37.183, Confs: Panel at the 23rd International Conference on English Historical Linguistics: Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the History of the English Language (Italy)

Thu Jan 15 13:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-183. Thu Jan 15 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.183, Confs: Panel at the 23rd International Conference on English Historical Linguistics: Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the History of the English Language (Italy)

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Date: 14-Jan-2026
From: Catherine Wong [catherine.wong at sheffield.ac.uk]
Subject: Panel at the 23rd International Conference on English Historical Linguistics: Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the History of the English Language

Panel at the 23rd International Conference on English Historical
Linguistics: Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the History
of the English Language
Short Title: ICEHL 23
Theme: Themed Panel: Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the
History of the English Language

Location: Milan, Italy
Meeting URL: https://slin.unimi.it/icehl-23/call-for-papers-posters/

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics; Historical
Linguistics; Pragmatics; Semantics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Discursive Approaches to Semantic Change in the History of the English
Language
Panel at the 23rd International Conference on English Historical
Linguistics (ICEHL 23)
Milan, 15-18 June 2026
Convenors: Susan Fitzmaurice & Catherine Wong, The University of
Sheffield
The panel is an opportunity for English historical linguists to share
theoretical and methodological insights based upon the idea that
semantic change is rooted in pragmatic meaning and discursive context.
The principle underlying this idea is that meaning is both cognitive
and communicative in nature, such that we understand semantics as
meaning and pragmatics as use. This approach is foreshadowed in
nineteenth and twentieth century philological theories of meaning
change (e.g. Schleiermacher (1997); Darmesteter (1886); Paul (1891)).
The relationship of pragmatic and semantic domains of meaning have
since been formalised in the invited inference theory of semantic
change as developed byTraugott and her collaborators (e.g. Traugott &
Dasher, 2002). Fitzmaurice and Mehl (2026) offer an exploratory
treatment of a pragmatic discursive theory of semantic change.
The panel participants will explore the implications for theories of
semantic change of approaches that do not begin with the lexical item
(semasiology) or the concept (onomasiology) but with discourse. In
this session, panellists will address the location of meaning in
discourse and demonstrate how to identify those meanings that do not
attach to individual lexical items but which reside in the
associations between items in the stream of discourse. This
perspective affords the opportunity to examine how discursive meaning
is susceptible to change and volatility, and how it is shaped by time
and by discursive context.
Contributors will be invited to draw on innovative digital and
computational methods for studying meaning change in the history of
English, exploring patterns and processes of semantic change across
diverse corpora and datasets. We anticipate the panellists will apply
a range of computational informed approaches afforded in order to
develop new accounts of semantic change in English that foreground
discourse as a primary site of meaning construction and change.
References:
Darmesteter, A. 1886. The life of words as symbols of ideas.
Translator unnamed. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.
Fitzmaurice, S. and S. Mehl, 2026. The History of Semantic Change. In
J. Beal (ed.) Volume 3, The New Cambridge History of the English
Language. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 572-597.
Paul, H., 1891. Principles of the history of language. Trans. by H. A.
Strong. London: Longman, Greens, & Co.
Schleiermacher, F. D. E., 1977. Hermeneutik und Kritik; miteinem
Anhang sprachphilosophischer Texte Schleiermachers, hrsg. und
eingeleited von Manfred Frank. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp
Traugott, E.C. and R. Dasher, 2002, Regularity in Semantic Change.
Cambridge University Press.
Format:
To maximise the collective discussion, this panel will be organised as
a series of 10-minute lightning talks, followed by an extended
roundtable discussion. Speakers are encouraged to present focused
arguments, methodological provocations, or exploratory findings that
can serve as a basis for shared reflection and debate.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
 - Discursive and pragmatic approaches to semantic change
 - Meaning in use beyond the lexical item
 - Associations, inference, and meaning construction in historical
discourse
 - Relationships between pragmatics and semantics in diachronic
perspective
 - Computational and digital methods for modelling semantic change
 - Concept-based, network-based, or discourse-driven approaches to
historical semantics
 - Methodological challenges in tracing discursive meaning over time
Submission Details:
Please submit an abstract within 300 words (excluding the references)
via the ICEHL 23 submission system, selecting this panel from the list
of accepted panels.
Please use the following link to submit your abstract:
https://submitabs.mzevents.it/evento/mFatoMdD5IeCL7UzpMIy11nluoYZsq62fiJu6WitFtU?lang=eng
Please follow this link to view the accepted panels:
https://slin.unimi.it/icehl-23/call-for-papers-posters/
We warmly encourage submissions from scholars at all career stages and
from a range of methodological and theoretical backgrounds.
For informal enquiries, please contact the convenors {s.fitzmaurice;
catherine.wong} @sheffield.ac.uk.

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