Dennis R. Preston (ed.), Needed research in American
dialects. Publications of the American Dialect Society, 88. Durham,
NC: Duke University Press, 2003. Pp. vii, 261. Hb $20.00.
This collection is the fourth in a series of volumes titled Needed
research in American dialects, published by the American Dialect
Society (ADS) in 20-year intervals since 1943. In addition, the book
represents the continuing evolution of the state of American dialectology
and related sociolinguistics as outlined in Dennis Preston's edited
collection, American Dialect Research (Amsterdam: John Benjamins,
1993), published in commemoration of the ADS centennial in 1989. The
current volume is a striking compilation for several reasons. First, it
(like the ADS in general) is to be commended for continuing with many of
the themes first outlined in the 1943 volume, currently available as part
of PADS 31 (1964), which also includes the 1963 Needed
Research volume. This commitment to solving research questions and
completing research and publication tasks outlined early in the
society's history is remarkable in an era when it is all too easy to
substitute research on the latest fashionable topic for good solid
scholarship on basic questions and sustained research that provides
valuable time depth. At the same time, though, the current volume is not
fettered by its commitment to historical continuity, and coverage of newer
research areas whose importance has been recognized over the past couple
of decades is comprehensive as well. Finally, Preston is to be commended
for the slate of authors he has brought together in this volume. The
chapters are written by leading researchers in the areas covered, and the
authors are themselves responsible for some of the chief advances in the
field since the publication of the 1983 volume.