LINGUISTICS ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN Spring Meeting 1998: Lancaster University First Circular and Call for Papers The 1998 Spring Meeting will be held from Tuesday 14 to Thursday 16 April at Lancaster University. The Local Organiser is Julia Glass (j.a.glass@lancaster.ac.uk). Situated in the North West of England, Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire. It takes its name from the Roman word castrum, meaning camp, which was first established on the banks of the river Lune. Although Lancaster has been a city for only fifty years, it became a borough eight centuries ago. The charter was bestowed by Prince John whilst Richard the Lionheart was away at the Crusades. This charter allowed the people of Lancaster to hold regular markets and fairs and allowed them to concentrate on trade. This emphasis on trade has been echoed throughout the centuries in the history of Lancaster and the prosperity which it brought to the city is reflected in the fine architecture of the buildings and houses in the city centre. Lancaster University lies approximately three and a half miles south of the City of Lancaster. Its buildings, set in 250 acres of park land, stand on a ridge overlooking the sea to the west, with views of the Lakeland and Pennine hills to the north and east. Accommodation: will be on campus. The conference presentations will take place in the Faraday Building. Travel: The campus is easily accessible by road (the M6 runs conveniently close to the city), and there are direct rail links between Lancaster and London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford, and major cities in Scotland. The train journey from London takes about three and a half hours. The campus is within 70 miles of Manchester's International Airport. Events: The Linguistics Association 1998 Lecture on Tuesday afternoon will be delivered by Professor Frederick Newmeyer of the University of Washington, and is entitled 'Formal Linguistics and Functional Explanation: Bridging the Gap'. Professor Newmeyer will also be participating in a Workshop entitled 'Formalism, Functionalism and Typology' on Tuesday afternoon and evening. The workshop is organised by Bill Croft (University of Manchester); other contributors are Anna Siewierska (University of Lancaster) and Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh). There will be a Language Tutorial on Quechua, given by Pieter Muysken (University of Amsterdam). There will be a Wine Party on the Tuesday evening, sponsored by the Department of Linguistics. Enquiries about the LAGB meeting should be sent to the Meetings Secretary (address below). Full details of the programme and a booking form will be included in the Second Circular, to be sent out in January. Call for Papers: Members and potential guests are invited to offer papers for the Meeting; abstracts are also accepted from non-members. The LAGB welcomes submissions on any linguistics or linguistics-related topic. Abstracts must arrive by 5 January 1998 and should be sent in the format outlined below to the following address: Professor R. Hudson, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Papers for the programme are selected anonymously - only the President knows the name of the authors. Abstracts must be presented as follows: submit SEVEN anonymous copies of the abstract, plus ONE with name and affiliation, i.e. CAMERA-READY. The complete abstract containing your title and your name must be no longer than ONE A4 page (21cm x 29.5cm/8.27" x 11.69") with margins of at least 2.5cm (1") on all sides. You may use single spacing and type must be no smaller than 12 point. Type uniformly in black and make any additions in black. Use the best quality printer you can, since if the paper is accepted the abstract will be photocopied and inserted directly into the collection of abstracts sent out to participants. WRITE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BACK OF THE ABSTRACT WHICH HAS YOUR NAME ON. The following layout should be considered as standard: (title) Optimality and the Klingon vowel shift (speaker) Clark Kent (institution) Department of Astrology, Eastern Mars University The following guidelines may be useful: 1. Briefly state the topic of your paper. 2. If your paper is to involve an analysis of linguistic material, give critical examples, along with a brief indication of their critical nature. 3. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future development of the field. If you are taking a stand on a controversial issue, summarise the arguments which lead you to take up this position. The normal length for papers delivered at LAGB meetings is 25 minutes (plus 15 minutes discussion). Offers of squibs (10 minutes) or longer papers (40 minutes) will also be considered: please explain why your paper requires less or more time than usual. N.B. ABSTRACTS SUBMISSION DATES: These are always announced in the First Circular for the Meeting in question. Any member who fears that they may receive the First Circular too late to be able to submit an abstract before the deadline specified can be assured that an abstract received by the President by JANUARY 1 or JUNE 1 will always be considered for the next meeting. Conference Bursaries: There will be a maximum of 10 bursaries available to unsalaried members of the Association (e.g. PhD students) with preference given to those who are presenting a paper. Applications should be sent to the President, and must be received by 2 June 1997. Please state on your application: (a) date of joining the LAGB; (b) whether or not you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student; (c) if a student, whether you receive a normal grant; (d) if not a student, your employment situation. STUDENTS WHO ARE SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT and wish to apply for funding should include all the above details WITH THEIR ABSTRACT. Nominations for speakers: Nominations are requested for future guest speakers; all suggestions should be sent to the Honorary Secretary. Changes of address: Members are reminded to notify the Membership Secretary (address below) of changes of address. An institutional address is preferred; bulk mailing saves postage. Committee members: President Professor Richard Hudson, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. E-mail: dick@ling.ucl.ac.uk Honorary Secretary Dr. David Adger, Dept. of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, Heslington, York. YO1 5DD. E-mail: da4@tower.york.ac.uk. Membership Secretary Dr. Kersti B=F6rjars, Department of Linguistics, University of Manchester, MANCHESTER M13 9PL. E-mail: k.e.borjars@manchester.ac.uk Meetings Secretary Dr. Marjolein Groefsema, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Hertfordshire, Watford Campus, Aldenham, Herts. WD2 8AT. E-mail: m.groefsema@herts.ac.uk Treasurer Dr. Paul Rowlett, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT. E-mail: p.a.rowlett@mod-lang.salford.ac.uk Assistant Secretary Dr. April McMahon, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, CAMBRIDGE CB3 9DQ. E-mail: AMM11@hermes.cam.ac.uk Internet home page: The LAGB internet home page is now active at the following address: http://clwww.essex.ac.uk/LAGB. Electronic network: Please join the LAGB electronic network which is used for disseminating LAGB information and for consulting members quickly. It can be subscribed to by sending the message "add lagb" to: listserv@postman.essex.ac.uk. Future Meetings: 10-13 September 1998 University of Luton. 8-10 April 1999 (dates provisional) University of Manchester. Autumn 1999 (provisional) University of York. Spring 2000 (provisional) University College London. Autumn 2000 (provisional) University of Wales, Bangor. The Meetings Secretary would very much like to receive offers of future venues, particularly from institutions which the LAGB has not previously visited or from places with newly established linguistics programmes.