Congreso, coloquio o simposio

Lyon will welcome the 9th biennial international conference of AFLiCo, the French Association for Cognitive Linguistics from May 15-17, 2024. It follows the previous AFLiCo international conferences held in Bordeaux (2005), Lille (2007, 2013), Nanterre (2009), Lyon (2011), Grenoble (2015), Liege (2017) and Mulhouse (2019). We welcome 20-minute presentations (with 8 minutes for follow-up questions) from students and researchers interested in cognitive linguistics, and more specifically on embodied and ecolinguistic approaches to cognitive linguistics. However, as in previous editions, the conference will not be limited to thematic sessions devoted to the main foci described below. The organisers also encourage researchers to submit proposals within all areas of cognitive linguistics.

The term "cognitive linguistics" describes one of the main branches in modern linguistics and it encompasses different approaches, theories, and methodologies. The cornerstone of cognitive linguistics is the assumption that language is an integral part of human cognition. Considering that general cognition is deeply embodied and that language is an integral part of cognition, the only possible conclusion is that language is also embodied. Embodiment is a construct that cuts across many disciplines, such as cognitive science, philosophy, psychology and sociology (Wen & Taylor 2020) and which has gained a lot of ground in the last decades thanks to converging studies from various fields, including psychological studies (Barsalou 1999, Mandler 2010), neural and neurophysiological experiments (Glenberg & Kaschak 2002, Zwaan 2004, Tettamanti et al. 2005, Bergen 2012), and even robotic engineering (Steels 2005, Wen & Jiang 2020).

Language does not reflect the external world in an objective way, but rather in the way in which the individual has conceptualized this reality according to their experience, knowledge and environment (Langacker 1987, Johnson 1987, Lakoff 1987, Talmy 1988). In order to understand the structure of our conceptual apparatus, it is therefore necessary to consider its physical and cultural substratum, in its broadest sense. Additionally, as humans do not only belong to different cultures and different societies but also to the larger ecosystems that all forms of life depend on, it seems essential to have a broad definition of "environment". The ecolinguistic dimension of language thus appears to be crucial for a better understanding of language variations in time and space. Therefore, the interactions between language and environment will be given particular attention during this conference. (Halliday 2001, Steffensen & Fill 2014, Stibbe 2014). 

Another central tenet of cognitive linguistics is the belief that language is constructed through a usage-based process. Specifically, human beings learn language through ongoing linguistic experience, which allows them to understand how the different elements of a language are conceptualized, how they function, and how they relate to each other (phonemes, words, categories, constructions, etc.). This hypothesis has had a particular impact on the development of constructional theories (Langacker 1987, Goldberg 1995) and allows for the explanation of synchronic and diachronic language patterns. It has also had a great influence on theories of acquisition, both in children (Tomasello 1992) and adults and in second language learning (Bybee 2006, Ellis 2008).

During this conference, we will have the opportunity to question the notions of embodiment and ecolinguistics, and to wonder how central these concepts are in different areas of cognitive linguistics. However, as mentioned above, the conference will not be limited to the main topics described above. The organisers also encourage researchers to submit proposals within other areas of cognitive linguistics, such as:

• Construction grammar
• Frame semantics
• Blending
• Corpus linguistics
• Metaphor and metonymy
• Variation
• Neurosciences
• Signed languages
• Multimodality
• Language change and diachrony
• Discourse analysis
• Pragmatics
• Phonetics and phonology
• Sociolinguistics
• Language acquisition
• Natural language processing
• Lexicology
• Mophology
• Lexical semantics

Zeina Almouhd, Nebrija University (Madrid)

Cristiano Broccias, University of Genoa

Florence Chenu, Lumière Lyon 2 University

Herbert Colston, University of Alberta

Camille Debras, Paris Nanterre University

Barbara De Cock, KU Leuven

Nicole Delbecque, KU Leuven

Guillaume Desagulier, University of Paris 8

Rémi Digonnet, Jean Monnet University

Anna Doquin de Saint Preux, Complutense University of Madrid

Susanne Flach, University of Zürich

David Garcia Leon, Maynooth University

Dirk Geeraerts, KU Leuven

Dylan Glynn, University of Paris 8

Lucía Gómez, Lumière Lyon 2 University

Stefan Th. Gries, Universitéy of California, Santa Barbara

Craig Hamilton, University of Haute-Alsace

Sabine Heinemann, University of Graz

Lyndon Higgs, University of Strasbourg

Alberto Hijazo-Gascón, University of Zaragoza

Denis Jamet, Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University

Yvon Keromnes, University of Lorraine

Christian Lagarde, University of Perpignan

Jean-Rémi Lapaire, University of Bordeaux

Benoît Leclercq, University of Paris 8

Ellen Le Foll, University of Cologne

Maarten Lemmens, University of Lille

Jeannette Littlemore, University of Birmingham

Reyes Llopis, Columbia University

Aliya Morgenstern, Sorbonne Nouvelle University

Catherine Paulin, University of Strasbourg

Hermine Penz, University of Graz

Florent Perek, University of Birmingham

Julien Perrez, University of Liège

Günter Radden, University of Hamburg

Caroline Rossi, University of Grenoble Alpes

Arran Stibb, University of Gloucestershire

Francesca Strick-Lievers, University of Genoa

Laura Suarez, University of Grenoble Alpes

Sabina Tabacaru, University of Paris 8

Adeline Terry, Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University

Rémi Digonnet (Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne University, ECLLA)

Lucía Gómez (Lumière Lyon 2 University, CeRLA)

Adeline Terry (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, CEL)

Ana Escartín Arilla (Paris Nanterre University, CRIIA)

Aurélie Héois (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, CEL)

Denis Jamet (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, CEL)

Pierre-Yves Modicom (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, CEL)

Caroline Rossi (Grenoble Alpes University, ILCEA4)