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This dissertation is a defence of a logical approach to presupposition. In it (1) I enumerate, by way of apologia, some fundamental assumptions underlying both antagonistic and protagonistic treatments of such an approach, and argue that they are conceptually unnecessary, methodologically untoward, and/or logically contradictory. Most saliently, (a) I demonstrate the conceptual and logical contradiction in the view that presuppositional logic might be compatible with (or even imply) an ambiguity of natural language negation, (b) I provide a critique of the now traditional disassociation of the problems of presupposition-definition and presupposition- projection, (c) I provide a critique of the view that presuppositional logic -might be compatible with (or imply) logical trivalence. (2) In the light of a discussion of the conceptual distinction, I propose logical criteria for the distinction between a three-valued logic and a two-valued logic with truth-value gaps. (3) I demonstrate that, by these criteria, the standard (Strawsonian) Definition of Presupposition (SLDP) induces a trivalent logic. (4) I present a distinct (but comparable) revised logical definition of presupposition (RLDP)showing that it induces a system that conforms to the proposed criteria for a two-valued logic with truth-value gaps. (5) By showing that the several problems associated with the SLDP do not arise (are 'solved') in the framework of the RLDP I show (a) that the problems encountered by the SLDP stem more or less directly from its trivalence and (b) that the facts of presupposition-projection are (and should be) immanent in the concept (and hence the definition) of presupposition itself, rather than represented as properties of logical functors. I also show that the revised definition reveals an unsuspected connection between compound counter-examples and simple counter-examples to the SLDP.

This thesis presents a variationist account of phonological variation and change in the vowel system of Tyneside English. The distributions of the phonetic exponents of five vowel variables are assessed with respect to the social variables sex, age and social class. Using a corpus of conversational and word-list material, for which 32 speakers of Tyneside English were recorded, between 30 and 40 tokens per speaker of the variables (i), (u), (e), (o) and (3) were transcribed impressionistically and subclassified by following phonological context. The results of this analysis are significant on several counts. First, the speakers sampled appear to differentiate themselves within the speech community through the variable use of certain socially marked phonetic variants, which can be correlated with the sex, age and class variables. Secondly, the speakers style shift to a greater or lesser degree according to combinations of the three social factors, such that surface variability is reduced as a function of increased formality. Third, the overall pattern among the sample population seems to be one of increasing uniformity or convergence: it is speculated that social mobility among upper working- and lower-middle class groups may lead to accent levelling, whereby local speech forms are supplanted by supra-local or innovative intermediate ones. That is, the patterns observed here may be indicative of change in progress. Last, a comparison of the results for the (phonologically) paired variables (i u) and (e o) shows a strong tendency for Tyneside speakers to use these 'symmetrically', in that choice of variant in one variable predicts choice of variant in the other. It is suggested that the symmetry in the system is exploited by Tyneside speakers for the purposes of indicating social affiliation and identity, and is in this sense an extra sociolinguistic resource upon which speakers can draw. In addition, the variants of (3) are discussed with reference to the reported merger of this variable with (a); it is suggested that the apparent 'unmerging' of these two classes is unproblematic from a structural point of view, as the putative (3)—(o) merger appears never to have been completed.

This mini-thesis profiles some aspects realted to the accessibility of printed news to first language speakers of Xhosa. The major aim of this thesis is to investigate whether speakers of Xhosa do have access to printed news in English, which is not in their first language. Therefore, this thesis investigates whether African langusge speakers of school leaving age understand hwat they read in English newspapers.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Chicago. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1985. / Bibliography: leaves [269]-275.

Proefschrift--Utrecht. / Published also as Noord- en zuid nederlandsche dialectbibliotheek, deel VI. Bibliographical footnotes.