Latest Content

• Review of He (2025): Weibo News Package: A Systemic Functional Perspective on the Text-Reader Relationship 2026-02-20
• Progress in Colour Studies: Colour Expression and Cognition 2026-02-20
  This volume presents recent research in colour studies with a particular focus on language, offering both continuity and innovation within the field. All chapters are developed from papers first presented at the Progress in Colour Studies 2022 (PICS2022) conference, held at Tallinn University, Estonia. Building on the results of earlier PICS meetings and publications, this […]
• The practice of retranslation in subtitling 2026-02-20
  Abstract This article examines the practice of retranslation within the context of subtitling, an area that has received little attention compared to literary works. Using a corpus of English translations of the French film La Haine, it highlights the complexities of resubtitling due to technical and multimodal constraints, while evaluating how retranslations handle non-standard language […]
• Lyrical code-switching in Malayalam Hip Hop songs 2026-02-20
  Abstract The Malayalam Hip Hop genre of music has experienced an extraordinary surge in popularity in the past decade; a shift in the musical culture in India, particularly Kerala. Malayalam Hip Hop brings forth a heteroglossia in terms of the use of language(s), dialects and the identities indexed. As common in bilingual and multilingual Hip […]
• New insights into nineteenth-century ASL 2026-02-20
  Abstract The study of language change in American Sign Language (ASL) has been constrained by a limited historical record. Here we present five case studies that demonstrate how applying a broad set of historical methods, together with the consultation of underutilized sources of sign data, can shed new light on ASL in the 19th century. […]
• Number agreement in South Iranian Arabic 2026-02-20
  Abstract This paper examines agreement with plural controllers in Gulf Arabic dialects spoken in South Iran through two complementary studies. Results show that the agreement system of Arabic is gradually converging toward the Persian system. However, this shift varies by the sociolinguistic context between the investigated communities. The results highlight the role of contact intensity […]
• Equative and similative constructions in two Walser German linguistic islands of North-Western Italy 2026-02-19
  Abstract Equative and similative constructions have never been investigated in the Germanic varieties spoken in small linguistic islands of the northwestern Italian Alps. They are particularly interesting because of the extended contact situation in which these communities are immersed, regularly using up to four different languages in their repertoire. In the paper, the focus will […]
• Introduction 2026-02-19
• Grammaticalization of kidė as a similative marker in Contemporary Enggano 2026-02-19
  Abstract This paper presents a case study of similatives in Enggano, an Austronesian language spoken in Sumatra, Indonesia. It compares and contrasts the expression of similarity in Old Enggano versus Contemporary Enggano using legacy materials collected in 1930s, and a modern corpus collected since 2018 as part of an ongoing language documentation project. It demonstrates […]
• “Stylish” similatives 2026-02-19
  Abstract In this contribution, we investigate two specific constructions with the lexical item ‘style’ that have developed similative uses. By looking at Russian v stile ‘in the style of’ and Italian (in) stile ‘(in) style’, we claim that the similarity mechanism that underlies these style-noun constructions does not depend on taxonomic relationships (as for type […]
• The syntax of similative clauses 2026-02-19
  Abstract In this contribution, I address the syntax of similative clauses in Germanic. Drawing mostly from English and German, I show that similative clauses pattern with prepositional relative clauses and hence are to be analysed as such. Specifically, I propose that the so-called parameter in similatives corresponds to the head complex of the relative clause […]
• Unsolicited advice in mediatised Chinese New Year celebrations 2026-02-19
  Abstract This study investigates advice-giving during Chinese New Year family celebrations when older relatives tend to provide unsolicited advice for younger family members. First, we consider New Year advice featured in social media recordings through the lens of interaction ritual, using a corpus of TikTok videos. Second, we investigate how older and younger evaluators assess behaviours […]
• Noun-based similarity markers in Serbian 2026-02-19
  Abstract The present study proposes a typology of relatively new similatives in Serbian, derived from nouns and forming part of a nominal phrase in an [NP1 SIM NP2] construction (where SIM stands for ‘similative’). In Serbian, there are two semantic source domains for similatives at issue: taxonomic nouns and manner nouns. The study analyzes six […]
• Genre and style in French 2026-02-19
  Abstract In this paper, we explore whether taxonomic and approximative categorizations can be systematically linked to specific syntactic constructions, following the common assumption that interpretative types correspond to formal structures. To address this question, we examine the roles of two markers — genre and style — in French, focusing particularly on their bare (prepositional) uses. […]
• Marking similarity “in the style of” 2026-02-19
  Abstract This paper compares Czech and Polish prepositional phrases formed with non-taxonomic abstract nouns such as styl ‘style’ or duch ‘spirit’. It analyzes their syntactic functions, surrounding contexts (especially co-occurrence with indefinite pronouns), and semantic-pragmatic extensions, including similarity, exemplification, and quotative uses. While Polish shows broad grammaticalization (of variable advancement) of both taxonomic and non-taxonomic […]
• Sound changes are selected by a bias against morphotactic ambiguity 2026-02-19
  Abstract This paper hypothesises that there is a universal cognitively and semiotically grounded preference for word-form shapes that signal the morphotactic structure of the word forms they represent. By exploring three historical changes in English, we demonstrate how such a bias might plausibly constrain the actuation and implementation of sound changes. The changes we discuss […]
• Multilingual awareness as key factor in multilingual learning and teaching 2026-02-19
  Abstract In research on third language acquisition and multilingualism metalinguistic awareness has been discussed in a number of studies as a cognitive advantage. The domains of the multilingual system in which metalinguistic ability and awareness play a crucial role are linguistic development in general, the development of cognitive, metacognitive and information-processing abilities and literacy skills. […]
• ‘Wellness’ equatives and their extensions in English as well as in Dutch and German 2026-02-19
  Abstract This is a study of English (just) as well (as) and as good (as) constructions and their counterparts in Dutch and German. These constructions can express an equative meaning, which is the oldest meaning, as well as ‘extended’ meanings, like coordination, with as well as functioning like the coordinator and, or approximation, with as […]
• On the similative uses of esprit and dukh in French and Russian 2026-02-19
  Abstract This paper examines the similative uses of the French esprit and the Russian dukh within the constructivist framework of the Culiolian school. Building on their etymology, morphological bases, and authentic corpus uses, we identify the parameters that constitute their core semantics and the principles of their variation. In similative constructions, esprit appears as an […]
• The complementary contributions of oral and written modalities to the development of verbal morphology 2026-02-17
  Abstract In this study, we longitudinally investigate the use of verbal and morphological means to narrate past and present events. We compare oral and written personal narratives from two Syrian learners of L2 French (one beginner and one intermediate) across three data collection points over seven months. By analysing all verbal constructions in relation to […]