4th International VariaR Conference 2024

Theme: Description of pluricentric languages in the age of Digital Humanities

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Coordination:

Vanessa Meireles (ReSO, Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 University - UPVM)

Marcia dos Santos Machado Vieira (Postgraduate Programme in Vernacular Languages - PPGLEV, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ)

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Support Team:

Eliete Figueira Batista da Silveira (PPGLEV Coordination, Faculty of Letters, UFRJ)

Pâmela Fagundes Travassos (Municipal Bureau of Education of the City of Rio de Janeiro, SME-RJ)

Patricia Vanessa de Ramos (Proofreading in Spanish, University of Augsburg - UNiA)

Pedro Poppolino (Computer Science, UFRJ)

Rachel Koin (Master in Foreign Languages ​​Applied in the Negotiation of International Projects - LEA NPI, UPVM)

Sara Albino (Proofreading in French, Master LEA Translation, UPVM)

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Guest Lecturers:

Marcia MACHADO VIEIRA

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Martin HILPERT

University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

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Nada JONCHERE

Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France

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Renata ENGHELS

Ghent University, Belgium

 

Sascha DIWERSY

Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France

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Dates: 12th, 13th and 14th of June, 2024 (in-person event in Montpellier with online stream)

Deadline for submission of proposals for papers and posters: February 29th, 2024

Final programme: March 15th, 2024

Registration of participants and audience members (with payment of registration fees): until March 30th, 2024

Registration for remote audience (free): to be announced

Registration fee (for in-person experience): 100 euros (the registration fee includes participation in conferences, coffee breaks and lunches)

Gala dinner: 40 euros

Languages of the conference: English, French, Portuguese

Conference venue: Paul-Valéry University

Rue du Professeur Henri Serre
34080 - Montpellier (Saint Charles Campus) / France

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Call for papers

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For the fourth edition of the VariaR International Conference - Variation in Romance Languages, we are continuing to encourage collaboration between researchers from different universities and countries, at both institutional and scientific levels. The focus is on the study of the different linguistic varieties of Romance languages, with the aim of theorising and describing their complex and multicentric features, as well as their implications and impacts on teaching and education, covering cultural heritage, particularly in the digital age.

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As in the previous issue, the theoretical focus is on sociolinguistics (LABOV, 1994, 2001) and construction grammar (in line with the work of TRAUGOTT; TROUSDALE, 2013; GOLDBERG, 2016, 2019; HILPERT, 2014), considered as a diasystem (WEINREICH, 1953; WEINREICH; LABOV; HERZOG, 1968; BYBEE, 2015). We also encourage the submission of contributions that explore the intersection between construction grammar and sociolinguistics (MACHADO VIEIRA; WIEDEMER, 2019), as well as proposals on cross-cutting themes for understanding and mapping the plural sociolinguistic reality.

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From a practical point of view, we focus on the interactions involved in the construction of corpora and databases, particularly in the era of digital humanities and the promotion of open and collaborative science. In this context, new technological perspectives are emerging for observing, creating, managing, analysing, describing, storing, preserving and sharing databases, along the lines proposed by MACHADO VIEIRA and MEIRELES (2023) as part of the VariaR project.

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Possible areas of contribution to oral communication are as follows:

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• Grammatical studies examining phenomena at the lexical, phonetic-phonological, prosodic, morphological, morphosyntactic, syntactic and textual levels, among others, on the basis of theoretical and methodological perspectives from the field of linguistics, including functionalist, cognitivist, sociolinguistic approaches of various types.

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• Discussions on the relationship between different theoretical and methodological approaches and grammatical generalisations or specificities that may influence the teaching and learning of Romance languages.

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• Linguistic projects and analyses aimed at creating a collection, database or repository accessible to the scientific community and the general public in order to promote knowledge and understanding of the grammar of Romance languages.

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• Linguistic work and analysis related to the digital humanities, open science, strategic planning, and the construction of artificial intelligence models and tools for natural language processing, using the knowledge acquired in Romance language studies and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.

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In addition to conference sessions, we are planning paper and poster sessions. Oral communication proposals must contain between 300 and 500 words (not including bibliography).

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A selection of papers will be published in a book (open access) or published in a themed issue of a scientific journal under the organisation of the VariaR Project's coordinating professors, Marcia dos Santos Machado Vieira and Vanessa Meireles.

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References:

BYBEE, J. Language Change (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015. 

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GOLDBERG, A. Compositionality. In N. Riemer (ed.) Semantics Handbook. Route ledge. 2016.

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GOLDBERG, A. Explain me this : creativity, competition, and the partial productivity of constructions. Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2019.

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HÖDER, S. Multilingual constructions : a diasystematic approach to common structures. In : Multilingual individuals and multilingual societies. Benjamins : Kurt Braunmüller, Chistoph Gabriel, 2012, p. 241-257.

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HILPERT, M. Construction Grammar and its Application to English. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press. 233 p, 2014.

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HÖDER, S. Multilingual constructions: a diasystematic approach to common structures. In : K. Braunmüller; C. Gabriel (eds.). Multilingual individuals and multilingual societies (Hamburg Studies on Multilingualism 13), Amsterdam/​Philadelphia: Benjamins, 241–257, 2012.

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LABOV, W. Principles of Linguistic Change : Internal Factors. Oxford, Blackwell, 1994. 

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LABOV, W. Principles of Linguistic Change : Social Factors. Oxford, Blackwell, 2001. 

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MACHADO VIEIRA, M. S ; MEIRELES, V. « Variação em línguas românicas : ações do projeto VariaR como contributos de ciência aberta e cidadã », Reflexos [En ligne], 6 | 2023, mis en ligne le 19 avril 2023, consulté le 03 octobre 2023. URL : http://interfas.univ-tlse2.fr/reflexos/1325.

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MACHADO VIEIRA, M. S; WIEDEMER, M. L.; "Variationist Sociolinguistics and Construction Grammar: The Challenges And The Prospects Of Compatibilization", p. 121-128. In : Dimensões e Experiências em Sociolinguística. São Paulo: Blucher, 2019. https://openaccess.blucher.com.br/article-details/04-21761

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TRAUGOTT, E. C. ; TROUSDALE, G. Constructionalization and Construction changes. Great Britain : Oxford University Press, 2013. 

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TROUSDALE, G. ; MACHADO VIEIRA, M. S.  ; CEZÁRIO, M. M. Variação e mudança linguísticas. Diadorim: revista de estudos linguísticos e literários, Rio de Janeiro, v. 21. n. 2. p. 19-29, 2019. https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/diadorim/article/view/31040

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WEINREICH, U.  Languages in Contact. The Hague: Mouton, 1953.

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WEINREICH, U. LABOV, W. ; HERZOG, M. Empirical Foundations for a Theory of Language Change. In : LEHMANN, W. P. et alii (eds.). Directions for Historical Linguistic. Austin/Texas, 1968. p. 95-195.