This study investigates the complex dynamics of semantic change and cultural adaptation of metaphor in multilingual communication. The research uses cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics to develop a model that explains the fundamental mechanisms of metaphorical expression and comprehension across languages and cultures. Using…

The study of language contact epitomizes the dynamics of language as a system of human communication. The competing linguistic forces at work when speakers of different language varieties come into contact can be narrowed down to two basic concepts--convergence and divergence. Looking at linguistic areas using a macro approach, languages in…

This article focuses on how issues of power and identity were negotiated when doing a critical sociolinguistic ethnography as a Spanish researcher in the Chinese educational context. Data come from fieldwork conducted in 3 different primary and secondary schools together in Zhejiang province, where inside- and outside-classroom…

Hong Kong popular culture played an important role in the construction and consolidation of Hong Kong identity long before the handover to China. In the past few years leading up to the 10th anniversary of the handover, both Hong Kong and China have undergone numerous changes which seem to be changing their relations. Whilst Hong Kong people had…

The educational success of ethnic Koreans in China has been achieved through Mandarin-Korean bilingual education, with the Korean language as the medium of instruction. Using the data collected as part of an ethnographic research on Korean elementary school students in a national Korean school in China, this article examines the relation between…

Examines how the cultural revolution in China has changed, to some extent, the rules governing the use of address terms, discussing the close interrelation between the use of address terms and cultural values and how the change in mental outlook has led to the depreciation or appreciation of certain terms. (Author/CB)

Symbolic meaning expressed by Chinese language characters is helpful to non-Chinese persons in understanding Chinese culture. The implicit metaphors in Chinese characters present pictographic descriptions of the meaning in the form of a story, situation, or symbol which places the otherwise abstract concept in a cultural context. All languages…

Fourteen original research papers by faculty and students of the Linguistics Department and other related departments of the University of Kansas are presented. The titles and authors are as follows: "A Kinesic Approach to Understanding Communication and Context in Japanese" (Bruch); "Correlations between the Three Level Tones and…