Cfp: NAAHoLS 2027

Date: January 6-9, 2027
Place: San Francisco
Deadline for submission of abstracts: September 1, 2026
Information: https://naahols.wordpress.com/annual-meeting/

The NAAHoLS 2027 Annual Meeting will be held concurrently with the Linguistic Society of America conference in San Francisco, CA, from January 6-9 2027. NAAHoLS has been meeting as a sister society of the LSA since 1989.

We invite abstracts for papers relating to any aspect of the history of the language sciences. NAAHoLS sessions last 30 minutes and presenters should plan to speak for 20 minutes, allowing 10 minutes for discussion. 

We request that you submit an abstract of 250-500 words (including references), plus a shorter 100-word abstract for the LSA program. Submissions are now open through The Linguist List’s free EasyAbs platform, at https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/conference/NAAHoLS2027/

The deadline for submission of abstracts is September 1, 2026, and notification of acceptance can be expected by September 30, 2026. 

All presenters must be members of NAAHoLS. As in past years, NAAHoLS members are eligible to register for and attend the full LSA meeting at the discounted LSA member rate. 

The NAAHoLS 2027 program will be published in the NAAHoLS Fall 2027 Newsletter.

To join our mailing list, or inquire about the Annual Meeting, please contact NAAHoLS Secretary Catherine Fountain at fountainca@appstate.edu.

Posted in Uncategorized

Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – June 2026

Nesi, Hilary & Petar Milin, ed. 2026. International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (14 vol.). Elsevier online and in print. ISBN 978-0-443-22286-3
Volume 1: Foundations / History of linguistics (sections ed. by Florian Coulmas and Toon van Hal)
Volume 2: History of linguistics / Philosophy and language (sections ed. by Toon van Hal & Matthieu Fontaine)
Publisher’s webpage 

Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 14 Volume Set is the most authoritative, comprehensive and international reference work of its kind. Ground-breaking in its sheer scope – the 2nd edition had almost 3,000 chapters – no other linguistics reference work matches it for sheer broadness of coverage. Over the years it has been a much-loved and invaluable resource for researchers, academics, students and professionals in linguistics, anthropology, education, psychology, language acquisition and pathology, cognitive science, sociology and media/cultural studies. Led by a brand new and outstanding international editorial team, the 3rd edition will be thoroughly modernized to address the considerable growth and development in this field since the previous edition published in 2005. Existing chapters will be revised and updated, obsolete material removed and approximately 300 brand-new chapters will be commissioned to cover newer areas of research such as machine learning and natural language processing. Significant multimedia such as high-quality figures, audio files (highlighting differences in accent and dialects within languages) will be available to complement the text content, and chapters will follow a consistent chapter template in order to provide a logical reading experience for the user. The end-result will be an outstanding and market-leading reference work: modern, fully up to date, easy to navigate via its electronic platform, and logistically and consistently structured. Once again it will be the perfect resource for the modern-day language scholar.

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Posted in Publications

Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – May 2026

Bonacchi, Silvia & Paola Tenchini, ed. 2026. Gestalt Theory 47(1): Gestalt approach and/in Language Studies. ISSN 0170-057X
Publisher’s website
Open access

Editorial: Gestalt approach and/in Language Studies
Silvia Bonacchi and Maria Paola Tenchini

A long-lasting Brentanian and Prague connection, around Ehrenfels, about language
Savina Raynaud

Gestalt Psychology and Expressive Language: Before Arnheim
Ian Verstegen

The musical language: Structural analysis in Gestalt perspective
Walter Coppola

Doing More Than One Thing in Saying: A Pluralist Approach to Illocutionary Force
Maria Paola Tenchini

Gestalt-theoretical Joke Analyses
Hellmuth Metz-Göckel

Between morphology and semantics. Determining the meaning of adverbial compounds (avyayībhāva) in the Sanskrit grammatical tradition.
Małgorzata Sulich-Cowley

Parts and wholes in language. The case of semantic underspecification
Lorenzo Cigana

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Posted in Publications

Cfp: Esperanto – 140 years: this is no longer a project

SHESL Conference 2027
Esperanto – 140 years: this is no longer a project

9–11 June 2027, Campus Condorcet, Paris

Organised by Sébastien Moret (UNIL-SHESL) and Pascal Dubourg Glatigny (Centre Alexandre Koyré, CNRS-EHESS-MNHN)

Call for Papers

In 1887, Lazare Louis Zamenhof launched from Warsaw his project for an international language through a series of brochures—published in Russian, Polish, French, and German—that outlined the linguistic and intellectual principles of a future “international language.” The work included a draft of a linguistic system, complete with grammar and vocabulary, and demonstrated its application through a few examples. This proposal was not merely intended to become humanity’s second language of communication; its author also asserted his conviction that it would help mitigate the antagonisms and hostilities arising from inequalities among peoples and nations.

To mark the 140th anniversary of this foundational publication, an international conference aims to bring together specialists from various disciplines to examine this singular experiment, which began as a linguistic and local project before gradually expanding into a global social and cultural phenomenon.

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Posted in Conferences and workshops

Cfp: Language abuse and language criticism in the history of linguistics (Flensburg, 16–19 June 2027)

Europa-Universität Flensburg, 16–19 June 2027
“Language abuse and language criticism in the history of linguistics / Sprachmissbrauch und Sprachkritik in der Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft / Abus des mots et critique du langage dans l’histoire de la linguistique”

From 16–19 June 2027, the international conference “Language abuse and language criticism in the history of linguistics” will take place at Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF). Proposals for presentations may range from antiquity to the present day. Interdisciplinary topics are also very welcome.

Since Plato’s Cratylus, the problem of the antagonism between words and things has held a central position in theoretical and critical discussions of language. Against this backdrop, a heightened engagement with questions of language criticism and the theme of the ‘abuse of words’ developed particularly in 17th-century Europe. By introducing empiricism and its inductive-experimental character—in contrast to the axioms of Scholasticism—Bacon revolutionised modern scientific thought, whilst also paving the way for a massive linguistic scepticism, as he regarded language as an obstacle to the process of human knowledge.

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Posted in Conferences and workshops

Podcast episode 60: Penny Lee

Portrait Penny Lee

In this interview, we talk to Penny Lee about her research into Whorf and linguistic relativity.

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Posted in Podcast

Recent publications in the history and philosophy of the language sciences – April 2026

Carnap, Rudolf. 2026 [1937]. La syntaxe logique du langage. Traduction et préface de J. Bouveresse. Note liminaire et établissement du texte par Pierre Wagner. Avec la collaboration de Baptiste Mélès. Paris: Gallimard (Bibliothèque de philosophie). 496 p. ISBN 9782070772421
Publisher’s website 

La syntaxe logique du langage est un classique de la philosophie du XXᵉ siècle, au sujet duquel Karl Popper relevait que « si jamais une histoire de la philosophie rationnelle de la première moitié de ce siècle devait être écrite, ce livre y occuperait une place qui ne le cède à aucune autre ». Figure centrale du Cercle de Vienne et de l’empirisme logique, Carnap (1891-1970) y introduit une nouvelle méthode philosophique fondée sur la distinction entre langage et métalangage, et une nouvelle approche — syntaxique — de l’analyse du langage.
Ce livre fondateur, longtemps caricaturé ou jugé difficile d’accès, a fait l’objet ces dernières décennies d’un grand nombre d’études qui en éclairent la signification et la portée au sein de la philosophie contemporaine.
Jacques Bouveresse (1940-2021), l’un des meilleurs spécialistes de la philosophie de Carnap, a porté ce projet de traduction durant près de cinquante ans. Il accompagne le texte d’une introduction qui éclaire ce grand classique de la philosophie analytique et de la littérature logique à la lumière des études les plus récentes.

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Posted in Publications

Cfp: Language, Norm, and Society: The Prague Linguistic Circle (1926-2026) in the Face of Contemporary Challenges

Participants at the first phonological conference, organized by the CLP in December 1930 in Prague

organised to celebrate the centenary of the Prague Linguistic Circle (1926-2026)
by the Europe-Eurasia Research Center (CREE-EA 4513) of INALCO
and
the History of Linguistic Theories Laboratory (HTL-UMR 7597, University of Paris, CNRS),
with the scientific support of the Institute for the Czech Language and Theory of Communication, Charles University (ÚČJTK).

10-11 December 2026
Paris, Inalco

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Posted in Conferences and workshops, Uncategorized

Podcast episode 59: Anna Wierzbicka

Portrait of Anna Wierzbicka

In this interview, we talk to Anna Wierzbicka about her life and research into semantics.

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Posted in Podcast

Manfred Bierwisch: Linguistics in Germany

Carla Umbach (University of Cologne)

Manfred Bierwisch at a talk by Ray Jackendoff, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, left Susan Olsen, Ilse Zimmermann, behind him Elisabeth Pankratz, 15.10.2018. Photo by Stefan Müller.
Manfred Bierwisch at a talk by Ray Jackendoff, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, left Susan Olsen, Ilse Zimmermann, behind him Elisabeth Pankratz, 15.10.2018. Photo by Stefan Müller. Wikimedia Commons

I would like to draw attention to an article by Manfred Bierwisch, who was a very prominent German linguist and did most of his scientific work in GDR. The article appeared recently in Annual Review of Linguistics. A brief summary is given below.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Upcoming events


2-4 September 2026
Nottingham (UK)
Henry Sweet Society Colloquium 2026
(Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas


10-11 September 2026
Fribourg (Switzerland)
The Prague Linguistic Circle in Geneva and Paris: Circulations and Decenterings


16–18 September 2026
Rome (Italy)
Studienkreis Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft
Universality and Universals in the History of Linguistics


19-21 November 2026
Sofia (Bulgaria)
La linguistique ‘fonctionnelle’ cent ans après la fondation du Cercle linguistique de Prague


10-11 December 2026
Paris (France)
Language, Norm, and Society: The Prague Linguistic Circle (1926-2026) in the Face of Contemporary Challenges


28-29 January 2027
Paris (France)
SHESL Conference 2027
History of terminology – Diachronic terminology The emergence of a terminological conscienceness


31 March–3 April 2027
Vigo (Spain), Vila Real (Portugal)
13th International Conference on Missionary Linguistics


9-11 June 2027
Aubervilliers (France)
SHESL Conference
Esperanto – 140 years: this is no longer a project


16–19 June 2027
Flensburg (Germany)
Language abuse and language criticism in the history of linguistics


23-27 August 2027
Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
ICHoLS XVII