Generally, the article describes and discusses topics and positions found in the literature on Black English. Specifically, particular attention is paid to certain articles and positions that misrepresent opposing opinions and facts of the area. (Author/RM)

"Gastarbeiterdeutsch" includes varieties of German spoken by the many foreign workers employed in low-paid, less desirable jobs in Germany. It is characterized by reduction and simplification of syntactic and semantic forms. Study of this dialect reveals patterns of natural language acquisition necessary for communication, useful in classroom…

The empirical basis for this article is a series of studies of glottalization in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. These studies show that, while females lead in the use of glottal replacement, males prefer glottalization. This pattern is interpreted in terms of a preference of males for localized variants, whereas females lead in adopting supra-local…

Discusses the applicability of the notion of structured variability in language to contrastive analysis. (Author/AM)

This study investigates the relationship between social class membership and certain syntactic variables within a generative-transformational linguistic framework. Fourteen syntactic items are considered. Linguistic performance is more variable and complex within the higher ranking groups. (TL)

Among the characteristics which set Bordeaux French apart from Standard French are the rules governing the behavior of its mid-vowels. These rules are much simpler and more extensive (in that they also apply to unstressed vowels) than in Standard French. Their application is, however, systematically conditioned by the presence or absence of word…

Traces the history of sociolinguistic studies in West Germany from the early nineteenth century with Humboldt and reports on the state and purposes of sociolinguistic studies in present-day Federal Republic of Germany. Available from Liber Laeromedel, Box 1205, S-22105 Lund, Sweden (Text is in German.) (TL)

Shows that the English names of meals are variously applied, according to geographical area and social class, as well as working hours and personal habits. (IFS/WGA)

This discussion of standard language and dialect is based on opinions and theories regarding Slavonic languages. A set of objective criteria is offered. Distinctions between language, standard language, dialect, glottolect and sociolect are made, and social and political conditions which give rise to them are discussed. References are included.…

The shift from regional to social variation in linguistic behavior has necessitated inclusion of larger numbers of informants in studies. This paper examines some sampling techniques and discusses the structuring of a community profile representative of a target population and exhibiting necessary social variation for accurate dialect study. (CHK)

Students of English around the world are commonly taught according to one of two models, "British" English, and "American" English. Indeed, there is a persistent popular myth (present in many linguistics and second-language texts) that a single "Midwestern" variety of American English exists. The usage of the term…

The semantic change which has occurred in an Austrian community over the past seventy-five years is examined. The study is based on a comparison of an 1897 word list, sound inventory, and phonograph recording with 1973 recordings of sixty informants from four age groups and five socioeconomic strata. In Inmst, the development from an…

A review of recent language research regarding the black English vernacular (BEV) considers new developments involving (1) the grammars of elderly and young speakers; (2) indications that BEV is not decreolizing but is actually diverging from white speech; and (3) the effect of contemporary developments on differences between black and white…

Analyzes an Afro-American sermon and a disputed speech by a Black political leader to mixed audience. Dialect alternants signal switching between contrasting styles in both. Conversational inference is shown to depend not only on grammar, lexical meanings, and conversational principles, but also on constellations of speech variants, rhythm, and…