An international conference at the Ferring Stiftung Alkersum on the island of Föhr (Germany) 8.-10. September 2027 with plenary talks by Silvia dal Negro (Freie Universität Bozen / Bolzano),  Ruth Kircher (European Centre for Minority Studies, Flensburg / Flensborg) and Hans Boas (University of Texas, Austin).

A key question in the sociolinguistics of minority and minoritized language varieties concerns the question of how to handle linguistic variation in the context of language planning. In recognizing that prestige planning is an important tool for the promotion of smaller languages, scholars and language activists are equally aware that by codifying certain features and varieties, other existing markers become downgraded, stigmatized or even excluded from a language. For this conference we invite contributions to discuss the following issues with respect to any regional languages, minority languages, or dialects:

• Metalinguistic debates on the perception of discrepancies between norms and usage (language decay, purism, complaint tradition)
• Practical considerations of codifying a language as is, rather than as it should be (e.g. lexicography, grammatography)
• Functions of language norms in dissemination of language (norm authorities, New Speakers, intergenerational issues)
• New ways of describing language use (digitalization, AI)
• Public use vs private use (education, media)

Abstracts of 120-200 words in English or German to be submitted by December 31^st, 2026 to Robert Kleih, Director of the Ferring Stiftung (r.kleih@ferring-stiftung.de)

The Organising Committee: Robert Kleih (Ferring Stiftung), Nils Langer (Europa Universität Flensburg), Christoph Winter (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel), Christoph G. Schmidt (Nordfriisk Instituut)