GRK 2636:  Form-meaning mismatches

• Subject Area: Linguistics
• Term: since 2021
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 429844083

The assumption that every expression in a sentence contributes to its meaning and every contribution to meaning corresponds to an expression in the sentence seems intuitively correct. On closer inspection, however, form-meaning mismatches are abundantly present in natural languages. On the one hand, a mismatch between form and meaning arises when one and the same meaning component is expressed multiple times. In the sentence The black dogs are sitting on the roof, for instance, plurality is expressed twice. On the other hand, the opposite occurs when a meaning component does not have a formal counterpart at all. For example, Maria as an answer to the question Who did you call? means that the addressee only called Maria. Even though such discrepancies between form and meaning have been discussed in particular areas more than once, we expect novel insights from a comprehensive investigation of relevant phenomena in various languages and on different linguistic levels (morphosyntax, semantics, pragmatics). Only on the basis of a broad, empirically and theoretically motivated foundation can the following questions be addressed: Which types of form-meaning mismatches occur in natural languages? Why do natural languages exhibit such mismatches to begin with? How do they develop over time? Which implications does the existence of form-meaning mismatches have for language processing and acquisition? Answering such questions has deep consequences for our understanding of the interplay of grammar and meaning. In the course of the present Research Training Group (RTG), a broad foundation of individual investigations will be developed, where such questions will be considered in dialogue between and with the PhD students, allowing us to approach a theory of form-meaning mismatches in up to three cohorts. The dissertations to be developed will investigate various kinds of form-meaning mismatches. Each PhD student deals with an empirical problem, which is based on a concrete theoretical question. This approach ensures a broad training in both empirical data collection and theoretical analysis, which will prepare the graduates adequately for the requirements of the academic and non-academic labor market.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Spokesperson: Professor Hedde Zeijlstra, Ph.D.
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Marco Coniglio; Professorin Dr. Anke Holler; Professor Dr. Uwe Junghanns; Professor Dr. Götz Keydana; Professorin Dr. Nivedita Mani; Professor Dr. Guido Mensching; Professor Dr. Stavros Skopeteas; Professorin Dr. Caroline Sporleder; Professor Dr. Markus Steinbach; Professor Dr. Clemens Steiner-Mayr; Dr. Thomas Weskott