The use of interpersonal verbal routines such as greetings and thanks is examined as a universal phenomenon of human languages. Examples from Syrian Arabic, American English and other languages are used to show differing patterns of structure and use, susceptible of grammatical and sociolinguistic analysis. (Author/RM)

The impact of church affiliation on language use, identity, and change among Kwara'ae speakers in the Solomon Islands is examined. It was found that members of different sects signal their separate identities not only through linguistic code but also through discourse patterns and nonverbal aspects of communication. (26 references) (JL)

Reports on the emergence of a new "Americanized" argot (Western cultural influences or objects) in post-Stalinist Russia. The characteristics of the argot's communicative code and the link between the code and the communicative competence of the argot-speaking groups are presented. (Author/CB)

Suggests the use of principal components analysis as an alternative solution to the problem of grouping speakers by sociological characteristics prior to quantitative analysis. An example is presented of its application to vowel variation data collected as part of a sociolinguistic survey of English in Sydney, Australia. (Author/CB)

Changing Chinese address norms are discussed, including the term "tongzhi" ("comrade") and preferred use of official titles by some Chinese officials; use of traditional terms for "Mr.", "Mrs.", and "Miss"; second singular pronouns of "ni" and "nin"; address of women; and some…

A review of recent language research regarding the black English vernacular (BEV) considers new developments involving (1) the grammars of elderly and young speakers; (2) indications that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech; and (3) the effect of contemporary developments on differences between black and white…

The quantification of communication network integration provides valuable information for the study of language change in very small rural communities such as Grossdorf, Austria. The approach is particularly relevant when study of aggregate group behavior has failed to yield results due to small sample size or group internal inconsistency. (26…

Analyzes an Afro-American sermon and a disputed speech by a Black political leader to mixed audience. Dialect alternants signal switching between contrasting styles in both. Conversational inference is shown to depend not only on grammar, lexical meanings, and conversational principles, but also on constellations of speech variants, rhythm, and…

Supports a greater use of repeated recordings and elicited intuitions by sociolinguists in assessing the linguistic competence of individuals or groups. A replication of an earlier implicational analysis of pronominal variation in the Guyanese creole continuum shows that, with repeated sampling and the inclusion of elicited intuitions, the…

Focuses on arguments among White American children in a small town in New England, Black American children of migrant harvesters, and rural Hindi-speaking Fiji Indian children. Findings suggest that, while repetition, inversion, and escalation are common to all three cultures, there is considerable variation as to how they are used. (EJS)

Describes a pattern of verbal disputing frequently engaged in by children in Hawaii who have some Polynesian ancestry. This pattern, which is characterized by the forceful use of "not!" as an outright contradiction of one speaker by another, is traced from early childhood into adolescence in the context of relationships in which it develops. (EJS)

Presents some differences between the sign language of Black deaf persons educated before and since racial integration of the schools and relates these differences to educational policies. Evidence is provided on teachers' awareness of these differences and of educational policies before and after integration. (Author/SED)

Sociolinguistic studies of spoken Arabic show at least three varieties at different levels of prestige: (1) Modern Standard Arabic (MSA); (2) regional standard with local prestige; and (3) vernacular varieties. The social function of the local prestigious nonstandard features can override the influence of the prestige of MSA. (Author/LMO)