There is a long tradition in the linguistic sciences of considering some phenomena as peripheral to the core of language. These include exceptions to the Saussurean idea of the arbitrariness of the sign such as sound symbolic words, and linguistic expressions that deploy extra-systemic structural features such as interjections, particles, and conversational routines. Moreover, other […]

There have been many recent studies that explain language use and structure from the point of view of communicative efficiency. The linguistic explananda include correlations between frequency (or surprisal) and word length, phonetic reduction of predictable units, minimization of dependency distances in word order, the use and omission of complementizers, relativizers, case markers and other […]

In the space of a decade emoji have gone from being unavailable outside of Japan to active use by over 90% of the world’s online population. Their sudden rise in use is often attributed to the way they allow users to convey in writing what is usually done with tone of voice and body language […]

It has long been an article of faith among linguists (though not among the general public) that all languages are equally complex. Three beliefs have led to this conclusion. First, the idea that languages might differ in complexity seems to go against enlightened humanistic thought: Asserting that one language is ‘simple’ and another ‘complex’ seems […]

27 years have already passed since Chomsky published the paper that inaugurated the so-called Minimalist Program.  It is, thus, time to take stock of our research agenda. This round table presents a critical overview of the developments of the Minimalist approach to language, considering its past achievements and the present challenges it faces. The following […]

Nesta mesa redonda, apresentaremos com certo vagar o denso percurso epistemológico, teórico e metodológico, proposto pela discursivista francesa Marie-Anne Paveau (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019a, 2019b e 2020) acerca da Análise do Discurso Digital. Inicialmente, examinamos as relações entre os quadros pré-discursivos coletivos e a linguagem no seu imbricamento com a moral. Na sequência, refletiremos sobre […]

Estamos nos aproximando dos 60.000 mortos pelo coronavirus, entre eles centenas de falantes de línguas indígenas, muitos deles velhos e sábios. Se 500 Tuyuka morrerem, a língua tuyuka deixa de ser falada em território brasileiro. Se forem 1000, incluindo a outra metade que vive na Colômbia, a língua desaparece do planeta terra e nunca mais […]

This lecture addresses the competition between vernacular languages and Latin, identifying sources of syntactic change and examining the role of sociolinguistic motivation. The focus is on the complex role played by translators, and the syntactic creativity that may occur as a result of calquing. The case study is concerned with the auxiliation/grammaticalization of amenazar (Spanish), […]

Linguistics research has traditionally been shaped by the idea of a native monolingual speaker. Research on bilingualism and language learning has also defined stages and features of bilinguals in terms of differences (‘advantages’ or ‘disadvantages’) with respect to native monolingual norms. However, real monolingualism is becoming rarer in our communities because more people learn other […]

Ao se discutir aquisição de linguagem, há que se perguntar “o que”, “como” e “por quê”. Em fonologia, devemos pensar na aquisição de unidades, estruturas, propriedades e processos. As produções infantis diferem em relação à forma adulta? O que essas diferenças querem dizer? Nesta apresentação, discuto implicações teóricas da aquisição de proeminência prosódica e de regras de juntura a […]