This article presents the results from a preliminary investigation into the use of fingerspelling in Australian Sign Language (Auslan), drawing on data collected as part of the Sociolinguistic Variation in Australian Sign Language project (Schembri and Johnston 2004; Schembri, Johnston, and Goswell in press). This major project is a replication in…

Presents theoretical models of how language acts (1) as a dependent variable of how people subjectively construe situations and (2) as an independent variable creatively defining and redefining situations for those involved. Discusses the importance of developing an interdisciplinary model of language variation in its social context. (EKN)

Uses trademarks that are calculated misspellings, bumper sticker slogans, the strained and pretentious language of Howard Cosell, and governmental jargon to illustrate how to attune students to the magic and power of language, while poking fun at language abuse. (RL)

Documents some of the linguistic changes brought about in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States as a result of the ecumenical movement and modernization. Available from the University of Alabama Press, Periodicals Department, P.O. Box 2877, University, Alabama 35486. (AM)

Offers a glance at the changing set of languages that English is becoming. Considers how to respond to a need to teach in a world where the English of business is polymorphic. Presents seven suggestions to give educators a start. (SG)

Examines recent lexical innovations in Nigerian English, focusing on loanshifts, ellipses, conversions, translation equivalents, analogical creations, and coinages. Various examples of each phenomenon are presented. (Contains three references.) (MDM)

Illustrates substrate reinforcement in the development of three current dialects of Melanesian Pidgin. Evidence of earlier variability is presented and the sociolinguistic conditions that later led to greater stability are described. Grammatical features that differentiate the dialects are examined. For each feature, it is shown that at least two…

People's attitude towards using the Pidgin language from Hawaii is described. The way in which Pidgin is changing is analyzed with the help of Pidgin linguistics students from University Hawaii.

A number of arguments appeared in the late-nineteenth-century United States about "correctness" in language, arguments for and against enforcing a standard of correctness and arguments about what should count as correct in language. Insofar as knowledge about and facility with "correct" linguistic usage could affect one's standing in the social…

This paper examines the ways in which Latino children's literature portrays cultural models of bilingualism and identity affiliations based on language and cultural practices. We focus attention on the messages in seven children's books about practices of and attitudes toward Spanglish, standard Spanish, and individual and societal bilingualism.…

A guide to several hundred common American idioms and slang phrases such as "to get something straight,""to mooch," and "in the bag" provides definitions, examples of usage, variations, and explanations when appropriate. A list of common abbreviations, such as "ASAP," and their referents is also included. (MSE)

Syntactic synonymy enables the speaker to use syntactic devices to say the same thing in a number of different ways. It is based on three criteria: (1) similarity of semantic content, (2) certain syntactic similarity between the components of the synonymous structures, and (3) differences in surface structures. The third criterion separates…

Analyzes the kinds of simplified Chinese characters currently in unofficial use, collected from personal correspondence and published discussions. (KM)

Terms for new concepts and modernized notions are being constantly produced in the major world languages. These terms--"neologisms"--have to be rendered in other languages, thus enriching these languages. A program for research and the production of glossaries is suggested to translators and national translation societies. (AMH)

Describes the use of a small set of linguistic variables in different types of radio programs from Radio Cymru (the Welsh language radio network), to see whether variation does correlate with style as it does in the community. Results show that broadcasters followed community norms for these variables. (SED)