Conference theme: HiSoN 20 years on: past, present, future
The 20-year anniversary edition of the historical sociolinguistics network conference is taking place at the University of Bristol (UK) from 21 to 23 May 2025.
In 2005, Nils Langer, Stephan Elspaß, Joachim Scharloth, and Wim Vandenbussche organised a conference on Language History from Below: Linguistic Variation in the Germanic Languages from 1700–2000 at the University of Bristol, which led to the foundation of the Historical Sociolinguistic Network. Since then, research in historical sociolinguistics has flourished and the network has grown beyond its Germanic roots. At the 20-year anniversary edition of the Historical Sociolinguistics Network Conference, we will return to and build on the study of language history ‘from below’ by looking at current trends in historical sociolinguistic research, such as the study of historical multilingualism and research on linguistic impacts of colonialism, to identify future directions of the field.
Over the past decades, historical sociolinguistics has grown and diversified considerably, contributing to our increasingly multifaceted understanding of language histories. We would like to take this opportunity to return to origins of the Historical Sociolinguistics Network, both geographically and figuratively. The first conference sought to offer an alternative to the traditional historiography of the Germanic languages by moving beyond ‘teleological and isolationist approaches’ that ‘focused on standard or prestige varieties’. This view ‘from below’ has undergone significant development in scope, having moved beyond its original Germanic focus, and this conference will provide a moment for us all to reflect and take stock. Where have we come from – how are the original aims of the Network reflected in our current practice? Where are we now – how can we use historical sociolinguistic theories and methods to address current challenges? And where are we going – how will our discipline grow and adapt in an ever-changing world?
We invite suggestions for papers dealing with aspects of language and society in the past.
Topics and (sub)disciplines might include, but are not limited to:
- Language variation and change
- Historical multilingualism, language contact, and multilingual practices
- Language maintenance, language shift and heritage languages
- Language standardization, norms, prescriptivism and purism
- Language policy and planning in the past
- Language ideologies, beliefs and attitudes in the past
- Language history ‘from below’
- Historical text types, registers, genres and domains
- Methods for historical sociolinguists, including corpus linguistics
- Historical dialectology and geolinguistics
- Historical pragmatics and discourse analysis
- History of linguistics and history of language teaching.
All papers need to include historical as well as sociolinguistic aspects. We welcome abstracts for two different formats (individual papers and thematic panels):
Individual papers are formal presentations on original research by one or more authors, who will be allotted 30-minute slots at the conference (20 minutes for presentation plus 10 minutes for discussion). Abstracts for individual paper presentations must not exceed 500 words (incl. title and references).
Thematic panels, roundtables or workshops should follow the 30-minute structure of the conference. We have a strong preference for shorter, focused events (e.g. an introductory paper, 3–4 papers by different contributors, and a final discussion). Panel convenors are expected to invite contributors and discussants in advance, and submit one full proposal. This proposal includes the overall aims and rationale of the event (max. 500 words) as well as the names, affiliations, and short abstracts of 200–300 words for each contribution (incl. introductory paper and/or final discussion). Please note that panel convenors take active responsibility for the quality of all contributions and are expected to guide their invited participants through the formal process as well as to chair the panel.
Keynote speakers:
Prof. Joanna Kopaczyk (University of Glasgow)
Prof. Nils Langer (Europa-Universität Flensburg)
Prof. Israel Sanz-Sánchez (West Chester University)
Please submit your abstract via https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/conference/HiSoN2025/.
The deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to 15 October 2024. We anticipate that notifications about the outcome of proposals will be sent on 16 December 2024.
Please contact us if you have any questions: hison-conference2025@bristol.ac.uk
HiSoN 2025 is kindly sponsored by the Historical Sociolinguistics Research and Training Program, funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
