Journal of Universal Language

About Journal of Universal Language

The Journal of Universal Language is an international research journal and it is published by the Language Research Institute at Sejong University biannually. The Journal of Universal Language is concerned with artificial languages, universality in language, typology, and communication & culture in language usage. The journal also publishes interdisciplinary contributions written with applied linguists in mind, observation concerning official language. Following the May 1996 inaugural issue of the journal, the second issue was published in May 2001. Since then the journal has been published biannually. The journal index includes KCI, EBSCO, MLA, Linguistics Abstracts Online, BRILL, DBpia, and Google Scholar. The spring and autumn editions are published respectively on March 31 and September 30. Manuscripts submissions are accepted year round.
About Language Research Institute, Sejong University

The Language Research Institute at Sejong University was founded for theoretical and practical research on various modes of language usage as well as to provide a forum for discussions on the nature of language. The institute is particularly interested in the development of a universal language and its related fields. The institute also offers an opportunity for the exchange of ideas between researchers of various view points by holding seminars on language-related areas including general linguistics, artificial languages, and universality in language.
Article

Sep 30, 2021

Segmental Features of Hong Kong English: A Contrastive Approach Study

Ka Long Roy Chan, Nok Chin Lydia Chan

Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):1-44.
https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.1

The current study employs a contrastive approach to analyze five consonantal features (TH stopping/ fronting, L vocalization, [n, l]/[s, ʃ] conflation, /r/, /v/, /w/ substitution and consonant cluster modification [CCM]) of Hong Kong English (HKE) from 37 online sound clips from 29 speakers. Compared to the traditional contrastive approach, the current study uses a world Englishes paradigm to analyze the data, which aligns more with the recent movement of world Englishes. The result shows that all the five features exist in the corpus; howev...
Article

Sep 30, 2021

A Radical Substance-Free Phonology of Logoori

David Odden

Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):45-86.
https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.45

This paper analyzes Logoori segmental phonology in Radical Substance Free Phonology, a theory of features where Universal Grammar only provides the abstract computational framework for writing rules, fixing the structural nature of a phonological representation in language (a sequence of nodes and relations) and defining the form of computations. Substantive content such as “labial” and “voiced” are not part of UG, instead the features classifying segments in a language are learned inductively from how they behave in defining segment cl...
Article

Sep 30, 2021

The Necessity of Minimal Representation of Genericity in a Newly Developed Language, Unish

Sunyoung Park

Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):87-104.
https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.87

The current study compares generic representations in different languages including English and Korean. It reviews important universal concepts of genericity denotation in languages and compares how genericity is realized in different languages. By comparing different genericity representations in different languages, the current study predicts possible acquisition difficulties. It also suggests difficulties of acquiring English article systems are also caused by the complex nature of article uses. Particularly, using a large corpus data (ICNAL...
Article

Sep 30, 2021

Segmental Adaptation of French Loans in the Vietnamese Language: The Use of Optimality-Theory

Nguyen Huynh Trang

Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):105-143.
https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.105

The area of Vietnamese French loanword phonology has received little attention in the field of research. Therefore, this paper aimed at examining the Vietnamese loanword phonology with a special emphasis on the segmental adaptation of French loans into the Vietnamese language. Specifically, using the Optimality-Theoretic framework, the study showed a comprehensive account of consonant and vowel changes when the Vietnamese consonants and vowels were adapted. The repair strategies used to accommodate the loans vary from deletion to assimilation/s...
Article

Sep 30, 2021

The Pragmatic Functions of Some Morphological Structures in Nzema Proverbs

Mohammed Yakub, Yvonne A. A. Ollennu, Cephas Delalorm

Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):145-180.
https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.145

The paper examines some morphological processes in the syntactic structure of proverbs in Nzema, a Kwa language spoken predominantly in the South-west part of the Western Region of Ghana, West Africa. The paper focuses on the pragmatic imports of such word formation processes in relation to how they contribute significantly to the understanding of the proverbs. The paper shows the prevalence of word formation processes, such as reduplication, inflections, derivations, lexical borrowing, and compounding in the construction of Nzema proverbs, whi...

CURRENT ISSUE: Sep 2021, Vol. 22 , No. 2

Article Segmental Features of Hong Kong English: A Contrastive Approach Study Ka Long Roy Chan, Nok Chin Lydia Chan Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):1-44. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.1 HTML PDF PubReader	Article A Radical Substance-Free Phonology of Logoori David Odden Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):45-86. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.45 HTML PDF PubReader
Article The Necessity of Minimal Representation of Genericity in a Newly Developed Language, Unish Sunyoung Park Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):87-104. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.87 HTML PDF PubReader	Article Segmental Adaptation of French Loans in the Vietnamese Language: The Use of Optimality-Theory Nguyen Huynh Trang Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):105-143. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.105 HTML PDF PubReader
Article The Pragmatic Functions of Some Morphological Structures in Nzema Proverbs Mohammed Yakub, Yvonne A. A. Ollennu, Cephas Delalorm Journal of Universal Language 2021;22(2):145-180. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2021.22.2.145 HTML PDF PubReader

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Article The European Union’s Need for an International Auxiliary Language Federico Gobbo Journal of Universal Language 2005;6(1):1-28. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2005.6.1.1 HTML PDF PubReader Cited by 10	Article The Fall and Rise of Universals on Relativization Mark De Vries Journal of Universal Language 2005;6(1):125-157. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2005.6.1.125 HTML PDF PubReader Cited by 8
Article A Comparison of Unish Grammar with Esperanto Dong-Young Lee Journal of Universal Language 2002;3(2):57-74. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2002.3.2.57 HTML PDF PubReader Cited by 7	Article Subject–verb Inversion in Greek: Implications for Head Movement and Typology George Kotzoglou Journal of Universal Language 2006;7(1):91-137. https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2006.7.1.91 HTML PDF PubReader Cited by 7
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