This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular…

Considers the frequently indefinable distinctions between descriptive and prescriptive English grammars, using examples of standard English and dialects to illustrate the uses of each. (Author/CB)

Reexamines the issue of Spanish nonverbal word stress, illustrates two basic generalizations about primary word stress, develops the conclusion that penultimate stress is unmarked, examines the relationship between Latin stress and its Spanish descendant, and contrasts the stress systems of Latin and Spanish. (32 references) (GLR)

The sign language of the American deaf community (ASL) is analyzed from a linguistic point of view. The history of the application of linguistic principles to sign language studies is briefly traced. The cherology (phonology) of sign language is treated with respect to finger spelling, manual numeration, ASL phonetics, and conventions of sign…

Discusses a method for extrapolation of diachronic processes from synchronic states, the dynamicization of synchronic typologies, to propose a hitherto unobserved historical source for markers of verbal negation, namely irregular negative existential predicate forms. Explanations are proposed for the occurrence of the attested processes in this…

Intervocalic features of Villa Mella Spanish, a dialect spoken in a region of Santo Domingo, are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the intervocal "d." (CB)

This treatise on the theoretical and historical foundations of distinctive feature theory traces the evolution of the distinctive features concept in the context of related notions current in linguistic theory, discusses the evolution of individual distinctive features, and criticizes certain acoustic and perceptual correlates attributed to these…

Explores the status of the Zamboangueno dialect, discusses the various stages of decreolization in the direction of Spanish, and suggests possible avenues for the continued introduction of elements from an acrolect which, for all intents and purposes, is no longer generally available to residents of Zamboanga, Philippines. (Author/CB)

Reviews the limited amount of research regarding ways in which primary stress is assigned to second conjugation infinitives in Italian and then proposes a new perspective taking into consideration root vowels, root-final consonants, syllable onset, monosyllabic vs. polysyllabic roots, and canonical form. (CB)

Reviews research studies that raise serious questions about phonological neutralization, that is, the merger of a contrast in certain contexts. Some findings cast doubt on the very existence of neutralization and the correctness of the theoretical principles that make assumptions based on neutralization. Reanalyzes neutralization in light of these…

Recent sociolinguistic research is used to show that the American Sign Language (ASL)-English contact situation does not result in the emergence of a pidgin as supposed. Variation along the ASL-English continuum can be accounted for by interplay of foreigner talk, judgments of proficiency, and learners' attempts to master the target language.…

A review of the origin of surnames in China covers such areas as number of surnames, selection of surnames, and surnames in national minorities. (CB)

Shows that the Scottish Vowel Length Rule supports Kiparsky's (1988) association of diffusing sound changes with lexical, and neogrammarian changes with postlexical rules, and to some extent, is a clearer illustration of Harris' (1989a: 55) notion of a phonological "life cycle" of changes and rules. (50 references) (GLR)

Foreign Workers' German (FWG) refers to the acquired German language skills of workers from various countries who were recruited to West Germany between 1955 and 1973 to fill menial, undesirable jobs. Contact between these workers and native German speakers was limited because of the nature of the foreigners' work, the tendency toward residential…

Edward Sapir's 1921 publication, "Language, An Introduction to the Study of Speech" is interpreted for beginning students of historical and descriptive linguistics. In his book, Sapir attempts to show (1) what he thinks language is, (2) what variables occur in language due to time and place, and (3) the relationship of language and…