Formal Diachronic Semantics 10
Short Title: FoDS 10
Theme: Noise in Language Change

Date: 17-Mar-2027 – 19-Mar-2027
Location: Konstanz, Germany
Contact: Regine Eckardt
Contact Email: regine.eckardt@uni-konstanz.de
Meeting URL: https://formaldiachronicsemantics.github.io/fods/index.html

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics; Pragmatics; Semantics; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 05-Nov-2026

The meeting Formal Diachronic Semantics brings together research on meaning change in natural language and its origins in, and effects on pragmatics and semantics, and their interfaces with morphosyntax and prosody. Special attention is given to studies that are related to formal accounts of semantics and grammar, providing new insights into language specific as well as universal patterns in language.

We invite submission of abstracts for 30-minute oral presentations (with an additional 10 minutes for questions) or poster presentations on topics addressing semantic change from within the paradigm of formal semantics/pragmatics. These may include case studies, studies of trends, corpus results, as well as formal theories of meaning change in specific domains. We also welcome research at the interfaces with syntax and other areas, as long as the research contributes to the area of formal diachronic semantics. We welcome papers that address methodological questions in the field. Submissions are limited to one individual and one joint abstract per author (or two joint abstracts per author). See more at https://formaldiachronicsemantics.github.io/fods/index.html.

The conference is complemented by a workshop on Noise in Language Change, to take place on March 17th, 2027. The workshop focuses on the influence of irregularities, exceptions and individual speaker variation on the use and change of languages, including phonological, syntactic, morphological, orthographic, semantic and pragmatic changes. We particularly invite studies that explore the hidden structure behind noisy data and its impact on novel patterns in grammar.

We look forward to three invited speakers who confirmed their participation in the conference and the workshop:
– Aynat Rubinstein
– Tamás Halm
– Anne Breitbarth

A special session of the conference will be held in memory of Remus Gergel.

Important Dates:

November 5nd: Deadline for submission of abstracts.
Abstracts must be anonymous, in PDF format, 2 pages (A4 or letter), in a font size no less than 12pt, and with margins of 1 inch/2.5cm. Note that submission requires an OpenReview account, which you should set up some time in advance.
December 5th: notification of acceptance.