Call for papers | Practical info

Dates: April 13–15, 2027

Location: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Poblenou Campus, c/Roc Boronat 138, 08018 Barcelona.

Invited speakers:

Andrew Koontz-Garboden, University of Manchester

Franz Rainer, WU Vienna

Rossella Varvara, University of Turin

Description:

In a classic paper on word formation, Hermann Paul (1896: 18) argued that morphology requires an Ergänzung durch die Bedeutungslehre 'supplementation by a theory of semantics'. Nearly 120 years later, Rainer et al. (2014: 33) concluded the introduction to the volume Morphology and Meaning by revisiting Paul's call, noting that although research on meaning in morphology had advanced considerably since 1896, the field still presented ''a rather rugged and sparse research landscape''. Since then, interest in the semantics of word formation has continued to grow (see volumes such as Arndt-Lappe & Plag, 2015; Bauer et al., 2015; Kotowski & Plag, 2023), accompanied by increasing empirical scrutiny. Recent work has addressed a wide range of topics, including the polysemy of derivational processes (Schulte, 2015; Plag et al., 2018; a.o.), semantic differences among rival processes (Rainer et al., 2019; Huyghe et al., 2023; a.o.), form-meaning mismatches (Valera, 2015; Lieber, 2023; a.o.), the semantic transparency of complex words (Schäfer, 2018; Varvara & Huyghe, 2026; a.o.), and the semantic organization (Fradin, 2020; Sanacore et al., 2024; a.o.) and partial predictability (McNally et al., 2024) of derivational paradigms. At the same time, although several existing theoretical frameworks incorporate semantic information into their accounts of word structure – including Distributed Morphology (Harley, 2012), Construction Morphology (Booij, 2010), and Relational Morphology (Jackendoff & Audring, 2020) – their respective treatments of derivational semantics have been subject to criticism (see, e.g., Plag & Kotowski, 2023). Despite this growing body of research, the overall impression is still that of a somewhat fragmented field. Research on semantics and word formation has largely progressed within disciplinary silos, with too little sustained dialogue between researchers mainly concerned with meaning and those mainly concerned with form.

This workshop aims to promote that dialogue by bringing together researchers working from different theoretical, typological, corpus-based, computational, and experimental perspectives. Through intensive discussion of semantic challenges for morphological theory, and challenges of morphology for semantic theory, it seeks to promote critical engagement with a range of theoretical assumptions, methodological choices, and empirical evidence.

Contact e-mail address: [email protected]

Organizers: Louise McNally (UPF) & Ivan Lacić (UPF)