Discusses linguistic theory, especially the distinction between participant'' and spectator'' language (the use of a language vs. the study of the language.) (SP)

This paper studies meaning as a construct of human interaction. Basic to this approach is the concept of the act of communication, which may be realized verbally or non-verbally. In order to integrate non-verbal behaviors into descriptions of discourse and interaction, a series of functional, not anatomic, categories is needed. For the kinesic…

A study of the use of the complex Finnish morphological rule system in 45 children, aged 20-24 months, examined the children's inflection of nouns and verbs in speech characteristic of everyday Finnish. Analysis of the correct, unanswered, and incorrect test items found six classes of errors, which were then examined for clues to the underlying…

Videotapes of 45 subjects at 1;1 and 1;8 showed preexisting differences between mothers of earlier and later talkers as early as 1 year, 1 month. When the sample was divided according to stylistic preference at 1;8 (referential or expressive), associations between maternal language at 1;1 and mean length of utterance at 1;8 emerged only for the…

Impromptu speech is heard only once, at a rate of perception that depends on the speaker's delivery, and is specifically adapted to the listeners. These features trigger cognitive activities that facilitate translation. Impromptu speech is characterized by a constant interconnection between cognitive competence and language competence and between…