CONFERENCE RESOURCES FOR LINGUISTICS:
Where and how to submit abstracts
Contents of this page:
- I. Find out about upcoming conferences
- II. Some conferences to know about
- III. Resources for writing conference abstracts
I. Find out about upcoming conferences
An excellent resource is the LINGUIST List [www.linguistlist.org].
- Subscribe to their mailing list and receive e-mail messages about topics in the categories that you select, including "Calls for Papers" for conferences
- Read LINGUIST messages about calls for papers directly online
Another useful resource is the Cascadilla Proceedings Project, which gives free online access to the proceedings papers from several conferences.
II. Some conferences to know about
(+) indicates conferences where UNC students have presented papers or posters.
A. General (theoretical) linguistics -- many subfields
(1) Major conferences, with wide participation
Other than the LSA, the conferences listed in this category all have a published conference proceedings. If your abstract is accepted as a conference talk, your paper will also be included in the proceedings -- so you end up with both a presentation and a publication. Proceedings papers are usually due several months after the conference takes place, and they often have a limit of about 12 pages.
The conferences in this category tend to be pretty competitive, but they are also prestigious. This means that they are likely to attract a lot of good linguists in the audience (who can give you useful comments on your work), and they are particularly nice to have on your CV.
BLS | Berkeley Linguistics Society (+)
- Conference happens: Spring (February)
- Abstracts due: Fall
CLS | Chicago Linguistic Society (+)
- Conference happens: Spring (April)
- Abstracts due: Fall/winter
GLOW | Generative Linguistics in the Old World
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Fall
LSA | Linguistic Society of America (+)
- Conference happens: Early January
- Abstracts due: Summer -- currently July 31, 2012
- Comments:
- Large audience
- Good exposure for job-seekers
- no proceedings is published
NELS | North East Linguistics Society (2012) (+)
- Conference happens: Fall (October/November)
- Abstracts due: Summer -- currently July 1, 2012
WCCFL | West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (2013)
- Conference happens: Spring (March/April)
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter -- currently September 1, 2012
(2) Smaller regional conferences
Some of the conferences listed in this category also have a published conference proceedings.
ALC | Arizona Linguistics Circle
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Summer
ILLS | Illinois Language and Linguistics Society
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Winter
- Comments:
- Grants 4 student travel awards
LASSO | Linguistics Association of the Southwest (+)
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Spring -- currently May 25, 2012
- Comments:
- Focus is on languages in the southwestern US and Mexico, and maybe on (new) empirical data rather than theoretical work
MLS | Michigan Linguistics Society (2010)
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Summer/Fall
NWLC | Northwest Linguistics Conference (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter
PLC | Penn Linguistics Colloquium
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Fall
SECOL | Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (+)
- Conference happens: Spring and fall
- Abstracts due: Fall and spring
- Comments:
- Student participation is encouraged
- Good chance to meet linguists from around the region
TAW | Tampa Workshop on Syntax, Semantics, and Phonology
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Winter
TLS | Texas Linguistics Society
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Summer
WECOL | Western Conference on Linguistics (2011)
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Summer
WIGL | Workshop in Generative Linguistics (U Wisc)
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Winter
B. Specialized conferences for particular subfields
Again, many of the conferences listed in this category have a published conference proceedings, but in some cases only selected papers from the conference are included in the proceedings. Also, some of these conferences are extremely competitive.
Historical linguistics / Indo-European linguistics
American Philological Association
- Conference happens: Winter (January)
- Abstracts due: Late spring
- Comments:
- For papers on any aspect of Latin or Greek
- Conference happens: Spring (March)
- Abstracts due: Fall (Oct/Nov)
- Comments:
- For historical papers on any language of Asia, from Ancient Near East to South Asia to East Asia
- Any theoretical approach is welcome, but paper should also be data-oriented
ICHL | International Conference on Historical Linguistics (2011)
- Conference happens: Summer, odd-numbered years
- Abstracts due: Fall
UCLA Indo-European Conference (+)
- Conference happens: Fall (November)
- Abstracts due: Summer
- Comments:
- Student papers encouraged; prize for best student paper
Language acquisition
BUCLD | Boston U. Conference on Language Development
- Conference happens: Fall (November)
- Abstracts due: Spring -- currently May 15, 2012
CLS | Child Language Seminar (2010)
- Conference happens: Summer
- Abstracts due: Winter
GALA | Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition (2011)
- Conference happens: Fall, odd-numbered years
- Abstracts due: Spring
GALANA | Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition / North America (2012)
- Conference happens: Summer/fall, even-numbered years
- Abstracts due: Spring -- currently May 1, 2012
IASCL | International Association for the Study of Child Language (2011) (+)
- Conference happens: Summer, every 3 years
- Abstracts due: Fall
ICPC | International Child Phonology Conference (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring/Summer
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter
Phonetics/phonology
ASA | Acoustical Society of America (+)
- Conference happens: Winter and summer
- Abstracts due: Summer and winter
- Comments:
- High acceptance rate (for posters)
- Poster abstracts are published in JASA
ICPhS | International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (2011)
- Conference happens: Summer, every four years
- Abstracts due: Spring
LabPhon | Conference on Laboratory Phonology (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring, even-numbered years
- Abstracts due: Winter
MFM | Manchester Phonology Meeting
- Conference happens: Spring (May)
- Abstracts due: Winter
MCWOP | Midcontinental Workshop on Phonology (2010)
- Conference happens: Fall (October/November)
- Abstracts due: Fall
- Comments:
- Graduate student participation encouraged
NAPhC | North American Phonology Conference (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring (May), every two(?) years
- Abstracts due: Winter
OCP | Old World Conference in Phonology (2012) (+)
- Conference happens: Winter (January)
- Abstracts due: Fall
Psycholinguistics
CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring (March)
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter
Semantics
SALT | Semantics And Linguistic Theory (2012)
- Conference happens: Spring (March)
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter
SULA | Semantics of Underrepresented Languages of the Americas (2012)
- Conference happens: Winter/Spring, every two(?) years
- Abstracts due: Fall/Winter
Sociolinguistics and Pidgin/Creole Linguistics
NWAV | New Ways of Analyzing Variation (2012) (+)
- Conference happens: Fall
- Abstracts due: Spring -- currently May 31, 2012
SALSA | Symposium About Language and Society--Austin
- Conference happens: Spring
- Abstracts due: Winter
Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics
- Conference happens: Winter (with LSA)
- Abstracts due: Summer
Conferences on particular languages or language groups
Here is a sampling. Be on the lookout for other
conferences dedicated to the language(s) you work on.
General
African languages
- ACAL | Annual Conference on African Linguistics
American indigenous languages
- WSCLA | Workshop on the Structure and Constituency of Languages of the Americas (2010)
- WAIL | Workshop on American Indigenous Languages
Asian languages
- FAJL | Formal Approaches to Japanese Linguistics [every ~5 years] (2010)
- ICKL | International Conference on Korean Linguistics
- JK | Japanese/Korean Linguistics (2012) -- abstracts May 15, 2012
- NACCL | North American Conf. on Chinese Linguistics (2012)
- WEAL | Workshop on East Asian Languages
Celtic languages
- Celtic Linguistics Conference
- CSANA | Celtic Studies Association of North America (2011)
Germanic languages
- CGSW | Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop (2012)
Romance languages
- Going Romance -- Symposium on Romance Linguistics (2011)
- HLS | Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (2012) -- abstracts May 18, 2012
- LSRL | Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (2012)
Slavic languages
C. And, there are special workshops/one-time conferences...
III. Resources for writing conference abstracts
Advice on how to write an abstract
- Tips by Randy Hendrick (PDF)
- Tips from HIL/Leiden University, by Johan Rooryck and Vincent van Heuven (PDF)
- Tips on abstracts and other aspects of linguistics writing, from the University of Alberta Linguistics Department
Sample abstracts
- "Good" and "bad" sample abstracts, with commentary, from the LSA (PDF)
- More sample abstracts (PDF files):
- The lighter side of abstract writing (from phdcomics.com)