DiaClas
Dialect classification – past, present and future
Ljubljana, April 23-25, 2025
About the Conference
DiaClas invites submissions for paper and poster presentations focusing on methods and techniques for dialect classifications and on the future of dialect classifications in the study of dialectology and language variation.
The symposium is linked to the DIACLEU project (Dialect Classifications of Languages in Europe, diacl.eu), that aims to publish a complete, state-of-the-art, and historical overview of dialect classifications of the endogenous languages spoken in Europe. DIACLEU collects all the classifications published until now for these languages and makes them accessible for an international audience in the open access journal Dialectologia.
DiaClas will take place 23-25 April 2025 in Ljubljana (Slovenia). It will be hosted by ZRC SAZU (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) – Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language, and is co-organized by Fryske Akademy and Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The final conference day, Friday 25 April, will host the 5th Slovenian dialectology conference (SDP 5), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the first geolinguistic study of the Slovenian language (Tesnière 1925).
The symposium has a double perspective:
(1) looking back: critical analyses of past and present dialect classifications;
(2) looking forward: discussing principles, methods and techniques of future classifications.
The papers can focus on both linguistic (e.g., usage-based vs. system-based, theoretical frameworks) and quantitative (e.g., sampling, statistical techniques, hierarchization of boundaries) aspects and their combination (e.g., weight of linguistic features, requirements for definition as a dialect).
We are pleased to announce that our plenary speakers will be Alfred Lameli, Philipps-Universität Marburg and Danguolė Mikulėnienė, Institute of the Lithuanian Language.
We also invite scientists involved with technologies or methodologies outside linguistics that can be applied to the investigation of dialect classification.
This will be an in-person only symposium.
Abstracts
We invite abstracts for the following presentation formats:
- Oral presentation: 20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion
- Poster presentation: for work in progress and research plans
Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, excluding title and references. The abstract should clearly state the research question(s) or aim(s), theoretical framewoks(s), data, method and (expected) results.
Abstracts can be submitted here.
When submitting, please select for which submission type you would like to be considered. Selecting more than one type will not reduce a submission’s chances of being accepted as an oral presentation. Authors can submit two abstracts if at least one submission is co-authored.
Please, use the unified style sheet for linguistics.
After the symposium, the presenters will have the opportunity to submit a paper to a special issue of Dialectologia.
We look forward to seeing you in Ljubljana.
Prof. Dr. Jožica Škofic, President of the Conference
Important Information
- There is NO registration fee for the conference.
- The working language of the conference DiaClas is English, at SDP 5 all Slavic languages and English.
- After the conference a selection of papers will be published in a special issue of Dialectologia.
- Conference participants are responsible for booking and paying their own accommodation and travel expenses.
Important Dates
| Abstract deadline: 12 December 2024 |
| Notification of acceptance: 15 January 2025 |
| Registration of participants: 28 February 2025 |
| Conference: 23-25 April 2025 |
| Full Paper Submission: 30 June 2025 |
Venue
The conference will take place in the Atrij ZRC on Novi trg 2 in Ljubljana.
Atrij ZRC
Accommodation and Travel Information
HOTELS
We recommend that you book your accommodation as early as possible because the end of April and May is already high season in Ljubljana.
TRANSFER FROM LJUBLJANA JOŽE PUČNIK AIRPORT
- There is an hourly bus service from the airport to Ljubljana’s Central Station from 10 am to 10 pm (a forty-minute ride; a single ticket costs €12). > Timetable and ticket booking
- GoOpti transfers. > Timetable and ticket booking
