Investigates to what extent the variability between "siempre" and "todo el tiempo" in the San Antonio dialect demonstrates semantic convergence between them, and whether there will be a selection of the innovating form for the future. Examination of this variability may illuminate questions of how such changes occur…

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.…

Examines linguistic criteria that have been adduced on the Middle French period and concludes that there is no real discontinuity that serves to define Middle French. Suggests that the value of Middle French may be typological rather than temporal--specifically that it defines a variety of French that broadly conforms to the Romance…

Investigated two historically isolated communities in the United States--Smith Island, Maryland and the Lumbee Native American community in Robeson County, North Carolina. Demonstrates that contrary to assumption, isolated communities may be linguistically innovative and heterogeneous. Explanations for this are found to be both cognitive and…

Argues that the term "Castilian" should replace "Spanish" to denote the Castilian form of the language. "Spanish" may then be a more inclusive term, enbracing all the dialects of the language. (Text is in Spanish.) (CHK)

Describes the behavior of the phoneme /s/ in Central American Spanish by comparing the speech patterns of residents of Guatemala City, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, San Jose, and Managua. Considers the possible diachronic processes which could have given rise to the current configurations and the theoretical consequences implied by the…

The formation of French neologisms by combining two words is not a recent phenomenon but appears in Rabelais' work and has become more apparent in recent years. The trend marks a kind of evolution in the French attitude toward language, and thus merits considerable attention. (MSE)

A discussion of changes in popular expressions and their relationship to cultural and ideological change looks at the emergence and borrowing of the term "cocooning" and several other morphological trends. (MSE)

Identifies the major issues that need to be confronted in resolving the controversy over the historical roots of African American Vernacular English. and discusses their implications for reconstruction. (Author/VWL)

Discusses two conflicting hypotheses concerning the nature of the New Zealand English short vowel system. Concludes that both hypotheses are to a certain extent wrong and to a certain extent correct. (Author/VWL)

Discusses Ramon Menendez Pidal's contribution to Spanish and general lexicography in his prologue to Samuel Gili Gaya's "Diccionario General." (AM)

Presents a method of quantifying the rate of a given change in a language during a specific time period. (Author/RM)

Examines current theories of language change, and proposes the theory that language change can be observed and captured while in progress, and that language change can be considered a manifestation of human change in general. (AM)

Literature regarding Southwest Spanish suggests gender agreement with nouns is being lost. A study of recorded speech from 11 Spanish speakers in San Antonio (Texas) shows gender agreement is neither random nor largely nonstandard, suggesting gender marking is a rule still observed in this dialect. (Author/MSE)

The Pennsylvania German (PG) linguistic situation offers a unique insight into the mechanisms of language change, and specifically of syntactic change. Pennsylvania German consists of two primary varieties, (Plain (PPG) and Nonplain (NPG), a distinction based on the Anabaptist socioreligious affiliations of the former group that has produced two…