Analyzes data from natural Igbo-English bilingual discourse that demonstrates how the two most important manifestations of language contact--codeswitching and borrowing--can be unambiguously and consistently distinguished. (Author/VWL)

Presents an example of a grammaticalization type not conforming to normal expectations of unidirectionality. The Biblical Hebrew third person singular pronouns are grammaticalizations from the verb root "to be." In Modern Hebrew, the zero copula in equative clauses has been replaced by these pronouns, producing the progression: copula to pronoun…

Examines two issues concerning the acquisition of grammatical morphemes: (1) How is the acquisition of grammatical morphemes influenced by prosodic and phonological characteristics of the language being learned? and (2) What sorts of prosodic and phonological properties do grammatical morphemes have that might aid children in applying particular…

Provides empirical support for two components of Thomason and Kaufman's intensity of language contact: the length of contact and the role of exposure to the source language. Tests the hypothesis that several hundred years of intimate contact and widespread bilingualism among borrowing-language speakers are needed for extensive structural changes…

Other languages in Israel, such as Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and Judeo-Persian suffer from a serious lack of well-prioritized efforts in accord with their specific language planning needs. This current insufficiency of funds and effort may lead to the early demise of most Jewish languages other than Hebrew in Israel, with the exception of…

Looks at resultative constructions in Korean and English and shows that their basic features follow from general properties of prediction and argument saturation. The analysis is formulated in the framework of head-driven phrase structure grammar (HPSG). (Author/VWL)

Outlines some of the key complexities and controversies that surround the advocacy of minority language rights, most notably via the movement of linguistic human rights (LHR). Argues that while the LHR movement has much to offer, particularly in articulating how minority languages might come to enjoy some of the privileges accorded majority…

Discusses the subject/object drop pattern found in child Korean and makes a cross-linguistic comparison among seven languages. Findings are most consistent with Valian's observation that early grammars show a high degree of sensitivity to characteristics of and frequency distributions in input. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the Oriya Language Movement, which was active between 1868 and 1870 in the Indian state of Orissa in the context of the colonial controversy over language policy between Orientalists, who claimed that vernacular languages were best for this purpose, and Anglicists, who favored English. (Author/VWL)

Looks at code switching in a corpus of song lyrics within the genre of rai music. The two languages involved are French and North African colloquial varieties of Arabic. Focuses on the symbolic and communicative value of the switching found in the songs. (Author/VWL)

Examines whether Greek Cypriots regard the presence of certain sounds in their dialect as harsher and less pleasant than their corresponding underlying phonemes in standard Modern Greek. (Author/VWL)

Discusses an extensive research program that was conducted under the auspices of the International Auxiliary Language Association, whose goal was to gather information on Esperanto, Ido, or Latino. Reviews ideological influences that instead led to creation of new hybrid language, Interlingua. (Author/VWL)

Presents psycholinguistic evidence from adult speakers of English, Norwegian, and Dutch, and from child speakers of Dutch and Norwegian that supports Dalrymple's (1995) proposal that the reciprocal pronoun has a flexible semantic value defining a range of readings of varying logical strength and that a semantic principle determines the reading…

Examines the pedagogical, psychological, and linguistic principles that were taken into consideration in designing the new Greek syllabus, based on the modern language. One problem that arose in the implementation of the change is examined, namely the continuing predominance of literature in the textbooks. (Author/VWL)

Adult Kuwaitis were interviewed to ascertain whether or not they modified their speech when talking to young children. Those who indicated they did not were recorded while they were interacting with a young child. Results show that all modified their speech in accordance with the standard descriptions of motherese. (Author/VWL)