The simplicity of the name 'Himalayan Languages Symposium' represents a deliberate
formulation which captures the spirit of the gathering. The first symposium brought together
scholars stationed, temporarily or permanently, in Europe. Yet the term 'European' was
avoided because it was hoped that the symposium would come to serve as a global forum for
Himalayan language scholars. The term 'Tibeto-Burman' was eschewed because the
Himalayan Languages Symposium is a podium for contributions on any language of the
Himalayas, whether Burushaski, Kusunda, an Indo-Aryan tongue or other language.
'Languages' was chosen above 'Linguistics' so that specialists from kindred disciplines like
philology, history, anthropology or archaeology would feel welcome to make their
contributions to the study of Himalayan languages. Finally, the fact that the first international
Himalayan Languages Symposium included contributions on languages of Sichuan and the
Tibetan Plateau demonstrates that the term 'Himalayan' is intended not in a restrictive, but
in a panoramic sense.
The Himalayan Languages Symposium provides an open forum for discussing linguistic
matters in a specifically Himalayan context with colleagues, who study the languages which
make up the complex linguistic tapestry of the Indochinese borderlands, a culturally rich and
vast territory which typologically straddles the Indosphere and the Sinosphere.
The deadline for abstracts is 15 June, 1996. An abstract must be limited to
one
page (international A4 size or US legal size). Please send us by mail (i.e. not by fax
or
electronic mail) a fair copy for camera-ready reproduction and inclusion in the Book
of
Abstracts.
For more detailed information, please refer to the homepage:
http://www.iias.nl/host/himalaya
Address all communications to:
Himalayan Languages Symposium
Leiden University
PO.Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-71-527 2510
Fax: +31-71-527 2501, attn of: Himalayan Languages Project
E-mail: Himalaya@let.leidenuniv.nl