Examines the relationship between topic and gender on the basis of observation of naturally occurring conversations among all-male, all-female, and mixed-gender groups. An analysis of the relative importance or triviality of these conversations as perceived by the conversants themselves is presented. (Author/CB)

Investigation of speech of Baghdadi men and women showed that, in Baghdad, the prestige variety of spoken Arabic was in the direction of the standard, and that more women than men favored this variety. However, in the past, when Baghdadi women had less access to standard Arabic, men more often spoke a dialect approximating the standard variety.…

Offers this proposal: (1) the public prestige dialect of the elite in a stratified community differs from the dialect(s) of the non-elite strata in at least one phonologically systematic way; (2) the cause of stratified phonological differentiation is to be sought not in purely linguistic factors but in ideology. (Author/RM)

Ongoing change in Wolof noun classification is traced by comparing nineteenth-century linguistic evidence with modern sociolinguistic data. Upwardly mobile middle-aged men of high caste tend to reduce the noun class system, whereas other speakers tend to elaborate it. (Author/RM)

Examined the tense system of Samana English, a lineal descendant of early nineteenth-century American Black English. A past tense marker comparable in surface form, function, and distribution to that of Standard English was found. Comparison with varieties of contemporary Black English Vernacular (BEV) and English-based Creoles showed a structural…

Results of a study are discussed which involved first grade black children who produced multiple instances of linguistic variables. The suggestion is made that the standard English "is" and "has" in certain constructions have been reanalyzed as nominal inflections. (RM)

Describes research in which 28 black parents and community people were polled as to their attitudes toward vernacular and standard Black English. Attitudes were assessed in four domains--school, home, community and playground--and in four channels--reading, speaking, writing and listening. Standard Black English was preferred in all domains and…

Explores how a speech variety close to oratorical standard English is learned in one Afro-American peasant community in the West Indies. Material gathered during two field trips, one supported by a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and the other by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. (VM)

Examination of the West German language and society suggests that the notion that the West German indigenous working class is separated from the middle class by a linguistic barrier is invalid. (Author/CB)

A comparative study of two Hispanic communities in New York City focused on how social status and ethnic configuration affect linguistic and attitudinal behaviors. Differences in language proficiency, use, and attitude among Central Americans, Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and South Americans were found, and the Dominicans in the two…

Explores "political diglossia" in contemporary Poland, the unofficial, underground language of antipropaganda that arose in reaction to state propaganda. Colloquial and official designations for police and security forces are compared, and the semantics of relevant words and expressions are studied. Language is shown to reflect social…

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…