Linguistic Embodiment: Body Part Terms in Linguistic Usage: A Comparative and Typological Perspective, University of Warsaw, Poland, December 8-9, 2017

From the 8th to the 9th of December 2017, an innovative workshop entitled “Body Part Terms in Linguistic Usage: A Comparative and Typological Perspective” will be held in Warsaw, Poland. Invited speakers include the following: Zygmunt Frajzyngier (University of Colorado, USA); Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (University of Lodz, Poland); Helma Pasch (University of Cologne, Germany); and Ning Yu (Pennsylvania State University, USA). Abstracts are currently being accepted for 30 minute presentations. The deadline for abstracts is July 30, 2017. Each paper will be given 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussion.

The conference organizers invite papers which focus on one specific language or comparative/typological studies. Possible topics to be covered include:

  • coding and categorization of body parts
  • polysemy and semantic change of body part terms
  • conceptualization processes (metaphor, metonymy) via body parts
  • expressing emotional concepts through their “embodiment”
  • grammaticalization processes
  • usage patterns of constructed senses
  • corpus studies of body part terms (e.g. frequency, collocations)
  • compounding and noun incorporation
  • “special” syntax (e.g. inalienable possession, use of pronouns)
  • morphological derivation and semantic autonomy
  • language-culture issues and idiomatic constructions