Fourth International Workshop on Australian Linguistics
History of research on Australian languages
24B25 June 2002
Department of Linguistics, Aarhus University
Organiser: William McGregor (linwmg@hum.au.dk)
This is the fourth in a series of highly informative and successful International Workshops on Australian languages, the first two of which were held at the University of Melbourne, the third at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. As for the third workshop, there is a workshop theme, the history of research on Australian languages; there is, however, scope for contributions on other topics.
Why focus on the history of research? Partly because it has been a relatively neglected topic, that has attracted insufficient critical attention C too often the Ahistories@ are little more than chronologies, what interpretative comments there are being anachronistic, or manifestations of a goodies-and-baddies perspective on the past. It is high time for a reappraisal, especially given the importance of previous documentation of now endangered languages. It is important to understand previous work in its social and intellectual context, and to critically appraise it.
Contributions to the thematic session will have various foci: particular individuals, particular languages, and/or on particular linguistic topics.
Presentations will be one hour C 40 minutes for presentation and 20 minutes for discussion. Possibly the Tuesday afternoon will be set aside for further discussions of matters arising from the workshop.
Contributions
Session 1: History of research on Australian languages
Peter Austin: [Title to be advised]
Mathias Boström: Yngve Laurell=s recordings of Australian languages
Claire Bowern: History of Bardi and Jawi language description
Nick Evans: Culture and structuration in Australian languages
Ian Green: The history of >prefixing= as a typological and genetic category
William McGregor: Frs. Nekes and Worms work on Kimberley languages
Fritz Schweiger: F. Schmidt=s Die Personalpronomina in den australischen Sprachen revisited
Matti Miestamo: Nils Holmer=s research on Australian languages
Session 2: General session
Alice Gaby: Typology of reflexives and related constructions in Australian languages
Daniele Klapproth: Questions of agency and causation in Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara narratives
Eva Schultze-Berndt: Convergence in syntax and information structure in the Victoria River District
Practical information
Travel: Århus can be reached by plane, train, ferry or bus. You can fly to Århus (airport bus into city, c. 30 minutes), Billund (bus to Århus, c. 1.5 hrs), or Copenhagen (Århus can be reached by plane c. 30 minutes, train c. 3 hours, or bus and ferry, c. 3 hours) Those of you coming from within Europe, be aware that there are a number of very cheap flights to Århus with Virgin Express (www.virgin‑express.com), Go Fly (www.go-fly.com) and Ryan Air (www.ryanair.com). Train travel is of course more pleasurable, but usually significantly more expensive than the cheap flights.
Accommodation: Relatively cheap and good accommodation is available in University guesthouses C all of my guests have been happy with it. But we should book in advance. Please advise me as soon as possible if you are interested. Hotels are generally not cheap, and range from DKK500-800 (c.AUD115-180) per night for one person.
Food: Not cheap in Denmark, and restaurants definitely are not in general, especially if you want a drink as well. (Only a couple of BYOs in town.)
Conference dinner: Monday night C there are a couple of decent Tunisian and Turkish restaurants.
Tourism: For those of you who are interested, I will organise a trip to the nearby Lake District on the day before the conference, Sunday 23rd June. Aside from looking at the water, we could visit Himmelbjerget, one of the majestic peaks of Jutland (147 metres), and visit the Silkeborg museum, which houses Tollund Man (this is really worth the visit). Those interested in doing this trip should let me know as soon as possible so I can plan things.