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…

This study examines the speech act sequence of introductions among native speakers of American English from a wide variety of occupations, educational backgrounds, and role relationships. Specifically, the focus of the study is on the sequencing of other-introductions; namely, in an introduction that involves at least three participants, who gets…

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.…

Most studies of dialects in English-language literature have focused on works of the nineteenth century or earlier. However, modern literature can expand the scope of dialectological investigation. In John Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," use of non-standard dialect forms occurs when the author uses an unusually informal register…

Children aged 2 - 4 were tested to determine the effects of plausibility on comprehension of negative statements. It was found that negatives about an exceptional item in an array, i.e. plausible negatives, were understood before implausible negatives. Other results are described and discussed. (Author/RM)

An investigation is reported which was designed to determine to what extent second generation male West Indians have accommodated to local white speech norms in the city of Cardiff. (RM)

A discussion of two aspects of Hindi phonology, schwa deletion and vowel nasalization, compares two theories concerning the processes behind these phenomena. A non-linear analysis is compared with a more traditional, linear notation. Results indicate that in most cases, both sets of rules work equally well but in some, the linear explanation is…

Analyzing word frequency in six complete texts, a study investigated how vocabulary can be used to define texts. The texts included three stories from 5th and 6th grade readers, selections from literature anthologies for 8th grade and 12th grade students, and a magazine essay for adults. Results indicated that if particular words occur frequently…

Data drawn from videotapes of children aged 20 to 32 months were analyzed for patterns in the use of various self-reference forms at an age when children rarely refer to others compared to their use at an age when children more regularly refer to others as main participants. First, the distribution of the forms…

A study of the babbling and phonological development of 54 infants used half-hour videotape recordings of the children at play in their own homes. The vocal output was phonetically transcribed twice for interrater agreement, and analyzed for the consonants used five times or more in the child's vocal repertoire. These consonants were considered to…

The research of W. O'Barr and B. K. Atkins found that the use of "women's language" features--the use of tag questions, interrogative intonation, sex-specific vocabulary, hedges and fillers, empty adjectives, and hypercorrect grammar; the inability to tell jokes; and the tendency to use fewer expletives than men--was associated more with…

The purpose of this study was to gather information on the acquisition of non-Indo-European languages. The field work was conducted in the village of Faleasao on the island of Ta'u in the Manu'a group of American Samoa from June, 1968 to June, 1969. The data collected consists primarily of tape recordings of naturally occurring and elicited speech…

THE AUTHOR STATES THAT BEFORE PRESENT FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS CAN BE DISCUSSED INTELLIGENTLY, THE RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY AND LINGUISTICS WHICH HAS INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE METHODS MUST BE CONSIDERED. MANY FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS WERE BEGINNING TO FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THE AUDIOLINGUAL APPROACH WHEN NOAM CHOMSKY, IN HIS 1966…