[by William Leonard]
When one thinks of the forms of scholastic and academic journals concerning English studies, a plethora of subjects arise, ranging from mythology of ancient times to drama and theatrical structure, to venerated authors such as Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer, on to the more obscure fields such as specific works from isolated, or less renowned writers, to the structures and forms of poetry throughout all chronological history. However, there is one field that encompasses all these without question, a field without true praise: phonetics, the science of speech and the linguistical arts. The Journal of American Speech focuses on just this throughout the last century in America, seeing as there is simply too much for the entirety of the English-speaking world, much less global phonetics.
The journal is comparatively ancient when contrasted with other journals of academia, with a publishing history beginning in the 1920s. The concern of the Journal is principally the English language in the western hemisphere, though there are journals and articles dealing with English in other parts of the world, the influence of other languages on or by English, and linguistic theories. It is not committed to any specific or particular audience, and as such it contains articles and other contributions that appeal to a wider audience than strictly those studying linguistics. It is published quarterly by the Duke University Press at the present time.
Obviously, the composition of certain members of the Board of Editors has changed over the years, simply, due to the passage of time. The current Chief Editor is Associate Professor Michael Adams, President Elect of and member of the Dictionary Society of North America. Of his own work, he has stated “I am foremost a historian of the English Language, especially of English Words, who also specializes in the history, theory, and practice of lexicography…Lexicography, in all its aspects, is a deeply rooted, ongoing professional interest of mine, but I have other equally strong scholarly interests, especially slang and jargon. Studying the history of language requires familiarity with a wide variety of texts, spread over space, time, and type. In my case, this includes not only traditional literary genres but popular genres, like graphic novels, television, and film, as well as “new media,” like Web Texts, text messaging, etc. My interest in Scottish literature extends form fifteenth-century poetry to the modern novel, and I am currently experimenting with linguistic studies of style in works by Neil Gunn and Eric Linklater.”
Articles focus on many subjects. For the sake of brevity, only a handful of examples will be mentioned here. From one publication entitled “Gender-Linked Derogatory Terms and Their Use by Women and Men” by Deborah James from the University of Toronto (volume 73, entry number 4 published in the Winter of 1998) discusses how that derogatory terms used to reveal a powerful social construct of collective sanctions against behavior that violates gender roles. Volume 69, Number 1 published Spring 1994 (written by Rudolf P. Gaudio of Stanford University) is an article focusing on the differing pitches in voice, both literal and fictional, between men who are gay and who are strait. In Volume 55, Number 4, published in the Winter of 1980 (written by John Algeo of the University of Georgia) focuses on the invention of new word, with one clear example being the true origin of the nonsense word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which did not originate with Marry Poppins as many would argue.
With these in mind, the journals run the gamut from the serious to the amusing to the educational to the linguistically cryptic. It is an excellent source to review if one is interested in the study of language itself, and in final summary is a superb source all around.
Works Cited
James, Deborah. “Gender-Linked Derogatory Terms and Their Use by Women and Men.” Journal of American Speech Volume 73. Issue 4 (Winter 1998): pgs 399-420. Print
Gaudio, Rudolf P. “Sounding Gay: Pitch Properties in the Speech of Gay and Strait Men.” Journal of American Speech Volume 69. Number 1 (Spring 1990): pgs 30-57. Print.
Alego, John. “Where Do All the New Words Come From?” Journal of American Speech Volume 55. Number 4 (Winter, 1984): pgs 264-277. Print.
English Research Sources 