With a particular focus on the morphosyntactic features of second language, this book discusses the idea that language acquisition is a discontinuous and 'quantized' process and thus that some items might be learned twice, statistically and grammatically. It argues that the switch from one way of learning to another is statistically-driven and grammatically motivated. The volume brings together and discusses insights and evidence from learner corpora analysis and electrophysiological data in an attempt to provide the reader with a unified outlook and it suggests a new, developmentally-oriented interpretation of findings.
This volume is a state-of-the-art survey of research on the languages of South Asia, with contributions by well-known experts. It covers the languages, their histories and classification; contact and convergence; phonetics/phonology, morphology, and syntax; sociolinguistics; indigenous grammatical traditions; applications of modern technology to South Asian languages; and South Asian writing systems. An appendix lists major sources and resources.
No mere history of applied linguistics, this volume presents a framework for interpreting the development of applied linguistics as a discipline. It offers a systematic account of how applied linguistics has developed, articulating the philosophical premises that have informed both its emergence and its subsequent growth. It asks questions that are seldom asked: Where does the discipline derive from? Where is it heading? What directions has it already taken? Which direction should it embrace in future? What is the relative worth of all of the variation in design and methods that have been developed by applied linguists?
This book explores a key issue in linguistic theory, the systematic variation in form between semantic equivalents across languages. Two contrasting views of the role of lexical meaning in the analysis of such variation can be found in the literature: (i) uniformity, whereby lexical meaning is universal, and variation arises from idiosyncratic differences in the inventory and phonological shape of language-particular functional material, and (ii) transparency, whereby systematic variation in form arises from systematic variation in the meaning of basic lexical items.
This volume includes selected contributions from the 2nd International TRANSLATA Conference on translation theory and general issues in Translation Studies. The contributors focus also on the relationship between translation theory and translation practice, as well as professional aspects in translation and interpreting.
