Invited Speakers:

Alice Harris (Stony Brook University)

Geoffrey Haig (University of Kiel)

Date: 14–15 May 2009

Location: University of Bergen

Bjørn Christiansens hus (Psychology Building), Auditorium 118

Christiesgate 12

5006 Bergen

Call for papers: The aim of this workshop is to gather researchers working on alignment systems in a historical perspective, in order to brainstorm on how alignment systems can be reconstructed for earlier stages of a language or a language family. We welcome abstracts on well-studied language families like Indo-European, abstracts on oral languages without a recorded history, and everything in between, aiming to highlight different kinds of reconstruction problems. We also welcome papers on changes in alignment systems, papers addressing the issue of how different theoretical frameworks can contribute to reconstruction, as well as papers concerned with the more general implications of alignment changes for diachronic typology.

Program	Thursday 14. May
10.00–10.05	Welcome
10.05–11.05	Alice Harris: Methods of Reconstruction in Case Alignment
11.05–11.45	Spike Gildea & Flávia de Castro Alves: Reconstructing the Source of Nominative–Absolutive Alignment in Two Amazonian Languages
11.45–11.55	Announcements
11.55–12.45	Lunch at Administrasjonskantinen Christiesgate 18
12.45–13.25	Helena Metslang: Changes in the Use of Partitive Subjects in Estonian
13.25–14.05	Marine Ivanishvili & Rusudan Asatiani: Hierarchies of Grammatical Categories and Alignment Systems: Batsbi and Georgian
14.05–14.15	Break
14.15–14.55	Thomas Smitherman: The Role of Diathetic Systems in Alignment Change
14.55–15.35	Eleanor Coghill: The Rise and Fall of Ergative Agreement in the Neo-Aramaic Verb
15.35–15.55	Coffee Break
15.55–16.35	Michela Cennamo: Active Systems and the Rise of Head-Marking: A Case Study from Latin
16.35–17.35	Jóhanna Barðdal & Thórhallur Eythórsson: Reconstructing Syntax: Construction Grammar and the Comparative Method
18.30–	Conference Dinner at Knut Fægris Hus (Villaveien 11)
	Friday 15. May
10.00–10.40	I.V. Kokhlova: Some Implications of Alignment Changes in the Historical Development of Three Western NIA Languages: Punjabi, Gujarati and Rajasthani
10.40–11.20	Annie Montaut & Appasamy Murugaiyan: The Emergence of Oblique Coding of First Arguments in Indian Languages
11.20–11.30	Break
11.30–12.10	Andrea Drocco: The Evolution of the Ergative-Absolutive System in some Western New Indo-Aryan Languages
12.10–13.00	Lunch at Administrasjonskantinen Christiesgate 18
13.00–13.40	Eystein Dahl: Prospects and Limitations of Syntactic Reconstruction: The case of Indo-Iranian
13.40–14.20	Ilja Serzants: Partitive Genitive in Indo-European
14.20–14.40	Coffee Break
14.40–15.40	Geoffrey Haig: Non-Canonical Subjects, and Alignment Splits: Where's the Connection?
16.15–18.15	Guided tour in the Bergen Centre