Invited speakers

Complexity, stability, simplification and innovation

A kaleidoscope for observing the Germanic islands in the Italian Alps

In recent years, the issue of linguistic complexity has sparked a very lively debate (cf. Miestamo et al. 2008; Sampson et al. 2009; Baerman et al. 2015; Baechler et al. 2016; Meakins et al. 2019; Arkadiev et al. 2020). In particular, the hypothesis has been discussed that language contact promotes processes of simplification and thus counteracts complexity. At the same time, it has been observed that linguistic change – of any kind, regardless of whether it favors simplification or preserves complexity – is closely linked to the sociolinguistic profile of the speech community, especially with respect to the status of multilingualism within that community (Trudgill 2011, 2020). On the other hand, the dichotomy complexity / simplification has also been considered under the perspective of stability and retainment of certain types of original structures vs. their innovation and remodeling (Westergaard & Kupisch 2020, Poletto & Tomaselli 2021).

This contribution focuses on the German language islands of the Italian Alps, which can look back on a long tradition of contact with the Romance languages with which they have been connected for centuries (Angster & Gaeta 2021). It is shown how phenomena of language attrition – and thus simplification – observable after the establishment of national borders must be distinguished from the internal development of individual varieties in contact situations. This comparison is made possible by the documentation of these language varieties in the nineteenth century and, more generally, prior to the processes of attrition observed in recent decades (Gaeta in press). In particular, the issue of complexity and stability is explored through a range of phenomena from nominal and verbal morphology, word formation, and sentence structure (Gaeta 2018, 2020, 2025, Gaeta, Cioffi & Saracco 2025). It is precisely the sociolinguistic typology of the respective speech communities that provides insight into the development of processes of complexification or simplification, which can be compared with other cases of contact between Germanic and Romance languages outside the Alpine area (Gaeta 2024).

References

Angster, M. & L. Gaeta 2021. Contact phenomena in the verbal complex: the Walser connection in the Alpine area. STUF – Language Typology and Universals 74.1: 73-107.

Arkadiev, P. et al. (eds.) 2020. The Complexities of Morphology. Oxford.

Baechler, R. et al. (eds.) 2016. Complexity, Isolation, and Variation. Berlin.

Baerman, M. et al. (eds.) 2015. Understanding and Measuring Morphological Complexity. Oxford.

Gaeta, L. 2018. Im Passiv sprechen in den Alpen. Sprachwissenschaft 43.2: 221-250.

Gaeta, L. 2020. Remotivating inflectional classes: an unexpected effect of grammaticalization. In B. Drinka (ed.), Historical Linguistics 2017. Amsterdam etc., 205-227.

Gaeta, L. 2024. Intense language contact and collapse of lexical strata: verbs ending with -urun in Issime. Journal of Language Contact 17: 642-663.

Gaeta, L. 2025. Remodeling inflectional classes: Strong and weak verbs in Walser German. In N. Levkovych et al. (eds.), Exploring Structures in Languages and Language Contact. Berlin, 63-91.

Gaeta, L. in press. Diachronic perspectives on a rich linguistic repertoire: Translations of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Walser German varieties. In F. Cognola et al. (eds.), Le traduzioni della Parabola del Figliol Prodigo nelle varietà parlate nelle isole linguistiche germanofone italiane. Venedig.

Gaeta, L., R. Cioffi & C. Saracco 2025. Korpuslinguistik am Beispiel der walserdeutschen Sprachinseln in Italien. Sprachkontakt, Spracherhaltung, Sprachwandel. In R. Szczepaniak et al. (eds.), Deutsch als Minderheitensprache in der Welt. Strukturen – Kontakt – Identitäten. Berlin, 275-304.

Meakins, F. et al. 2019. Birth of a contact language did not favor simplification. Language 95.2: 294-332.

Miestamo, M. et al. (eds.) 2008. Language complexity: typology, contact, change. Amsterdam etc.

Poletto, C. & A. Tomaselli 2021. Resilient Subject Agreement Morpho-Syntax in the Germanic Romance Contact Area. Languages 6.3, Article 119.

Sampson, G. et al. (eds.) 2009. Language complexity as an evolving variable. Oxford.

Trudgill, P. 2011. Sociolinguistic Typology. Oxford.

Trudgill, P. 2020. Millennia of Language Change. Cambridge.

Westergaard, M. & T. Kupisch 2020. Stable and vulnerable domains in Germanic heritage languages. Oslo Studies in Language 11.2: 503–526.

Weather expressions in diachrony

Evidence from Icelandic

Weather conditions and meteorological events can be described in various ways linguistically, using nouns, verbs, adjectives, or a combination of any of these. Eriksen et al. (2010, 2012, 2015) have proposed a three-fold typology of such expressions, shown in (1).

(1) 

a. Predicate Type: the weather event is expressed by a single verb.

b. Argument Type: the weather event is expressed by a noun referring to the weather and a verb which is semantically vague or has a general meaning.

c. Argument-Predicate Type: the encoding of the weather event is equally divided between a noun and a verb, both of which relate to the weather. 

In my presentation, I use the typological classification proposed by Eriksen et al (2010, 2012, 2015) to provide a diachronic account of weather expressions (cf. Sigurðardóttir & Eythórsson 2026). Based on data from Icelandic and comparative evidence from other Germanic languages, I propose how weather expressions may change from one type to another. I claim that expressions originate either in the Argument Type (1b) or the Predicate Type (1a). The third type, the Argument-Predicate Type (1c), always appears to be derived. An Argument-Type expression may change into a Predicate-Type expression through the omission of an argument, and a subsequent reanalysis of how the weather event is encoded.  A Predicate-Type expression can change into an Argument-Predicate Type expression with the addition of an argument. Possible changes in weather expressions can be summarized as follows.  

(2)  

Unidirectionality in the development of weather expressions

(i) Argument Type →  (ii) Predicate Type → (iii) Argument-Predicate Type

The direction of change in (2) demonstrates how a synchronic typological classification can be used to study diachronic changes in weather expressions. Although data from the history of Icelandic corroborates (2), more research is needed especially regarding the Argument-Predicate type (1c).