Poster Presentation Guidelines

• Posters should be of maximum A1 paper size in portrait mode. A1 size is 59.4 cm in width X 84.1 cm in height.
• Make sure that the poster displays the title of the paper, names of all authors, affiliation of the authors, and contact information.
• Make sure that the poster is readable from about 3 to 4 feet away.
• Do not use excessive text.
• Make sections for Introduction, Objectives, Results, Conclusions, and References in the poster.
• To know how to prepare an effective research poster, please visit https://guides.nyu.edu/posters.
• Templates to prepare a poster can be found online.

Oral Presentation Guidelines

• Oral presenters will have 20 minutes for presentation followed by 10 minutes for questions and changeover.
• The chair of the sessions and the volunteers will make sure that punctuality is maintained and that speakers stick to their allotted time.
• For a 20-minute presentation, usually 20-25 PowerPoint slides are sufficient.

Representing Polysemy in TransHimalayan: theorizing semantic change and modeling annotation

A high degree of polysemy exists in Trans Himalayan languages such that morphemes with a core function and semantics take on secondary and sometimes tertiary functions and semantics. To represent these polysemous forms, as in interlinear glossing, we propose a theory of semantic change and an annotation model called Hierarchical Interlinear Glossing (HIGT). Based on four data sets from the South Central languages (Lamkang, Hakha Lai), Manipuri, and the Boro-Garo language Dimasa, I illustrate this connection of semantic change and annotation modeling. The four data sets are as follows: (1) Semantic role markers that also occur as clausal subordinators creating relative and adverbial clauses; (2) Semantic role markers that also occur to mark information packaging; (3) Directionals used for both direction and aspect; and (4) Verbs of motion used as directional and manner adverbs.

Tone and intonation in Tibeto-Burman languages: a cross-linguistic overview

This talk provides an overview of tone and intonation in Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages and discusses similarities and differences from a cross-linguistic perspective, comparing the tonal systems of TB languages with those of other languages, particularly the Bantu languages of Africa. Both language families have level tone systems with a few contour tones, and they have limited tone sandhi. However, the tonal systems differ when tones are considered together with intonation. In Bantu languages, tone is mobile because it can spread or shift to a location that is separate from the location of the lexical tone. Special attention is given to Drenjongke (TB) and Xitsonga (Bantu).

Making of two languages in one multilingual landscape: The case of Rajbanshi and Tea-garden Sadri

The tea-garden belt of the Dooers area of the Himalayan foothills in Northern Bengal gave birth to Tea-garden Sadri- a hybrid lingua Franca for several indigenous speech communities and which acts also as the marker of shared identity popularly known as ‘Adivasi’ (the old inhabitants). The inhabitants of the southern part of the tea-garden developed another link language as a result of a long-term contact which pre-dates the establishment of tea-plantations in colonial India. It received a formal name ‘Rajbanshi’ due to a social mobility movement in the early twentieth century (Bose, 2003), a period marked by the establishment of a linguistic solidarity for a common identity. The speakers of Rajbanshi and Tea-garden Sadri tried to establish two different types of identity, but they were controlled by external agencies. I claim that the two hybrids belong to two tiers of the social hierarchy that are located in different accretion zones (Nichols, 1992). The hybrids are identifiable through distinct morphosyntactic features and created fused lects (Auer and Hakimov, 2021). Due to long term language contact they create a mosaic-like pattern. Language policy and planning initiatives and the agencies responsible for naming the hybrid languages restricted the hybrids in two layers. I argue that Sadri and Rajbanshi were conceptualized as two different languages based on certain norms, naming strategy and language policy controlled by the concerned agencies. This is often overlooked where the Language Making (LaMa) strategies are operative . The paper discusses : (a) How Sadri and Rajbanshi have been marked as two different languages in the same multilingual landscape in the Himalayan foothills of North Bengal (b) how different morphosyntactic features are found in a mosaic-like pattern in the area and (c) How certain agencies act as the gatekeepers for naming these two languages where the varieties gradually merge with the so-called standards

Topics in the phonology of Tibeto-Burman languages in China

This talk will overview the phonological features of Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages in China and mention the geographical and genealogical distribution. The phonological units of TB languages in China generally contain segmental elements and tones as found in surrounding linguistic families (Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien), though there are internal diversities among the subbranches, which are Tibetic, Qiangic, Rgyalrongic, Lolo-Burmese, etc. For instance, as shown in many descriptive studies, Amdo Tibetan and northern dialects of Qiang do not have tones, while the other varieties of Tibetan and Qiang do. Some Lolo-Burmese languages in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces have creaky vowels, whereas Tibetic and Qiangic languages rarely do. Generally, TB languages in China hardly have breathy vowels, which are often found in Nepal. Some Lolo-Burmese and Tibetic languages have voiceless sonorants. This talk will exemplify the above features by citing descriptive outcomes and presenting some sound files, and refer to their geographical distributions and diachronic changes.

Presentation slides