The Government Phonology Round Table is the principal meeting of all phonologists who work, or are interested, in the largest alternative to constraint-based phonological frameworks: Government Phonology (GP), and other representation-based, “GP-friendly” approaches that are compatible with its basic tenets. GP subsumes its earlier, “classic” form together with Element Theory, and its more recent offsprings, GP2.0 and Strict CV Phonology.
The GPRT originally started out in 1997 as a bilateral forum for discussion between Government Phonologists in Vienna and Budapest. Then in the years 2002–2004, it developed into a regular gathering characterised by a relaxed atmosphere. It was organised each spring by the local teams of either Vienna or Budapest, who took it in turns to host. It ended up attracting speakers and an audience from all over Europe and inspiring discussions both inside and outside the conference room. The rebirth of this tradition was witnessed by the participants in Nova Gorica in 2008. Since then, GPRT’s have been regularly hosted in Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Nova Gorica and Ljubljana (Slovenia). The socio-economic-geographical nature of the location (Central Europe) has been a key contributing factor to the egalitarian nature of the GPRT, helping to bring together researchers from (truly) all corners of Europe.
This time, to widen the Central and Eastern European palette of venues, we decided to organise GPRT 2025 in Ružomberok, Slovakia, where no similar event had taken place before. We advertised a two-day event for 19–20 June 2025, to be organised by the Department of English Language and Literature of the Catholic University in Ružomberok. Thanks to the effective communication channels and professional connections established during the long tradition of the GPRT, we were able to activate scholars from a wide variety of research centres, so we eventually received participants from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia – even from as far as Japan. During the two days, we listened to 22 papers including a plenary lecture; we participated in lively discussions over sandwiches, coffee and snacks in the breaks; we enjoyed social programmes in the evenings: a welcome dinner, a sightseeing walk, and two conference dinners in local restaurants.
During the preparations, special attention was paid to involving emerging young scholars from various research centres, who were separately approached, either directly or through their supervisors, and encouraged to attend. Thanks to our efforts, seven of our speakers were early-career researchers (MA or PhD students, or recent PhD graduates).
The website of GPRT 2025, with the programme, participants and photos, is at https://www.ku.sk/fakulty-katolickej-univerzity/filozoficka-fakulta/katedry/katedra-anglickeho-jazyka-a-literatury/gprt-2025.
Scholars working in GP and GP-friendly frameworks are regular attendees of the GPRT and form a community in which both professional and personal connections are common and well-established. The meetings of the GPRT play an essential role in giving fruitful input and inspiration, sharing knowledge, maintaining existing connections and establishing new ones, and initiating young scholars in a relaxed but fully professional atmosphere. Therefore the Van Riemsdijk Foundation’s support of GPRT 2025 contributed a valuable and significant part to an event which fosters the exchange of ideas and professional networking in an extremely international setting that connects the east and the west in Europe, and even reaches somewhat beyond.