2015 Annual Lecture: Roberta D’Alessandro (Universiteit Leiden)

Title: Language, languages, dialects

Abstract:

This lecture will be a general reflection on the tools we use today to understand language. It will introduce the main struggles that (some) linguists are facing, and the main issues that they are debating on. The role of linguistic variation in the study of language will be considered together with the question on whether it is part of language or it is just an externalization accident.

The lecture will concern the study of dialects and minor languages. The main question will be: Do we need to study them to understand language at all? Can they really tell us something about language? (Spoiler alert: the answer is yes).