e n c y c l o p e d i a o f

LINGUISTICS1V o l u m e

A-L

e n c y c l o p e d i a o f

FITZROY DEARBORN

An Imprint of the Taylor & Francis GroupNew York • Oxon

LINGUISTICS1V o l u m e

Philipp StraznyEditor

Published in 2005 by

Fitzroy DearbornAn Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group270 Madison AvenueNew York, NY 10016

Published in Great Britain byFitzroy DearbornAn Imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group2 Park SquareMilton Park, AbingdonOxon, OX14 4RN UK

Copyright © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or byany electronic, mechanical, or other means, nowknown or hereafter invented, including photocopy-ing and recording, or in any information storage andretrieval system, without permission in writing fromthe publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Encyclopedia of linguistics / Philipp Strazny, editor.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 1-57958-391-1 (set : alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-57958-450-0 (v. 1 : alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-57958-451-9 (v. 2 : alk. paper) 1.

Linguistics--Encyclopedias. I. Strazny, Philipp.

P29.E483 2005

410'.3--dc22 2004014173

ISBN 0-203-31920-6 Master e-book ISBN

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’scollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

Board of Advisers

Robert BeardBucknell University

Bill FoleyUniversity of Sydney

John GoldsmithUniversity of Chicago

David IngramArizona State University

Francis KatambaLancaster University

Michael KenstowiczMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Darlene LaCharitéUniversité Laval

Sydney LambRice University

Vincenzo LombardoUniversita di Torino

Brian MacWhinneyCarnegie Mellon University

Horst MüllerUniversität Bielefeld

Emanuel SchegloffUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Sarah ThomasonUniversity of Michigan

Elly van GelderenArizona State University

Contents

Alphabetical List of Entries ix

Thematic List of Entries xv

Contributors xxi

Introduction xxix

Entries A to Z 1

Index 1211

Volume 1

A

Acoustic PhoneticsAcquisitionAcquisition TheoriesAerodynamics of the Vocal TractAffixationAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfroasiaticAge and LanguageAgreementAinuAkan and Nyo LanguagesAlbanianAlgeriaAltaicAmbiguityAmerican Sign LanguageAmharic and Ethiopian Semitic LanguagesAnalogical ChangeAnaphoraAnatomy of the Articulatory SystemAnatomy of the Auditory SystemAncient EgyptianAncient GreekAnimals and Human Language 1: OverviewAnimals and Human Language 2: DolphinsAnimals and Human Language 3: ParrotsAnimals and Human Language 4: PrimatesAphasiaApplied Linguistics: OverviewArabicArabic Traditional Grammar

AramaicArawakArchaeology and LanguageArmenianArtificial IntelligenceArtificial LanguagesAspectAssimilation and CoarticulationAssimilation and DissimilationAustin, John LangshawAustraliaAustriaAustroasiaticAustronesianAuxiliaries

B

Babylonian Traditional GrammarBalkansBaltic LanguagesBambara, Mandenkan and the Mande languagesBar-Hillel, YehoshuaBasqueBaudouin de Courtenay, Jan Ignacy NiecisBawBelgiumBenveniste, EmileBever, ThomasBilingual AcquisitionBilingual Mixed LanguagesBilingualismBiosemioticsBloomfield, LeonardBoas, FranzBody Language, see Paralanguage

ix

Alphabetical List of Entries

Bopp, FranzBrain Organization and Auditory PathwayBresnan, JoanBritish Sign LanguageBrugmann, KarlBühler, KarlBurmeseBurushaski

C

CanadaCape Verdean CreoleCarib and Cariban LanguagesCaribbeanCaseCausationCeltic LanguagesChafe, WallaceChao Yucn RenChinaChinese (Mandarin)Chinese and Japanese Traditional GrammarChinese Pidgin EnglishChinese Pidgin RussianChinook JargonChomsky, NoamClark, Eve V.ClauseClause-Type IndicatorsClinical LinguisticsCode-SwitchingCoherence in DiscourseColor TermsCommunication TheoryComparative MethodCompositional SemanticsCompoundingComputational LinguisticsComputer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)Comrie, BernardConfigurationalityConnectionismConstituency TestContextConversation AnalysisCoordinationCoptic EgyptianCorpus LinguisticsCourtroom DiscourseCrioulo, Gulf of GuineaCrioulo, Upper Guinea

D

Dakota and Siouan LanguagesDeep StructureDefinitenessDeixisDeterminerDevelopmental StagesDialectologyDiglossiaDiscourse AnalysisDiscourse StrategiesDravidianDutchDyslexia

E

Emeneau, Murray BarnsonEmotion and LanguageEmpty CategoriesEmpty MorphemesEndangered LanguagesEnglishEpenthesis and SyncopeEskimo-AleutEthnicity and LanguageEthnography of CommunicationEtymologyEuphemismEuropean Traditional GrammarEvolution of Language 1: OverviewEvolution of Language 2: Cognitive PreadaptationsEvolution of Language 3: Physical PreadaptationsEvolution of Language 4: Social PreadaptationsEwe and Gbe Languages

F

FanakaloFarsiFeature TheoryFerguson, Charles AlbertField MethodsFigurative SpeechFillmore, Charles JohnFinite-State MorphologyFinnish and Finnic LanguagesFirth, John RupertFishman, Joshua A.FocalityForensic LinguisticsFranceFrench Language

Alphabetical List of Entries

x

Fromkin, Victoria AlexandraFunction WordsFunctional Approaches

G

Gender and LanguageGender: Class MarkingGenerationGenerative GrammarGenericityGenetic RelationshipGenreGeorgian and Caucasian LanguagesGermanGermanyGivón, TalmyGothicGrammar, TraditionalGrammar, TheoriesGrammatical FunctionGrammaticalizationGreat BritainGreat Vowel ShiftGreek, ModernGreenberg, Joseph HaroldGrice, H. PaulGrimm, JacobGuaymí and Chibchan LanguagesGullahGumperz, John Joseph

H

Haas, Mary RosamondHaitian CreoleHale, KennethHalle, MorrisHalliday, Michael Alexander KirkwoodHandwritingHarris, Zellig SabbetaiHaugen, EinarHausa and Chadic LanguagesHawaiian Creole EnglishHebrew: BiblicalHebrew: ModernHindi-UrduHiri MotuHistorical LinguisticsHistory of Linguistics: OverviewHittiteHjelmslev, LouisHmong and Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) Languages

Hockett, Charles F.Humboldt, Wilhelm vonHungarian and Ugric LanguagesHymes, Dell Hathaway

I

IconicityIdentity and LanguageIdeology and LanguageIdiomaticityIdiomsIgbo and Igboid LanguagesIndiaIndian Ocean CreolesIndian Traditional GrammarIndo-European 1: OverviewIndo-European 2: Germanic LanguagesIndo-European 3: Indo-Iranian LanguagesIndo-European 4: RomanceIndo-European 5: SlavicIndo-Pakistani Sign LanguageInflection and DerivationInformation RetrievalInterpretingIronyIsraelItalianItaly

J

Jakobson, RomanJapaneseJapanese Sign LanguageJavaneseJespersen, OttoJones, Sir WilliamJuba and Nubi Arabic

K

Kayardild and the Tangkic LanguagesKhmer and Mon-Khmer LanguagesKhoisanKinship TermsKitubaKoreanKrio (and West African Pidgin English)Kriol (Roper River Creole)

L

Labov, WilliamLadefoged, Peter

Alphabetical List of Entries

xi

Lakoff, GeorgeLangacker, RonaldLanguage ChangeLanguage: Contact—OverviewLanguage DeathLanguage PlanningLanguage SocializationLateralization and HandednessLatinLehmann, Winfred PhilippLeskien, AugustLesser Antillean French CreoleLévi-Strauss, ClaudeLexical BorrowingLexicalizationLexicon: OverviewLingua FrancaLiteracyLocalization of Linguistic InformationLong-Distance DependencyLong-Range ComparisonLouisiana CreoleLyons, John

Volume 2

M

Machine TranslationMalagasyMalay-Indonesian and Malayic LanguagesMalkiel, YakovManner of ArticulationMāori and Polynesian LanguagesMarshallese and Micronesian LanguagesMartinet, AndréMass Media and LanguageMathematical LinguisticsMaya and Mayan LanguagesMcCawley, James DavidMeaningMedicine and LanguageMeillet, AntoineMetaphorMetathesisMetonymyMexicoMiddle (Classical) JapaneseMiddle EnglishMigration and LanguageMiskito and Misumalpan LanguagesModern Linguistics

ModificationMohawk and Iroquoian LanguagesMongolianMontague, RichardMoodMoore and the Gur LanguagesMorphemeMorphological TypologyMorphologyMurrinh-Patha and Daly Languages

N

Nahuatl and Uto-Aztecan LanguagesNamingNatural ClassesNavajo and Athabaskan-Eyak LanguagesNeurolinguisticsNew GuineaNida, Eugene AlbertNiger-CongoNigeriaNilo-Saharan LanguagesNootka and Wakashan LanguagesNorthwest Caucasian LanguagesNoun IncorporationNumber Marking

O

Official Language SelectionOjibwe and Algonquian LanguagesOkanagan and Salishan LanguagesOld ChineseOld Church SlavonicOld EnglishOld FrenchOld High GermanOld IrishOld JapaneseOld NorseOld TibetanOnomatopoeiaOto-Manguean Languages

P

PacificPama-NyunganPān"ini

PapiamentoParalanguageParsingPaul, Hermann

Alphabetical List of Entries

xii

Peirce, Charles SandersPersonality and LanguagePhilippine Spanish CreolesPhilologyPhilosophy of LanguagePhonemePhonetic TranscriptionPhoneticsPhonologyPhrase StructurePidgins and CreolesPike, Kenneth LeePintupi and Pama-Nyungan LanguagesPitcairnesePlace of ArticulationPluralityPolish and West Slavic LanguagesPolitenessPossessivesPragmaticsPredicationProfessions for LinguistsProficiency TestingPro-formsProper NounsProsodyPsycholinguistics

Q

QuantificationQuestionsQuine, Willard van Orman

R

ReadingReading ImpairmentReferenceRegisterReichenbach, HansRelevance in DiscourseRhetoric and LinguisticsRomanianRules vs. ConstraintsRussell, Bertrand Arthur WilliamRussian and East Slavic Languages

S

SandhiSanskritSapir, EdwardSapir-Whorf Hypothesis

SaramaccanSaussure, Ferdinand deScandinaviaSearle, John R.Second Language: AcquisitionSecond Language: LearningSecond Language: TeachingSemantic and Discourse TypologySemanticsSemioticsSemitic LanguagesSerbo-Croatian and South Slavic LanguagesSerial Verb ConstructionsSign RelationshipsSigned LanguagesSindhiSino-Tibetan LanguagesSlobin, Dan IsaacSociolectSociolinguisticsSoundwave AnalysisSouth AfricaSouth America: ArgentinaSouth America: BrazilSoutheast AsiaSoviet UnionSoviet Union: Successor StatesSpainSpanish and Iberoromance LanguagesSpectral AnalysisSpeech ActsSpeech PerceptionSpeech ProcessingSpeech Processing (Neurobiology)Speech ProductionSpeech Production: NeurobiologySpeech SynthesisSprachbundSrananSri Lanka PortugueseStandard LanguageStory GrammarStructural InterferenceStructuralismStylisticsSumerianSwadesh, MorrisSwedish and Scandinavian LanguagesSweet, HenrySwitch-ReferenceSwitzerland

Alphabetical List of Entries

xiii

Syllable: StructureSyntactic CategoriesSyntactic TypologySyntax

T

TabooTagalog and Philippine LanguagesTamilTarascanTeaching: CurriculaTeaching: MethodsTeluguTense and Aspect MarkingTense: SyntaxTewa and Kiowa-Tanoan LanguagesText LinguisticsText UnderstandingThai and Tai LanguagesThematic StructureTibetanTime and TenseTiv and Tivoid LanguagesTocharianTok PisinTone LanguagesTranslationTrubetzkoy, Nikolai SergeyevichTuareg and Berber LanguagesTungusicTuring, AlanTurkeyTypology

U

UdmurtUnited States

Universal GrammarUtterance-Centered Linguistics

V

VariationVietnameseVisual Word RecognitionVoiceVowel Harmony

W

Wackernagel, JacobWaraoWayampi and Tupi-Guarani LanguagesWeinreich, UrielWestern Caribbean Creole(s)Whorf, Benjamin LeeWittgenstein, LudwigWolof and Atlantic LanguagesWordWord OrderWord Sense DisambiguationWorking MemoryWriting Systems

Y

Yémba and the Grassfields Bantu LanguagesYiddishYoruba and Yoruboid Languages

Z

Zipf, George KingsleyZulu and Southern Bantu LanguagesZuni

Alphabetical List of Entries

xiv

xv

ACQUISITIONAcquisitionAcquisition TheoriesBilingual AcquisitionDevelopmental StagesLanguage SocializationSecond Language: Learning

AFROASIATIC LANGUAGESAmharic and Ethiopian Semitic LanguagesArabicAramaicBiblical Hebrew Coptic EgyptianHausa and Chadic LanguagesModern Hebrew Tuareg and Berber Languages

ALTAIC LANGUAGESMongolianTungusic

AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGESArawakCarib and Cariban LanguagesChibchan LanguagesDakota and Siouan LanguagesMaya and Mayan LanguagesMiskito and Misumalpan LanguagesMohawk and Iroquoian LanguagesNahuatl and Uto-Aztecan LanguagesNavajo and Athabaskan-Eyak LanguagesNootka and Wakashan Languages

Ojibwe and Algonquian LanguagesOkanagan and Salishan LanguagesOto-Manguean LanguagesTarascanTewa and Kiowa-Tanoan LanguagesWayampi and Tupi-Guarani Languages

APPLIED LINGUISTICSApplied Linguistics: OverviewComputer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)Forensic LinguisticsGenreLanguage PlanningLiteracyProfessions for LinguistsProficiency TestingReadingSecond Language: TeachingStylisticsTeaching: CurriculaTeaching: Methods

ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGESArtificial Languages

AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGESKayardild and the Tangkic LanguagesMurrinh-Patha and Daly LanguagesPintupi and Pama-Nyungan Languages

AUSTRO-ASIATIC LANGUAGESKhmer and Mon-Khmer LanguagesVietnamese

Thematic List of Entries

Thematic List of Entries

xvi

AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGESJavaneseMalagasyMalay-Indonesian and Malayic LanguagesMāori and Polynesian LanguagesMarshallese and Micronesian LanguagesTagalog and Philippine Languages

COMMUNICATION THEORYAnimals and Human Language 1: OverviewAnimals and Human Language 2: DolphinsAnimals and Human Language 3: ParrotsAnimals and Human Language 4: PrimatesBiosemioticsInterpretingParalanguageTranslation

COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICSArtificial IntelligenceFinite State MorphologyGenerationInformation RetrievalMachine TranslationParsingSpeech Processing Text UnderstandingVisual Word RecognitionWord Sense Disambiguation

DEAD LANGUAGESAncient EgyptianAncient GreekGothicHittiteLatinMiddle EnglishMiddle (Classical) JapaneseOld ChineseOld Church SlavonicOld EnglishOld FrenchOld High GermanOld IrishOld JapaneseOld NorseOld TibetanSanskritSumerianTocharian

DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGESTamilTelugu

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICSAnalogical ChangeArcheology and LanguageComparative MethodDialectologyEtymologyEvolution of Language: OverviewEvolution of Language: Cognitive PreadaptationsEvolution of Language: Physical PreadaptationsEvolution of Language: Social PreadaptationsGenetic RelationshipGreat Vowel ShiftLanguage ChangeLong-Range ComparisonMigration and Language

HISTORY OF LINGUISTICSArabic Traditional GrammarBabylonian Traditional GrammarChinese and Japanese Traditional GrammarEuropean Traditional GrammarHistory of Linguistics: OverviewIndian Traditional GrammarModern Linguistics

INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGESAlbanianArmenianBaltic LanguagesCeltic LanguagesDutchEnglishFarsiFrench LanguageGermanGreek, ModernHindi-UrduItalianPolish and West Slavic LanguagesRomanianRussian and East Slavic LanguagesSerbo-Croatian and South Slavic SindhiSpanish and Iberoromance LanguagesSwedish and Scandinavian LanguagesYiddish

Thematic List of Entries

xvii

ISOLATES (LANGUAGES)AinuBasqueBurushaskiJapaneseKoreanWaraoZuni

LANGUAGE CONTACTBilingual Mixed LanguagesBilingualismEndangered LanguagesLanguage: Contact—OverviewLanguage DeathLexical BorrowingOfficial Language SelectionPidgins and CreolesSprachbundStructural Interference

LEXICONClause LexemesGrammaticalizationIdiomaticityLexicalizationLexicon: Overview

LINGUISTIC APPROACHESCommunication TheoryComputational LinguisticsConnectionismCorpus LinguisticsField MethodsFunctional ApproachesGenerative GrammarGrammar, TheoriesGrammar, TraditionalHistorical LinguisticsMathematical LinguisticsMorphologyNeurolinguisticsPhilologyPhilosophy of LanguagePhoneticsPhonologyPragmaticsPsycholinguisticsRhetoric and LinguisticsSemantics

SemioticsSociolinguisticsStructuralismSyntaxTypologyWriting Systems

MAJOR LANGUAGE FAMILIESAfroasiaticAltaicAustroasiaticAustronesianDravidianEskimo-AleutHmong and Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languagesIndo-European 5: SlavicIndo-European 4: Germanic LanguagesIndo-European 3: Indo-IranianIndo-European 2: OverviewIndo-European 1: RomanceKhoisanNiger-CongoNilo-Saharan LanguagesPama-NyunganSemitic LanguagesSino-Tibetan Languages

MORPHOLOGYAffixationAgreementCompoundingEmpty MorphemesGender: Class MarkingInflection and DerivationMorphemeNumber MarkingSandhiSwitch-ReferenceTense and Aspect MarkingVowel HarmonyWord

NEUROLINGUISTICSAphasiaBrain Organization and Auditory PathwayClinical LinguisticsDyslexiaLateralization and HandednessLocalization of Linguistic InformationReading Impairment

Thematic List of Entries

xviii

Second Language: AcquisitionSpeech Processing (Neurobiology)Speech Production: NeurobiologyWorking Memory

NIGER-CONGO LANGUAGESAkan and Nyo LanguagesBambara, Mandenkan, and the Mande LanguagesEwe and Gbe LanguagesIgbo and Igboid LanguagesMoore and the Gur LanguagesTiv and Tivoid LanguagesWolof and Atlantic LanguagesYémba and the Grassfields Bantu LanguagesYoruba and Yoruboid LanguagesZulu and Southern Bantu Languages

NORTH CAUCASIAN LANGUAGESGeorgian and Caucasian LanguagesNorthwest Caucasian Languages

PERSONSAustin, John LangshawBar-Hillel, YehoshuaBaudouin de Courtenay, Jan Ignacy NiecisBawBenveniste, EmileBever, Thomas Bloomfield, LeonardBoas, FranzBopp, FranzBresnan, JoanBrugmann, KarlBühler, KarlChafe, WallaceChao, Yuen RenChomsky, NoamClark, Eve V.Emeneau, Murray BarnsonFerguson, Charles AlbertFillmore, Charles JohnFirth, John RupertFishman, Joshua A.Fromkin, Victoria AlexandraGivón, TalmyGreenberg, Joseph HaroldGrice, H. PaulGrimm, JacobGumperz, John JosephHaas, Mary RosamondHale, KennethHalle, Morris

Halliday, Michael Alexander KirkwoodHarris, Zellig SabbetaiHaugen, EinarHjelmslev, LouisHockett, Charles F.Humboldt, Wilhelm vonHymes, Dell HathawayJakobson, RomanJespersen, OttoJones, Sir WilliamLabov, WilliamLadefoged, PeterLakoff, GeorgeLangacker, RonaldLehmann, Winfred PhilippLeskien, AugustLévi-Strauss, ClaudeLyons, JohnMalkiel, YakovMartinet, AndréMcCawley, James DavidMeillet, AntoineMontague, RichardNida, Eugene AlbertPān"ini

Paul, HermannPeirce, Charles SandersPike, Kenneth LeeQuine, Willard van OrmanReichenbach, HansRussell, Bertrand Arthur WilliamSapir, EdwardSaussure, Ferdinand deSearle, John R.Slobin, Dan IsaacSwadesh, MorrisSweet, HenryTrubetzkoy, Nikolai SergeyevichTuring, AlanWackernagel, JacobWeinreich, UrielWhorf, Benjamin Lee Wittgenstein, LudwigZipf, George Kingsley

PHONETICSAcoustic PhoneticsAerodynamics of the Vocal TractAnatomy of the Articulatory SystemAnatomy of the Auditory SystemAssimilation and Dissimilation

Thematic List of Entries

xix

Manner of ArticulationPhonetic TranscriptionPlace of ArticulationProsodySoundwave AnalysisSpectral AnalysisSpeech Synthesis

PHONOLOGYAssimilation and DissimilationEpenthesis and SyncopeFeature TheoryMetathesisNatural ClassesPhonemeRules vs. ConstraintsSyllable: StructureTone Languages

PRAGMATICSCode-SwitchingCoherence in DiscourseConversation AnalysisDeixisDiscourse AnalysisDiscourse StrategiesIronyPolitenessRelevance in DiscourseSpeech ActsTabooText LinguisticsUtterance-Centered Linguistics

PSYCHOLINGUISTICSAge and LanguageHandwritingSpeech PerceptionSpeech Production

PIDGINS AND CREOLESCape Verdean CreoleChinese Pidgin EnglishChinese Pidgin RussianChinook JargonCrioulo, Gulf of GuineaCrioulo, Upper GuineaFanakaloGullahHaitian CreoleHawaiian Creole EnglishHiri Motu

Indian Ocean CreolesJuba and Nubi ArabicKitubaKrio (and West African Pidgin English)Kriol (Roper River Creole)Lesser Antillean French CreoleLingua FrancaLouisiana Creole PapiamentoPhilippine Spanish Creole(s)PitcairneseSaramaccanWestern Caribbean CreoleSrananSri Lanka PortugueseTok Pisin

REGIONSAlgeriaAustraliaAustriaBalkansBelgiumCanadaCaribbeanChinaFranceGermanyGreat BritainIndiaIsraelItalyMexicoNew GuineaNigeriaPacificScandinaviaSouth AfricaSouth America: ArgentinaSouth America: BrazilSoutheast AsiaSoviet UnionSoviet Union: Successor StatesSpainSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited States

SEMANTICSAmbiguityCausation

Thematic List of Entries

xx

Color TermsCompositional SemanticsContextCoordinationDefinitenessFigurative SpeechGenericityIdiomsKinship TermsMeaningMetaphorMetonymyModificationNamingOnomatopoeiaPluralityProper NounsQuantificationReferenceRegisterSapir–Whorf HypothesisSign RelationshipTime and Tense

SIGN LANGUAGESAmerican Sign LanguageBritish Sign LanguageIndo-Pakistani Sign LanguageJapanese Sign LanguageSigned Languages

SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGESBurmeseChinese: MandarinTibetan

SOCIOLINGUISTICSAfrican American Vernacular EnglishCourtroom DiscourseDiglossiaEmotion and LanguageEthnicity and LanguageEthnography of CommunicationEuphemismGender and LanguageIdentity and LanguageIdeology and LanguageMass Media and LanguageMedicine and Language

Personality and LanguageSociolectStandard LanguageVariation

SYNTAXAnaphoraAspectAuxiliariesCaseClauseConfigurationalityConstituency TestDeep StructureDeterminerEmpty CategoriesFocalityFunction WordsGrammatical Function IconicityLong-Distance DependencyMoodNoun Incorporation Phrase StructurePossessivesPredicationPro-formsQuestionsSerial Verb ConstructionsStory GrammarSyntactic CategoriesTense: SyntaxThematic StructureUniversal GrammarVoiceWord Order

TAI LANGUAGESThai and Tai Languages

TYPOLOGYMorphological TypologySemantic and Discourse TypologySyntactic Typology

URALIC LANGUAGESFinnish and Finnic LanguagesHungarian and Ugric LanguagesUdmurt

xxi

Abazova, Alfia. Jersey City, New Jersey.

Ackema, Peter. University of Edinburgh, UK.

Aikhenvald, Alexandra. Research Center for LinguisticTypology, Institute for Advanced Study, La TrobeUniversity, Melbourne, Australia.

Altarriba, Jeanette. Department of Psychology, Universityat Albany, State University of New York, USA.

Altmann, Lori J.P. Department of CommunicationSciences and Disorders, University of Florida, USA.

Anderson, Warren D. Department of Foreign Languages and Anthropology, Southeast Missouri State University, USA.

Antieau, Lamont. Linguistics Program, University ofGeorgia, USA.

Archibald, John. Department of Linguistics, Universityof Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Arends, Jacques. Department of Linguistics, Universityof Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Aronoff, Mark. Department of Linguistics, Stony BrookUniversity, Stony Brook, New York, USA.

Attardo, Salvatore. English Department, YoungstownState University, Ohio.

Axelrod, Melissa. Department of Linguistics, Universityof New Mexico, USA.

Baldauf, Richard B., Jr. School of Education, Universityof Queensland, Australia.

Baptista, Marlyse. Linguistics Program, University ofGeorgia, USA.

Barcelona, Antonio. Departamento de Filología Inglesa,Universidad de Murcia, Spain.

Barnard, Roger. Department of General and AppliedLinguistics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Barron, Anne. Englisches Seminar, Universität Bonn,Germany.

Barry, Betsy. University of Georgia, USA.

Barss, Andrew. Department of Linguistics, University ofArizona, USA.

Barton, Ellen. Linguistics Program, Department ofEnglish, Wayne State University, Michigan.

Bashir, Elena. University of Chicago, Illinois.

Bastiaanse, Roelien. University of Groningen, TheNetherlands.

Basturkmen, Helen. Department of Applied LanguageStudies and Linguistics, Auckland University, New Zealand.

Bat-El, Outi. Department of Linguistics, Tel-AvivUniversity, Israel.

Battaner-Moro, Elena. Departamento de LenguaEspañola y Lingüística General, Universidad Nacional deEducación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain.

Bauer, Laurie. Linguistics and Applied LanguageStudies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Baumgartner, Joanne Marie. Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra, Australia.

Contributors

Contributors

xxii

Beckwith, Christopher I. Indiana University, USA.

Belnap, R. Kirk. Brigham Young University, Utah.

Benner, Allison. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Benremouga, Karima. Fine Arts and Language Arts, SanJacinto College Central, Pasadena, TX.

Berge, Anna. Alaska Native Language Center, Universityof Alaska, Fairbanks, USA.

Bernhardt, Karl. University of Buckingham, UnitedKingdom.

Bhatia, Tej K. Syracuse University, New York.

Bird, Steven. Linguistic Data Consortium, University ofPennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Blume, Kerstin. Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany.

Bodomo, Adams. Department of Linguistics, Universityof Hong Kong, China.

Bolotin, Naomi. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Born, Renate. Department of Germanic and SlavicLanguages, University of Georgia, USA.

Bowden, John. Linguistics Department, Research Schoolof Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian NationalUniversity, Australia.

Bretones, Carmen. International Computer ScienceInstitute, Berkeley, California.

Brown, Jeffrey M. Texas A&M International University,USA.

Branigan, Holly. School of Philosophy, Psychology, andLanguage Sciences, University of Edinburgh.

Burley, Lynn Ann. Department of Writing and Speech,University of Central Arkansas, USA.

Camdzic, Amela. University College London, UnitedKingdom.

Campana, Mark. Kobe, Hyogo-ken, Japan.

Carnie, Andrew. Department of Linguistics, University ofArizona, USA.

Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew. Linguistics Department,University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Carter, Michael G. Department of Oriental and EastEuropean Studies, Oslo University, Norway.

Clankie, Shawn M. Center for Language Studies, OtaruUniversity of Commerce, Japan.

Cloutier, Robert A. Amsterdam Center for Language andCommunication/Department of Dutch Studies, Universityof Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Cockerton, Camilla M. Happy Valley, Rakaia, NewZealand.

Cogill-Koez D. Department of Linguistics, University ofNew England, Armidale, Australia.

Cohen, Ariel. Department of Foreign Literatures andLinguistics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, BeerSheva, Israel.

Colarusso, John. McMaster University, Hamilton,Ontario, Canada.

Cole, Jennifer. Department of Linguistics, University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Colley, Michael. Linguistics Program, University ofGeorgia, USA.

Comrie, Bernard. Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäreAnthropologie, Leipzig, Germany.

Corré, Alan D. Hebrew Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.

Cots, Josep Maria. Departament d’Anglès i Lingüística,Universitat de Lleida, Catalunya, Spain.

Croft, William. Department of Linguistics, University ofManchester, United Kingdom.

Crowley, Terry. Department of General and AppliedLinguistics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Daniels, Peter T. Bronx, New York.

Daniliuc, Radu. Department of Linguistics, AustralianNational University, Canberra, Australia.

Daniliuc, Laura. Department of Linguistics, AustralianNational University, Kambah, Australia.

Daza, Jaime Luis. Linguistics Department, Unversity ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, USA.

Contributors

xxiii

Dimitriu, Rodica. Department of English, University ofIasi, Romania.

Ding, Picus Sizhi. Macao, Hong Kong, China.

Dooley Collberg, Sheila. Department of Linguistics,University of Arizona, USA.

Douglas, Dan. Department of English, Iowa StateUniversity, USA.

Dumas, Bethany K. Department of English, University ofTennessee, USA.

Ebermann, Erwin. Department of African Studies,University of Vienna, Austria.

Echeruo, Michael J.C. Department of English, SyracuseUniversity, Syracuse, New York, USA.

Eira, Christina. Adelaide Graduate Centre, University ofAdelaide, Australia.

Engelberg, Stefan. University of Wuppertal, Germany.

Ennaji, Moha. Fez, Morocco.

Essegbey, James. Department of African Linguistics,Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Evans, Nicholas. Department of Linguistics & AppliedLinguistics, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Falk, Julia S. La Jolla, California, USA.

Feldman, Laurie Beth. University of Albany, StateUniversity of New York, USA.

Fettes, Mark. Simon Fraser University, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada.

Flier, Michael S. Department of Slavic Languages andLiteratures, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA.

Foster-Cohen, Susan H. The Champion Centre andUniversity of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Gagné, Christina L. Department of Psychology,University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Gildea, Spike. Department of Linguistics, University ofOregon, USA.

Goatly, Andrew. Department of English, LingnanUniversity, N.T., Hong Kong, China.

González-Romero, Luisa. Departamento de FilologíaInglesa, Universidad de Huelva, Andalucía, Spain.

Gordon, Lynn. Department of English, Washington StateUniversity, USA.

Graesser, Arthur. Department of Psychology, Universityof Memphis, USA.

Green, Ian. Graduate School, University of Tasmania,Hobart, Australia.

Greenberg, Marc L. Slavic Department, University ofKansas, USA.

Grenoble, Lenore A. Program in Linguistics and CognitiveScience, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.

Gribble, Charles. Slavic Department, Ohio StateUniversity, USA.

Grohmann, Kleanthes K. Department of EnglishStudies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia.

Grondona, Veronica M. Department of English, EasternMichigan University, USA.

Guillaume, Jacques. Paris, France.

Gutiérrez-Rexach, Javier. Department of Spanish &Portuguese, Ohio State University, USA.

Haberlandt, Karl. Department of Psychology, TrinityCollege, Connecticut, USA.

Hahn, Udo. Linguistische Informatik/Computerlinguistik,Freiburg University, Germany.

Hajicova, Eva. MFF UK, Prague, Czech Republic.

Hall, David R. Linguistics Department, MacquarieUniversity Sydney, Australia.

Hall, Kira. Department of Linguistics, StanfordUniversity, California.

Hammond, Michael. Department of Linguistics,University of Arizona, USA.

Harlow, Ray. Department of General and AppliedLinguistics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Harrington, Jonathan. Institute of Phonetics and DigitalSpeech Processing, University of Kiel, Germany.

Contributors

xxiv

Harrison, K. David. Linguistics Department, SwarthmoreCollege, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA.

Hartig, Matthias. Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft,Universität Paderborn, Germany.

Hartsuiker, Robert J. Department of ExperimentalPsychology, Ghent University, Belgium.

Heine, Bernd. Institut für Afrikanistik, Universität zuKöln, Germany.

Hendriks, Petra. Center for Language and CognitionGroningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

Heredia, Roberto R. Texas A&M InternationalUniversity, USA.

Herrmann, Stefanie. University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Holtgraves, Thomas M. Psychological Sciences, BallState University, Indiana.

Hongladarom, Krisadawan. Department of Linguistics,Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok,Thailand.

Hopple, Paulette. Summer Institute of Linguistics,University of Texas, Arlington, USA.

Howe, Darin. Department of Linguistics, University ofCalgary, Alberta, Canada.

Hua, Zhu. Department of Speech, University ofNewcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

Hudson, Grover. Linguistics Department, Michigan StateUniversity, USA.

Hurford, James R. Department of Linguistics, Universityof Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Hutchins, W. John. Norwich, United Kingdom.

Ibarretxe-Antunano, Iraide. Facultad de Filosofía yLetras, Universidad de Deusto - Deustuko Unibertsitatea,Bizkaia, Spain.

Inchaurralde, Carlos. Departamento Filologia Inglesa yAlemana, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain.

Insler, Stanley. Department of Linguistics, YaleUniversity, Connecticut.

Jaggar, Philip J. School of Oriental & African Studies,London, United Kingdom.

Jensen, Cheryl. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Belém,Pará, Brazil.

Johnson, E. Marcia. Department of General & AppliedLinguistics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Johnson, Ellen. Department of English, Rhetoric, andWriting, Berry College, Georgia.

Jones, Francis R. School of Modern Languages,University of Newcastle, United Kingdom.

Jongman, Allard. Department of Linguistics, Universityof Kansas, USA.

Justus, Carol F. Classics Department, University ofTexas, Austin, USA.

Karimi, Simin. Department of Linguistics, University ofArizona, USA.

Katz, Leonard. Haskins Laboratories, New Haven,Connecticut.

Kaye, Alan S. Linguistics Department, California StateUniversity-Fullerton, USA.

Kemper, Susan. Department of Psychology, University ofKansas, USA.

Kibrik, Andrej. Max Planck Institute for EvolutionaryAnthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

King, Robert D. Department of Linguistics, University ofTexas, Austin, USA.

Kirtchuk-Halevi, Pablo Isaac. Beer Sheva, Israel.

Knight, Chris. School of Social Sciences, University ofEast London, Dagenham, Essex, United Kingdom.

Kroskrity, Paul V. Department of Anthropology,University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

Kull, Kalevi. Department of Semiotics, University ofTartu, Estonia.

Kullavanijaya, Pranee. Department of Linguistics,Faculty of Arts, Bangkok, Thailand.

Labeau, Emmanuelle. School of Languages and SocialSciences, Aston University, Birmingham, West Midlands,United Kingdom.

Contributors

xxv

Lahousse, Karen. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven(Catholic University Leuven) & Fonds voor,Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek–Vlaanderen (Fund ofScientific Research–Flanders).

Lainio, Jarmo. Centre for Finnish Studies, MälardalenUniversity, Eskilstuna/Västerås, Swedan.

Lang, George. Dean of Arts, University of Ottawa, Canada.

Lasnik, Howard. University of Maryland, USA.

Leiber, Justin. Philosophy Department, University ofHouston, Texas.

Leitner, Gerhard. Institut fuer englische Philologie, FreieUniversität Berlin, Germany.

Levis, John M. Department of English, Iowa StateUniversity, USA.

Lieberman, Philip. Department of Cognitive andLinguistic Sciences, Brown University, Rhode Island.

Llurda, Enric. Departament d’Anglès i Linguistica,Universitat de Lleida, Catalunya, Spain.

Loengarov, Alexander. Research Assistant of the Fundfor Scientific Research–Flanders (Belgium). Departmentof Linguistics, K.U. Leuven, Belgium.

Lohr, Marisa. Trinity College, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom.

Louwerse, Max M. Department of Psychology/Institutefor Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, USA.

Luo, Yongxian. Melbourne Institute of Asian Languagesand Societies, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Luraghi, Silvia. Dipartimento di Linguistica, Universitàdi Pavia, Italy.

Mackert, Michael. German-English Language Services,Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.

MacMahon, Michael K.C. Department of EnglishLanguage, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UnitedKingdom.

Mahanta, Deepshikha. Central Institute of English andForeign Languages, Hyderabad, India.

Mahdi, Waruno. Berlin, Germany.

Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari, Behrooz. Center for the GreatIslamic Encyclopedia, Tehran, Iran.

Marret, Carine. Nice, France.

Martín Arista, Javier. Departamento de FilologíasModernas, Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño, Spain.

Martín Camacho, José Carlos. Facultad de Filosofía yLetras, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.

Mattina, Anthony. Department of Anthropology,University of Montana, USA.

Mattissen, Johanna. Institut für Linguistik (Departmentof Linguistics), University of Köln (Cologne), Germany.

Maxwell, Judith M. Department of Anthropology, TulaneUniversity, Louisiana.

Mc Laughlin, Fiona. African Languages and Linguistics,University of Florida, USA.

McDonald, David. Arlington, Massachusetts.

McGregor, William B. Department of Linguistics,University of Aarhus, Denmark.

McMenamin, Gerald. Fresno, California.

Meisel, Jürgen M. Institut für Romanistik, UniversitätHamburg, Germany.

Melançon, Megan E. Department of English, Speech, andJournalism, Georgia College and State University, USA.

Menchetti, Angiolo. Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche delMondo Antico, Università di Pisa, Italy.

Miller, Catherine. Iremam-MMSH, University of Aix enProvence, France.

Minkova, Donka. Department of English, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, USA.

Mithun, Marianne. Department of Linguistics,University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

Moore, John. Department of Linguistics, University ofCalifornia, San Diego, USA.

Morgan, Michael. Kobe City University of ForeignStudies, Kobe, Japan.

Mufwene, Salikoko. Department of Linguistics,University of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Contributors

xxvi

Mukherjee, Joybrato. Department of English, JustusLiebig University, Giessen, Germany.

Müller, Horst M. AG Experimentelle Neurolinguistik,Fakultät für Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft,Universität Bielefeld, Germany.

Murray, Robert W. Department of Linguistics,University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Murray, Denise. National Centre for English LanguageTeaching and Research, Macquarie University, Ryde,Australia.

Nash, David. Australian National University, Canberra,Australia.

Nau, Nicole. General Linguistics, Kiel University, Germany.

Newmark, Leonard. University of California, San Diego,USA.

Nichols, Lynn. Department of Linguistics, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley.

Nifadopoulos, Christos G. Bristol, United Kingdom.

Noma, Hideki. Department of Korean Studies, TokyoUniversity of Foreign Studies, Japan.

O’Rourke, Sean. Department of Linguistics, YaleUniversity, Connecticut.

Oakes, Michael P. University of Sunderland, UnitedKingdom.

Obeng, Samuel Gyasi. Linguistics Department, IndianaUniversity, USA.

Ohala, John J. Department of Linguistics, University ofCalifornia at Berkeley, USA.

Oliverio, Giulia. Alaska Native Language Center,University of Alaska-Fairbanks, USA.

Ongstad, Sigmund. Oslo University College, Norway.

O. la Orie, O. lanike. . Linguistic Program & Department ofAnthropology, Tulane University, Louisiana.

Orr, Robert. Gloucester, Ontario, Canada.

Otero, Carlos. University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

Oventile, Robert S. Pasadena City College, California.

Paap, Kenneth R. Department of Psychology, NewMexico State University, USA.

Paltridge, Brian. OE Faculty of Education, University ofSydney.

Pandey, Anjali. Department of English, SalisburyUniversity, Maryland, USA.

Pandey, Anita. Department of English & Language Arts,Morgan State University, Maryland

Papangeli, Dimitra. Faculteit der Letteren, UtrechtInstitute of Linguistics, OTS, The Netherlands.

Papen, Robert A. Linguistique et de didactique deslangues, Université du Québec, Montréal, Canada.

Parasher, Shree Vallabh. Central Institute of English andForeign Languages, Hyderabad, India.

Parkvall, Mikael. Institutionen för Lingvistik,Stockholms Universitet, Sweden.

Pensalfini, Rob. School of English, Media Studies andArt History, University of Queensland, Brisbane,Australia.

Pepperberg, Irene M. Department of Psychology,Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454.

Perkins, Michael. Human Communication Sciences,University of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Pierce, Marc. Department of Germanic Languages andLiteratures, University of Michigan, USA.

Piller, Ingrid. Linguistics Department, University ofSydney, Australia.

Pineda, Baron. Department of Anthropology, OberlinCollege, Ohio.

Pires, Acrisio. Department of Linguistics, University ofMichigan, USA.

Ponchon, Thierry. Université de Reims, France.

Prakasam, Vennelakanti. Central Institute of English andForeign Languages, Lucknow, India.

Quesada, J. Diego. Escuela de Literatura y Ciencias delLenguaje. Universidad Nacional. Heredia. Costa Rica.

Radev, Dragomir R. School of Information, Departmentof Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, andDepartment of Linguistics, University of Michigan, USA.

Contributors

xxvii

Rajagopalan, Kanavillil. State University at Campinas,Campinas, Brazil.

Rathert, Monika. Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft,Universität Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Reh, Mechthild. Department of African Languages andEthiopian Studies, Hamburg University, Germany.

Reid, Nicholas. School of Languages, Cultures andLinguistics, University of New England, Armidale,Australia.

Reid, Lawrence A. Tokyo, Japan.

Reintges, Chris H. Center for Linguistics, LeidenUniversity, The Netherlands.

Reiss, Charles. Linguistics Program, ConcordiaUniversity, Montreal, Canada.

Riedinger, Edward A. Department of Spanish andPortugese, The Ohio State University, USA.

Rodríguez-Arrizabalaga, Beatriz. Departamento deFilología Inglesa. University of Huelva, Andalucía, Spain.

Rogers, Henry. Department of Linguistics, University ofToronto, Ontario, Canada.

Romaine, Suzanne. Merton College, University ofOxford, United Kingdom.

Rubio, Gonzalo. Department of Classics and AncientMediterranean Studies, Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Rutkowski, PaweB. Department of Polish, WarsawUniversity, Poland.

Sackmann, Robin. Freie Universität Berlin, FB PhilGeist,Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Sanders, Alton. Department of Computer Science andSystems Analysis, Miami University, Ohio.

Sanders, Carol. Department of Linguistic, Cultural andInternational Studies, University of Surrey, Guildford,United Kingdom.

Sanders, Ruth H. Department of German, Russian, EastAsian and Hebrew, Miami University, Ohio.

Sansò, Andrea. Dipartimento di Linguistica, Universita’di Pisa, Italy.

Savova, Lilia. Department of English, Indiana Universityof Pennsylvania, USA.

Sayahi, Lotfi. Department of Languages, Literatures andCultures, The University at Albany, State University ofNew York, USA.

Schneider, Klaus P. Englisches Seminar, UniversitätBonn, Germany.

Scott, Suzanne. Dunedin, New Zealand.

Sew, Jyh Wee. Singapore.

Sezer, Engin. Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.

Sgall, Prague Petr. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics,Prague, Czech Republic.

Sgarbas, Kyriakos N. Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering, University of Patras, Greece.

Shekar, Chandra. California State University, Fresno.

Sicoli, Mark. Departments of Anthropology andLinguistics, University of Michigan, USA.

Siegel, Jeff. School of Languages, Cultures andLinguistics, University of New England, Australia, andDepartment of Second Language Studies, University ofHawai’i, USA.

Signorini, Inês. Department of Applied Linguistics,Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP),São Paulo, Brazil.

Silzer, Peter J. Department of TESOL and AppliedLinguistics, Biola University, USA.

Siple, Patricia. Department of Psychology, Wayne StateUniversity, Michigan.

Sitzmann, Alexander. Institut für Germanistik,Universität Wien, Austria.

Sivell, John N. Department of Applied Language Studies,Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Smith, Ian R. Department of Languages, Literatures andLinguistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Smith, Allison. Department of English, Louisiana Tech.University, USA.

Snoj, Marko. Institut za slovenski jezik ZRC SAZU,Slovenia.

Sotillo, Susana M. Department of Linguistics, MontclairState University, New Jersey.

Contributors

xxviii

Steinkrüger, Patrick O. Zentrum für allgemeineSprachwissenschaft, Berlin, Germany.

Strazny, Philipp. Monona, USA.

Sujoldzic, Anita. Institute for Anthropological Research,Zagreb, Croatia.

Sunderland, Jane. Department of Linguistics and EnglishLanguage, Bowland College, Lancaster University,Lancashire, United Kingdom.

Tadmor, Uri. Department of Linguistics, Max PlanckInstitute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig,Germany/Jakarta, Indonesia.

Tambovtsev, Yuri. Department of English andLinguistics, KFNPU, Novosibirsk, Russia.

Tatham, Mark. Colchester, United Kingdom.

ten Hacken, Pius. School of European Languages,University of Wales Swansea, UK.

Thomason, Sarah G. University of Michigan, USA.

Thomassen, Arnold J.W.M. University of Nijmegen, TheNetherlands.

Toribio, Josefa. Department of Philosophy, TheUniversity of Edinburgh, Scotland.

TSE, Grace Yuen Wah. School of Arts and SocialSciences, The Open University of Hong Kong, China.

Tsedryk, Egor. Department of French Studies, Universityof Western Ontario, London, Canada and Department ofFrench Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Tserdanelis, Giorgos. The Ohio State University, USA.

Turovski, Aleksei. Tallinn Zoo, Tallinn, Estonia.

van Gelderen, Elly. English Department, Arizona StateUniversity, USA.

van Wieringen, Astrid. Lab. Exp. ORL, KatholiekeUniversiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Vaux, Bert. Department of Foreign Languages andLinguistics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA.

Veselinovic, Elvira M. University of Cologne, Germany.

Viereck, Wolfgang. University of Bamberg, Germany.

Voeltz, F.K. Erhard. Institut für Afrikanistik, Universitätzu Köln, Germany.

Vovin, Alexander. Department of East Asian Languagesand Literatures, University of Hawai’i, USA.

Vrooman, Michael. Department of Modern Languagesand Literatures, Grand Valley State University, Michigan.

Wagner, Richard. Department of Psychology, FloridaState University, USA.

Walker, Douglas C. Department of French, Italian andSpanish, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Walker, James A. Department of Languages, Literatures,and Linguistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Wang, William S.-Y. Department of ElectronicEngineering, City University of Hong Kong, China.

Watt, William C. Social Science, University ofCalifornia, Irvine, USA.

Waugh, Linda R. Department of French, Italian andEnglish, University of Arizona, USA.

Wehmeyer, Ann. Department of African and AsianLanguages and Literatures, University of Florida, USA.

Weiss, Sabine. Brain Research Institute, CognitiveNeuroscience Group, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

Wexler, Paul. Department of Linguistics, Tel-AvivUniversity, Israel.

Whaley, Lindsay. Linguistics & Cognitive Science,Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.

Wilcox, Phyllis Perrin. Department of Linguistics,University of New Mexico, USA.

Wilson, Andrew. Linguistics Department, LancasterUniversity, United Kingdom.

Wireback, Kenneth J. Department of Spanish andPortuguese, Miami University, Ohio.

Woll, Bencie. Sign Language & Deaf Studies, Departmentof Language and Communication Science, CityUniversity, London, United Kingdom.

Wong, Andrew. Department of Linguistics, University ofHawai’i at Manoa, USA.

Woodman, Karen. School of Languages, Cultures andLinguistics, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

Zeshan, Ulrike. Research Centre for Linguistic Typology,La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia.

xxix

The study of language goes far back in recorded history.Almost two-and-a-half millenia ago, the Indian grammari-an Panini wrote his formal treatises on Sanskrit, Xun Ziappeared as China’s first major philosopher of language,and Plato and Aristotle initiated the Greek philosophy oflanguage. Since the renaissance, there has been an increas-ing focus on the description of individual languages, theexploration of familial relationships between languages,and the formulation of increasingly general theories of lan-guage structure. Now, almost every university or collegehas a language department or even a specialized linguisticsdepartment, which means that an immense number ofresearchers are working in the field and have published anenormous body of primary literature.

Given this wealth of published data, it is not surpris-ing to meet beginning graduate students of linguisticswho already identify themselves as ‘syntacticians’ or‘phoneticians’. This early specialization reflects genuineinterest, but is also in part a mechanism by which stu-dents block out a large number of possible inputs to beable to concentrate on a more manageable few. In theirsubsequent research, most researchers narrow downtheir field of interest even more; they become immersedin the highly conceptual and terminological world oftheir specialty, and they often write articles comprehen-sible only to their small group of peers. In other words,linguistics is a mature science and, as in other scientificfields, there can be a communications gap both withinthe field and, even more so, between the activeresearchers and the general public.

The Encyclopedia of Linguistics provides an accessibleoverview of and introduction to the multiple facets of thestudy of language. To bridge this gap between professionallinguists and the general public, my editorial colleagues

and I made this encyclopedia very readable by eliminatingtechnical terminology as far as possible and by makingeach essay self-contained.

How to Use This Book

The Encyclopedia of Linguistics is organized into a seriesof 508 free-standing essays, between 1000 and 3000 wordsin length. They range from factual narrative entries to the-matic and analytical discussions, and combinations of allthese. Where debates and controversies occur, these areindicated and discussed. As far as possible, this book takesthe field of linguistics up to the present, at least to the open-ing years of the twenty-first century.

Perhaps the most significant feature of the encyclopediais the easily accessible A to Z format. Cross-referencing inthe form of See Alsos at the end of each entry refers thereader to other related essays. A thorough, analytical Indexcomplements the accessibility of the entries, easing thereader’s entry into the wealth of information provided.References at the end of each entry refer the reader to sem-inal writings as well as some of the most recent work on thesubject. Other special features include 12 language-distri-bution maps and a thematic Table of Contents in additionto an alphabetical Table of Contents. In addition, morethan 100 illustrations are dispersed throughout. A total of288 scholars from 34 countries have contributed theirexpertise to this encyclopedia.

Contents

These essays have been written by scholars who provide ageneral introduction to the material without presupposingknowledge about the subject and without going into a

Introduction

Introduction

xxx

theoretical depth that would raise questions that cannot beanswered in the space given. The entries fall into the fol-lowing thematic categories: linguistic topics (for example,code switching) (50%), languages (for example, Sumerian)(30%), persons (for example, Noam Chomsky) (15%), andregions of the world (for example, Algeria) (5%).

Linguistic Topics

Among these essays are general introductions to majorfields of inquiry, such as semantics, historical linguistics,and neurolinguistics. Other articles concentrate on issueswithin those fields, introducing concepts that are importantin linguistics regardless of theoretical perspective, such as‘affix’, or ‘reference’, or which are so commonly used thatthe concept becomes unquestioned, such as ‘phoneme’ or‘deep structure’. Other articles describe crucial phenomenathat any theory of language has to explain, such as ‘acquisi-tion’, ‘tone’, or ‘aphasia’.

Languages

These essays cover the major language families of theworld and discuss how individual languages are related toeach other. Articles concentrating on specific languagesfrom Ainu to Zuni explain where these languages are spo-ken, by whom, and under what sociopolitical circum-stances. They provide a glimpse of the language’s structureand highlight particularly interesting characteristics withexamples.

Persons

These essays highlight the major theoretical contributionsof noted linguists, discuss the influences that led up to theirwork, and put the contributions into historical perspective,in addition to providing basic biographical sketches.

Regions

These essays map out the linguistic landscape of a particu-lar region. They show which languages are spoken, explain

how this particular situation came about historically, anddiscuss language-political issues relevant in this region.

We have made a concerted effort to cover languagesaround the globe. Should you note any imbalance in favorof ‘western’ regions, languages, persons, or topics, this sim-ply reflects that the European languages are the best-stud-ied languages in the world.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I thank Steve Larue and Paul Schellinger ofFitzroy Dearborn Publishers for giving me the opportunityto participate. And to their staff Christy Prahl, HeatherSabel, and Peter Daniels, who did most of the hard work tostart this project. At Routledge Reference, a team led byMarie-Claire Antoine—including Kate Aker, Susan Gamer,and Josh Pasternak—successfully completed this work.

Deciding which topics to cover was one of the hardestaspects in shaping this reference work, and I am deeplyindebted to our advisers who helped shape the book in mul-tiple rounds of suggestions and constructive criticism.Robert Beard and John Goldsmith unfortunately resignedfrom the Advisory Board when the book took a directionthey could not agree with. Still, many thanks to them fortheir invaluable input while they were part of the project.Among our authors, I would like to specifically acknowl-edge Alexandra Aikhenvald, Jim Hurford, Mikael Parkvall,and Ulrike Zeshan for their helpful suggestions. And manythanks to Elly van Gelderen, Marc Greenberg, and RayHarlow, for helping to get the project off the ground withtheir sample articles. When I first invited potential advisers,a well-known linguist declined, saying that ‘linguists can’twrite for lay people’. I firmly believe that our authorsproved this statement wrong. Thus, greatest thanks is dueour authors, who did an impressive job of introducing theirspecialty without recourse to the precise terminology theyare accustomed to using. I thank both authors and advisersfor staying the course during the years from inception topublication of the Encyclopedia of Linguistics.

Last but not least, I am deeply indebted to Karin, Isabel,Max, and Mia, who supported me while I disappeared intothe basement for months on end to work on this book.

Philipp Strazny

Acoustic phonetics is the study of the acoustic charac-teristics of speech. Speech consists of variations in airpressure that result from physical disturbances of airmolecules caused by the flow of air out of the lungs.This airflow makes the air molecules alternately crowdtogether and move apart (oscillate), creating increasesand decreases, respectively, in air pressure. The result-ing sound wave transmits these changes in pressurefrom speaker to hearer. Sound waves can be describedin terms of physical properties such as cycle, period,frequency, and amplitude. These concepts are mosteasily illustrated when considering a simple wave cor-responding to a pure tone. A cycle is a sequence of oneincrease and one decrease in air pressure. A period isthe amount of time (expressed in seconds or millisec-onds) that one cycle takes. Frequency is the number ofcycles in one second, expressed in hertz (Hz). Anincrease in frequency usually results in an increase inperceived pitch. Amplitude refers to the magnitude ofvibrations, with larger vibrations resulting in greaterpeaks of pressure (greater amplitude), which usuallyresult in an increase in perceived loudness.

Unlike pure tones, which rarely occur in the environ-ment, speech sounds are complex waves with combina-tions of different frequencies and amplitudes. However,as first stated by the French mathematician Fourier(1768–1830), any complex wave can be described as acombination of simple waves. A complex wave has a regular rate of repetition, known as the fundamentalfrequency (F0). Changes in F0 give rise to differencesin perceived pitch, whereas changes in the number ofconstituent simple waves and their amplitude relationsresult in perceived differences in timbre or quality.

Fourier’s theorem enables us to describe speechsounds in terms of the frequency and amplitude ofeach of its constituent simple waves. Such a descrip-tion is known as the spectrum of a sound. A spectrumis visually displayed as a plot of frequency vs. ampli-tude, with frequency represented from low to highalong the horizontal axis and amplitude from low tohigh along the vertical axis.

The usual energy source for speech is the airstreamgenerated by the lungs. This steady flow of air is con-verted into brief puffs of air by the vibrating vocalfolds, two muscular folds housed in the larynx. Thedominant way of conceptualizing the process ofspeech production is in terms of the source-filter theo-ry, according to which the acoustic characteristics ofspeech can be understood as a result of a source com-ponent and a filter component. The source componentis determined by the rate of vocal fold vibration, whichin turn is affected by a number of factors, including therate of airflow and the mass and stiffness of the vocalfolds. The rate of vocal fold vibration directly deter-mines the F0 of the waveform. The mean F0 for adultwomen is approximately 220 Hz, and approximately130 Hz for adult men. In addition to their role as prop-erties of individual speech sounds, F0 and amplitudealso signal emphasis, stress, and intonation.

For speech, the source component itself has a com-plex waveform, and its spectrum will typically showthe highest energy at the lowest frequencies and anumber of higher frequency components thatsystematically decrease in amplitude. This sourcecomponent is subsequently modified by the vocal tractabove the larynx, which acts as the filter. This filter

1

AAcoustic Phonetics

enhances energy in certain frequency regions and sup-presses energy in others, resulting in a spectrum withpeaks and valleys, respectively. The peaks in the spec-trum (local energy maxima) are known as formant fre-quencies. The lowest-frequency peak is known as thefirst formant, or F1, the next lowest is F2, and so on.The vocal tract filter is determined by the size andshape of the vocal tract and is therefore directly affect-ed by the position and movement of the articulatorssuch as the tongue, jaw, and lips.

Vowels are typically characterized in terms of thelocation of the first two formants, as illustrated inFigure 1 for the vowels of American English. For agiven speaker, each vowel typically has a unique for-mant pattern. However, variation in vocal tract sizeamong speakers often leads to a degree of formantoverlap for different vowels.

Consonants can also be described in terms of theirspectral properties. These sounds are produced with acomplete or narrow constriction in the vocal tract,essentially creating a vocal tract with two sections:one behind and the other in front of the constriction.The length of the section in front of the constriction isone of the primary determinants of the spectra of thesesounds. The longer this section (i.e. the farther backthe constriction), the lower the frequency at which aconcentration of energy occurs. For example, conso-nants like k and g, which are produced at the back ofthe mouth, are typically characterized by a concentra-tion of energy between approximately 1,500 and 2,500Hz, whereas more anterior consonants like t and d typ-ically have a concentration of energy above 3,000 Hz.Similarly, the sibilants [ʃ,�] produced in the middle ofthe mouth have major energy around 2,500 to 3,500Hz, whereas the more anterior ones [s, z] have majorenergy well above 4,000 to 5,000 Hz. However, in the

case of consonants with a constriction toward the veryfront of the vocal tract, the extremely short section infront of the constriction does not result in clearlydefined spectra. As a result, bilabial [b, p] and labio-dental [f, v] consonants are described as having diffusespectra, without any clear concentration of energy.

From a linguistic point of view, a detailed descriptionof speech sounds in terms of their frequency, in additionto amplitude and duration, can elucidate the factors thatshape sound categories and determine phonologicalprocesses both within and across languages. In addition,acoustic phonetic analysis may serve to quantify atypi-cal speech patterns produced by nonnative speakers orspeakers with specific speech disorders.

References

Asher, R., and Eugenie Henderson (eds.) 1981. Towards a his-tory of phonetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Fant, Gunnar. 1960. Acoustic theory of speech production. TheHague: Mouton.

Flanagan, James L. 1965. Speech analysis synthesis and per-ception. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Hardcastle, William, and John Laver (eds.) 1997. The handbookof phonetic sciences. Oxford and Cambridge, MA:Blackwell.

Helmholtz, Hermann von. 1877. Die Lehre von denTonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage fur dieTheorie der Musik. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg; as On thesensations of tone as a physiological basis for the theory ofmusic, translated by Alexander J. Ellis, London: Longmans,Green, 1885.

Hillenbrand, James, Laura A. Getty, Michael J. Clark, andKimberlee Wheeler. 1995. Acoustic characteristics ofAmerican English vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Societyof America 97(5). 3099–111.

Jakobson, Roman, Gunnar Fant, and Morris Halle (eds.) 1952.Preliminaries to speech analysis. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.

ACOUSTIC PHONETICS

2

hoodwho'd

hoed

hawed

hod

heard

hudhadhead

hayedhidheed

hoodwho'd

hoedhawed

hodheard

hud

had

head

hayed

hid

heed

0

Fre

quen

cy (

Hz)

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Figure 1. Frequencies of the first two for-mants of 12 vowels of American English,averaged across 48 adult female speakers.F1 is in black, F2 is in gray. (Source: Hillenbrand et al., J. Acoust.Soc. Am., 1995)

Johnson, Keith. 1997. Acoustic and auditory phonetics. Oxfordand Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

Kent, Raymond D., Bishnu S. Atal, and Joanne L. Miller (eds.)1991. Papers in Speech Communication: speech production.Woodbury, New York: Acoustical Society of America.

Ladefoged, Peter. 1962. Elements of acoustic phonetics.Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2ndedition, 1996.

Lehiste, Ilse. 1970. Suprasegmentals. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.

Lieberman, Philip, and Sheila E. Blumstein. 1988. Speechphysiology, speech perception, and acoustic phonetics.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stevens, Kenneth N. 1998. Acoustic phonetics. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.

ALLARD JONGMAN

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Acquisition

Language acquisition is the study of the developmentof a person’s language. It generally refers to the waypeople learn their native, first, second, or other lan-guages. More specifically, it may refer to the time alanguage feature has been acquired. This may varyfrom the first emergence or onset of a language item tothe time of its accurate use. As a field of study, it is thesubject of linguistics, psychology, and applied linguis-tics. Its object is to study (1) how languages arelearned, (2) what are the developmental stages in thisprocess, and (3) what is the nature of language. To findanswers to these questions, researchers apply longitu-dinal and cross-sectional methods. In the first of these,they study specific developments in the language ofindividuals or groups over a period of time. In the sec-ond, they research a particular feature in the languageof a group at a given point in time.

First Language Acquisition

First language acquisition is the child’s learning of hisor her first or native language. Traditionally, and espe-cially in monolingual societies, ‘first’ and ‘native’ lan-guage were used synonymously. With the expansion ofcross-cultural communication, the two terms becomemore distinct. For example, children may acquiresome knowledge of another language from a nurse ora relative before they acquire their native language,e.g. the language of the country they live in. Thus, aChinese child born in the United States may first learnChinese from her parents, and learn English later fromEnglish-speaking children and adults. To avoid theconfusion arising from the use of ‘first’ and ‘native’,another term, ‘primary’, is sometimes used to indicatea child’s first language chronologically.

First Language Acquisition and the LanguageAcquisition DeviceNoam Chomsky’s work aroused interest in the way children learn their native language. He believes

that children are born with the ability to learn a lan-guage, i.e. they are born with a ‘language acquisi-tiondevice’. The latter is species-specific or only forhumans, language-specific or only for their first/native language, and innate or only inborn. He alsoclaims that this ability is unconscious and childrenlearn their native language by exposure to it and byusing it, and not by being taught or corrected. Heargues that as children acquire their native language,they are able to produce sentences that they have notheard before.

While early work on children’s language acquisi-tion focused on the development of children’s abilityto produce novel sentences, more recently, researchershave emphasized children’s acquisition of word mean-ings and their linguistic and cognitive development,their acquisition of the phonology of their native lan-guage, and their language development in relation totheir interaction with parents and peers. Someresearchers also see a parallel between the stages ofchildren’s language development regardless of thespecific language they are learning.

First Language Acquisition and CognitiveDevelopmentA child’s language development is closely related tohis or her cognitive development. Here, the ability toidentify and form categories and concepts is of crucialimportance. ‘Categorization’ involves the treatment ofdistinct linguistic phenomena, such as ‘worked’,‘studied’, ‘saw’, and ‘went’, as if they were part of thesame phenomenon, or the same grammatical category,i.e. past tense. Young children do not have fully devel-oped abilities in categorization. Many childhood firstlanguage errors, for example, ‘*I eated it’, point to thegaps in their ability to form categories. Furthermore,even seemingly correct utterances do not imply thatthe child has achieved an adult stage in the mastery ofthe corresponding language category.

Closely related to the ability to categorize is theability to differentiate a category, for example, tense,from the mental structure, which it represents, in thiscase, time. These mental structures are known as‘concepts’. To learn a language, a child must acquirethe concepts that underlie linguistic structures. It is notpossible to master grammatical categories, such astense, in any language without mastering conceptssuch as time, space, modality, causality, and number.Young children’s errors in tense indicate that they donot grasp the concept of time.

First Language Acquisition and Social DevelopmentChildren’s social adjustment is as important as theircognitive growth to their language development. Asthey acquire various language categories and the con-cepts they represent, children also learn about the cul-tural, moral, religious, and other conventions of thesociety they live in. They learn how to express theirthoughts, feelings, and wishes in a socially acceptablemanner. For example, children learn that it is notalways advisable to speak their minds. As they cometo realize that words can serve to make friends as wellas enemies, they learn that it is not always possible totell the truth. In this way, while acquiring their firstlanguage, children also develop a social identity.How-ever, their progress is slow and not devoid ofsome rather amusing or even embarrassing errors.Children learning their first language, therefore, havea long way to go, even after they have acquired thebasic concepts and their corresponding language cat-egories. By comparison, adult foreign language learn-ers, who are knowledgeable about the socioculturalaspects of their native language, are a step ahead ofchild learners, even though they may also be prone tosimilar social blunders because of sociocultural dif-ferences.

First Language Acquisition and the Critical Period The ‘critical period hypothesis’ claims that there is aperiod in child development during which language canbe acquired with native-like proficiency. Some, like thebiologist Lenneberg, believe that this period lasts untilpuberty, after which the brain loses some of its ability toadapt due to its laterization, i.e. the establishment ofspecific language functions in particular parts of thebrain. After that, the decreased plasticity of the brainmakes the acquisition of another language a psycholog-ically different and more difficult process. While thereis compelling evidence that supports those claims, thereare also important facts that undermine their veracity.First, the strictly biological evidence is by no meansconclusive. Second, other factors, such as lack ofmotivation, may explain nonnative pronunciation.

First Language Acquisition and BilingualismCognitive and social development, as well as the lan-guage acquisition device and the critical period affectthe language development of the bilingual as well asthe monolingual child.

Bilingual first language acquisition is defined as theparallel acquisition of two languages, which is, sup-posedly, an evenly paced process. However, such aperfect balance can rarely be achieved. Commonly, thechild would use one language in one environment, andanother in a different setting. Thus, inevitably, one lan-guage gains dominance over the other. This domi-nance may extend to some or all areas ofcommunication. As a result, the child’s other languagemay become secondary in both development and use.Furthermore, there may be some interference from thedominant language that causes errors in the child’ssecondary language. However, there is no evidencethat this results in massive confusion in one or bothlanguages. Furthermore, there is no evidence thatbilingual children differ from other children in theircognitive, social, or language development.

Second Language Acquisition

Second language acquisition (SLA) is defined as theprocess of becoming competent or proficient in a sec-ond or foreign language, from the first use of a lan-guage item to its advanced applications at a later stage.As a field of research, SLA is a fairly new interdisci-plinary subject with most of its empirical researchdone since the 1960s. It is largely based on theoriesand research methods developed in the fields of edu-cation, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, foreignlanguages, English as a second language, and linguis-tics. In the United States, researchers study the waynonnative speakers acquire English phonology,syntax, and pragmatics. The purpose of SLA studies isto describe and explain the way second languages arelearned in terms of both linguistic and communicativecompetence. To do this, researchers study learners’performance and their intuitions about correct andincorrect use of language. The object of second lan-guage acquisition is to find more effective ways ofteaching and learning foreign languages, and assumesthat such research can affect the way foreign lan-guages are learned.

The Meaning of ‘Second Language’ in SecondLanguage AcquisitionThere are different interpretations and uses of both ‘sec-ond’ and ‘acquisition’ in SLA. ‘Second’ may be used todistinguish it from ‘foreign’ or ‘third’ language acquisi-tion. Traditionally, the terms ‘second’ and ‘foreign’ havebeen used alternatively to refer to any language other

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than the first. More recently, with the emergence ofEnglish as a global language and the establishment ofTeachers of English to Speakers of other Languages(TESOL) as a worldwide professional organization, adistinction is made between the two. ‘Second’ languageacquisition refers to the study of English by foreignersin countries where English is the native or the officiallanguage, whereas ‘foreign’ language acquisition refersto the study of English everywhere else. Furthermore,this distinction extends to differences in what is learnedand how it is learned. Learners of English as a foreignlanguage (EFL) prefer standard varieties of English,whereas learners of English as a second language (ESL)try to blend with their sociolinguistic environment. Allof these differences are reflected in the goals and meth-ods of EFL and ESL. A further distinction is madebetween ‘second’ and ‘third’ language acquisition,which marks the learner’s relative proficiency ratherthan the order in which he or she acquired these lan-guages. Sometimes, the term ‘alternative’ is used torefer to any nonnative language.

The Meaning of ‘Acquisition’ in Second LanguageAcquisitionAcquisition is often used to refer to different aspects ofthe process and results of learning a second language.While trying to find out about the process, i.e. how sec-ond languages are learned, researchers often comparedifferent learning experiences that lead to SLA, such aslearning a language through organized instruction or inan immersion situation. From a sociolinguistic per-spective, acquisition through organized instructionoccurs in classrooms with the help of teachers andinstructional materials. Acquisition through immersionoccurs in social situations using contextual clues. Yetanother distinction is made from the psycholinguisticperspective. Klein identifies ‘spontaneous’ and ‘guid-ed’ acquisition. The first focuses on everyday commu-nication, whereas the second targets the mastery of thelanguage system. Similarly, from a psychological pointof view, Krashen distinguishes between ‘acquisition’and ‘learning’. In his analysis of the process of master-ing a second language, he reserves ‘acquisition’ for thesubconscious process of learning a language by beingexposed to it. ‘Learning’, according to him, is the con-scious process of mastering a language by studying it.Ellis finds this distinction problematic and considers itsdemonstration difficult. Furthermore, he states thatresearchers disagree about what kinds of performanceconstitute evidence of ‘acquisition’. For some, suchevidence can be found in the ways learners speak andwrite. For others, it is the learner’s intuitions about thesecond language that matter. Yet another group ofscholars seek evidence of acquisition by assessing thelearner’s introspections.

Other researchers analyze what it means to know asecond language. From a linguistic perspective,Chomsky focuses on the results of SLA, which hedefines as ‘competence’ and ‘performance’. Accordingto him, ‘competence’ in a second language is the mas-tery of the internalized grammar that the ideal speakeror hearer, not a real one, has of the whole language.Such mastery enables him/her to produce grammati-cally correct sentences as well as recognize existingand nonexisting sentences. For example, knowing therule, which makes ‘I speak English’ possible, a personcan produce ‘I speak French’ even though he or shemay not have seen this before. Furthermore, he or shewould know that the form ‘*I speaking English’ isnonexistent. ‘Performance’ in Chomsky’s GenerativeTransformational Grammar, on the other hand, refersto a person’s actual use of a language in the under-standing and production of sentences. Unlike commu-nicative competence, which is internal and invisible,performance is external and observable. Furthermore,performance does not mirror competence, since peo-ple may know how to produce a sentence but may errwhen they try to do so. Thus, performance can also bedefined as the grammar that a person uses to under-stand and produce language, which is both correct andappropriate. Performance could be used to investigatecompetence through the analyses of samples of spokenor written discourse. Within performance, Widdowsondistinguishes ‘usage’, which refers to the learner’sability to apply grammar rules accurately in the pro-duction of grammatically correct sentences. ‘Use’, onthe other hand, signifies their ability to apply linguis-tic and sociolinguistic knowledge appropriately andcommunicate effectively in diverse contexts.

Second Language Acquisition ResearchA large part of SLA research is learner based. Itdescribes and analyzes the nature of learner languageand learner differences, learning processes, and pedagogical input and output. It does so to provideanswers to important second language research ques-tions, which may offer effective solutions to crucialsecond language classroom problems.

Learner Language in Second Language AcquisitionResearchResearchers study learner language by examiningsamples of oral and written texts. Their goal is to iden-tify errors, establish developmental patterns andsequences, trace variability, and explore use. Errorswere first believed to be the result of native language‘transfer’ or ‘interference’. This view was promoted bynumerous contrastive analyses conducted from the1940s to the 1960s. Such studies compared two lan-guages to find out what similarities and differences

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existed between the two. Lado thought that similar ele-ments would be easy to learn, while dissimilar oneswould be difficult to master. The belief that linguisticdifference could be a predictor of difficulty gave riseto the ‘contrastive analysis hypothesis’. That and thebehaviorist approach to learning, which claimed thatlearning is a process of habit formation, led to thebelief that SLA should be a process of overcominghabits from the native language and consolidating cor-rect habits in the target language.

In 1967, Pitt Corder proposed a new definition oferrors. He thought they were systematic deviationsfrom the norm, which reflect the learner’s currentstage of second language development. Errors, heclaimed, are different from mistakes, which can easilybe self-corrected. ‘Error analysis’ treated errors as asign of the learner’s hypothesis testing, which wouldultimately lead to the formation of the correct formand its underlying rule. Thus, errors were seen as partof the learner’s language at every stage of its develop-ment. To emphasize its unique features, Corderreferred to learner language as ‘idiosyncratic dialect’.Nemser called it an ‘approximative system’ andSelinker coined the term ‘interlanguage’. Thus, thenotion of learner language evolved from a faulty,deviant product of the target language to a continuous,approximative progress towards its mastery. Both con-trastive and error analysis were criticized for theirexclusive reliance on the analysis of a linguistic prod-uct, i.e. errors, to yield insights into a psycholinguisticprocess, i.e. second language acquisition.

Another feature of learner language is its passagethrough a sequence of developmental stages, whichare universal. Thus, many of the initial utterances thatlearners produce may be simple formulae, forexample, ‘What’s this’. These are followed by struc-tures of greater morphological and syntactic com-plexity, for example, ‘I wonder what this might be’.The existence of developmental stages in SLA, whichare similar to those in first language acquisition,along with some variations in the specific order inwhich particular features occur, have renewed interestin grammar instruction. In its systematic develop-ment, learner language also exhibits certain variabili-ty. For example, learners may use the third personsingular ‘s’ correctly sometimes and omit it at othertimes. In addition to lexical and syntactic variability,they often have problems on the pragmatic level, i.e.they may use language or act in a socially inappro-priate manner.

Factors in Second Language AcquisitionSLA is also influenced by the environment in which itoccurs. Social factors, language input, and interaction

affect the way learners acquire a second language.Ellis contends that social factors shape learners’ atti-tudes, which, in turn, may affect motivation and learn-ing outcomes. Social factors include natural andeducational settings. For example, natural settings,where English is the native or the official language,offer opportunities different from educational settings,such as the foreign language classroom where thenative language is the medium of instruction.

While social factors influence second languageacquisition indirectly, input, output, and interactionseem to have a direct impact. ‘Input’ is the learner’saccess and exposure to the second language, both writ-ten and oral. Exposure to the foreign language mayengage learners in ‘interactions’ with native or nonna-tive speakers, or it may involve them in listening totapes, films, radio, and TV programs. Researchersvary in their assessment of the importance of input andinteraction. Behaviorist theories emphasize the impor-tance of input. Chomsky, on the other hand, claimsthat there is no necessary correlation between lan-guage input and learner output. Krashen believes thatlearners acquire language in a natural order as a resultof being exposed to ‘comprehensible input’ addressedto them. In contrast to Krashen, Swain proposes the‘comprehensible output hypothesis’, which claims thatcomprehending input alone will not prepare studentsto produce language. According to him, it is correctproduction resulting from challenging practice inspeaking and writing that facilitates acquisition. Boththe comprehensible input and comprehensible outputhypotheses have been criticized on the grounds thatthe processes of comprehensible input and output andthe process of SLA are not the same.

General factors, such as social setting, input, out-put, and interaction, result in a variety of individualdifferences in SLA. Furthermore, individual factors,such as age, language aptitude, motivation, cognitivestyle, and learning strategies can have similar effects.These factors affect second language learning in waysthat are mostly independent of the learner. For exam-ple, a learner can do nothing about his or her age, orlanguage aptitude. Few learners may have the oppor-tunity to switch from one educational setting to anoth-er. Given the appropriate guidance, however, somelearners may be able to improve their motivation andlearning strategies over time. For example, ‘extrinsicmotivation’, which derives from external rewards, mayevolve into ‘intrinsic motivation’, which derives frompersonal interests. Learner strategies, which contributeto the learner’s conscious efforts to learn, may alsochange. For example, learners may expand their‘cognitive strategies’ by learning new concepts. Theymay also perfect their ‘metacognitive strategies’ by

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developing their study skills, or enhance their ‘socialstrategies’ by practicing their knowledge in authenticsocial settings.

References

Bennet-Castor, T. 1988. Analyzing children’s language.Oxford: Blackwell.

Brown, Douglas H., and Susan Gonzo. 1995. Readings on sec-ond language acquisition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Regents.

Chomsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the theory of syntax.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Cook, Vivian. 1993. Linguistics and second language acquisi-tion. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Ellis, Rod. 1994. The study of second language acquisition.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fletcher, P. 1985. A child’s learning of English. Oxford:Blackwell.

Fletcher, P., and M. Garman (eds.) 1979. Language acquisition.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hatch, E. (ed.) 1978. Second language acquisition. Rowley:Newbury House.

Klein, Wolfgang. 1986. Second language acquisition. Avon:Cambridge University Press.

Krashen, Steven. 1981. Second language acquisition and sec-ond language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane, and Michael Long. 1991. An introduc-tion to second language acquisition research. London andNewYork: Longman.

Lenneberg, E. 1967. Biological foundations of language. NewYork: Wiley.

Long, Michael. 1995. The least a second language theory needsto explain. Readings on second language acquisition, ed. byDouglas H. Brown and Susan Gonzo. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall Regents.

Richards, Jack, et al. 1992. Longman dictionary of applied lin-guistics. Harlow, Essex: Longman.

Widdowson, Henry. 1978. Teaching language as communica-tion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

LILIA SAVOVASee also Acquisition Theories

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Acquisition Theories

The goal of acquisition theories is to explain how it isthat any normal child, born into any linguistic com-munity, learns the language (or languages) of thatcommunity. For many theorists, the challenge is alsoto explain what appears to be the relatively short timeperiod in which acquisition is achieved, the fact that itappears to be done without either overt teaching orsufficient information from the input (what the childhears [or sees, in the case of sign language]), and tofollow a path that seems remarkably similar in all chil-dren, despite variation in early childhood experiencesand in the types of languages they are exposed to.There is also a consensus that language acquisition islargely independent of cognitive development, despitethe fact that some deficits in cognitive developmentcan have an effect on certain aspects of languagedevelopment. Whether the language is a spoken lan-guage or a sign language, whether the language ishighly inflected like Finnish or uninflected likeMandarin, whether the child is raised in poverty orluxury, by highly educated or illiterate adults, or evenother children, it seems that normally developingchildren pass through roughly the same stages in thesame sequence, and achieve the steady state ofacquired language by about the same age.

We know from unfortunate natural experiments inwhich children are raised in isolation (or near isola-

tion) from language-using older members of ourspecies (i.e. they are severely neglected, or are raisedby other animals) that language does not emerge with-out at least some linguistic exposure—input—duringthe first few years of life. This strongly suggests thatthere is a critical or sensitive period during which themechanism or mechanisms responsible for languagedevelopment is/are primed to receive input. However,the resilience of language development to quite widevariations in input within any given language commu-nity, as well as the similarities among children learn-ing quite different languages, suggest that thesemechanisms, whatever they are, must either be quitetolerant of such variation, or be primed in such a waythat the crucial input for language acquisition isalways made available.

There are important roles for both ‘experience-dependent’ (nurture) and ‘experience-expectant’(nature) learning in language development, and theo-ries are distinguishable in terms of the relative contri-butions they see for these two types. On the one hand,there are those researchers who see a large didactic rolefor input (experience-dependent learning), and on theother, there are those who see a much smaller role forinput and a much larger role for genetic predispositionsthat are triggered by linguistic experience (experience-expectant learning). Theories are also distinguishable

in terms of whether they are trying to explain how lan-guage emerges on a day-by-day basis in any givenchild or whether they