An ethnographic-folkloristic approach to the study of children's peer group culture is illustrated with a study of children's practice of and lore about the sharing of treats in ritualized exchanges that are a widely recognized feature of Israeli childhood culture. These exchanges are a taken-for-granted part of children's daily experiences yet become the topic of intense gossip and the measure of “character” when the norm of generalized reciprocity which underlies them is breached. The rules of verbal and nonverbal conduct associated with them are formulated, and the social function they play in delineating and reaffirming the boundaries of a child's larger, diffuse affiliative group is discussed. (Ethnography of communication, interaction rituals, exchange, communication competence, peer group culture)

This paper describes the functions of a verbal derivational suffix found in the Ngayarda languages Panyjima, Martuthunira, Yinyjiparnti, and Kurrama. This suffix, which appears at first blush to be an essentially syntactic device very like the reciprocal suffix found in other Australian languages, may be used to indicate the existence of a particular kin relationship between participants involved in the action described by a verb. The paper presents firstly the more general functions of the suffix in the Ngayarda languages and then discusses the use of the suffix to mark kin relationships. It is argued that the general “collective activity” meaning of the suffix has generalised to the marking of certain kin relationships through the recognition that collective activity is a feature of these particular relationships. The successful analysis of the data thus relies on a knowledge of the social uses to which utterances involving the suffix are put. (Anthropological linguistics, sociolinguistics, syntactic theory, cultural anthropology, Australian linguistics)

Many personal names in Temne (a Mel language spoken in Sierra Leone) are borrowed from other languages, and some contain foreign sounds and sequences which are unpronounceable for Temne speakers when they appear in other words. Contrary to what would be expected within a model of borrowing in which foreign sounds and sequences are modified over time to conform with the borrowers' language, the foreign sounds and sequences which occur in Temne names are stable. This paper treats these exceptions to the Temne phonological System as instances of phonological stereotyping – cases in which sounds and sequences, although they may be exceptions to the core phonology of a language, have acquired expressive meaning. (Linguistic borrowing, phonology, personal names, Sierra Leone)

Much of the research concerning “women's language” has focused on differences in pitch and intonation, expressions of uncertainty, and politeness and correctness of form; all predicated on the assumption that women are socially and linguistically conservative and therefore more likely to use standard or prestige forms. This is a study of the derogatory terms (“dirty” words) that women use to refer to men. The frequency and variance of response that results from the study calls into question the assumption that women are more prone to use standard forms of speech, and suggests that the standard/nonstandard distinction is more appropriately applied to the contrast between public versus private discourse than to that of the speech patterns of women versus the language use of men. (Women's language, linguistic taboos, response suppression, prestige forms, public and private discourse)

Most researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).

In a study of evaluations of speech in a Canadian context, it was found that a variety which may be said to possess regional standard status was perceived most favourably on dimensions relating to competence, success, and status when compared to other forms, and as favourably as these other forms in terms of integrity and attractiveness. This is in distinction to typical findings involving a more straightforward dichotomy between standard and nonstandard speech, where the former is usually associated with high status and competence, but tends to be seen less favourably than nonstandard forms on the so-called solidarity dimensions of integrity and attractiveness. An attempt is made to explain these results, to integrate them with the existing literature, and to suggest new studies. (Standard speech, regional varieties, speech evaluation)