The workshop "Linguistic variation and cultural differentiation" aims to promote discussions between linguists and anthropologists concerning the comparison between models of cultural and linguistic variation in North America. This workshop is organized by the LIAS- IMM as part of a research project SOURVA "Sources of cultural variation" founded by the ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche). SOURVA is devoted to further our understanding of three models of cultural differentiation - the diffusionist model, the transformational model and the transactional model – and to gain a better insight into how they complement each other, and how they apply to the diversity of North American native languages and cultures.

Program

9h30: Introduction

Session I: Around Languages

• 10h: Marianne Mithun (University of California, Santa Barbara), Parents and Neighbours: Genealogical and Social Relationships in the New World
• 11h: Carlo Severi (EHESS-LAS), A reading of the Dakota Bible : Visual Parallelism and Ritual song
• 12h: Michel de Fornel (EHESS-IMM-LIAS), Another look at the Athabascan verb complex

Session II: Beyond the Languages

• 14h: Hugo Ferran (EHESS-IMM-LIAS), The Musical Areas in question
• 15h: Marion Robinaud (EHESS-IMM-LIAS), Kinship terminologies and catholicism in Subarctic
• 15h30: Emmanuel Désveaux (EHESS-IMM-LIAS), Transformation of plastic forms