From austin at AA.TUFS.AC.JP Fri Dec 1 00:48:42 1995 From: austin at AA.TUFS.AC.JP (Peter Austin) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 09:48:42 +0900 Subject: CDs and electronic storage of data Message-ID: An alternative to CDs is use of the World Wide Web. David Nathan of Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is currently preparing a bilingual dictionary (Gamilaraay-English) that I have been working on to make it available as a hypertext document on the World Wide Web. The dictionary entries contain highlighted cross-references and when the reader clicks on these s/he is taken to the relevant headword of the cross-reference. A first version will be available on the Web soon. We are hoping to add sound (and maybe pictures) to later versions. The dictionary will be available to school children throughout the world, and more especially to the descendants of the Gamilaraay in northern New South Wales who have lost their language over recent times. Through the work of Nick Thieberger, David Nash, Jane Simpson, and (now) David Nathan the AIATSIS has established an Aboriginal Studies Electronic Data Archive (ASEDA) of Aboriginal and Islander language data. Linguists working on these languages regularly deposit materials for safekeeping or distribution with ASEDA (the depositor can set access requirements). Access to ASEDA is also available on WWW (at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASEDA/ASEDA.html). Contrary to what Johanna Rubba says, it is my experience that SIL produces excellent software for Mac (including IT, Conc, Free Text Browser, MacLex, as well as Rook) that I have found extremely useful. The SIL projects CELLAR and Project '95 also promise important new developments in linguistic analysis software. Peter Austin Visiting Professor ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 4-51-21 Nishigahara, Kita-ku Tokyo 114 JAPAN ph: +81-3-5974-3880 (w) +81-3-3800-9514 (h) fax: +81-3-5974-3838 From mackenzi at JET.LET.VU.NL Fri Dec 1 09:56:36 1995 From: mackenzi at JET.LET.VU.NL (J.L. Mackenzie) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 09:56:36 MET Subject: Languages on CD-ROM Message-ID: I believe that Routledge, the London publisher, is currently planning a World Languages Corpus on CD-ROM as a follow-up to the Atlas of the World's Languages. The idea, as I understand it, is to present (in standardised format) speech samples of each language accompanied by a transcription. It might be an idea to pool the various efforts that people are making worldwide. Lachlan Mackenzie Free University Amsterdam From johnh at REED.EDU Fri Dec 1 22:19:21 1995 From: johnh at REED.EDU (John B. Haviland) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 14:19:21 -0800 Subject: CD ROM WORKSHOP Message-ID: Here is more information on the Iowa CD ROM workshop in which Brenda Farnell is involved. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 11:30:38 -0600 (CST) From: B. Farnell To: johnh at REED.EDU Subject: CD ROM WORKSHOP Hi John: Victor Golla forwarded your message to the FUNKNET group that mentioned the CD ROM workshop we are organizing here at U of Iowa next Summer. Here are some details you might like to forward-- anyone interested in more can contact me. IOWA CD ROM WORKSHOP Dates: June 17th-July 13th 1966 Four week intensive workshop to train linguists (and accompanying native speakers,teachers,scholars) in the basics of multi-media production and archiving techniques. Hands on assistance with the design and development of CD ROM Projects. The specific goal is to bridge the gap between the needs of American Indian communities anxious to preserve and revitalize their languages and the scholarly products of linguists. On a CD ROM you can combine voice sounds, written text, video, photo, visual arts and music in responsible, accurate presentations of linguistic knowledge that are also exciting and user friendly. If you have a project in mind, plan to join us! Registration Fees $1500 includes four weeks instruction and project consultation, access to all state-of-the-art audio-visual and computer facilitites, and a variety of social events. Accomodation: approx $620 single,$420 double (not including food). For further details and registration forms contact: Brenda Farnell, anthropology Dept. U. of Iowa, Iowa city, IA 52242. email: brenda-farnell at uiowa.edu Best regards Brenda From tpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU Sat Dec 2 02:13:47 1995 From: tpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU (Thomas E Payne) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 18:13:47 -0800 Subject: Linguistic Drift? Message-ID: On behalf of a student here, I would like to ask if anyone knows of any recent literature that attempts to *predict* the course of language change. For example, has anyone predicted that a particular change would occur in a particular language for a particular reason? Specifically, this student wants to predict language change based on the need to reduce gender bias in English. Thanks for any and all help. Tom Payne From elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU Sat Dec 2 14:09:21 1995 From: elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Ellen L. Contini-Morava) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 09:09:21 -0500 Subject: Linguistic Drift? Message-ID: About predicting the direction of language change: work of Labov and others on changes in progress are evidently also predictions of future developments (see, for example, "The intersection of sex and social class in the course of linguistic change", in Language Variation & Change 2, 1990; "The social origins of sound change", in W. Labov [ed], Locating Language in Time and Space and many others.) A change in progress is identified by comparing the speech of older and younger members of a speech community, so I don't know if this would count as a "prediction" exactly, if by that is meant predicting a change that hasn't started yet. But in cases where chain-shifting of vowels is occurring, for example, one might be able to predict a "drift" in this direction even when a particular change hasn't occurred yet. With regard to the role of social attitudes in reducing gender bias in American English, some changes (such as the decreasing use of suffixes like -ess [authoress, poetess etc.], the decreasing use of generic he, gender-neutrautral occupation terminology [server, flight attendant, letter carrier etc.]) seem to be already in progress, and this could be demonstrated by comparing contemporary English with that of a couple of generations ago. It may be limited (for now, anyway) to certain registers, especially written ones, and I don't know of references that make predictions specifically about this. Ellen Contini-Morava From noll at LUNA.CAS.USF.EDU Sat Dec 2 16:59:07 1995 From: noll at LUNA.CAS.USF.EDU (Jane Noll (PSY)) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 11:59:07 -0500 Subject: Linguistic Drift? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Regarding predicting language change for the purpose of decreasing gender bias in English: A good example of language change that occurred but not in the way that was predicted is the use of the title "Ms." It was intended to take the place of "Miss" and "Mrs." providing a title for females that does not indicate marital status. Instead, it is used as a third category of marital status. See Susan Ehrlich and Ruth King's 1992 article in _Discourse & Society_, entitled "Gender-based language reform and the social construction of meaning." Jane Noll University of South Florida From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Mon Dec 4 14:40:09 1995 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 08:40:09 -0600 Subject: re: linguistic drift? Message-ID: Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 08:56:46 -0600 (CST) From: rosa graciela montes To: Thomas E Payne Cc: Multiple recipients of list FUNKNET Subject: Re: Linguistic Drift? This doesn't give any answers to your main question about gender, just some thoughts on predicting change. Re predicting 'changes' that haven't started yet, one thing that I've seen is that what are slips or speech errors in one variety of a language are often attested changes in progress (variation) in another and may eventually go to completion. The example I'm thinking about right now is from Spanish involving r/l alternation. This 'alternation' is not a possibility in my variety of Spanish (Argentine) but occurs frquently in slips. This morning I was reading a story to my daughter in which the last word in the phrase 'bajaron sus armas' came out as 'almas'. This is not an isolated case, it happens frequently especially in cases where the 'r' is in contact with another consonant (tlaidor) although sometimes, less frequently, inter-vocalically. What I find interesting is that what for me is a 'slip' is an attested change in other varieties of Spanish (Caribbean for example, at least Cuban or Puerto Rican) which makes me think that my 'slips' are not just happenstance. My question/interest is how to be able to differentiate these more 'systematic' slips that might be change predictors from other more on-line circumstantial processing slips. Rosa Graciela Montes (ICSyH,UAP) Rosa Graciela Montes Ciencias del Lenguaje ICSYH Univ. Autonoma de Puebla Puebla, MEXICO From jhudson at CUP.CAM.AC.UK Mon Dec 4 18:51:50 1995 From: jhudson at CUP.CAM.AC.UK (Jean Hudson) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 18:51:50 GMT Subject: language change Message-ID: I'd say that the commonest driving force of language change is the desire to express meanings that don't already exist - and (with the exception of new terminology in a changing world) usually it is interpersonal meanings that are evolving rather than ideational ones. The need to reduce gender bias certainly fits the bill, but the directions and timetables are culturally - not linguistically - dictated, so the answers lie only partially in linguistic study. The example of Ms was an interesting one in this respect. Until 'society' accepts the breakdown of the Miss/Mrs distinction, Ms will continue to denote a woman who wishes to make a point. But surely THAT is the beginning of change? Who knows? As far as change in general is concerned it's useful to look at standard vs 'sub-standard' (ie not in the dictionary/frowned upon by teachers and the writers of letters to the Times). One example today is 'all right' vs 'alright' - where the discourse marker use of the phrase is so well established that it is conceptually fixed in speakers' minds as a single word. This is a similar process to the slip of the tongue type that Rosa Graciela Montes wrote about. Jean Hudson Cambridge UP From noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE Mon Dec 4 22:21:02 1995 From: noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE (Dirk Noel) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 22:21:02 MET Subject: contents Functions of Language 2, 2 Message-ID: For your information. Available now: Functions of Language 2, 2 (1995) Contents: Susan Hunston: A corpus study of some English verbs of attribution Linda Manney: Pragmatic motivation for inflectional middle voice in Modern Greek J. R. Martin: Logical meaning, interdependency and the linking particle na/-ng in Tagalog Review articles: Angela Downing: A functional grammar for students of English M. A. K. Halliday: A recent view of "missteps" in linguistic theory Reviews: Barry J. Blake. Case/ R. M. W. Dixon. Ergativity (Kevin Tuite) Alan Firth (ed.) The Discourse of Negotiation (Kelly Glover) Peter Kahrel and Rene Van den Berg (eds.) Typological Studies in Negation (Jan Nuyts) Suzanne Kemmer. The Middle Voice (Linda Manney) Frank Palmer. Grammatical Roles and Relations (Richard Hudson) Anthony R. Warner. English Auxiliaries: Structure and History (Louis Goossens) For more information e-mail dirk.noel at rug.ac.be or visit the Functions of Language Web site http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~dnoel/folhome.html From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Tue Dec 5 12:32:35 1995 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 06:32:35 -0600 Subject: forwarded message from Bert Peeters Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 09:36:45 +1100 From: Bert Peeters To: FUNKNET-Request at ricevm1.rice.edu Subject: Re: Rejected posting to FUNKNET at RICEVM1.RICE.EDU At 09:09 2/12/95 -0500, Ellen L. Contini-Morava wrote: > >A change in progress is identified >by comparing the speech of older and younger members of a speech >community, so I don't know if this would count as a "prediction" >exactly, if by that is meant predicting a change that hasn't started >yet. But in cases where chain-shifting of vowels is occurring, for >example, one might be able to predict a "drift" in this direction even >when a particular change hasn't occurred yet. This procedure is at the heart of what Andr=3DE9 Martinet refers to as the study of a "dynamic synchrony" ("une =E9tude de synchronie dynamique"). I take the liberty to refer to what I said on this matter in the first chapte= r of my book *Diachronie, phonologie, et linguistique fonctionnelle* (Louvain= - la-Neuve, Peeters, 1992) - also, in an older version, in the journal *Langu= es et linguistique* 1991. Martinet points out that diachronical studies become a whole lot easier to undertake if one adopts a perspective of dynamic synchrony, simply because trends that are observable help explain differenc= es between consecutive states of a natural language. See also Tsutomu Akamatsu, *Essentials of functional phonology* (Louvain-la= - Neuve, 1992), chapter 12 (has a good summary of work achieved). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dr Bert Peeters =20 Department of Modern Languages (French) =20 University of Tasmania =20 GPO Box 252C Tel. (002) 202344 +61 02 202344 Hobart TAS 7001 Fax. (002) 207813 +61 02 207813 Australia Email: Bert.Peeters at modlang.utas.edu.au http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dr Bert Peeters =20 Department of Modern Languages (French) =20 University of Tasmania =20 GPO Box 252C Tel. (002) 202344 +61 02 202344 Hobart TAS 7001 Fax. (002) 207813 +61 02 207813 Australia Email: Bert.Peeters at modlang.utas.edu.au http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From jtang at COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU Tue Dec 5 23:09:13 1995 From: jtang at COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Joyce Tang Boyland) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 15:09:13 -0800 Subject: change in progress Message-ID: In a project I am working on now, I'm seeing a relation between change-in-progress and speech errors similar to what R.G. Montes speaks of, but I don't foresee that it would be possible to draw a clear distinction between change and errors. I have people repeat for me sentences like "What would you have done?", and quite a few of them repeat it as "What would have you done?". When I ask them about it, some of them say, "Wow, I can't believe I said that" while others say "Yes, that is how I say that," whereas (many) others say "Hm. How *would* I say that?" I think it's significant that there is this third type of response, from people who don't have a clear judgment about it. Briefly, I think that it could be through these people that change is spread. I also find it interesting that these people are not from very different dialect groups -- I find all three responses among native speakers of American English from the SF Bay Area. I have several thoughts on this which I won't go into here, but I do think the idea of "dynamic synchrony" could usefully be applied in this case. Joyce Tang Boyland (jtang at cogsci.berkeley.edu) From Bernd.Heine at UNI-KOELN.DE Wed Dec 6 07:55:49 1995 From: Bernd.Heine at UNI-KOELN.DE (Prof.Dr. Bernd Heine) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 08:55:49 +0100 Subject: Prediction Message-ID: While I have nothing to contribute on gender bias in English, the second concern of Tom Payne's students is also a major concern of some of us working in the field of grammaticalization theory. As the work of the past decades suggests, the evolution of grammatical forms is fairly regular and allows for a number of predictions, e.g. of the form - If in a given language an indefinite article evolves then most likely it will be derived from the numeral 'one', - if a definite article arises then the most likely source is a demonstrative attribute, etc. I have recently published a paper summarizing a few generalizations in the area of spatial orientation (Heine, "Conceptual grammaticalization and prediction", in: John Taylor & Robert MacLaury (eds.), LANGUAGE AND THE COGNITIVE CONSTRUAL OF THE WORLD, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter), but this is just the beginning of a research whose ultimate goal it is to argue that we as linguists can predict much more than we think we can. It goes without saying that these predictions are PROBABILISTIC, but it seems that this applies also to any other predictions we may think of in our field. Bernd Heine From mcconvell_p at UNCL04.NTU.EDU.AU Wed Dec 6 22:29:13 1995 From: mcconvell_p at UNCL04.NTU.EDU.AU (McConvell, P.) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 08:59:13 +1030 Subject: Query:r/l Message-ID: Discussion recently on FUNKNET raised the question of alternation between r and l in Spanish and r>l changes. This was in the context of the general relationship between historical change and child language/slips etc. I would like to focus a query on r/l alternation and historical change crosslinguistically. Mary Laughren and I have been working on a paper discussing an innovation r>rl in a particular subgroup of Pama-Nyungan (Australian). (r is a retroflex glide distinct from rr an alveolar tap also found in most Australian languages; rl is a retroflex lateral). We have found the same change happening in other (only distantly related) Australian families, and also the opposite change rl>r. It seems that this may be a rather common type of change in languages, and we would appreciate references to work discussing it as a general phenomenon, or regionally. Secondly, as far as the Australian data goes there seem to be some generalisations emerging about where one or other (the rhotic or lateral) is more likely to occur. An rl>r change in Lardil affects initial and intervocalic segments, but rl is retained where it is a preconsonantal coda; this seems to parallel the observation that r>l in Spanish dialects occurs most freely in codas. Another tendency in the Australian data for which we have neither parallels nor a phonetic explanation at present is that r>rl apparently does not occur, and rl>r occurs more consistently, in the environment of preceding i. Other examples or explanations of this apparent affinity or i and r as opposed to i and a lateral would be welcomed. [This query has been posted on FUNKNET, LINGUIST and AUSTRALIAN-LINGUISTICS-L; apologies for duplication] From Carl.Mills at UC.EDU Thu Dec 7 14:29:34 1995 From: Carl.Mills at UC.EDU (Carl Mills) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 09:29:34 -0500 Subject: rl in other languages Message-ID: McConvell's description of r/l alternation in Pama-Nyungan languages, particularly the retroflex lateral that they designate rl, has an interesting parallel in some dialects of Norwegian. According to Ernst Haakon Jahr (personal communication), some dialects of Norwegian, especially some working class Oslo dialects have a sound very similar to the retroflex lateral that McConvell describes. Jahr describes the Norwegian version of rl as a "voiced lateral flap." To me, a speaker of Norwegian as a second language, the examples that I have heard sound like the sound Jahr describes. Obviously, I would like to know more about the articulation of rl in Pama-Nyungan languages. McConvell's posting contrasts "r [which] is a retroflex glide . . . [with] rr an alveolar tap also found in most Australian languages. McConvell implies that rl is not a tap or flap, which would make it different from the Norwegian retroflex lateral flap, but the description is not clear at that point in the Funknet posting. More articulatory information on rl would help. All the examples of Norwegian rl that I have come across indicate that it results from l--->rl: rl appears where other Norwegian dialects have /l/. I am aware of no r--->rl or rl--->r changes in Norwegian. But then again, I am not a native speaker. Interestingly, the Norwegian retroflex lateral flap is heavily stigmatized, yet it seems to have persisted for quite some time. Carl Mills From f.lichtenberk at AUCKLAND.AC.NZ Sat Dec 9 12:24:20 1995 From: f.lichtenberk at AUCKLAND.AC.NZ (Frank Lichtenberk) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 12:24:20 UTC+1300 Subject: (Fwd) i and r Message-ID: Forwarded message: From: Self To: FUNKNET at RICEVM1.RICE.EDU Subject: i and r Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 13:40:23 Concerning the affinity of i and r mentioned by P. McConvell: In Kwaio (Austronesian), l and r (alveolar flap) are in complementary distribution: l before a, o, e; r before i and u. (There are no consonant clusters in the language.) See Keesing, Roger, 1985, Kwaio Grammar. Frank Lichtenberk From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Sat Dec 9 13:30:22 1995 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 07:30:22 -0600 Subject: lateral flaps, l, and r In-Reply-To: <33326BC6BF5@antnov1.auckland.ac.nz> Message-ID: In the Cariban family (northern South America), there is a segment which I reconstruct to a lateral flap in Proto-Cariban. In a couple of the nine Cariban languages I have worked on, it is realized almost entirely as a non-lateral flap (like the [r] in Am.English _butter_); in the others, I found free variation of the lateral flap with both a non-lateral flap [r] and a non-flapped lateral [l], but with a strong skewing in the frequency of each allophone depending on the preceding vowel: mostly non-lateral flap [r] (and never a straight lateral [l]) following high vowels, almost exclusively the lateral flap following /e/, and mostly a standard lateral [l] (and almost never the non-lateral flap) preceding /a/ and /o/ (cf. the pattern reported by Lichtenstein in his posting). As far as the potential for change, what is interesting is that (1) in the allophones, either the lateral feature or the flapping can be lost, leaving the other as the sole distinctive feature for the segment, and (2) these allophones are each attested as having become the sole phoneme in some dialects of modern languages -- /r/ in some dialects of Panare (and maybe Yukpa -- both from my own field notes), and /l/ in some dialects of Carib Proper (a.k.a. Kari'na, Galibi) spoken in French Guiana (Renault-Lescure 1986 and Meira pc). Spike From noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE Mon Dec 11 11:05:17 1995 From: noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE (Dirk Noel) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 11:05:17 MET Subject: Contrastive verb valency AILA session Message-ID: The University of Ghent's Contrastive Grammar Research Group (CONTRAGRAM) is organizing a special session on contrastive verb valency research at the 11th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA 96), to be held in Jyvaskyla (Finland) from 4 to 9 August 1996. Colleagues who are interested in contributing a paper to this special session might like to contact the CONTRAGRAM group. We would especially like to invite contributions that do not merely cover the theory and practice of contrastive valency research per se but also address the relevance of this kind of research to language teaching, (automated) dictionary compilation, automatic translation, etc. Please contact bart.defrancq at rug.ac.be, or write to: Bart Defrancq CONTRAGRAM French Department Blandijnberg 2 B-9000 Gent BELGIUM Fax: +32 9 264 4179 From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Fri Dec 15 20:51:42 1995 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 14:51:42 -0600 Subject: European Commission - 2 jobs available Message-ID: (The following message was sent to funknet by "Santiago.DEL PINO"@SDT.cec.be (Tel 63124) and is being forwarded, having been first erroneously rejected by the listserve.) 2 temporary posts are available at the European Commission's Translation Service. Enclosed is a description (in French). Responses to the E-Mail address indicated, NOT TO THE LIST. Cross postings are welcome. Thank you. ****************************************************** La Commission europeenne envisage de constituer, par voie de selection, une reserve de recrutement d' AGENTS TEMPORAIRES (h/f) de categorie LA (ayant une formation universitaire complete) 2 Linguistes computationnels / Traducteurs (grade LA7/LA6) Participation au developpement des couples de langues du systeme de traduction automatique de la Commission ainsi qu'au developpement d'outils d'aide a la traduction ou a la redaction de documents. Des connaissances approfondies, avec references, dans le domaine de la linguistique computationnelle, ainsi qu'une experience d'au mois deux ans sont requises en rapport avec les fonctions mentionnees ci-dessus. Lieu d'affectation: Luxembourg. Pour plus de renseignements concernant la description des taches priere de s'adresser par courier electronique a l'adresse suivante: dimitrios.theologitis at sdt.cec.be Les candidats juges les mieux qualifies par rapport aux conditions requises seront convoques a un entretien de selection a l'issue duquel un contrat d'une duree maximale de trois ans pourra etre propose aux laureats. Si vous desirez le profil detaille des emplois, un acte de candidature et tous les renseignements necessaires pour postuler, envoyez sous pli une enveloppe (23x32cm) non timbree, libellee a votre adresse (mentionnant votre langue maternelle), a l'adresse suivante (pas de lettre ou curriculum vitae a ce stade): COMMISSION EUROPEENNE, Unite Recrutement SC41 (AT/3/95), rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Bruxelles. Seules seront prises en consideration les enveloppes envoyees au plus tard le 8 janvier 1996 (le cachet de la poste faisant foi). Les personnes ne repondant pas aux conditions et qualifications professionnelles indiquees ci-dessus sont priees de s'abstenir. From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Dec 18 20:51:37 1995 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 14:51:37 -0600 Subject: doctoral fellowships at Rice Message-ID: Please make this notice available to interested students, both in U.S. and abroad. DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN LINGUISTICS AT RICE UNIVERSITY The Department of Linguistics at Rice University announces the opening of competition for its doctoral fellowships for 1996-97. The Ph.D. program at Rice emphasizes the study of language use, the relation of language and mind, and functional approaches to linguistic theory and description. A strong component of the program is field studies in particular language areas, as indicated by its year-long field methods requirement. Areas of intensive research activity in the department include cognitive/functional linguistics, in-depth study of the languages of North and South America and of the Pacific, language universals and typology, language change and grammaticalization studies, lexical semantics, corpus linguistics, computational modelling, neurolinguistics, discourse studies, and second language acquisition. Interdisciplinary opportunities are available with the Ph.D. programs in Cognitive Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, the interdisciplinary group in Cognitive Sciences, and the Center for Cultural Studies. The department hosts a distinguished speakers series, whose recent speakers have included Scott De Lancey, Jeffrey Elman, Paul Hopper, John Haiman, Frantisek Lichtenberk, and Marianne Mithun. The department also sponsors a biennial Symposium on Language. The topic in March 1995 was Usage-Based Models of Language; participants included Ronald Langacker, Joan Bybee, Brian MacWhinney, Janet Pierrehumbert, Douglas Biber, Tom Givon, John Du Bois, Mira Ariel, and Arie Verhagen. The 1997 Symposium will be on Amazonian linguistics. FACULTY AND RESEARCH INTERESTS Michael Barlow, Ph.D. Linguistics, Stanford University. Grammatical theory, corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, discourse. Lilly Chen, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Illinois. Chinese linguistics, grammaticalization, metaphor, Chinese classic novel. James Copeland, Chair, Ph.D. Linguistics, Cornell University. Functional linguistics, phonology, Germanic linguistics, grammaticalization, American Indian linguistics (Tarahumara). Philip W. Davis, Ph.D. Linguistics, Cornell University. Semantics and syntax, language and intelligence, Amerindian (Bella Coola; Alabama), Austronesian (Atayal, Ilokano, Yogad). Spike Gildea, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Oregon. Diachronic syntax, field methods and ethics, phonology, typological/functional linguistics, Amazonian languages. Roy G. Jones, Ph.D. Slavic Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin. Amerindian (Koasati/Coushatta), Russian folk epic and Slavic linguistics. Suzanne Kemmer, Ph.D. Linguistics, Stanford University. Typology and universals, lexical semantics, semantics of grammar, syntactic and semantic change, cognitive linguistics, Germanic, Austronesian. Sydney Lamb, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley. Cognitive linguistics, neurolinguistics, neural network modelling, Amerindian (Monachi). E. Douglas Mitchell, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin. Comparative Indo-European linguistics, historical linguistics, history of linguistics, early Germanic dialects, Sanskrit. Livia Polanyi, Ph.D. English, University of Michigan. Discourse analysis, language and society, text linguistics, language and gender. Stephen A. Tyler, Ph.D. Anthropology, Stanford University. Cognitive studies, philosophy of language, anthropological linguistics, languages of India. FINANCIAL AID Graduate fellowships include tuition, and for especially well-qualified students, a cash stipend. Graduate stipends are normally renewable for four years upon satisfactory performance, and candidates can apply for a fifth year of support. (The department is fortunate to have been able so far to support all students it has admitted.) RICE UNIVERSITY Rice University, founded in 1912, is a private university dedicated to the promotion of arts and letters, science, and engineering. The university is highly selective, and departments tend to be small and focused. The campus is spacious, tree-lined, and has lovely architecture (a blend of Mediterranean and Renaissance). Rice is a close-knit academic community and the Department of Linguistics in particular offers opportunities for personalized interaction and collaboration with faculty. Current enrollment is ca. 2700 under- graduates and 1,200 graduate students; faculty:student ratio is 1:9. Houston is the America's fourth largest city and offers the full array of urban amenities (fine arts, large city parks etc.). It is ethnically extremely diverse (affording not only excellent opportunities for working with linguistic consultants, but also a huge number of restaurants representing a wide spectrum of cuisines at all levels of affordability.) The university is 45 minutes from the Gulf Coast (Galveston Island). Rents in Houston are easily affordable on a graduate stipend; inexpensive graduate housing at the edge of campus, run by the university, is also available. The university and department offer a full range of computing facilities available to students. The library has an outstanding linguistics collection, including a vast array of reference grammars. The department supports photocopying accounts for its doctoral students. Both U.S. and international applicants are admitted on the same basis, and financial aid is not restricted to U.S. citizens. Current graduate students include not only Americans but students from Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, and Korea. Prospective students of diverse linguistic backgrounds are encouraged to apply. APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 1, 1996. Prospective applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination as soon as possible, and have the results sent to the university in time for consideration in February. The selection process is competitive. For more information about the program, please contact: Department of Linguistics Rice University 6100 Main St. Houston TX 77005-1892 (713) 527-6010 Coordinator: Ursula Keierleber email: ukeie at ruf.rice.edu From MAKEE at DAVIDSON.EDU Mon Dec 18 21:46:22 1995 From: MAKEE at DAVIDSON.EDU (the girl-next-planet) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 16:46:22 -0500 Subject: FunkNet: query re. grad. school opportunities in UK Message-ID: Hi there, My name's May Kee and I'm an international student currently in my third-year at Davidson College, North Carolina. I realize this question might be better directed elsewhere but I am fresh out of ideas as to where at the moment, so this is the first place I'm starting. I'm majoring in Psychology and have a definite interest in going into Applied Linguistics for a Masters/PhD if possible, but I'm trying to get to the United Kingdom for that. My interest lies in the area of second-language acquisition. I've tried looking up universities which offer courses in this area, over the web, but I'd still like some information as to which ones I should look into and any relevant information about degree transferability between the UK and the US. I have the University of Edinburgh, Birkbeck College (U. of London) and Cambridge marked down as possible places, but should I be looking elsewhere too? I realize it's tough answering questions re. UK universities, but if anyone could even just point me towards a possible good source of information, I'd be more than grateful. Thanking you in advance, Yours, May Kee **--------------------------------------------------------------------------** L. May Kee P.O. Box 2390, Davidson, NC 28036, U.S.A. makee at pollux.davidson.edu http://www.davidson.edu/computing/sa/makee/makee.html **--------------------------------------------------------------------------** From elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU Sat Dec 30 18:33:04 1995 From: elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Ellen L. Contini-Morava) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 1995 13:33:04 -0500 Subject: book notice Message-ID: Ellen Contini-Morava and Barbara Sussman Goldberg (eds.), Meaning as Explanation: Advances in Linguistic Sign Theory. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter 1995. ISBN 3-11-014122-1. Cloth, 487 pp. DM 248. A collection of papers from theoretical perspectives that share a conception of language as a system of meaningful signs. In sign-oriented theories the distribution of linguistic forms is explained in terms of the contribution of their meanings to the message communicated, and the data are drawn from actual discourse rather than invented, decontextualized examples. Includes comparison of theory and method among major sign-oriented approaches, and analyses of data from a variety of languages. From austin at AA.TUFS.AC.JP Fri Dec 1 00:48:42 1995 From: austin at AA.TUFS.AC.JP (Peter Austin) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 09:48:42 +0900 Subject: CDs and electronic storage of data Message-ID: An alternative to CDs is use of the World Wide Web. David Nathan of Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is currently preparing a bilingual dictionary (Gamilaraay-English) that I have been working on to make it available as a hypertext document on the World Wide Web. The dictionary entries contain highlighted cross-references and when the reader clicks on these s/he is taken to the relevant headword of the cross-reference. A first version will be available on the Web soon. We are hoping to add sound (and maybe pictures) to later versions. The dictionary will be available to school children throughout the world, and more especially to the descendants of the Gamilaraay in northern New South Wales who have lost their language over recent times. Through the work of Nick Thieberger, David Nash, Jane Simpson, and (now) David Nathan the AIATSIS has established an Aboriginal Studies Electronic Data Archive (ASEDA) of Aboriginal and Islander language data. Linguists working on these languages regularly deposit materials for safekeeping or distribution with ASEDA (the depositor can set access requirements). Access to ASEDA is also available on WWW (at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASEDA/ASEDA.html). Contrary to what Johanna Rubba says, it is my experience that SIL produces excellent software for Mac (including IT, Conc, Free Text Browser, MacLex, as well as Rook) that I have found extremely useful. The SIL projects CELLAR and Project '95 also promise important new developments in linguistic analysis software. Peter Austin Visiting Professor ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 4-51-21 Nishigahara, Kita-ku Tokyo 114 JAPAN ph: +81-3-5974-3880 (w) +81-3-3800-9514 (h) fax: +81-3-5974-3838 From mackenzi at JET.LET.VU.NL Fri Dec 1 09:56:36 1995 From: mackenzi at JET.LET.VU.NL (J.L. Mackenzie) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 09:56:36 MET Subject: Languages on CD-ROM Message-ID: I believe that Routledge, the London publisher, is currently planning a World Languages Corpus on CD-ROM as a follow-up to the Atlas of the World's Languages. The idea, as I understand it, is to present (in standardised format) speech samples of each language accompanied by a transcription. It might be an idea to pool the various efforts that people are making worldwide. Lachlan Mackenzie Free University Amsterdam From johnh at REED.EDU Fri Dec 1 22:19:21 1995 From: johnh at REED.EDU (John B. Haviland) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 14:19:21 -0800 Subject: CD ROM WORKSHOP Message-ID: Here is more information on the Iowa CD ROM workshop in which Brenda Farnell is involved. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 11:30:38 -0600 (CST) From: B. Farnell To: johnh at REED.EDU Subject: CD ROM WORKSHOP Hi John: Victor Golla forwarded your message to the FUNKNET group that mentioned the CD ROM workshop we are organizing here at U of Iowa next Summer. Here are some details you might like to forward-- anyone interested in more can contact me. IOWA CD ROM WORKSHOP Dates: June 17th-July 13th 1966 Four week intensive workshop to train linguists (and accompanying native speakers,teachers,scholars) in the basics of multi-media production and archiving techniques. Hands on assistance with the design and development of CD ROM Projects. The specific goal is to bridge the gap between the needs of American Indian communities anxious to preserve and revitalize their languages and the scholarly products of linguists. On a CD ROM you can combine voice sounds, written text, video, photo, visual arts and music in responsible, accurate presentations of linguistic knowledge that are also exciting and user friendly. If you have a project in mind, plan to join us! Registration Fees $1500 includes four weeks instruction and project consultation, access to all state-of-the-art audio-visual and computer facilitites, and a variety of social events. Accomodation: approx $620 single,$420 double (not including food). For further details and registration forms contact: Brenda Farnell, anthropology Dept. U. of Iowa, Iowa city, IA 52242. email: brenda-farnell at uiowa.edu Best regards Brenda From tpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU Sat Dec 2 02:13:47 1995 From: tpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU (Thomas E Payne) Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 18:13:47 -0800 Subject: Linguistic Drift? Message-ID: On behalf of a student here, I would like to ask if anyone knows of any recent literature that attempts to *predict* the course of language change. For example, has anyone predicted that a particular change would occur in a particular language for a particular reason? Specifically, this student wants to predict language change based on the need to reduce gender bias in English. Thanks for any and all help. Tom Payne From elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU Sat Dec 2 14:09:21 1995 From: elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Ellen L. Contini-Morava) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 09:09:21 -0500 Subject: Linguistic Drift? Message-ID: About predicting the direction of language change: work of Labov and others on changes in progress are evidently also predictions of future developments (see, for example, "The intersection of sex and social class in the course of linguistic change", in Language Variation & Change 2, 1990; "The social origins of sound change", in W. Labov [ed], Locating Language in Time and Space and many others.) A change in progress is identified by comparing the speech of older and younger members of a speech community, so I don't know if this would count as a "prediction" exactly, if by that is meant predicting a change that hasn't started yet. But in cases where chain-shifting of vowels is occurring, for example, one might be able to predict a "drift" in this direction even when a particular change hasn't occurred yet. With regard to the role of social attitudes in reducing gender bias in American English, some changes (such as the decreasing use of suffixes like -ess [authoress, poetess etc.], the decreasing use of generic he, gender-neutrautral occupation terminology [server, flight attendant, letter carrier etc.]) seem to be already in progress, and this could be demonstrated by comparing contemporary English with that of a couple of generations ago. It may be limited (for now, anyway) to certain registers, especially written ones, and I don't know of references that make predictions specifically about this. Ellen Contini-Morava From noll at LUNA.CAS.USF.EDU Sat Dec 2 16:59:07 1995 From: noll at LUNA.CAS.USF.EDU (Jane Noll (PSY)) Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 11:59:07 -0500 Subject: Linguistic Drift? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Regarding predicting language change for the purpose of decreasing gender bias in English: A good example of language change that occurred but not in the way that was predicted is the use of the title "Ms." It was intended to take the place of "Miss" and "Mrs." providing a title for females that does not indicate marital status. Instead, it is used as a third category of marital status. See Susan Ehrlich and Ruth King's 1992 article in _Discourse & Society_, entitled "Gender-based language reform and the social construction of meaning." Jane Noll University of South Florida From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Mon Dec 4 14:40:09 1995 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 08:40:09 -0600 Subject: re: linguistic drift? Message-ID: Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 08:56:46 -0600 (CST) From: rosa graciela montes To: Thomas E Payne Cc: Multiple recipients of list FUNKNET Subject: Re: Linguistic Drift? This doesn't give any answers to your main question about gender, just some thoughts on predicting change. Re predicting 'changes' that haven't started yet, one thing that I've seen is that what are slips or speech errors in one variety of a language are often attested changes in progress (variation) in another and may eventually go to completion. The example I'm thinking about right now is from Spanish involving r/l alternation. This 'alternation' is not a possibility in my variety of Spanish (Argentine) but occurs frquently in slips. This morning I was reading a story to my daughter in which the last word in the phrase 'bajaron sus armas' came out as 'almas'. This is not an isolated case, it happens frequently especially in cases where the 'r' is in contact with another consonant (tlaidor) although sometimes, less frequently, inter-vocalically. What I find interesting is that what for me is a 'slip' is an attested change in other varieties of Spanish (Caribbean for example, at least Cuban or Puerto Rican) which makes me think that my 'slips' are not just happenstance. My question/interest is how to be able to differentiate these more 'systematic' slips that might be change predictors from other more on-line circumstantial processing slips. Rosa Graciela Montes (ICSyH,UAP) Rosa Graciela Montes Ciencias del Lenguaje ICSYH Univ. Autonoma de Puebla Puebla, MEXICO From jhudson at CUP.CAM.AC.UK Mon Dec 4 18:51:50 1995 From: jhudson at CUP.CAM.AC.UK (Jean Hudson) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 18:51:50 GMT Subject: language change Message-ID: I'd say that the commonest driving force of language change is the desire to express meanings that don't already exist - and (with the exception of new terminology in a changing world) usually it is interpersonal meanings that are evolving rather than ideational ones. The need to reduce gender bias certainly fits the bill, but the directions and timetables are culturally - not linguistically - dictated, so the answers lie only partially in linguistic study. The example of Ms was an interesting one in this respect. Until 'society' accepts the breakdown of the Miss/Mrs distinction, Ms will continue to denote a woman who wishes to make a point. But surely THAT is the beginning of change? Who knows? As far as change in general is concerned it's useful to look at standard vs 'sub-standard' (ie not in the dictionary/frowned upon by teachers and the writers of letters to the Times). One example today is 'all right' vs 'alright' - where the discourse marker use of the phrase is so well established that it is conceptually fixed in speakers' minds as a single word. This is a similar process to the slip of the tongue type that Rosa Graciela Montes wrote about. Jean Hudson Cambridge UP From noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE Mon Dec 4 22:21:02 1995 From: noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE (Dirk Noel) Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 22:21:02 MET Subject: contents Functions of Language 2, 2 Message-ID: For your information. Available now: Functions of Language 2, 2 (1995) Contents: Susan Hunston: A corpus study of some English verbs of attribution Linda Manney: Pragmatic motivation for inflectional middle voice in Modern Greek J. R. Martin: Logical meaning, interdependency and the linking particle na/-ng in Tagalog Review articles: Angela Downing: A functional grammar for students of English M. A. K. Halliday: A recent view of "missteps" in linguistic theory Reviews: Barry J. Blake. Case/ R. M. W. Dixon. Ergativity (Kevin Tuite) Alan Firth (ed.) The Discourse of Negotiation (Kelly Glover) Peter Kahrel and Rene Van den Berg (eds.) Typological Studies in Negation (Jan Nuyts) Suzanne Kemmer. The Middle Voice (Linda Manney) Frank Palmer. Grammatical Roles and Relations (Richard Hudson) Anthony R. Warner. English Auxiliaries: Structure and History (Louis Goossens) For more information e-mail dirk.noel at rug.ac.be or visit the Functions of Language Web site http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~dnoel/folhome.html From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Tue Dec 5 12:32:35 1995 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 06:32:35 -0600 Subject: forwarded message from Bert Peeters Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 09:36:45 +1100 From: Bert Peeters To: FUNKNET-Request at ricevm1.rice.edu Subject: Re: Rejected posting to FUNKNET at RICEVM1.RICE.EDU At 09:09 2/12/95 -0500, Ellen L. Contini-Morava wrote: > >A change in progress is identified >by comparing the speech of older and younger members of a speech >community, so I don't know if this would count as a "prediction" >exactly, if by that is meant predicting a change that hasn't started >yet. But in cases where chain-shifting of vowels is occurring, for >example, one might be able to predict a "drift" in this direction even >when a particular change hasn't occurred yet. This procedure is at the heart of what Andr=3DE9 Martinet refers to as the study of a "dynamic synchrony" ("une =E9tude de synchronie dynamique"). I take the liberty to refer to what I said on this matter in the first chapte= r of my book *Diachronie, phonologie, et linguistique fonctionnelle* (Louvain= - la-Neuve, Peeters, 1992) - also, in an older version, in the journal *Langu= es et linguistique* 1991. Martinet points out that diachronical studies become a whole lot easier to undertake if one adopts a perspective of dynamic synchrony, simply because trends that are observable help explain differenc= es between consecutive states of a natural language. See also Tsutomu Akamatsu, *Essentials of functional phonology* (Louvain-la= - Neuve, 1992), chapter 12 (has a good summary of work achieved). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dr Bert Peeters =20 Department of Modern Languages (French) =20 University of Tasmania =20 GPO Box 252C Tel. (002) 202344 +61 02 202344 Hobart TAS 7001 Fax. (002) 207813 +61 02 207813 Australia Email: Bert.Peeters at modlang.utas.edu.au http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dr Bert Peeters =20 Department of Modern Languages (French) =20 University of Tasmania =20 GPO Box 252C Tel. (002) 202344 +61 02 202344 Hobart TAS 7001 Fax. (002) 207813 +61 02 207813 Australia Email: Bert.Peeters at modlang.utas.edu.au http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://info.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From jtang at COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU Tue Dec 5 23:09:13 1995 From: jtang at COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Joyce Tang Boyland) Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 15:09:13 -0800 Subject: change in progress Message-ID: In a project I am working on now, I'm seeing a relation between change-in-progress and speech errors similar to what R.G. Montes speaks of, but I don't foresee that it would be possible to draw a clear distinction between change and errors. I have people repeat for me sentences like "What would you have done?", and quite a few of them repeat it as "What would have you done?". When I ask them about it, some of them say, "Wow, I can't believe I said that" while others say "Yes, that is how I say that," whereas (many) others say "Hm. How *would* I say that?" I think it's significant that there is this third type of response, from people who don't have a clear judgment about it. Briefly, I think that it could be through these people that change is spread. I also find it interesting that these people are not from very different dialect groups -- I find all three responses among native speakers of American English from the SF Bay Area. I have several thoughts on this which I won't go into here, but I do think the idea of "dynamic synchrony" could usefully be applied in this case. Joyce Tang Boyland (jtang at cogsci.berkeley.edu) From Bernd.Heine at UNI-KOELN.DE Wed Dec 6 07:55:49 1995 From: Bernd.Heine at UNI-KOELN.DE (Prof.Dr. Bernd Heine) Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 08:55:49 +0100 Subject: Prediction Message-ID: While I have nothing to contribute on gender bias in English, the second concern of Tom Payne's students is also a major concern of some of us working in the field of grammaticalization theory. As the work of the past decades suggests, the evolution of grammatical forms is fairly regular and allows for a number of predictions, e.g. of the form - If in a given language an indefinite article evolves then most likely it will be derived from the numeral 'one', - if a definite article arises then the most likely source is a demonstrative attribute, etc. I have recently published a paper summarizing a few generalizations in the area of spatial orientation (Heine, "Conceptual grammaticalization and prediction", in: John Taylor & Robert MacLaury (eds.), LANGUAGE AND THE COGNITIVE CONSTRUAL OF THE WORLD, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter), but this is just the beginning of a research whose ultimate goal it is to argue that we as linguists can predict much more than we think we can. It goes without saying that these predictions are PROBABILISTIC, but it seems that this applies also to any other predictions we may think of in our field. Bernd Heine From mcconvell_p at UNCL04.NTU.EDU.AU Wed Dec 6 22:29:13 1995 From: mcconvell_p at UNCL04.NTU.EDU.AU (McConvell, P.) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 08:59:13 +1030 Subject: Query:r/l Message-ID: Discussion recently on FUNKNET raised the question of alternation between r and l in Spanish and r>l changes. This was in the context of the general relationship between historical change and child language/slips etc. I would like to focus a query on r/l alternation and historical change crosslinguistically. Mary Laughren and I have been working on a paper discussing an innovation r>rl in a particular subgroup of Pama-Nyungan (Australian). (r is a retroflex glide distinct from rr an alveolar tap also found in most Australian languages; rl is a retroflex lateral). We have found the same change happening in other (only distantly related) Australian families, and also the opposite change rl>r. It seems that this may be a rather common type of change in languages, and we would appreciate references to work discussing it as a general phenomenon, or regionally. Secondly, as far as the Australian data goes there seem to be some generalisations emerging about where one or other (the rhotic or lateral) is more likely to occur. An rl>r change in Lardil affects initial and intervocalic segments, but rl is retained where it is a preconsonantal coda; this seems to parallel the observation that r>l in Spanish dialects occurs most freely in codas. Another tendency in the Australian data for which we have neither parallels nor a phonetic explanation at present is that r>rl apparently does not occur, and rl>r occurs more consistently, in the environment of preceding i. Other examples or explanations of this apparent affinity or i and r as opposed to i and a lateral would be welcomed. [This query has been posted on FUNKNET, LINGUIST and AUSTRALIAN-LINGUISTICS-L; apologies for duplication] From Carl.Mills at UC.EDU Thu Dec 7 14:29:34 1995 From: Carl.Mills at UC.EDU (Carl Mills) Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 09:29:34 -0500 Subject: rl in other languages Message-ID: McConvell's description of r/l alternation in Pama-Nyungan languages, particularly the retroflex lateral that they designate rl, has an interesting parallel in some dialects of Norwegian. According to Ernst Haakon Jahr (personal communication), some dialects of Norwegian, especially some working class Oslo dialects have a sound very similar to the retroflex lateral that McConvell describes. Jahr describes the Norwegian version of rl as a "voiced lateral flap." To me, a speaker of Norwegian as a second language, the examples that I have heard sound like the sound Jahr describes. Obviously, I would like to know more about the articulation of rl in Pama-Nyungan languages. McConvell's posting contrasts "r [which] is a retroflex glide . . . [with] rr an alveolar tap also found in most Australian languages. McConvell implies that rl is not a tap or flap, which would make it different from the Norwegian retroflex lateral flap, but the description is not clear at that point in the Funknet posting. More articulatory information on rl would help. All the examples of Norwegian rl that I have come across indicate that it results from l--->rl: rl appears where other Norwegian dialects have /l/. I am aware of no r--->rl or rl--->r changes in Norwegian. But then again, I am not a native speaker. Interestingly, the Norwegian retroflex lateral flap is heavily stigmatized, yet it seems to have persisted for quite some time. Carl Mills From f.lichtenberk at AUCKLAND.AC.NZ Sat Dec 9 12:24:20 1995 From: f.lichtenberk at AUCKLAND.AC.NZ (Frank Lichtenberk) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 12:24:20 UTC+1300 Subject: (Fwd) i and r Message-ID: Forwarded message: From: Self To: FUNKNET at RICEVM1.RICE.EDU Subject: i and r Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 13:40:23 Concerning the affinity of i and r mentioned by P. McConvell: In Kwaio (Austronesian), l and r (alveolar flap) are in complementary distribution: l before a, o, e; r before i and u. (There are no consonant clusters in the language.) See Keesing, Roger, 1985, Kwaio Grammar. Frank Lichtenberk From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Sat Dec 9 13:30:22 1995 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 07:30:22 -0600 Subject: lateral flaps, l, and r In-Reply-To: <33326BC6BF5@antnov1.auckland.ac.nz> Message-ID: In the Cariban family (northern South America), there is a segment which I reconstruct to a lateral flap in Proto-Cariban. In a couple of the nine Cariban languages I have worked on, it is realized almost entirely as a non-lateral flap (like the [r] in Am.English _butter_); in the others, I found free variation of the lateral flap with both a non-lateral flap [r] and a non-flapped lateral [l], but with a strong skewing in the frequency of each allophone depending on the preceding vowel: mostly non-lateral flap [r] (and never a straight lateral [l]) following high vowels, almost exclusively the lateral flap following /e/, and mostly a standard lateral [l] (and almost never the non-lateral flap) preceding /a/ and /o/ (cf. the pattern reported by Lichtenstein in his posting). As far as the potential for change, what is interesting is that (1) in the allophones, either the lateral feature or the flapping can be lost, leaving the other as the sole distinctive feature for the segment, and (2) these allophones are each attested as having become the sole phoneme in some dialects of modern languages -- /r/ in some dialects of Panare (and maybe Yukpa -- both from my own field notes), and /l/ in some dialects of Carib Proper (a.k.a. Kari'na, Galibi) spoken in French Guiana (Renault-Lescure 1986 and Meira pc). Spike From noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE Mon Dec 11 11:05:17 1995 From: noel at RUCA.UA.AC.BE (Dirk Noel) Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 11:05:17 MET Subject: Contrastive verb valency AILA session Message-ID: The University of Ghent's Contrastive Grammar Research Group (CONTRAGRAM) is organizing a special session on contrastive verb valency research at the 11th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA 96), to be held in Jyvaskyla (Finland) from 4 to 9 August 1996. Colleagues who are interested in contributing a paper to this special session might like to contact the CONTRAGRAM group. We would especially like to invite contributions that do not merely cover the theory and practice of contrastive valency research per se but also address the relevance of this kind of research to language teaching, (automated) dictionary compilation, automatic translation, etc. Please contact bart.defrancq at rug.ac.be, or write to: Bart Defrancq CONTRAGRAM French Department Blandijnberg 2 B-9000 Gent BELGIUM Fax: +32 9 264 4179 From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Fri Dec 15 20:51:42 1995 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 14:51:42 -0600 Subject: European Commission - 2 jobs available Message-ID: (The following message was sent to funknet by "Santiago.DEL PINO"@SDT.cec.be (Tel 63124) and is being forwarded, having been first erroneously rejected by the listserve.) 2 temporary posts are available at the European Commission's Translation Service. Enclosed is a description (in French). Responses to the E-Mail address indicated, NOT TO THE LIST. Cross postings are welcome. Thank you. ****************************************************** La Commission europeenne envisage de constituer, par voie de selection, une reserve de recrutement d' AGENTS TEMPORAIRES (h/f) de categorie LA (ayant une formation universitaire complete) 2 Linguistes computationnels / Traducteurs (grade LA7/LA6) Participation au developpement des couples de langues du systeme de traduction automatique de la Commission ainsi qu'au developpement d'outils d'aide a la traduction ou a la redaction de documents. Des connaissances approfondies, avec references, dans le domaine de la linguistique computationnelle, ainsi qu'une experience d'au mois deux ans sont requises en rapport avec les fonctions mentionnees ci-dessus. Lieu d'affectation: Luxembourg. Pour plus de renseignements concernant la description des taches priere de s'adresser par courier electronique a l'adresse suivante: dimitrios.theologitis at sdt.cec.be Les candidats juges les mieux qualifies par rapport aux conditions requises seront convoques a un entretien de selection a l'issue duquel un contrat d'une duree maximale de trois ans pourra etre propose aux laureats. Si vous desirez le profil detaille des emplois, un acte de candidature et tous les renseignements necessaires pour postuler, envoyez sous pli une enveloppe (23x32cm) non timbree, libellee a votre adresse (mentionnant votre langue maternelle), a l'adresse suivante (pas de lettre ou curriculum vitae a ce stade): COMMISSION EUROPEENNE, Unite Recrutement SC41 (AT/3/95), rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Bruxelles. Seules seront prises en consideration les enveloppes envoyees au plus tard le 8 janvier 1996 (le cachet de la poste faisant foi). Les personnes ne repondant pas aux conditions et qualifications professionnelles indiquees ci-dessus sont priees de s'abstenir. From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Dec 18 20:51:37 1995 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 14:51:37 -0600 Subject: doctoral fellowships at Rice Message-ID: Please make this notice available to interested students, both in U.S. and abroad. DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN LINGUISTICS AT RICE UNIVERSITY The Department of Linguistics at Rice University announces the opening of competition for its doctoral fellowships for 1996-97. The Ph.D. program at Rice emphasizes the study of language use, the relation of language and mind, and functional approaches to linguistic theory and description. A strong component of the program is field studies in particular language areas, as indicated by its year-long field methods requirement. Areas of intensive research activity in the department include cognitive/functional linguistics, in-depth study of the languages of North and South America and of the Pacific, language universals and typology, language change and grammaticalization studies, lexical semantics, corpus linguistics, computational modelling, neurolinguistics, discourse studies, and second language acquisition. Interdisciplinary opportunities are available with the Ph.D. programs in Cognitive Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, the interdisciplinary group in Cognitive Sciences, and the Center for Cultural Studies. The department hosts a distinguished speakers series, whose recent speakers have included Scott De Lancey, Jeffrey Elman, Paul Hopper, John Haiman, Frantisek Lichtenberk, and Marianne Mithun. The department also sponsors a biennial Symposium on Language. The topic in March 1995 was Usage-Based Models of Language; participants included Ronald Langacker, Joan Bybee, Brian MacWhinney, Janet Pierrehumbert, Douglas Biber, Tom Givon, John Du Bois, Mira Ariel, and Arie Verhagen. The 1997 Symposium will be on Amazonian linguistics. FACULTY AND RESEARCH INTERESTS Michael Barlow, Ph.D. Linguistics, Stanford University. Grammatical theory, corpus linguistics, second language acquisition, discourse. Lilly Chen, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Illinois. Chinese linguistics, grammaticalization, metaphor, Chinese classic novel. James Copeland, Chair, Ph.D. Linguistics, Cornell University. Functional linguistics, phonology, Germanic linguistics, grammaticalization, American Indian linguistics (Tarahumara). Philip W. Davis, Ph.D. Linguistics, Cornell University. Semantics and syntax, language and intelligence, Amerindian (Bella Coola; Alabama), Austronesian (Atayal, Ilokano, Yogad). Spike Gildea, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Oregon. Diachronic syntax, field methods and ethics, phonology, typological/functional linguistics, Amazonian languages. Roy G. Jones, Ph.D. Slavic Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin. Amerindian (Koasati/Coushatta), Russian folk epic and Slavic linguistics. Suzanne Kemmer, Ph.D. Linguistics, Stanford University. Typology and universals, lexical semantics, semantics of grammar, syntactic and semantic change, cognitive linguistics, Germanic, Austronesian. Sydney Lamb, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley. Cognitive linguistics, neurolinguistics, neural network modelling, Amerindian (Monachi). E. Douglas Mitchell, Ph.D. Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin. Comparative Indo-European linguistics, historical linguistics, history of linguistics, early Germanic dialects, Sanskrit. Livia Polanyi, Ph.D. English, University of Michigan. Discourse analysis, language and society, text linguistics, language and gender. Stephen A. Tyler, Ph.D. Anthropology, Stanford University. Cognitive studies, philosophy of language, anthropological linguistics, languages of India. FINANCIAL AID Graduate fellowships include tuition, and for especially well-qualified students, a cash stipend. Graduate stipends are normally renewable for four years upon satisfactory performance, and candidates can apply for a fifth year of support. (The department is fortunate to have been able so far to support all students it has admitted.) RICE UNIVERSITY Rice University, founded in 1912, is a private university dedicated to the promotion of arts and letters, science, and engineering. The university is highly selective, and departments tend to be small and focused. The campus is spacious, tree-lined, and has lovely architecture (a blend of Mediterranean and Renaissance). Rice is a close-knit academic community and the Department of Linguistics in particular offers opportunities for personalized interaction and collaboration with faculty. Current enrollment is ca. 2700 under- graduates and 1,200 graduate students; faculty:student ratio is 1:9. Houston is the America's fourth largest city and offers the full array of urban amenities (fine arts, large city parks etc.). It is ethnically extremely diverse (affording not only excellent opportunities for working with linguistic consultants, but also a huge number of restaurants representing a wide spectrum of cuisines at all levels of affordability.) The university is 45 minutes from the Gulf Coast (Galveston Island). Rents in Houston are easily affordable on a graduate stipend; inexpensive graduate housing at the edge of campus, run by the university, is also available. The university and department offer a full range of computing facilities available to students. The library has an outstanding linguistics collection, including a vast array of reference grammars. The department supports photocopying accounts for its doctoral students. Both U.S. and international applicants are admitted on the same basis, and financial aid is not restricted to U.S. citizens. Current graduate students include not only Americans but students from Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, and Korea. Prospective students of diverse linguistic backgrounds are encouraged to apply. APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 1, 1996. Prospective applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination as soon as possible, and have the results sent to the university in time for consideration in February. The selection process is competitive. For more information about the program, please contact: Department of Linguistics Rice University 6100 Main St. Houston TX 77005-1892 (713) 527-6010 Coordinator: Ursula Keierleber email: ukeie at ruf.rice.edu From MAKEE at DAVIDSON.EDU Mon Dec 18 21:46:22 1995 From: MAKEE at DAVIDSON.EDU (the girl-next-planet) Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 16:46:22 -0500 Subject: FunkNet: query re. grad. school opportunities in UK Message-ID: Hi there, My name's May Kee and I'm an international student currently in my third-year at Davidson College, North Carolina. I realize this question might be better directed elsewhere but I am fresh out of ideas as to where at the moment, so this is the first place I'm starting. I'm majoring in Psychology and have a definite interest in going into Applied Linguistics for a Masters/PhD if possible, but I'm trying to get to the United Kingdom for that. My interest lies in the area of second-language acquisition. I've tried looking up universities which offer courses in this area, over the web, but I'd still like some information as to which ones I should look into and any relevant information about degree transferability between the UK and the US. I have the University of Edinburgh, Birkbeck College (U. of London) and Cambridge marked down as possible places, but should I be looking elsewhere too? I realize it's tough answering questions re. UK universities, but if anyone could even just point me towards a possible good source of information, I'd be more than grateful. Thanking you in advance, Yours, May Kee **--------------------------------------------------------------------------** L. May Kee P.O. Box 2390, Davidson, NC 28036, U.S.A. makee at pollux.davidson.edu http://www.davidson.edu/computing/sa/makee/makee.html **--------------------------------------------------------------------------** From elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU Sat Dec 30 18:33:04 1995 From: elc9j at FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU (Ellen L. Contini-Morava) Date: Sat, 30 Dec 1995 13:33:04 -0500 Subject: book notice Message-ID: Ellen Contini-Morava and Barbara Sussman Goldberg (eds.), Meaning as Explanation: Advances in Linguistic Sign Theory. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter 1995. ISBN 3-11-014122-1. Cloth, 487 pp. DM 248. A collection of papers from theoretical perspectives that share a conception of language as a system of meaningful signs. In sign-oriented theories the distribution of linguistic forms is explained in terms of the contribution of their meanings to the message communicated, and the data are drawn from actual discourse rather than invented, decontextualized examples. Includes comparison of theory and method among major sign-oriented approaches, and analyses of data from a variety of languages.