摘要:

ABSTRACTModern Icelandic presents phonological oppositions between two series of stop consonants and two series of vowels. Unlike in Old Icelandic, these are not phonetically characterized by voice in the former case or length in the latter, and the modern distinguishing features have commonly been described in both cases as ‘tenseness’ (versus ‘laxness’). There has, however, been no adequate definition of this feature, and the distinctions involved are fully describable in terms of various more traditional and observable processes. There is in fact no one feature common to the consonantal and vocalic oppositions in question; and even within each of these some problems arise when one attempts to find a single defining criterion. Various possible solutions are examined and evaluated. Some consideration is also given to the relevant historical and dialectal dim

ISSN:0079-1636    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1995.tb00434.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

ABSTRACTWe set out to establish the ‘basic’ colour term inventory of Catalan, and to see if the inventory was consistent with Berlin and Kay's theory of colour universals. Pilot work had indicated that, like Russian, Catalan might have more than the maximum eleven ‘permissible’ basic colour terms allowed by Berlin and Kay's theory, and have more than one basic term for blue. A sample of adults and a sample of children performed a colour list task (in which they were asked to give as many colour terms as they knew) and a colour naming task. The list task provided a general indication of the likely basic colour terms, and the naming task indicated the referents of these terms. The results show that Catalan is best described as a standard stage seven Berlin and Kay language with just eleven basic colour terms. However, it has more than one salient term in the blue region and these correspond to the exceptional blue terms of Russian. Furthermore, whilst Catalan has a basic term for purple, its focus is unusually displaced from Berlin and Kay's ‘universal’ focus for purple, and this may be related to the way in which Catalan segments the

ISSN:0079-1636    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1995.tb00435.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

ABSTRACTThe decline of many European languages is related to their marginalization by recent sociopolitical developments: modernization, centralization, industrialization; but in the case of Celtic Breton it is also linked to long‐standing isolation. The concepts ofcodificationandstandardizationare separable. Breton, in spite of a fine literature, has, through lack of prestige and of public presence, dialectal fragmentation, the ‘mentalities forged by history’ (Hagège 1987:198), and dissension among speakers, never achieved real standardization. It is feared that current support may be too late, though the untiring efforts being made by activists give cause fo

ISSN:0079-1636    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-968X.1995.tb00436.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY