e-Onomastics: Full Call for Papers: Eighth International Symposium on Place Names (ISPN 2025)

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Full Call for Papers: Eighth International Symposium on Place Names (ISPN 2025)

Theme: Harmonising Toponymic Heritage: Balancing Standardisation and Local Diversity

📅 Date: 26–29 November 2025
📍 Location: Clarens, South Africa (In-person event)
📩 Abstract submission deadline: 4 April 2025
✉️ Submission email: kongresETFB@ufs.ac.za
🔗 Join ISPN LinkedIn Group: https://lnkd.in/d8brHAMR

About the Symposium

The Eighth International Symposium on Place Names (ISPN 2025), hosted by the Department of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the University of the Free State (RSA), in collaboration with the Joint ICA/IGU Commission on Toponymy and the ICOS Working Group on Toponymy, invites scholars to explore critical issues in place-name standardisation and cultural diversity.

Place names play a dual role: they serve as geospatial indicators of locations while simultaneously acting as cultural artifacts that preserve historical and linguistic heritage. This dual function creates tensions between standardisation and local naming practices, especially in multilingual and multicultural societies. While standardisation ensures effective communication and record-keeping, it may also marginalise indigenous and minority place names, limiting linguistic diversity.

With the theme "Harmonising Toponymic Heritage: Balancing Standardisation and Local Diversity," ISPN 2025 will examine:
✔ The symbolic and functional importance of place names,
✔ Challenges in standardising place names while preserving local linguistic diversity,
✔ The impact of socio-linguistic, historical, and political factors on naming conventions, and
✔ The role of minority, indigenous, and sign languages in place-name research.

We encourage interdisciplinary approaches and contributions from linguistics, geography, history, cultural studies, and digital humanities.

Call for Papers: Suggested Topics

We invite papers on (but not limited to) the following research areas:
✔ Recognition beyond standardisation: Indigenous and minority place names.
✔ Best practices for standardising, managing, and researching multiple place names.
✔ Diversity in place names from multi-socio-linguistic contexts.
✔ Harmonising toponymic heritage in multicultural and multilingual societies.
✔ Adequate representation of place-name diversity in texts and maps.
✔ Theoretical and methodological approaches to standardisation.
✔ Other dimensions of place names, including:

Administrative, commercial, or economic aspects
Cultural and historical/commemorative significance
Physical, political, and linguistic perspectives

Abstract Submission Guidelines

📌 Word Limit: 250 words
📌 Deadline: 4 April 2025
📌 Submission Email: kongresETFB@ufs.ac.za
📌 Format: Abstracts must include:

Introduction: Research question(s) and the significance of the study.
Theoretical framework: Perspective, literature, and connection to research questions.
Methodology: Research strategies and justification.
(Preliminary) Findings: Expected or confirmed results.

Only in-person presentations will be accepted. Selected papers may be considered for publication in an accredited proceedings series.

Keynote Speakers

🎤 Prof. Sambulo Ndlovu (University of Eswatini, Eswatini / Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe)
🎤 Bill Watt (PlaceNames Australia)

Special Workshop

📌 Title: Signed Toponymy: Conducting Ethical Research in Deaf Communities
📌 Presenter: Dr. Patrick Sibanda (University of the Free State, RSA)

Important Dates

✔ Abstract submission deadline: 4 April 2025
✔ Scientific Panel feedback: 2 May 2025
✔ Registration opens: 28 February 2025
✔ Registration closes: 3 October 2025
✔ Proof of payment deadline: 24 August 2025

Venue & Registration

📍 Location: The symposium will be held in Clarens, South Africa (face-to-face event).
💳 Registration Fees: To be announced. Fees include meals, conference dinner, and workshop access. Excursion fees are separate.