A comparison across spontaneous speech collected in the 1980s and the 2000s reveals a dramatic flip between the use of "said" versus "like" as enquoting devices. The greater use of "like" is reflected in a wide variety of quotation types including reported speech, thoughts, exclamations, and sounds. There is no…

Because many of the forms participating in inherent variability are not attested in the standard language, they are often construed as evidence of change. We test this assumption by confronting the standard, as instantiated by a unique corpus covering five centuries of French grammatical injunctions, with data on the evolution of spontaneous…

Three computational models that track patterns in semantic change over time are described. The models were used to investigate whether certain word properties (e.g., frequency of use, accessibility) and the relationships between them would be sufficient in themselves to produce some patterns of change. (15 references) (MSE)

Positioning of negative adverbs (e.g., "mie, pas, point, jamais") in Middle and Classical French infinitival clauses is analyzed. It is proposed that, rather than linking movement of this infinitival verb to the strength of functional categories such as agreement, it be linked to parametric change in strength of the negative. (Author/MSE)

The etymology of the word "OK" has been controversial from the time it was coined. As an acronym, it is ambiguous by its nature. It was originally meant to stand for "oll korrect," a deliberate misspelling of "all correct." These misspellings were a fad among the literati in late 1830s Boston. However, the phrase was…

A theory of semantics focusing on relationships between meaning and sound patterns in language evolution is proposed. Using cognate sets from traditional comparative studies of closely-related languages in well-defined language families, the theory addresses the use and shifting of language components. The theory begins with the ego attempting to…

An analysis of pronouns in Proto-Algic, the ancestor of Proto-Algonquian and other languages, revealed that the Proto-Algic demonstrative roots and locatives had three inflectional endings, referring to spatial or temporal distributions of entities, which evolve into the gender systems of Yurok and Algonquian. Proto-Algic had two discourse…

Metathesis, usually described in descriptive or historical linguistics as sporadic change, is investigated as a systematic phonological change using data from Gascon, an Occitan dialect. In the first chapter, the controversy over metathesis as a phonological change is presented and discussed from the standpoint of historical development. In…

A study investigating the evolution in French of the unstressed "e" positioned between single consonants (e.g., "besoin") is presented. It is argued that stabilization of this pattern cannot be confirmed in the speech of educated Parisians but appears to be governed by sociolinguistic variables. Lexical conditioning is examined. (Author/MSE)

The concept of gender in language encompasses three ideas: (1) sex, or classification as masculine, feminine, or neuter; (2) epicene, a proform (substitute word) whose referent is masculine or feminine; and (3) ecology, the relationship between organisms and their environment. Gender classification in language indicates that original speakers of…

The history of one morphological pattern in Swahili relative clause structure, in which the relative particle attaches to "-amba," is discussed. First, the patterns of this construction are analyzed and illustrated. The evolution of this formation from an archaic verb is then examined, noting the difficulties in tracing its history…

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…

It is proposed that the study of the history of the French language would be enhanced by combining the methodology of linguistics with that of history proper, examining institutional, cultural, and social history as part of the evolution of a language. Distinctions between variation, innovation, shift, and change are examined. (Author/MSE)

This study investigated the encoding of animate/inanimate distinctions in the pronominal systems of a variety of Bantu languages. Various encoding strategies are found to suggest that there is a strong syntactic opposition between animate and inanimate object markers in Bantu languages. Restricted positions and obligatory presence are particularly…

The linguistic situation in Ireland over the last few centuries is examined from the rise of Irish dialects of English to the present. Four aspects of this history are examined: factors affecting the emergence of Hiberno-English dialects beginning in the seventeenth century, including opportunity for learning English, patterns in literacy and…