New Ways of Analysing Variation

About NWAV-AP

New Ways of Analyzing Variation - Asia Pacific (NWAV-AP) is the Asia Pacific regional sister conference of the long-standing New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV) conference, one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field of sociolinguistics, with a particular emphasis on quantitative, empirical, and variationist approaches to language. NWAV-AP is a major international conference held every two to three years that brings together researchers studying how language varies and changes in real-life settings, focusing on research in the Asia and Pacific region. Since its founding in 2011 at the University of Delhi, with a keynote address by the field’s founding figure, William Labov, NWAV-AP has become the leading platform in the region for scholars exploring how language reflects identity, social change, and cultural contact. Topics span a wide range: from how people adjust their speech in different social settings, to how languages evolve in multilingual cities, to how communities hold onto or reshape their linguistic heritage.

Over the past decade, NWAV-AP has been hosted in key cities such as Tokyo, Wellington, Singapore, and Bangkok, showcasing the region’s rich linguistic diversity and global scholarly leadership. Despite Hong Kong’s vibrant multilingual culture and strong research community, the city has never hosted NWAV-AP. Bringing this conference to Hong Kong marks a historic first, opening new opportunities for regional collaboration and global visibility. NWAV-AP is not just a gathering of experts. It is a space where both emerging and established scholars share cutting-edge research, build networks, and shape the future of sociolinguistic inquiry across Asia and the Pacific.