The proceedings assemble some 240 papers covering eight sections: 1. phonetics and phonology, 2. morphology, 3. syntax, 4. lexical semantics, 5. editing and textual criticism, 6, rhetoric, poetics and literary theory, 7. applied linguistics, 8. history of linguistics. In addition, they include four plenary lectures and two round table discussions. The papers provide a panorama view of old and new concerns in Romance studies illustrated from various theoretical perspectives and providing an example of what this sector has to contribute to the development of linguistics and literary studies in the 21st century.