An analysis is presented of regional variation patterns in the vowel system of Standard Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands ͑Northern Standard Dutch͒ and Flanders ͑Southern Standard Dutch͒. The speech material consisted of read monosyllabic utterances in a neutral consonantal context ͑i.e., /sVs/͒. The analyses were based on measurements of the duration and the frequencies of the first two formants of the vowel tokens. Recordings were made for 80 Dutch and 80 Flemish speakers, who were stratified for the social factors gender and region. These 160 speakers were distributed across four regions in the Netherlands and four regions in Flanders. Differences between regional varieties were found for duration, steady-state formant frequencies, and spectral change of formant frequencies. Variation patterns in the spectral characteristics of the long mid vowels /e o ø/ and the diphthongal vowels /i oey Åu/ were in accordance with a recent theory of pronunciation change in Standard Dutch. Finally, it was found that regional information was present in the steady-state formant frequency measurements of vowels produced by professional language users.

This article evaluates the characteristics of the Yes/No test as a measure for receptive vocabulary size in second language (L2). This evaluation was conducted both on theoretical grounds as well as on the basis of a large corpus of data collected with French learners of Dutch. The study focuses on the internal qualities of the format in comparison with other more classical test formats. The central issue of determining a meaningful test score is addressed by providing a theoretical framework distinguishing discrete from continuous models. Correction formulae based on the discrete approach are shown to differ when applied to the Yes/No test in comparison with Multiple Choice (MC) or True/False formats. Correction formulae based on the continuous approach take the response bias into account but certain underlying assumptions need to be validated. It is shown that both correction schemes display several shortcomings and that most of the data relative to the reliability of the Yes/No test presented in the literature are overestimated. Finally, several future research options are proposed in order to attain a straightforward but reliable and valid instrument for measuring receptive vocabulary size.

This study investigates the link between the perception and production in sound change in progress, both at the regional and the individual level. Two devoicing processes showing regional variation in Dutch are studied: the devoicing of initial labiodental fricatives and of initial bilabial stops. Five regions were selected, to represent different stages of change in progress. For each region, 20 participants took part in production (Study 1) and perception (Study 2) experiments. First, the results of the production tasks give additional insight in the regional and individual patterns of sound change. Second, the regional perceptual patterns in fricatives match the differences in production: perception is the most categorical in regions where the devoicing process is starting, and the least categorical in regions where the process of devoicing is almost completed. Finally, a clear link is observed between the production and perception systems undergoing sound change at the individual level. Changes in the perceptual system seem to precede changes in production. However, at the sound change completion, perception lags behind: individuals still perceive a contrast they no longer produce.