Explores the claims of the "dynamic" model of variation by testing against data recorded in Avion, Northern France. Parallels are drawn between "langue d'oil" areas of France and decreolization situations in which proponents of the dynamic model have generally worked. (Author/VWL)

Investigated the behavior of Dutch rising nuclear contours as a function of changes in pitch range by asking listeners to rate such contours on perceived attributes believed to be expressed through variations in pitch range. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the politics of English and suggests that English varieties of the inner city and the socially disenfranchised continue to be stigmatized by speakers of more esteemed varieties. (Author/VWL)

Examines how multiple phonetic constraints interact to produce universal sound patterns and how the resulting systems may differ. A computational model of emergent syllable systems is presented that is based on a set of functional constraints on syllable systems and the assumption that language structure emerges through cumulative change over…

Examines the reduction of syntactic options in South Texas Spanish narrative discourse during the nineteenth century. Argues that nineteenth century Texas Spanish made ample use of the absolute construction as an orientation strategy in narrative discourse. (Author/VWL)

Investigates to what extent the variability between "siempre" and "todo el tiempo" in the San Antonio dialect demonstrates semantic convergence between them, and whether there will be a selection of the innovating form for the future. Examination of this variability may illuminate questions of how such changes occur…

Discuses the elements that separate U. S. Spanish from other varieties of Spanish. Suggests that U.S. Spanish has important economic presence among global varieties of Spanish. Data from U.S. government sources are employed to support the arguments presented. (Author/VWL)

Provides evidence from child language acquisition and comparative syntax for existence of a syntactic parameter in the classical sense of Chomsky (1981), with simultaneous effects on syntactic argument structure. Implications are that syntax is subject to points of substantive parametric variation as envisioned in Chomsky, and the time course of…

Provides a framework of key issues surrounding the non-standard orthographic representation of non-standard language varieties. The following topics are addressed: the selective nature of orthographic choice; relational an contrastive meaning of orthographic conventions; interplay of sameness and difference in use of orthography to make claims on…

Addresses the matter of Northern Fronting of eME /o/ in Lincolnshire, giving the medieval spelling evidence and the residual modern phonological evidence for the development in parts of the country. Considers the merger of ME /u/ and /o/ at /u/ in modern North Lincolnshire and argues that this situation is the result of lexical diffusion.…

Examines linguistic criteria that have been adduced on the Middle French period and concludes that there is no real discontinuity that serves to define Middle French. Suggests that the value of Middle French may be typological rather than temporal--specifically that it defines a variety of French that broadly conforms to the Romance…

Explores the notion of lexical diffusion in relation to an ongoing change in modern French nasal vowels. Data are interviews with 42 Parisians. Reveals an independent lexical and grammatical conditioning, one not entirely explicable in terms of stress or phonetics. (Author/VWL)

Investigated two historically isolated communities in the United States--Smith Island, Maryland and the Lumbee Native American community in Robeson County, North Carolina. Demonstrates that contrary to assumption, isolated communities may be linguistically innovative and heterogeneous. Explanations for this are found to be both cognitive and…

Discusses the Third Dialect (Labov 1991, 1994), offering the first systematic variationist analysis of speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with particular focus on three phonological processes. Argues that Veatch's (1991) model of English syllable structure provides a unified account of these seemingly unrelated phonological changes in Pittsburgh.…

Examines possible solutions to the problem of form variation in the perception of speech. Asks whether sentential context can influence the identification of potentially assimilated forms of words. (Author/VWL)