A social dialect survey of a New Zealand community documented a change in progress in the pronunciation of the vowels in words such as "air" and "ear." The data support a tentative interpretation that a shift to the variant with the closer onset for AIR words was initiated by middle-aged Pakeha women. (38 references) (Author/LB)

Argues that nonstandard dialect speakers require instruction vastly different from more traditional methods. Argues against code switching and discusses bidialectic teaching. Asserts that evidence indicates the importance of the absence of competition for facilities, personal contact, and equivalence of positions and functions and that the…

Presents a unitary rule to account for the phonological content of Irish lenition, one of the Celtic initial mutations. It is proposed that Irish lenition involves linking the autosegmental to the target segment. (39 references) (JL)

Discusses the deviation of early Welsh literature from standard literary form and looks at the change process from the earlier literature in its oral form to written form. It is suggested that some forms and features apparent in the early literature, which suffered extinction because of a movement toward standardization, still survive in some…

Tracing Appalachian speech to different areas of the British Isles entailed researching hard-to-find linguistic studies and original texts in Belfast, Edinburgh, and other locations. The Scotch-Irish contribution significantly outweighs that from Southern Britain and appears much more responsible for the grammatical features of Appalachian…

Reports on a corpus-based investigation of the use of English in Korean English newspapers. The study examines modals which express meanings associated with volition and prediction and prepositions which denote spatial relations believed to result from contact with Korean. The results show some aspects of the nativization of English in Korea. (SMN)

Describes a new research project on York English, a variety in northeast England. Conducted a quantitative analysis of a linguistic feature that recurs pervasively in varieties of English worldwide--"was/were" variation in the past tense paradigm. (Author/ER)

Gondi, a Dravidian language spoken by 2.2 million people in central India, is a chain of dialects, some of which are not mutually intelligible. This study looked at a two-step sound change, responsible for this dialect division. (ER)

Examines specific collective identity and political expression of the rap group the Wu-Tang Clan. Reveals a multi-layered political strategy that has been conscientiously designed and implemented to instigate a social movement. Prioritizes the voices of marginalized Black peoples and provides raw narratives about oppression. (MMU)

Lists 30 resources that provide essential background information, research findings, examples from the field, and recommendations for practice for teachers of students who speak Ebonics. (SLD)

Responds to an earlier article on Ebonics and the Oakland School Board's resolution. The author of that article responds to these comments. (Author/VWL)

Low German is in danger of being given up by native speakers. The projects reported in this article were carried out in Western Westfalia and Emsland, German regions generally known as conservative with respect to language maintenance and language change. (Author/JL)

Examines the problems that emerge in the teaching of Standard Modern Greek as a foreign language in Cyprus due to the fact that the linguistic code taught in the classroom does not correspond exactly to the linguistic code that is used in the Cypriot speech community. Focuses on how teachers of Greek as a foreign language perceive the effects of…

Examines the role the Kadazandusun language Foundation has played in changing the language ecology of the Kadazandusun language. Relates to the impact the language situation has had on changing attitudes toward mother-tongue use in the Kadazandusun community. (Author/VWL)

Shows that dialectal origin of native Spanish speakers is a stronger predictor of pronoun expression than language contact with English, with particular focus on Spanish speakers living in New York City. Concludes that different Latin American speech communities in New York City are not yet converging into a New York Spanish, but that Spanish in…