This is the first issue of volume 34 of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics. The NJL is the journal of the Nordic Association of Linguists. Individuals may subscribe to the Journal by joining the Nordic Association of Linguists. The NAL membership form can be found on the Cambridge University Press web site of the NJL, http://journals.cambridge.org/NJL, as well as on the NAL web site, http://www.uef.fi/nal.

We would like mention an article published outside the NJL. Stig Eliasson has written an article on the background, history and activities of the Nordic Association of Linguists (Eliasson Reference Eliasson and Götzsche2010), full reference will be found at the end of this note. The article traces the main stages of the NAL: the first tentative airings of the idea in the early 1970s, the launching of the NAL in 1977, and its subsequent development through 2006. It also outlines the history and the characteristics of the NJL and of the two NAL conference series: the International Conference of Nordic and General Linguistics and the Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics. Finally, the appendices provide a wealth of supplementary details, including a bibliographical listing of conference proceedings and of the thematic Journal issues.

Returning to the year 2011 and to the present issue of the NJL, we would like to remind our readers and potential contributors that there are three ways to contribute to the NJL: (longer) articles, short communications, and book reviews. We would very much like to encourage contributions to NJL within all three categories.

Although the present issue does not contain any short communications, the two previous non-thematic issues did (33(1) and 33(3), respectively, May and December 2010). Short communications are like articles in being peer-reviewed, but they are different from articles in that in such communications, it is possible to make or illustrate an empirical point without necessarily giving a fully-fledged and theoretically integrated analysis. Furthermore, short communications are also appropriate for comments on earlier publications in the NJL.

We are furthermore happy to announce that NJL 35(2) (2012) will be a special issue devoted to Case Variation and Change in the Nordic Languages, edited by Jeffrey K. Parrott. For full details, see the call for papers immediately after this note.

Last, but not least: To all the reviewers who have reviewed papers for the Nordic Journal of Linguistics in the year 2010, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for your time and effort, also on the part of the editors of the special issue on the second language acquisition, Ute Bohnacker and Marit Richardsen Westergaard. In addition to the members of our Editorial Board, these reviewers include: