Small Languages, Big Ideas
Short Title: SLBI
Theme: Language varieties of Germanic languages

Date: 16-Mar-2026 - 18-Mar-2026
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Contact: Rone Wierenga
Contact Email: [email protected]
Meeting URL: https://viva-afrikaans.org/portale/inligtingsportaal-reg/small-languages

Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable
Subject Language(s): Afrikaans (afr)
English (eng)
German (deu)
Language Family(ies): Germanic

Submission Deadline: 15-Dec-2025

The Virtual Institute for Afrikaans (VivA), in collaboration with local and international partners, is pleased to host the fourth edition of the Small Languages, Big Ideas (SLBI) conference — this time with a fresh southern perspective. Join us in Gauteng, one of the linguistically and culturally vibrant provinces of South Africa, as we bring the focus to Germanic dialects, microvariation, and linguistic diversity across continents.

This edition of SLBI highlights dialects as windows into language theory. Dialects have long offered critical insights into the structure, evolution, and contact dynamics of Germanic languages, yet their global range and richness remain underexplored. From the mountain valleys of Switzerland to the platteland of South Africa, from Faroese to Pennsylvania Dutch, we invite work that zooms in on the smaller building blocks of big linguistic questions.

Why attend SLBI 2026? 
- A new vantage point: Explore Germanic languages from the southern tip of the African continent, where contact varieties like Afrikaans challenge traditional boundaries.
- Unique research context: Engage with the underrepresented dialects and microvarieties of Germanic dialects.
- Networking without borders: Connect with a global community of dialectologists, syntacticians, phonologists, sociolinguists, and variationists in an inspiring setting.

Call for Abstracts:
We invite abstracts on any Germanic language with a special focus on dialects, contact varieties, and regional microvariation of lesser-known dialects. Contributions may draw on synchronic or diachronic data, and be framed within any theoretical, descriptive, or comparative approach. We particularly encourage work that engages with:
- Dialect syntax, phonology, or morphology
- Heritage and emigrant Germanic varieties
- Sociolinguistic variation and change
- Dialect contact and creolisation
- Comparative dialectology and typology
- Language documentation and revitalisation

SLBI welcomes contributions from all subfields, including but not limited to: phonetics, syntax, semantics, historical linguistics, psycholinguistics, acquisition, language contact, pragmatics, and didactics.

We especially encourage junior researchers and postgraduate students to submit abstracts. In addition to regular papers, there will be a poster session to showcase student research in a collaborative and encouraging environment.

Papers: 20 minutes presentation + 10 minutes discussion
Poster session: Lightening poster presentations of 10 minutes + 5 minutes discussion
Languages: Papers and posters will be in English and abstracts can be submitted in English.
Abstract format:
Max. 1 A4 page (single-spaced, 12 pt font, 2.5 cm margins)
Optional - One additional page for data/figures and one for references 
PDF format only
Submission deadline: Monday 15 December 2025 at 12:00 CAT 

Submit papers and poster abstracts using this link: https://forms.gle/NRfjrs9rbbeDKUJ4A

Further details (registration, accommodation, and travel grants) will follow shortly on the conference website. We look forward to welcoming you to South Africa for two days of rigorous research, dynamic discussion, and cross-continental exchange.