New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV) is an annual North American academic conference in sociolinguistics. NWAV attracts researchers and students conducting linguistic scientific investigations into patterns of language variation, the study of language change in progress, and the interrelationship between language and society, including how language variation is shaped by and continually shapes societal institutions, social and interpersonal relationships, and individual and group identities.
The conference originated under the title New Ways of Analyzing Variation in English in October 1972 at Georgetown University; "English" was dropped from the conference title later as languages other than English entered the conference's focus. The most recent meeting, NWAV 53, was held in 2025 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, hosted by the University of Michigan. The 2026 meeting will be hosted by the Université de Montréal. The 2027 meeting will be hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Past conferences Year Title Location Host 2025 NWAV 53 Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan 2024 NWAV 52 Miami Beach, Florida Florida International University and University of Miami 2023 NWAV 51 New York City Queens College 2022 NWAV 50 San Jose, California Stanford University 2021 NWAV 49 online The University of Texas at Austin 2019 NWAV 48 Eugene, Oregon University of Oregon 2018 NWAV 47 New York City New York University and City University of New York 2017 NWAV 46 Madison, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison 2016 NWAV 45 Vancouver Simon Fraser University and University of Victoria 2015 NWAV 44 Toronto University of Toronto and York University 2014 NWAV 43 Chicago University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago 2013 NWAV 42 Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University 2012 NWAV 41 Bloomington, Indiana Indiana University, Bloomington 2011 NWAV 40 Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 2010 NWAV 39 San Antonio University of Texas, San Antonio 2009 NWAV 38 Ottawa University of Ottawa 2008 NWAV 37 Houston Rice University 2007 NWAV 36 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 2006 NWAV 35 Columbus, Ohio Ohio State University 2005 NWAV 34 New York City New York University 2004 NWAV 33 Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan 2003 NWAV 32 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 2002 NWAV 31 Stanford, California Stanford University 2001 NWAV 30 Raleigh, North Carolina North Carolina State University 2000 NWAV 29 East Lansing, Michigan Michigan State University 1999 NWAV 28 Toronto University of Toronto 1998 NWAV 27 Athens, Georgia University of Georgia 1997 NWAV 26 Quebec City Laval University 1996 NWAV 25 Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas 1995 NWAV 24 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 1994 NWAV 23 Stanford, California Stanford University 1993 NWAV 22 Ottawa University of Ottawa 1992 NWAV 21 Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan 1991 NWAV 20 Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1990 NWAV 19 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 1989 NWAV 18 Durham, North Carolina Duke University 1988 NWAV 17 Montreal University of Montreal 1987 NWAV 16 Austin, Texas University of Texas, Austin 1986 NWAV 15 Stanford, California Stanford University 1985 NWAV 14 Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1984 NWAV 13 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 1983 NWAVE 12 Montreal University of Montreal 1982 NWAVE 11 Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1981 NWAVE X Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 1980 NWAVE IX Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan 1979 NWAVE VIII Montreal University of Quebec, Montreal 1978 NWAVE VII Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1977 NWAVE VI Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1976 NWAVE V Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1975 NWAVE IV Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1974 NWAVE III Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1973 NWAVE II Washington, D.C. Georgetown University 1972 NWAVE I Washington, D.C. Georgetown University
See also New Ways of Analyzing Variation Asia-Pacific Dialectology Linguistics conferences Sociolinguistics Variable rules analysis
References
External links NWAV 40 (Archive) NWAV 43 website (Chicago, 2014) NWAV 44 website (Toronto, 2015) University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics (PWPL) NWAV@35 Retrospective (Originally published in the NWAV 35 Program Booklet; By David Durian, The Ohio State University, with a foreword by Roger Shuy) American Dialect Society NWAV 42 (Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh, 2013) NWAV 41 (Indiana University Bloomington, 2012) NWAV 39 (University of Texas, San Antonio, 2010) NWAV 38 (University of Ottawa, 2009) NWAV 36 (University of Pennsylvania, 2007) NWAV 35 (The Ohio State University, 2006)