Anthropological Linguistics

Style Guidelines

In general, Anthropological Linguistics style will conform to the conventions presented in the Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). The following recommendations may prove helpful in preparing manuscripts for submission.

  1. Parts of the paper.
    1. Abstract.
    2. Acknowledgments.
  2. Text.
    1. Section headings.
      1. Anthropological style.
      2. Linguistic style.
  3. Punctuation.
    1. Comma.
      1. Series.
      2. Dates.
    2. Parentheses.
    3. Brackets.
    4. Punctuation with quotation marks.
      1. Double quotes.
      2. Single quotes.
  4. Treatment of words.
    1. Standardized spelling.
    2. Specific words and abbreviations.
      1. Words.
      2. Abbreviations.
    3. Possessive rule.
    4. Hyphenation.
    5. Slash
    6. Italics.
    7. Double quotes.
    8. Single quotes.
    9. Phonetic transcription.
    10. Phonemic transcription.
    11. Grammatical and lexical elements in examples.
  5. Names and terms.
    1. Capitalization.
      1. Specific words in AL.
    2. American Indian names.
  6. Numbers.
    1. Spelling out numbers.
    2. Inclusive numbers.
    3. Dates.
    4. Lists.
    5. Numbering of examples.
  7. Citation.
    1. Citations in text.
    2. Citations for quotes.
      1. Quotes in text.
      2. Block quotes.
      3. Emphasis in quotes.
    3. Ellipsis in citations.
    4. Author-date citations.
      1. Citations in text.
      2. Sequencing.
      3. Punctuation between citations.
  8. Figures and tables.
    1. Numbering.
    2. Captions and titles.
    3. Notes and sources.
  9. Endnotes.
    1. Placement of note numbers in text.
    2. Content.
    3. Citations.
  10. References
    1. Works to be listed.
    2. Author name.
      1. Multiple authors.
      2. First names.
      3. Alphabetization of names.
    3. Titles. All titles are given in roman type.
      1. Capitalization of titles.
      2. Sequencing of titles.
    4. Article in an edited volume.
    5. Capitalization of parts of a work.
    6. Names of states.
    7. Article with publisher name.
  11. Prose style.
    1. Contractions.
    2. Relative clauses.

1. Parts of the paper.

Each paper should comprise the following parts:
  1. abstract
  2. text
  3. appendix
  4. endnotes
    • acknowledgments
    • notes
  5. references

1.1. Abstract.

State the paper's thesis in a single brief paragraph. The abstract should contain no endnotes.

1.2. Acknowledgments.

Acknowledgments appear as the first section of the endnotes. Do not place them in the text or in a numbered note. Note the spelling of the word acknowledgments.

2. Text.

AL accepts papers written in both anthropological-humanities and formal linguistic styles.

2.1. Section headings.

AL recommends two styles for section headings.

2.1.1. Anthropological style.

For papers written in an anthropological or humanities style, sections should not be numbered. Main section (A-level) titles should be typed in boldface and centered between the main margins. B-level titles should be typed on separate lines, flush with the left margin, and italicized (underlined). C-level titles should also be placed on separate lines and flush left, but in roman type (i.e., the same type as in text). No periods are used after section titles. If further levels of organization are unavoidable, please consult with the editors for specifications.

2.1.2. Linguistic style.

For linguistic papers, in which sections are numbered, sections should begin with the numeral 1 (not 0), even if the first section is an introduction. In headings, the section number is followed by a period, but no final period appears when the section number is referred to in text. Heading titles are followed by a period. In addition to main sections, two levels of subsections are possible (e.g., 1, 1.1, 1.1.1; but not 1.1.1.1). If further levels of organization are unavoidable, please consult with the editors for specifications. Capitalize only the first letter of the section title.

3. Punctuation.

3.1. Comma.

3.1.1. Series.

In a series of three or more items, a comma appears after all but the final item.

3.1.2. Dates.

For a date that gives day, month, and year, no commas are used:

3.2. Parentheses.

In addition to setting off explanations and digressions, parentheses should be used for dates and page numbers of citations. Note the arrangement when an author's name appears in parentheses along with a date.

3.3. Brackets.

Brackets are used for editorial comments within a quote: Brackets are also used when one set of parentheses would appear inside another:

3.4. Punctuation with quotation marks.

3.4.1. Double quotes.

Place commas and periods inside double quotes, colons and semicolons outside:

3.4.2. Single quotes.

Place all punctuation except question marks outside single quotes: However, in an example block, if the material inside single quotes constitutes a complete sentence, a period appears inside the single quotes:

4. Treatment of words.

4.1. Standardized spelling.

AL style calls for American spelling:

4.2. Specific words and abbreviations.

4.2.1. Words.

4.2.2. Abbreviations.

4.3. Possessive rule.

The possessive of singular nouns is ordinarily formed by the addition of an apostrophe and and s. The possessive of plural nouns that end in 's is formed by the addition of apostrophe alone (e.g., linguists' books). However, words that end in s are made possessive by the addition of an apostrophe and s together (e.g., Charles's book; see Chicago Manual of Style, chap. 6).

4.4. Hyphenation.

All compound nouns should be spelled open: Use hyphens to join two words or symbols that have the same function:

4.5. Slash

The slash should be used only to indicate that two or more linguistic forms are in free variation with one another: Especially avoid the expression and/or, which can be rewritten as:

4.6. Italics.

Italics should be reserved for words mentioned as words: for phonemic representations: and very sparingly for emphasis: Do not use italics for loanwords and other familiar expressions or abbreviations:

4.7. Double quotes.

Double quotes indicate irony: They also set off material quoted directly from another source:

4.8. Single quotes.

Use single quotes for linguistic glosses, notions, and concepts:

4.9. Phonetic transcription.

In text square brackets are used for phonetic transcription, in which case the forms should not be given in italics: [h t]

4.10. Phonemic transcription.

Phonemic forms are given in italics:

4.11. Grammatical and lexical elements in examples.

Small capital letters represent abbreviations for grammatical elements; lexical elements are given in roman type: In a typical four-line example the first line is the phonemic representation and the second line is the morpheme-by-morpheme analysis. Both those lines are in italics.

The third line contains the morpheme-by-morpheme glosses and the fourth gives the free English translation:

If an example line (either the phonemic representation, morpheme-by-morpheme analysis, or gloss) wraps to the following line, then the words or morphemes of the shortest line should be aligned with those of the longest. However, the free translation should remain together on the last line, as in the example given below. 
    *  Gweny-bay   mijigwak    muwi:dhok
       Gwe-ny-bay  mi-jigwa-k  muw-i:d-ho-k
       thing-DEM   all         3/2-put=away-SS 3/2-finish=doing-TEMP-SS 

       miya:mayng      yu:mo.
       mi-ya:m-ay-ng   yu:-mo
       2-go-IRR-2/SS   be-DUB

       `After you put everything away, you can perhaps leave.'

5. Names and terms.

5.1. Capitalization.

AL recommends conservative use of capitalization:

5.1.1. Specific words in AL.

The following words should not be capitalized in the text: For example: However, the word references is capitalized in the text:

5.2. American Indian names.

For the spelling of the names of American Indian tribes, follow the Handbook of North American Indians (William C. Sturtevant, gen. ed. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978).

6. Numbers.

6.1. Spelling out numbers.

In general, spell out all numbers below 100.

6.2. Inclusive numbers.

Below 100, all digits should be included: If the first number is a multiple of 100, use all digits for both numbers: If the first number is between 101 and 109 (and 100-multiples), use only the changed digit: If the first number is between 110 and 199 (and 100-multiples), use only the last two digits unless more are needed:

6.3. Dates.

Note that the above rule applies to a span of dates: but if the dates are part of a grammatical string, use all digits: For the abbreviations of eras, use small caps:

6.4. Lists.

In lists of words, phrases, or ideas set off from text, avoid using numbers unless the numbers must be referred to in text. Thus the following list of North American Indian tribes: or the following list of sentences:

6.5. Numbering of examples.

The principal exception to the guidene in the previous section is the numbering of linguistic examples. Examples should bear consecutive numbers, each enclosed in parentheses placed on the left margin. Each time an example is repeated it should be assigned its original number. Subparts of the same example should be differentiated by alphabetical letters, in which case the number is repeated: 
(67)  nikiyancadis
      nak-yi-ya-na-ka-dís
      INST-DEF-AGT-board-NSG-wash
      `mop, scrub brush'; lit., `that with which one washes the boards'

(68)  kakikadis
      kak-yi-ka-dís
      NOM-DEF-AGT-wash
      `(for one) to wash'

(69a) i-hlalo si-phukile
      5-chair (7)-is broken
      `The chair is broken.'

(69b) i-fudu     lu-hamba  ncane
      5-tortoise (11)-walk slowly
      `The tortoise is walking slowly.'
Examples cited within the text are also enclosed in parentheses. In addition, they should be inclusive for both numbers and letters, as in the sentence below.

7. Citation.

7.1. Citations in text.

AL uses the scientific form of author-date citation recommended in the Chicago style manual:

7.2. Citations for quotes.

7.2.1. Quotes in text.

Citations for quotes in text should follow the quote. Note the position of the period:

7.2.2. Block quotes.

Quoted material of more than approximately four lines should be set off from the text in a block that is separated from the text by a single blank line above and below. Indent the block on both sides by the same amount as a paragraph. The citation for the quote is placed within square brackets and comes after the final period of the quote:

7.2.3. Emphasis in quotes.

When emphasis appears in quotes, be sure to indicate whether they appear in the original or have been added:
These songs started away off, so many mountains away, and gradually worked toward the camp, finally ending up inside the brush circle at the rear. You must never sing these songs near the hogans because of the women and children. The children's bones and minds are soft. These songs speak of death and evil things and the women and children and horses and sheep get sick because their minds are not as strong as men's. [Hill 1938:106; emphasis added]

7.3. Ellipsis in citations.

To indicate omitted material in a quote, three ellipsis points (periods) are used, with space before and after each. To indicate that a sentence has ended and a new one begun, insert a fourth period, immediately following the last word of the first sentence. No ellipsis points are required at the end of a quote unless it ends with an incomplete sentence (in which case three points are used). The following example, a shortened form of the quote in the previous section, illustrates these guidelines:

7.4. Author-date citations.

7.4.1. Citations in text.

In text, the date of an author's work is placed in parentheses and immediately follows the author's name, unless you are directly quoting from that author:

7.4.2. Sequencing.

Arrange a list of author-date citations chronologically:

7.4.3. Punctuation between citations.

Use semicolons between the works of different authors, commas between the works of the same author or authors:

8. Figures and tables.

8.1. Numbering.

Figures and tables should each be numbered consecutively, beginning with the arabic numeral 1.

8.2. Captions and titles. A brief caption should appear directly below each figure.

The caption begins with the figure number in boldface at the left margin and ends with a period: Each table should be preceded by a brief title. The title appears entirely in boldface and begins, flush left, with the table number: Note that no period is used after the table title.

8.3. Notes and sources.

Explanatory notes and citation of sources should be placed at the bottom of a table. Such additions are preceded by the words note or source in small capitals:

9. Endnotes.

Endnotes will appear in a separate section immediately following the text. The first note is Acknowledgments followed by numbered notes.

9.1. Placement of note numbers in text.

Consecutive endnote numbers should begin in the text. Endnote numbers should not be placed on any display type (i.e., title, author name, section title). Note numbers should be placed at the end of the sentence if possible. Otherwise they should be placed at the end of a clause. In any case the number follows any punctuation mark except a dash.

9.2. Content.

Numbered endnotes should comment on issues raised in the text; do not include acknowledgments or other general explanations in the numbered notes; such explanations (e.g., lists of abbreviations or special symbols) will appear as unnumbered notes at the beginning of the notes section.

9.3. Citations.

Any work mentioned in a note should be listed in the references section. Therefore, use the same mode of citation as in text.

10. References

10.1. Works to be listed.

The reference section should list only those works referred to in text.

10.2. Author name.

The name of the first author is inverted, but the remaining names are given in normal order:

10.2.1. Multiple authors.

List all names of all the authors of a work. In text, shortened references should be used for works with more than three authors. The following work, for example, would be listed in text as Boyd et al. (1976).

10.2.2. First names.

Give author names in full whenever possible; do not use initials in place of first names.

10.2.3. Alphabetization of names.

Names beginning with Mc should be treated as if they began Mac:

10.3. Titles.

All titles are given in roman type. No quotation marks are used:

10.3.1. Capitalization of titles.

Capitalize all words except articles and prepositions. The exception to this rule is foreign language titles. For the capitalization of those titles, see rules for specific languages in the Chicago Manual of Style (chap. 9).

10.3.2. Sequencing of titles.

All titles for a given author should be arranged chronologically. Titles within the same year should be arranged alphabetically:

10.4. Article in an edited volume.

Give the title first, then the name of the volume, followed by the editor's name and inclusive page numbers of the article. Note that In is the only word italicized. Page numbers are not preceded by the designation pp.:

10.5. Capitalization of parts of a work.

Do not capitalize the names for parts of a reference (e.g., vol., part) unless they begin a sentence: but

10.6. Names of states.

State names are not necessary in a reference if the city is well known or the state is mentioned in the name of the publisher. If state names are used, they should be abbreviated according to the more traditional method (as found in the Chicago Manual of Style, chap. 14; i.e., do not use postal abbreviations):

10.7. Article with publisher name.

Omit an initial article in the name of a publisher:

11. Prose style.

11.1. Contractions.

Avoid the use of contractions in text:

11.2. Relative clauses.

Failure to distinguish between nonrestrictive and restrictive relative clauses may cause ambiguity within a text. Nonrestrictive clauses must always be set off by commas (and should never be introduced by the pronoun that): Restrictive clauses are never set off by commas. Moreover, in order to avoid confusion with nonrestrictive clauses, that is used instead of which for nonhuman reference when not accompanied by a preposition:

Last updated: 17 Feb 1996
URL: https://anthling.indiana.edu/~anthling/
Comments: anthling@indiana.edu
Copyright 1996 Anthropological Linguistics.