In this paper, the multilateral comparison method of classifying languages is described and analyzed. It is suggested that while it is espoused as a simple and reasonable approach to language classification, the method has serious flaws. "Multilateral" or "mass" comparison (MC) is not a method of genetic language…

Slobin (1991, 1996a,b, 1997) has argued that the typological differences between languages with either a satellite-framed or a verb-framed lexicalisation pattern (Talmy, 2000) have important discourse and rhetorical consequences for the expression of "paths of movement" and "manner of movement". These differences are especially…

THIS VOLUME IS THE COMPANION TO "VOLUME I, CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL INDIA," AND IS DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY COURSES DEALING WITH INDIA, PARTICULARLY THOSE COURSES USING THE "CIVILIZATION OF INDIA SYLLABUS" (BY THE SAME AUTHOR AND PUBLISHERS, 1965). VOLUME II CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING SELECTIONS--(1) "INDIA AND WESTERN…

This paper discusses difficulties in defining Standard American English, and the question of whether there is a need to define it. Several theories on why such a dialect should be defined are described. These are: the "propriety" theory, the "psychological" theory, the "power and prestige" theory, and the "better tool" theory, the "psychological"…

This collection of papers on the Binandere languages of New Guinea consists of: (1) "The Structure of the Binandere Verb," by A. Capell--sentence structure and verb structure; (2) "Preliminary Notes on Orokaiva Grammar," by A. Healey, A. Isoroembo, and M. Chittleborough--phonology, verbs, adverbs, nouns, adjectives, pronouns…

An account of the dictionaries, great and small, of the English-speaking world is given in this book. Subjects covered include the origin of English dictionaries, early dictionaries, Noah Webster and his successors to the present, abridged dictionaries, "The Oxford English Dictionary" and later dictionaries patterned after it, the…

This study analyzes the sound correspondences of six Oceanic languages using reconstructed forms from Proto-Oceanic as a frame of reference. Sobei, Wakde, Masimasi, Anus, Bojgo, and Tarpia provide the cognates used in the analysis. Consonants and vowels are analyzed, and sound correspondences are examined for regularity of development and possible…

Various aspects of Arabic and Semitic linguistics are discussed in this text. The nine chapters include: (1) fundamental Semitic vocabulary and the classification of southern dialects; (2) observations on nominal derivation by affixation in several Semitic languages; (3) an automatic analysis of literary Arabic; (4) "Addad" and…

Discusses and compares the syntactic features of free relative clauses found in Castilian and Aragonese dialects of Old Spanish. The role of clitics (nontonic pronominals) and the lexical innovations of the wh-question compound-type clauses are highlighted. (TR)

Report on a research project to classify various language registers as related to advanced instruction of English as a foreign language; supported by the English Curriculum Section of the Language Bureau, Public Service Commission of Canada. (RS)

Two experiments are reported on the array-scanning characteristics of Malaysian subjects exposed to arrays of Roman and Arabic letters. Unique search patterns were found with both letters. Ways are discussed in which these patterns may be related to the underlying linguistic structure of words in Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Arabic. (13…

Analyzes the use of metapragmatic description in the ethnoclassification of language by native speakers on the Franco-Antillean island of Saint Barthelemy. A prevalent technique for metapragmatic description based on honorific pronouns that reflects the varied geolinguistic and generational attributes of the speakers is described. (Author/MSE)

Argues that with regard to an important part of verbal morphosyntax (Tense-Aspect-Mood or TAM), it is possible to speak of a Standard Average European. Focus is on origins and evolution of TAM-markers, or TAM-auxiliation, suggesting that particular verb structures provide conceptual sources for auxiliation, and that it has an areal configuration…

The typological position of the Basque language is examined from an explicitly historical perspective, exploring the degree to which it has undergone typological assimilation into its Indo-European neighbors during the last 2,000 years. Phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon are considered. (MSE)

The syllable structure of Dholuo, a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in Western Kenya, is analyzed according to the generative CV-phonology model, which assumes that the syllable has a three-tiered structure: syllable node; CV-tier; and segmental tier. The consonant and vowel repertoires of Dholuo are outlined and charted, and syllable peak patterns,…