讲座时间：2021年10月8日-29日（每周五晚19:00-20:30，共4讲）

讲座平台：腾讯会议（会议ID：663 5873 8282）

主讲人：比利时鲁汶大学Benedikt Szmrecsanyi教授

讲座内容：

1. Measuring the relatedness of language varieties

语言变体之间相关性的测量

In this lecture, I cover techniques such as the following: (a) aggregative measures of distance or similarity, based on atlas or survey data; (b) Typological Profiling, a technique that calculated usage- and frequency-based measures of grammatical analyticity and syntheticity; and (c) a method, inspired by work in information theory, that is designed to map out varieties based on how they differ in terms of language/dialect complexity.

2. Probabilistic grammars: regional and situational differences

概率语法：地域变异与情境变异

Probabilistic grammars regulate the way in which language users choose between different ways of saying the same thing. In this lecture, we take a closer look at comparative work on regional and register differences. How often do language users in location A or situation B utilize particular linguistic variants, in comparison to location C or situation D? Are choice-making processes different as a function of location or register?

3. Long-term diachronic variation and change

历时维度的语言变异与演变研究

Language variation and change in diachrony is an important research topic in the literature. Research questions to be covered in this lecture include the following: (a) How do historical language varieties differ in terms of the inventory and frequency of linguistic features? How can we measure the extent to which choice-making processes, and thus the probabilistic grammars of past language users, are subject to historical change?

4. The link between variation and complexity

语言变异与语言系统复杂度之间的关联

There is a suspicion among both language mavens and (some) professional linguists that variation is unexpected, suboptimal, (needlessly) complex, and difficult for language users. For example, the well-known Principles of Isomorphism (Haiman) and No Synonymy (Goldberg) simply do not predict the existence of linguistic variation. This lecture will review evidence for and against the notion that variation leads to complexification.

  主讲人简介：Benedikt Szmrecsanyi教授，博士毕业于德国弗莱堡大学（University of Freiburg），现为比利时鲁汶大学（KU Leuven）文学院QLVL（定量词汇学与变异语言学）研究中心成员，主要研究方向包括：语言的变异与演变、概率语法、社会语言学、地理语言学、方言计量学、方言类型学、学习者语言等，现为SSCI刊物Cognitive Linguistics副主编，并同时担任Register Studies、Language Variation and Change、Journal of English Linguistics、English World-Wide等多家SSCI刊物的编委会成员。