The 32nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-32)
First Call for Papers (CFP No.1)
w Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China
w Organizer: Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
w Important Dates:
- Conference Dates: June 12 – 14, 2026
- Submission Deadline (for regular presentation and YSA/MJH/IRA Papers): December 8, 2025, 11:59 pm, Beijing Time (GMT +8)
- Notification of Acceptance: January 15, 2026
w Submission and Q&A: iacl32@163.com
About IACL
The International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL) is the only international professional organization devoted to the promotion of scientific research on Chinese linguistics/languages, and has held its annual conference at various leading institutions in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia since its establishment in 1992. The event serves as an important occasion for scholars and researchers working on Chinese linguistics across the globe to present original and unpublished research work in all subfields of linguistics on a great variety of the Chinese languages or other languages of China.
The 32nd Annual Conference of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics (IACL-32) will take place on June 12-14, 2026, hosted by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, P.R.China. We are happy to invite scholars and students in relevant fields to join the event in Guangzhou.
CALL FOR PAPERS
IACL-32 cordially invites abstracts for oral presentations of original, unpublished research work in all subfields of linguistics on any variety of the Chinese languages or other languages of China. Each talk will be 15 minutes, followed by a 10-minute discussion (25 minutes in total). Submissions are limited to one individual and one joint abstract per author.
Abstract format
(1) Abstract length is limited to one page (letter size; using 2.5 cm or 1 inch margins on all sides), including examples and (selected) references.
(2) Abstracts can be written in English or Chinese:
For English: Please use Times New Roman font, size 12 pt
For Chinese: Please use Songti font 宋体, size ‘small 4’ 小四号
(3) Abstracts should be submitted in two versions, i.e., one in the form of a PDF and the other in the form of a DOC or DOCX.
(4) Abstracts should be anonymous, but please make sure to include your contact information in your email upon submission.
Submission guidelines
(1) Abstracts should be submitted directly to the conference email: <iacl32@163.com>
(2) Please title the subject of your e-mail with “ABSTRACT-IACL32”. In the email, please include name(s) of the author(s), academic rank(s), affiliation(s), abstract title, subcategory (e.g., syntax, phonology, Sino-Tibetan linguistics, etc.), and the e-mail address for contact.
(3) Please name the abstract file in the following way:
For single-authored papers: LastName_FirstName.pdf/doc
For co-authored papers: LastName_FirstName_co.pdf/doc (list only the first author)
(For example, San Zhang would name his abstract file “Zhang_San.pdf/doc”, or “Zhang_San_co.pdf/doc” for a co-authored paper)
(4) Abstract Submission Deadline: December 8, 2025, 11:59 pm, Beijing Time (GMT +8)
Notification of Acceptance: around January 15, 2026
The IACL Awards: YSA, MJH, IRA
1. The Young Scholar Award (YSA)
The YSA competition is an innovative attempt by the IACL to promote, recognize, and encourage scholarship by young scholars. It is held once a year in conjunction with the IACL annual conference.
A maximum of 5 (normally 2-4) finalists will be selected, each awarded a travel subsidy plus accommodation and invited to the IACL conference to give an oral presentation at a special session organized for this purpose, before a panel of judges chaired by the IACL President (the review committee of any given year may also recommend that no finalist be invited). The author of the best paper selected by the panel will be honored at the banquet of the annual conference and presented with an award certificate.
Eligibility
(1) Participants must be 35 years of age or younger by the date of the final round of the competition (i.e., June 12, 2026).
(2) Participants’ current academic rank must be below that of associate professor in the Chinese and American university systems, and below that of senior lecturer in the British system.
(3) Previous YSA award winners are not eligible to re-enter the competition. Previous YSA Finalist who did not win the award are eligible to re-enter the competition, provided they fulfill the eligibility criteria regarding age and academic rank.
Submission Guidelines
(1) Each participant is required to submit a single-authored full paper of no more than 25 pages in length and an abstract of no more than one page in length (letter size).
(2) Both the abstract and the full paper should be anonymous.
(3) All submissions for the YSA competition must be original papers that have not been published or accepted for publication, nor presented at a major conference or included in its proceedings.
(4) A paper submitted to a previous IACL conference cannot be re-submitted.
(5) Please submit the abstract and the full paper directly to the conference email (<iacl32@163.com >), and title the subject of the submission email “YSA”.
(6) In the submission email, please include: paper title, subcategory (e.g. syntax, phonology, Sino-Tibetan linguistics, etc.), author’s name, author’s age as of June 12, 2026, affiliation, academic rank, and the email address for contact.
Submission Deadline
The abstract and the full paper should be submitted no later than December 8, 2025, 11:59 pm, Beijing Time (GMT +8). The results of acceptance will be announced around January 15, 2026. Those who are selected as YSA finalists must submit proofs of their age and academic rank.
For past winners of IACL Awards winners and more information of IACL awards, please go to the IACL website: <http://iacl-linguistics.org/#/>
2. Mantaro J. Hashimoto (MJH) Award for Chinese Historical Phonology
This award is an annual prize in the amount of US $500, donated by Professor Anne Yue in memory of the eminent linguist and sinologist, Professor Mantaro J. Hashimoto. It is offered as an encouragement to young scholars who wish to devote themselves to the study of Chinese historical phonology, a field in which Professor Hashimoto was especially interested and to which he made numerous important contributions.
The prize will be administered as part of the Young Scholar Award (YSA) process. All YSA papers submitted in the field of Chinese historical phonology will automatically be concurrently considered for the MJH Award.
Submission Guidelines
Title the subject of the submission email “YSA/MJH”. Applicants should follow the published YSA guidelines in preparing their submissions. All regulations, restrictions, selection criteria, and judging standards current in the YSA process will apply to papers considered for the MJH Award, with the exception that MJH submissions must deal specifically with the area of historical phonology.
3. The Interdisciplinary Research Award (IRA)
This award is an annual prize in the amount of US $500, established in the honor of Professor Hsin-I Hsieh for his immense contributions to the IACL and to the field of Chinese linguistics. The award is offered as a token of encouragement to young scholars who wish to devote themselves to interdisciplinary studies in Chinese linguistics.
The prize will be administered as part of the Young Scholar Award (YSA) process. All papers with an interdisciplinary approach submitted for YSA will automatically be concurrently considered for the IRA Award.
Submission Guidelines
Title the subject of the submission email “YSA/IRA”. Applicants should follow the published YSA guidelines in preparing their submissions. All regulations, restrictions, and selection criteria adopted in the YSA process will apply to the papers considered for the Interdisciplinary Research Award, with the exception that these submissions must have an interdisciplinary focus, which includes interface studies (phonology-syntax, morph-syntax, syntax-semantics, etc.), studies which combine diachronic and synchronic approaches, those that combine methodologies from different frameworks (formal, functional, typological, etc.), or those that combine linguistics and other disciplines (literature, anthropology, sociology, psychology, computer science, etc.).
Registration
(1) Rates for IACL-32: Rates: RMB 1200 (faculty); RMB 600 (students).
(2) Note: Non-IACL members must join IACL within 30 days of acceptance notification to be eligible for presentation at IACL-32. Details of registration and payment options will be provided in the letter of acceptance.
Contact us
The IACL-32 homepage is coming soon. For more information, please visit the IACL website (http://iacl-linguistics.org/#/).
Should you have any questions, please contact us by email at <iacl32@163.com>.
The IACL-32 Organizing Committee
Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
