Liberty and justice for all

This is a new blog dedicated to tracking language policy issues. Primarily, it will focus on events and policies in the US, but will occasionally stray to other parts of the world.

Our major issue is English as an official language. We'll try to analyze what that means, why some people say we need it, and what effects a reasonable person might expect it to have. Most (if not all) of us that run this blog are against it, so consider that your fair warning.

By and large, the contributors to American English are linguists - people who study the structure and use of language in an academic and (some might say) scientific way. We have created this blog as an outlet for personal opinions about language policy. But it is crucial to remember that we strive to separate our positive observations about how language works from our normative arguments for how policymakers should address it. We are acutely aware that our reputation as serious people relies on our ability to interpret data objectively and we blog accordingly. But we're real people with real opinions, and we're not afraid to tell you what they are based on the evidence.

Here's to cyberspace!