LAGB Spring Meeting 1999: University of Manchester First Circular and Call for Papers The 1999 Spring Meeting will be held from 8 to 10 April at Manchester University. The Local Organiser is Philippa Cook (mfux9phc@fs1.art.man.ac.uk). Manchester is England's third (or possibly second) biggest city and as such has facilities for any kind of music, dance, theatre, restaurants and cafes. Apart from a vibrant city centre, the city also benefits from the closeness to beautiful country side; the Lake district, the Peak district and the mountains of North Wales are all within easy reach for day trips. Manchester can be easily accessed by road or by rail and just south of the city is a major intrnational airport with good rail connections with the city centre. The University of Manchester, including the Hall of Residence where the conference will be held, is situated just south of the city centre and there are busses in both directions every few minutes. Accommodation: Accommodation as well as all talks, book displays etc. will be in Hulme Hall, a Hall of Residence, less than ten minutes walk from the main University campus. All bedrooms are single, and there is a choice between rooms with en suite facilities and rooms with shared bathrooms/showers. Travel: The University of Manchester is about five minutes drive from junction 9 of the ring road M60 which is accessible from the M6 (north or south) and the M62 (north east). There are frequent (and often direct) trains to Manchester Piccadilly (or Manchester Victoria) from most big cities in Britain. The train journey from London takes about two and a half hour. The airport is less than half an hours drive from the Hall of residence and it also has excellent train connections with the city centre. Events: The Linguistics Association 1999 Lecture on Thursday evening will be delivered by Professor John McCarthy of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Professor McCarthy will also be participating in a Workshop on 'Applications of Optimality Theory to problems in prosody and morphology' on Thursday afternoon. The workshop is organised by Wiebke Brockhaus (University of Manchester); other contributors are Caroline Fery (Eberhard-Karls-Universitaet), Ren=C7 Kager (Universiteit Utrecht) and Nicholas Sherrard (University of Essex). There will be a Language Tutorial on Turkish, given by Jaklin Kornfilt (University of Syracuse). There will be a Wine Party on the Tuesday evening, sponsored by the Department of Linguistics. 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 January. CALL FOR PAPERS The LAGB warmly welcomes submissions on any topic within the field of linguistics - theoretical, descriptive or historical - regardless of theoretical framework. Abstracts must arrive by 6 January 1999 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 natu= re. 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 6 January 1999. 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. 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, Dept. 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. =46uture Meetings: Autumn 1999 University of York. Spring 2000 University College London. Autumn 2000 University of Durham Spring 2001 University of Leeds Autumn 2001 University of Reading 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. 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. N.B.Kersti Borjars's term as Membership Secretary is reaching its end, and she has indicated that she does not want to stand again. Therefore, the LAGB would like to receive nominations for a new Membership Secretary. If you are interested, please contact Dick Hudson at the above address.