Deadline: November 5, 2025
Meeting Description:
The workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of constructions with multiple wh-words across languages, which are understood as constructions structured with two or more wh-elements that can fulfil different functions.
We propose the following questions for discussion:
● What semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic factors underlie the restrictions on wh-variables and their possible pairings in multiple wh-constructions, especially in their distributive readings?
● Under what semantic and pragmatic conditions are such constructions licensed in discourse, and what communicative functions do they perform across languages?
● What syntactic positions can these constructions occupy within the clause, and how do they interact with the valency requirements of the predicate (if present)?
● How do frequency, idiomatization and formulaicity influence the grammatical status of these constructions across different languages?
● What are the historical sources of such constructions (e.g. indirect questions > quasi-relatives > distributives), and what grammaticalization paths can be identified cross-linguistically?
● Can we detect areal or genealogical patterns in the distribution and structure of these constructions, and what do such patterns reveal about contact-induced change versus independent development?
● How do multiple wh-word distributives compare with other distributive strategies (lexical, morphological, or clausal) cross-linguistically?
Call for Papers:
We welcome submissions that employ a range of theoretical frameworks, including but not limited to Construction Grammar, formal semantic and pragmatic analyses, corpus-based studies, cross-linguistic typological comparisons. We are particularly interested in studies that combine theoretical analysis with empirical data from diverse languages, using methodologies such as corpus linguistics, experimental pragmatics and comparative linguistics.
If you wish to participate in this workshop, please send your abstract of max. 300 words (including examples and excluding references) to the following email address (ktokudachego@gmail.com) by November 5th 2025.
Key dates for workshop proposals and abstracts
- 5 Nov 2025 – Deadline for submitting the 300-word abstracts
- 15 Dec 2025 – Decision on acceptance/rejection of workshop proposals by the SLE committee
- 15 Jan 2026 – Deadline for submitting all abstracts (including workshop papers) via EasyChair
- 31 Mar 2026 – Notification of acceptance/rejection of abstracts
Details: SLE 2026 Conference Website
Workshop at SLE 2026: Constructions with multiple wh-words across languages
Date: 26-Aug-2026 – 29-Aug-2026
Location: Osnabrück, Germany
Web Site: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/wh-words-cle2026/
Contact mail: ktokudachego@gmail.com
Convenors:
Valentina Apresjan (Dartmouth College, USA)
Mikhail Kopotev (University of Helsinki, Finland / Stockholm University, Sweden)
Piotr Sobotka (Institute of Slavic Studies, PAS, Poland)
Mladen Uhlik (Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language & University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)