Chinese is a highly complex language with internal variation unprecedented in most other languages. Yet, that does not mean Chinese is unique in the sense that it cannot be compared to other languages and new concepts need to be introduced for the description of it. This paper is dedicated to the question of how to apply the notion of…

This dissertation documents and analyzes phonetic and phonological features of Gua, an under-documented, understudied and nearly-endangered Guang language, spoken in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The language has two dialects, Anum and Boso. The data for this dissertation is from the Boso dialect spoken in the Boso community. The dissertation…

This paper addresses the complexity of the linguistic situation in China by examining the language policy and language categorisation in the People's Republic of China (PRC), which has implications for how multilingual speakers conceptualise and practice 'language'. In addition, this paper examines the conceptual framework of translanguaging and…

This dissertation investigates a typologically rare linguistic phenomenon found in Irish from three different perspectives: how it challenges phonological theory, how it is used by contemporary speakers, and how its written representation affects its acquisition. Initial consonant mutation (ICM), as it appears in the Celtic languages, is known to…

In this chapter, we analyse the co-construction of meaning by university students in romance language (RL) chat rooms, in an online platform focused on multilingual language practice and learning. This communicative situation can best be described through the concept of 'intercomprehension', i.e. a multilingual and multisemiotic communicative…

Purpose: To present the first complete Guide for studying the Western-Ukrainian Dialect and its scientific description of Phonology. Methodology: descriptive, contrastive and analytical methods of defining the peculiarities of the Dialect. Results: the regularities and the laws have been defined as to the specifics of the Western-Ukrainian Dialect…

Despite a century-old narrative as a monolingual country with quaint regional dialects, Thailand is in fact a country of vast linguistic diversity, where a population of approximately 60 million speak more than 70 languages representing five distinct language families (Luangthongkum, 2007; Premsrirat, 2011; Smalley, 1994), the result of a history…

The Norwegian language has two written standards, Bokmål (majority variety) and Nynorsk (minority variety), and children receive their schooling in one or other of them. Pupils schooled in Nynorsk acquire the Bokmål variety simultaneously through extracurricular exposure and thus develop what may be termed "bidialectal literacy". In this…

This dissertation uses quantitative and geographic analysis techniques to examine the historical and geographical processes that have shaped California's linguistic diversity. Many questions in California historical linguistics have received diminishing attention in recent years, remaining unanswered despite their continued relevance. The studies…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the instructor's accent influences the students' learning outcome, as well as how a student's accent perceptions may affect their learning. Unlike native voices, accented voices are not natural to the native speakers; therefore, it requires more cognitive resources for processing the information,…

This volume of the Languages of the World Series contains: "(1.5) Unified List of American Indian Languages aboriginal to Latin America" (pages 1-120), and "(1.6) Classification of American Indian languages" (North, Central, and South America, pages 121-50). For each language, language family, or other group, information is…

This study assesses and characterizes lexical relationships among the major urban Syro-Lebanese varieties of Arabic. To achieve this quantitative analysis of degrees of similarity or differentiation, an analytical procedure based on lexical compatibility was developed. Secondarily, a classification of these varieties is presented as a by-product…

The study of folk speech, which traditionally included only regional dialects, has evolved to include cultural and generational dialects. This article discusses how folk speech study has come to include a range of dialects and a variety of sociolinguistic trends. (JL)

Demonstrates that two Tungusic languages, Evenki and Oroqen, that have long been treated as a single language for classification purposes, are better treated as distinct linguistic varieties. Fundamental questions are raised about the current classification of Tungusic languages and a renewed examination is suggested of the role of dialect…