Continuing the cooperation between the University of Zurich (UZH) and VNU University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), the workshop Topics in Vietnamese Linguistics has been co-organized with the participation of international scholars, graduate and undergraduate students of both institutions on 6-7 September, 2023. Presentations in the workshop address various interesting issues in Vietnamese and other languages, namely,

1.Specific Issues and Classification of Vietnamese Serial Verb Constructions by Assoc.Prof. Lam Quang Dong (ULIS);

2.Vietnamese between grammar and discourse – the perspective from East and mainland Southeast Asian languages by Prof. Dr. Walter Bisang (Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany);

3.Composing boundaries: Vietnamese serial verb constructions and the electrophysiology of structure planning outside the lab by Alexander Shaw (UZH);

4.Hidden Complexity in Vietnamese Tense, Aspect, and Negation by Dr. Phan Thi Huyen Trang (ULIS);

5.Notes on the pronunciation and interpretation of the IEC morpheme in Vietnamese by Dr. Tue Trinh (Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics, Germany);

6.How do children learn language?: Why study Vietnamese) by Prof. Dr. Sabine Stoll (UZH);

7.Building a corpus of Vietnamese first language acquisition by Miranda Dickerman (UZH);

8.Linguistic field research in Vietnam: practical considerations by Bui Thi Phuong Mai (ULIS student);

9.Coordinating joint activities in Vietnamese: Universality and acquisition of project markers by Natalia Morozova (UZH);

10.Monosyllebism in Vietnamese by Prof. Dr. Balthasar Bickel (UZH);

11.Telling compounds and phrases apart. The role of prosody in Vietnamese perceptual chunking by Dr. Sandrien van Ommen (Geneva University of Geneva).

The presentations were followed by vigorous indepth discussion on the basis of the generated corpus as well as natural language production, opening up potential research in Vietnamese linguistics in particular, and cross-language studies in general.

The opening remarks by Prof. Sabine Stoll, Head of the Department of Comparative Language Science and the closing address by Prof. Katharina Michaelowa, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences highly appreciated the effectiveness of the cooperation and the valuable contribution of ULIS in the research project on children’s language acquisition, including Vietnamese children. Particpation in the project brings about various benefits to both UZH and ULIS scholars and students. Particularly, ULIS students, as represented by Bui Thi Phuong Mai at the workshop, can improve their experience and hone their skills for employability as well as research work in the future.

The workshop ended with novel, feasible prospects in long and fruitful academic cooperation between the two institutions.

Fascinating and meaningful side activities also added opportunities for participants to exchange and explore the beautiful, attractive country of Switzerland.

Lam Quang Đong