Shows that a phonological description that recognizes the functional variety of phonological rules is more illuminating than one in which data are handled merely as the output of a set of completely undifferentiated processes. Emphasizes the value of distinguishing motivated and unmotivated processes in phonology. (Author/RM)

The latest (July, 1976) edition of the "Concise Oxford Dictionary" is seen as "prescriptive," and of limited use to foreigners, since it lacks an international phonetic transcription. It is questioned whether sufficient treatment is given to new words, scientific words, non-British English, obscene language, change of meaning, and obsolescence.…

This list of obscene, ambiguous, or offensive Spanish words indicates their off-color meaning in various Spanish-speaking countries. The list comprises words beginning with letters H-M, and is intended to protect the traveller or non-native speaker from embarrassment. It is a continuation of a previous article. (Text is in Spanish.) (CHK)

This article outlines the history of the debate concerning usage of the terms "castellano" and "espanol" referring to the Spanish language. Development of the language and the question of standardization are touched on. (Text is in Spanish.) (CHK)

Describes the behavior of the phoneme /s/ in Central American Spanish by comparing the speech patterns of residents of Guatemala City, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, San Jose, and Managua. Considers the possible diachronic processes which could have given rise to the current configurations and the theoretical consequences implied by the…

The formation of French neologisms by combining two words is not a recent phenomenon but appears in Rabelais' work and has become more apparent in recent years. The trend marks a kind of evolution in the French attitude toward language, and thus merits considerable attention. (MSE)

The presence of many languages in our society and our classrooms has implications for conducting research, both in terms of the validity of the research and the broader social responsibilities of the mathematics education research community. This paper argues that in some ways mathematics education research causes or reproduces the educational and…

Until now, irregular sound change due to frequency has been considered as something sporadic, affecting only vocabulary, whereas, irregular sound change due to frequency, which concerns reductions in morphemes as well, especially inflectional ones, is the third essential factor of linguistic evolution, in addition to regular sound change. In any…

The possibility should be considered that English grammar has been misanalyzed for centuries because of grammarians' accepting fundamentally flawed assumptions about grammar and, even more so, about the history of English--and that this has resulted in a huge disconnect between English grammars and the genius of English that really exists. The…

Two of the most stigmatized languages in the United States today are African American dialect and Appalachian English dialect. The attitudes many hold about Appalachia have come from the literature written about the place, the people, the cultural life of the mountain region, in general, and the spoken dialect. Arnow's "The Dollmaker,"…

Elaborates on an earlier work that shows how the relaxation of certain grammatical constraints provides clues to variation in language usage. Demonstrates how style shifting may contribute to variation. (NCR)

Sketches the history of the Scots language and the political and social history of Scotland, following with a description of the dialect, including its differences from standard English in phonology and vocabulary, and in the area of sociolinguistics. Some thoughts about the possible future of the dialect are added. (IFS/WGA)

In New Zealand, interest in the local variety of English is increasing. Reasons for this are given. A brief survey is made of: semantic changes, the role of Maori words, neologisms and phonetic changes. Parallels are shown with the history of British English. (IFS/WGA)

Discusses the nature of the difference between dialectology and sociolinguistics and suggests that the findings of dialectology are relevant for use by sociolinguists. (30 references) (CK)

Notes that contemporary French contains a number of nouns of double or doubtful gender. Suggests that non-standard usage is especially prone to fluctuation and that mysterious, contradicting established patterns in expressing noun gender are extant. The question of zero gender and neutralization is raised. (49 references) (Author/CK)