Special Issue in Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Abstract Submission Deadline Extension
Submissions are due 30 April 2024

Cfp: Psycho-Historical Linguistics

This Special Issue aims to showcase studies establishing an empirical
link between diachronic and synchronic perspectives on language change
brought about by bilinguals. Although both historical and
psycholinguistic approaches share an interest in uncovering mechanisms
of change, few studies have explicitly linked short-term phenomena in
bilingual processing to longer-term language change. Our goal is to
bridge this gap by proposing a new interdisciplinary approach of
psycho-historical linguistics.

Research on priming, both experimental (see van Gompel & Arai, 2018)
and corpus-based (Gries & Kootstra, 2017), highlights that speakers
adjust their language comprehension and production to the structures
recently encountered. Cross-linguistic priming has been proposed as a
mechanism that could explain how innovations arise in bilingual
individuals and are spread to the wider speech community (Fernández et
al., 2016; Kootstra & Şahin, 2018; Pickering & Garrod, 2017). Beyond
priming, other cognitive mechanisms potentially underlying language
change such as processes of reanalysis/misanalysis (Fujita & Cunnings,
2021; Jacob & Felser, 2016; Şafak & Hopp, 2022) amongst others are so
far underexplored and require further research to obtain a more
comprehensive picture on psycholinguistic mechanisms of language
change.

Bilingual acquisition data, as indication of change in individuals’
development, affords a complementary approach to linking synchronic
and diachronic change. Early bilingual acquisition contexts have been
considered a crucial source of change as they can give rise to
persistent target deviations in both successive (Meisel, 2011) and
simultaneous bilinguals (Bosch & Unsworth, 2020; Engemann, 2022). The
types of acquisition scenarios likely to promote change are still
under debate. In this regard, heritage language acquisition may
provide a privileged window into processes of change, as it shows
parallels with patterns of diachronic change, at an accelerated scale
(Kupisch & Polinsky, 2022; Lohndal et al., 2019). While most of the
research focuses on production, there is only limited evidence on
heritage processing patterns and their connection with pathways of
diachronic change. This represents one of the avenues for future
psycho-historical research linking processing, acquisition, and
language change.

We welcome submissions exploring the above issues at the intersection
of historical and psycholinguistics to address questions relating to
the link between processing at the individual level and diachronic
language change in bilingual contexts. Contributions can adopt any of
the above approaches, including experimental, corpus-linguistic and/or
modeling in any linguistic domain. We particularly encourage
submissions combining psycholinguistic and historical perspectives.

Prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors are requested to
initially submit a title and abstract of no more than 500 words
summarizing their proposed contribution. Please send this to the guest
editors ([email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by
the guest editors to ensure appropriate fit within the scope of the
Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind review.

Preliminary publication schedule:
- 1-page abstract submission: 30 April 2024
- Notification abstract acceptance: 15 May 2024
- Manuscript deadline: 1 January 2025
- Feedback 1st round of reviews: before May 2025
- Revised manuscript deadline: 1 October 2025
- Feedback 2nd round of reviews: 1 February 2026
- Revised manuscript deadline: 1 April 2026
- Publication date special issue: Summer 2026 (individual articles
will be published online when accepted)

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
Language Acquisition
Psycholinguistics