Latest Content

• Investigating West Germanic Languages 2024-05-15
  This volume celebrates Robert B. Howell's wide-ranging contribution as a scholar, mentor, collaborator, and colleague in the field of Germanic linguistics. In addition to investigating present-day or past varieties of Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Flemish, German, and Pennsylvania Dutch, each of the thirteen contributions in this volume explores one or more of the topics found in […]
• Effects of task repetition with grammatizing on oral task performance and knowledge development 2024-05-06
  Abstract This study compared the effects of task repetition only (TR), task repetition with grammatizing (TR+GR), and grammatization with no task repetition (GR) on 94 EFL learners’ oral task performances. Participants’ productions were measured both in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency as well as receptive knowledge (measured by an error correction test) and productive […]
• Inflection class interactions and valency changes in Matlatzinca 2024-05-06
  Abstract In this paper, we explore how changes in the inflection class membership of verbs in Matlatzinca (Oto-Pamean, Oto-Manguean, Mexico) lead to changes in both their valency and meaning. In Matlatzinca, verbs often exhibit multiple class membership so that a given verb may be inflected as transitive in one class but as intransitive in another. […]
• Prosodic features of polite speech 2024-05-06
  Abstract This paper uses interactional data to investigate the acoustic characteristics of polite or deferential speech in Korean. We asked fourteen Korean speakers to perform two tasks with two different interlocutors: a status superior and a friend. Consistent with previous studies of non-interactional data, deferential speech has lower pitch and shimmer, and quieter final syllables. […]
• Asymmetry in temporal specification between affirmation and negation 2024-05-06
  Abstract One cross-linguistically recurrent asymmetry between affirmation and negation is the neutralization of tense-aspect distinctions in negatives. A functional explanation proposed for this is that in their typical discourse context negatives have less need for temporal specification than affirmatives and in some languages this discourse preference is reflected as fewer tense-aspect distinctions in grammar. To […]
• “Venezuela hawaii, chelsea!” 2024-05-03
  Abstract This contribution focuses on Langila, a language practice or “speech style” that emerged in the first decade after the millenium in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, characterized by lexical creativity and specific phonological manipulative strategies. I analyze Langila speakers’ use of global place names, fashionable brands, and names of institutions, and to some extent […]
• Performances of transparency 2024-05-03
  Abstract The names by which luxury items are marketed are often interpreted as names that trigger forms of mimesis. By considering the connections made through naming, products such as perfumes seem to be powerful metaphors for a particular lifestyle, wealth, and specific identity constructions, thereby obviously suggesting the possibility that through owning and using such […]
• The brand names of craft gins in South Africa* 2024-05-03
  Abstract Gin has become a very popular alcoholic drink, and is often used with various other mixers, often including fruit. The definition (Collins Paperback English Dictionary) reads as follows: “an alcoholic drink distilled from malted grain and flavoured juniper berries” (1994: 351). One of the most common drinks is gin mixed with tonic water, but […]
• A chameleonic evolution of a people’s wishes, identity, and aspirations 2024-05-03
  Abstract Highlanders Football Club is the oldest football club in Zimbabwe. The formation of the club is intertwined with the history of the Ndebele nation. The club has changed names in response to various environments over the years, starting from being called Lions Football Club to acquiring its current name. The football club has always […]
• (Un)packaging the “sweetness” in the naming of farms by resettled Black sugarcane farmers in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe 2024-05-03
  Abstract This chapter makes a socio-onomastic analysis of farm naming by resettled “Black” sugarcane farmers in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe. It focuses on the beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme initiated by the government from 2000. The research unravels the motives behind the selection of the names and their significance. This was achieved mostly […]
• University students’ use of language learning strategies in English-medium instruction classes 2024-05-03
  Abstract The last twenty years have seen dramatic growth in the provision of English-medium instruction (EMI) courses at universities. On such courses, many students learn academic content through a language other than their first language (L1). This often poses significant language-related challenges to students which can impede content learning. To cope with the linguistic challenges, […]
• The toponym Bulawayo and ideologies of Ndebele language purism in Zimbabwe 2024-05-03
  Abstract Linguistic and cultural anxieties have characterized the Ndebele language and culture due to the various hegemonies the people have gone through. The Ndebele as a nation were born out of the Mfecane migrations. In their migration up north they encountered various linguo-cultural groups that posed the risk of possible linguistic and cultural attrition. Upon […]
• The dialectics of sport and history 2024-05-03
  Abstract This article explores the link between sport and history. It engages the linguistic landscaping and etymological analysis approaches to trace the origins of the names of stadia and their socio-historical significance. In-depth interviews and document analysis are used in the examination of five names of stadia: Somhlolo National Stadium, Mavuso Trade Centre Stadium, King […]
• Mobile philosophies 2024-05-03
  Abstract Naming is a common practice in all societies. In each society, naming practices follow patterns that are generally predictable within their respective and identifiable feature categories.Names come from different sources and are inspired by the lived experiences of their bestowers. Whilst some names have clear and easily traceable meanings owing to their semantically transparent […]
• Review of Wolff (2019): A history of African linguistics 2024-05-03
• La fractocomposición 2024-05-03
  Resumen La fractocomposición es un proceso de formación de palabras que ha generado diferentes incógnitas y que, generalmente, se ha estudiado desde la afijación o desde la composición culta. Por ello, este trabajo consiste en una aproximación a los fractoconstituyentes y a las construcciones que generan. Así pues, el objetivo principal es analizar las propiedades […]
• Naming and labelling contexts of cultural importance in Africa 2024-05-03
• Named entities, naming practices, and their meanings – linguistic types and cultural contexts 2024-05-03
  Abstract Although names exist in all languages of the world, their formal and functional manifestations show great diversity. Due to their embeddedness in socio-cultural and historical contexts, an anthropological-linguistic approach that brings together linguistic and cultural facts is required to capture the full meaning of names and naming practices. Overall, names are given to entities […]
• Revisiting the aspectual BUSY in (South African) English 2024-05-01
  Abstract This paper investigates the so-called South African English busy progressive (for example, I’m busy working). Linguistic literature on South African English (SAfE) often states that this construction is a typical feature of this variety of English. The use and the frequency of this construction is mostly attributed to the influence of the Afrikaans [BUSYPROG […]
• Review of Steen (2023): Slowing metaphor down: Elaborating Deliberate Metaphor Theory 2024-05-01