Download:

The Statutes can be downloaded as PDF-file by right clicking here: *download*

I - Name, Headquarters, Duration, Aims

Art. 1)  Name
An association has been created named: International Society for Dialectology and Geolinguistics (sidg). [2]

Art. 2)  Headquarters
At present, the SIDG has its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain: Departament de Filologia Catalana, Universitat de Barcelona, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585, E-08007 Barcelona. The SIDG headquarters can be transferred to any other place or country, upon decision of the extraordinary Assembly.

Art. 3)  Duration
The duration of the SIDG is unlimited.

Art. 4)  Aims
The SIDG is a non-profit organization. The aims of the SIDG are:

1. The international promotion of dialectology and geolinguistics, open to all theoretical and methodological approaches; the collaboration with all institutions concerned with dialectology and geolinguistics; the exchange of knowledge in the domain of dialectology and geolinguistics, in particular with regard to new theories and methods; the collaboration with all disciplines that contribute to the advancement of dialectology; the forming of groups united by particular scientific interests, under supervision of the central organs;
   
   
2. The support of international enterprises, in the first place of those already in progress, such as the Atlas Linguarum Europae, the Panslavic Atlas, the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada, and the linguistic-group atlases initiated within the ALE (Atlas Linguistique Roman, Germanic Linguistic Atlas, Celtic Linguistic Atlas, etc.);
   
   
3. The organization of an international congress of dialectology and geolinguistics, at least once every three years;
   
   
4. The publication of an international journal of dialectology and geolinguistics;
   
   
5. The preservation, in whatever form, of data, of dialects, of jargons and slangs, of termi­nologies of traditional trades and of any other linguistic forms associated with disap­pearing ways of life;
   
   
6. The assistance to groups of researchers interested in the recording and study of dialects;
   
7. The scientific study of minority languages and dialects, also with a view to their safe­guard, in conformity with the declaration of human rights.

 

 

II - Members

Art. 5)  Application for membership
For admission to the SIDG an introduction by two members is required, with subsequent approval at the next Assembly.
Apart from ordinary members the society has honorary, institutional, and supporting members. Honorary members are proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the Assembly.

Art. 6)  Members’ rights
All members have a right to:

• participate in the meetings organized by the SIDG;
• vote in the Assemblies, or by correspondence;
• present papers at the meetings and submit contributions to the journal, following the rules of the Internal Regulations;
• obtain a discount on the publications of the SIDG.
  

Art. 7)  Members’ duties
Members are obliged to:

• contribute to the achievement of the SIDG aims;
• respect the rules of the present Statutes and of the Internal Regulations;
• pay the yearly fee.

Art. 8)  Membership fee
The membership fee is fixed by the Assembly. Students pay a reduced fee.

Art. 9)  Loss of membership
Members can withdraw from the SIDG by means of a written communication addressed to the Executive Committee. Membership ends with a letter written at least three months before the end of the year and addressed to the Secretary/Treasurer who has to confirm the withdrawal.

Art. 10)  Assets
The SIDG assets are formed by the yearly fees, by individual contributions, donations, legacies from institutions or individuals, income from activities of the SIDG or from goods acquired with it.

III - Assembly

Art. 11)  Convocation
The ordinary Assembly is convoked at least once in three years, in concomi­tance with the Society’s Congress, and also in a place other than the SIDG headquarters, by a notice that must be sent to members at least sixty days before the meeting.

The notice must contain the day, hour and place of the Assembly as well as the agenda.
The Assembly must be convoked also when at least one tenth of the members present a written and motivated request to the Executive Committee.

Art. 12)  Competence
The ordinary Assembly:

• approves the budget;
• elects the Executive Committee, the Nominating Committee, the Committee of Accountants, as well as the President, the three Vice-Presidents, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Editor;
• fixes the amount of the yearly fee;
• formulates proposals of modification of the Statutes;
• approves the Internal Regulations;
• promotes actions against the administrators;
• decides upon items submitted by the Executive Committee.

The extraordinary Assembly decides upon:

• the transfer of the headquarters;
• the modifications of the Statutes;
• the dissolution of the SIDG;
• the utilization of the SIDG assets, in case the destination formulated in Art. 23 of these Statutes proves impossible.

Art. 13)  Modification of the Statutes
The proposals of modification of the Statutes, decided upon in the ordinary Assembly, will have to be approved in a following extraordinary Assembly. In the interval between the two Assemblies, the President will inform all members about the proposals, and will invite comments, which will be discussed in the following extraordinary Assembly.

Art. 14)  Right of vote
Every member who has paid the yearly fee has the right of vote. The individual vote can be ex­pressed also by correspondence. Members can be represented in Assemblies on the basis of a written procuration. Every member cannot represent more than five members.

Art. 15)  Majorities
In ordinary Assemblies decisions are taken with the simple majority of the voting members. In extraordinary Assemblies the majority of three fourths of the voting members is required, except for the dissolution of the Society, for which the absolute majority of the members is required.

IV - Nominating Committee

Art. 16) Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee is formed by the outgoing President and by four more members. They are elected by the Assembly for a period of three years, and immediately reeligible only for an­other term of three years. The Nominating Committee proposes candidates for offices to the Assembly.

Art. 17)  Executive Committee
The Society is managed by an Executive Committee formed by the President, three Vice-Presidents, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and by five more members, two of whom to be elected by the Assembly each year for a period of three years. Members of the Executive Committee are immediately reeligible only for another term of three years, except for Secretary and Treasurer, who are always reeligible. The two offices of Secretary and Treasurer can be held by the same person. All SIDG posts are honorary and unpaid. Possible services of third parties must not be paid with SIDG money.

The Executive Committee is entrusted with the ordinary and extraordinary administration.
It can delegate its powers to one or more SIDG members, determining the limitations of the delegation.
The Executive Committee is convoked by the President; for the validity of its decisions the presence, or the delegation, of at least six members is required.
The Executive Committee decides with a majority of votes; in case of even votes the President’s vote is decisive.

V - President, Secretary, Treasurer

Art. 18)  President
The President of the Executive Committee represents the SIDG to all effects; in case of his/her absence s/he is replaced by one of the three Vice-Presidents.
The President convokes and chairs the Assembly and the Executive Commit­tee.

Art. 19)  Secretary
The Secretary compiles and keeps the minutes of the meetings of the Assembly and of the Executive Committee; s/he is responsible for the books of the SIDG except for the book­keeping.

Art. 20)  Treasurer
The Treasurer acts as a bookkeeper and cashier of the SIDG. S/he cashes the sums due to the SIDG, effects the payments, deposits the funds on behalf and on account of the SIDG at one or more banks chosen by the Executive Committee; prepares the SIDG budgeting; s/he is responsible for the bookkeeping of the SIDG.

VI - Editor

Art. 21)  Editor
The Editor directs the SIDG journal Dialectologia et Geolinguistica. S/he is elected by the Assembly, is in charge for three years, and is immediately reeligible. The Editor is assisted by an Editorial Board.

VII - Accountants

Art. 22)  Committee of Accountants
The Committee of Accountants is formed by three members. They are elected by the Assembly for a period of three years and are immediately reeligible only for another term of three years. One of the members acts as President.

The Committee of Accountants controls the SIDG administration, the regularity of the book­keeping and the exactness of the budgeting, seeing that the law, the Statutes and the Internal Regulations are observed. The Committee of Accountants decides upon possible controversies among members, or between members and the SIDG.

VIII - Dissolution

Art. 23)  Dissolution
In case of dissolution, the assets of the SIDG will be transferred to UNESCO, to be used for the advancement of dialectology and geolinguistics.

IX - Final Dispositions

Art. 24)  Final Dispositions
In all cases not expressly provided for in these Statutes, the SIDG will have recourse to the law.

Internal Regulations

(I) Offices

1. For the composition of the SIDG organs adequate consideration will be given to their geographical representativity:
2. The President and the three Vice-Presidents must each be of different nationality.
3. In principle, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America should each have one representative in the Executive Committee.

(II) Elections

1. The Nominating Committee, after verifying the candidates’ availability, proposes at least one candidate for each vacancy, at least ninety days before elections.
2. Within the same deadline, each member can propose candidates. Sixty days before the elections, the candidates who have been proposed by at least six members, and whose availability has been verified by the Secretary, are added to the slate of candidates. The names of the proponents will not be made public.
3. Possible vacancies in the final slate will be filled during the Assembly.
4. The vote is secret. The secrecy of the vote by correspondence is ensured by the sending of a double envelope.
5. Votes by correspondence are accepted until the closing of the ballot boxes.

(III) Sections

1. The SIDG has areal and thematic sections.
2. For the forming of one section the proponent(s) convoke(s) an assembly of interested members. This assembly nominates a representative and formulates a plan, which is submitted to the Executive Committee for approval.
3. Section activities will not be covered financially by the ordinary budget of the SIDG.

Rules relating to Art. 6, point 3, of the Statutes:

Members’ abstracts / papers to be presented at SIDG meetings and to be published in the conference proceedings will be screened for acceptance by the national / local organisers / editors. They, in turn, may ask other SIDG members to assist in the evaluation process.

[1]  The authentic text of the Statutes is the one approved by the Italian notary officer at Florence on October 31, 1989. The above text incorporates the modifications of the Statutes approved by subsequent extraordinary Assemblies.

[2]  The acronym corresponds to the Society’s registered French name.