Since the early sixties, the need has existed for linguistic description of the language of the inner city. This dissertation was written to meet this need. Data were collected over a period of two years using the field methods of anthropological linguistics as adapted to an urban situation. Analysis in terms of the data yields a description that…

This work seeks to fill important gaps existing in the study of Peninsular Arabic, especially that of the United Arab Emirates. It presents an explicit outline of the structure of Gulf Arabic, based on the dialect of Abu Dhabi. It is intended for students and teachers of Gulf Arabic, for linguists and dialectologists, and for other individuals who…

No evidence was found to indicate that grammatical reading interference is an important factor in the poor reading achievement of Black youngsters. (JH)

Drawing on phonological, grammatical, and usage data collected during personal interviews and taped sessions, this paper seeks to determine whether and how persons of Finnish descent, collectively or individually by generation, constitute dialect islands within the local dialect area (Marquette, Michigan), and their effect upon one another. The…

The syntactic and semantic constraints on the occurrence of HAVE-GOT and GOT, each with the meaning "possess," are analyzed with respect to differences among several ethnic dialects: American Anglo and Black English, British English, and Mexican-American and Puerto Rican English. Data from three sets of interviews which elicited these verbs are…

Anthropologist Melville Herskovits, in the section on language of his book "The Myth of the Negro Past" (1941), gives one of the first scientific orientations to the study of black speech in the United States. His basic contribution was to establish the following main points: (1) that the black people in the New World came from regions…

The phenomenon of "cross-code ambiguity" is offered as one explanation of the persistence of such Negro Nonstandard English (NNE) sentences as "The man he did it." In NNE the string "The man did it" is felt to be ambiguous, referring to either "The man who did it..." or, as in Standard English (SE), "The man did it." The use here of the pleonastic…

The recent work by sociolinguists is more accurate for consideration of urban dialects than is the analysis provided in the "Linguistic Atlas" materials. The sociolinguists' work shows that the use of nonstandard phonological and grammatical features varies according to one's socioeconomic status, ethnic background, speech context, age,…

A three-year research project which will collect information on the grammar of British dialects is described. The project is part of a larger study of syntactic variation, undertaken to gain insight into the causes of and solutions to linguistic conflict in school. Information is to be gathered in selected schools from the speech of students 11-16…

Explores the implications of requirements in England's National Curriculum for English to develop students' ability to write standard English. Examines the use of nonstandard dialect grammar in students' writing. Finds that similar dialectical constructs are used in four regions and that they are used more frequently in speech than in writing.…

The aim of the research reported here was to describe dialect diversity in Appalachia (Monroe and Mercer Counties, West Virginia) and to examine the possible effect of this diversity on education. The present volume contains the first two parts of the report, the third being submitted separately. The first part includes chapters 1-5, the second…

William Labov says that the linguistics deficit theory is incorrect. He interviewed Larry, who speaks nonstandard Negro English (NNE), and Charles, a speaker of standard English, and concluded that NNE is clear, concise, and logical and that standard English is mainly characterized by its verbosity. This article critiques that interview. (RM)

THIS BOOK PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION OF DIALECTOLOGY AS A DESCRIPTIVE SCIENCE AND OF MAJOR ASPECTS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH DIALECTS. THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS DEFINE WHAT DIALECTS ARE AND HOW REGIONAL AND SOCIAL DIALECTS DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER IN TERMS OF PRONUNCIATION, VOCABULARY, AND GRAMMAR. CHAPTER 3 NOTES THE PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENT…

A china factory in Pennsylvania was the setting for a study of the characteristics of the factory, its workers, and the community. Specifically, the speech of 151 informants, representing 12 1/2% of the plant population, was analyzed for both careful and casual speech, in order to focus on lexical and grammatical forms which reflect regional and…

This report is designed to aid the college instructor preparing prospective English teachers in the area of dialect studies. It includes a general description of the nature of dialect, teaching suggestions, and an extensive annotated bibliography. The articles which make up the report are as follows: "Historical, Regional and Social…