This volume consists of the following ten papers, which were presented at the second Hokan-Yuman Languages Workshop, held at the University of California at San Diego in June 1976: (1) "The Havasupai Writing System," by Rena Crook, Leanne Hinton, and Nancy Stenson; (2) "The Upland Yuman Numeral System," by Martha B. Kendall;…

Discursive functions are seldom expressed in an absolutely neutral way. In most cases, various colorings - expressive, affective or social - are superimposed on the utterance by which a function is conveyed. In so far as these colorings are not random shades, but can be regarded as graded nuances within given ranges, selected in order to fit the…

More than 250,000 of Fiji's citizens are descendants of Indian indentured laborers of diverse origins. There are still distinct social groups based on language, religion, and place of origin. However, nearly all Fiji Indians speak one language called Fiji Hindustani. Other languages, such as Gujarati, Panjabi, Tamil, and Telugu, are still spoken,…

Using as a framework Ferguson's diglossia model with its division into a high and a low variety of the language used, the linguistic situation in the Sudan in described as a continuum. At one end is found the very formal classical Arabic, used for special occasions. At the other end is a casual form which dominates meetings and social gatherings…

This volume presents principles and models for describing language variation, and introduces a time-based, dynamic framework for linguistic description. The book first summarizes some of the problems of grammatical description encountered from Saussure through the present and then outlines possibilities for new descriptions of language which take…

This paper attempts to show that the theory of phonological rule reordering is not plausible, and that any argument which attempts to use reordering to refute the theory of intrinsic ordering is inadmissible. King's (1973) arguments against intrinsic ordering are based on the theory that two reordering rules operate in phonological processes.…

Interrelationships between productive oral proficiency in black dialect and in standard English and reading comprehension of passages differing in dialect and content were investigated in a sample of 98 sixth-grade black students. Results indicated that students were better readers as their oral patterns of speech were more representative of…

This paper reports on the development of the article system in an adult's interlanguage over a one-year period. It compares the results of a conventional order-of-acquisition analysis with a paradigm model based on Bickerton (1975). (Author/CFM)

Examines some aspects of syntactic and semantic variation in the Arizona Tewa speech community, including the speech community members' perception of variation, with a view to exploring the implications of this variation for the study of language change and the anthropological study of language structure. (AM)

Discusses the influence of French and English on the Akwesasne Mohawk language over the last three centuries. Linguistic and sociocultural influences are shown. (NCR)

Suggests the use of principal components analysis as an alternative solution to the problem of grouping speakers by sociological characteristics prior to quantitative analysis. An example is presented of its application to vowel variation data collected as part of a sociolinguistic survey of English in Sydney, Australia. (Author/CB)

Today's civil rights debate is clouded by ambiguities of language. The following frequently misused words are clarified in the text so the issues can be properly addressed: 1) segregation; 2) desegregation; 3) minority group; 4) civil rights; 5) compensatory; 6) statistical disparities; and 7) racist. (PS)

Changing Chinese address norms are discussed, including the term "tongzhi" ("comrade") and preferred use of official titles by some Chinese officials; use of traditional terms for "Mr.", "Mrs.", and "Miss"; second singular pronouns of "ni" and "nin"; address of women; and some…

An approach to teaching grammar that combines an understanding of the error patterns of nonnative speakers and a theoretical model that describes that language is better suited than most to the actual audience of that instruction. (MSE)

In this paper, the patterns of variability in the use of auxiliary verbs in English as a second language from speakers with a Persian ethnic background are compared to those of Persian, and English. The findings of the comparisons between L1, L2, and English help us determine how variable L2 is and what the sources of this variation are. Our…