LINGUISTICS ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN Autumn Meeting 1998: University of Luton First Circular and Call for Papers The 1998 Autumn Meeting will be held from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 September at the University of Luton, on its Park Square Campus. The Local Organiser is Vlad Zegarac (vladimir.zegarac@Luton.ac.uk). The conference immediately follows the Relevance Theory Workshop, which takes place at the University of Luton from 8th to 10th September (for further information contact: S.Nicolle@mdx.ac.uk) Luton is the largest town in the county of Bedfordshire and is situated 30 miles north of London on the edge of the Chilterns. Luton is surrounded by pleasant countryside with famous walks such as the Icknield Way. Within easy reach of town are public parks for picnics, boating, mini-golf and more. By the late 19th century the town had become a centre for hat and lace manufatcure, but a century on Luton is chiefly known for its connections with the motor vehicle industry, as home of Vauxhall Motors. The Park Square Campus is located in the town centre, close to many pubs, restaurants and the Arndale Shopping Centre. The former Luton College of Higher Education was granted university status in 1993 and underwent significant expansion (a =A330 milion investment programme has provided new teaching, learning and residential facilities for about 15,000 students ). Part of this expansion was a new Faculty of Humanities, including a Department of Linguistics. Accommodation: will be in the University Halls of Residence, within 5-7 minutes walking distance from the Park Square bilding where the talks will take place. All bedrooms are single. Each bedroom is part of a flat, which consists of a bathroom, kitchen and five bedrooms. Travel: The University of Luton is at the hub of national and international travel networks. It is just off junction 10 of the M1. London Luton Airport is ten minutes away by car, and it taks five minutes to walk to the rail station (the Thaneslink rail network with direct trains to London Kings Cross and to Gatwick Airport). London Heathrow Airport is 40 minutes away (by car), and London Gatwick is an hour and a half from Luton either by car or by train. Events: The Henry Sweet Lecture 1998 on the Thursday evening will be delivered by Dan Sperber (CNRS, and CREA, ecole politechnique, Paris). There will be a Workshop on Experimental Pragmatics organised by Billy Clark (Middlesex University). There will be a Language Tutorial on Roshani, a Pamir language of the Eastern Iranian group of Indo-European, given by John Payne (University of Manchester). There will be a Wine Party on the Thursday evening, following Dan Sperber's lecture. Enquiries about the LAGB meeting should be sent to the Meetings Secretary (address below). Full details of the programme and a booking form will be included in the Second Circular, to be sent out in June. Call for Papers: Members and potential guests are invited to offer papers for the Meeting; abstracts are also accepted from non-members. The LAGB welcomes submissions on any linguistics or linguistics-related topic. Abstracts must arrive by 5 June 1998 and should be sent in the format outlined below to the following address: Professor R. Hudson, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Papers for the programme are selected anonymously - only the President knows the name of the authors. Abstracts must be presented as follows: submit SEVEN anonymous copies of the abstract, plus ONE with name and affiliation, i.e. CAMERA-READY. The complete abstract containing your title and your name must be no longer than ONE A4 page (21cm x 29.5cm/8.27" x 11.69") with margins of at least 2.5cm (1") on all sides. You may use single spacing and type must be no smaller than 12 point. Type uniformly in black and make any additions in black. Use the best quality printer you can, since if the paper is accepted the abstract will be photocopied and inserted directly into the collection of abstracts sent out to participants. WRITE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE ON THE BACK OF THE ABSTRACT WHICH HAS YOUR NAME ON. The following layout should be considered as standard: (title) Optimality and the Klingon vowel shift (speaker) Clark Kent (institution) Department of Astrology, Eastern Mars University The following guidelines may be useful: 1. Briefly state the topic of your paper. 2. If your paper is to involve an analysis of linguistic material, give critical examples, along with a brief indication of their critical nature. 3. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future development of the field. If you are taking a stand on a controversial issue, summarise the arguments which lead you to take up this position. The normal length for papers delivered at LAGB meetings is 25 minutes (plus 15 minutes discussion). Offers of squibs (10 minutes) or longer papers (40 minutes) will also be considered: please explain why your paper requires less or more time than usual. N.B. ABSTRACTS SUBMISSION DATES: These are always announced in the First Circular for the Meeting in question. Any member who fears that they may receive the First Circular too late to be able to submit an abstract before the deadline specified can be assured that an abstract received by the President by JANUARY 1 or JUNE 1 will always be considered for the next meeting. Conference Bursaries: There will be a maximum of 10 bursaries available to unsalaried members of the Association (e.g. PhD students) with preference given to those who are presenting a paper. Applications should be sent to the President, and must be received by 5 June 1998. Please state on your application: (a) date of joining the LAGB; (b) whether or not you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student; (c) if a student, whether you receive a normal grant; (d) if not a student, your employment situation. STUDENTS WHO ARE SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT and wish to apply for funding should include all the above details WITH THEIR ABSTRACT. Nominations for speakers: Nominations are requested for future guest speakers; all suggestions should be sent to the Honorary Secretary. Changes of address: Members are reminded to notify the Membership Secretary (address below) of changes of address. An institutional address is preferred; bulk mailing saves postage. Committee members: President Professor Richard Hudson, Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, LONDON, WC1E 6BT. E-mail: dick@ling.ucl.ac.uk Honorary Secretary Professor Anna Siewierska, Department of Linguistics, University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, LANCASTER LA1 4YW. E-mail: a.siewierska@lancaster.ac.uk Membership Secretary Dr. Kersti B=F6rjars, Department of Linguistics, University of Manchester, MANCHESTER M13 9PL. E-mail: k.e.borjars@manchester.ac.uk Meetings Secretary Dr. Marjolein Groefsema, Department of Linguistics, University of Hertfordshire, Watford Campus, ALDENHAM, Herts. WD2 8AT. E-mail: m.groefsema@herts.ac.uk Treasurer Dr. Paul Rowlett, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Salford, SALFORD M5 4WT. E-mail: p.a.rowlett@mod-lang.salford.ac.uk Assistant Secretary Dr. April McMahon, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, CAMBRIDGE CB3 9DQ. E-mail: AMM11@hermes.cam.ac.uk Internet home page: The LAGB internet home page is now active at the following address: http://clwww.essex.ac.uk/LAGB. Electronic network: Please join the LAGB electronic network which is used for disseminating LAGB information and for consulting members quickly. It can be subscribed to by sending the message "add lagb" to: listserv@postman.essex.ac.uk. Fuuture Meetings: 8-10 April 1999 University of Manchester. 7-9 September 1999 University of York. Spring 2000 (provisional) University College London. Autumn 2000 (provisional) University of Wales, Bangor. The Meetings Secretary would very much like to receive offers of future venues, particularly from institutions which the LAGB has not previously visited or from places with newly established linguistics programmes.