The purpose of the present research is to examine which of the two factors: (1) the iconic-semiotic factor; or (2) the human-phonetic factor is more relevant in explaining the appearance and distribution of the hand shape B-bent in Israeli Sign Language (ISL). The B-bent shape has been the subject of much attention in sign language research…

The goal of the present study was to explore the pattern of lexical connections between translation equivalents represented in the cognitive system of an Arabic-Hebrew bilingual. To achieve this goal, repetition priming effects (reaction times (RTs) and accuracy measures) were compared between translation equivalents in the two forms of Arabic,…

This paper focuses on tonal alternations in the Urhobo noun phrase. Urhobo is an Edoid language spoken extensively in Delta State, Nigeria. The language has two basic tones, high and low, plus a phenomenon of downstep, both automatic and non-automatic. The noun phrases examined include the noun + noun associative construction, the noun + relative…

Three hundred Beijing students in kindergarten through second grade were given the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts Revised (BTBC-R) to determine whether lexical diversity and morphological complexity affect the rate of acquisition of languages and whether conceptual factors interact with linguistic differences in development of relational concepts.…

A study investigated the phonemic and morphophonemic patterning of the glottal stop in Agutaynen, a Meso-Philippine language, and some comparison with two northern Philippine languages. Agutaynen glottal stop has as its sole origin a neutralization of contrast rule, the operation of which can be noted in three different linguistic environments.…

Luo-speaking children in Kenya responded to a test using nonce forms in morphophonology. Morphophonological processes in the acquisition of Luo plurals and possessives presented different degrees of difficulty for the subjects, with the type of morphophonological alteration in a language likely to affect the rate and order of acquisition.…

In Quebec French, unlike standard French, sentence negation "pas" ("not") can occur in the same clause as a negative quantifier like "personne" ("nobody"), for instance. This paper proposes that "pas" in these contexts marks negative association in the same way that "ne" does in standard…

A phonemic analysis of the Meitei language of Manipur, India, is presented. The vowel and consonant system is analyzed by the classical phonemic method, but with morpheme structure rules formulated according to the principles of generative phonology in order to generalize the pattern of various sounds and specify the allophonic distribution of…

A dialect survey of the Penghu Islands concluded that the Penghu dialects belong to the Southern Min; variation within the dialects is considerable in terms of changed tones, certain finals, and some lexical items; and the Penghu dialects can be further divided into two large groups. (Author/CB)

This book describes the phonological and grammatical structure of the whole-Dravidian language family from different aspects, examining its history and writing system, structure and typology, lexicon, and recent contacts between Dravidian and other language groups. The 11 chapters highlight the following: (1) "Introduction" (e.g., the…

Three articles on the orthography of Australian Aboriginal Kriol include: "Aspects of Developing a Writing System with Particular Reference to the Revision of the Kriol Orthography"; "A Guide to the Kriol Writing System"; and "A Resource Guide to Kriol." In the first two papers, issues of dealing with orthography in a…

This paper discusses Aboriginal English speakers in Australia, noting the importance of recognizing prior learning and of recognizing Aboriginal English within the context of programs that understand the particular areas where Aboriginal English speakers need support to achieve outcomes in standard English. It defines recognition of prior learning…

This document is the first of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken by the Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Zapotec, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in the Isthmus region of Juchitan, Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling…

This document is one of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken by the Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Trique, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in San Juan Copala, in the state of Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling of the…

This document is one of 17 volumes on indigenous Mexican languages and is the result of a project undertaken Archivo de Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico. This volume contains information on Mixtec, an indigenous language of Mexico spoken in Santa Maria Penoles in the state of Oaxaca. The objective of collecting such a representative sampling of the…