37.196, Confs: NUMBES Symposium: Numbers, Motion and Multimodality (Spain)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-196. Fri Jan 16 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.196, Confs: NUMBES Symposium: Numbers, Motion and Multimodality (Spain)

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Date: 14-Jan-2026
From: NUMBES Symposium organising team [numbes at um.es]
Subject: NUMBES Symposium: Numbers, Motion and Multimodality


NUMBES Symposium: Numbers, Motion and Multimodality
Short Title: NUMBES Symposium
Theme: Representing abstract concepts through metaphor

Date: 28-May-2026 - 29-May-2026
Location: Cabo de Palos (Murcia, Spain), Spain
Meeting URL: http://eventos.um.es/go/numbes

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Semantics; Text/Corpus
Linguistics; Translation; Typology

Submission Deadline: 31-Jan-2026

We are pleased to announce the NUMBES Symposium: Numbers, Motion and
Multimodality, which will take place in Cabo de Palos (Murcia, Spain)
on 28–29 May 2026.
The symposium theme, Representing abstract concepts through metaphor,
places a particular emphasis on the conceptualization of number, while
also inviting an interdisciplinary discussion at the crossroads of
linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, gesture studies, and
cultural analysis, including contributions on other abstract domains
related to metaphor, motion, and multimodality.
Event page: http://eventos.um.es/go/numbes
Overview:
Numbers, Motion and Multimodality provides a forum for exploring how
abstract concepts —particularly numerical concepts— are developed,
represented, and communicated across languages and modalities.
Adopting a multimodal and cross-linguistic perspective, the symposium
highlights:
 - the role of embodied cognition in numerical understanding,
 - the impact of cultural variation on abstract conceptualization,
 - the ways in which metaphor, gesture, and spatial reasoning shape
how we think and talk about numbers.
Numerical information permeates public and private discourse —from
news and science communication to education, policy, and everyday
decisions. Yet despite its centrality, research on how numbers are
conceptualized remains limited. NUMBES aims to foster reflection,
collaboration, and theoretical development to address this gap.
A special focus of the symposium will be the social implications of
numerical conceptualization, including its impact on learning,
accessibility, and social inclusion.
The event will be held at Sub Up Hostel (Cabo de Palos, Murcia) and
will feature invited plenary talks, each approximately one hour long,
as well as poster sessions welcoming a wide range of contributions
(experimental, corpus-based, theoretical, and applied).
Call for Posters:
We invite proposals for posters presenting original research related
to the symposium themes.
Call opens: 1 December 2025
Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2026
Language: English
Poster sessions are open to researchers working on:
 - Multimodal approaches to metaphor and number conceptualisation
 - Embodiment and numerical cognition
 - Experimental approaches to abstract concepts
 - Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural differences in number concepts
 - Numerical cognition in educational settings
 - Social impact of number conceptualization
 - Data communication and numerical integration in discourse
 - Spatial–numerical associations
 - Translation studies on metaphor, motion, or number
 - General magnitude systems (e.g., A Theory of Magnitude)
Plenary Speakers:
Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano (University of Zaragoza)
Javier Valenzuela (University of Murcia)
Bodo Winter (University of Birmingham)
Christopher Hart (Lancaster University)
Rafael Núñez (University of California San Diego)
Martha Alibali (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Venue:
Sub Up Hostel
C/ Amoladeras, 13–15
30370 Cabo de Palos (Murcia, Spain)



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