Quantitative evidence is presented for a change in vernacular Black English (VBE) that appears to involve increasing similarities between VBE and other varieties. It is suggested that, although Black varieties and White varieties of English remain distinct and undergo certain changes separately, this need not be regarded as absolute divergence.…

Discusses the International Corpus of English project for compiling machine-readable corpora of English for several countries, exploring the use of such corpora for modern grammars and dictionaries in general, applied, and theoretical research on nonnative varieties of English, sociolinguistic dimensions, and multidimensional approaches to…

International English, a variety of English capable of meeting the primary communicative needs of a large and growing number of people who use English for international purposes, is described. The content, domains of use, communicative functions, discourse and linguistic features, and teaching and learning situation of International English are…

Describes the study of the use of /s/ vs. /h/ or O (in Spanish) in Valdivia, Chile, by speakers who differed in sex and age. No marked differences in relation to sex and age were found, indicating a relatively homogeneous community. (MLS)

Compares the distribution of prepositions in American and British English. Two machine-readable one million word Corpora, the Brown Corpus of American English and the Lob Corpus of British are used as a basis of comparison. (Author/OD)

A study of concord phenomena in Rio de Janeiro spoken Portuguese found that, in the serial context, the linguistic system is so highly constrained that external, and even internal, influences are blocked. Authors conclude that strong constraints should be identified and further studies undertaken to understand the interplay of the diverse forces…

An overview of current knowledge about Russian Sign Language (RSL) and its use in Russia today notes that linguistic study of RSL is still in the beginning stages, defines issues that need to be studied, and suggests directions for further research. (28 references) (JL)

Reports on one aspect of an ongoing study of language contact in the American deaf community. The ultimate goal of the study is a linguistic description of contact signing and a reexamination of claims that it is a pidgin. Patterns of language use are reviewed and the role of demographic information in judgments is examined. (29 references) (GLR)

The role of ethnically marked, nonstandard varieties of German in the Federal Republic of Germany is examined. It is shown that there is a "generic" variety of Immigrant Worker German that unites all immigrant laborers and their families into one group with perceived "ethnic" characteristics. Subdivisions within the group are…

Focuses on the subject of preterm labor in hospitals in English- and French-speaking countries. The findings presented in this study undermine the widely held view that medical conditions can always be defined in objective scientific terms and that the words used to refer to them in different languages are labels that can be put into one-to-one…

Argues that conceptualization of English as an international language must take into account the changes the language has undergone in becoming an international medium of communication and that the diverse cultural identities of teachers of World English serve to enrich the language and reflect changes in it. (MSE)

Expansion of the progressive (be+ing periphrastic form, where "be" is at the same time the copula and a statement of existence) was a major feature of modernization of the English verb system in the 19th century. A survey (1787-1880) of a collection of private letters, most from famous writers, reveals that linguistic factors played a small role…

Presents a variationist study in the speech of bilingual Cajuns in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Results show a complex interrelationship of age, gender, and social network. One major finding was a v-shaped age pattern (the young show a level of usage closer to the older generation) rather than the generational model that is expected. (Author/VWL)

Addresses Labov's claim that sound changes that are not stigmatized are led especially by young women who are the "movers and shakers" in the community, people with energy and enterprise. Investigated the claim by comparing the pronunciation of non-stigmatized front vowels with that of stigmatized diphthongs in New Zealand English.…

Aims to contribute new data on verbal "-s" by systematically examining its behavior in Devon English (DE), a variety spoken in Southwest England, and a broader historical and cross-dialectal perspective for understanding the origin and function of verbal "-s" in nonstandard varieties of English in North America. (Author/VWL)