The 15th Historical Sociolinguistics Network (HiSoN) Conference will take place at the University of Salzburg (Austria) from 28 – 30 September 2026.

Confirmed plenary speakers are:

• Prof Joseph Salmons* (University of Wisconsin, Madison, US)
• Prof Michał Głuszkowski* (Toruń University, Poland)
• Prof Sybille Große* (Heidelberg University, Germany)

The 2026 conference theme is:
Spoken and written discourse in historical sources.

Historical sociolinguistics naturally draws its data mainly from sources that have been transmitted in handwriting or print. Nevertheless, since its very beginning, historical sociolinguistics has been concerned with reconstructing and investigating not only written but also spoken discourse (cf. Schneider 2013). This is achieved by taking into account historical sources that, for various reasons, are characterised by a particular proximity to spoken language, be they speech-based (e.g. interrogation records, minutes of parliamentary sessions), speech-purposed (e.g. sermons, drama texts) or speech-like sources (e.g. private correspondence, diaries) (cf. Culpeper & Kytö 2010).

At the same time, written sources lacking a close link with spoken language, and especially printed texts, have long been recognised as crucial for standardisation processes, a key topic in historical sociolinguistics, and can be shown to evince forms of change unrelated to change in spoken language. When investigating language variation and change in the past, it has proven useful for historical sociolinguistics to abstract away from the binary distinction between written and spoken code and to focus on the positioning of historical sources on a conceptual continuum between informality and formality or between ‘language of immediacy’ and ‘language of distance’ (Koch & Oesterreicher 1985/2012).

This broadening of perspective has also led to an appreciation of formerly neglected or even ignored historical sources for research into fields such as historical language variation and change, sociolinguistics, sociopragmatics, social dialectology, or discourse analysis. In addition, historical sociolinguistics benefits from advances in computer technology, which facilitate the creation, annotation and (partially) automated analysis of new text corpora – be they oriented towards linguistic or metalinguistic evidence. There has probably never been a better time to explore the entire spectrum of spoken and written discourse in historical sources. We therefore invite proposals on this theme.

Topics that fall within the scope of this theme include but are not limited to:

• Orality and writtenness / language of immediacy and language of distance
• Informal and formal texts from the past
• Speech-based, speech-purposed and speech-like historical sources
• Standardisation of spoken and written language
• Language history from above and from below
• Historical pragmatics and discourse analysis
• Historical text types, registers, genres and domains
• Discourse traditions
• Formulaic language
• Metalinguistic discourse(s)
• Positioning, indexicality, enregisterment
• Multilingualism and code-switching
• Multimodality
• Methodological advances (corpus building, transcription of historical sources, (semi-)automated analyses etc.)
• Experienced and inexperienced writers in language history

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 strongly prefer 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.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:

Abstracts should be submitted through EasyAbs (URL) maintained by the LINGUIST List. Please ensure that the abstract is properly anonymised in order to allow for blind review.

• The call opens on 1 October 2025.
• Please submit your abstract by 15 December 2025.
• Notification of acceptance by 15 March 2026.

REGISTRATION:

Registration opens on 15 March 2026.

Early bird fees (until Monday, 1 June 2026)

• Early bird (without conference dinner) — € 150,00
• Early bird (with conference dinner) — € 200,00

Student fees (until Monday, 17 August 2026)

• Students (without conference dinner) — € 75,00
• Students (with conference dinner) — € 125,00

Regular fees (until Monday, 17 August 2026)

• Regular (without conference dinner) — € 225,00
• Regular (with conference dinner) — € 275,00