Afrikaans is unique among the Germanic languages in several ways: Notably, it is the only language of the Germanic family that originated outside of Europe and that is spoken primarily in Africa. Due to the unique historical context in which Afrikaans developed, it has grammatical features setting it apart from the rest of the Germanic family. Afrikaans is also the first language of over seven million people and the third largest language in South Africa.
In spite of its uniqueness and the size of the Afrikaans speech community, Afrikaans is relatively understudied and underdescribed from the perspective of theoretical linguistics. This workshop seeks to address the paucity of descriptive and theoretical studies of Afrikaans in contemporary linguistics by bringing together scholars who work on any aspect of Afrikaans grammar for a two day workshop. We welcome contributions on any aspect of Afrikaans grammar, from both a descriptive and theoretical perspective. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Phonetics (acoustic, articulatory, perceptual)
- Phonology
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Semantics
- Pragmatics
- History of Afrikaans
- Sociolinguistics of Afrikaans
- Dialectology and varieties of Afrikaans
To ensure that contributions to the workshop will be accessible by the widest possible audience, the language of the workshop will be English. The call for abstracts are now available. Contact the organizers at afrikaansegrammatika@gmail.com if you any questions.
Hope to see many of you in the Amsterdam in August 2016!
Andries Coetzee (University of Michigan and North-West University, South Africa)
Marc van Oostendorp (Leiden University and Meertens Institute)
Theresa Biberauer (Cambridge University and Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
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