PUBLICATIONS
* = Peer-reviewed
๐: Monograph/Special Issue
๐: Book chapter
๐: Article
๐: Book review
โ๏ธ: Working Paper/Protocol
๐: Thesis
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Gignac, Nicolas. (forthcoming). Do We All Speak the Same Reality? The New Life of Linguistic Relativity. Babel The Language Magazine -
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Gignac, Nicolas. forthcoming. Eine deutsch-franzรถsische Kontinuitรคt in den Reflexionen รผber sprachliche Bedeutung im 19. Jahrhundert. Brรฉals Essai (1897) und Reisigs Vorlesungen (1839). Beitrรคge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft. -
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Gignac, Nicolas. forthcoming. Revisiting Semantic Plurality I: Mapping the Terminology around Semantic Plurality in Nineteenth-Century French and German Scholarly Works. Language & History -
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Introduction
Neological (non-)diffusion factors are defined and operationalized heterogeneously across a limited and fragmented body of research, are rarely systematically inventoried, and are seldom examined jointly, hindering cumulative understanding of (non-)diffusion processes.Objectives
To systematically inventory the linguistic and extralinguistic factors associated with neological (non-)diffusion; to examine how these factors and related constructs are defined and operationalized; and to assess their distribution and co-occurrence across two publication languages, research disciplines, and time periods.Inclusion criteria
Peer-reviewed and grey literature will be considered. Eligible sources must have produced since 1952, be written in English or French, and address one or more (extra-)linguistic factors associated with neological (non-)diffusion. Both empirical and theoretical contributions will be included.Methods
The review will follow the JBI methodology for scoping reviews, with reporting guided by PRISMA-ScR. Language-specific search strategies will be applied in Web of Science, LLBA, CMMC, Sociological Abstracts, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and selected French-language databases (รrudit and Cairn). Searches will combine near-synonyms of the word neologism (e.g. lexical innovation) with (non-)diffusion-related terms (e.g., diffusion, implantation). Given the anticipated volume (n โ 10,000+), title and abstract screening will be semi-automated using ASReview. Forward and backward citation chaining will also be conducted. After instrument calibration, data charting will use a hybrid workflow combining human extraction, AI-assisted second rating, and targeted manual verification. A key analysis will be decomposing factor definitions and grouping them to identify recurring patterns and points of convergence or divergence.Discussion
By synthesizing evidence across disciplines and languages, this review will provide a systematic inventory of the linguistic and extralinguistic factors associated with neological (non-)diffusion, together with an account of how these factors have been defined and operationalized. In doing so, it will render the existing evidence base more comparable and cumulatively usable, and provide a reference framework for future empirical research.๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐
Frazer-McKee, Gabriel, Emmanuelle Paquette Raynard, Nicolas Gignac et al. 2026. Linguistic and extralinguistic factors associated with neological (non-)diffusion: A protocol for a scoping review of the English- and French-language literatures (1952-2026) [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. F1000Research, 15:984 -
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La publication dโactes de colloque รฉtudiant reprรฉsente un dรฉfi important, tant sur le plan logistique que mรฉthodologique, et demeure encore peu documentรฉe dans les milieux acadรฉmiques. Ce texte sโappuie sur lโexpรฉrience รฉditoriale de lโรฉdition 2024 des Journรฉes de linguistique (JDL), dont les actes ont รฉtรฉ publiรฉs en environ 13 mois โ un dรฉlai comparable ร ceux observรฉs entre 1987 et 2011, qui avait cessรฉ dโรชtre la norme ces derniรจres annรฉes en raison de dรฉfis structurels. Aprรจs avoir prรฉsentรฉ certains enjeux propres ร lโรฉdition รฉtudiante (manque de formation, roulement des รฉquipes, absence de cadre pรฉrenne), nous proposons un post-mortem synthรฉtique de lโรฉvolution des actes des JDL entre 1987 et 2024. Sur la base de cette expรฉrience, nous esquissons un modรจle รฉditorial concret, mis ร lโessai en 2024, structurรฉ autour de la faisabilitรฉ et de quatre piliers interdรฉpendants : les personnes (rรดles et responsabilitรฉs), les processus (planification, รฉvaluation, coordination), les produits (outils rรฉdactionnels et modรจles standardisรฉs) et les technologies (plateformes de collaboration, systรจmes de suivi). Sans prรฉtendre offrir une solution universelle, cette dรฉmarche entend partager des repรจres adaptables et reproductibles, susceptibles de soutenir les futures รฉquipes รฉtudiantes des JDL ou dโautres projets รฉditoriaux comparables.
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Frazer-McKee, Gabriel, Nicolas Gignac & Linda Wong. 2025. Publier ses actes de colloque en โ12 mois : guide ร lโintention des รฉditeurยทtriceยทs รฉtudiantยทeยทs. Actes des Journรฉes de linguistique, 1, iv-xxiii. -
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Gignac, Nicolas. 2025. Review of Les origines de la sรฉmantique de Franz Bopp ร Michel Brรฉal by Gabriel Bergounioux (Limoges: Lambert-Lucas, 2024). HL https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00177.gig.
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Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to clarify how EMBODIMENT (embodiment and its terminological and conceptual variants) is defined, named/designated, and conceptualised in linguistic literature written in English, French, and German.Introduction: The notion of EMBODIMENT in linguistics, particularly in cognitive linguistics, plays a central role in understanding how human-specific bodily experience influences language and meaning. Despite its foundational role in modern semantic studies, a systematic synthesis of how EMBODIMENT is understood in linguistics remains absent. This review seeks to address that gap by mapping the scope and variation in EMBODIMENT definitions/conceptualisations across key linguistic traditions.
Inclusion criteria: The review will include all publications from linguistics and related fields that engage with the notion of EMBODIMENT within the context of metalinguistic discourse or analysis. Only studies published in English, French, or German will be considered. Publications that use the term embodiment or a terminological or conceptual variant (e.g., embodied cognition) without engaging in definitional or metalinguistic discussions will be excluded.
Methods: A comprehensive search will be conducted in various major databases, including Web of Science (WOS), Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA), Education Source, MLA International Bibliography, and Academic Search Premier (ASP). The study selection will be guided by predefined criteria, and data extraction will be performed using Covidence. The results will be analysed qualitatively and presented in both tabular and narrative formats, with visual mapping to highlight trends and variations across linguistic traditions.
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Gignac, Nicolas, Anthony Lemire & Emmanuelle Paquette Raynard. 2025. Embodiment in English-, French- and German language linguistic literature: A scoping review protocol. Freiburg: Universitรคt Freiburg. https://doi.org/10.6094/UNIFR/268373. -
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Proceedings of the 37th Journรฉes de linguistique at the Universitรฉ Laval, Quebec City, March 6-7, 2024.๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐
Frazer-McKee, Gabriel, Nicolas Gignac & Linda Wong, eds. 2024. Actes Des Journรฉes De Linguistique, vol. 1: Actes des XXXVIIes Journรฉes de linguistique (6 et 7 mars 2024). https://doi.org/10.70637/5egyvv94. -
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The current literature on the history of semantics focuses on the epistemological development of theories of word formation and meaning change. However, the interest in this mainly theoretical development reveals a blind spot, namely the establishment of a set of signs surrounding the notion of semantic plurality (commonly referred to as polysemy since the late 19th century). The present lexical semantics study aims to understand how nineteenth-century French and German scholars โ the main instigators of research on lexical meaning โ lexically, semantically, and conceptually grasped this plurality of meanings before its formalization at the end of the century. The study is based on a 19th-century corpus of 16 German and 14 French texts. The results and their interpretation highlight, among other things, some discrepancies with the contemporary literature, and suggest that the establishment of this linguistic nomenclature associated with the notion of semantic plurality needs to be further refined. This put into perspective the conceptual pivot assumed by contemporary literature through the use of the term polysemy, popularized by Michel Brรฉal at the end of the 19th century; a pivot that suggests the prior lack of a proper linguistic conception of semantic plurality. This study thus fills the gap in the history of linguistics related to the terminological development around the notion of semantic plurality, as well as its semantic and conceptual understanding around the early formalization of 19th-century research into meaning, argues for a nuanced approach to the development of linguistic ideas, and illustrates how elements of corpus linguistics can be incorporated in (lexical) semantics and in the history of linguistics.๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐
Gignac, Nicolas. 2024. รtude lexico-sรฉmantique et historique de lโรฉmergence et du traitement de la notion de pluralitรฉ sรฉmantique en linguistique allemande et franรงaise au xixe siรจcle. Master thesis, Universitรฉ Laval. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20343.33440.
Publications in Progress
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Gignac, Nicolas. (submitted). Revisiting Semantic Plurality II: The Semantic Apprehension of a Plurality of Meanings in Nineteenth-Century French and German Linguistic Thought -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (submitted). Entre norme et usage : le continuum prescriptifโdescriptif dans la lexicographie franco-canadienne (1743โ1930) -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (submitted). Kontinuum statt Gegensatz: Norm und Gebrauch in der frankokanadischen Lexikographie (1743-1930) -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (under review). Vector Semantics and Human Cognition: AI as a Mirror for Theories of Meaning -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (under review). Embodied Minds as Thought Experiments: What Otherness Reveals About Language and Cognition -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (under review). Interfaces of Knowing: How Research Reshapes the Researcher -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (under review). Persi nel significato: osservazioni sulla pluralitร semantica dal XIX secolo al pensiero linguistico contemporaneo. -
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Gignac, Nicolas. (under review). Heptapod and the Boundaries of the Human: A Corpus-Linguistic Study on Embodiment and (Non-)Human Language. -
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Gignac, Nicolas & Emmanuelle Paquette Raynard. (under review). Rethinking the Narrative Review: A Structured Framework with Applications in Linguistics.
CURRICULUM VITร