The acquisition of negation is a key milestone in early language development that enables children to express rejection, non-existence, and deny propositions. In this study, we ask whether the development of the functions of negation follows a universal trajectory or varies based on language-specific features and environmental input. We…

Negation is a cornerstone of human language and one of the few universals found in all languages. Without negation, neither categorization nor efficient communication would be possible. Languages, however, differ remarkably in how they express negation. It is yet widely unknown how the way negation is marked influences the acquisition process of…

This paper presents an analysis and comparison of the projection of Chinese "shen" and English "deep" from the spatial domain to other domains of time, sense, emotion, behavior, and society from a cognitive perspective by using the comparative and contrastive method, explaining the universality and differences of SHEN and DEEP…

In this study, Natural Semantic Metalanguage (henceforth NSM) was used to carry out a comparative analysis. The compliment response behavior of native Persian speakers was compared with that of Native American English speakers to see if it can provide evidence for applicability of NSM model which is claimed to be universal. The descriptive…

Maintains that in spite of obvious interest in language by those in other disciplines, it is a mistake for linguists to assume others have special insight into the nature of language and meaning which is denied to linguists. Furthermore, a general theory or set of principles relating to meaning for linguistics can only be arrived at by linguistics…

Suggests that a structuralist separation of rules and lexicon from actual language seems to be a barrier to learning. Rather than viewing language as merely a system of rules and a dictionary, definable apart from context, it should be considered as a form of being in the world, and teaching methods should be compatible with such a view. (SL)

Attempts to characterize the process of first language acquisition by children. Suggests that language learning involves the acquisition of both language knowledge and language behavior, hence of the internalized representations underlying linguistic competence and also the ability to deploy this knowledge in interpreting and speaking the language…

Part of a larger work, of which the French version, Theorie de la Culture'' (Theory of Culture), is to be published first; shorter version read at the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures Congress, Cambridge, England, 1972. (RS)

A brief glimpse of the on-going process of loanword borrowing in a bilingual culture is accompanied by frequent examples. The phenomenon described as "reverse borrowings of English corruptions" refers to linguistic occurrences in which the native speaker adapts a loanword which is, in fact, a corrupted version of his native language which he does…

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…

The major purpose of this seventh-grade teaching unit on language is to expand the students' understanding of language as central to human activity. The purposes, methods, and commonalities of such disciplines as anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and rhetoric are defined within the framework of language study to suggest the scope of…