---
name: lang-writing-style
description: Use when polishing the prose and house style of a Language (LSA) manuscript so it reads for a general linguistics audience and conforms to the Language Style Sheet / Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics. Language prizes analysis legible across frameworks and subfields; jargon and single-formalism prose lose readers. Polishes and conforms; it does not build the argument.
---

# Writing Style & House Style (lang-writing-style)

*Language* is read across the whole discipline, so its prose bar is **legibility across subfields and
frameworks**: a syntactician should follow a phonology paper's argument, and vice versa. The journal
also has a specific citation and formatting house style — the **Language Style Sheet**, closely tied to
the **Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics Journals** — that differs from APA, Chicago, or a subfield's
local habits. This skill polishes the writing and conforms the mechanics; it does not build the argument
(that is `lang-theory-building`).

## When to trigger

- Polishing a draft before submission
- A reader said the paper is "only readable by [framework] people" or "buried the claim"
- Converting citations/references to *Language* house style
- Tightening a General Research Article toward or under the length bar

## Write for the whole discipline

- **Front-load the claim.** By the end of the introduction the reader should know the generalization,
  the analysis, its key prediction, and why a linguist outside the subfield should care.
- **Gloss your jargon.** Define framework-specific terms on first use; give the theory-neutral
  statement of the pattern before the formal one, so the data are legible without the formalism.
- **Let the numbered example carry the point.** Prose should set up and interpret examples, not
  restate them; refer to data by example number.
- **Earn the length.** A General Research Article is capped at 18,000 words and held to a stricter bar
  past 12,000; cut throat-clearing, redundant derivations, and literature-for-coverage.

## Language house style (verify on the Style Sheet)

- **Citations:** author-date, in the **Unified/Language Style Sheet** form — e.g., in-text
  `(Author 2020:145)`, and a reference list with the Style Sheet's punctuation and capitalization
  (sentence-style article titles, full journal names, page ranges).
- **Examples and glosses:** numbered, Leipzig-glossed (see `lang-tables-figures`).
- **Terminology and symbols:** consistent IPA; grammatical labels in small caps; language names and
  ISO 639-3 codes where helpful.
- **Notes:** footnotes for substantive asides, kept lean; do not offload the argument into notes.

## Conform the mechanics (checklist)

- [ ] In-text citations and reference list in Unified/Language Style Sheet form (not APA/Chicago)
- [ ] Numbered examples with aligned Leipzig glosses; abbreviations listed
- [ ] Jargon defined on first use; theory-neutral statement precedes the formal one
- [ ] Claim and prediction stated in the introduction, not deferred to the conclusion
- [ ] Consistent IPA and small-caps labels; language names/codes correct
- [ ] Within the section's word limit; length earned

## Referee-pushback patterns on prose (Language fixes)

| Referee writes… | The Language-specific fix |
|-----------------|---------------------------|
| "Impenetrable to non-[framework] readers." | give the theory-neutral generalization first; gloss terms |
| "The contribution is buried." | front-load the claim and prediction in the intro |
| "References not in journal style." | convert to the Unified/Language Style Sheet form |
| "Padded / over the bar." | cut coverage citations and redundant derivations |

## Calibration (Language voice, hedged)

Reflects *Language*'s house and readership, not universal rules; confirm wording on the Style Sheet.
The most common avoidable style failure is prose that assumes the reader already lives inside your
formalism — a general reader bounces off undefined notation. The second is mis-applied citation style
(APA/Chicago instead of the Unified/Language Style Sheet). Illustrative: a Minimalist syntax paper opens
with three pages of framework machinery before any data; the fix leads with the descriptive
generalization and a glossed example, defers the formal derivation, and reformats 60 references from APA
into Style Sheet form — the same analysis, now legible to a semanticist or a typologist.

## Anti-patterns

- Prose readable only by insiders of one framework (undefined notation, no theory-neutral statement)
- Burying the claim until the discussion section
- APA/Chicago/subfield-local citation style instead of the Unified/Language Style Sheet
- Offloading the real argument into dense footnotes
- Padding to look comprehensive, pushing a General Research Article past the earned length

## Output format

```
【Reads across subfields】claim + example legible to an outsider? [Y/N]
【Front-loaded】claim + prediction in the intro? [Y/N]
【House style】Unified/Language Style Sheet citations + refs? [Y/N]
【Glossing/IPA】examples and symbols conform? [Y/N]
【Length】within the section cap, earned? [Y/N]
【Next】lang-submission
```

## Supplementary resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — reference managers, CSL styles, glossing tools
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — Language Style Sheet / Unified Style Sheet source