Linguistic Typology Research Articles

Language combinations of multilinguals are reflected in their first-language knowledge and processing

Consequences of multilingualism vary from offering cognitive benefits to poor educational and cognitive outcomes. One aspect of multilingualism that has not been systematically examined is the typology of multilinguals' languages: Do differences and similarities between languages multilinguals are exposed to contribute to the development of their cognition and brain? We investigated n = 162 5–6-year-olds with various language backgrounds on a monolingual-to-quintilingual continuum. Our results show that typological linguistic diversity can be related to expressive vocabulary knowledge in the dominant language. On neural level, it relates to brain activation patterns in (among others) the PGa area in the bilateral IPL, a brain region previously associated with multilingual experience, but never with language typology. We propose an ecologically valid way of describing the continuum of multilingual language experience and provide evidence for both the cognition and the brain of multilingual kindergartners to be related to the typological linguistic diversity of their environment.

Factors Affecting Nonnative Consonant Cluster Learning.

Nonnative consonant cluster learning has become a useful experimental approach for learning about speech motor learning, and we sought to enhance our understanding of this area and to establish best practices for this type of research. One hundred twenty individuals completed a nonnative consonant cluster learning task within a speech motor learning paradigm. Following a brief prepractice, participants then practiced the production of eight word-initial nonnative consonant clusters embedded in bisyllabic nonwords (e.g., GD in /gdivu/). The clusters ranged in difficulty according to linguistic typology and sonority sequencing. Acquisition was operationalized as the change across the practice section and learning was assessed with two retention sessions (R1: 30 min after practice; R2: 2 days after practice). We evaluated changes in accuracy as well as in the acoustic details of the cluster production at each time point. Overall, participants improved in their production of the consonant clusters. Accuracy increased, and duration measures decreased in specific measures associated with cluster production. The change in coordination measured in the acoustics changed both for clusters that were incorrectly produced and for those that were correctly produced, indicating continued motor learning even in accurate tokens. These results aid our understanding of the complexity of nonnative consonant cluster learning. In particular, both factors related to both phonological and speech motor control properties affect the learning of novel speech sequences. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21844185.

Hjelmslev, a forerunner of the semantic maps method in linguistic typology?

ABSTRACT In this paper, we show that Hjelmslev’s approach to language description and crosslinguistic comparison, on the one hand, and the semantic maps model used in linguistic typology, on the other, differ significantly. Although Hjelmslev paved the way for employing graphic representations as a means to show how each language of the world subdivides the semantic continuum in its own way, he can hardly be considered as a forerunner of the semantic maps tradition. In a nutshell, Hjelmslev’s schemas are meant to compare the specific organisation of individual linguistic systems, but the semantic maps method aims at unveiling semantic regularities across languages. The former targets the particular ‘grid’ imposed by each language on a given semantic space, but the latter abstracts away from specific linguistic systems and posits universal atoms of sense that can be organised in cross-linguistically valid networks.

The (re)making of an African language: Revisiting epistemologies for quality assessment practices

It is a well-established fact that languages of the world have different typological parameters despite their universality in key structures. These different typologies predict various ways of knowing, teaching and assessing. Despite the plethora of knowledge systems available in linguistics and educational research worldwide, African languages of Bantu origin have been residually neglected and versioned from Germanic languages for curriculum development, teaching and assessment. In this paper, we review key tenets of indigenous African languages and examine how these parameters have not been considered in assessment regimes broadly. We use this analysis to gauge the extent to which mother tongue-speaking learners of these languages may have experienced a disproportional disadvantage over the years and explore the challenges that were experienced in the assessment ecosystem conducted by Umalusi, as the quality assurer of assessment in national examinations. Applying deconstruction as a decolonial tool and indigenous African knowledge systems, we argue that linguistic typologies and underpinned epistemologies need to be key drivers in designing assessment taxonomies. We then present a model that offers assessment bodies alternative ways aligned with the ways of being, acting and knowing based on the nature of African languages. In the end, we offer useful recommendations for further research and a practical assessment practices modality for African languages.

ЛІНГВІСТИЧНА ТИПОЛОГІЯ ЯК ОСОБЛИВИЙ ВИД СИСТЕМАТИЗАЦІЇ МОВ

Linguistic typology, as one of the main areas of language analysis, is focused on the study of the structural and functional features of at least two languages, regardless of the presence/absence of genetic kinship between them. This is one of the essential criteria that distinguish linguistic typology from comparative-historical studies in ontological and epistemological terms, that is, each of these directions has its own, clearly defined subject, principles and methods of research. Linguistic typology is capable of covering a wider range of general regularities and phenomena that are common to each of the compared languages. At the same time, the identified isomorphic features can be considered as general typological regularities inherent in the structure of the language, and not only as classification features. That is, at this level of analysis of linguistic units, the process of synthesis takes place during the study of the organization and classification of sound, word, sentence, and suprasyntactic units. Genealogical, typological and territorial are considered to be the current directions of systematization of languages in linguistics. Each of the directions is characterized by its own approaches, methods and research criteria in language research. The genealogical approach involves taking into account historical factors, thanks to which it is possible to identify family ties between the languages under analysis. The typological approach makes it possible to classify languages by linguistic type, according to the taxonomic criteria of structural relatedness or non-relatedness, similarity or dissimilarity, presence or absence of similar features between languages, regardless of their historical origin, territorial distribution and close or distant geographical location. In addition, linguistic typology deals with the study of type in language, language universals, isomorphism, amorphousness, allomorphism in language. The territorial approach to classification takes into account the principle of areal research, the purpose of which is to study languages that have been in close contact for a long time and even came under the influence of language convergence.

WH & SELF: ON CORRELATING WH-CONDITIONALS AND REFLEXIVE DOUBLING

Chinese wh-conditionals hold a very special status in linguistic typology. Cheng and Huang (1996) argues that the construction can be properly analyzed by treating a pair of identical wh-expressions as syntactic variables unselectively bound by an implicit necessity operator. Over the years, this line of thinking has been challenged by various proposals based on the comparison with indefinites, correlatives, E-type pronouns and questions. This Insight article argues for the unselective binding approach to this particular type of donkey sentences by alluding to quantificational reflexive doubling. Our findings not only lend support to the idea that an operator-variable pair is built on a sentential scale in Chinese, but also call for a fine-grained syntax and semantics of the typological correlations between reflexives and wh-in-situ.

Linguocultural study of anthroponyms in irrelative languages (on the material of English and Uzbek epics)

The article analyzes some of historian anthroponyms taken from Uzbek and English epics from linguocultural viewpoint. The aim of the research is to investigate linguocultural peculiarities of English and Uzbek anthroponyms in some epics and reason of using them paying attention to the national and cultural matters. Methods of the research: descriptive method, comparative analysis, cognitive –conceptual analysis, linguo-cultural analysis. The scientific novelty of the dissertation is explained by the following. Linguocultural analysis of anthroponyms in dictionaries, novels, short stories has been studied by linguists in almost all languages. Of course, linguists who interested in personal names have not overlooked folklore also, for example, we can find a linguocultural analysis of anthroponyms used in proverbs, idioms, and phrases, but the analysis of anthroponyms in epics comparing with irrelative languages is always neglected.The practical value of the work is in the fact that its materials, results and conclusion can be helpful for the teachers, students of the English philology in teaching and learning the courses like practical and written English, comparative typology of English and Uzbek languages,linguoculturology, lexicology of the English and Uzbek languages, translation and so on.

Диалог лингвистики и поэтического авангарда в России в 1920—1930-е годы: эксперименты с универсальным языком

The article explores the concept of a ‘universal language’, which was prevalent in both linguistics and the poetic Avant-garde in Russia during the 1910s-1920s. This period was marked by socio-political reforms that led to new realities and concepts. As a result, societies studying international languages, such as Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua, and Novial, were formed, and many scholars including Jakob Linzbach, Nikolay Yushmanov, and Evgeny Shmurlo attempted to create new international languages while systematizing and building a typology of universal languages. Of particular interest among the Avant-garde concepts is the ‘cosmic language of AO’ by the Gordin brothers, which builds on Khlebnikov’s ‘star lan­gua­ge tradition but aims for cognitive and linguo-social changes. The article compares the scien­tific and poetic universal languages and concludes that there is a pervasive tendency to­wards linguistic experimentation.

Attention to Manner of Motion in Arabic Novels: A Diachronic Study

The objective of this work is to conduct a corpus-based diachronic investigation of lexicalization patterns of motion events as well as attention to manner of motion in Arabic narrative writing. Motivated by the scarcity of research on Arabic motion events, this study aims to identify the main linguistic constructions used to express motion events in Arabic novels and more importantly to investigate whether a shift in manner of motion salience has taken place in the last hundred years. The study draws on Talmy’s framework of satellite-framed versus verb-framed typology of languages and makes use of two literary corpora. Main findings include the identification of six major constructions of motion events and show that while novelists in both time periods make use of similar linguistic constructions, there seems to be a significant shift towards more manner salience in contemporary Arabic novels. This increased attention is reflected in less use of the default manner-of-motion verb, walk, in favour of more expressive manner verbs, a stronger tendency to manner modification with walk and non-manner verbs, and a significantly heavier use of non-verbal modifiers.

Культура жизнеобеспечения и язык хантов: прагматика, синтактика, образность

The article is devoted to one aspect of the linguistic justification of the connection between language and culture: the identification in the lexicon, syntactic models and figurative schemes of the language of units with a figurative and potential conceptual meaning. The presentation is based on the analysis of the material of the Khanty language, for comparison, data from the Russian and Khakass languages are used. From the standpoint of linguistic typology, common words denoting geographical objects, certain categories of earth names, the names of the most common representatives of the fauna, as well as words that make up the core of the vocabulary of economic activity are considered. As sources of illustrative material, samples of colloquial speech, proverbs and aphorisms of the Khanty people, works of art in the Khanty language are used. The empirical basis of the study was the author’s records of the Khanty spoken language, dictionaries of the Khanty language, a collection of Khanty proverbs, sayings and aphorisms. As a result of the study, the range of the most indicative words and idioms of the Khanty language with a distinct cognitive, pragmatic, worldview basis is outlined. The methods used are the method of typological interpretation of lexical material and the descriptive method. When analyzing the semantics of lexical units, special attention is paid to the identification of regular idioms: it is the combination reserve that is the basis for the development of further connotations, the logical conclusion of which is the participation of certain words in idioms. Analysis of language material at the specified angle of view makes it possible to identify distinctive cognitive and communicative-pragmatic features of the language. The conclusion that natural language provides its speakers with the richest tools for expressing all possible, any thoughts is also natural.

Марийский язык в памятниках письменности: новые интерпретации и реконструкции Рецензия на книгу: Сергеев О. А. Язык памятников письменности марийского языка (конец XVII – XVIII вв.). Йошкар-Ола: МарНИИЯЛИ, 2021. 422 с.

The paper presents a review of one of the latest monographs of O. A. Sergeev. The work under consideration describes a wide range of linguistic phenomena reflected in the monuments of the written Mari language of the late 17th and 18th centuries. Special attention is paid to identifying all existing monuments of writing of that period, in which the Mari words and coherent texts are recorded. A detailed and holistic description of the chronologically earliest written monuments is presented, supplemented by a historical-linguistic and paleographic interpretation of lexical materials that are of particular interest for linguistic typology and objective reconstruction of the history of the Mari language. Every description of the phenomenon is followed by an extensive illustrative material. This review provides a brief summary of every chapter, highlighting the dominant topics that are of special significance not only for Mari linguistics but also for Finno-Ugric linguistics.

EL ESPAÑOL Y EL UCRANIANO COMO DOS LENGUAS PROVENIENTES DE LA ÚNICA FUENTE LINGÚÍSTICA PROTOINDOEUROPEA: ENFOQUESTIPOLÓGICO YSOCIOLINGÜÍSTICO

The article examines the Spanish and Ukrainian languages in a comparative aspect. An attempt is made to consider these languages in terms of their origin and the possibility of multiple comparison. Is proposed a comprehensive research method based on the symbiosis of historical, typological, taxonomic, semantic and pragmatic approaches. In contemporary linguistics, there are a number of general linguistic techniques and methods for comparing linguistic structures. Today, linguists are expanding the scope of comparative research. Lately they resort to the discursive aspect, which makes it possible to carry out comparative linguistic analysis at the communicative, pragmatic, cognitive, linguo-cultural and linguo-ethnic levels. The comparative method verifies the value and continuous development of modern research of Ukrainian scientists in the field of linguistics, which, without a doubt, will contribute to the intensification of the process of learning foreign languages and the improvement of the training of translators highly rated. The use of the comparative taxonomic research method allows us to carry out an analysis of multiple aspects at any language level and find isomorphic nuances of the functional-semantic and structural level when comparing linguistic phenomena in two or more languages at both levels, whether synchronic or diachronic. Currently, genealogical, typological and territorial areas are considered the current areas of language systematization. Each of the directions is characterized by its own approaches, methods and criteria of discursive research. Thus, the genealogical approach involves taking into account historical factors, thanks to which it is possible to identify family links between the analyzed languages. The typological approach allows, in turn, to classify languages, according to linguistic type, according to the taxonomic criteria of structural kinship or non-kinship. Furthermore, linguistic typology deals with the study of type, universals, isomorphism and allomorphism in language. And finally, the territorial approach to the classification takes into account the principle of regional research, the aim of which is to study languages that have been in close contact for a long time and even under the influence of linguistic convergence.

중국어와 일본어의 상대절 마커의 특성 및 관련 통사론적 문제에 관한 연구 - 언어 유형학의 관점에서 -

본 연구의 목적은 언어유형학의 시야에 있다 다음은 중국어 일본어 관계절의 표기 유형, 출현 위치 및 표기 기능의 유사점과 차이점을 비교하고 관계절의 표기에 따른 구문 및 의미론적 문제를 논의한다. 현대 일본어는 연체형을 관계절의 표기로 하고, 중국어는 구조조사 "의"로 한다. 일본어 관계절은 속격 등 명사 수식어의 표기와는 달리 언어 공통성에 더 부합하며, 중국어의 경우 명사·대명사·관계절에 상관없이 명사를 수식하기 위해 통일된 표기를 사용하는 경우는 흔치 않다. 관계절 표기의 기능과 관련하여 중·일 양 언어의 관계절 표기는 모두 중심어가 절 서술어에서 작용하는 구문 성분을 나타내는 데 사용할 수 없지만, 일본어 관계절 표기는 관계절 표기를 표시하는 것 외에도 시체를 나타내는 데 사용되며 중국어 관계절 표기의 기능은 비교적 단순하다. 중·일 양 언어 관계절 표기에도 공통성이 있다. 중국어·일본어의 관계절은 모두 중심어 앞에 위치하기 때문에 표기가 중심어와 관계절 서술어 사이의 구문 관계를 식별할 수 없기 때문에 관계절의 관할을 결정할 수 없고 동위 어절과 동일한 구조를 채택하는 등의 문제가 발생한다. The purpose of this study is to compare the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese relative clauses in terms of the types, positions and functions of markers, and to explore the syntactic and semantic issues arising from the markers of relative clauses in the context of linguistic typology. In modern Japanese, the marker of the relative clause is the conjunctive form, while in Chinese, it is the structural auxiliary "de". In Japanese, the marker for the relative clause is different from that for noun modifiers such as the genitive case, which is more in line with linguistic commonality; in Chinese, the marker "de" is used uniformly for nouns, pronouns, and relative clauses to modify nouns, which is not uncommon in such languages. In terms of the function of relative clause markers, both Chinese and Japanese relative clause markers cannot be used to indicate the syntactic component of the central clause in the subordinate predicate, but Japanese relative clause markers are used to indicate the tense and aspect in addition to the relative clause, while Chinese relative clause markers have a single function. There are also commonalities between Chinese and Japanese in relative clause markers. Since the markers are located in front of the central clause, they cannot identify the syntactic relationship between the central clause and the predicate of the relative clause, which makes it impossible to determine the domain of the relative clause and adopt the same structure as the appositive clause, etc.

ТЕТЯНА БОРИСІВНА ЛУКІНОВА — ВІДОМА УКРАЇНСЬКА СЛАВІСТКА

The article describes the life path and stages of scientific growth of T. B. Lukinova as a linguist, as well as her contribution to the development of modern Ukrainian linguistics. The range of scientific interests of the researcher has been analyzed: problems of Slavic vocabulary and word formation, issues of comparative and historical Slavic linguistics, historical typology of the Slavic languages, etymology, reconstruction of the spiritual culture of ancient Slavs based on the vocabulary of Slavic languages, etc. Special attention is paid to the most significant achievements of T. B. Lukinova in the Slavic field, in particular, to her study of the genesis and evolution of quantitative names in Slavic languages in a comparative historical aspect and her monograph on the history of Ukrainian studies in Slavic linguistics of the last half of the 20th — the early 21st century. The scientific validity of the Ukrainian researcher’s monograph, devoted to the issues of origin and historical development of numerals in Slavic languages, semantics and derivational possibilities and relationships of ancient number designations, has been assessed. The great theoretical and practical scientific value of the researcher’s work related to the ways of development of Ukrainian linguistic Slavic studies, Slavic scientific schools and centers of Slavic studies in Ukraine, International Congresses of Slavists, scientific personalities is substantiated. The scientific importance of the creative work of T. B. Lukinova has been considered, its influence on the development of Ukrainian linguistics at the beginning of the 21st century, as well as the significance of the Ukrainian linguist’s scientific research for the sciences related to linguistics. This investigation is characterized by a qualified approach and logical analysis of linguistic phenomena: numerical formations of an adjectival nature, formations of a noun nature and numerals derived from word combinations are consistently and in detail analyzed. The category of quantity is characterized as a manifestation of one of the most fundamental features of existence, and the system of numerals in its modern configuration is presented in the context of the evolution of the modern civilization’s spiritual culture. The great scientific, theoretical and practical value of the researcher’s work “Essays on the History of Slavic Studies in Ukraine”, related to the ways of development of Ukrainian linguistic Slavic Studies, Slavic scientific schools and centers of Slavic Studies in Ukraine, International Congresses of Slavic Studies, scientific personalities, is substantiated. The mentioned monograph filled a noticeable lacuna in modern Ukrainian Slavic studies.

Linguistic Typology in Motion Events: Expression of Motion Events in Translated Versions of Turkish and English Novels

Linguistic Typology in Motion Events: Expression of Motion Events in Translated Versions of Turkish and English Novels

Towards robust complexity indices in linguistic typology

Abstract There is high hope that corpus-based approaches to language complexity will contribute to explaining linguistic diversity. Several complexity indices have consequently been proposed to compare different aspects among languages, especially in phonology and morphology. However, their robustness against changes in corpus size and content hasn’t been systematically assessed, thus impeding comparability between studies. Here, we systematically test the robustness of four complexity indices estimated from raw texts and either routinely utilized in crosslinguistic studies (Type-Token Ratio and word-level Entropy) or more recently proposed (Word Information Density and Lexical Diversity). Our results on 47 languages strongly suggest that traditional indices are more prone to fluctuation than the newer ones. Additionally, we confirm with Word Information Density the existence of a cross-linguistic trade-off between word-internal and across-word distributions of information. Finally, we implement a proof of concept suggesting that modern deep-learning language models can improve the comparability across languages with non-parallel datasets.

ქართველურ ენათა ლინგვისტური ანოტაცია: I. სახელები (პრობლემები და მათი გადაჭრის გზები)

The international standards of morphemic analysis of texts have outlined completely new prospects of research for the languages with rich morphological structurebecause typological linguistics systematizes and classifies language facts and phenomena based on the structural content and the number of structural markers. The unity of these markers is relevant for the definition of the essence of language as such, the very phenomenon of language. Morphologically, of great interest with regard to any language are the noun and the verb, because they are structural units of ample syntagmatic data. This proves the importance of the outcomes of morphemic analysis, as well as the vast grammatical capacity of these parts of speech. Kartvelian languages embrace the empirical material of four languages (Georgian, Megrelian, Laz and Svan) with diverse and multifunctional morphemic data. Their systemic research is urgent, important and vital for the definition of the typology of Kartvelian languages as well as for the general typological research. Modern challenges have created the need for the new,reliable and knowledge-based research product that will meet contemporary international standards. Linguistic morphological analysis is carried out based on the synchronic data. Due to the morphonological changes peculiar of nominal stems, we should take into account the diachronic-etymological factors in order to identify the original forms and meanings of words. The problems of linguistic annotation of the nominal parts of speech in Kartvelian languages are analyzed based on the grammatical categories of case and number:The issues of segmentation and qualification of the nominal parts of speech with postpositions are discussed with reference to all the four Kartvelian languages.In Megrelian and Laz, especially in Megrelian, the definition-identification of the nominal stem is specific with regard to the following:a. The former genitive cases (secondary cases).b. Due to the phonetic insertion in the singular and plural forms (the insertion that separates consonants or vowels).c. Due to the phonetic transformation of the stem and the case-marker.d. Due to the changes in some case-markers caused by phonetic rules.In Megrelian anthroponyms (maiden names) a gender suffix -ხე /xe/ is usually found.It is traditionally considered that Svan nouns are more complex than Svan verbs. This opinion is based on the existence of two/three stems in the Svan declension system and the existence of double declension paradigm. The empirical material is diverse, taking into account the dialectal data as well. Out of Kartvelian languages, only Svan has the so-called “prepositional-postpositional“ cases. Such forms express semantic nuances, and, in this, they are close to double local cases found in the highland dialects of the Svan language. The lexical-grammatical patterns denoting names of clans-families are also extremely diverse in the Svan langauge.In the process of annotation (segmentation-marking) of the nominal lexemes, alongside with formal data, we should take into account the semantic peculiarities. Besides, description-qualification of the formal mechanisms of nominal parts of speech will be complete and accurateonly if it reflects the outcomes of the phonetic transformation of forms. Annotation, including morphological annotation, is conventional (achieved on the basis of agreement). However, the theoretical foundation should be consistent, especially in condition of diverse opinions.

THE TYPOLOGY OF QUANTITATIVE QUALIFIERS MARKING “MULTIPLE, EXCESSIVE, EXTREME” IN OLD TURKIC

Adjectives and adverbs, which are responsible for qualifying nouns, nouns and verbs according to the common and classical grammatical approach, are units that characterize these word categories from a wide variety of aspects. The fact that the same lexical units qualify both nouns and denominal words and verbs is related to their syntactic duties. In this respect, the units in the category with available functions are called “qualifiers”. Considering that the most convenient approach for the typology of world languages is to evaluate historical periods diachronically, the importance of archaic forms for qualifiers will come to the fore even more. Therefore, in order to study the qualifiers of Turkic, thefirst written inventory of the language in question and the various circles included in the scope of this period (VIII-XI century) will be the field from which the most appropriate data document will be obtained. Because the texts written in this period, especially in the Buddhist and Islamic environment, are very rich in terms of qualifiers. In this article, typologies of qualifiers identified in the first written inventory of Turkic between the eighth and eleventh centuries are examined. Since the existence of quite a variety of qualifiers makes it difficult to study these units in Turkic, the study will focus on the quantity qualifiers declaring “multiple, excessive, extreme”and from this point of view, it will be tried to reach the general qualifier characters. The general anatomy of the qualifiers will be revealed with a classification over the grammaticalization stages, conceptual relations and syntactic sequences of the quantity qualifiers to be discussed. In this way, both diachronic and synchronicfindings will be reached and findings that will contribute to language universality and language typology will be revealed.

The typology of second language listening constructs: A systematic review

This study reviewed conceptualizations and operationalizations of second language (L2) listening constructs. A total of 157 peer-reviewed papers published in 19 journals in applied linguistics were coded for (1) publication year, author, source title, location, language, and reliability and (2) listening subskills, cognitive processes, attributes, and listening functions potentially measured or investigated. Only 39 publications (24.84%) provided theoretical definitions for listening constructs, 38 of which were general or had a narrow construct coverage. Listening functions such as discriminative, empathetic, and analytical listening were largely unattended to in construct conceptualization in the studies. In addition, we identified 24 subskills, 27 cognitive processes, and 54 listening attributes (total = 105) operationalized in the studies. We developed a multilayered framework to categorize these features. The subskills and cognitive processes were categorized into five principal groups each (10 groups total), while the attributes were divided into three main groups. This multicomponential framework will be useful in construct delineation and operationalization in L2 listening assessment and teaching. Finally, limitations of the extant research and future directions for research and development in L2 listening assessment are discussed.

The Pragmatics of Love Text Messages among University of Uyo Students

In line with the trends in media and pragmatic discourse, studies on texting have been examined, focusing on the creative utilization of language resources as well as their contextual cues. The purpose of this paper is to examine the socio-pragmatic manifestations of love and gender differences in the love text messages of the University of Uyo students. Specifically, the objective of the paper is to confirm whether or not the differences are statistically significant and culturally conditioned. Thus, adopting quantitative analytical methods (chi-square and percentages), the analysis is anchored on the socio-pragmatic theory of Leech (1983) and supplemented by Thurlow and Brown’s (2003) romantic and sexual orientations. Twenty (10 male and 10 female) students of the Faculty of Arts supplied their two most preferred love text messages. The data are categorized according to thematic frames of Love Reiteration (LR), Wooing (Wg), Love Wordplay (LW), and Sexual Behaviour (SB). The results indicate that LR texts were the most preferred (18/45%), while SB texts were the least preferred (5/12.5%). Again, whereas the male students preferred both LR and Wg texts most (6/31.6%) and LW texts least (3/15.7%), the female ones loved LR texts most (12/57.1%) and SB texts least (1/4.8%). Thus, the chi-square quantitative analysis of the results shows that the differences in the text preferences are significant. The paper submits that the University of Uyo students’ love text preferences affirm the second-wave feminist linguistic typology of socio-cultural differences in the language use of men and women in Nigeria. Again, the findings have revealed interesting and varied ideologies about how women and men ought to speak in their speech communities. Based on the conclusion, it is recommended that further socio-pragmatics research be carried out in other tertiary institutions, preferably in the South Eastern and Northern parts of Nigeria or schools outside Nigeria, but beaming research light on the socio-pragmatics of age and status differences as well as differences in the students’ years of study.