Summary
Final NetWordS Conference, Pisa, 30 March - 1st April 2015
Morphologically complex words are common to all European languages. They represent a fundamental part of what we mean by human language knowledge and the basic building blocks of language productivity. Nonetheless, words remain a challenging realm of scientific inquiry, at the interface between lexicon and grammar, requiring integration of a number of orthogonal disciplines and approaches, ranging from psycho- and neuro-linguistics, to theoretical, variationist and historical linguistics, to memory processes and computational models of (sub)symbolic processing.
Scientists all over Europe are currently pursuing important lines of work on word structure, mostly supported by nationally-funded projects or bi-lateral cooperation programmes. There nonetheless seems to be a growing need for a larger-scale integrated European effort, focusing on common medium-term objectives, to promote interdisciplinary cross-fertilization and synergy, and optimize research investments in terms of more convergent and complementary efforts. The European research scenario is particularly conducive to these goals, due to the robustly empirical character of its methodological stance and the unique range of relevant scientific domains where European scientists appear to have, at present, a huge potential for major breakthroughs.
By bringing together experts of various scientific domains and different theoretical inclinations, this Research Networking Programme intends to advance our current awareness of the theoretical, typological, psycholinguistic, computational and neurophysiological evidence on the structure and processing of words, with a view to promoting novel methods of research and assessment for grammar architecture and language physiology. This will be achieved through knowledge networking and dissemination and scientific meetings organized over a four year period. Moreover, the NetWordS will have a highly interdisciplinary profile, will promote training and development of young scientists through short visits and exchange grants, and will encourage the integration of new partners. The programme will also have a clear global dimension with collaborations with the Mental Lexicon Research Group in Canada.
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Duration
Four years from 2 May 2011 until 1 June 2015
External website
For more details go to website.
