23 March (14.00/16.00
The two-step interpretation of negation: dynamic semantics meets psycholinguistics. Prof. V.Bianchi
https:/unisi.webex.com/meet/valentina.bianchi
27 November (14.30/16.00)
Notes on locality: Impenetrability, intervention, and cartographic representations
Luigi Rizzi (University of Siena, Collège de France)
Room E, San Niccolò external building (via Roma 56, Siena)
online: https://unisi.webex.com/meet/valentina.bianchi
10 November (16.00 / 18.00)
Language contact in Magna Graecia: Convergence, layering and hybridism
Adam Ledgeway (Bergamo)
The seminar will be held in presence, but it will also be streamed online at this link:
https://unisi.webex.com/meet/jan.casalicchio
Abstract:
In this talk I explore a number of case studies taken from an exhaustive examination of Greek-Romance contact in southern Italy. Among other things, I shall highlight the relevance of the Greek-Romance evidence for refining our understanding of the nature of contact-induced change and how, when modelled in terms of parameter hierarchies, exogenous change can be formally distinguished from endogenous change. In particular, I propose that a formal hallmark of contact-induced change is the so-called Catapult Effect, the force of which is also able to capture how some well-known effects of exogenous change such as acceleration, convergence and hybridism—terms frequently employed in the literature with very loose and often different meanings—can be successfully formalized by way of parameter hierarchies. The talk concludes with a reassessment of a significant aspect of the ‘multiple causation’ hypothesis regarding exogenous change, namely, the role of layering in contact. It is proposed that certain developments are best analysed as the output of a layering of successive changes, noting how the endogenous vs exogenous nature of the input change in the first layer is not trivial but accounts for the presence of what is termed the Instability Effect.
30 October (12.00 / 14.00)
From Generative Grammar to Statistical Learning: Rethinking how the Brain Predicts and Learns Linguistic Structures
(Dott.ssa Claudia Ruzza. SISSA, Trieste)
Generative grammar proposes that linguistic knowledge is structured and constrained by innate principles. But could part of this structure emerge from experience? Traditional generative approaches posit that linguistic knowledge is shaped by inherent constraints, emerging research in statistical learning brings new evidence that learners can extract structure directly from experience. Drawing on research in psycholinguistics and neuroscience, we will examine how statistical learning research reshapes our understanding of language acquisition. Through studies on pattern learning across modalities and developmental stages, we will discuss how probabilistic learning might interact with the structured representations of morphology and word formation proposed within the generative framework.