LINGUISTICS ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN Spring Meeting 1997: University of Edinburgh First Circular and Call for Papers The 1997 Spring Meeting will be held from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 April at the University of Edinburgh, where the Association will be the guests of the Department of Linguistics. The Local Organiser is Alice Turk (turk@ling.ed.ac.uk). The conference immediately follows the 1997 meeting of GALA ("Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition"), which takes place at the University of Edinburgh from the 4th to 6th of April (further information on: http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/gala/). Edinburgh enjoys a coastal location and a rather mild climate, and boasts two (extinct) volcanoes and their associated geological features in the heart of the city. As the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh is steeped in Scottish history: its medieval castle, the renaissance buildings of the Old Town, and the elegant Georgian New Town embody the different eras of the city's past. Edinburgh makes a perfect base for skiing and outdoor pursuits in the Scottish mountains. Its clubs, pubs and restaurants also provide varied and high-quality entertainment day and night. Travel: Edinburgh is easily accessible by air (Edinburgh airport is to the north of the city centre with a frequent bus service) train (inter-city services connect with most other major cities) and car (roads leading to Edinburgh are the A90 from the North, the A8 from the West, and the A1, A7, A68 and A702 from the South). Events: The Linguistcs Association 1997 Lecture on the Monday evening will be delivered by Professor Joan Bresnan (Stanford). There will be a Workshop on The Role of Morphology in Current Syntactic Theory organised by Kersti Boerjars and Nigel Vincent (University of Manchester). In much recent work on syntactic theory, analyses have made the tacit assumption that morphological and syntactic elements obey the same principles (e.g. c-command) and can be expressed in the same notation (i.e. trees). At the same time, a number of influential morphologists (e.g. Anderson, Aronoff and Beard) have argued for the separationist hypothesis according to which morphological constructs obey a set of independent principles which only partly, or not at all, overlap with the set of syntactic principles. In this workshop we will explore within a number of frameworks the consequences of this renewed interest in the interaction and integration of morphological and syntactic data. We will look particularly at Lexical-Functional Grammar, Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar and the Minimalist Program. There will be talks by Joan Bresnan (Stanford), Elisabet Engdahl (Gothenburg), Gillian Ramchand (Oxford) and Greg Stump (Kentucky) and these will be followed by a general discussion. The Language Tutorial will be on languages of Central Australia, and will be given by Jane Simpson (University of Sydney) and, possibly, Mary Laughren (University of Queensland) and David Nash. Central Australian languages such as Warumungu, Warlpiri and Warlmanpa use agglutinative morphology to show grammatical relations, rather than word order which is thereby freed up for other functions. However, there is evidence for underlyingly right-headed phrases. There is striking convergence of grammars, in contrast with morphemes and some superficial phonological properties. The latter act as markers of different languages, while a source for the former may be the multilingualism of many older speakers. There will be a Wine Party on the Monday evening, following Professor Bresnan's lecture, sponsored by the Department of Linguistics. Enquiries about the LAGB meeting should be sent to the Meetings Secretary (address below). Full details of the programme and a booking form will be included in the Second Circular, to be sent out in January. Call for Papers: Members and potential guests are invited to offer papers for the Meeting; abstracts are also accepted from non-members. The LAGB welcomes submissions on any linguistics or linguistics- related topic. Abstracts must arrive by 13 January 1997 and should be sent in the format outlined below to the following address: Professor G. Corbett, Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 5XH. Papers for the programme are selected anonymously - only the President knows the name of the authors. Abstracts must be presented as follows: submit SEVEN anonymous copies of the abstract, plus ONE with name and affiliation, i.e. CAMERA- READY. The complete abstract containing your title and your name must be no longer than ONE A4 page (8.27" x 11.69") with margins of at least 1" on all sides. You may use single spacing (not more than six lines to the inch) and type must be no smaller than 12 characters per inch. Type uniformly in black (near-letter quality on a word processor) and make any additions in black. It is preferable to print out the abstracts using a laser printer, since if the paper is accepted the abstract will be photocopied and inserted directly into the collection of abstracts sent out to participants. WRITE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BACK OF THE ABSTRACT WHICH HAS YOUR NAME ON. The following layout should be considered as standard: (title) Optimality and the Klingon vowel shift (speaker) Clark Kent (institution) Department of Astrology, Eastern Mars University The following guidelines may be useful: 1. Briefly state the topic of your paper. 2. If your paper is to involve an analysis of linguistic material, give critical examples, along with a brief indication of their critical nature. 3. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future development of the field. If you are taking a stand on a controversial issue, summarise the arguments which lead you to take up this position. The normal length for papers delivered at LAGB meetings is 25 minutes (plus 15 minutes discussion). Offers of squibs (10 minutes) or longer papers (40 minutes) will also be considered: please explain why your paper requires less or more time than usual. N.B. ABSTRACTS SUBMISSION DATES: These are always announced in the First Circular for the Meeting in question. Any member who fears that they may receive the First Circular too late to be able to submit an abstract before the deadline specified can be assured that an abstract received by the President by JANUARY 1 or JUNE 1 will always be considered for the next meeting. Conference Bursaries: There will be a maximum of 10 bursaries available to unsalaried members of the Association (e.g. PhD students) with preference given to those who are presenting a paper. Applications should be sent to the President, and must be received by 4 June 1996. Please state on your application: (a) date of joining the LAGB; (b) whether or not you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student; (c) if a student, whether you receive a normal grant; (d) if not a student, your employment situation. STUDENTS WHO ARE SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT and wish to apply for funding should include all the above details WITH THEIR ABSTRACT. For the last (Cardiff) meeting, all ten bursaries were offered: each applicant presenting a paper received 50 pounds (half the cost of the full conference package of meals and accommodation) plus their return rail fare. So, if you are thinking of submitting an abstract, are a student on a normal grant or unwaged, and have been an LAGB member for at least six months, it is well worth while applying for a bursary too! Guests: Members may invite any number of guests to meetings of the association, upon payment of a stlg5 guest invitation fee. Members wishing to invite guests should photocopy the booking form enclosed in the Second Circular. Annual General Meeting: This is to be held on the afternoon of Tuesday 8 April. Items for the agenda should be sent to the Honorary Secretary. Elections of President and Membership Secretary: Nominations are sought for the position of President, which becomes vacant with the retirement of Greville Corbett, and for the position of Membership Secretary, which becomes vacant with the retirement of Kersti Boerjars. All names should be sent to the Honorary Secretary by 13 January 1996; nominations should be proposed and seconded, and proposers should make sure that their nominee is willing to stand for election. Nominations for speakers: Nominations are requested for future guest speakers; all suggestions should be sent to the Honorary Secretary. Changes of address: Members are reminded to notify the Membership Secretary (address below) of changes of address. An institutional address is preferred; bulk mailing saves postage. Committee members: President Professor Greville Corbett, Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey, GUILDFORD, Surrey, GU2 5XH. e-mail: g.corbett@surrey.ac.uk Honorary Secretary Dr. David Adger, Dept. of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD. e-mail: da4@tower.york.ac.uk. Membership Secretary Dr. Kersti Boerjars, Department of Linguistics, University of Manchester, MANCHESTER M13 9PL. e-mail: k.e.borjars@manchester.ac.uk Meetings Secretary Dr. Billy Clark, Communication Studies, Middlesex University, Trent Park, Bramley Road, LONDON N14 4XS. e-mail: billy1@mdx.ac.uk Treasurer Dr. Paul Rowlett, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT. e-mail: p.a.rowlett@mod-lang.salford.ac.uk Assistant Secretary Dr. April McMahon, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, CAMBRIDGE CB3 9DQ. e-mail: AMM11@hermes.cam.ac.uk BLN Editor Dr. Siew-Yue Killingley, Grevatt and Grevatt, 9 Rectory Drive, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE NE13 1XT. British Linguistic Newsletter: Members are reminded that they can subscribe to BLN (ISBN 0964-6574) by contacting the Editor, Dr. S-Y. Killingley. Subscriptions for BLN are not to be sent to the LAGB Treasurer. Internet home page: The LAGB internet home page is now active at the following address: http://clwww.essex.ac.uk/LAGB. Electronic network: Please join the LAGB electronic network which is used for disseminating LAGB information and for consulting members quickly. It can be subscribed to by sending the message "add lagb" to: listserv@postman.essex.ac.uk. Future Meetings: 9-11 September 1997 University of Hertfordshire. 14-16 April 1998 University of Lancaster. 10-12 September 1998 (dates provisional) University of Luton. Spring 1999 (provisional) University of Manchester. Autumn 1999 (provisional) University of York. Spring 2000 (provisional) University College London. The Meetings Secretary would very much like to receive offers of future venues, particularly from institutions which the LAGB has not previously visited or from places with newly established linguistics programmes.