponence in inflectional morphology
Amy Campbell (U.C. Berkeley)

4:15-4:45. New discoveries from an old friend: extreme, autonomous morphological complexity in Kayardild
Erich Round (Yale)

4:45-5:15. Morphological complexity in historical change
Claire Bowern (Yale)

5:15-5:30. Closing remarks