Events
Symposium on Empirical Approaches to Meaning and Structure
Full Title: Symposium on Empirical Approaches to Meaning and Structure
Date: 21-Nov-2025 – 23-Nov-2025
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Meeting Email: seams2025@ucy.ac.cy
Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics; Neurolinguistics; Psycholinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics; Typology
As part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ONISILOS COFUND project ‘Gradience in Polarity Morphology and Diglossia’ (GraPMoD, Agreement No. 101034403), we are pleased to announce a two-day symposium. The Symposium on Empirical Approaches to Meaning and Structure (SEAMS) will take place on site at the University of Cyprus in Nicosia on November 22–23, 2025.
SEAMS will be a hybrid event, allowing participation and attendance from colleagues worldwide. It is designed as a forum for exchanging ideas and advancing our understanding of how empirical research can shed light on meaning and structure. We invite abstracts that address any topic relevant to empirical methods of meaning and structure across multiple language families.
Invited speakers:
– Benjamin Spector (CNRS & École Normale Supérieure)
– Masaya Yoshida (ICREA & Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Description:
SEAMS brings together researchers using empirical methods to investigate structure and meaning in language, with an intended focus on understudied or minority languages. The symposium aims to promote the inclusion of diverse data sources that are often underrepresented in theoretical debates. Such contributions are especially valuable for testing the robustness of existing frameworks, uncovering new empirical generalizations, and expanding our understanding of the cognitive and social dimensions of language. By highlighting a broad range of methodologies, from experimental techniques (e.g., eye-tracking, self-paced reading, neuroimaging, acceptability rating) to corpus studies and computational modeling, SEAMS aims to foster dialogue across theoretical and methodological traditions. We encourage contributions that provide empirical insights as well as explore how such evidence informs linguistic theory, supports cross-linguistic comparison, and connects with related disciplines.