This paper traces the development of two roughly synonymous nominalizing suffixes during the Early Modern English period, the Romance "-ity" and the native "-ness." The aim is to assess whether these suffixes were favored in particular registers or followed similar paths of development, and to ascertain whether the ongoing…

Although traditional, unitary models of language standardisation have been prominent in minority languages, it is contended that this approach reproduces dominant language hierarchies and hegemonies, diminishes linguistic diversity and marginalises speakers who do not conform to prestige models. The polynomic model has been described as an…

It is generally believed that study abroad (SA) is the most efficient and successful way to acquire proficiency in a second language (L2). SA is a crucial component of students' second language acquisition (SLA) process, for it puts them in situations in which they can use the language on a daily basis and interact with native speakers. More than…

Drawing on a corpus of spoken and written German obtained from the "Institut fuer Grunddeutsch," it is shown that the dative ending -e which occurs in strong masculine and neuter nouns is disappearing, especially in spoken German. (IFS/WGA)

Soldiers in each of the 3 countries answered questions relating to content and vocabulary of material in languages of the other 2 countries. Nonlinguistic factors (education, travel, etc.) were taken into account. Investigation indicated that the languages are so similar that comprehension could be improved with little difficulty. (RW)

A replication was conducted of Sterling Leonard's 1932 survey of "Current English Usage," which submitted a questionnaire of expressions to judges consisting of linguists, journalists, teachers, and businessmen. It was hypothesized that more of the expressions in Leonard's study would be acceptable today (looser standards) than was the…

This study investigates the extent to which nonstandard forms of written English create for readers stereotypes of the writer's personality. To determine the extent to which nonstandard writing is apparent to speakers of standard and nonstandard English, and to what extent such writing represents a socioeconomic liability for the writer, two…

No relation between composition "dialect" and judged quality of the writing was found. (DD)

Finds that words written in dialect are difficult for black students to comprehend while reading silently, which does not agree with previously advanced hypotheses by other researchers. (RB)

Reports on a survey of how laypeople responded to errors in usage, their attitudes toward the acceptability of certain errors, and the values they placed on certain language styles. (RL)

This dictionary of Kodiak Alutiiq contains much of the conversational vocabulary of the Kodiak Island dialects. The alphabet is presented with examples in English as a key to pronunciation and with explanations of the sound system. An introduction to the dictionary explains the format and provides examples for each category of word to facilitate…

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STANDARD NORM IN THE BASHKIR NATIONAL LANGUAGE BEGAN, ESSENTIALLY, AS LATE AS THE 1930'S AFTER THE FORMATION OF THE BASHKIR A.S.R. BEFORE THIS, THE BASHKIR LANGUAGE DID NOT HAVE A STANDARD LITERARY FORM. PROGRESSIVE BASHKIR EDUCATORS OF THE LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES FOUGHT FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE…

Examines the nature of the convergent relationship between formal spoken and written discourse by focusing on three issues: (1) spoken vs. written modes; (2) formal vs. informal discourse; and (3) the relationship between oral ritual communication and written language and between ritual/written communication and everyday colloquial language. (SED)

A study explored the relationship between oral and written patterns produced by a group of black college freshmen enrolled in remedial writing classes. Forty students were asked to produce, in formal language style, both oral and written summaries of a reading selection. The data were analyzed to determine (1) the extent to which patterns,…

Parallels between processes in society and in language are drawn in this analysis of problems involved in eliminating sexism in language. The paper is organized as follows: varieties of sexism in language are outlined; the linguistic notion of marking is applied to the sexist structures; psychological aspects of such marking are considered;…