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Linguistic Distance (linguistic + distance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

The Effect of Linguistic Distance and Country of Origin on Immigrant Language Skills: Application to Israel

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2001
Michael Beenstock
This article is concerned with identifying, for the first time, the separate effects of linguistic distance (language of origin) and country of origin on the destination language proficiency of immigrants. The determinants of Hebrew language proficiency (fluency and literacy) among immigrants in Israel are studied using the 1972 Census of Israel and the Immigration Absorption (panel) Surveys conducted in the 1970s. Country of origin and language of origin matter for proficiency in Hebrew, especially in the longer term. By country of origin, those from North Africa are the least proficient. By language of origin, Arabic speakers are the most proficient, suggesting a small linguistic distance from Hebrew. Immigrants from English-speaking origins are the least proficient in Hebrew. This may reflect a large linguistic distance or, more likely, the unique role of English as the international language, which reduces incentives for investments in Hebrew. Immigrants from dual-language countries of origin are more proficient in Hebrew than those from single language origins. [source]

Orthographic transcriptions of non-standard varieties: The case of Earlier African-American English

JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 4 2000
Ulrich Miethaner
This study covers an area of sociolinguistic methodology which so far has received relatively little theoretical attention: the composition and analysis of orthographic transcriptions of non-standard speech. The following aspects will be addressed: first, the linguistic/semiotic properties of orthographic transcriptions, i.e. the relationship between graphemic representation and phonology, morphology and syntax. Secondly, the different functions of orthographic writing and its ,ideological' (popular and linguistic) dimensions (e.g. social stereotypes, linguistic distance). The discussion of these in a database of sample transcriptions of earlier African-American English illustrates that the interplay between the functional, linguistic and ideological dimensions of orthographic transcripts is highly complex, and that their analysis and interpretation have implications for (socio)linguistic methodology in general. [source]