It has been said that the difference between a dialect and a language is that a language has an international border and a flag. But that is not entirely true. Canada has a border, a flag, and two major languages, somewhat in the fashion of Belgium. Unlike Belgium, where they call the local varieties of French and Dutch "Walloon" and…

Tests hypotheses from the model for contact-induced language change as formulated in Thomason and Kaufman (1998) and Thomason (1998). The model correctly predicts the asymmetries between the mutual influences of the Germanic and Romance varieties in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, making it a very powerful tool for describing the…

Summarizes a keynote address that tested hypotheses from the model for contact-induced language change as formulated in Thomason and Kaufman (1998) and Thomason (1998). The model correctly predicts the asymmetries between the mutual influences of the Germanic and Romance varieties in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, making it a very…

Seven peer commentaries are provided in response to a paper that tested hypotheses from a model for contact-induced language change as formulated in Thomason and Kaufman (1998) and Thomason (1998). The model correctly predicts asymmetries between mutual influences of Germanic and Romance varieties in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France,…

Responds to peer commentaries written in response to a paper examining the model for contact-induced language change as formulated in Thomason and Kaufman (1998) and Thomason (1998). The model correctly predicts asymmetries between mutual influences of Germanic and Romance varieties in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, making it a very…

Discusses various problems concerning the island of Corsica, including economic decline, underdevelopment, emigration, and insularity--all problems which have affected and influenced its linguistic and cultural identity, as well. The dynamics of Corsican relations with the new, socialist France are questioned in reference to a hoped for…

Contrasts the situation of the French language and of sociolinguistic research in France and in Canada. (AM)

A description of field research which attributes the declining use of Breton to the conflict of status roles when primary socialization is in Breton and secondary socialization is in French. The growing impact of French civilization leads to increasing primary socialization in French. Notes, a questionnaire and references are included. (AMH)

Observations on the situation of Provencal based on a study of inhabitants of a small town in Provence. A situation leading to abandonment of a language is described. It is indicated that the dissociation of all defining elements of a language corresponds to the process of abandonment of the language. (AMH)

This article wishes to initiate a sociolinguistic study of the linguistic behavior of migrant workers in France. The methodology proposed is to resemble that presently used by US sociolinguists in the study of American ethnic communities and include such basic concepts as "Linguistic Community" and "Language Loyalty." (Text is…

Analyzes a variety of French labeled "immigrant speech" by Nemser. Examines the method by which each immigrant worker learns this transitory dialect in order to define the requirements for teaching standard French to these workers. (Text is in French.) (TL)

Describes a study concerned with distinguishing certain phonological and morphological features of the three dialects of Occitan, a language spoken in the south of France. Results indicate that variations in pronunciation seem to depend on sociolinguistic, as well as geographical factors, and in fact, related dialects and language cannot be…

This volume combines a discussion of bilingual education in three parts of the world, the Soviet Union, the Celtic countries of Western Europe, and the United States, with an outline of a theory of bilingualism and bilingual education. The first part of the book investigates how various systems derive from different combinations of identical…

The conference papers from a colloquium on issues in bilingualism and biculturalism include: "Le bilinguisme et biculturalisme: essai de definition" ("Bilingualism and Biculturalism: Attempt at Definition") (Francois Grosjean); "La variation individuelle dans l'acquisition d'une langue seconde" ("Individual…

Articles in this issue focus on language evolution, variation, and heterogeneity. The following are English translations of the French article titles appearing in the issue: "Irregular Phonetic Development Due to Frequency; Regional Traits in Proto-Romance"; "Linguistic Evolution and Evolution of Perspective in the Comparative…