Investigated the behavior of Dutch rising nuclear contours as a function of changes in pitch range by asking listeners to rate such contours on perceived attributes believed to be expressed through variations in pitch range. (Author/VWL)

Discusses dialectal differences in the aggregate. Employs a dialectometric technique that provides an additive measure of pronunciation difference: The (aggregate) pronunciation difference. Sampled Dutch towns and villages, where the variation ranges between 56% and 81%, lending credence to the dialect continuum view. (Author/VWL)

Concerns the interrelation between the theoretical status and the social dimensions of syntactic variation in Heerlen Dutch. Syntactic variation of Heerlen Dutch consists of a range of dative constructions that are unacceptable in standard Dutch. (Author/JL)

Suggests that a sociopragmatic approach to the study of forms of address may shed new light on address behavior in general and on the use of forms of address in French and Dutch in particular. "Form of address" is used to encompass not only second-person singular pronouns, but also other devices that can be employed to make reference to…

Gives a short overview of the historical development of various aspects of the linguistic situation in Belgium. Particular focus is on knowledge and use of the varieties of French and Dutch in Brussels and on the educational system. Attention is also given to attitudes toward the language and language varieties and to aspects of language contact.…

Discusses residual bilingualism as a means of identifying the nature, quantity, and distribution of Dutch-origin elements in the speech of different users of French in Brussels. Observations on code switching in a community of monoglots, bilinguals, and immigrants help provide a frame of reference for similar complex bilingual contexts elsewhere.…

Deals with divergence on the lexical, phonological, and morphological levels in three dialects that were the same until the mid-20th century (Maaseiks in Belgium, Susters in the Netherlands, and Waldfeuchts in Germany) and that have changed under the influence of three different standard languages (Belgian Dutch, Netherlandic Dutch, and Standard…

Schwa epenthesis and schwa deletion are two types of phonological variation that occur frequently in Dutch. In this study, a series of picture-naming experiments investigated whether schwa epenthesis and schwa deletion are arbitrary processes or whether they are contextually driven and take place in speech-planning process. Findings are discussed…

Four hypotheses explaining the origin of Berbice Dutch, a Dutch-based Creole language spoken in the county of Berbice in Guyana, are explored. The most likely explanation is that the language was first spoken by Berbice slaves as a means of expressing the identity of a newly created "ethnic" group. (Author/CB)

Introduces this special issue of the journal and presents results from comparative research into the principles constraining learner varieties (interlanguages) in use. Articles analyze the oral production of complex verbal tasks in second language Dutch, English, French, German, and Italian. (Author/VWL)

Explores the usefulness of a typology of contact mechanisms for one type of contact setting: that of a typical immigrant language, in this case the variety of Turkish that is spoken in the Netherlands. Examines the relevance of insertional code switching to the genesis of mixed languages--Dutch and Turkish. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes the devoicing of voiced fricatives in Southern Standard Dutch (spoken in Belgium) and Northern Standard Dutch (spoken in the Netherlands) based on archived recordings of radio broadcasts from 1935-93. Findings reveal a divergence between the two language varieties in the pronunciation of voiced fricatives in this period. (54 references)…

Investigates phonological variation and change in southern and northern spoken Dutch (spoken in Northern Flanders and the Netherlands). The study examines changes in progress from 1935-93 using a combination of insight and techniques from historical linguistics and sociolinguistics. Results indicate that the southern variety remained stable while…

Explores relationships between standard language and arithmetic-test performance and a range of language-related family characteristics in the Netherlands. The sample consists of 7730 pupils from nearly 700 primary schools. The main question is whether pupils who use standard Dutch perform better than pupils from another language variety, such as…

When analyzing data concerning interlanguage variation and discourse domain, it appears that learners may exhibit more control in their work-domain than in their life-story domain. Data were collected on the Dutch-French interlanguage of two university economics students to investigate the relation of domain to variation in utterances. (Author/…