Examined synchronic and diachronic data for clefts and relative clauses in English, arguing that "it"-cleft complements do not differ syntactically from restrictive relative clauses. The diachronic data further show that cleft complements and restrictive relative clauses have changed together over time and at the same rate. (48…

Offers a creative narrative that illustrates an episode of "flaming" in an electronic mail exchange among a small group of communication scholars. Defines "flaming" as the exchange of hostile or insulting remarks. Argues that creative narrative can be used as a method for interpretive study of communication and culture. (PA)

Notes that the words and phrases that make up corporate lingo usually have meaning on two levels: management level and worker level, with huge gaps between them. Offers the author's "redefinitions" of a number of corporate terms. (SR)

Proposes that communication and the effective use of symbols are crucial and often overlooked aspects of the political competition between interest groups. Analyzes a highly polarized conflict over an old-growth forest in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest to illustrate the significant role that symbolism and communication play in the nature and…

Explores some of the stylistic complexities of definitions and requirements in a Canadian provincial act. Generates and justifies 15 recommendations for creating a plainer legal language in acts. (SR)

This article discusses the relationship between silence and politeness in face-to-face communication, focusing on Brown and Levinson's (1978) theory of politeness that asserts that it is in the mutual self-interest of individuals engaged in conversation not to initiate face threatening acts (FTAs). (29 references) (MDM)

Discusses the ways that the word "quality" can be used in English, as either a noun or an adjective. Outlines numerous ways the word is currently used. (HB)

The strong influence of German on the English language is illustrated, and nearly 100 German loanwords related to food and drink are listed. The terms are described in their cultural, historical, and etymological context. (Author/LB)

Analyses 476 food advertisements in newspapers from 3 different sized cities. Finds that brand names, food names, and descriptive vocabulary comprise the majority of language in food ads across newspaper groups. Offers suggestions for using newspaper ads in the classroom. (RS)

Analyzes the use and distribution of the adverbs "almost" and "nearly" based on the LOB corpus, data compiled at the universities of Lancaster (England), Oslo (Norway), and Bergen (Norway) between 1970 and 1978. (six references) (CFM)

Offers examples of what can happen when writers try to be impressive, and instead are vapid, grandiloquent, opaque, or absurd. (SR)

Presents eight problems in the description of English, inviting readers to comment or provide solutions to the conundrums. Suggestions and solutions for eight previous conundrums are included. Most focus on semantic or grammatical points that might puzzle learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). (MDM)

Presents a theory of phonological adjacency requirements. Locality theory is defined by a universal locality condition, which requires elements to be within a plane, the adjacency parameter, which in turn allows rules to impose further constraints on the maximal distance between interacting segments, and by transplanar locality, which bans certain…

Explores the role of grammar in language use and its pervasive linkage with discourse analysis, reconceptualizing grammar instruction as an integral aspect of communicative methodology. Related research involving tense-aspect-modality, word-order issues, subordination and complementation, special constructions, topics and themes, and grammar…

Analysis of terms used to describe nursing in files of 538 students at a hospital school (1915-37) revealed a lack of terms associated with caring, which predominates in nursing today. Instead, nursing was defined as handling, managing, and controlling individuals and situations. (SK)