Although the nature of topicalization is complex and cannot be easily separated from considerations of syntactic structure and sentence focus, analysis of language usage has indicated that topicalization is more a stylistic than a syntactic process. Topicalization refers to moving a noun phrase (NP) into the initial position of a sentence.…

Defining peak as the climax of discourse, this paper argues that it is important to identify peak in order to get at the overall grammar of a given discourse. The paper presents case studies in which four instances of peak in narrative discourses occur in languages from four different parts of the world. It also illustrates the occurrence of a…

Earlier sociolinguistic studies distinguish between Standard English and Black English with respect to indirect question formation. Standard English typically does not invert the tense-marker "do" in the imbedded question ("Ask John if he played basketball today") while Black English does ("Ask John did he play basketball today"). In fact, the…

This paper reports on a study designed to investigate the kinds of responses people produce during wrong-number telephone calls and to discover the rules that appear to govern the choices of the responses and their relationships. Fifty-seven calls were placed at different times during the day over a period of several weeks. The sentences used to…

This paper defines diglossia as "a situation in which two closely related language systems enjoy differing social status, one being the 'high' and the other the 'low' language," and then attempts to show how a study of diglossia in Canada, where such a diglossic situation is seen to exist among varieties of French, might be carried out.…

This collection of 17 articles concerning the application of mathematical models and techniques to the study of literary style is an attempt to overcome the communication barriers that exist between scholars in the various fields that find their meeting ground in statistical stylistics. The articles selected were chosen to represent the best…

This textbook, part of "The Language of Man" series, has two sections. The first section on dialects of English tells what dialects are and details the speech patterns of Kentucky, the Pennsylvania Dutch, Yiddish, and pidgin English. The second section discusses levels of language such as informal, formal, and technical language, slang, jargon,…

A study is reported which investigated the social consequences that follow when a speaker accommodates or fails to accommodate his speech style with reference to his interlocutor. (Author/RM)

Suggests that books be evaluated by a cliche count which might show what is actually on the page, explain at least some of the riddles of the child and the book, and clear away some of the partisan fog from book selection. (HOD)

Reports on an experiment designed to test the reliability of the cloze procedure in second language testing, specifically as a measure of overall language proficiency, and as a measure whose results are independent of style. (AM)

Examines various approaches to textual description, and argues that the Prague model provides the most adequate criteria for describing communicative dynamism in, for example, narrative, descriptive, or discussion style. (AM)

Four episodes are described to illustrate the language of elementary school children. Each episode supports a generalization characteristic of the language of children of elementary school age. (CM)

Research by Martin Joos and John J. Gumperz to develop a perspective for rhetorical analysis. Carter's final remarks in his Playboy interview are shown to reflect an ineffective sociolinguistic code shift to a stylistic level inappropriate to Carter as public personality and as presidential candidate. (JF)

Argues against the notion that translation is prone to indeterminacy, and presents a systematic approach to translation criticism. (AM)

A linguistic analysis of 30 political speeches by de Gaulle is presented. The speeches are compared with regard to pronouns, verb tense, ways of referring to France, length of phrase, and total length of speech. The speeches are then characterized as electoral/non-electoral and evolution/crisis. (Text is in French.) (MLA)