Colorado Research in Linguistics has been published at the University of Colorado at Boulder since 1971, thanks largely to the efforts of faculty members and graduate students in the Department of Linguistics.

During the 1970s, CRIL primarily published work by faculty in Linguistics and allied departments, and was edited by various members of the department faculty. Those early papers cover a range of linguistic subfields, from phonology, morphology, and syntax to diachronic linguistics, semiotics, pragmatics, and even a series of papers on the history of linguistic inquiry. The languages treated were equally broad, including not only a variety of Indo-European languages, but also Siouan, Caddoan, Austronesian, and Niger-Congo languages.

Following a year's hiatus in 1978, volume eight appeared in 1979. Volume eight was the first to be prepared by graduate students, with David Sudbeck serving as editor. The volume featured working papers by both students and faculty.

An even longer hiatus ensued before volume nine appeared in 1986; editor Kumiko Takahara noted that CRIL would be "published irregularly." Professor Takahara also invited readers to address comments to individual authors, a practice the current editorial board strongly endorses. As during the original run from 1971-1977, volume nine consisted largely of work by faculty members of the Department of Linguistics, though the work of students and affiliated researchers was also featured. Volume nine was also the first to publish abstracts of recent conference presentations.

During the 1990s Colorado Research in Linguistics increasingly came to resemble the CRIL we know today, with most papers from graduate students, and department and affiliated faculty continuing to make occasional contributions. Volume 12 (1993) was the first to list the editorial board, comprised primarily of graduate students and chaired by Dr. William Bright, on the mast head. Papers continued to reflect a broad view of the field of linguistics, embracing not only syntax, semantics, and phonology, but an increasing share of discourse and cognitive analyses.

Volume 16 (1998) was the last volume to appear in print format. In 2004, graduate students Adam Hodges and Alan Boydell and professor David Rood re-launched Colorado Research in Linguistics in its current, paperless format. Recent articles in syntax, morphology, computational linguistics, corpus linguistics, and sociocultural linguistics reflect many of the interests of scholars here at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Scholars in the Department of Linguistics, Center for Spoken Language Research, Center for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the West, Institute of Cognitive Science, and the Program in Culture, Language and Social Practice, among other research centers, continue to produce original research on language and linguistics, and Colorado Research in Linguistics is proud to help transmit it to readers.

This year, I have been asked to serve as editor in chief, though much of the work of preparing the journal is carried out by our editorial board. I want to echo past editors in inviting readers to contact individual contributors with questions and comments, and to send your queries, comments, and complaints to me on behalf of the editorial board.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our past and present reviewers, contributors, and readers. I will endeavor to uphold the standards of quality set by Colorado Research in Linguistics over the past thirty-five years.

Chad Nilep, CRIL Editor