Full Title: 2nd International Conference on Syntax and Semantics

Date: 11-Aug-2025 - 13-Aug-2025
Location: Andong, Korea, South
Contact Person: Michael Barrie
Meeting Email: [email protected]

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics; Syntax

Call Deadline: 20-May-2025

Call for Papers:

This conference brings together scholars investigating the cognitive, biological, and computational foundations of language within the biolinguistic framework that Noam Chomsky has pioneered. Under the theme “Towards K-Humanities: Thought, Structure, and Language Design,” we explore how language, as a thought-generating system, reflects principles of structural simplicity and computational efficiency.

Our point of departure is the two foundational challenges in biolinguistics: Plato’s Problem, which addresses how humans acquire complex linguistic knowledge from limited input, and Darwin’s Problem, which asks how the language faculty could have evolved under natural selection. Both problems converge on a central hypothesis: the language faculty is optimally designed and minimally complex, in line with the Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT).

The conference highlights recent theoretical advances such as the Box Theory in Chomsky (2023), which refines our understanding of Internal Merge (IM), movement, and reconstruction. It emphasizes Structure-Dependence and binary relations as fundamental properties of I-language, and reconsiders the role of theta theory and interface conditions.

By minimizing language-specific constraints and focusing on operations interpretable at the Conceptual-Intentional (CI) interface, this minimalist perspective redefines how we view syntactic derivation, language acquisition, and evolution. We aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue across linguistics, cognitive science including AI, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, asking: If language is a system shaped for thought, what is its most elegant form?

Plenary Speaker: Mamoru Saito
Invited Speaker: Chegyong Im

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Abstracts should be submitted to [email protected]. Abstracts must be anonymous and may not exceed 2 pages (A4 or US letter), including examples (embedded within the text) but not references, with 2.54 cm (1 inch) margin on all four sides and should employ 12-point Times New Roman font. As references do not count toward the page limit, you are requested to include a full list of references on the third page. Submissions are limited to a maximum of one individual and one joint abstract per author, or two joint abstracts per author. Please indicate whether the submitted work is proposed for an oral/regular presentation, a poster, or either. Abstracts must be submitted no later than May 20, 2025. Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection on or after May 30, 2025. Each speaker will be allotted 30 minutes -- 20 minutes for their oral presentation and 10 minutes for discussion.