Isabelle BRIL
Senior researcher at CNRS
Directrice d’Etudes émérite at EPHE (Linguistic typology)
CV Bril_CV_2022
Research topics
• Typologie syntaxique des langues austronésiennes (Taiwan et Nouvelle-Calédonie)
• Coordination, subordination et relations de dépendance entre propositions
• Réciproque et moyen
• Prédicats complexes
• Deixis
• Aspect et modalité
• Hiérarchie informationnelle et discursive (thématisation et focalisation)
Research projects
LACITO research programs:
•Pacific Studies
• Indefinites (co-resp. avec S. Naïm, 2014-2018)
• Coordination et subordination (co-resp. avec G. Rebuschi, 2001-2006)
Fédération de Typologie (TUL) :
• Typologie des relations et des marqueurs de dépendance entre propositions (resp. 2006-2009)
• Les dénuméraux à travers les langues (2014-2018)
Labex Empirical Foundations of Linguistics (EFL)
• Reconstruction, généalogie, typologie et description grammaticale dans les deux plus grands phylums du monde : niger-congo et austronésien (Axe 3 – GL7) (co-responsable)
Convention CNRS-Province Nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie
• Enquêtes sur les langues du nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (2005-2010)
Programmes associés
– ANR CORTYPO: Designing spoken corpora for cross-linguistic research. Dir. Amina Mettouchi (2013-2016)
– Projet international Cross-linguistic Perspective on the Information Structure of the Austronesian Languages, ILCAA, Tokyo (2013-2016)
– ANR POLYCAT. Dir. Valentina Vapnarsky (2006-2010)
Keywords
typologie syntaxique – sémantique – morphologie – lexicologie – description – Océanie – langues austronésiennes
Formose–Taiwan: Northern Amis
Nouvelle-Calédonie: Nêlêmwa – Zuanga-Yuanga
Administrative responsibilities
• 2014-2018, directrice de la Fédération TUL (FR 2559)
• 2012-2013, directrice adjointe de la Fédération TUL (FR 2559)
• 2008-2012, membre nommé de la section 34 du Comité National du CNRS
Map
Customary areas and languages of New-Caledonia (en jpg)
Map of Austronesian-Formosan languages of Taiwan (here jpg)
Fieldwork
Formosa (Taiwan) is the homeland of the Austronesian family. Fourteen Austronesian languages are still spoken on Taiwan. They are called ‘Formosan’ languages to distinguish them from the Sinitic languages spoken on the island. Their internal subgrouping in the Proto-Austronesian tree is still debated.
These morphologically complex languages are known in particular for their multiple voice systems (called “symmetrical” voice systems). They are also endangered languages.
Since 2009, I. Bril has been investigating a variant of the Amis language. The project aims at documenting the northern dialect (also called Amis-Natauran) which has important phonological, lexical and grammatical peculiarities, and which is in contact with Sakizaya.
Table of contents
Publications
Ouvrages et éditions d’ouvrages :
— 2022, Bril I., Dictionnaire thématique et alphabétique de la langue yuanga-zuanga (Nouvelle-Calédonie), avec analyse phonologique et esquisse grammaticale.
— 2010, Bril I. (ed.), Clause Linking and Clause Hierarchy: Syntax and pragmatics, Amsterdam/ Philadelphia, Benjamins (Studies in Language Companion Series 121), VIII-632 p. (présenté ici)
— 2007 [daté 2006], Bril I. et G. Rebuschi (éds), Coordination et subordination : typologie et modélisation. Faits de Langue 28. Paris: Ophrys. (présenté ici)
— 2004, Bril I. et F. Ozanne-Rivierre (eds), Complex predicates in Oceanic languages: Studies in the dynamics of binding and boundness. [Collection EALT 29]. Mouton de Gruyter, 395 p. (présenté ici)
— 2002. Le nêlêmwa (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : Analyse syntaxique et sémantique, coll. Langues et Cultures du Pacifique n° 16, Paris, Peeters, 535 p. (présenté ici)
— 2000. Dictionnaire nêlêmwa-nixumwak-français-anglais, coll. Langues et Cultures du Pacifique n° 14, Paris, Peeters, SELAF 378, 530 p. (présenté ici)
Articles in journals
— 2022, Bril I. Lexical restrictions on grammatical relations in voice constructions (Northern Amis). In Eva van Lier and Maria Messerschmidt (Eds.) Lexical restrictions on grammatical relations in voice and valency constructions. STUF Language Typology and Universals,75(1), 21-71.
— 2021, Bril I. & Skopeteas S. The syntax and prosody of focus in Northern Amis (Formosan). Special issue on Clefts. K. Haude, E. Palancar, M. Vanhove (eds). Faits de Langue. 51:2, 61-87.
— 2020, Bril I. Processus évolutifs de langues de l’extrême nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie : le cas du nêlêmwa-nixumwak et du zuanga-yuanga. Journal de la Société des Océanistes 151: 197-216.
— 2020. Bril. Indefinite expressions and accessibility hierarchy to core argument functions in a sample of Austronesian languages (and beyond). Studies in Language, 44:2, 407–460.
— 2017, Roots and stems: Lexical and functional flexibility in Amis and Nêlêmwa. Studies in Language. 41:2, 358-407.
— 2016, Information Structure in Northern Amis (Formosan): a morphosyntactic analysis. Oceanic linguistics, 55, n°2, 451-481.
— 2005, Semantic and functional diversification of reciprocal and middle prefixes in New Caledonian and other Austronesian languages — In : Linguistic Typology, 2005, 9(1) : 25-75.
Talks
Keynote speaker
— 2014, «Plenary address», Australian Linguistics Society (ALS) conference. Newcastle 10-12 Décembre : Indefinite NPs in Austronesian languages: specificity, referentiality and mood.
— 2007, Berlin, ZAS, “Inclusion, addition and coordination: types of asymmetry in NP coordination of some Austronesian languages”. Beyond Focus and Ergativity : towards a more comprehensive view of Austronesian Morphosyntax. 13-15 septembre (Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft).
— 2006, AFLA-13 [13th Annual Meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association], Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu, Taiwan), 24-26 mars, “From coordinators to pragmatic (topic and focus) markers in some Oceanic and Papuan languages”.
Invited talks
Invited speaker (research seminars et ateliers internationaux)
Quatre conférences invitées dans le cadre du Programme MOST (Minister Of Research Taiwan) (4-20 novembre 2019) :
— 2019, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Invited conference. ‘Verb classes in Northern Amis’. Workshop on Verb classes in Formosan languages and beyond: Cross-linguistic, comparative and diachronic perspectives. 15-16 novembre 2019.
— 2019, National Taiwan University, Taipei, (Host: Joy J. Wu). The undergoer voices ma- and –en in Northern Amis: morphosyntax and semantics. 14 novembre 2019.
— 2019, Academia Sinica, Taipei. ‘Verb classes and grammatical relations in Northern Amis’. (Host: E. Zeitoun). 12 novembre 2019.
— 2019, Dong Hua University (Hualien, Taiwan), (Host : Amy L. Pei), Reciprocal constructions in Northern Amis. 7 novembre 2019.
— 2019, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS. Workshop on Cross-Linguistic Semantics of Reciprocal. Symmetrical and reciprocal constructions in Austronesian languages: the syntax-semantics-lexicon interface. 7-8 octobre 2019. Dans le cadre du ERC Advanced Grant project Forests and Trees: the Formal Semantics of Collective Categorization (ROCKY).
Talks in conferences
— 2019. ALT-13 (13th conference of the Association of Linguistic Typology). “Lexical restrictions on grammatical relations in Amis”, 4-6 septembre 2019, Pavia.
— 2019. APLL-11. (11th International Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference). “The morphosyntax and semantics of undergoer voice and passive voice in Amis”. Leiden, 13-15 juin 2019.
— 2018, Conférence à la Société de Linguistique de Paris. “Voix et structure d’actance en amis du nord (langue austronésienne de Taiwan)”, 17 novembre 2018.