The 51st annual meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society will be
held at the University of Chicago from April 23 to April 25, 2015.

Invited Speakers:

Diane Brentari
Michael Franke
Heidi Harley
Lori Holt
Bill Idsardi
Bernard Perley
Anna Szabolcsi

Conference website: http://chicagolinguisticsociety.org/index.html

Call for Papers:

Submission Deadline (extended): Jan. 10, 2015.

The Chicago Linguistic Society invites abstracts for talks in any area of current research in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics, as well as in related cross-disciplinary areas. We particularly encourage submissions that involve experimental and/or computational methodologies, as well as submissions that relate to the special topics listed below.

Presenters will be given 20 minutes for presentation followed by a 10-minute question period. Submissions are limited to one individual and one joint abstract per author, or two joint abstracts per author. Presented papers will be published in the CLS proceedings.

Special Topics:

On Hierarchies
Much of mainstream linguistic research explores language as a hierarchical system, oftentimes relying strongly on binarity and structural superiority. This is a conception that arises in all subfields of linguistics. With this special topic we hope to bring together papers which address issues related to hierarchies, including but not limited to: “subjecthood” and relations between verbal arguments, quantifier scope, phonological or morphological recursion, and empirical evidence for flat or non-binary-branching structure in syntax, morphology, and phonology.

Not-Strictly-Linguistic Interfaces
Language is not an isolated system. We invite papers that explore how language is shaped by non-linguistic factors–for example, the psychophysics of audition and vision, the motor system, culture, and modality. Special attention will be given to papers that also address interface(s) between non-linguistic and linguistic systems. We encourage submissions from psycholinguists, formal linguists, and researchers from allied disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology, and cognitive/neuroscience.

Computational and Experimental Approaches
Empirical research can serve to both challenge and support existing theoretical claims, as well as provide novel insight into developing new theories. We invite papers that make use of computational or experimental methods across the subfields of linguistics, from phonetics and phonology to semantics and pragmatics. Special consideration will be given to submissions that unite theory with computational and/or experimental approaches.

Beyond Field Methodologies
How do language ideologies color our understanding of language as a social phenomenon? How can practical issues of fieldwork and social realities of language communities spur theoretical and methodological developments? What insights can we gain from fieldwork that we cannot get from laboratory settings? We invite papers addressing linguist-language community relationships and collaborations, practical challenges to fieldwork, field experimental methods, and related topics. Special consideration will be given to submissions addressing the role of researchers’ or communities’ language ideologies in language vitality, revitalization, emergence, and change.

Abstract Guidelines:
So that we may evaluate all submissions in a fair and equal manner, abstracts which fail to adhere to any of the following guidelines will be automatically rejected. Abstracts will be evaluated under a two-tiered system involving both external and internal reviewers.

Abstracts must be submitted in PDF format with filename PaperTitle.pdf (e.g., Prosodic_Form_and_Discourse_Function.pdf).

Include paper title and keywords (i.e., CLS session title, linguistic subfield(s), language(s)/ language family) in the abstract.

An abstract must be at most two pages in length (including data and references), on letter sized (8.5 by 11) or A4 page setting with one-inch margins, set in a font no smaller than 11 points. Intersperse data within the main text of the abstract, not on a separate page.

Abstracts must be anonymous. Author name(s) must not appear on the abstract or file name. In addition, be sure to remove any author name in the document properties of the PDF file.

Please submit your abstract through the EasyChair platform. (Registration is easy and free.) Visit EasyChair here.

All abstracts must be submitted by Saturday, January 3th, 2015, at 11:59 PM CST.

Submissions are limited to one individual and one joint abstract per author, or two joint abstracts per author.
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: January 3, 2015
Notification: February 16, 2015
Conference dates: April 23-25, 2015
For questions, please contact us at: clsfiftyone@gmail.com