Epstein, Sam. 2007. Physiological Linguistics, and Some Implications Regarding Disciplinary Autonomy and Unification. Mind and Language 22.1

Abstract
Chomsky’s current Biolinguistic (Minimalist) methodology is shown to comport with what might be called ‘established’ aspects of biological method, thereby raising, in the biolinguistic domain, issues concerning biological autonomy from the physical sciences. At least current irreducibility of biology, including biolinguistics, stems in at least some cases from the very nature of what I will claim is physiological, or inter-organ/inter-component, macro-levels of explanation which play a new and central explanatory role in Chomsky’s inter-componential (interface-based) explanation of certain (anatomical) properties of the syntactic component of Universal Grammar. Under this new mode of explanation, certain physiological functions of cognitive mental organs are hypothesized, in an attempt to explain aspects of their internal anatomy. Thus, the internal anatomy of the syntactic component exhibits features that enable it to effectively interface with (i.e. function in a coordinated fashion with) other ‘adjacent’ organs, such as the Conceptual-Intensional (C-I) (‘meaning’) system and the Sensory- Motor (SM) (‘sound’) system. These two interface systems take as their inputs the assembled outputs of the syntactic component and, as a result of the very syntactic structure imposed by the syntax (as opposed to countless imaginable alternatives) are then able to assign their (linearized) sound and (compositional) meaning interpretations. If this is an accurate characterization, Chomsky’s long-standing postulation of mental organs, and I will argue, the advancement of new hypotheses concerning physiological inter-organ functions, has attained in current biolinguistic Minimalist method a significant unification with foundational aspects of physiological explanation in other areas of biology.

Queen, Robin. 2007. Sociolinguistic Horizons: Language and Sexuality. Language and Linguistics Compass. Vol. 1, June 2007

Note: Language and Linguistics Compass is a new on-line journal from Blackwell. The first issue is available free through Sept. 30, 2007.

Abstract
In this essay, I examine the current state of research on the connections between language and sexuality and argue that the time has arrived for such research to adopt a more vigorous use of the scientific method, which will allow for testing the predictions made by the various theoretical interventions that have been proposed since the 1990s. I begin by outlining the major theoretical debate within the field, namely, the question of the place of social identity within a theory of language and sexuality and then detail several areas and trends in the research, including research focused on lexical and grammatical variation, language and sexual identity, language and heterosexuality, language and eroticism, and finally experimental approaches to language and sexuality. I conclude with a call for more integration of deductive and inductive approaches within the field.

Coetzee, Andries W. and Daan Wissing. 2007. Global and local
durational properties in three varieties of South African English. The
Linguistic Review, 24:263-289.

Abstract
This article investigates the relationship between the global and local durational properties of an utterance. We show that languages that are similar in terms of their global durational properties are also similar in terms of their local durational properties. However, languages that differ globally also differ locally. We illustrate this with three varieties of South African English. We show that South African English L1 and Afrikaans English both pattern with stress-timed languages and both apply phrase-final lengthening. Tswana English, however, patterns with syllable-timed languages, and does not apply phrase-final lengthening.

And about Andries’ co-author
Daan Wissing was my first linguistics professor — from the North-West University in South Africa. I had one semester, similar to our Ling 111, from him when I was an undergrad. Since then, he and I have worked together on several projects. This paper
marks the completion of a project that has been in the making for several
years.

Solé, M. J., Beddor, P. S., Ohala, M. Eds. (2007) Experimental Approaches
to Phonology. Oxford University Press.

Table of contents

From the publisher:
This wide-ranging survey of experimental methods in phonetics and phonology shows the insights and results provided by different methods of investigation, including laboratory-based, statistical, psycholinguistic, computational-modeling, corpus, and field techniques. The five chapters in the first part of the book examine the recent history and interrelations of theory and method. The remaining 18 chapters are organized into parts devoted to four key current areas of research: phonological universals; phonetic variation and phonological change; maintaining, enhancing, and modeling phonological contrasts; and phonological knowledge. The book provides fresh insights into the findings and theoretical advances that emerge from experimental investigation of phonological structure and phonological knowledge, as well as critical perspectives on experimental methods in the perception, production, and modeling of speech.