37.1558, Confs: Language Documentation and Local Ecological Knowledge: Interdisciplinary Approaches (France)

Fri Apr 24 14:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1558. Fri Apr 24 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1558, Confs: Language Documentation and Local Ecological Knowledge: Interdisciplinary Approaches (France)

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Date: 23-Apr-2026
From: Yvonne Treis [yvonne.treis at cnrs.fr]
Subject: Language Documentation and Local Ecological Knowledge: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Language Documentation and Local Ecological Knowledge:
Interdisciplinary Approaches

Date: 14-Dec-2026 - 16-Dec-2026
Location: Aix-en-Provence, France

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Language
Documentation

Submission Deadline: 17-May-2026

We are pleased to announce the workshop “Language documentation and
local ecological knowledge: Interdisciplinary approaches” as part of
the 3rd edition of the conference “Languages and Language at the
Crossroads of Disciplines” (LLcD), organized within the CNRS Thematic
Network LLcD. The conference will take place at Aix-Marseille
University from 14 to 16 December 2026
(https://llcd2026.sciencesconf.org).
Workshop Description:
Language documentation is, by its very nature and ideals, an inclusive
undertaking. With its overarching goal to create a comprehensive
record of a language that is lasting and multipurpose (Himmelmann
2006: 1), it is predestined for interdisciplinary collaborations (see
also Evans 2011). In this workshop, we are particularly interested in
collaborations between field linguists, anthropologists, and
biologists who work together to document local ecological knowledge.
It has often pointed out that a community’s ecological environment,
(traditional) lifestyle, and language are closely intertwined, and
that endangerment and change of the first, leads to loss of the
latter. That is, the decrease of culturally important species from a
community’s traditional lands may mean that those organisms and their
cultural associations are no longer used or talked about, which in
turn may lead to a loss of traditional ecological knowledge and the
language associated with it (cf., e.g., Tang & Gavin 2016). However,
as pointed out by Si (2020), the exact nature of the interrelation
between these different areas of endangerment is often not made
explicit, and in order to make more robust cross-cultural and
cross-regional generalisations in this regard, more case studies from
different parts of the world are needed (cf. also Maffi 2007).
However, an accurate documentation of traditional ecological
knowledge, cultural practices, and associated language requires
expertise in biology, anthropology, and linguistics (cf. McClatchey
2011, Martin 2004). Ground-breaking studies, such as Berlin et al.’s
(1974) Principles of Tzeltal Plant Classification, have shown how an
appreciation of linguistic precision and scientific empiricism can
result in research outputs that are of value to both academics and the
target language community. More recently, comparative lexicosemantic
projects such as the four-volume Lexicon of Proto-Oceanic (Ross et
al., 2008), the Kalam dictionary (of a Papua New Guinea language) by
Pawley & Bulmer (2011) or the Encyclopédie des Pygmées Aka, resulting
from decades of research in Central Africa by Thomas et al. (2019)
have revealed, from a human view point, biological worlds that have
either disappeared, or are in danger of vanishing.
The aim of this workshop is to reflect on how interdisciplinary
collaborations between linguistics, anthropologists and biologists can
lead to meaningful and lasting outcomes as well as to create an
opportunity to exchange on innovative research methods and best
practices for research on local ecological knowledge in remote
communities, especially in the context of rapid linguistic, cultural
and ecological changes. While this workshop primarily addresses
documentary linguists who have called on biologists, we would also be
interested to hear of biologists that sought collaborations with
linguists and anthropologists to gain better insights into local
biological knowledge and conceptualisations (cf. Roué et al. 2015).
Thematic Domains:
We invite abstracts related, but not restricted, to the following
topics:
 - Best-practice models for collecting, accessing and utilizing varied
ethnobiological and associated ethnolinguistic data
 - Testimonials and critical reports about successful collaborations
between linguists, anthropologists and biologists
 - Case studies of ethnobiology and child language socialization
 - Case studies on how language loss correlates with loss of
ethnobiological knowledge
 - Case studies on ethnoclassification/ folk taxonomies and on
specific domains of the ethnobiological lexicon, resulting from
interdisciplinary collaborations
Venue:
The workshop will take place at the faculty of Arts of Aix-Marseille
University in Aix-en-Provence, at the Cube, 29 av. Robert Schuman,
13100 Aix-en-Provence, France.
Organization:
Like the LLcD2026 conference, the workshop will be held exclusively in
person.
Submission Modalities:
We invite you to submit by May, 17, 2026, an anonymous abstract of no
more than 500 words (including examples but excluding references),
either in English or French. Submissions will be made via EasyChair
and will follow the same review process as those for the general
session. It is therefore important that authors select the correct
title of the workshop when submitting their proposal. For more
information on submission modalities, please see:
https://llcd2026.sciencesconf.org/resource/page/id/4
Workshop Organizers:
Sonja Riesberg
CNRS-LACITO
sonja.riesberg at cnrs.fr
Yvonne Treis
CNRS-LLACAN
yvonne.treis at cnrs.fr

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