The Functional Discourse Grammar model has a twofold objective: on the one hand, to provide a descriptively, psychologically and pragmatically adequate account of the forms made available by a typologically diverse range of languages; and on the other, to provide a model of language which is set up to reflect, at one remove, certain of the stages…

An investigation looks at complex English sentences that are used to represent two ordered events and containing "before" or "after" subordinate clauses. It is concluded that text evidence is directly relevant to an understanding of language processing. (25 references) (Author/VWL)

Discusses the nature of the difference between dialectology and sociolinguistics and suggests that the findings of dialectology are relevant for use by sociolinguists. (30 references) (CK)

Examines the various aspects of natural conversation in order to provide a theoretically comprehensive schema that accounts for a conversation's structure. Aspects considered are: (1) speaker-listener initial and turn-change behavior; (2) the listener's speaker-directed behavior; (3) interlistener and simultaneous behaviors; and (4) the function…

Investigates the functional nature of the communication process observed in interactions of English-speaking and Japanese-speaking children from the two-word stage onward, with special attention to the given/new contract and pragmatic factors. (Author/AM)

Investigates the pragmatic functions of topicalizing subject (S) and object (O) in Standard Arabic and attempts to find a functional explanation for the occasional preposing/topicalization of S and/or O over the verb (V) to yield a construction in the form of SVO order or any other order sanctioned by the rules of Arabic grammar. (22 references)…

This study presents evidence collected from basilectal texts that the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) mental predicates "think, know, want, feel, say, see, hear" have clear lexical equivalents in Hawaii Creole English (HCE), and that these HCE predicates occur, with minor qualification, in the syntactic configurations predicted by…

Discusses various quantitative and qualitative techniques used to examine nonlinguists' beliefs about language, focusing on content-orientated approaches to conversations with African Americans about African American Vernacular English. Approaches to discoursal meaning based on vantage theory and argument analysis are also considered. (MDM)

Discussion of the multilingual mind's organization proposes the Least Expansion Hypothesis, that knowledge of any language is organized in the same cognitive manner. A slot is created for knowledge of each level of language, storing knowledge of all languages pertaining to that level. A new knowledge unit is entered only when differing…

Addresses one aspect of English usage by Yoruba speakers of English as a Second Language in Nigeria, and analyzes the meanings of English kinship terms as used by educated Yoruba speakers in relation to specific sociocultural contexts of the Yoruba environment. (Author/VWL)

Examines how one approach to the study of language, ethno-methodological conversation analysis, accomplishes the integration of linguistic phenomena into the practical continuum of human activity. It is concluded that an integrational rhetoric should and can produce close, detailed, empirical analyses of situated discursive action. (51 references)…

Suggests that sociolinguistic knowledge is realized from the beginning of language use. The roles of formulaic language and of interactional consequences are described as explanations for the acquisition of style-switching. (30 references) (Author/JL)

Reports on a sociolinguistic survey conducted in Tokyo, Japan, that explores the social factors that relate to the use of nonstandard expressions among younger people. Sex, media exposure, and friendship networks were found to influence language standardization. (25 references) (Author/OD)

Discusses the ways languages of Europe render the "given"-"new" distinction on the basis of data collected by means of presenting speakers of various languages with the task of reconstructing a route on a map. The article raises questions about the nature of "wh"-pronouns in English and about what is shared by these…