Workshop on Complex predicate constructions across modalities

Invited Speaker:       
Miriam Butt (U. Konstanz)       
https://ling.sprachwiss.uni-konstanz.de/pages/home/butt/

Abstracts We invite submissions for 20 minute talks (+10min discussion) and posters in English.       
Abstracts should not be longer than two pages (Times New Roman 12 pt, single space, 2,4 cm margins).       
Abstracts have to be anonymous (please make sure the text and the name of the pdf do not contain the name(s) of the author(s)).       
Please submit your abstract in pdf format by email to typologyacrossmodalities [at] gmx.net with the email subject: Abstract Complex predicate constructions across modalities and title, authors' names and affiliations in the body of the email.       

Topics We welcome contributions on any aspect of the grammar of complex predicate constructions in sign and spoken languages, including but not limited to the following questions:

(i) What are the syntactic and semantic properties of serial verb constructions in sign languages and spoken languages? (Bos 1996, Lau 2012)       
(ii) What are the syntactic and semantic properties of causative constructions in sign languages? (Loos 2017 on resultative constructions in ASL and DGS, Joosten & Pfau 2026 on GIVE in NGT)       
(iii) Are there equivalents of light verb constructions in sign languages? (Butt 2010, 2013, 2025)       
(iv) Are there morphological differences between grammatical and lexical uses of predicates? (Cabredo & Dadone to appear on causative GIVE in LSF)       
(v) What are the selectional restrictions on complements of grammatical signs?       
(vi) What are the effects of language contact across modalities on complex predicate constructions (e.g. in the spoken language of CODAs)?       
(vii) What are the milestones of the acquisition of complex predicate constructions in sign languages (L1/ L2)? (Karadöller, Sümer & Özyürek 2025, Sümer 2015)       
(viii) To what extent are simultaneous constructions in sign languages comparable to complex predicate constructions? (Vermeerbergen, Leeson & Crasborn 2007, Slonimska 2022)

Bos 1996 [2016]. Serial Verb Constructions in Sign Language of the Netherlands. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR), Montreal. [Published 2016, Sign Language & Linguistics 19 (2): 238–51].       
Butt 2025. (joint work with A. Lahiri) Pertinacity in Light Verbs Revisited. Henry Sweet Lecture given at the LAGB 2025, September.       
Butt 2013. Control vs. complex predication. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 32, 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-013-9217-5       
Butt 2010. The Light Verb Jungle: Still Hacking Away. In M. Amberber, M. Harvey and B. Baker (eds.) Complex Predicates in Cross-Linguistic Perspective, 48-78. Cambridge University Press.       
Cabredo Hofherr & Dadone, to appear. Causatives with cognates of GIVE in LSF and Haitian. In Pfau, Roland, Sümer, Beyza, and Loos, Cornelia (eds.), Serial predicates across modalities. Berlin: Language Science Press.       
Joosten & Pfau 2024. Give signs – make happy: Metaphorical extension and grammaticalization of ‘give’ in Sign Language of the Netherlands. Sign Language Studies, 25:53–101.       
Karadöller, Sümer & Özyürek 2025. First-language acquisition in a multimodal language framework: Insights from speech, gesture, and sign. First Language, 45(6), 673-710.       
Lau 2012. Serial Verb Constructions in Hong Kong Sign Language. PhD diss., The Chinese University of Hong Kong.       
Loos 2017. The Syntax and Semantics of Resultative Constructions in Deutsche Gebärdensprache (DGS) and American Sign Language (ASL). Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas at Austin.       
Slonimska 2022. The role of iconicity and simultaneity in efficient communication in the visual modality: Evidence from LIS (Italian Sign Language). PhD Thesis, Radboud University, Nijmegen.       
Sümer 2015. Acquisition of spatial language by signing and speaking children: A comparison of Turkish Sign Language (TİD) and Turkish (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). Radboud University, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.       
Vermeerbergen, Leeson & Crasborn (eds) 2007. Simultaneity in Signed Languages. Form and function. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Deadline for submissions: 20 July 2026       
Notification of authors: 31 Aug 2026       
Workshop: 12 Oct 2026