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"Was/Were" Variation Across the Generations: View from the City of York.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Tagliamonte, Sali – Language Variation and Change, 1998
Describes a new research project on York English, a variety in northeast England. Conducted a quantitative analysis of a linguistic feature that recurs pervasively in varieties of English worldwide--"was/were" variation in the past tense paradigm. (Author/ER)
Descriptors: Diachronic Linguistics, English, Foreign Countries, Language Variation
The Emergence of Creole Subject-Verb Agreement and the Licensing of Null Subjects.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Meyerhoff, Miriam – Language Variation and Change, 2000
Attempts to resolve an outstanding question as to the most appropriate structural description of the relationship between subject and verb in Bislama (a Melanesian creole spoken in Vanuatu), discusses what the implications of this analysis might be for a Creole ontogeny, and attempts to unify this analysis to the verb system with the distribution…
Descriptors: Creoles, Foreign Countries, Grammar, Language Variation
Directionality in Linguistic Change and Acquisition.
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Gomes, Christina Abreu – Language Variation and Change, 1999
Focuses on the directionality observed in the processes of change and acquisition of the prepositions that replaced Latin cases in the speech of Rio de Janeiro and in the contact Portuguese spoken by Brazilian Indians in the region of Xingu. (Author/VWL)
Descriptors: Case (Grammar), Diachronic Linguistics, Foreign Countries, Indigenous Populations
Verb Position in Future Clauses in Biblical Hebrew.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Myhill, John – Language Variation and Change, 1992
In clauses with future meaning in Biblical Hebrew, there are consistent functional differences between clauses with verb-initial word order and clauses with non-verb-initial word order. Verb-initial clauses are associated with future events involving cooperation between the speaker, listener, and God. (16 references) (Author/LB)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Futures (of Society), Hebrew, Language Usage
Extension Particles, Etc.
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Dubois, Sylvie – Language Variation and Change, 1992
A study of the use of phrase-terminal extension particles in Montreal (Canada) French analyzed composition, sociodemographic patterns of occurrence, and discourse functions of 76 particle types in 4 distinct classes. (MSE)
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries, Form Classes (Languages), French
Ambiguous Agreement, Functional Compensation, and Nonspecific "tu" in the Spanish of San Juan, Puerto Rico and Madrid, Spain.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
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
On Resolving Disagreement: Linguistic Theory and Variation--"There's Bridges."
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Meechan, Marjory; Foley, Michele – Language Variation and Change, 1994
Using variationist methodology, this study analyzed natural speech data from 31 speakers of standard Canadian English and found an overwhelming preference for singular agreement in existentials. Contrary to predictions, this was not linked to a determiner-based structural distinction but rather to the form of the copula and the speaker's level of…
Descriptors: Educational Attainment, Foreign Countries, Grammar, Language Variation
Discourse Markers in the Spoken Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
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