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 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.
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.