CALL FOR PAPERS

The 7th international Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change (DiPVaC) conference will take place at the University of Salzburg, Austria, from 23-25 September 2026.

Confirmed plenary speakers:

• Miriam Meyerhoff — University of Oxford, UK
• Emma Moore — University of Sheffield, UK
• John A. Bateman — University of Bremen, Germany
• Gunther Kaltenböck — University of Graz, Austria
• Scott F. Kiesling — University of Pittsburgh, U.S.

DiPVaC is a biennial international conference series showcasing cutting-edge, (primarily) quantitative research on variation and change in what are broadly termed ‘discourse-pragmatic features’:  this includes (but is not limited to) research on discourse markers or pragmatic particles whose primary functions are interpersonal and textual (e.g., well, like, you know, comme, alors, doch, zwar, diciamo, dakedo, etc.), tag questions, silence, filled pauses, adjectives, adverbs, and general extenders.

The conference builds on an extensive international research network with a track record of profiling the latest research in discourse-pragmatic variation and change in a wide variety of languages. It also provides a forum for the discussion of methodological, empirical, and theoretical advancements in the analysis of variation and change in the use of discourse-pragmatic features, opportunities for the examination of the social implications and applications of research into the use of these features, and the formation of new international and multidisciplinary research networks.

We welcome abstracts for oral presentations which take a (primarily) quantitative approach to data analysis and deal with diverse aspects of discourse-pragmatic variation and change in any language or variety. The 2026 conference theme is Interfaces and, as such, research that intersects variationist approaches to discourse-pragmatic variation and change with other research traditions is particularly encouraged, such as cognition, social perception, multimodality, etc.

Talks will be 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Presentations will be in English.

Paper topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• sociolinguistic patterns of discourse-pragmatic variation and change
• multimodal aspects of discourse-pragmatic variation and change
• discourse-pragmatic variation and change in contexts of language contact
• quantitative studies addressing the grammaticalisation of discourse-pragmatic features
• contrastive/cross-linguistic studies of discourse-pragmatic variation and change
• methods in the quantitative analysis of discourse-pragmatic features
• social and geographical diffusion patterns of innovative discourse features
• the role of discourse-pragmatic features in the construction and negotiation of social identities
• the acquisition of discourse-pragmatic variation by children, second language learners and bilingual speakers
• discourse-pragmatic variation and change across the lifespan
• socio-perceptual studies of discourse-pragmatic variation
• discourse-pragmatic variation across interactional, situational and technological settings
• implications and applications of discourse-pragmatic variation and change within and beyond linguistic theory

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Special Session: The forensics discourse-pragmatic interface

We also welcome abstracts for a special session on the forensics discourse-pragmatic interface, which facilitates meaningful exchange between the forensic linguistic and DiPVaC communities. Papers are particularly welcome which investigate the use of discourse-level variables in authorship and speaker comparison analysis. We equally welcome work from DiPVaC researchers who focus on the role of the individual in variation.

If you would like to submit a paper to this special session, please ensure that you indicate this in the appropriate section of the submission form.

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All questions about submissions should be emailed to dipvac7(at)plus.ac.at.

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ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Abstracts should be submitted through EasyAbs maintained by the LINGUIST List.

Abstracts

• should be a maximum of 300 words in length (excl. title and references); the text should preferably fit on one page.
• should be properly anonymised in order to allow for blind review.
• should use in-text citation when referring to previous work.
• must be submitted in PDF format.

When submitting your abstract

• Please provide the names of all authors in the ‘Authors’ section of the abstract-submission form.
• Include the affiliation of all authors in the ‘State all universities / institutions that the author(s) is/are affiliated with here’ section.
• Provide all authors’ e-mail addresses in the ‘Add an email address for each author here’ section.

Timeline

• Call opens on 1 October 2025.
• Submit your abstract by 7 January 2026.
• Notification of acceptance by 1 March 2026.

REGISTRATION

Registration opens on 1 March 2026.

Early bird fees (until Monday, 1 June 2026)

• Early bird (without conference dinner) — € 175,00
• Early bird (with conference dinner) — € 225,00

Student fees (until Monday, 17 August 2026)

• Students (without conference dinner) — € 100,00
• Students (with conference dinner) — € 150,00

Regular fees (until Monday, 17 August 2026)

• Regular (without conference dinner) — € 250,00
• Regular (with conference dinner) — € 300,00

Besides participation at the conference the fee also includes:

• Lunch at the conference venue (Wednesday – Friday)
• Non-alcoholic drinks and snacks during the coffee-breaks
• Reception on Wednesday
• Conference dinner on Thursday if dinner option is selected

Confirmation of participation at the various social events is required during the registration process.