The name of the organization shall be “The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong” and is hereinafter referred to as “the Society” or abbreviated as LSHK.

The correspondence address of the Society shall be: GPO Box 9772, Hong Kong.

The Society’s official website shall be https://lshk.org/.

LSHK is a non-profit academic body registered as a charitable organization with the Hong Kong Government, pursuing the following aims:

1. To promote linguistics teaching and research in Hong Kong.
2. To help foster greater exchange and interaction between linguistic scholarship in and outside China.
3. To encourage and facilitate the exchange of ideas and dissemination of information among local linguists on recent research developments in linguistics.
4. To secure and develop contacts with other linguistic organizations and institutes with similar aims and interests in language.
5. To sponsor conferences and other academic activities consonant with the above aims.
6. To provide advice and relevant services with regard to training, policy planning and evaluation in language and linguistics for public and private organizations.
7. To promote publications which are in line with the above aims.

The official languages of the Society shall be Cantonese, Putonghua/Mandarin, and English. The working languages of the Society shall normally be Cantonese in the spoken medium and Modern Standard Chinese or English in the written medium.

Membership shall consist of the following types:

1. Honorary Fellows

The Society may, upon nomination by the Executive Committee and subsequent approval by a general meeting, invite individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of linguistics in Hong Kong to be Honorary Fellows of the Society.

2. Life members

Individuals who (a) abide by the constitution of the Society and who (b) either hold higher degrees in linguistics and language studies or have research publications in linguistics or related language studies can become life members of the Society, subject to applications approved by the Executive Committee on the basis of these criteria which may be laid down from time to time.

3. Regular members

Individuals who (a) abide by the constitution of the Society and who (b) either hold higher degrees in linguistics and language studies or have research publications in linguistics or related language studies can become regular members of the Society, subject to applications approved by the Executive Committee on the basis of these criteria which may be laid down from time to time.

4. Affiliate members

Individuals who abide by the constitution of the Society can become affiliate members of the Society, subject to approval by the Executive Committee.

5. Student members:

Full-time students of tertiary institutions who abide by the constitution of the Society may become student members of the Society, subject to approval by the Executive Committee.

1. All members shall be informed of and can participate in the activities organized by the Society.
2. Only life members and regular members shall have the right to vote and stand for election at General Meetings of the Society. They shall hereinafter be referred to collectively as ‘voting members’.
3. Voting members can vote by proxy at a General Meeting.
4. All members of the Society, with the exception of Honorary Fellows and Life Members, are required to pay an annual membership fee.

1. Members who fail to pay their membership fees by 30 September in a given year shall automatically be deactivated. Deactivated members shall cease to enjoy membership rights.

2. Deactivated members can reactivate membership by paying the membership fee for the current year.

1. Any member who acts to the detriment of the interests and reputation of the Society may have his/her membership suspended by the Executive Committee. In such cases, whether membership will be discontinued shall be decided by resolution at a General Meeting.
2. Suspension of membership shall entail suspension of all membership rights.

The membership fees for a particular calendar year are due on or before January 1 of that year. As of 1996, regular members are required to pay an annual membership fee of HK$300; life members are required to pay a one-off membership fee 10 times the amount of regular members’ fee at the time; affiliate members are required to pay an annual membership fee of HK$150, and student members are required to pay an annual membership fee of HK$75. The Executive Committee may effect revisions to the schedule of membership fees, so long as the revision does not represent more than a 50% increase on the current rate. Any revision which exceeds this limit shall be put to the General Meeting for approval. Fees paid to the Society may not be refunded.

1. The Executive Committee of the Society shall consist of seven members, six of whom are elected once every two years by simple majority vote of the voting members present at the Annual General Meeting of the Society. The seventh member shall be the outgoing President.
2. An eighth member may be elected to the committee at the discretion of the General Meeting.
3. The principal officers of the Society shall be:
   • President
   • Vice-President
   • Secretary
   • Treasurer
   • Newsletter Editor
   • Communications Co-ordinator
4. drawn from the Executive Committee, and such other officers as the Executive Committee deems fit.
4. Except for the founding office-bearers, the President and Vice-President shall have served on the Executive Committee for at least one year. In the event that this condition cannot be fulfilled, alternate conditions may be set by the outgoing Executive Committee on an ad-hoc basis, to be approved by a Special General Meeting.
5. The term of office of the principal office-bearers shall be two years, and an individual may serve in the same post for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The term of office of the Executive Committee shall normally expire on December 31st of the second year of its term. The newly elected Executive Committee shall take office immediately following the expiration of the term of the outgoing Executive Committee.
6. Upon expiry of his/her term of office, the incumbent President shall remain as a member of the Executive Committee of the Society for the following term.
7. In the event that the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President shall succeed for the remainder of the term, and a new Vice-President shall be elected by the Executive Committee from amongst its members for the remainder of the term. Any other vacancies amongst the officers shall be filled by election amongst the Executive Committee members. In the event that two or more vacancies occur in the Executive Committee, a Special General Meeting shall be called by the Executive Committee within six weeks of such occurrence.
8. The quorum for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall be two-thirds the number of Executive Committee members.

1. A General Meeting shall be held each fiscal year.
2. Special General Meetings may be convened (a) by the Executive Committee or (b) upon request by at least one-fifth of the voting members.
3. At least two weeks’ notice shall be given to members for a General Meeting.
4. The quorum for the General Meeting shall be at least one-fourth of those voting members with a local mailing address. In the event that a quorum is not reached, the meeting shall be adjourned and reconvened after a period of 2-6 weeks.
5. The passage of resolutions at a General Meeting shall require over fifty percent of the votes of the voting members or of their proxies present at the meeting.
6. The Executive Committee shall arrange the General Meetings of the Society.
7. At General Meetings, the President, if present, shall preside. In the absence of the President, a member of the Executive Committee shall be elected Acting Chairperson for the Meeting.
8. At all meetings of the Society, the chairperson of the meeting may not vote unless there is a tie in the voting.

1. The Society shall be financed by funds from membership fees and other sources.
2. The capital and income of the Society shall be used solely to support the general aims of the Society.
3. The Society’s funds shall be deposited in an account in the name of the Society at a bank designated by the Executive Committee. Withdrawal of funds shall require any two out of the following four signatories: the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer and the Secretary.
4. The liability of the Society shall be distributed equally amongst its officers and voting members. Any outstanding debt shall be borne equally by all members of the Executive Committee.

The constitution of the Society may be amended upon voting by over fifty percent of the voting members of the Society with a local address.

The Society may be dissolved if over fifty percent of the voting members vote for such dissolution. Upon dissolution of the Society, any surplus assets remaining after satisfaction of all debts and liabilities shall not be paid to or distributed among the members but shall be given or transferred to charitable educational institutions.