Talking in Context

Download or read book Talking in Context written by Anne Marie Goodfellow and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2005-07-20 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Talking in Context demonstrates the importance of cultural contact on the structure of languages and addresses the socio-cultural aspects of indigenous language use in the modern world. Goodfellow's analysis of linguistic data from three generations of Kwak'wala speakers shows that English has greatly influenced grammar and phonology. Even though Kwak'wala is being replaced by English as the language of communication, Goodfellow found that speakers with varying degrees of fluency use the native language tactically to signal Kwak'wala identity and for ceremony.