HYDERABAD, JANUARY 21, 2026: The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, successfully hosted the 16th edition of the Students’ Conference of Linguistics in India (SCONLI-16), which concluded today after three days of intense academic deliberations, cross-disciplinary discussions, and wide participation from across India and abroad. Organised by the School of Language Sciences, the conference was held in academic collaboration with the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore.
The conference commenced with an inaugural session graced by the Vice-Chancellor of EFLU, Prof. N. Nagaraju, as the Chief Guest. The inaugural session was also attended by Prof. M. Hari Prasad, Registrar (I/C); Prof. Roopa Suzana, Dean(I/C), School of Language Sciences; L. R. Prem Kumar, CIIL Coordinator; and the faculty conveners of the conference, Anish Koshy and Atreyee Sharma.
Centred on the theme Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to South Asian Languages, SCONLI-16 brought together eminent researchers, academicians, and emerging scholars from universities, IITs, central and state institutions, and international research groups. A total of 35 research papers were presented in oral and poster presentation modes. These papers covered studies on both scheduled and non-scheduled languages and reflected a wide range of inquiries spanning theoretical linguistics, empirical research, and field-based linguistic studies, highlighting the rich linguistic diversity of South Asia.
The academic proceedings featured engaging plenary sessions by distinguished scholars. Gurujegan Murugesan, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, delivered a plenary talk on omnivorous patterns of person, number, and gender in Mundari languages. Somdev Kar, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, spoke on gemination patterns in Bangla and Old Tamil, while Parameswari Krishnamurthy from the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad highlighted the significance of linguistics in the domain of language and technology. In addition, a demonstrative workshop on Indian Sign Language, conducted by Samar Sinha from Sikkim University, added a valuable applied dimension to the conference.
The conference was successfully coordinated by the faculty conveners Anish Koshy and Atreyee Sharma, with the dedicated efforts of the team of volunteers, post-graduate students, research scholars of the school and the student conveners Bipasa Saha, Nitin Dravid and Pratibha Dongare. The conference reaffirmed EFLU’s role as a leading centre for linguistic research and academic exchange, fostering dialogue among scholars working on diverse linguistic traditions and methodologies.
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