Call for articles Issue no. 5/2026: Special issue: Alexandru Cihac and the Legacy of Comparative Linguistics

2026-08-10

Special issue: Alexandru Cihac and the Legacy of Comparative Linguistics

Editors of this issue: Prof. Anca Gâță, Ph.D. (Institute of Romance Studies, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz) and Assoc. Prof. Romanița Constantinescu, Ph.D. (Institute of Romance Studies, Ruprecht-Karl University of Heidelberg)

HEROS Journal invites submissions of original research articles exploring the work, influence, and scholarly legacy of Alexandru Cihac. We welcome contributions from researchers interested in Romanian linguistics, the history of language, the cultural history of words, and related interdisciplinary fields.

This issue will feature a selection of papers presented at the ‘Alexandru Cihac – 200 Years Since His Birth’ Colloquium, held November 24-27, 2025, at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and organized by the Romanian language and literature departments at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and Ruprecht-Karls University in Heidelberg, under the auspices of the Institute of the Romanian Language in Bucharest.

HEROS journal also invites other researchers to submit articles on the work of Alexandru Cihac, on the intellectual context in which it was developed, or on the avenues of research that this self-taught polyglot pioneered.

This special issue of the HEROS journal aims to reassess Alexandru Cihac’s contribution to:

  • the emergence of Romanian linguistic comparativism;
  • the development of etymological and historical research on the Romanian language;
  • the establishment and consolidation of a relevant scholarly community;
  • the integration of Romanian linguistics into European academic networks;
  • the training and education of a broader audience;
  • the shaping of debates on the origin, structure, and evolution of the Romanian vocabulary;
  • promoting a culture of scholarly debate, including through Cihac’s work within the Junimea Society and through his published contributions in the journal Convorbiri literare.

We welcome studies directly devoted to the biography, work, and reception of Alexandru Cihac, as well as contributions that build upon, update, or critically discuss the research directions he pioneered. Proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following areas and topics:

  • historical and comparative linguistics;
  • the history of the Romanian language;
  • etymology and the history of etymological research;
  • relationships between the Romanian language and other languages;
  • lexicology and lexicography;
  • neology and processes of vocabulary modernization;
  • terminology and the circulation of scientific terminology;
  • historical semantics;
  • the cultural history of words;
  • the circulation, frequency, and stratification of vocabulary;
  • linguistic ideologies and the construction of national identity;
  • the history of comparative linguistics and philological disciplines;
  • the international reception of Romanian linguistics;
  • academic networks, scholarly correspondence, and knowledge transfer;
  • the sociology of science and academic communities;
  • the institutional history of philology and linguistics.

All submissions should present original research, demonstrate methodological rigour, and contribute meaningfully to current scholarly debates. We particularly encourage research that draws on archival sources, correspondence, manuscripts, periodicals, studies and essays in journals and literary magazines, and lesser-known documents, as well as research that places Cihac’s work in a European and transnational context. We also welcome contemporary methodological approaches and critical reevaluations of his work from the perspective of current linguistics, the history of ideas, cultural transfer studies, or the sociology of knowledge.

Submission Guidelines:

You are invited to submit articles by 15th October 2026 to the journal website at https://journals.helsinki.fi/heros, to the section Make a submission.

HEROS Journal also welcomes academic review articles or scientific book reviews.

The journal publishes articles in Romanian, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish.

The articles in Romanian shall be written with contemporary Romanian orthography.

Submission: The manuscript should be both in Microsoft Word format and as PDF, and submitted as an attachment to the journal’s site. 

Length: 4000-8000 words including abstract, keywords and bibliography

Fonts: Times New Roman 12 (TNR)

Line spacing: 1 (single)

Name of the author(s), affiliation, e-mail address, and ORCID: under the title. 

Please remember that each submission must be accompanied by a separate short biographical note on the author(s) in English. This applies equally to all co-authors of an article.

Title: both in the language of the article and in English

Abstract: 300-400 words, both in the language of the article and in English

Keywords: 5, under the abstract, in English

Citations: integrated into the text, placed between quotation marks. Preferably, excessively long citations are to be avoided.

For the writing and citation guidelines, consult the section Author guidelines.

Online ISSN 2984-5068 

Journal contact: heros-journal@helsinki.fi