PUBLICATIONS

* = Peer-reviewed

  • 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas. (forthcoming). Do We All Speak the Same Reality? The New Life of Linguistic Relativity. Babel The Language Magazine

  • 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas. forthcoming. Eine deutsch-französische Kontinuität in den Reflexionen über sprachliche Bedeutung im 19. Jahrhundert.  Bréals Essai (1897) und Reisigs Vorlesungen (1839). Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft.

  • 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧

    This paper examines how nineteenth-century French and German scholars mobilised semantic plurality in thirty key texts focused on linguistic meaning. Through historical and lexical-semantic analyses, the study traces how scholars from these linguistic traditions contributed to the construction of a terminology (understood as a ‘set of linguistic signs’) that has shaped contemporary understandings of semantic plurality (commonly referred to as polysemy since the end of the nineteenth century). By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the research identifies key terminological trends in how semantic plurality was put into text, showing that French discourse leaned towards literary and symbolic terms and expressions. At the same time, German scholarship adopted a more holistic, meaning-driven approach. These findings challenge prevailing views in the history of linguistics by emphasising the multidimensional nature of semantic plurality – of which polysemy is only one facet. The paper ultimately calls for a more nuanced, data-driven approach to studying the development of linguistic ideas and highlights the importance of historical perspectives for enriching contemporary semantic theory.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas. 2026. Revisiting semantic plurality I: mapping the terminology around semantic plurality in nineteenth-century French and German scholarly works. Language & History, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2026.2742691

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  • 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧

    La publication d’actes de colloque étudiant représente un défi important, tant sur le plan logistique que méthodologique, et demeure encore peu documentée dans les milieux académiques. Ce texte s’appuie sur l’expérience éditoriale de l’édition 2024 des Journées de linguistique (JDL), dont les actes ont été publiés en environ 13 mois – un délai comparable à ceux observés entre 1987 et 2011, qui avait cessé d’être la norme ces dernières années en raison de défis structurels. Après avoir présenté certains enjeux propres à l’édition étudiante (manque de formation, roulement des équipes, absence de cadre pérenne), nous proposons un post-mortem synthétique de l’évolution des actes des JDL entre 1987 et 2024. Sur la base de cette expérience, nous esquissons un modèle éditorial concret, mis à l’essai en 2024, structuré autour de la faisabilité et de quatre piliers interdépendants : les personnes (rôles et responsabilités), les processus (planification, évaluation, coordination), les produits (outils rédactionnels et modèles standardisés) et les technologies (plateformes de collaboration, systèmes de suivi). Sans prétendre offrir une solution universelle, cette démarche entend partager des repères adaptables et reproductibles, susceptibles de soutenir les futures équipes étudiantes des JDL ou d’autres projets éditoriaux comparables.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Frazer-McKee, Gabriel, Nicolas Gignac & Linda Wong. 2025. Publier ses actes de colloque en ≈12 mois : guide à l’intention des éditeur·trice·s étudiant·e·s. Actes des Journées de linguistique, 1, iv-xxiii.

    𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗

  • 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Revisiting Semantic Plurality II: The Semantic Apprehension of a Plurality of Meanings in Nineteenth-Century French and German Linguistic Thought

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Entre norme et usage : le continuum prescriptif↔descriptif dans la lexicographie franco-canadienne (1743–1930)

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Kontinuum statt Gegensatz: Norm und Gebrauch in der frankokanadischen Lexikographie (1743-1930)

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*La polysémie sans le mot. Formes de manifestation de la diversité sémantique dans la lexicographie française et canadienne-française entre la fin du xviiie siècle et le début du xxe siècle

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Persi nel significato: osservazioni sulla pluralità semantica dal XIX secolo al pensiero linguistico contemporaneo

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Rethinking the Narrative Review: A Structured Framework with Applications in Linguistics. Preprint: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6102345

Articles

  • 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas. (forthcoming). Heptapod and the Boundaries of the Human: A Corpus-Informed Reflection on embodiment and (Non-)Human Language.

  • 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Vector Semantics and Human Cognition: AI as a Mirror for Theories of Meaning

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Embodied Minds as Thought Experiments: What Otherness Reveals About Language and Cognition

    𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲┃𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸┃*Interfaces of Knowing: How Research Reshapes the Researcher

Book Chapters

  • 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘

    Gignac, Nicolas. 2025. Review of Les origines de la sémantique de Franz Bopp à Michel Bréal by Gabriel Bergounioux (Limoges: Lambert-Lucas, 2024). HL https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00177.gig.

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Book reviews

  • 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧
    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 (Érudit 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 ≈ 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.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    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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  • 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧
    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.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas, Anthony Lemire & Emmanuelle Paquette Raynard. 2025. Embodiment in English-, French- and German language linguistic literature: A scoping review protocol. Freiburg: Universität Freiburg. https://doi.org/10.6094/UNIFR/268373.

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Working Paper/Protocol

  • 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
    Proceedings of the 37th Journées de linguistique at the Université Laval, Quebec City, March 6-7, 2024.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Frazer-McKee, Gabriel, Nicolas Gignac & Linda Wong, eds. 2024. Actes Des Journées De Linguistique, vol. 1: Actes des XXXVIIes Journées de linguistique (6 et 7 mars 2024). https://doi.org/10.70637/5egyvv94.

    𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗

Editorial

  • 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧
    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 – the main instigators of research on lexical meaning – 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 Bréal 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.

    𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘
    Gignac, Nicolas. 2024. Étude lexico-sémantique et historique de l’émergence et du traitement de la notion de pluralité sémantique en linguistique allemande et française au xixe siècle. Master thesis, Université Laval. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20343.33440.

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Thesis

CURRICULUM VITÆ

Education
Grants, Honours, and Awards
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Peer-reviewed conference presentations
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