This study compared pragmatic language behaviors of three hard of hearing, four deaf, and five hearing adolescents. The average percentage of parameters rated appropriate were: 100% for hearing; 87% for the hard of hearing; and 93% for the deaf. Subjects' language was also compared to typical adolescents' pragmatic characteristics and coping…

Explains why people say "for she and I"--and argues that such usage is correct. (RS)

Reviews a collection of essays dedicated to MIT philosopher Sylvain Bromberger by his colleagues in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. The prominent viewpoint emanating from these essays is one of nostalgia. (14 references) (CK)

Examines the theory of "natural semantic metalanguage," which argues that all languages share an irreducible core of universal semantic primitives with certain universal syntactic properties. Hypotheses on the universal syntax of semantic primitives are outlined. Topics include valency options and complementation possibilities of…

Reports on a study of the native lexicon of two genetically unrelated languages: Kambera and Dutch. Focuses on the expressive elements. (Author/VWL)

Explains I.A. Richards tenor-vehicle model of metaphor, which has seen extended use in communication scholarship. Reviews Richards' conception of the model and subsequent treatment of its components. Evaluates various patterns of appropriation and makes recommendations regarding future usage. (PM)

Investigation of data regarding the use of "so'n" in authentic German speech situations suggests that speakers used the form as a hedging expression indicating uncertainty or discomfort, enabling them to indicate their attitudes about various aspects of the speech situation. (21 references) (Author/CB)

Mothers' recasts and other contingent replies to their children's utterances were examined in 2 groups of 14 mother-child dyads--either with language-impaired or non-language-impaired children. Mothers' overall use of recasts was highly similar for the 2 groups. (Author/DB)

Examines the syntactic, semantic, and sociolinguistic features of a corpus of 183 apologies in New Zealand English, within the context of an interaction model with 2 intersecting dimensions, affective and referential meaning, attempting to relate the relative "weightiness" of the offense to features of the apology. (53 references)…

The stressing patterns of five preschool language-impaired children were investigated. Analysis of two-word utterances in language samples found that three subjects tended to stress words based on their position in the utterance; one child stressed words based on informativeness; and one of the subjects' preferences was unclear. (JDD)

Reports on analyses of stress patterns and syllable length for male names, female names, and English nouns, exploring such differences as female names having more syllables, female names typically beginning with unstressed syllables, and male names typically forming the unmarked case. (24 references) (CB)

Analysis of the structural, semantic, and textual aspects of a corpus of 330 English examples of the postpositive conjunctions "though,""as," and "that" focuses on concessive clauses, clauses of reason, clauses of manner, and clauses with postpositive conjunctions and normal clauses. (CB)

A comparison of terms from the lexical domain of color naming across 10 different sign languages from 7 different sign language groups suggested that, for naming colors, sign languages follow universal patterns not dependent upon the channel of language expression and reception. (Author)

Describes general changes in sentence length, typical clause and modifier patterns, connectedness and structural explicitness over the last 400 years. Finds that the printed sentence has become shorter, the flow of information more direct, and the connections between nominalizations more implicit. Suggests that the printed sentence will continue…

Three experiments compared the assignment of gender to masculine and feminine pictured objects as classified by Spanish grammatical gender, by English- and Spanish-speaking children, and by adults. Results revealed artificial-male/natural female conceptual division among speakers of English and delayed effects of grammatical gender among speakers…