[Neuro-IT] Call for Papers

[Michael Arbib]

CALL FOR PAPERS: HOLOPHRASIS, COMPOSITIONALITY AND PROTOLANGUAGE

This announcement is a call for contributions to a special issue of 
the journal "Interaction Studies" devoted to "Holophrasis versus 
Compositionality in the Emergence of Protolanguage" and to be edited 
by Michael Arbib and Derek Bickerton.

The issue of whether the protolanguage(s) that formed the basis for 
the earliest forms of human language
i) consisted of items with the semantic scope of present-day words 
that were subsequently conjoined to form larger utterances or
ii) consisted of single items with the semantic scope of present-day 
sentences that were subsequently decomposed into words
is currently a highly controversial one in the evolution of language, 
and we welcome papers from newcomers to the controversy as well as 
those who have already taken part in it.

Preference will be given to papers that, rather than attempting an 
overview of the entire issue, treat one particular aspect and develop 
new arguments in some depth. Such aspects include (but are by no 
means limited to):
Computational assumptions
Conceptual structure
Decomposition
Learnability of protolanguage
Neurological Correlates
Paleontological and ecological contexts
Practical utility
Proto-conversation and proto-speech-acts
Roots of phonology
Roots of semantics
Roots of syntax

Prospective contributors should prepare abstracts of not more than 
800 words and submit them electronically (MS word format preferred) 
to both <arbib at usc.edu> and <derbick at hawaii.rr.com>. The deadline for 
submitting abstracts is February 1, 2007.

The editors will select a set of abstracts for development into full 
papers and inform prospective authors of their decision by March 1, 2007.

The due date for submission of full papers will be June 1, 2007. The 
maximum length of each paper is 6,500 words. These papers will be 
subject to rigorous refereeing, but it is unlikely that such a paper 
will be rejected, though extensive revisions may be required.