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Speculative Grammarian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Speculative Grammarian | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Discipline | Satirical Linguistics |
| Language | English |
| Abbreviated title | SpecGram |
| Publisher (country) | Trey Jones [2004-] (USA) |
| Publication history | 1988 to present |
| Website | Content URL |
Speculative Grammarian is the self-described "premier scholarly journal featuring research in the neglected field of satirical linguistics."[1] SpecGram is a parody science journal, similar in nature to the Annals of Improbable Research or the Journal of Irreproducible Results, but with content focusing on linguistics and closely-related fields.
Contents |
SpecGram includes humorous articles written in (often while mocking) a stereotypical scholarly tone. Also regularly featured are poetry, cartoons, puzzles (including crosswords and SuDoku), and parodies of book reviews, book advertisements, calls for papers, and other scholarly announcements.
Many papers that appear in SpecGram properly apply serious linguistic concepts to absurd or inappropriate topics. Others provide linguistic analysis of absurd and fabricated language data, or provide a perverse analysis of real, though often severely and selectively limited, data. Still others directly parody linguistics or linguists themselves.
Based on the online SpecGram archives, the journal has been published sporadically under several names (Psammeticus Quarterly, Babel, and The Journal of the Linguistic Society of South-Central New Caledonia) since 1988, with consecutive issues being anywhere from one month to six years apart. From 2004 to 2006, the journal was published more consistently on a quarterly basis, with occasional special issues throughout the year. As of 2007, the journal has begun publishing bimonthly.[2] The journal was first published by Tim Pulju (now Publisher Emeritus), and is currently managed by Trey Jones.
One of the conceits of SpecGram is that the journal has existed in one form or another, and has wielded great influence in world events for hundreds of years (a clear paralled to the Illuminati). This fictional history ("much of this rich and varied history is concocted ad lib and ad hoc"[3]) is occasionally revealed in pieces in Letters from the Editor. The first installment[4] claims the journal was "founded by Petrus Hispanus, one of the original speculative grammarians, in 1276". Later installments trace the inconsistent and fantastical history through the present day.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
The first issue available in the archives bearing the Speculative Grammarian name is Vol. CXLVII, No. 1 from January 1993. However, the Letter from the Managing Editor for that issue makes it clear that, despite the assumption of a long previous history, SpecGram is a continuation of the previously titled Journal of the Linguistic Society of South-Central New Caledonia (the last issue of which was sub-titled Langue du Monde).
SpecGram has republished a number of satirical linguistics works, some of which are available elsewhere on the internet, some previously not, in order to bring them to a wider audience. The more notable collections include the works of Metalleus, which have been incorporated into the regular issues, and Lingua Pranca and Son of Lingua Pranca, which were originally published separately.
Linguist Ken Miner has written many popular satirical linguistics pieces over the years in the Usenet group sci.lang, under the pen-name Metalleus. SpecGram has been republishing these, one per issue, since October 2005.[10]
Over the course of 2006, the editors and publishers of SpecGram converted an older satirical linguistics anthology, Lingua Pranca (1978), to an electronic format,[11] so that it may be available to a wider audience.[12] Over the course of 2007, they have begun digitizing the sequel, Son of Lingua Pranca (1979).[13]
Lingua Pranca includes humorous pieces by several linguists who, almost 30 years later, have gone on to become well-known in the field, including Bernard Comrie, Elan Dresher, Norbert Hornstein, D. Terence Langendoen, James D. McCawley, Ken Miner, Robert Rankin, and Leonard Talmy.