Language typology and language evolution are dynamic fields, driven in part by the work of early-career researchers. Emerging Topics in Typology (ETT) is an international conference series organised by and for PhD students working in linguistic typology. Previous editions have been hosted by leading institutions such as the University of Helsinki (2021), Stockholm University (2024), and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (2025). The conference provides a platform for presenting innovative work in progress and for fostering international collaboration.

A core feature of ETT is its mentoring system. Each accepted talk is assigned a senior researcher with relevant expertise, who serves as a mentor and provides feedback to the speaker prior to the conference.

ETT 2026 will take place in Mainz, Germany, 15–17 July 2026.

In line with the tradition of ETT, the conference welcomes submissions from all areas of linguistic typology. This year, we particularly encourage contributions addressing language variation and language change, inspired by the theme of the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of Germany (DGfS 2025), “Variation and Change”, held in Mainz.

• Dr Anna Sjöberg (Stockholm University)
• Dr Andreas Hölzl (University of Potsdam)
• Dr Luca Ciucci (University of Passau)

In addition to the invited keynote presentations, the conference will include an opening lecture by Prof. Dr. Walter Bisang.

Questions? Please send any queries regarding this conference to us here.