Journal of East Asian Linguistics

Editorial Statement

The study of East Asian languages, especially of Chinese, Japanese and Korean, has existed for a long time as a field, as demonstrated by the existence of programs in most institutions of higher learning and research that include these languages as a major component. Speakers of these three languages have shared a great deal of linguistic heritage during the development of their languages through cultural contacts, in addition to possible genealogical linkage. Further south in neighboring Southeast Asia, the languages of the Tibeto-Burman, Austroasiatic and Austronesian groups have also participated in the general process of linguistic interaction within East Asia and many of the typological properties of Chinese, Japanese and Korean are found to be present in languages of this area too. The languages of wider East Asia accordingly possess various common features. In addition to this, another factor that ties the languages of the region together as a field is that they have shared a similar tradition of linguistic scholarship, a tradition that distinguishes itself from the study of western languages.

The Journal of East Asian Linguistics encourages submissions relating to languages commonly classified as East Asian languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and also languages spoken in the area of Southeast Asia, e.g. Burmese, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Khmer and the langauges of the Philippines. Theoretical work relating to languages of the general area of East Asia (including Southeast Asia) other than those mentioned above is also welcome. We are particularly interested in work within the scope noted in 1-6 below. Please note that in 1-6 the term "East Asian language" is used to refer to all languages of East Asia in the wider sense extending from the north down to the south.

Theoretically oriented work on any aspect of the syntax, semantics, pragmatics, phonology, and morphology of an East Asian language.

Comparative work among East Asian languages and/or between an East Asian language and any other languages that contributes to the parametric theory of universal grammar.

Shorter notes with original observations that raise questions of analysis and explanation with significant theoretical implications.

It is an important policy of the journal to welcome any contribution regardless of the theoretical framework in which the research is carried out. Any piece of work, as long as it provides a formal analysis of observed data, or formulates descriptive generalizations calling for an analysis, will be seriously considered.