In this article we examine language processing and development in Catalan or Spanish-speaking children with SLI, focusing on the study of the verb. We analyse the key initial phase of its process of acquisition and aim to define common features of the SLI group that distinguish them from children with normal language development. We intend to…

The present paper assesses the implications of the existence of two varieties of the same language for contact-induced language change in cases of bilingualism. By analysing the contact between French and Tunisian Arabic, on the one hand, and Spanish and Northern Moroccan Arabic, on the other, the purpose is to illustrate how the coexistence of…

It is argued that viewing learners' errors as evidence for the emergence of new varieties of the English language is dangerously mistaken, particularly where it leads to the abandonment of Standard English as a model for learners. It is shown how this view is mistaken by: (1) citing recent British thinking on the relationship of varieties of…

Discussion of the use of computers in Slavonic studies in the Ukraine focuses on linguistics. Topics addressed include the Machine Fund of Russian, a Russian language database; the Machine Fund of Non-Russian Languages that includes each republic of the former Soviet Union; natural language processing; and comparing languages. (18 references) (LRW)

The cultural interplay in Africa between indigenous, Islamic, and Western legacies has given rise to four language types described as Afro-ethnic, Afro-Islamic, Afro-Western, and Western. Their definitions, tendencies, and characteristics in writing, geographic spread, demographic distribution, and functional value are discussed. (10 references)…

Kaki Ae is a non-Austronesian language spoken by about 300 people on the south coast of Papua New Guinea, at best distantly related to any other language in that area. A brief grammar sketch of the language is presented, including discussion of the phonology, sentences, phrases, words, and morpheme categories. Kaki Ae phonemics include 11…

It may be better to regard what are now considered dialects, such as Caribbean Creole, as languages related to English rather than forms of English. This altered context would recognize cultural identity and shift programing emphasis from literacy to English for speakers of other languages. (SK)

This survey of languages of the world begins with a chart of about 500 languages, organized in 21 language families. Within each family are listed subgroups and the major and minor languages within those subgroups. The chart is followed by a brief description of each language family. This in turn is followed by individual descriptions of the more…

This article explores the traditionally accepted etymologies of several lexical borrowings in the indigenous languages of the Americas within the framework of comparative linguistics and linguistic classification. The first section presents a general discussion of the problem of tracing lexical borrowings in this context. The section features a…

The use of the term "Creole" to refer to the Haitian language is discussed, and it is argued that "Haitian" is a more appropriate term. Psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic functions of the term are examined, including its etymological and usage history and images associated with its application in a variety of locations and…

This dictionary is a composite of four Philippine Creole Spanish dialects: Cotabato Chabacano and variants spoken in Ternate, Cavite City, and Zamboanga City. The volume contains 6,542 main lexical entries with corresponding entries with contrasting data from the three other variants. A concluding section summarizes findings of the dialect study…

Argues that linguists have ignored diversity within the northern Khoesan (NK) group of languages of Southern Africa and this has had serious repercussions both for speakers of these languages and for linguistic theory. The variation that appears within NK has been ignored in part because a single variety has been misunderstood as being the !Kung…

An analysis of Standard Average European, a European linguistic area, looks at 11 of its features (definite, indefinite articles, have-perfect, participial passive, antiaccusative prominence, nominative experiencers, dative external possessors, negation/negative pronouns, particle comparatives, A-and-B conjunction, relative clauses, verb fronting…

Problems in determining the origins of Sumerian, an ancient language, are described, and an alternative approach is examined. Sumerian was spoken in southern Iraq in the third millennium B.C. and later used by Babylonian and Assyrian scribes as a classical language. While early texts in Sumerian are considered a better reflection of the original…

This paper discusses the sense relation of synonymy, taking the view that this phenomenon should be understood as a gradual concept, a cline along which there are different degrees of synonymy. This view is consistent with the widely held opinion among semanticists that strict or absolute synonymy is rare in human language. A further step is taken…