Symposium 'De tuin der talen: taalkennis en taalkunde tijdens de renaissance in de Lage Landen' (Antwerp, 18-19 September 2008)

Is ‘gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later’ the forecast to be issued for the state of Dutch as a standard language -the language shared by, among others, the Dutch in Holland and the Flemish in Belgium?

Yes, said Joop van der Horst, professor of Dutch at the University of Leuven. Need we despair? No, he says, and in a book, entitled Het einde van de standaardtaal (The end of standard language)(Meulenhoff, ISBN 9789029082655), he is willing to explain why.

According to van der Horst, the last tidal language change of this kind harks back to the transition from the Middle Ages to the renaissance.

Let’s keep this in mind at the conference 'De tuin der talen: taalkennis en taalkunde tijdens de renaissance in de Lage Landen' (the garden of languages: language knowledge and linguistics during the renaissance in the Low Countries), held in… Dutch.

The format is a line-up of ten short papers, presented in 20-25 minutes, and followed by discussion. The speakers include both formidable and young promising researchers from both French and Dutch speaking universities in Belgium as well as universities in the Netherlands, some carrying on research in other countries.

Talks will be presented around four big themes: plurilingual aspects and book history; the standardization of Dutch, the presentation of a Wiki about the ‘Garden of languages’, and lastly, Semitic language study.

A concluding talk will be delivered by... Joop van der Horst on nothing else but the end of a renaissance language culture.

All details can be found under http://tuindertalen.short.be/

Notice of attendance: best before 10 September 2008.

Venue: Nottebohmzaal, Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience, Antwerp (formerly known as Stadsbibliotheek Antwerpen), Flanders’ biggest heritage library.

Organizers: Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience; Center for the History of Linguistics at University of Leuven (Centrum voor de Geschiedenis van de Linguïstiek)

Coordinator: Dr.Toon van Hal, who recently graduated with a PhD thesis about comparative linguistics in the 16th and 17th century. We hope to come back to that later.