This paper aims at highlighting the syntactic and semantic variation of the Swedish verb "lata" "let" from both a synchronic and diachronic point of view. On the basis of corpus data containing Old and Modern Swedish texts from the 13th to the 19th centuries, the syntactic and semantic development of the verb is investigated within the framework…

In this paper a case of synchronic layering is examined in which Dutch "massa" ("mass") and plural "massa's" ("masses") are attested with lexical uses as a collective noun, quantifying uses ("a large quantity of") and intensifying uses ("very")--with plural "massa's" only--in some Flemish varieties of Dutch. Against the background of…

This is an expanded version of a paper given at a conference held in Cape Town, South Africa from December 11-13, 2008 entitled "The Native Speaker and the Mother Tongue." In keeping with the conference's themes of exploring and interrogating the notions of "mother tongue" and "native speaker," I consider…

The present study is an attempt to account for current changes taking place in the behaviour of what are commonly taken to be stress-neutral endings in contemporary British English. The methodological framework being that of Lionel Guierre, this study aims for comprehensive coverage, via a survey of Guierre's original database (which was initially…

Aims to find the extent to which subject clitic "nous" and 4th person verbs in French are used in a corpus of informal spoken language and to identify factors that may account for the productive use of nous +4p verb. (Author/VWL)

Addresses the matter of Northern Fronting of eME /o/ in Lincolnshire, giving the medieval spelling evidence and the residual modern phonological evidence for the development in parts of the country. Considers the merger of ME /u/ and /o/ at /u/ in modern North Lincolnshire and argues that this situation is the result of lexical diffusion.…

Discusses the nature of the difference between dialectology and sociolinguistics and suggests that the findings of dialectology are relevant for use by sociolinguists. (30 references) (CK)

Presents theoretical models of how language acts (1) as a dependent variable of how people subjectively construe situations and (2) as an independent variable creatively defining and redefining situations for those involved. Discusses the importance of developing an interdisciplinary model of language variation in its social context. (EKN)

Reports the results of interviews conducted in Sapporo, Japan, an area undergoing rapid urbanization. The study sought to determine the effect of urbanization on degree of intensity of interaction with neighbors, and on the use of honorifics. (Author/AM)

Considers the socio-stylistic distinction of the French variable morpho-syntactic particle "ne." The interspeaker axes of variation in "ne" are summarized, and intraspeaker data deriving from a corpus of spoken French are considered. Examines intraspeaker variation in "ne" by focusing on the use of the variable by a single speaker in both speech…

Gives an overview of the language situation on Ponape, with reference to social structure. (AM)

Uses Firbas' theory of communicative dynamism to analyze the ordering of the subject, verb, and object in Mandarin Chinese. The author demonstrates that the word order of Chinese is not so much determined by syntactic considerations as by information structuring constraints. (30 references) (Author/CK)

This article describes "language" use in a religious domain where the very notion of 'language' must be defined in a qualitatively special way. It is suggested that within the traditional Islamic educational system, Arabic among the Kanuri of northeast Nigeria is first acquired as a "graphic," an invisible whole that, by its…

This paper offers some partial identifications of the communicative functions of Tarahumara alternations and underscores their implications for a cognitive phonology. (Contains 17 references.) (JL)

This article investigates methodological problems involved in a discourse-centered exploration of societal ideologies, and in particular, in an ongoing research program studying publicly accessible discourse in a number of European countries related to interethnic conflicts, the construction of ethnic or national identities, and nation-building…