This issue of "Bilingualism: Language and Cognition" is about convergence, a type of language change that is contact-induced and results in greater similarity between two languages that are in contact with each other. In Backus (forthcoming), I have attempted an overview of contact-induced language change, focusing on causal factors, on mechanisms…

The present study aims at testing the two dominant hypotheses regarding the development of inflections and other functional categories namely the "Structure-Building Model" and the "Continuity Hypothesis" within the generative theory. According to the first view, functional categories are entirely absent in children's early grammars, which contain…

The article attempts to define more clearly the term "typology," using as its base the work of Skalica. It discusses the particular language characteristics which form the basis of classification of the terms "type" and "class" as they are used in different language typologies. (DH)

The application of concepts for viewing events or relationships in other languages may lead to new and better systems for classing and retrieving data in the English language. (AB)

This article discusses the issues and implications of high stakes tests on English language learners (ELLs). As ELLs are being included in all high stakes assessments tied to accountability efforts (e.g., No Child Left Behind), it is crucial that issues related to the tests be critically evaluated relative to their use. In this case, academic…

An analysis of semantically ergative languages begins with a description of the essential results of research on ergativity to date, and an outline of the assumptions and conceptual apparatus on which the analysis is based. Subsequently, data from 20 Daghestanian languages, primarily Archi, are examined for evidence of the syntactic features of…

The author suggests an evolutionary typology of languages and a way to integrate the concept of linguistic modernization with a theory of language problems. (Author/PM)

In this article we examine language processing and development in Catalan or Spanish-speaking children with SLI, focusing on the study of the verb. We analyse the key initial phase of its process of acquisition and aim to define common features of the SLI group that distinguish them from children with normal language development. We intend to…

The present paper assesses the implications of the existence of two varieties of the same language for contact-induced language change in cases of bilingualism. By analysing the contact between French and Tunisian Arabic, on the one hand, and Spanish and Northern Moroccan Arabic, on the other, the purpose is to illustrate how the coexistence of…

The language of three year old children is examined to discover whether existing classifications of language functions account for all the ways in which language is used. One mode of classification is used to compare the language used by three year olds from different groups. (Editor)

This volume of the Languages of the World Series contains: "(1.5) Unified List of American Indian Languages aboriginal to Latin America" (pages 1-120), and "(1.6) Classification of American Indian languages" (North, Central, and South America, pages 121-50). For each language, language family, or other group, information is…

This study assesses and characterizes lexical relationships among the major urban Syro-Lebanese varieties of Arabic. To achieve this quantitative analysis of degrees of similarity or differentiation, an analytical procedure based on lexical compatibility was developed. Secondarily, a classification of these varieties is presented as a by-product…

The study of folk speech, which traditionally included only regional dialects, has evolved to include cultural and generational dialects. This article discusses how folk speech study has come to include a range of dialects and a variety of sociolinguistic trends. (JL)