CfP: 2026 Annual Colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society

The 2026 annual colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society will be held on 2-4 September 2026 at the University of Nottingham (Nottingham, UK).

Confirmed plenary speaker: Cécile Van den Avenne (EHESS)

Further details will be made available on the conference website.

The general theme of the colloquium is:

(Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas

Today, the native speaker occupies an important but contested place in linguistic research across various subdisciplines (foreign/second language research, language pedagogy, theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics). We invite papers that consider (or reconsider) the figure and category of the native speaker within the history of linguistic ideas.

Registration now open:

Register by 23 August at this link.

Rates

Before July 10th (Early Bird): 

  • HSS Member : £100

  • Non HSS Member: £145

  • HSS Member - PhD student: £50

  • Non HSS Member - PhD student: £65

After July 10th:

  • HSS Member: £140

  • Non HSS Member: £185

  • HSS Member - PhD student: £60

  • Non HSS Member - PhD student: £75

Conference fee includes:

  • colloquium entrance

  • lunch and coffee breaks

  • welcome drink on 2 September

  • colloquium materials

Conference Dinner

Conference dinner on Thursday September 3: £45

Please note that numbers at the conference dinner are limited to 40. ***Please sign up early to avoid disappointment!***

Cultural programme

Tour of the Nottingham Caves on afternoon of Friday 4th: £11

If you are not yet a member of the Society, please consider joining. Note that the Henry Sweet Society membership fee includes free access to the journal Language & History (3 issues a year, online-first and back issues): https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ylhi20. Here is how to join: https://www.henrysweet.org/join-the-society.