The 36th Annual Meeting of the

Berkeley Linguistics Society

The 36th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society

Call for Papers

6-7 February 2010

The 36th annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society will take place at the University of California, Berkeley on February 6-7, 2010. The meeting will consist of a General Session, a Parasession, and a Special Session. Invited speakers will be announced as they accept.

GENERAL SESSION

The General Session will cover all areas of linguistic interest. We encourage proposals from diverse theoretical frameworks and also welcome papers on language-related topics from disciplines such as anthropology, cognitive science, literature, neuroscience, and psychology.

PARASESSION

Writing Systems and Orthography

The Parasession invites papers on all aspects of writing systems and orthography. We welcome submissions from diverse theoretical perspectives in any linguistic subfield (phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, etc.). Areas of discussion might include: the interaction between written and spoken (or signed) language, the development of orthographies, and the relationship between cognition and writing.

SPECIAL SESSION

Language Isolates and Orphans

As the last remaining members of their families, language isolates and orphans provide data relevant to both linguistic theory and typology. We invite papers on any aspect of these languages in the hope of encouraging research on their diverse and often unique properties. We also welcome submissions on near-isolates and languages whose genetic affiliation is uncertain.

NOTE ON PUBLICATION

In order to expedite publication of papers, BLS will begin publishing digitally with the proceedings from this 36th Annual Meeting.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Deadline

  • Abstracts must have been received electronically by
  • No late submissions can be accepted. Authors will be notified of decisions regarding abstracts by mid-December.

    Guidelines

    An author may submit at most one single and one joint abstract. In the case of joint authorship, one email address should be designated for official communication with BLS.

    Abstracts must clearly present a specific thesis statement and include a description of topic, approach, and conclusions.

    Abstracts must fit on one page in 12-point font with 1" margins. Data and examples must be given within the body of the text, but references may be included on a separate page if necessary. To preserve anonymity during the review process, authors should not include their names or otherwise reveal their identity anywhere in the abstract.

    Abstracts that do not fit these specifications will not be considered.

    Submission

    All abstracts must be submitted electronically as PDF documents. Further instructions for electronic submissions are available here.

    Presentation and Publication

    Presentations are allotted 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for questions. Presented papers are published in the BLS Proceedings. Authors agree to provide camera-ready copy (up to 12 pages) by 15 May 2010.