Aims to bring to light some general patterns in Ludwig Wittgenstein's use of italics. The discovery is made that Wittgenstein used italics to serve a number of fairly definite roles. (Author/VWL)

In the context of theory of integrational linguistics, the segregational sign is distinguished from the integrational sign, and the operation of the former is analyzed. Focus is on how logic guides the sign, and how the theory of W. V. Quine accounts for these issues. (MSE)

Exposes the two basic myths underlying Carter's position on the discreteness of linguistic description, which are the myth of objectivity and the common-sense myth of language. It is concluded that stylistic analysis is an attempt to spread one's influence and to persuade readers of the validity of one's own response to literary texts. (14…

Discusses J. R. Searle's theories about language, based on three works dating from 1969-95. Looks at the distinction made between constitutive rules and regulative rules of language use, his approach to analyzing speech acts, the view of language as a means of stating facts, and the role that our conception of science plays in Searle's theorizing.…

A critic of Deborah Tannen's book "Gender and Discourse" responds to comments made about her critique, arguing that the book's analysis of the relationship of gender and discourse tends to seek, and perhaps force, explanations only in those terms. Another linguist's analysis of similar phenomena is found to be more rigorous. (MSE)

Argues that, in poetry where phonological patterning is dominant, some deviation from standard uses in the other linguistic systems (grammar, lexis) is inevitable. (Author/CK)

Notes that few phonemes exhibit greater variance in the membership of phonemes that make up an equivalency class than the phoneme represented by /r/. Points out that the relationship between the auditory features of the speech signal and phonetic classification provides insight into a language's encoding and decoding system. (23 references)…

Explores the consequences of an implicit theoretical assumption for discourse analysis and argues that the traditional notion of verb as a simple word class is insufficient to characterize the full range of verbal expressions speakers routinely use in discourse. (26 references) (CK)

The case study of an older woman with Alzheimer's disease shows that while her command of words and syntax had deteriorated, her ability to use other forms of communication had not. Her alternative forms of communication included use of gesture, facial expression, posture, and tone of voice. (MSE)

Illustrates the interdependence between theory and method by showing how the methods underling even a relatively simple analysis of discourse are imbued with theoretical import. Focuses on two methodological decisions that are a standard part of the set of discourse analytic tools: what is context and what is the unit of analysis? (39 references)…

Discussion of the linguistic character of electronic mail (e-mail) looks at technology's role in shaping spoken and written usage, the growth of e-mail as a new communication genre, and formal linguistic properties of e-mail. Proposes a model of e-mail as a creolizing linguistic modality, analogous to pidginization and creolization processes well…