Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society


JSEALS is the peer-reviewed journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society.  It is devoted to research on the languages of mainland and insular Southeast Asia.  Previously published as the SEALS Conference Proceedings series under the stewardship of Karen Adams, formal journal publication with the sponsorship of Pacific Linguistics was approved by conference attendees in 2007. 

JSEALS is available from Pacific Linguistics in electronic and print form.

Volume 1:2009   download PDF   (2.3M)

Volume 2:2009   download PDF   (4.1M)

Guidelines for submission
JSEALS welcomes articles that are topical, focused on linguistic (as opposed to cultural or anthropological) issues, and which further the lively debate that characterizes the annual SEALS conferences.

Most JSEALS articles have been formally submitted for peer review and publication after having the opportunity to be presented and discussed at the SEALS conference, but non-conference articles are also welcome.  As a service to the community, non-reviewed conference presentations are archived on this website.  The SEALS On-Line Archives holds the texts of most of the yearly conference publications.


SEALS 20 - Zurich, Switzerland, June 10-11 2010: 
Conference website  /  Call for papers

About SEALS 
The Southeast Asian Linguistcs Society was founded by Martha Ratliff and Eric Schiller (who had the idea while car-pooling to work) in 1990.  The first meeting took place in 1991 at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and was attended by (among others) Benedict, Gedney, Diffloth, Matisoff, Sagart, Edmondson, and Thurgood.  Annual publication of the SEALS Conference proceedings was assumed by Arizona State University the next year. 

    The SEALS conference regularly circumnavigates the globe, and has met in Southeast Asia, the United States, and Australia.  SEALS XIX will be held in Vietnam in 2009, and our first European meeting is in the planning stages.

    SEALS features papers on the languages of Southeast Asia, including Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, Tibeto-Burman and Tai-Kadai.  Topics have included descriptive, theoretical, or historical linguistics, linguistic anthropology (ethnolinguistics, language attitudes and ideology, discourse and conversational analysis, language and gender, language and politics), language planning, literacy and bilingual education.


Google map of past meeting sites.
1991 North America (USA, Detroit, Michigan)
1992 North America (USA, Phoenix, Arizona)
1993 Asia/North America (USA, Honolulu, Hawaii)
1994 Asia (Thailand, Bangkok & Chiang Rai)
1995 North America (USA, Tucson, Arizona)
1996 North America (USA, Eugene, Oregon)
1997 North America (USA, Urbana, Illinois)
1998 Asia (Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur)
1999 North America (USA, Berkeley, California)
2000 North America (USA, Madison, Wisconsin)
2001 Asia (Thailand, Bangkok)
2002 North America (USA, DeKalb, Illinois)
2003 North America (USA, Los Angeles, California)
2004 Asia (Thailand, Bangkok)
2005 Australia (Canberra)
2006 Asia (Indonesia, Jakarta)
2007 North America (USA, Baltimore, Maryland)
2008 Asia (Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur)
2009 Asia (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City)
2010 Europe (Zurich, Switzerland)
The JSEALS website is maintained by the Center for Research in Computational Linguistics.  Please send requests for additions, corrections, or information to doug.cooper.thailand at gmail.com.  Editorial queries should be directed to paulsidwell at yahoo.com