Introduction

Conditionals – Theory, Typology, Diachrony and Corpora

INALCO, rue des Grands Moulins, Paris 13, France

For centuries, philosophers and logicians have examined conditional constructions—statements of the form “if A, then B”—in natural languages, yielding numerous insights. However, we still do not have a complete understanding of conditional constructions and their fundamental relationship to reasoning, specifically the process of inferring B from A. Recently, scholars from fields such as logic, linguistics, cognitive science, corpora, and artificial intelligence have begun to shed new light on this area of research.

We are organizing a thematic school with a strong interdisciplinary focus centered on linguistics, logic, the role of diachrony in conditional constructions, and corpus studies. Following three successful thematic schools in 2019, 2022, and 2024, the upcoming Conditionals school will take place at INALCO in Paris from October 26 to 30, 2026.

While the school primarily aims to provide French researchers with the latest developments in the logical, linguistic, and cognitive aspects of conditional constructions, it is also open to researchers from around the globe. All are cordially invited to join us! All participants will have the opportunity to present their research work during the poster sessions.

The faculty will include prominent academics such as Hadil Karawani (Konstanz), Stefan Kaufmann (Connecticut), Dean McHugh (Edinburgh), Ezra la Roi (Ghent and Leuven), and Alex Reuneker (Leiden). This comprehensive five-day training program will promote the development and dissemination of research on conditional constructions. The event is financially supported by CNRS, InIdex-EFL, LLF, INALCO and PLIDAM.