Provides a sociolinguistic account of the forms of address used in present-day Iranian Persian. The shift from power to solidarity as a result of the Islamic Revolution has resulted in a sociolinguistic simplification of address forms. (Author/CB)

Examines the syntactic and semantic relationship between verb forms I and II in modern standard Arabic. The main function of form II verbs was causative/factitive, with the core elements of the causative including (1) agent-subject, (2) action-process verb, and (3) patient-object. (CB)

An analysis of stress patterns in Old English, from the perspective of a framework based on lexicalist metrical phonology, indicates that there was a central Old English stress rule that operated from left-to-right, in contrast to to the central rule for present day English. (46 references) (Author/CB)

The nature of case-coding strategies for relative clause formation is explained, focusing on why languages use such strategies and the forms such strategies can take. Language-specific illustration in Modern Welsh is provided to support proposed redefinitions of hierarchy and case-coding strategies. (22 references) (Author/CB)

Data are presented from Amele and other Papuan languages to show how the medial verb form is marked for a binary distinction of realis versus irrealis modality. It is demonstrated that in these languages realis-irrealis distinction interacts with categories of tense and mood marked on the final verb to divide them into domains of realis and…

Studies the variety of Arabic imperative sentences seen as a result of interrelated sets of choices from a limited number of binary systems, and accounts for their occurrence in certain situations. Relevant features of Arabic imperative structures are compared with their nearest English equivalents. (CB)

This analysis of verb morphology in Seri finds evidence that empty consonants occur in root-medial position. Analysis focuses on the parallel conjugation patterns of the verbs for "know" and "give," finding an empty consonant slot in the middle of each. This position is never preceded by a consonant, so it never appears as a…

Classical phonemic accounts of Cuzco (Peru) Quechua posit three distinct types of stops: plain, aspirated, and glottalized. A later analysis argued instead for a root-level feature of laryngealization governed by a small number of formal mechanisms. This latter analysis is taken one step further, showing that even greater explanatory power may be…

Addresses complicated categories of loanwords and their uses in Japanese, an analysis of the developing functions of loanwords; the cultural attitudes that permit borrowings in some semantic areas; and how the present process of borrowing English words has similarities to the borrowing of Chinese language and culture some 1400 years ago.…

There are certain pre-coded (formulaic) utterances conventionally triggered by certain communication situations, and their use is expected and deemed appropriate because they are seen as part of everyday politeness formulas. Lack of an English equivalent indicates cultural differences governing their use. Some routines are taught explicitly and…

Posits two hypotheses arising from the great immigration to Sweden and the immigrants' use and learning of Swedish: (1) Swedish as used by immigrant children may show certain features, related to a creolization process; and (2) the Swedish language may in future show signs of influence from the varieties used by persons with immigrant background.…

Reviews some features of the vernacular variety of Brazilian Portuguese that occur in the colloquial speech of educated persons, focusing on pronominal complements, reflexives, verb forms, verb tenses, and noun/modifier agreement. (CB)

Outlines phonological structure and processes of American Sign Language (ASL), covering: (1) sequential phenomena found in the production of individual signs; (2) the segmental phonetic transcription system; (3) paradigmatic and syntagmatic contrasts in ASL signs; (4) similarities between ASL and spoken language phonological processes; and (5)…

Considers the metrical foot in Diyari, a South Australian Language, and concludes that, on the basis of stress alone, an argument can be made for the constituency of the metrical stress foot under certain theoretical assumptions. This conclusion is reinforced by the occupance in Diyari of other less theory-dependant phenomena. (46 references) (JL)

This paper analyzes syllables in Liangshan Yi, a Tibeto-Burman language also known as Nosu and spoken in the Sichuan Province of China, and provides a detailed articulatory description of the range of distinctive syllables in the Xide County vernacular. The paper concludes that the phonemicization upon which the standardized version of orthography…