CALL FOR PAPERS
20TH SEOUL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENERATIVE GRAMMAR (SICOGG 20)
1. MEETING DESCRIPTION
The 20th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar (SICOGG 20) will takeplace at Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, from Wednesday, August 8 through Friday,
August 10, 2018. The conference will be co-hosted by the Korean Generative GrammarCircle, Konkuk University, Korea University, and the National Research Foundation ofKorea. SICOGG 20 will consist of a general session, one workshop, and a series of lecturesby the keynote speaker. The main theme of the general session is ‘The Syntax-Phonology
Interface in Generative Grammar’. The confirmed invited speakers are as follows:² Keynote speaker:
Professor Norvin Richards (MIT)² Invited workshop speaker:
Professor Michael Barrie (Sogang University)
2. GENERAL SESSION
Equal consideration will be given to papers from all areas of generative grammar, which may
include syntactic theory, the syntax-semantics interface, the syntax-morphology interface, thesyntax-phonology interface, syntactic acquisition, and any other syntax-related interests.
Applicants for oral/poster presentations in the general session must submit their abstracts byMonday, April 23, 2018.
The general session of SICOGG 20 features a series of invited lectures by Professor Norvin
Richards (MIT), where various issues concerning cross-linguistic variation with respect towh-movement will be re-examined from the perspective of the interface between syntax andphonology. Below is a summary of the invited lecture, and we especially encourage
submissions touching on any issues related to this.
Syntactic work in the GB and Minimalist traditions commonly claims that languages
can vary in the distribution of their overt movements. There are, for example,
languages (like Korean) in which wh-phrases remain in situ, and others (like English)
in which they standardly move; languages (like English) in which the subject muststandardly move to a position above its theta-position, and others (like Italian) in
which it apparently does not have to; languages in which verbs raise to T (likeFrench) and languages in which they do not (English), and so forth.
What is still fairly poorly understood is why languages should vary in this way. The
classic Minimalist way of annotating cross-linguistic differences in the distribution ofovert movement amounts to a diacritic feature, or a diacritic property of features;
languages have been said, for example, to be able to vary with respect to whether thefeature driving wh-movement is 'weak' or 'strong'. Such approaches are essentially aclaim that no further explanation is possible; the difference between overt and covert
movement is a basic parametric difference between languages, unrelated to any otherdifferences.
This series of lectures focuses on Richards’ (2016) proposal (and subsequent work,known as 'Contiguity Theory') to derive the overt/covert distinction from conditions
on the relation between syntax and phonology. The claim will be that languages do
not vary syntactically, at least in this domain; the parameters of difference will bephonological and morphological, having to do with prosody, stress, and thedistribution of different kinds of affixes. It will be important to assume a different
kind of architecture for the language faculty than we are familiar with; theconstruction of prosodic and metrical representations begins during the narrowsyntactic derivation, and syntactic operations can be motivated by the need toimprove these phonological representations.
3. WORKSHOPThis workshop will feature an invited talk by Professor Michael Barrie (Sogang University).
The workshop will deal with the syntax of nominals and reduced nominal expressions. The
first goal is to investigate the extended nominal projection and what sort of universal
properties, if any, it has. The second goal is to investigate how the extended nominal
projection can be restructured or reduced. This question is based on the numerous studies ofrestructuring in the verbal domain, where infinitival clauses are typically argued to have a
reduced structure, such as a TP. Open questions include the following. What functional
projections are found in the nominal? Is the functional hierarchy universal, language specific,
or is language variation constrained in some way? What kinds of reduced nominal
expressions are found in natural language? Bare NPs, bare NumPs? Cl+N expressions
without numerals? Caseless nouns? How does this relate to noun incorporation and pseudo
noun incorporation? We invite abstracts dealing with any of these questions or the syntax ofnominals more broadly.
4. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Abstracts should be submitted using the EasyAbs service of the LINGUIST List. Abstracts
must be submitted online at the following address: http://linguistlist.org/easyabs/sicogg20 byclicking on Abstract Submission. Then, follow the online guidelines to upload your abstract
in either .pdf or .doc format. Note, however, that the .doc format is acceptable only if theabstract contains no special fonts or diagrams. Only electronic submissions through theaforementioned link will be considered. Abstracts should be anonymous and may notexceed two pages (A4/US letter), including examples and references (embed examples
within the text), with 2.54 cm (1 inch) margin on all four sides and should employ the fontTimes New Roman 12 pts. Submissions are limited to a maximum of one individual and one
joint abstract per author. Abstracts should be submitted no later than Monday, April 23,
2018. Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection on or after Sunday, May 27, 2018.
Oral presentations will be allotted 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for discussion.
5. PROCEEDINGS PAPER SUBMISSION
Accepted papers will be published in The Proceedings of 2018 Seoul International
Conference on Generative Grammar, which will be distributed to the conference participants.
All presenters will be asked to provide their papers in both .pdf and .doc formats by Friday,
July 13, 2018. The text should be single-spaced and the general page limit is 20 pages
including appendices and references.

6. CONTACT INFORMATION
All information about the conference will be available at http://www.sicogg.or.kr andhttp://www.kggc.org. Participants are asked to check this site to keep up to date regarding
possible alterations and changes. Inquiries concerning abstract submission and other queries
about the conference should be sent to sicogg20@gmail.com.
7. IMPORTANT DATES. Abstract submission deadline: Mon., April 23, 2018
. Notification of acceptance: On or after Sun., May 27, 2018
. Proceedings paper submission deadline: Fri., July 13, 2018
. Conference dates: Wed., August 8 through Fri., August 10, 2018

SICOGG 20 Organizing Committee:
Hee-Don Ahn (Konkuk University)
Duk-Ho An (Konkuk University)
Michael Barrie (Sogang University)
Seungwa Ha (Kyungpook National University)
Rhang-hye-yun Kim (Korea University)
Bum-Sik Park (Dongguk University)
Dong-Woo Park (Seoul National University)
Yeon Mee Park (National Hankyong University)