Conference on Focus and Grammatical Relations in Creole Languages to be held at the University of Chicago, May 10-12, 1990

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ABSTRACT The conference will promote the close examination of focus phenomena in creole languages. This topic was selected both because of the quite complex and variable preclausal morphology found in constituent focus in many creoles and because of the diverse methods of focus/emphasis that these languages utilize. The question of whether or not these different strategies represent a creole-wide phenomenon or are language-specific is a related concern. The conference will be the first of its kind to narrow its concerns to a single aspect of creole grammar. It will unite scholars to join in an extensive and detailed discussion of the topic from diverse theoretical perspectives. In view of these considerations, the principal aims of the conference can be summarized as follows: a) to explore the main aspects of focus constructions in a cross-section of creoles from a variety of theoretical viewpoints b) to uncover new facts about creole focus patterns and their implications for linguistic theory, and c) to encourage future conferences on other specifically determined topics in creole grammar.