Call

(The abstract submission has finished.) 

Themes of the Conference
  • Contact-induced phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical change;
  • Lexical and grammatical replication, shared grammaticalization;
  • Typological investigations and wider perspectives on linguistic areas;
  • Circum-Baltic languages in general;
  • Language contact and sociolinguistics;   
  • Language contact and dialectal variation;
  • Pidgins, creols, language mixing and shift; 
  • Globalization and its effect on minor(ity) languages
  • Synchronic, diachronic and panchronic approaches to language contact and linguistic areas.
The abstract should be formatted as follows:
  • Times font, size 12; 1,5 line spacing; minimally 2.5 cm margins;
  • Limited to one page (A4) in length, including references and examples;
  • Anonymous: the abstract itself should hold no reference to the author;
  • In PDF format.
At most one single-authored and one joint abstract per participant will be considered. Talks will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes of discussion time. 
The working language of the conference is English.

The selection of speakers from the abstract pool will be made on a competitive basis, giving priority to original and generally interesting topics regardless of the level of the student. An effort will be made to reach a balance in terms of different subject languages and theoretical approaches. All of the selected speakers will be notified in February 2012 (and given a chance to revise their abstract before publication in the conference booklet).

Scientific Committee
Seppo Kittilä (University of Helsinki)
Tuomas Johannes Huumo (University of Turku, University of Tartu)
Ilona Tragel (University of Tartu)
Liina Lindström (University of Tartu)

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Top FAQ:

Q: I am not sure my topic qualifies. Is it OK if it deals with something that is not explicitly listed in the call for papers?
A: That depends. If your paper deals with something related to language contact, mixing, influence, code-switching, shift or pidginization, creolization, areal traits, etc., any kinds of contacts between two or more languages (or dialects) in any form or medium - then it qualifies all right. 'Contacts' may be interpreted quite broadly, too. 

Q: I am working on a language of the Circum-Baltic area, but not that much on language contact. Can I still make a presentation of my work?
A: Yes, typologically oriented papers dealing with issues in a single Circum-Baltic language (that is, spoken in the Baltic Sea region) are also very much welcome, if you believe you have something interesting to present. 

Q: I am not sure whether I am eligible to give a talk, given the target group outlined in the call for papers. Should I still submit an abstract?
A: While we see MA and PhD students, postdocs and young researchers as our main audience, feel free to submit even if you currently stand outside of those categories, but believe your talk would be a relevant addition to the conference program. In the end, the speakers are chosen anonymously from the abstract pool by the scientific committee, that is to say, based on the quality of the abstract.


>>> More questions? See the full FAQ page, check out some example abstracts, or contact the organizers.