The field of language documentation continues to grow, but an historic split between sign language documentation and spoken language documentation persists. In order to fully understand the linguistic context within a community, it can be necessary to overcome this split by designing language documentation projects to address threatened and…

Armenian as a separate language has been thought as an I-E Language, but what language/s are the closest to Armenian? We made an attempt to compare Armenian words with Ukrainian, Slavic and European Languages contrasting the stems to some Iranian Languages, like Tajik, Dari and Persian, to see how relative Armenian could be to them. Our main goal…

The field of first language acquisition (FLA) needs to take into account data from the broadest typological array of languages and language-learning environments if it is to identify potential universals in child language development, and how these interact with socio-cultural mechanisms of acquisition. Yet undertaking FLA research in remote…

Migrant speakers of endangered languages living in urban centers in developed countries represent a valuable resource through which these languages may be conveniently documented. Here, we first present a general methodology by which linguists can compile a meaningful set of visual (and sometimes audio) stimuli with which to carry out a reasonably…

Investigating a tone language involves careful transcription of tone on words and phrases. This is challenging when the phonological categories--the tones or melodies--have not been identified. Effects such as coarticulation, sandhi, and phrase-level prosody appear as obstacles to early elicitation and classification of tone. This article presents…

This paper describes a case study of language development in rural Papua New Guinea, in which parents felt the local school was not meeting the educational needs of their children. In this case study, the local, national and global narratives concerning use of the vernacular in education were apparent in the negotiation leading to an apparent…

Presents phrases and structures quoted from Melanesian families of the St-Louis tribe in New Caledonia. The system of preverbal markers in Tayo is not well developed and is subject to fluctuation. The use of preverbal markers does not follow the Tempus-Modus-Aspekt rules. (five references) (Author/JP)

The aim of this paper is to describe verbal complementation in Malagasy and to consider how the Malagasy data reflect the "binding hierarchy" proposed by Givon (1980). It is shown that the Malagasy data provide support for the hierarchy and that the occurrence of the complementizer "fa" can be accounted for in terms of the strength of binding the…

In an attempt to determine some of the shared phonological traits among Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest, this paper compares the sound systems of Pueblo languages. The languages within the scope of this research are Zuni, Keresan (Acoma and Santa Ana), and Tanoan (Sandia, Taos, Jemez, and Santa Clara). It is noted that Pueblo Indians have…

Presents an approach to a typological outline for categorizing minority-language situations in such areas as speaker, language, and setting juxtaposed with dimensions including sociology, linguistics, and psychology. (36 references) (Author/CB)

Describes a study that sought to characterize the Scotch-Irish influence on the dialect of southeastern Pennsylvania in particular and American English in general. A questionnaire was used to obtain lexical and grammatical data from 97 subjects. The study concludes that the Scotch-Irish linguistic heritage is rapidly disappearing. (19 references)…

Presents a demographic approach to the study of linguistic minorities, focusing on major analytical issues, particular data needs, and research possibilities. The approach's potential in the study of second-language acquisition, language maintenance, and shift pertaining to linguistic minorities is illustrated. (40 references) (Author/CB)

This paper describes the development of two new corpus-based Dutch spelling guides using language data gathered by the Institute for Dutch Lexicology, a research institute subsidized by the Dutch and Belgian governments. The guides were produced in 1990 and 1995. The guides are based on two earlier ones, published in 1866 and 1954, but attempt to…

Controversies surrounding approaches to language revival could be reduced if a clear distinction were recognized between two possible goals of language revival: the process of restoration and the process of transformation. A survey of methods adopted by various revivalists supports the conclusion that achieving transformation is more likely.…

This report is a brief overview of the work of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in Australia during 1988 in the areas of literacy, linguistics, and translation. The background of the SIL, its operations, and its membership are described. The activities of the Culture Studies Department are highlighted, and special events, workshops, and…