https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/quantitative-diachronic-linguistics-and-cultural-analytics-2027-qdlca27

Quantitative Diachronic Linguistics and Cultural Analytics 2027 (QDLCA27)


14–15 January 2026 | King’s College London, Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS

We invite submissions for the conference Quantitative Diachronic Linguistics and Cultural Analytics 2027 (QDLCA27), to be held at King’s College London (Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS) on 14–15 January 2026. The conference is funded by the ERC-selected project COALA.

See the conference webpage here.

Language is in constant flux, shaped by social, cultural, and cognitive forces over time. With the increasing availability of large-scale textual data and computational tools, researchers are now better equipped than ever to uncover patterns and mechanisms of language change across different linguistic areas (e.g., morphology, syntax, semantics). This conference explores the intersection of quantitative diachronic linguistics and cultural analytics, to investigate how language evolves and how these changes relate – directly or broadly – to cultural dynamics.

Confirmed keynote speakers are Prof Dirk Geeraerts (KU Leuven) and Dr Stefania De Gaetano-Ortlieb (Saarland University).
Submission Guidelines

We invite submissions for 20-minute presentations, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.

The abstracts should be anonymised and consist of a maximum of 400 words (excluding references).

Please submit your abstract as a .docx file via email to: quantitative.diachronic.ling@gmail.com. Use the following subject line: “ABSTRACT Quantitative Diachronic Linguistics”

In case of a large number of high-quality submissions, some abstracts may be selected for poster presentations. Authors will be invited to indicate whether they would consider their submission suitable for a poster session, should one be included in the programme. Poster selections will be based both on authors’ preferences and on reviewers’ recommendations, as reviewers will also be asked to assess the suitability of submissions for poster presentation.

Deadline: 13 September 2026, 23:59 BST
Suggested Topics (non-exhaustive list)

Submissions may include (but are not limited to) the following areas, with no restrictions on language(s) or historical periods:

Quantitative studies of language change across time

Corpus-based analyses of language evolution

Computational modelling of diachronic syntax, semantics, morphology, etc.

Cross-linguistic comparisons using large-scale data

Language change in connection with historical, literary, or cultural trends

Digital methods for exploring linguistic and cultural shifts

Applications of cultural analytics to linguistic data

Important Dates

13 September 2026: Abstract Submission Deadline

26 October 2026: Notification of Acceptance

14–15 January 2026: Conference Dates

For any inquiries, please contact the organiser, Dr Andrea Farina (andrea.farina@kcl.ac.uk).