Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the second call for papers for the 2026 edition of the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG) conference, to be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 7–10 April 2026. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.About the Conference https://evolang2026.org

The Evolution of Language (EVOLANG) conference series is the leading international forum for researchers investigating the origins and evolution of language. Contributions are invited from all relevant disciplines, including—but not limited to—anthropology, archaeology, biology, cognitive science, genetics, linguistics, computational modelling (mathematical, agent-based, and neural-network approaches), palaeontology, physiology, primatology, philosophy, semiotics, and psychology.

The 2026 edition of EVOLANG will feature invited talks by Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin, USA), Katie Slocombe (University of York, UK) and Alessandro Treves (SISSA, Italy). Full details: https://sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/evolang2026/invited-speakers

EVOLANG 2026 will also host six thematic workshops: Primary Iconic Coinage in Spoken Languages • AI in Language Evolution • Great-Ape Pragmatics • Swarm Robotics for the Study of Language Emergence • Triangulating Human Diversity through Linguistic, Biological and Socio-Cultural Differences • The Geography of Linguistic Evolution Details: https://sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/evolang2026/workshops .

The conference will take place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria—often described as Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited city, renowned for its rich historical layers and lively cultural scene. Plovdiv offers affordable accommodation and excellent transport links by land and air, including daily low-cost flights to nearby Sofia and direct flights from London, Milan, and Bratislava.

Bulgaria is an EU member state, part of the Schengen Area, and is expected to have joined the Eurozone by the time of the conference.

2. Submission Link and Deadline

The deadline for submissions to EvoLang XVI (Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 7–10 April 2026) is 26 October 2025 (Anywhere on Earth). Submit via OpenReview: https://openreview.net/group?id=EVOLANG.org/2026/Conference

3. Submission Guidance

Submissions must meet normal standards of academic excellence. Papers should clearly state how they advance the study of language evolution and relate their findings to up-to-date scientific literature. Each submission should articulate:

- the substantive claim being made, - the method by which that claim is supported, and - the nature of the relevant data and/or theoretical argument.

Empirical studies should be based on completed analyses, not preliminary results. All submissions are peer-reviewed by at least three experts, and acceptance decisions are based on a scoring scheme that aggregates reviewers’ reports.

In recent conferences, the acceptance rate has been around 50%. EVOLANG features both oral and poster presentations.

Please read the submission guidelines and consult the templates provided before uploading your paper. Alongside your submission, you will be asked to supply a 150-word summary of your contribution. Submissions that lack clear relevance to the field or that fail to adhere to the formatting requirements may be rejected without review.

If you experience any difficulties with the submission system, please contact: scientific-committee@evolang.org

The conference language will be English, with additional accessibility support in the form of captions.

All submission information and templates are available here:

https://sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/evolang2026/submission

The Evolang 2026 team evolang2026@gmail.com

Disclaimer: http://www.york.ac.uk/docs/disclaimer/email.htm