A study applied Relevance Theory to interpretation of texts written in Ghanaian English, particularly those intended for reading by multiple audiences. The nature of such "hybrid" texts is examined and key principles of Relevance Theory are outlined. Relevance is defined in terms of contextual effect and processing effort. Contextual…

The collection of essays on phonetics and phonology, entirely in French, includes: "Le calcul de la frequence intrinseque. Necessite du rapport a une ligne de reference" (calculation of intrinsic frequency; necessity of a line of reference) (Conrad Ouellon); "Caracteristiques microprosodiques de duree et d'intensite en lecture et en…

The volume, which is part of a series providing a full account of the history of the English language, details the history of English from 1776 to 1997. An extensive introduction explains the changing socio-historic setting in which English has developed in response to a continuing background of diversity as it was transplanted to North America…

Fifty-five structures of the Chinese language are described and their particular usage patterns are discussed for the use of teachers, linguists, and advanced students of Chinese. Each structure is listed by its major structural element(s), its grammatical element(s), or a combination of the two. The examination of each structure consists of an…

An analysis of Amuzgo, a language within the Otomanguean family of Mexico, suggests that it is an active-static language with patterns similar but not parallel to those of Chocho. In the report, data on the characteristics of Chocho are summarized, theory and research on active-static languages is reviewed, and the data on Amuzgo are presented.…

This paper describes the linguistic development of two hearing sons of deaf parents. Both were exposed to an early language environment different from that of the average hearing child. At the start of the study, the boys were aged 3 years, 9 months, and 1 year, 8 months, respectively. When first observed, the older child performed well below age…

This paper discusses the English verbal inflectional system within the lexicalist framework. A lexicalist approach to syntax is one in which all syntactic grammatical relations, lexical items, and the result of transformations are subject to semantic interpretation. That is, semantic information cannot be generated by syntactic rules. A filtering…

A SEPARATE LANGUAGE MANUAL FOR THE NEBRASKA ELEMENTARY ENGLISH CURRICULUM SUPPLEMENTS THE LANGUAGE-EXPLORATION SECTIONS OF THE UNITS IN GRADES ONE THROUGH SIX. THIS RESOURCE MANUAL PROVIDES AN INTRODUCTION TO MODERN LANGUAGE STUDY AND DESCRIBES ITS APPLICATION TO THE LANGUAGE LEARNING LEVELS OF CHILDREN. BY THE TIME CHILDREN ENTER JUNIOR HIGH…

One hundred and twenty kindergarten and second grade children from 3 different language environments (40 Mexican Spanish-speaking children from Monterrey, Mexico, and 40 Chicano Spanish-speaking children and 40 English-speaking children from the same public elementary school in Houston, Texas) were given a perceptual matching test and a verbal…

Most studies of language acquisition overlook the fact that a child learns language in the context of acquiring the social skill of conversing known as "turn-taking." The few studies of verbal turn-taking in children suggest that prosodic features (suprasegmentals) and turn-taking skills are integrated by the age of two years, nine months, and…

This paper attempts to give a unified view of the workings of noun clauses. These are considered according to three main types corresponding to three different kinds of source sentences. All three types can be used in any usual noun-phrase function, especially subject, direct object, and prepositional object. Four factors which complicate the…

Drawing on recent research on sexism in English and the ways in which social forces affect language structure, this paper shows how prescriptive statements about English have been incorporated into linguistic grammars as descriptions of language. It is claimed that Chomsky's "universal grammar" is masculinist and that it is contradicted…

The work reported here is part of an ongoing project to develop a language comprehension assessment instrument that: (1) is sensitive enough to pinpoint the particular language phenomena that are causing difficulty or have not been mastered, and (2) is also broad enough in scope to provide a credible and useful description of language proficiency.…

A glossary of commonly used grammatical terms that would be useful to students and teachers of French is presented here. Although not complete, it offers basic definitions in English of grammatical forms and functions as well as examples in French of each term defined. The definitions cover parts of speech, grammatical functions, sentences,…

Beginning chapters of this volume define language and describe the sound, stress, and intonation systems of English. The body of the text explores extensively morphology, phonetics, phonemics, and the process of communication. Individual chapters detail such topics as morphemes, syntactic devices, grammatical systems, phonemic problems in language…