Numerous reasons can be cited by scholars concerning lexical problems that face anyone embarking upon such an enterprise as that of preparing a Basque-English dictionary. First, "euskera," a term given to this ancient tongue, is both written and spoken today as it was millennia ago. Second, Basque, as a result, has not been subjected to…

Standard manuals of Spanish pronunciation recognize that both [+continuant] and [-continuant] surface variants occur for the voiced obstruents/bdg/. Within generative phonology, it has been assumed that the systematic phonemic representation for these voiced obstruents should be [-continuant] /bdg/, with a rule of spirantization converting these…

This annotated bibliography of pidgin and creole languages is divided into seventeen major sections. They are: bibliographies; collective works; general and miscellaneous works; works concerning pidgins and creoles that are Italian-based, Portuguese-based, Brazilian Portuguese-based, Spanish-based, French-based, Dutch-based, English-based,…

American Sign Language (ASL) is historically related to French Sign Language (FSL) of the early 19th century. A study underway at Gallaudet College is researching the historical development of both languages treating syntax, lexicon and formation. This paper deals with data in the form of still photos collected in France and published in a…

In this paper various sexist practices in the English language are discussed and feminist criticism of these practices is given. This criticism is analyzed in terms of the kinds of linguistic changes proposed and the extent to which these changes have taken hold, assessing the prospects for success of each type of change. Three particular…

Drawing on phonological, grammatical, and usage data collected during personal interviews and taped sessions, this paper seeks to determine whether and how persons of Finnish descent, collectively or individually by generation, constitute dialect islands within the local dialect area (Marquette, Michigan), and their effect upon one another. The…

Speakers of West Flemish dialect in switching to standard Netherlandic must choose between two sets of supra-regional lexical items: the Netherlandic and the non-Netherlandic alternative. A study was carried out in July and August 1974 to determine whether it can be stated that the supra-regional language is moving towards Netherlandic. Thirteen…

This paper examines language in a factory setting and focuses on: (1) language workers use to express attitudes toward work areas, jobs and workers associated with them (Hymes, 1974); (2) behavior workers exhibit in relation to their socially defined status (Fishman 1970; Tyler 1971); and (3) speech forms workers use for particular situations and…

The social, economic, political and cultural changes brought about by the Cuban Revolution have elicited linguistic changes. Although the Revolution is only fifteen years old, these changes have reached the morphological and semantic components of the language. This paper explains the Russian influence and discusses and classifies…

The language or dialect used in a conversation will vary according to the social situation, the identity of the participants, and the conversational topic. Bilinguals will often switch languages to suit the topic or the listener; persons who speak both standard and dialect forms of a language will use the standard in formal conversation and the…

Interviews with Arkansas fourth, fifth, and sixth graders revealed a blatant contradiction between the objectives of the language arts curricula and the children's opinions about the appropriateness of their language. While the students uniformly regarded their own dialects as satisfactory and unchanged by school, when questioned specifically…

After discussing the relatively recent nature of research on women's language, and the lack of an integrating framework for such research, the studies in this field are reviewed. Specific topics considered include the use of standard or prestige forms, phonology, syntax, lexicon, discourse-level rules and usages, and attitudes toward women's…

Among Mexican-Americans today, not only native speakers of Spanish but also many native speakers of English speak the language with a notable influence from Spanish phonology. This paper reviews a series of studies concerning reactions of Anglos and Mexican-Americans toward accented English. The unifying goal of these investigations has been the…

The need to find which social contexts elicit children's fullest language repertoire generated this study of the effects of three social distance variables on language production, as measured by mean length of communication unit, vocabulary diversity, and use of black English. The social distance variables investigated included race and sex of…

The controversy over standardized testing of Black students is reviewed: the mismatch of the tests to students' language and culture, the consequences of low test scores to Blacks, proposals to change the existing situation, and the role of the test publishers. (SJL)