bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Charges as Contested Signals
Authors: Rose Richard
Published: November 2008

Government is about the supply and demand for many goods and services, but votes or social needs are the principal signal meant to give direction to public policy. Many neo-liberal economists contest this, arguing that charges or user-fees are more efficient for allocating services. Empirical analysis shows that in principle it would be possible to impose charges on three-quarters of the goods and services financed by government. Although some charges are imposed on a wide variety of public programmes, overall governments reject marketing what is marketable. Theoretical inconsistencies in government's use of charges indicate that they reflect political inertia. The conclusion offers an analytic paradigm for interpreting charges, since an accurate interpretation of the signals sent by charges depends upon attributes specific to a given public programme.
The American Legislative Process as a Signal
Authors: Katzmann Robert A.
Published: November 2008

The signals of the American legislative process cannot be understood simply by focusing on the formal and technical processes of legislative drafting. Rather, it is important to appreciate the political and institutional dynamics which affect how and to whom signals are sent, and why some signals emerging from the legislative process are clearer than others. Legislative policymaking often does not conform to the textbook ideal of deliberation and clarity. By the way that legislation is drafted, through the use of legislative history and various materials, legislators send signals to agencies, courts, their colleagues and interest groups. How bills are drafted - tight or loose - gives institutions more or less authority to make policy. Accounting for the sometimes absence of clear direction in legislation in the American system, and the consequences of that absence for agencies and courts, raises questions in a comparative context about how the structure of government affects the signals of the legislative process.
Setting and Firing Policy Triggers
Authors: Weaver Kent
Published: November 2008

Governments increasingly use quantitative policy signals as automatic triggers for policy adjustments rather than simply to inform policy debate. This increased use of policy triggers cannot be explained simply by a technocratic desire to reduce workloads and regularize policy adjustments. Political objectives – notably desires to reduce conflict, bind future policymakers, and avoid blame – play an important role both in decisions to use policy triggers and in the selection of specific triggers. Using policy signals as triggers often leads to the politicization of statistics and to harmful rigidification of policy.
Institutional Sources of German Monetary Policy Dynamics
Authors: Kaltenthaler Karl
Published: November 2008

This article seeks to answer the question of why we see continuity in German monetary policy but relative discontinuity in German policy toward European monetary regimes. The paper develops an analytical framework for understanding the factors that account for the dynamics of policy. The article argues that the institutional structure of policy-making is the key factor that accounts for patterns of policy dynamics. The way domestic policy institutions are structured will determine who has a say and when they have a say in policy-making, thus shaping the pattern of policy dynamics. The article shows that the institutions of policy-making are crucial determinants in the dynamics of German monetary and regime policy by the way they offer or block opportunities, at particular points in the policy process, for interested policy actors to achieve the types of policies they want.
Capital Politics: Creditors and the International Political Economy
Authors: Frieden Jeffry A.
Published: November 2008

This essay analyzes the relationship between international investment interests and foreign economic policy. The first step and level of analysis looks at nation-states as the relevant actors, and claims that a country's international investment position tends to affect its international economic preferences in ways that are easily understood and anticipated. Countries' international asset positions often have a predictable impact on their policies toward international monetary relations, cross-border investment, and trade.The second step and level of analysis looks inside national societies at the international asset positions of various domestic groups. It argues that sectors with varying interests related to their international investment positions contend for influence over national policy. The economic circumstances of each sector lead to sectoral policy preferences with predictable implications for domestic bargaining over foreign economic policy. The general argument is applied briefly to a number of modern creditor countries and sectors, most prominently the United States after World War Two.
From Neglect to Activism: American Politics and the 1985 Plaza Accord
Authors: Henning C. Randall , Destler I. M.
Published: November 2008

US exchange rate policy shifted in 1985 from unilateralist nonintervention to actively promoting dollar depreciation and multilateral cooperation. Pressures from producer interests, particularly multinational companies making manufactured goods, and from sympathetic members of Congress were the most important of multiple forces pushing the US Treasury toward dollar depreciation. Once the Treasury had chosen an activist course, a multilateral strategy had several benefits over a unilateral approach to depreciation. It could better counter the immediate threat to Administration trade policy from Congress, orchestrate depreciation, strengthen Treasury's influence within Washington and shift the burden of adjustment away from US fiscal policy, then frozen, onto other governments. When the trade account is in balance, individual policymakers have flexibility in determining exchange rate policy. But when large trade deficits arise, the domestic political pressures of trade-exposed sectors will dominate personalities and ideas.
Quelques traces du passage du temps dans le parler des Montréalais, 1971–1984
Authors: Thibault Pierrette , Daveluy Michelle
Published: November 2008

À partir de deux ensembles de données recueillies principalement auprés des mêmes locuteurs à 13 ans d'intervalle, le cheminement de cinq marqueurs discursifs dans la communauté francophone de Montréal est analysé. II s'agit de alors, tu-sais, je-veux-dire, tu-sais-veux-dire et disons. L'alternance des formes restrictives juste, rien que et seulement est aussi examinée. Les résultats obtenus montrent clairement que la différenciation selon l'âge observée à partir de données synchroniques peut (a) correspondre à des emplois qui se modifient au cours de la vie des locuteurs: c'est le cas de alors dont le taux augmente en vieillissant; (b) indiquer un changement en cours: c'est le cas de tu-sais qui a connu une augmentation significative entre les deux années, et de juste qui tend a supplanter les autres variantes; (c) traduire une mode associée à une génération spécifique (cf. disons). Par ailleurs, certaines variables connaissent une progression importante dans la communauté sans être associées à un sousgroupe social particulier (le marqueur tu-sais-veux-dire).
There's no tense like the present: Verbal -sinflection in early Black English
Authors: Poplack Shana , Tagliamonte Sali
Published: November 2008

This article contributes to the understanding of the origin and function of verbal -smarking in the Black English grammar by systematically examining the behaviour of this affix in two corpora on early Black English. To ascertain whether the variation observed in (early and modern Black English) -susage has a precedent in the history of the language, or is rather an intrusion from another system, we focus particularly on the linguistic and social contexts of its occurrence, within a historical and comparative perspective. Our results show that both third person singular and nonconcord-sare subject to regular, parallel environmental conditioning. The finding that bothinsertionanddeletionare conditioned by the same factors suggests that verbal-smarking is a unitary process, involving both concord and nonconcord contexts. Moreover, the (few) variable constraints on verbal-susage reported throughout the history of the English language remain operative in early Black English. These results, taken in conjunction with indications that-smarking across the verbal paradigm was a prestige marker in the dialect at some earlier point in time, lead us to hypothesize that the contemporary pattern might be a synchronic reflex of the constraint ranking on-susage in the varieties of English that provided the linguistic model for the slaves. Many of the conditioning effects we report would have been subsequently overridden by the grammaticalization of -sas the Standard English agreement marker. We conclude that present-tense marking via verbal -sformed an integral part of the early Black English grammar.
The development of a morphological class
Authors: Guy Gregory R. , Boyd Sally
Published: November 2008

English has a class of “semiweak” verbs, which in the past tense have root-vowel ablaut as well as reflexes of the apical stop suffix, for example,kept, told. This study traces the development of this class in a sample of speakers aged 4–65. The evidence is derived from the variable rates of occurrence of the final -t,din these words in the speech of individuals of different ages. The rate of -t,dabsence in semiweak verbs systematically declines with increasing age. We identify three ontogenetic stages in the development of the class. In children's speech, these segments rarely appear, suggesting they are underlyingly absent. In young adults they appear but undergo the variable -t,ddeletion process of English at the same high rate as noninflectional -t,din words likewest, old, implying that such speakers do not treat them as affixes. Finally, some adult speakers show a lowered deletion rate, suggesting that they accord the final stops separate morphemic status. The age distribution of this pattern implies that speakers only arrive at this analysis in adult life, after the age when acquisition is often assumed to be complete.
Syntactic variation in language shift: The relative clause in South African Indian English
Authors: Mesthrie Rajend , Dunne Timothy T.
Published: November 2008

This article examines syntactic variation in an English dialect that has emerged from the process of language shift. South African Indian English has a wide variety of relative clauses that can be categorized as follows: (a) standard, (b) almost standard, (c) substrate influenced, (d) discourse governed. Of some interest is the occasional appearance of left-branching relative clauses and correlatives normally associated with object-verb (OV) languages. Social patterning of the relative clause is examined according to the parameter standard/nonstandard and according to the use made of certain relativization strategies by specific groups of speakers.
The case of the nonce loan in Tamil
Authors: Sankoff David , Poplack Shana , Vanniarajan Swathi
Published: November 2008

Nonce borrowings in the speech of bilinguals differ from established loanwords in that they are not necessarily recurrent, widespread, or recognized by host language monolinguals. With established loanwords, however, they share the characteristics of morphological and syntactic integration into the host language and consist of single content words or compounds. Furthermore, both types of loanwords differ from intrasentential code-switching — alternate sentence fragments in the two languages, each of which is grammatical by monolingual standards from the standpoints of appropriate function words, morphology, and syntax. In a large corpus of Tamil—English bilingual speech, many words of English origin are found in objects governed by Tamil verbs and vice versa. The equivalence constraint on intrasentential code-switching predicts that no code-switch should occur between verb and object in an SOV/SVO bilingual situation, and hence that objects whose language differs from that of the verb must be borrowed, if only for the nonce. To verify this prediction, we compare quantitatively the distribution across various syntactic contexts of both native Tamil and English—origin complements of Tamil verbs, and find them to be parallel. But the strongest evidence in favor of the nonce borrowing hypothesis comes from an analysis of variable accusative and dative case marking in these complements, in which the English-origin material is shown, morphologically and syntactically, to be virtually indistinguishable from Tamil (nonpronominal) nouns. In addition, we present supporting evidence from the genitive, locative, and other cases and from nonce borrowings from Tamil into these speakers' English.
The grammaticalization of tense and aspect in Tok Pisin and Sranan
Authors: Sankoff Gillian
Published: November 2008

According to Bickerton's “bioprogram,” creole grammars from the outset contain privative oppositions in the verbal system, where zeroes can be unambiguously interpreted as contrasting with verbs bearing the marked feature. A quantitative analysis of tense and aspect in narrative texts in Tok Pisin and Sranan indicates that this is not the case in either language. Zeroes freely occur with all tense categories. Verbs occurring with no tense markers are thus not “marked with zero,” but constitute the historical residue of an earlier stage of the languages in which tense marking of the superstrate languages had not been transmitted and the Creole markers had not yet evolved.
Variation and recent change in fingerspelling in British Sign Language
Authors: Sutton-Spence Rachel , Woll Bencie , Allsop Lorna
Published: November 2008

British Sign Language is a language exhibiting extensive regional variation and undergoing rapid change, in a period of changing attitudes to the language and the community of signers. Fingerspelling (a representation of written English) is an aspect of BSL that reflects these variations strongly. Analysis of interviews with Deaf signers appearing on BBC television shows that use of fingerspelling may vary according to various demographic factors and the signers' use of voice. There has also been a decrease in the overall use of fingerspelling in BSL over the last 10 years. Strong evidence is presented to support the claim that fingerspelling in BSL is of two distinct linguistic types. Some fingerspelling involves code-mixing with English, whereas some has become incorporated into the language itself. Further evidence for such a “discontinuity” between the code-mixing and borrowing is presented and discussed.
Rappin on the copula coffin: Theoretical and methodological issues in the analysis of copula variation in African-American Vernacular English
Authors: Rickford John R. , Ball Arnetha , Blake Renee , Jackson Raina , Martin Nomi
Published: November 2008

We explore two unresolved methodological issues in the study of copula variation in African-American Vernacular English, assessing their quantitative and theoretical consequences via multiple variable rule analyses of data from East Palo Alto, California. The first is whether is- contraction and deletion should be considered separately from that of are. We conclude that it should not, because the quantitative conditioning is almost identical for the two forms, and a combined analysis offers analytical advantages. The second issue is whether the alternative methods that previous researchers have used to compute the incidence of “contraction” or “deletion” (“Labov Contraction and Deletion,” “Straight Contraction and Deletion,” “Romaine Contraction”) fundamentally affect the results. We conclude that they do, especially for contraction. We also discuss implications of our analysis for two related issues: the ordering of contraction and deletion in the grammar, and the presence of age-grading or change in progress in East Palo Alto.
Phonological variation in Korean: The case of the “disappearing w”
Authors: Silva David James
Published: November 2008

In Korean, the tendency to delete the labiovelar glide w when it appears postconsonantally is conditioned by linguistic, stylistic, and social factors. Chief among these is the place specification for the preceding consonant: labiovelar glides are more likely to be deleted when preceded by a velar than by a labial, alveolar, or alveopalatal. It is proposed that this observation can be explained in terms of current phonological theory, in particular, the notions of feature geometry (Clements 1985; Sagey 1986) and the Obligatory Contour Principle (McCarthy 1986). Under such a model, adjacent segments share common features in ways that promote variability; specifically, the labiovelar glide shares the feature [back] with an adjacent velar (but shares no place features with adjacent labials, alveolars, and alveopalatals), thereby providing structural cohesiveness that inhibits the application of the deletion rule.
The apparent time construct
Authors: Bailey Guy , Wikle Tom , Tillery Jan , Sand Lori
Published: November 2008

The use of apparent time differences to study language change in progress has been a basic analytical construct in quantitative sociolinguistics for over 30 years. The basic assumption underlying the construct is that, unless there is evidence to the contrary, differences among generations of similar adults mirror actual diachronic developments in a language: the speech of each generation is assumed to reflect the language more or less as it existed at the time when that generation learned the language. In providing a mirror of real time change, apparent time forms the basis of a conceptual framework for exploring language change in progress. However, the basic assumptions that underlie apparent time have never been fully tested. This article tests those assumptions by comparing apparent time data from two recent random sample telephone surveys of Texas speech with real time data from the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States, which was conducted some 15 years before the telephone surveys. The real time differences between the linguistic atlas data and the data from the telephone surveys provide strong support for the apparent time construct. Whenever apparent time data in the telephone surveys clearly suggest change in progress, the atlas data show substantially fewer innovative forms. Whenever the apparent time data suggest stable variation, the atlas data are virtually identical to that from the more recent surveys. Whenever the relationships between real and apparent time data are unclear, sorting out mitigating factors, such as nativity and subregional residence, clarifies and confirms the relationships. The results of our test of the apparent time construct suggest that it is unquestionably a valid and useful analytical tool.
Processing and morpho-semantic effects in complementation in Brazilian Portuguese
Authors: Mollica Maria Cecilia
Published: November 2008

Subordinate clauses in Brazilian Portuguese can be introduced by the complementizers que or de que, both corresponding to ‘that’. Both variants are attested even in the earliest documents, although de que is an innovation with respect to Latin. In the standard language, each variant is used in its own characteristic contexts, but in current usage there is variation. Here, the replacement of either variant by the other is treated in a unified manner, with one phenomenon viewed as the mirror image of the other. Psycholinguistic dimensions, such as the parallel processing effect and the effect of distance, are shown to be connected with the semantic dimension of iconicity.
African American English in the diaspora: Evidence from old-line Nova Scotians
Authors: Poplack Shana , Tagliamonte Sali
Published: November 2008

In this article, we describe a new research project on African Nova Scotian English (ANSE), a variety spoken by descendants of African American slaves who immigrated to Nova Scotia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Subsequent segregation from surrounding populations has created a situation favoring retention of the vernacular, in conjunction with Standard English. In addition to providing the first systematic linguistic documentation of ANSE, we detail the characteristics of the Canadian scenario that make it an ideal test of the creole-origins and divergence hypotheses: in particular, that, more clearly than other African American English varieties that evolved independently in the diaspora, the Canadian situation has featured no creole influence. This fact can effectively date the occurrence of any creole-like features in contemporary ANSE (and, by extension, other varieties of African American Vernacular English [AAVE]) to (at least) the late 18th century, an important time-depth characterization. We then present the results of a series of quantitative analyses of linguistically diagnostic features and compare them to those obtained for (1) another transplanted variety of African American English (Samaná English) and (2) a prototype variety (the Ex-slave Recordings), and note the striking similarities among them. The results militate in favor of a genetic relationship among ANSE and its counterparts as a common precursor of contemporary varieties, thereby providing the first methodologically consistent cross-linguistic comparison of three distinct vestiges of “early” African American English, and contributing missing links in the history and development of AAVE.
The serial effect on internal and external variables
Authors: Scherre Maria Marta Pereira , Naro Anthony J.
Published: November 2008

Examination of three variable concord phenomena in spoken Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro (noun phrase, subject/predicate adjective, subject/verb) demonstrates that the most consistent and strongest variable constraint on the use of concord is the discourse level serial (or parallel processing) effect, that is, a preference for similar forms to co-occur in sections of discourse, even if this results in redundancy or lack of economy. Given the strength of this constraint, we separated the data into two subsets such that one contains only serial occurrences, where parallel processing can operate, whereas the other contains only isolated or first occurrences, where there is no preceding form to trigger the parallel effect. In the serial set, the parallel effect is so strong that other nonsocial constraints are not selected. External forces, such as the normative pressure of the school system toward fully redundant marking, have no significant effect on the serial tokens, although education does correlate with increased use of concord in isolated/first tokens. Thus, in the serial context the linguistic system is so highly constrained that external, and even internal, influences are blocked. We conclude that strong constraints should be identified, and that data in which they are operative should be analyzed separately from data in which they are not present in order to understand the interplay of the diverse forces in the linguistic system.
Deflection in Flemish between the 13th and 20th centuries: An interplay between analogical and articulatory factors
Authors: Gerritsen Marinel
Published: November 2008

This article deals with the linguistic embedding, transition, and actuation of the obliteration of the gerund ending -ein the West Flemish dialect of Bruges between the 13th and 20th centuries. The following factors appear to have played a part in the change: syllable structure of the verb, nasalization of the last consonant of the stem, and frequency of the verb. The study shows that deflection (loss of inflections) started in the 14th century and is almost complete today. There are strong indications that the obliteration of the gerund ending was originally caused by analogical factors, but that articulatory factors played a leading role in the ensuing centuries. The areal spread of the linguistic factors that condition the occurrence of the gerund ending in the dialects in the region around Bruges nowadays suggests that the diachronic development in Bruges is not idiosyncratic for Bruges but holds for a much larger area.
Dimensions of register variation in Somali
Authors: Biber Douglas , Hared Mohamed
Published: November 2008

The present study uses a multidimensional approach to analyze the linguistic characteristics of Somali spoken and written registers. Somali is unusual in that it has a very short history of literacy (only since 1973), but at present it has a wide range of written and spoken registers, including governmental, educational, and public information uses. It thus represents a very different language type from previously described languages. We analyze the distribution of 65 linguistic features across 279 texts from 26 spoken and written registers, using factor analysis to identify five major dimensions of variation. None of these dimensions defines an absolute dichotomy between spoken and written registers, although three of the dimensions can be considered “oral/literate” parameters. As in the multidimensional analyses of other languages, the present study shows that no single dimension adequately describes the relations among spoken and written registers; rather, each dimension reflects a different set of communicative functions relating to the purpose, general topic, degree of interactiveness, personal involvement, production circumstances, and other physical mode characteristics. In the conclusion, we briefly discuss our findings relative to previous multidimensional analyses of English, Tuvaluan, and Korean, laying the foundation for cross-linguistic analyses of universal tendencies of register variation.
Linguistic change in intonation: The use of high rising terminals in New Zealand English
Authors: Britain David
Published: November 2008

This article reports sociolinguistic research on linguistic change in an intonation feature of New Zealand English, namely, the use of high rising terminal contours (HRTs) in declarative clauses. Recorded interviews from 75 inhabitants of Porirua, a small city north of Wellington, were analyzed for the use of HRTs. The speaker sample was subdivided according to years of age (20–29, 40–49, 70–79), sex, ethnicity (Maori and Pakeha), and class (working and middle). The results show that linguistic change is in progress, the use of HRTs being favored by young Maori and by young Pakeha women. The results are explained in terms of the function of HRTs as positive politeness markers. The usefulness of the term “linguistic variable” in the analysis of intonational change and discourse features is assessed.
Introduction: Seven types of continuity in discourse
Authors: Tottie Gunnel
Published: November 2008

This issue of Language Variation and Change brings together seven articles from four continents, North and South America, Europe, and Australia, dealing with Québec French, Brazilian Portuguese, British and Australian English, respectively. Although the geographical spread is great, the articles have in common a focus on how various discourse strategies and devices (punctors, pragmatic expressions, extension particles) maintain coherence or continuity in spoken discourse, and all subscribe to the importance of a rigorous quantitative methodology. They thus bear testimony to the important development in linguistics in recent years that regards discourse processes found mainly in unedited oral speech as crucial data offering a key to the functioning of human language (Ducrot, 1980; Roulet et al., 1985; Schegloff et al., 1977; Schiffrin, 1987; Stenström, 1990).
Interviewer's linguistic production and its effect on speaker's descriptive style
Authors: Dubois Sylvie , Horvath Barbara
Published: November 2008

A re-examination of primary school descriptions by Anglo, Greek, and Italian speakers in the Sydney sociolinguistic survey focuses on the interactional patterns that characterize the elicitation of a particular text type. Two aspects of the interaction are analyzed—the type or mixture of types of questions asked by the fieldworker within the same or different turns at talk, and the response behavior of the speaker—in order to determine what part of the variability in the text data is the result of the interaction process itself rather than of the characteristics and intentions of the respondents. We hypothesize that a constant feature of every interaction is the negotiation of tension between interviewer and speaker. The results confirm that varying the details of the interviewer's questioning strategy, even when the referential content of the questions seem uniform, can have strong and predictable effects on the nature of the speaker's response. We also demonstrate links among stylistic variation, interactional patterning, and ethnicity differentiation. Where differences in behavior in the same setting have often been attributed to learned patterns of different ethnic or social groups, much of this may instead be due to different degrees of interactional tension. We show that less negotiation of interactional tension is required when the interviewer and the speaker share a set of sociolinguistic assumptions through common ethnic identity, and more negotiation is required when this is not the case.
The sociolinguistics of exemplification in spoken French in Montréal
Authors: Vincent Diane
Published: November 2008

Exemplification is considered to be a rhetorical procedure used to illustrate a point. In spoken discourse, we can attribute to it an argumentative and pragmatic character. In this study, the data base is constituted of utterances marked by exemplification particles (par exemple, comme, genre, style, mettons, and disons ‘for example’, ‘like’, ‘of the (…) kind’, ‘of the (…) variety’, ‘let's say’) extracted from two corpora of spoken French in Montréal. One goal is to describe the constraints which govern the choice of discourse variant and at the same time to get the deepest insights possible into the procedure that interrelates these constraints. The main objective is to observe to what extent we can have access to the characteristics of a complex rhetorical phenomenon by using sociolinguistic data.
Extension particles, etc.
Authors: Dubois Sylvie
Published: November 2008

The study of the 2700 occurrences of phrase-terminal extension particles (e.g., tout ça ‘all that’, des affaires de même ‘things like that’) in two large corpora of Montréal French reveals that they are typically formed of some combination of a quantifier, a generic and a comparative, and that the particle is optionally prefaced by a connector (the conjunctions puis, et ‘and’, ou ‘or’). The 76 particle types (not counting minor variations) also include a good number of fixed forms (e.g., et cetera) often having an onomatopoeic aspect (e.g., patati patata). Extension particles can be characterized through prosodic, syntactic, and semantic criteria. The analysis bears on the sociodemographic conditioning of overall rates of particle use; of choices within the quantifier, generic, and comparative categories; and of preference for each of four major classes of particle: those containing a universal quantifier, those containing an existential quantifier, those consisting of just a generic and a comparative, and fixed forms. The discourse insertion of the four classes is also analyzed in terms of connector, type of discourse transition, the complexity of the term(s) semantically “extended” by the particle, and the discourse genre. The clearest result pertaining to overall rates of use is an age-grading effect, whereby speakers use fewer particles as they grow older. Within the components, women use more quantifiers than men, and both generics and comparatives are sharply stratified by social class and age. The reconstituted particles tend to favor certain co-occurrence patterns and avoid others more than could be predicted from the component distributions, consistent with a stylistic concord effect. As for the four classes of particle, it is the presence and nature of the connector that have the strongest effects, where puis contrasts with both ou and the null connector, while the complexity of the extended term distinguishes among the classes both by virtue of the number of terms and their syntactic complexity. As is predictable from functional considerations the sociodemographic factors do not contrast the two semantically most distinct classes, involving universal versus existential quantifiers. The linguistic validity of the four classes is confirmed by the fact that their quantitative conditioning is not predictable from the strong sociodemographic conditioning of their component elements, but rather reflects their differential suitability for various discourse functions.
Chicano English evidence for the exponential hypothesis: A variable rule pervades lexical phonology
Authors: Otto Santa Ana A.
Published: November 2008

Guy (1991) proposed a linkage between empirical linguistics, in the morphological constraints of /-t,d/ deletion, and formal linguistic theory, in lexical phonology. He hypothesized an explanation for the actual rate of deletion reported in /-t,d/ studies in the three-tier lexical phonology model (Kiparsky, 1979): namely, that an exponential relationship exists in the relative rate of deletion of /-t,d/ clusters in words, according to different morphological classes as described in the three-tier model. In this article, the hypothesis is tested in the English of 45 Chicanos from Los Angeles, which as a recently formed dialect provides an interesting test case in two respects. A major difference exists between the English of older and younger Chicanos involving the morphological classes associated with /-t,d/ deletion. Additionally, age grading of the /-t,d/ deletion process operates only among the younger speakers. Guy's model receives solid independent confirmation in the Chicano English data. These results simultaneously integrate the three-tier lexical phonology model, Guy's hypothesis, and the dialect-specific characteristics of Chicano English.
Verb position in future clauses in Biblical Hebrew
Authors: Myhill John
Published: November 2008

In clauses with future meaning in Biblical Hebrew, a basically VSO language, there are consistent functional differences between clauses with verb-initial word order and clauses with non-verb-initial word order. Quantitative study shows that verb-initial clauses are associated with future events that come about through cooperation between (some combination of) the speaker, the listener, and God, whereas non-verb-initial clauses are associated with future events that are the result of unilateral action. This is related to the finding of Givón (1977) that, in clauses with past time reference in Biblical Hebrew, verb-initial order is associated with the unmarked function of temporal sequencing and continuity of the narrative, whereas non-verb-initial order is associated with a break in sequencing and discontinuity. If we take verb-initial order as generally associated with unmarked discourse functions, these data suggest that cooperation represents the unmarked expectation in dialogues about the future in the same way that sequencing represents the unmarked expectation in narratives about the past.
Subject NP doubling, matching, and minority French
Authors: Nadasdi Terry
Published: November 2008

Our study presents a variationist analysis of subject doubling in the French of Ontario, Canada. Two principal variants are distinguished: a non-doubled variant and a doubled variant containing a clitic agreement marker. In our analyses, both linguistic and social factors are taken into account and analyzed usinggoldvarb2. It is proposed that subject clitics are marked for default features, and that the doubled variant is favored when the clitic's default features match those of the subject NP; lack of matching favors the non-doubled variant. Discussion of linguistic factors for the present study, therefore, is limited to those factors which can be explained in terms matching. The principal social factor studied is restricted language use (cf. Mougeon & Beniak, 1991). Our results show that the greater the restriction, the fewer doubled subjects one finds.
The velar nasal in Tokyo Japanese: A case of diffusion from above
Authors: Hibiya Junko
Published: November 2008

The present study is an attempt to investigate Japanese as it is spoken in Tokyo within the variationist framework, focusing on the variable (ng). The results of earlier research and observation have shown that this variable has been in the process of change. Speakers at younger age levels favor the newer variant [g], while those at older age levels favor the older variant [ŋ]. Results of quantitative analyses of the data obtained from sociolinguistic interviews with 62 native speakers of Tokyo Japanese allow us to establish the case under investigation as one of diffusion from above. The findings of the present investigation add to the body of research conducted within the variationist framework; they confirm the existence of inherent variation and orderly heterogeneity.
Phonological convergence in dialect contact: Evidence from citation forms
Authors: Kerswill Paul
Published: November 2008

This article addresses the question: In dialect contact, is there a difference in degree of convergence at different phonological levels? Data are taken from three experimental studies on British English. The first, a comparison of alveolar assimilation andl-vocalization, tests the hypothesis that the phonologization of connected speech processes involves increasing phonetic discreteness. The second provides evidence of the phonological restructuring of final /1/ in speakers who consistenly vocalize it and who, hypercorrectly, occasionally use “clear” /1/. This anomalous behavior, which may be due to underlying phonological differences, is explained in terms of a clash between nonstandard and standard speech. The third experiment looks at the “clarification” of /1/ before vowels in environments such aspeel it, as well as the glottaling of /t/. Data are collected from the speech of two teenagers, native to Reading. It is argued that the phonetically subtle differences between them are due to quite different underlying processes. These data are interpreted in light of Labov's speech community model; it seems necessary to differentiate between levels of analysis and to explain convergence in terms of salience.
A peak at death: Assessing continuity and change in an underdocumented language
Authors: Sabino Robin
Published: November 2008

Neither historical nor linguistic records reveal exactly when the shift from Negerhollands to English and English Creole began in the Danish West Indies. In order to assess phonological continuity and change in the last stage of this moribund creole, the following discussion (1) contrasts earlier and current views of Negerhollands and sketches language contact in the Danish West Indies; (2) examines the language history and the vowel systems of the last speaker; and (3) assesses variation in a Negerhollands corpus produced by 10 elderly bilinguals. The article demonstrates how using a variety of approaches can enhance the investigation of an underdocumented language.
Sonority and syllable structure in Chicano English
Authors: Santa Ana A. Otto
Published: November 2008

Three analyses of /-t,d/ deletion are undertaken to investigate whether convergence with the matrix regional dialect has taken place in Los Angeles Chicano English. Two superficial analyses mistakenly find convergence. A third emic multivariate analysis finds no phonological convergence. It is argued that sonority of adjacent consonants accounts for most of the variation. In order to give an account of the degree and direction of the /-t,d/ deletion processses in Chicano English, Clement's (1988) model of nonaffixal syllabification, which is also based on sonority, is extended to this affix-affecting delection process.
Children, adolescents, and language change
Authors: Kerswill Paul
Published: November 2008

The article models the spread of linguistic change by taking precise account of the ages of the acquirers and transmitters of change. Several studies, some original, are reviewed in order to address the following questions: “What types of linguistic feature can an individual acquire at different ages?” “How much influence do people of different ages exert on the speech of other individuals?” The article is organized around three key interlocutor combinations: parent-infant/young child, peer group-preadolescent, and older adolescent/adult-adolescent. The studies suggest that borrowings are the easiest to acquire, while lexically unpredictable phonological changes are the most difficult. In between are Neogrammarian changes and morphologically conditioned features. The age of the speaker is critical; only the youngest children acquire the “hardest” features. However, adolescents may be the most influential transmitters of change. A difficulty hierarchy for the acquisition of second dialect features is then presented; it is suggested that this predicts the nature of linguistic change found under different sociolinguistic conditions. The approach presented here allows for a more detailed understanding of the spread of linguistic change.
Base transparency in suprasegmental changes: Ongoing changes in Japanese and English
Authors: Hattori Noriko
Published: November 2008

This article deals with suprasegmental changes in progress in Japanese and English and demonstrates that the same kind of mechanism is in operation. Data on realtime changes in pitch accent, collected by comparing earlier editions of Japanese pronouncing dictionaries with recent editions, are examined. Analysis of data from present-day speech provides supplementary data on innovative accent. Two types of principle for accent change are proposed: the demand for paradigm coherence and the demand for canonical accent pattern. In the case of nouns derived from adjectives, the two appear to be in conflict. It is suggested that in Japanese the demand for paradigm coherence is the stronger principle. Similar kinds of conflict between two possible types of change are observed in ongoing stress changes in English. It is shown that base (or stem) transparency is a major factor in determining the directionality of accent change.
Regularity of sound change through lexical diffusion: A study of s > h > in Gondi dialects
Authors: Krishnamurti Bh.
Published: November 2008

Gondi is a Dravidian language spoken by 2.2 million speakers (Census of India 1981) in the mountains and forests of four adjacent states in central India. Gondi is a chain of several dialects, some of which, at distant points, are perhaps not mutually intelligible. A major dialect division is provided by a two-step sound change: s- > h- in the west, north, and northwest and h- > - in the south and southeast. The present article studies this two-step sound change, which is still in progress, and establishes two facts. First, contrary to the normal expectation that this sound change would be phonetically gradual and lexically abrupt (Neogram-marian type), there is evidence that it has been lexically gradual and perhaps also phonetically gradual (lexical diffusion). Second, phonetic gradualness and regularity in implementation of sound change are properties not incompatible with the mechanism of lexical diffusion. Labov's observation that s > h > has not been reported as a lexically diffused change in many quantitative studies of Portuguese and Spanish (1981) finds a clear exception in Gondi. Under the lexical diffusion model, the regularity of a sound change is defined as the final outcome in a three-stage change of the relevant lexicon: unchanged (u), variant (u ˜ c), and changed (c). If the entire eligible lexicon passed from u to c through u ˜ c, the change would become regular. If all u ˜ c became c and for some reason no item under u became u ˜ c, the sound change would die prematurely, since the variant stage which provided the rule for the innovation would be absent. Since a regular sound change can result from either the Neogrammarian model or the lexical diffusion model, Labov's (1994:542–543) theoretical proposal of complementarity between the kinds of changes resulting from the two mechanisms calls for more studies of sound change in progress to decide the issue.
A quantitative study of gender differences in the ellipsis of the Japanese postpositional particles-waand-ga: Gender composition as a constraint on variability
Authors: Takano Shoji
Published: November 2008

It has been claimed that the ellipsis of postpositional particles is one of the properties of Japanese women's language. The validity of this claim, however, is compromised by several methodological problems in prior research in this area: (1) the subjective comparison of bare percentages without any statistical verification of male–female differences; (2) the neglect of the intersecting relationships among a variety of potential constraints which simultaneously influence the speaker's choice of the variable; and (3) the exclusive focus on single-sex interactions. Conducting multivariate analyses of conversational data from both single-sex and cross-sex peer interactions, this preliminary study demonstrates the overgeneralization of gender-linked differentiation in past work due to the neglect of the relative strength of potential intersecting factors. The results also reveal statistically significant degrees of stylistic intragender variability across different types of gender composition, which counters the static approach to a social variable of gender in the traditional sociolinguistic paradigm.
Dissecting analogical leveling quantitatively: The case of the innovative potential suffix in Tôkyô Japanese
Authors: Matsuda Kenjirô
Published: November 2008

Analogical leveling in progress of a potential suffix in Tôkyô Japanese is analyzed within a quantitative paradigm. The phenomenon, whereby an innovative potential and a conservative potential alternate, is shown through a multivariate analysis to be controlled by five factors: sociological variable complex, length of the verb stem, conjugation pattern of the verb, the following inflectional form, and embeddedness of the clause containing the suffix. Most of the linguistic constraints are observed crosslinguistically in language change or variation, giving further credibility to the analysis. Although traditional frequency-based theory of analogical leveling would predict stem frequency to be a possible factor, I demonstrate that it is not in this case. As a principled explanation for this apparent lack of contribution from frequency, the Revised Frequency Hypothesis is proposed.
Subject omission and functional compensation: Evidence from written Brazilian Portuguese
Authors: Silva Vera Lúcia Paredes
Published: November 2008

In Portuguese, subject pronouns may be omitted or expressed explicitly. This variable usage is often attributed to the richness of the system of verbal desinences. However, evidence drawn from a sample of informal written language—personal correspondence of people from Rio de Janeiro—shows that the most important constraints on pronoun usage in subject position are discouse-based. The pronoun tends to be used whenever it is needed to clarify or highlight the correct referent from among a set of possible candidates. Furthermore, the pronoun is less likely to occur when its clasue is tightly connected to the preceding discourse. The quantitative analysis presented here supports the hypothesis that pronoun usage is “functional” in the sense that semantically relevant information tends to be preserved in surface structure.