Sociolinguistic research on linguistic change, i.e., the use of high rising terminal contours (HRTs) in declarative clauses, is reported based on interviews from 75 inhabitants of Porirua. Results show that linguistic change is in progress, with HRTs favored by young Maori and young Pakeha women. Results are explained in terms of HRTs as positive…

A social dialect survey of a New Zealand community documented a change in progress in the pronunciation of the vowels in words such as "air" and "ear." The data support a tentative interpretation that a shift to the variant with the closer onset for AIR words was initiated by middle-aged Pakeha women. (38 references) (Author/LB)

Discusses the centuries-old dispute in Quebec about whether the French spoken there is good or bad. The issue has a stake in public discourse between socially-valued and socially-stigmatized varieties of language. (Author/VWL)

Global English is under contestation. Although some consider lingua franca English (LFE) as a neutral medium or code that does not belong to any specific culture or nationality, others see the deceptive nature of this linguistic globalization. Along with Spring (2007/this issue), they see global English as embodying partisan interests and values.…

The theory of diglossia developed by Charles Ferguson in 1959, and a later, expanded version by Joshua Fishman are outlined and contrasted, and some of the major objections to them are discussed. Diglossia delineates communities using two or more linguistic varieties for differing functions within a single speech community. Ferguson's theory…

Generally, the article describes and discusses topics and positions found in the literature on Black English. Specifically, particular attention is paid to certain articles and positions that misrepresent opposing opinions and facts of the area. (Author/RM)

This article discusses the Singapore English speech continuum and its development, use and relation to sociolinguistic factors. An ethnic and linguistic background is also provided, as well as a discussion of a sub-variety known as Singlish. (CLK)

This study concerns the problems posed by modes of interlinguistic communication, translation, and individual bilingualism, on which depend the quality of relationships between two ethnic communities belonging to a single political entity. It also addresses a frequent question about the need for translation in a bilingual country like Canada. The…

A study was undertaken to gather attitudes of Spanish-speakers toward specific types of Chicano Spanish dialect lexical items. Reactions were randomly taken from 11 Latin American students who attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale during the 1975 spring semester; 20 Mexican residents of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, who attended English as…

The article reviews the linguistic situation in Taiwan, discussing the use of Mandarin Chinese as a means to improve interethnic relations between the various populations inhabiting the island. The situation is looked at from a sociolinguistic point of view and the historical background is reviewed. Available from Humanities Press, Inc., Atlantic…

This analysis encompasses graphemic, phonological, lexical and syntactic variations of Chicano Spanish from standard Spanish and the functions of the vernacular within the speech community. (RM)

Presents evidence for the idea that when morphemes are borrowed from a socially dominant language into a pidgin, and extended in usage as in a creole, the major factor determining the direction of such extension is the linguistic background of the speakers of languages other than the dominant one. (Author/CLK)

In order to help explain language variation and promote an understanding of spatial networks and diffusion patterns, data from the records of the Survey of English Dialects (SED) are analyzed with respect to geolinguistics. The data include all recorded instances of words with morpheme-final consonant clusters for all 75 interviews with older…

This article examines the formulation and implementation of language policy and the relationship between language rights and nationality rights in Yugoslavia. The distinction between formulation and implementation is affected by the hierarchical and decentralized politico-administrative system. Policy formulated in its most general form at the…

Many linguists and sociolinguists are interested in the relationship between ethnocentrism and language and in how the desire of ethnic groups to maintain their cultural distinctiveness influences linguistic variation. This paper suggests diverse ways in which ethnocentrism and the desire to increase social distance may be realized on several…