Analyzes an Afro-American sermon and a disputed speech by a Black political leader to mixed audience. Dialect alternants signal switching between contrasting styles in both. Conversational inference is shown to depend not only on grammar, lexical meanings, and conversational principles, but also on constellations of speech variants, rhythm, and…

Four hypotheses explaining the origin of Berbice Dutch, a Dutch-based Creole language spoken in the county of Berbice in Guyana, are explored. The most likely explanation is that the language was first spoken by Berbice slaves as a means of expressing the identity of a newly created "ethnic" group. (Author/CB)

Examination of the West German language and society suggests that the notion that the West German indigenous working class is separated from the middle class by a linguistic barrier is invalid. (Author/CB)

The quantification of communication network integration provides valuable information for the study of language change in very small rural communities such as Grossdorf, Austria. The approach is particularly relevant when study of aggregate group behavior has failed to yield results due to small sample size or group internal inconsistency. (26…

Differential evaluations of speech usually occur along the standard-nonstandard dimension. Standard accent rates highly in regard to status and competence but low on the dimensions of integrity and attractiveness. In a Canadian context, however, a regional standard (mainland Nova Scotia) compared favorably or equally in all dimensions to other…