Björn Köhnlein (Ohio State) talk

September 16, 2020

4:00PM - 5:30PM

CANCELLED !

Add to Calendar 2020-09-16 16:00:00 2020-09-16 17:30:00 Björn Köhnlein (Ohio State) talk This talk has been CANCELLED ! Björn Köhnlein Associate Professor Department of Linguistics The Ohio State University http://u.osu.edu/koehnlein.3/ The linguistic structure of proper names: a case study on Dutch place names In linguistic theory, it is generally assumed that place names are morphologically simplex, at least from a synchronic perspective. This derives from the observation that constituents of complex place names often become opaque over time. Along these lines, place names like Dutch Amsterdam could not be synchronically compositional because Amster- does not exist as an independent morpheme in Dutch. Contrary to this view, I argue that many place names are in fact synchronically complex, in spite of their semantic non-transparency. Evidence comes from the sound structure of the names in question, i.e., their phonological behavior: In Dutch, place names are often the sole apparent exceptions to otherwise strong restrictions on stress assignment and phonotactics (the permitted sequences of sounds in a given language). Yet under close inspection, it becomes evident that these names are not phonologically exceptional at all: They display regular phonological behavior that is characteristic of morphologically complex words, derived via suffixation or compounding. Furthermore, it is argued that the complex structures found in Dutch place names are by no means idiosyncratic to this group of words. Similar patterns are found in place naming in various other languages as well as in the formation of some types of nominal compounds in Dutch (such as the formation of names for ball games). From a broader perspective, this talk also aims to elaborate on insights on the structure of proper names established in language philosophy and onomastics. CANCELLED ! OSU ASC Drupal 8 ascwebservices@osu.edu America/New_York public

Add to Calendar 2020-09-16 16:00:00 2020-09-16 17:30:00 Björn Köhnlein (Ohio State) talk This talk has been CANCELLED !  Björn Köhnlein Associate Professor Department of Linguistics The Ohio State University http://u.osu.edu/koehnlein.3/  The linguistic structure of proper names: a case study on Dutch place names In linguistic theory, it is generally assumed that place names are morphologically simplex, at least from a synchronic perspective. This derives from the observation that constituents of complex place names often become opaque over time. Along these lines, place names like Dutch Amsterdam could not be synchronically compositional because Amster- does not exist as an independent morpheme in Dutch. Contrary to this view, I argue that many place names are in fact synchronically complex, in spite of their semantic non-transparency. Evidence comes from the sound structure of the names in question, i.e., their phonological behavior: In Dutch, place names are often the sole apparent exceptions to otherwise strong restrictions on stress assignment and phonotactics (the permitted sequences of sounds in a given language). Yet under close inspection, it becomes evident that these names are not phonologically exceptional at all: They display regular phonological behavior that is characteristic of morphologically complex words, derived via suffixation or compounding. Furthermore, it is argued that the complex structures found in Dutch place names are by no means idiosyncratic to this group of words. Similar patterns are found in place naming in various other languages as well as in the formation of some types of nominal compounds in Dutch (such as the formation of names for ball games). From a broader perspective, this talk also aims to elaborate on insights on the structure of proper names established in language philosophy and onomastics.   CANCELLED ! Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures germanic@osu.edu America/New_York public

This talk has been CANCELLED !
Björn Köhnlein
Associate Professor
Department of Linguistics
The Ohio State University
http://u.osu.edu/koehnlein.3/

The linguistic structure of proper names: a case study on Dutch place names
In linguistic theory, it is generally assumed that place names are morphologically simplex, at least from a synchronic perspective. This derives from the observation that constituents of complex place names often become opaque over time. Along these lines, place names like Dutch Amsterdam could not be synchronically compositional because Amster- does not exist as an independent morpheme in Dutch. Contrary to this view, I argue that many place names are in fact synchronically complex, in spite of their semantic non-transparency. Evidence comes from the sound structure of the names in question, i.e., their phonological behavior: In Dutch, place names are often the sole apparent exceptions to otherwise strong restrictions on stress assignment and phonotactics (the permitted sequences of sounds in a given language). Yet under close inspection, it becomes evident that these names are not phonologically exceptional at all: They display regular phonological behavior that is characteristic of morphologically complex words, derived via suffixation or compounding. Furthermore, it is argued that the complex structures found in Dutch place names are by no means idiosyncratic to this group of words. Similar patterns are found in place naming in various other languages as well as in the formation of some types of nominal compounds in Dutch (such as the formation of names for ball games). From a broader perspective, this talk also aims to elaborate on insights on the structure of proper names established in language philosophy and onomastics.