American Dialect Society

American Dialect Society

Organization logo
Motto	"dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it."
Formation	1889
Type	Not for profit
Purpose	"The American Dialect Society is organized in the interest of the academic community and not for profit. Its object is the study of the English language in North America, together with other languages or dialects of other languages influencing it or influenced by it."
Location	United States
Region served	North America
Membership	550
Official language	English
President	Luanne Vonne Schneidemesser
President Elect	Jesse Sheidlower
Vice President for Communications and Technology	Grant Barrett
Executive Secretary	Allan Metcalf
Parent organization	American Council of Learned Societies (admitted 1962)
Website	http://www.americandialect.org/

The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it." The Society publishes the academic journal, American Speech.

Since its foundation, dialectologists in English-speaking North America have affiliated themselves with the American Dialect Society, an association which in its first constitution defined its objective as "the investigation of the spoken English of the United States and Canada" (Constitution, 1890). Over the years, its objective has remained essentially the same, only expanded to encompass "the English language in North America, together with other languages or dialects of other languages influencing it or influenced by it" (Fundamentals, 1991).

The organization was founded as part of an effort to create a comprehensive American dialect dictionary, a near century-long undertaking that culminated in the publication of the Dictionary of American Regional English. In 1889, when Joseph Wright began editing the English Dialect Dictionary, a group of American philologists founded the American Dialect Society with the ultimate purpose of producing a similar work for the United States.

Members of the Society began to collect material, much of which was published in the Society's journal Dialect Notes, but little was done toward compiling a dictionary recording nationwide usage until Frederic G. Cassidy was appointed Chief Editor in 1963. The first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, covering the letters A-C, was published in 1985. The other major project of the Society is the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada.

The Society has never had more than a few hundred active members. With so few scholars advancing the enterprise, the developments in the field came slowly. Members of the organization include "linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars." Its activities include a mailing list, which deals chiefly with American English but also carries some discussion of other issues of linguistic interest.