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Articles 211 - 240 of 303

Full-Text Articles in Linguistics

Problems With Steve Pinker's Mentalese: On The Implications Of Bilingualism, Marino Fernandes Jan 2006

Problems With Steve Pinker's Mentalese: On The Implications Of Bilingualism, Marino Fernandes

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

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A Discourse Analysis Of 1 Peter, Ervin Ray Starwalt May 2005

A Discourse Analysis Of 1 Peter, Ervin Ray Starwalt

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

The study focuses on two problems. The first concerns the structure of the text. The text is considered to be notoriously difficult to outline. The second problem is the function of the participle in 1 Peter. The letter is considered to contain some of the classical examples in the New Testament of the imperatival participle (e.g. 2:18; 3:1, 7, 9), the participle used independently in place of a finite imperative verb. The text is analyzed in terms of salience. Generally, commanding clauses, primarily indicated by the presence of imperative verbs, are those clauses which move the argument along. Locally, other …

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The Ertirean English Curriculum: Grades 2-6 Assessing Academic Readiness, Kelly Walter May 2005

The Ertirean English Curriculum: Grades 2-6 Assessing Academic Readiness, Kelly Walter

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

This study is an examination of the 2002 Eritrean English curriculum from Grades 2–6. In the Eritrean educational system, the nine languages of Eritrea are the languages of education until Grade 6, when students are expected to make a transition to an all-English curriculum. The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether students are prepared at the end of Grade 5 for the academic English of Grade 6. The criteria for preparedness is mastery of vocabulary. Data from the Eritrean National Reading Survey and the vocabulary counts from the curriculum of Grades 2–5 and Grade 6 were compared. The …

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Consonant Cluster Simplification In Korean Codas: Language-Internal And Language-External Constraints Interface With Reference To Optimality Theory, Youn-Jeoung Choi May 2005

Consonant Cluster Simplification In Korean Codas: Language-Internal And Language-External Constraints Interface With Reference To Optimality Theory, Youn-Jeoung Choi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

In Korean, when a morpheme contains a coda cluster in its underlying form (such as /salm/‘life,’ /hulk/‘soil’), we observe two outcomes in its surface representation. In cases when the morpheme followed by either another consonant or by a word boundary, the cluster is simplified by deleting one consonant. However, if a vowel-initial morpheme follows the underlying cluster, the second member of the cluster assumes the role of a syllable onset. Contrary to prescriptive accounts in which both the deleted consonant and the results of resyllabification are claimed to be completely predictable, observation of contemporary Korean usage suggest that there is …

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Interlanguage Lexicology Of Arab Students Of English A Computer Learner Corpus-Based Approach, Mousa Abdelghani Al-Btoosh Aug 2004

Interlanguage Lexicology Of Arab Students Of English A Computer Learner Corpus-Based Approach, Mousa Abdelghani Al-Btoosh

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Since the very early emergence of machine-readable corpora into the linguistics scene in the 1960s, the direction of a considerable body of linguistic research began to shift from syntax and phonology, the, by then, focus of linguistic research, to a number of domains that remained mostly neglected under the umbrella of traditional approaches. Fortunately, lexicology, the target of this research, was a major beneficiary of that dramatic shift. By employing a computer learner corpus-based approach, this study addresses multidimensional lexical aspects of a machine-readable corpus of the writing of Arab students of English as a foreign language. Lexical investigation of …

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Native Language And Non-Linguistic Influences On The Production Of English Vowels By Speakers Of Korean: An Acoustic Study, Ji-Eun Kim Aug 2004

Native Language And Non-Linguistic Influences On The Production Of English Vowels By Speakers Of Korean: An Acoustic Study, Ji-Eun Kim

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

This study investigates the production of Korean and English front vowels by ninety-one Koreans, based on their arrival age to the U.S., length of residence in the U.S. and degree of motivation. Subjects' Korean and English productions were analyzed by measuring F1, F2 and duration. Additionally, this study observed other phonological and phonetic features, such as the number of front vowel categories, the distance between the highest and lowest front vowels (Korean /i/~/?/ and English /i/~/æ/), the distance between the lowest two vowels (Korean /e/~/?/ and English /?/~/æ/) and the lengthening effects based on the voicing of the following consonants. …

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Aspects Of The Kam Language, As Revealed In Its Narrative Discourse, Tongyin Yang Aug 2004

Aspects Of The Kam Language, As Revealed In Its Narrative Discourse, Tongyin Yang

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Discourse analysis has long been understudied in Kam. This research aims to initiate the exploration of this new field by examining various aspects of Kam narrative discourse and reveal its structural properties through a functional approach within Schiffrin's discourse model. A newfound morpheme /e/ leads to discussion of phonological and syntactic variations from discourse perspective. The reduction of components in rhymes in directional verbs is related to not only semantic manifestation, but more importantly, to the building-up of narrative discourse. The classifier variants in the types CLSa and CLSb encode number difference, though not identical to numbers in Indo-European languages. …

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A Formal Semantic Analysis Of Autistic Language: The Quantification Hypothesis, Michael B. Manookin Jul 2004

A Formal Semantic Analysis Of Autistic Language: The Quantification Hypothesis, Michael B. Manookin

Theses and Dissertations

Autism is characterized by language dysfunction ranging from mild and peculiar language usage to a total lack of expressive language function. These language oddities are manifest in the form of phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic/behavioral dysfunction. Research suggests that the autistic language deficit is focal—dealing with a specific area of language processing; however, previous research has failed to identify this language enigma. This thesis demonstrates a novel approach to the problem, showing that the autistic language deficit is tied to a particular aspect of language processing—quantification. Quantification is defined and explained in the context of autistic language and behavior.

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Language Death In Mesmes: A Sociolinguistic And Historical-Comparative Examiniation Of A Disappearing Language, Michael Bryan Ahland May 2004

Language Death In Mesmes: A Sociolinguistic And Historical-Comparative Examiniation Of A Disappearing Language, Michael Bryan Ahland

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

Mesmes is a recently extinct language within the Peripheral West Gurage subgroup of the Ethio-Semitic Gurage cluster in southwestern Ethiopia. While Leslau (1979) and Hetzron (1972 and 1977), among many others, have examined the history of this cluster, little is known about the Mesmes language. The Mesmes speakers completed a shift to Hadiyya (a Cushitic language) roughly sixty years ago. This thesis considers the social history of the Mesmes in relation to the shift and death of their language and also examines the comparative evidence linking Mesmes with the Gurage cluster and, more specifically, with the Peripheral West Gurage subgroup. …

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Linguistic Variation Within Gumuz: A Study Of The Relationship Between Historical Change And Intelligibility, Colleen Anne Ahland May 2004

Linguistic Variation Within Gumuz: A Study Of The Relationship Between Historical Change And Intelligibility, Colleen Anne Ahland

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

The Gumuz language is spoken by roughly 160,000 people across the Blue Nile region of Ethiopia and Sudan (Grimes 2004). Gumuz is the sole member of the Gumuz family which is part of the larger Nilo-Saharan super-family (Bender 1996a) and is considered to be a single language whose several varieties are mutually intelligible (Bender 1975, Unseth 1984). Recent studies regarding intelligibility, however, suggest the latter is not the case, documenting various levels of intelligibility between varieties, some of which are asymmetrical (Ahland et al. 2002). This thesis provides an historical analysis of Gumuz spoken in eight locations within Ethiopia and …

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Code-Switching In The Speech Of Spanish-English Bilinguals, Brianna Grohman Rauschuber May 2004

Code-Switching In The Speech Of Spanish-English Bilinguals, Brianna Grohman Rauschuber

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

The purpose of this study is the investigation of (a) the motivations for code-switching; and (b) the process by which bilinguals perceive code-switching as meaningful. The empirical basis for the study is data gathered from Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S. The results suggest that the motivations for code-switching and the conversational functions that code-switching often serves are the same. Speakers code-switch because doing so allows them to convey some meaning beyond the information contained in the proposition of an utterance. The author proposes that the communicative value of code-switching among balanced bilinguals can be explained in relation to Grice's (1975) …

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Palatalization In Albanian: An Acoustic Investigation Of Stops And Affricates, Julie M. Kolgjini May 2004

Palatalization In Albanian: An Acoustic Investigation Of Stops And Affricates, Julie M. Kolgjini

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Palatalization is a very common process cross-linguistically; it has been widely attested in both Indo-European (e.g. Slavic) and non-Indo-European languages (e.g. Bantu and Chinese). Palatalization can be broken down into velar palatalization (e.g. k, g > t?, dy/_ i, j) and coronal palatalization (e.g. t, d > t?, dy/__ j), whereby the targets tend to be velar and alveolar stops and the triggers are frequently non-back vowels and glides. The outputs of palatalization are often sounds formed in a different place of articulation than the original target segment and with a different manner of articulation than the target, which frequently results in …

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A Phonological Grammar Of Northern Pame, Scott Charles Berthiaume Dec 2003

A Phonological Grammar Of Northern Pame, Scott Charles Berthiaume

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation describes the phonology and morphology of Northern Pame, an Otomanguean language of Central Mexico. Furthermore, it explains the grammatical relationship of these domains from an Optimality Theoretic perspective. In terms of description, Northern Pame has a complex phonological inventory of 40 consonants, which distinguish among glottalized, aspirated, voiceless and voiced segments, as well as 6 vowels, which contrast for nasalization. In addition, a claim is made for two Northern Pame tones, in contrast to earlier suggestions of a three-tone system (Avelino 1997). Regarding Otomanguean laryngeally complex vowels (Silverman 1997b, Herrera 2000), this research provides phonological, as well as …

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Transparency And Spreading Of Tense, Aspect, And Mood In Kuche Narrative Discourse, Janet E. Wilson Dec 2003

Transparency And Spreading Of Tense, Aspect, And Mood In Kuche Narrative Discourse, Janet E. Wilson

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Though clauses of Kuche can be grammatically marked—usually by verb prefixes or auxiliary verbs—for tense and/or aspect and/or mood (TAM), in discourse, very few clauses are actually marked for these categories. Instead, TAM is often marked only once in a stretch of text and is assumed to apply to every subsequent clause up to a delimiting construction. This paper describes how certain grammatical indicators of TAM are used in Kuche narrative discourse. Four chapters of an oral history and one folk tale are tabulated for the frequency of various TAM markings and interpretations. Number grids and bar graphs indicate how …

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A Sociolinguistic Comparison Of The Syntax Of Modern Standard Arabic And Jordanian Arabic, Ahmad Mahmoud Saidat Aug 2003

A Sociolinguistic Comparison Of The Syntax Of Modern Standard Arabic And Jordanian Arabic, Ahmad Mahmoud Saidat

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

This thesis investigates some of the syntactic differences between two forms of Arabic, the standard and the local vernacular of Petra. This vernacular has not been looked at from a syntactic perspective. The attempt here is to bring attention to some of the features characterizing this vernacular by comparing it with Standard Arabic. It attempts also to find reasons for having two forms of the language in one society as well as people's reaction towards that. It also compares and contrasts the grammatical features each form has and tests them against X-bar theory to see the syntactic difference from a …

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Espace Francophone Et Politiques Linguistiques : Glottophagie Ou Diversité Culturelle?, Zacharie Petnkeu Nzepa Jun 2003

Espace Francophone Et Politiques Linguistiques : Glottophagie Ou Diversité Culturelle?, Zacharie Petnkeu Nzepa

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This paper is illustrative of the conflict of languages in a sociolinguistic landscape. It asserts that in French-speaking world, notably Black Africa and the West Indies, politics in collusion with French language policies work for the imperceptible, but gradual disappearance of vernaculars on behalf of the prestige of French language. The International Organization of "Francophonie" is depicted as being instrumental in the ongoing strategy. The article ends up suggesting criteria for a harmonious cohabitation of languages in the above-mentioned ommunities.

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Word Order In Biblical Hebrew Poetry, Sherry Lynn Fariss May 2003

Word Order In Biblical Hebrew Poetry, Sherry Lynn Fariss

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Syntacticians generally focus on prose texts of a language when studying word order rather than examining poetry. The general consensus is that the stylization of poetry exercises too great an influence on the text to allow for regular word order. In their study of pragmatics, particularly in obsolete languages, Herring (2000) and Hock (2000) demonstrate that even in poetry syntactic patterns can be seen in different genres or text types. Herring's contention in Old Tamil poetry is that the more poetic the genre, the more word order variation can be expected. By the same token, the more informational the genre, …

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The Structure Of Nominalization In Burmese, Paulette M. Hopple May 2003

The Structure Of Nominalization In Burmese, Paulette M. Hopple

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Nominalized sentential elements have long been observed in Tibeto-Burman languages, but the role and extent of nominalized patterns have not been explored as a base of formative structuring. This dissertation examines nominalization patterns in Burmese from the word to text level and posits a complex information packaging role of postposition particles in erecting a structure of predictable and iteratively patterned nominals which function to reduce information overload and facilitate online parsing. Burmese has been characterized as a predominantly verbal language (U Pe Maung Tin 1956). A complementary view is presented in which ontological objects created via a grammatical system of …

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A Multi-Platform Application Suite For Enhancing South Asian Language Pedagogy, Tao Bai, Christopher K. Chung, Konstantin Läufer, Daisy Rockwell, George K. Thiruvathukal Jan 2003

A Multi-Platform Application Suite For Enhancing South Asian Language Pedagogy, Tao Bai, Christopher K. Chung, Konstantin Läufer, Daisy Rockwell, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This interdisciplinary project explores the potential for handheld/wireless (H/W) technology in the context of language education within and beyond the classroom. Specifically, we have designed and implemented a suite of multi-platform (desktop/laptop, handheld, and browser) applications to enhance the teaching of South Asian languages such as Hindi-Urdu. Such languages are very difficult to learn, let alone write, and H/W devices (with their handwriting/drawing capabilities) can play a significant role in overcoming the learning curve. The initial application suite includes a character/word tracer, a word splitter/joiner, a smart flashcard with audio, contextual augmented stories for reading comprehension, and a poetic metronome. …

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Continuity And Given-New Status Of Discourse Referents In Adzera Oral Narrative, David Edward Howard Dec 2002

Continuity And Given-New Status Of Discourse Referents In Adzera Oral Narrative, David Edward Howard

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

This thesis analyzes the encoding of discourse referents in oral narratives in Adzera, an SVO Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea. First, it classifies overt referents on a given-new continuum according to Prince's (1981) taxonomy of assumed familiarity, looking at the forms and positions used to introduce new entities into a discourse. Then it applies Givón's (1983, 1995) quantitative approach to measure the continuity of referents, whether overtly manifested or semantically implied as verb arguments. This study largely confirms the findings and predictions of Prince and Givón regarding the introduction of new information and the relative continuity of various forms …

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Secondary Palatalization In Isthmus Mixe: A Phonetic And Phonological Account, Julia Irene Dieterman Dec 2002

Secondary Palatalization In Isthmus Mixe: A Phonetic And Phonological Account, Julia Irene Dieterman

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation is a study of the process of palatalization in Isthmus Mixe, in which every consonant in the inventory has a palatalized counterpart. This type of palatalization occurring as a secondary [i]-like articulation, simultaneous to the primary articulation of the consonant (Bhat 1974, Ladefoged 1993), is defined as secondary palatalization by Keating (1993). Occurring word initially in Isthmus Mixe, the feature of secondary palatalization alone represents the grammatical third person morpheme, palatalizing the initial consonant of the noun or verb. There are also verbal suffixes that consist solely of secondary palatalization, indicating clause-type markers (Dieterman 1995, 1998), and a …

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Bi-Consonantal Reduplication In Amharic And Ethio-Semitic, Peter Edward Unseth May 2002

Bi-Consonantal Reduplication In Amharic And Ethio-Semitic, Peter Edward Unseth

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation is a study of the consonant reduplication process in Amharic, a process which is herein named “Bi-Consonantal Reduplication.” In this process, the last two consonants of a root are repeated, a process that has never been studied in a systematic way in Amharic or any other Semitic language. Previous authors have used a variety of labels for this process, too often writing their definitions in ways that include other types of reduplication or that exclude some genuine examples of this reduplication pattern. This dissertation provides a more precise definition for this process that includes all and only genuine …

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A Word-And-Flesh Profession: A Response To White And Brueggemann, Marie Failinger Jan 2002

A Word-And-Flesh Profession: A Response To White And Brueggemann, Marie Failinger

Faculty Scholarship

Speech remakes the world through a relationship among words, speaker, and hearer. On one hand, this view of the human encounter as essentially rhetorical precludes an understanding of speech as purely subjectivist or emotivist self-expression. On the other hand, this same view of human speech interaction precludes the understanding of speech acts as mere descriptions of previously discovered or reasoned truth, either empirical or abstract. Professor White reaffirms this triad among words, speaker, and hearer with what he has identified as the “deeply reciprocal” dynamic of language. Professor Brueggemann also describes the speech acts between Moses, Abraham, and their God …

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The Effects Of Computer-Based Metacognitive Strategy Training For Adult Second Language Learners, Heidi D. Hyte Jan 2002

The Effects Of Computer-Based Metacognitive Strategy Training For Adult Second Language Learners, Heidi D. Hyte

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a metacognitive language learning strategy training program that was implemented into computer-assisted language learning (CALL) software on second language learners' independent use of metacognition and language learning strategies (LLS). Questions under investigation included what effect this metacognitive training had on learners' independent use of metacognition, the differences in use of metacognitive strategies between fast and slow language learners, and the effect of learners' perceptions of metacognition on their use of LLS and specific metacognitive strategies.

The subjects included 239 missionaries learning Spanish as a second language at the Missionary …

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Review Of The Language Of Speech And Writing, Laurel Smith Stvan Dec 2001

Review Of The Language Of Speech And Writing, Laurel Smith Stvan

Linguistics & TESOL Faculty Publications & Presentations - Archive

No abstract provided.

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Sentence Final Particles In Bisu Narrative, Kirk Roger Person Dec 2000

Sentence Final Particles In Bisu Narrative, Kirk Roger Person

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Particles are a vital component of many Asian languages. Nonetheless, they typically receive little treatment in grammatical studies. This may be due in part to the theoretical orientations of generative grammar which, intentionally or accidentally, can tend to skew data collection and analysis toward theory-predicted sentence alignments (Chu 1998, Chan 1999). In addition, the exact meaning and usage of many particles can be anything but obvious. Even educated native speakers often claim that particles are not “true words” and have no “real” meaning. This dissertation seeks to understand the inner workings of sentence final particles in the Bisu language of …

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Contingencies Governing The Production Of Fricatives, Affricates, And Liquids In Babbling, Christina E. Gildersleeve-Neumann, Barbara L. Davis, Peter F. Macneilage Sep 2000

Contingencies Governing The Production Of Fricatives, Affricates, And Liquids In Babbling, Christina E. Gildersleeve-Neumann, Barbara L. Davis, Peter F. Macneilage

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Studies of early-developing consonants (stops, nasals, and glides) in babbling have shown that most of the variance in consonants and their associated vowels, both within and between syllables, is due to a "frame" produced by mandibular oscillation, with very little active contribution from intrasyllabic or intersyllabic tongue movements. In a study of four babbling infants, the prediction that this apparently basic "frame dominance" would also apply to late-developing consonants (fricatives, affricates, and liquids) was tested. With minor exceptions, confirming evidence for both the predicted intrasyllabic and intersyllabic patterns was obtained. Results provide further evidence for the frame dominance conception, but …

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A Discourse Analysis Of The 1998 United States Senate Candidates' Pre-Election Debates, Deborah Ann Johnson-Evans Aug 2000

A Discourse Analysis Of The 1998 United States Senate Candidates' Pre-Election Debates, Deborah Ann Johnson-Evans

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

Every two years, candidates for national-level public office participate in pre-election debates as part of their campaign. In debates, candidates attempt to distinguish themselves from their opponents and persuade the electorate to vote for them. Many researchers claim that debates are simple candidate performances orchestrated by the media, and discount the candidates' discourse as rehearsed sound bites and the candidates' interactions are simply “politics as usual.” The sense of being normal is what invites us to study the discourse that occurs in a situation imbued with the presentation of legitimated political power between individuals who seek legislative power. The present …

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An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Language Attitudes And Academic Performance In Northampton County, Virginia, Public Schools, Glenda L. Rose Jul 2000

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Language Attitudes And Academic Performance In Northampton County, Virginia, Public Schools, Glenda L. Rose

English Theses & Dissertations

This language attitude study targets third grade, fifth grade, eighth grade and high school students in the Northampton County, Virginia, Public School System. Two hypotheses were proposed. First, students exhibiting negative attitudes toward their own dialect have a lower performance level in language arts classes than students expressing positive attitudes. Second, factors such as sex, race, grade level, and level of exposure to other dialects are reflected in language attitudes. In order to determine the validity of these hypotheses, school officials were asked to identify five students performing well and five students having difficulty in the language arts. Ten third …

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Learner Concerns At The Missionary Training Center In The Technology Assisted Language Learning Program, Elaine T. Lindsay Jan 2000

Learner Concerns At The Missionary Training Center In The Technology Assisted Language Learning Program, Elaine T. Lindsay

Theses and Dissertations

Chapelle (1997) states the following as a vital question to be asked with respect to computer assisted language learning, “How good is the language experience in CALL for L2 learning?” (n.p.) In order to truly answer this question, investigators need to look to the learner and his concerns. In planning curriculum or designing a program, teachers and administrators normally look toward learner needs. However, these educators are also known to fully implement a new program, at times, without consideration of learner concerns. This appears to be especially true with the use of technology in the second language classroom. Research is …

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