The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the conference APalenque, Cartagena y Afro-Caribe conexiones histA3ricas y lingA1/4A-sticas, Cartagena, ColombiaA, held at the University of Cartagena in late 1996. The volume features 17 articles by leading figures in the fields of Afro-Hispanic linguistics, creolistics, history, and anthropology. It reflects the state of the art on Palenquero research, and is representative of scholars' special interests in Palenquero.