Call for papers

The 8^th Syntax of the World’s Languages conference (SWL 8) will take place in Paris, September 3-5 2018.

The main purpose of the SWL conference series is to enlarge our knowledge and understanding of syntactic diversity. Contributions are expected to be based on first-hand data of individual languages or to adopt a broadly comparative perspective. The discussion of theoretical issues is appreciated to the extent that it helps elucidate the data and is understandable without prior knowledge of the relevant theory. All theoretical frameworks are equally welcome, and papers that adopt a diachronic or comparative perspective are also welcome, as are papers dealing with morphological or semantic issues, as long as syntactic issues also play a major role.

Important dates

Deadline for workshop proposals: October 31, 2017

Notification of acceptance for workshops: November 15, 2017

Deadline for abstracts: January 31, 2018

Notification of acceptance for abstracts: March 31, 2018

Deadline for confirming your participation: May 31, 2018

Conference: September 3-5, 2018

Instructions for abstract submissions

Anonymous abtracts for the general session and posters should be no longer than one page A4 (normal margins of 2,5 cm on each side, single spaced lines, Times New Roman, Doulos SIL or DejaVu font, 12 pt font size), with the possibility of using an additional page for examples, and should be written in English, with fully glossed examples conforming to the Leipzig Glossing Conventions. Please romanise all Asian texts, and do not use Asian character fonts unless absolutely required. Participants may not be involved in more than two abstracts for the general session, of which at most one may be single-authored.

All abstracts should be submitted as an MS Word or Open Office Writer file via the conference website. To be able to do so, you first need to create an account on the Sciencesconf.org platform by choosing the “Create account” option from the dropdown menu that appears when you click on the arrow to the right of the “Login” button (under the website banner). If you already have a Sciencesconf account, just login to submit your abstract. The file name of your abstract should be the first two words of the title of your abstract separated by a hyphen.

When submitting your abstract, you will have a choice between three categories: “oral”, “poster” and “oral or poster”. The latter category means that you prefer an oral presentation but can also do a poster. If there are more good abstracts than we can accommodate, some will be scheduled as posters. If you choose either category “poster” or “oral or poster” you will increase your chances of acceptance. Poster sessions will be preceded by a plenary five minute oral presentation of each poster. If you choose “oral”, you will also need to indicate whether your submission is for the “general session” or one of the workshops. In the latter case, please select the name of the workshop from the list. Time for oral presentations will be 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussion.

Instructions for workshop proposals

Proposals for workshops should be maximally two A4 pages. They should follow the same formal guidelines with respect to their layout, language, examples presentation, file format and file name as explained in the instructions for abstract submissions. When submitting your workshop proposal, please select the category “workshop proposal”.

Workshop proposals should contain a description of the topic and research questions. A provisional list of workshop participants and the titles of their contributions is not required but may be included in the proposal to show that the workshop is likely to attract enough interest. The format of the workshops should be organized around 30 minute slots.

After a workshop proposal has been accepted, workshop conveners are encouraged to distribute a call for papers on the LinguistList (please, announce your call for paper as a session of SWL 8) and other fora relevant to the topic of the workshop. Accepted workshop proposals will be published on the conference website. All authors interested in the workshop should submit their abstracts following the instructions for abstract submission indicating the relevant workshop. All the abstracts submitted to the workshop will be reviewed individually by the Programme Committee and the workshop conveners.