Every spoken linguistic system shared by a community has structurally related regional variants. For example, the variant of the present day French for "soixante-dix" is "septante" in eastern France, Belgium, and the French-speaking community of Switzerland. This suggests that Proto-Romance has regionalisms. Using the…

Quantitative evidence is presented for a change in vernacular Black English (VBE) that appears to involve increasing similarities between VBE and other varieties. It is suggested that, although Black varieties and White varieties of English remain distinct and undergo certain changes separately, this need not be regarded as absolute divergence.…

Argues that conceptualization of English as an international language must take into account the changes the language has undergone in becoming an international medium of communication and that the diverse cultural identities of teachers of World English serve to enrich the language and reflect changes in it. (MSE)

Expansion of the progressive (be+ing periphrastic form, where "be" is at the same time the copula and a statement of existence) was a major feature of modernization of the English verb system in the 19th century. A survey (1787-1880) of a collection of private letters, most from famous writers, reveals that linguistic factors played a small role…

Examines the different agencies of language planning of the Island of Jersey and the progress that has been made, comparing the corpus and status planning undertaken in this context with that which occurs in countries where more support is forthcoming from the state. Suggests that high prestige domains do not necessarily hold the key to successful…

In order to empirically examine the claim that sign language varieties in Hong Kong developed partially from sign language varieties in Shanghai, this paper examines the intuitive judgements of Hong kong signers about the similarities and difference in basic vocabulary items in sign language varieties in Shanghai and in Hong Kong. Specifically,…

This article discusses the way in which the orthography may or may not reflect changes in the pronunciation of Castilian Spanish. Examples substantiate the discussion. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

The typical pattern of Chinese word formation is to have native material adapt to changed circumstances. The Chinese language neither borrows nor lends words, but it does occasionally borrow concepts. The larger cultural pattern in which this occurs is that the Chinese culture borrows, if necessary, but ensures that the act of borrowing does not…

A study compared salient variables of Canadian English from two concurrent sociodialectal surveys, one for Ottawa, Ontario and one for Vancouver, British Columbia. Using the Labovian model of phonological variation in association with sociological parameters and other linguistic variables within each specific area, the analysis investigated four…

Examines the function of language structure constraints in phonological change, particularly with regard to phonetic and morphological patterns. (Author/AM)

An analysis of the process of disappearance in which each language is engaged. Information concerning their past, present and future as indicated by the sociocultural profile of the ethnic groups concerned is given. The reasons for the language disappearance and, on the dialectological level, signs of language death are noted. (AMH)

This paper explores how one facet of the process by which ideology about linguistic variation originates and circulates. It analyzes an archive consisting of newspaper articles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about Pittsburgh speech, the earliest of which is from 1910. The articles began appearing regularly during the 1950s-60s. First, the paper…

Comments on the effects technology and industrialization have on language change. (MM)

Several hypotheses are developed concerning the semantic-pragmatic shifts that take place in the development of grammatical markers such as prepositions, auxiliary verbs and sentence connectives. Over time, grammatical markers shift from being primarily referential to more pragmatic meanings, from propositional to textual to attitudinal. (PMJ)

The size of linguistic elements (morphemes, words or word groups) varies proportionately with their frequency. Because word frequency is unstable, this balance can be disturbed. When elements become too long in relation to their frequency, they are reduced. Examples from Latin illustrate the theory. (PMJ)