Compared to other Romance subfamilies, Gallo-Romance has attracted far less attention in the study of regional and dialectal variation in the light of formal linguistics. While French syntax and morphology are particularly well studied, both empirically and formally, the same is less true for the non-standard(ised) Gallo-Romance varieties (e.g., Occitan, Francoprovençal, Walloon, etc.). Moreover, although there are already established venues for French linguistics (e.g., Congrès Mondial de Linguistique Française, Diachro: le français en diachronie) and for Romance linguistics more broadly (e.g., Going Romance, Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages), there is currently no dedicated platform for the syntax and morphology of Gallo-Romance specifically. This is a missed opportunity for (formal) syntacticians, morphologists, dialectologists, and philologists alike, since such a specialised focus would allow them to address existing and novel issues with unparalleled depth.
To address this gap, we are organising the first Gallo-Romance Advances in Morphology & Syntax workshop (GRAMS), a two-day event to be held at Trinity College Dublin, in the heart of Ireland’s capital. It will feature a single track with no parallel sessions, fostering direct exchange of ideas among all participants. This project draws inspiration from the successful Comparative Italian Dialect Syntax-Morphology Meeting (CIDSM), which since 2006 has established itself as the main venue for research on Italo-Romance morphology and syntax. On the occasion of CIDSM’s 20th anniversary, it is time for a Gallo-Romance counterpart. Our goal is for GRAMS to become an annual event, an established platform in which linguists working on the syntax and morphology of Gallo-Romance can meet and discuss the latest developments in the field.
In sum, not only is GRAMS the opportunity for syntacticians and morphologists to meet, it is also the opportunity for lesser-studied languages to be placed under the spotlight.
The call for papers is now open.
We invite submissions for 20-minute presentations (followed by 10 minutes for discussion) on any aspect of the morphology and/or syntax of Gallo-Romance — all varieties welcome (standard and non-standard(ised)). Proposals may address synchronic and/or diachronic issues, and we welcome formal analyses within any theoretical framework as well as solid descriptive analyses that draw from new empirical findings and/or innovative methodological tools. Abstracts may also focus on interface phenomena, provided they shed light on the functioning of morphology and/or syntax. The languages of the conference are English, French, and Occitan.
Nous acceptons les présentations en français, et vous pouvez écrire votre proposition de communication en français, en occitan, ou en anglais.
Acceptam las presentacions en occitan, e podètz escriure vòstra proposicion de comunicacion en occitan, en francés, o en anglés.
Abstracts should be anonymous and must not exceed two pages, including examples, references, and figures. They should be formatted in at least 12-point font, with 2.5 cm margins (A4) or 1" margins (Letter).
Each author may submit a maximum of two abstracts, only one of which may be single-authored.
Please submit your abstract through EasyAbs: https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/conference/GRAMS/
5 January 2026: Abstract submission closes
2 March 2026: Notification to the authors