Fundation for new DFG project
The project 'Pragmatic requirements for answer generation in a sales dialogue' has been accepted for funding by the DFG in January 2013. It will be conducted under the joint supervision of Anton Benz (ZAS) and Ralf Klabunde (U Bochum). The project aims at the development of a software consulting agent for the real estate domain with the ability to use pragmatic means such as implicatures, rhetorical relations and framing effects for the generation of answers. The main innovative aspect is the application of game theoretic methods. In this project, there will be one post-doc researcher at the ZAS, and one doctoral student in Bochum.
Neue Publikation im November 2012
Anton Benz, Manfred Stede & Peter Kühnlein (eds.). 2012. Constraints in Discourse 3: Representing and Inferring Discourse Structure (Pragmatics and beyond new series 223). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Jonathan D. Bobaljik received Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
Professor Bobaljik from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, USA is a leading authority in morphology and related areas of linguistics. His forthcoming book "Universals in Comparative Morphology: Suppletion, superlatives, and the structure of words" , in press with MIT Press, argues that superlatives like "best" and "nicest" in all languages are derived from comparatives such as "better" and "nicer", rather than directly from the positive forms like "good" and "nice". With the Bessel Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Bobaljik will work with Dr. Uli Sauerland of the Center for General Linguistics in Berlin on a statistical approach to syncretism patterns in language.
New publication in October 2010
Downing, Laura, Annie Rialland, Jean-Marc Beltzung, Sophie Manus, Cédric Patin & Kristina Riedel (eds.). 2010. Papers from the workshop on Bantu relative clauses (ZAS Papers in Linguistics 53). Berlin: ZAS.
Start of new project
In January 2011 the new project on the interaction of discourse structure and implicatures (IDis), funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) and directed by Anton Benz will start.
Research trips in the South Pacific
The project Languages of Southwest Ambrym, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, carried out several research trips to the island in the South Pacific, a part of the State of Vanuatu. The project made numerous recordings of the languages Daakaka and Daakie, which are now being further analyzed. Under cooperation with Chief Filip Talevu from Emiotungan, the project now has a house which is also open to other researchers and guests, and which will document the culture and languages of West Ambrym.
New Publications
