The starting point of this thesis is the hypothesis that in Spanish there are conventionalized expressions that signal both the articulation of text parts and the speaker's attitude towards the utterance. "Pragmatic Expressions" (PEs) are fixed lexical forms that contribute to text creation in relation to the context of enunciation, are oriented…

This paper reports on research conducted in the Language and Society Centre of the National Languages Institute of Australia, Monash University, into interaction in English between non-native speakers from different ethnolinguistic backgrounds. The project emphasizes two aspects of verbal interaction where language-specific rules are closely…

The study presents a grammar of Eastern Bontoc, an Austronesian language of the northern Philippines that includes five village dialects and has about 8,000 speakers. Data are from transcribed recordings of primarily one dialect, gathered in 1977-80. The discourse-oriented grammar is outlined in six chapters: an introduction to the language, its…

German borrowing of English words after 1945 is analyzed, focusing on sociolinguistic and linguistic factors, changes English words have undergone in adoption into German, the main areas of borrowing, and the channels through which borrowing has occurred. It is proposed that the most common motives for borrowing are the importation of an object or…

An integrated analysis of the syntax and semantics of serial verb constructions (SVCs) in a group of West African languages is presented. With data from Dagaare and closest relatives, a structural definition for SVCs is developed (two or more lexical verbs that share grammatical categories within a clause), establishing SVCs as complex predicates.…

Individual pupils' experiences and group dynamics in an open classroom in New Zealand are analyzed. (GW)

Examination of the West German language and society suggests that the notion that the West German indigenous working class is separated from the middle class by a linguistic barrier is invalid. (Author/CB)

Analysis of 12 Scottish and 12 American 3- to 6-year-olds interacting with adults indicated that, because Scottish adults use the present perfect tense more frequently in their speech to children than American adults do, Scottish children use the tense in their speech long before American children do. (Author/CB)

Investigates whether speakers of standard German and Dutch maintain their language variety better than speakers of German and Dutch dialects. Also investigates the phenomenon of diglossia in immigrant societies and shows that the type of diglossia prevalent in the immigrant's home country significantly affects the language situation in the new…

Discusses the linguistic systems of children of Italian immigrants in Australia and the children's mastery of standard Italian and various dialects. Also reviews evidence for claims of the emergence of a new linguistic form labelled "Australitalian." (EKN)

Explores the background and rationale of efforts to develop LOGS: a Language of Group Skills which encodes a core of six group competencies in behavioral terms. Joins the organizational development concept of a common language for management to the adult education concept of self-directed learning. (LLL)

Verbs of motion and location in Irish Sign Language have a characteristic lexicalization pattern, which influences the lexical choices signers make in denoting the motion and location of entities. Perceived characteristics of referents govern the type of verb root selected. Animate and inanimate referents are signified by different types of verb…

The Bella Coola suffix "-m" has been analyzed in the literature as two or even three separate morphemes, based on the variable effects it has on the transitivity of its base. The segment is argued for here as a single morpheme with a unified meaning, specifically as a marker of a special case of one definition of the middle voice,…

The account of language use in Accra, capital of Ghana, focuses on the social history of language use and on issues of language choice in a multilingual society. The first chapter gives an account of a language dispute that demonstrates both literally and symbolically the historically rooted relationships of the four main languages of Accra: Ga,…

A study examined language socialization in Dominica (West Indies), focusing on the use of a French-based creole, Patwa, in a situation of linguistic and social change. Despite claims that Patwa is integral to Dominican identity, rural caregivers choose to speak English to language-learning children, contributing to rapid attrition of Patwa.…