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Maclagan, Margaret A.; Gordon, Elizabeth – Language Variation and Change, 1996
Reports a study of the diphthongs, "EAR" and "AIR," which are merging for many New Zealand speakers. Each stage of the study involves the analysis of word lists and sentences read by over 100 14- and 15-year-old school pupils. Results indicate a trend toward a merger to the EAR diphthong. (18 references) (Author/CK)
Descriptors: Descriptive Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries

Arroyo, Jose Luis Blas; Tricker, Deborah – Language Variation and Change, 2000
Using the variationist comparative method, the status of ambiguous lone Spanish-origin nouns in Catalan discourse is determined by analyzing their distribution and conditioning and by comparing them to their counterparts in unmixed Spanish or in multiple-word code switches. Suggests that the grammar of these nouns is Catalan, and their categorical…
Descriptors: Ambiguity, Code Switching (Language), Contrastive Linguistics, Discourse Analysis

Paredes Silva, Vera Lucia – Language Variation and Change, 1993
Evidence from a sample of informal written language (personal correspondence) shows that the most important constraints on pronoun usage in subject position are discourse-based. The quantitative analysis supports the hypothesis that pronoun usage is "functional" since semantically relevant information is preserved in surface structure.…
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries, Language Usage, Letters (Correspondence)

Martinez, Glenn A. – Language Variation and Change, 2000
Examines the reduction of syntactic options in South Texas Spanish narrative discourse during the nineteenth century. Argues that nineteenth century Texas Spanish made ample use of the absolute construction as an orientation strategy in narrative discourse. (Author/VWL)
Descriptors: Diachronic Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Grammar, Language Variation

Geisler, Christer – Language Variation and Change, 1998
Looks at infinitival relative clauses, such as "Mary is the person to ask," and their distribution in spoken English. Analyzes the correlation between the function of the antecedent in the relative clause and the function of the whole postmodified noun phrase in the matrix clause. (Author/JL)
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, English, Nouns, Oral Language

Biber, Douglas; Hared, Mohamed – Language Variation and Change, 1992
A multidimensional approach analyzes the linguistic characteristics of 26 Somali spoken and written registers. Somali represents a different language type, and no single dimension adequately describes the relations among registers. Findings are related to previous analyses of English, Tuvaluan, and Korean. (27 references) (Author/LB)
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries, Language Research, Language Variation

Cameron, Richard – Language Variation and Change, 1993
Investigated the potential correlation of agreement marking with the expression of pronominal subjects in the speech of 10 Spanish speakers from Puerto Rico and 10 from Spain. The results show not only similar patterns of pronominal expression but also similar rankings of constraints on pronominal expression in both dialects. (MDM)
Descriptors: Descriptive Linguistics, Dialects, Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries

Meechan, Marjory; Poplack, Shana – Language Variation and Change, 1995
Examines the effect of categorial nonequivalence on language mixture in two corpora of spontaneous bilingual speech--Wolof-French and Fongbe-French--exhibiting different typological contrasts in adjectival modification structures. (47 references) (Author/CK)
Descriptors: Adjectives, Bilingualism, Code Switching (Language), Contrastive Linguistics

de Olveira e Silva, Giselle M.; de Macedo, Alzira Tavares – Language Variation and Change, 1992
A study analyzed four major classes of discourse marker in Brazilian Portuguese: "ne" and other requests for feedback; "ai," a sequential connector; "ah, bom," and other turn initiators; and "assim," a marker of explanation. Distribution in various discourse functions and sociodemographic conditioning, and…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Contrastive Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, English