Within theories of argument structure and morphological case the position of instruments is particularly interesting. As noted by Jackendoff, (some) instruments can be perceived as intermediary agents, and be accorded privileges not normally found with non-core arguments (non-terms). They can also be incorporated in the lexicalisation of an event, leading to highly specific morphemes (such as the Siouxan instrumental prefixes, denoting the kind of instrument or force that enables an action) or lexical classes (such as Austronesian verbs of carrying, which vary according to body part involved).

The phenomena we will discuss include, but are not restricted to:
- syncretisms involving the coding of instruments; this might involve syncretisms with structural or other semantic cases, or syncretisms with other functions entirely;
- overlaps in syntactic behaviour between instruments and subjects, or instruments and objects;
- discussion of the termhood of instruments cross-linguistically or in language-specific settings.

The aim of this workshop is to establish greater awareness of instruments and instrumentals, the insights that such studies provide, and how they inform theoretical models. We would be particularly interested in papers that investigate the impact of studies of instrumentals on theories of syntax and case marking.

As the workshop is centered on empirical phenomena, no specialized background will be required. The workshop will be open to all interested.

This workshop will be held on 3 July along with a group of linguistics events being held at the University of Sydney in July under the general name of LingFest2008. Other events include AFLA15, ALI 2008, ALS 2008, LFG 2008 and ALAA 2008.

For any questions about the workshop, please email your queries to either of the organizers:
Mark Donohue and Cathryn Donohue at instruments08-at-gmail.com.