This book presents the results of a series of literacy experiments in ten Niger-Congo languages, representing four language families and spanning five countries. It asks the research question, "To what extent does full tone marking contribute to oral reading fluency, comprehension and writing accuracy, and does that contribution vary from language to language?". One of the main findings is that the ethno-literacy profile of the language community and the social profile of the individual are stronger predictors of reading and writing performance than are the linguistic and orthographic profiles of the language. Our data also suggest that full tone marking may be more beneficial for less educated readers and those with less experience of L1 literacy. The book will bring practical help to linguists and literacy specialists in Africa and beyond who are helping to develop orthographies for tone languages. It will also be of interest to cognitive psychologists exploring the reading process, and researchers investigating writing systems.

Typology research is extremely important in both proposing classification frameworks and in promoting the careful investigation and analysis of the core concepts inherent within the classification contrasts employed. More exemplary of the latter aspect, the present collection of papers on the typology of writing systems address a number of significant linguistic and psycholinguistic issues surrounding the classification of writing systems. The seven contributions within this volume, which originally appeared as a special issue of Written Language and Literacy 14:1 (2011), cover a wide variety of issues, ranging from an overview of writing system typology research, comparative graphematics, letter-shape similarities, the morphographic principle, tone orthography typology, measuring graphematic transparency, to unconventional spellings within online chat. Reflecting the growing interest in writing, the book will be of interest to advanced students and researchers working on writing systems, written language, and reading research.

Tone, the use of pitch to provide phonological contrast between morphemes, plays an integral role in the structures of many languages. This book teaches linguists a tried-and-proven methodology for analyzing tone in any part of the world. Significant features: • Delivers the most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to tone analysis for field linguists • Emphasizes the discovery of contrastive tone patterns of morphemes, as opposed to contrastive tones of tone-bearing units • Focuses on keeping constant all factors that can potentially affect tone, so that utterances being compared are truly comparable • Includes a chapter on the phonetic properties of pitch • Presents principles for developing orthographies for tone languages • Includes comprehensive accompanying online exercises* that guide students from beginning to end through a complete analysis of nominal tone in a single language, Chumburung. Assuming little prior knowledge of tone or tone languages, Tone Analysis for Field Linguists is readily accessible to students and field workers alike who have previously taken introductory courses in articulatory phonetics, phonology, and morphology and syntax. *Instructors may access the accompanying online exercises. Register here: https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/toneanalysis_teachermaterials

This volume highlights the shortcomings concerning literacy development in Africa and collates the current available literature based on empirical research in various countries in a coherent manner. Further emphasized is how the current research can guide practical information to improve the literacy situation in Africa. The research studies will encompass various fields such as linguistics, neurosciences, and education and will provide future research directions and instructional recommendations to improve the literacy situation in Africa.

While investigating endangered languages, many researchers become interested in developing literacy for these languages. However, often their linguistic training has not provided practical guidance in this area. This book, with contributions by experienced practitioners, helps fill this gap. Both foundational theory and specific case studies are addressed in this work. Non-linguistic factors are described, particularly sociolinguistic issues that determine acceptability of orthographies. A principled approach to the level of phonological representation for orthographies is proposed, applying recent phonological theory. The thorny issues of how to determine word breaks and how to mark tone in an orthography are explored. "Overly hasty orthographies" and the benefits of allowing time for an orthography to settle are discussed. Principles of the foundational chapters are further exemplified by detailed case studies from Mexico, Peru, California, Nepal, and Southeast Asia, which vividly illustrate the variety of local conditions that must be taken into account. The combination of theoretical and practical makes this book unique. It will benefit those involved in helping establish orthographies for hitherto-unwritten languages, and provide concrete guidance through crucial issues. Michael Cahill (Ph.D. 1999, Ohio State University) developed the Konni orthography in Ghana. He was SIL's International Linguistics Coordinator for eleven years, and is on the LSA's Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation. Keren Rice (Ph.D. 1976, University of Toronto) helped standardize the orthography of Slavey, and has taught on orthography development at InField/CoLang. She was LSA President in 2012 and is currently University Professor at the University of Toronto.

The domain of Communication Disorders has grown exponentially in the last two decades and has come to encompass much more than audiology, speech impediments and early language impairment. The realization that most developmental and learning disorders are language-based or language-related has brought insights from theoretical and empirical linguistics and its clinical applications to the forefront of Communication Disorders science. The current handbook takes an integrated psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, and sociolinguistic perspective on Communication Disorders by targeting the interface between language and cognition as the context for understanding disrupted abilities and behaviors and providing solutions for treatment and therapy. Researchers and practitioners will be able to find in this handbook state-of-the-art information on typical and atypical development of language and communication (dis)abilities across the human lifespan from infancy to the aging brain, covering all major clinical disorders and conditions in various social and communicative contexts, such as spoken and written language and discourse, literacy issues, bilingualism, and socio-economic status.

It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and cultures of the world. It is accessible both to specialists and non-specialists: researchers will find cutting-edge contributions from acknowledged experts in their fields, while students, activists and other interested readers will find a wealth of readable yet thorough and up-to-date information.