From Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU Mon Nov 2 17:50:25 1998 From: Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU (Bert Peeters) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 09:50:25 -0800 Subject: Unaccusativity Message-ID: I have started to look at unaccusativity in a broad range of typologically different languages, to try and improve on what others have said regarding its semantics. Would those who know of languages that are said to have unaccusative verbs please tell me which verbs are (or can be) unaccusative, and why these verbs (rather than others) are deemed to be unaccusative? It does not matter which language(s) you work on or know of (accusative or ergative, fixed word order or non-configurational...), all information (including if at all possible references to the literature) is welcome. Thanks to all. I'll summarize if there is sufficient interest. Bert Peeters -- Dr Bert Peeters - School of English & European Languages and Literatures University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-82, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia Tel.: +61 (0)3 6226 2344 / Fax.: +61 (0)3 6226 7631 E-mail: Bert.Peeters at utas.edu.au http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU Tue Nov 3 18:06:24 1998 From: Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU (Bert Peeters) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:06:24 -0800 Subject: Unaccusativity Message-ID: I have been asked to further clarify my recent query regarding unaccusativity. An amended text follows hereafter. To try and improve on what others have said regarding the semantics of unaccusativity, I have started to look at unaccusative verbs in a broad range of typologically different languages. A verb or a construction involving a verb qualifies as unaccusative if there is evidence that its subject (which would typically be its only argument) behaves in certain ways as a direct object rather than a subject, or is morphologically marked in the same way as a direct object. Defined in this way, unaccusativity seems to exist not only in ergative and semi-ergative languages, but also in accusative languages. In the case of semi-ergative languages, there is a split between accusative and ergative patterning according to the meaning of the verb (split intransitivity), its tense/mood/aspect, or the nature of the arguments involved. Would those who know of languages that are said to have unaccusative verbs and/or constructions please tell me which verbs are (or can be) unaccusative, and why these verbs rather than others are deemed to be unaccusative? It does not matter which language(s) you work on or know of, all information (including if at all possible references to the literature) is welcome. Thanks to all. I'll summarize if there is sufficient interest. Bert Peeters -- Dr Bert Peeters - School of English & European Languages and Literatures University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-82, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia Tel.: +61 (0)3 6226 2344 / Fax.: +61 (0)3 6226 7631 E-mail: Bert.Peeters at utas.edu.au http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Nov 4 04:56:00 1998 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 22:56:00 -0600 Subject: October LSA Bulletin (fwd) Message-ID: Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 08:36:00 -0500 From: LSA The October LSA Bulletin is now available on the LSA web site: www.lsadc.org From dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK Fri Nov 6 11:00:19 1998 From: dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK (Dick Hudson) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 11:00:19 +0000 Subject: Deacon's Symbolic Species Message-ID: A few weeks ago I asked on this list for views on Terrence Deacon's book `The Symbolic Species', and references to reviews. Apart from Lachlan Mackenzie, I don't think anyone replied directly to the list, but several people wrote to me directly, agreeing with my view that it's a very important book and/or offering references to reviews. Several asked me to summarise back to the list, so here goes. Here's my list of reviews, which make very good reading. I've looked up nearly all of them so I may as well add a few words on each as a guide. They're all basically enthusiastic except Poeppel, so I won't keep on repeating this; I'll just mention the points they criticise. Jim Hurford, in Times Literary Supplement http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~jim/reviews.html or http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~oliphant/lec/publications. := discussion of symbol, index and icon. Robin Lakoff, in Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/reviews/symbolicspe cies.htm := a bit hard to read. William Calvin, in NY Times Book Review http://WilliamCalvin.com/1990s/1997DeaconBkRevNYT.htm or http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/10/reviews/970810.10calvint.html := No serious complaint Ralph Holloway, in American Scientist No url recorded, but I found it by searching for Terrence Deacon := con Deacon, human prefrontal lobes aren't in fact larger than those of chimps. Mark Turner, in Bostonia, Spring 1998.1, 72-3 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~mturn/WWW/deacon.html := no complaint Robert Berwick in the Los Angeles Times, Sunday, September 7,1997. (I haven't read this one.) David Poeppel, in Nature 388:734, 1997. := Very unenthusiastic. Deacon's idea is mere speculation, in contrast with the Chomskyan idea. He classifies Deacon as (a) simply anti-innatist and (b) tied to general learning and development mechanisms; but both classifications are wrong. Deacon just (c) objects to the idea that there's an innate module for grammar. He claims: (a) that we are innately endowed for learning symbols, (b) that `language is not processed by some general learning capacity, but by quite heterogeneous cognitive subsystems' (p. 298) (c) that `although our brains and sensorimotor abilities exhibit many adaptations for language that together might be called an instinct, grammatical knowledge cannot be one of them.' (p. 328) ============================================================================== Richard (=Dick) Hudson Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT work phone: +171 419 3152; work fax: +171 383 4108 email: dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk web-sites: home page = http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm unpublished papers available by ftp = ....uk/home/dick/papers.htm From Simon.Winter at FIL.LU.SE Fri Nov 6 11:32:21 1998 From: Simon.Winter at FIL.LU.SE (Simon Winter) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 12:32:21 +0100 Subject: Ph.D. diss.: "Expectations and Linguistic Meaning" Message-ID: I hope that this dissertation could be of interest for this list. Apologies for duplicate postings. Winter, Simon. 1998. Expectations and Linguistic Meaning. Ph.D. thesis. Lund University, Cognitive Science dept. Abstracts and full text available at: http://lucs.fil.lu.se/People/Simon.Winter/Thesis/ ========================================================================== ABSTRACT: What is the relation between the words in language and our everyday actions? Are linguistic structures dependent on our actions, or does language function on its own? This thesis deals with the pragmatic foundations of language and proposes a model of meaning in language that is based on our expectations about the world and about other people. On this view, language is seen as composed of three functional layers of pragmatics, semantics and morpho-syntax, with each layer having a certain autonomy: semantics captures useful generalizations from the pragmatic level, and morpho-syntax captures generalizations from the semantic level. The five papers in the thesis study different aspects of this overarching model. The first paper explores what happens when individual cognitive structures are shared in language and proposes a model of how names, nouns and adjectives emerge as different levels of abstraction. Further, some cognitive prerequisites for referential communication are discussed. The second paper proposes a model of how breakdowns in an expert-novice task trigger discourse on the levels of instructions, coordinations and labels (words). These levels are correlated with a gradual conventionalization from pragmatics to semantics. The third paper shows how the modal verbs can be modeled in terms of expectations and social power. The fourth paper argues that meaning in language can be traced back to features of the environment of all living creatures that are inherently meaningful. Examples of such features are food, mates and shelter. The space of meaningful features can be extended by categorization: previously meaningless features gain meaning by association with meaningful features. The fifth paper, finally, uses computer simulations to model the pragmatic process of stabilizing a simple lexicon. ========================================================================== Simon Winter, Ph.D. Lund University Cognitive Science Kungshuset, Lundagård S-222 22 LUND Tel: +46 (0)708 13 23 59 Sweden Fax: +46 (0)46 222 48 17 WWW http://lucs.fil.lu.se/People/Simon.Winter/ From STRECHTER at CSUCHICO.EDU Mon Nov 9 17:07:43 1998 From: STRECHTER at CSUCHICO.EDU (Trechter, Sara) Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 09:07:43 -0800 Subject: more jobs Message-ID: The English Department at California State University, Chico announces a tenure track (Assistant Professor) position in linguistics. The two previously announced positions are included below. The 3rd position requires a Ph.D. in linguistics with research/training in phonology; experience in teaching core-area linguistics courses as well as introduction to Second Language Acquisition. Tenure-track faculty are required to pursue research and publication and provide service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, and teaching responsibilities will include introduction to linguistics, introduction to phonology/morphology, introduction to second language acquisition: theory and methods, and graduate seminars in linguistics (as needed). The two previously announced positions: 1. Assistant Professor in Linguistics. The position in linguistics requires a Ph.D. in linguistics with research/training in discourse and cognitive/functional approaches to syntax; experience in teaching core-area linguistics courses as well as introduction to Second Language Acquisition. A research interest in non-Indo-European languages(s) is desirable. Tenure-track faculty are required to pursue research and publication and provide service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, and teaching responsibilities will include introduction to linguistics, introduction to syntax, introduction to second language acquisition: theory and methods, and graduate seminars in linguistics (as needed). 2. Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics: The applied linguistics/TESOL position requires a Ph.D. in applied linguistics or TESOL (with a strong linguistics background); teaching experience in English for Academic Purposes programs in the US and ESL in a non-US setting, or ESL/bilingual programs in K-12 schools in the US. The position also involves advising ESL students, pursuing research and publication, and service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, including ESL, introduction to second language acquisition theory and methods, and a graduate seminar in second language acquisition. As a university that educates students of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, we value a diverse faculty and staff and seek to create as diverse a pool of candidates as possible. Starting date for both positions is August 1999. Salary ranges from 37,956-40,692. Deadline for applications is December 3, 1998 (and continue as necessary). Please mail letter of application, current CV, and recommendations to: Karen C. Hatch Department of English California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0830 Sara Trechter, Asst. Professor Linguistics Minor/English Department strechter at csuchico.edu From dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK Tue Nov 10 12:01:02 1998 From: dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK (Dick Hudson) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 12:01:02 +0000 Subject: subscribing Message-ID: Someone has just asked me how to subscribe to funknet, but I can't find the details. Other subscribers may be in the same position, so could we have an information message that we can store, please? ============================================================================== Richard (=Dick) Hudson Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT work phone: +171 419 3152; work fax: +171 383 4108 email: dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk web-sites: home page = http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm unpublished papers available by ftp = ....uk/home/dick/papers.htm From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Tue Nov 10 14:21:47 1998 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 08:21:47 -0600 Subject: Subscribing to funknet Message-ID: Here is a summary of funknet commands. You can also find info on funknet at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/funkcom.html. --MB LISTSERV PRODEDURES 1. To send a message to the entire list, use funknet at rice.edu 2. If you want to subscribe to funknet, send the message subscribe funknet to the address listserv at rice.edu 3. To unsubscribe from funknet, send the message unsubscribe funknet to the address listserv at rice.edu This message must be sent from the address that is currently on the funknet list. If you wish to have deleted from the list an old address from which you can no longer send mail, send a request to FUNKNET-request at rice.edu To change your address, send an 'unsubscribe' command from the old address and a 'subscribe' command from the new address. 4. If you would like more info on the sorts of commands you can use to manipulate the LISTSERV program, send the message get listserv memo to listserv at rice.edu From Ziv at HUM.HUJI.AC.IL Wed Nov 11 19:31:00 1998 From: Ziv at HUM.HUJI.AC.IL (Ziv Yael) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:31:00 PST Subject: PRAGMA 99 extension of deadline Message-ID: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FORWARDED FROM: Ziv Yael Return-Path: Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19981110010310.007e2460 at post.tau.ac.il> X-Sender: anatbi at post.tau.ac.il (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 01:03:10 -0800 To: Delphine , Jonathan Berg , marcelo dascal , Anat Biletzki , Elda Weizman , Tamar Katriel , Shoshana Blum-Kulka , nomi shir , Hava Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot , Mira Ariel , Yael Ziv , Ruth W Manor , Rachel Giora , sarfati at ccsg.tau.ac.il From: Anat Biletzki Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi everyone, I'm enclosing a copy of the Call for Papers with extended deadline. I've sent it to the two philosophy lists. Please distribute widely and let me or Delphine (at Pragma99 at ccsg.tau.ac.il) know where it's gone. Lehitra'ot, Anat *************** EXTENDED DEADLINE - DECEMBER 1, 1998: Call for Papers PRAGMA99 International Pragmatics Conference on PRAGMATICS AND NEGOTIATION June 13-16, 1999 Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Israel The main theme of this conference is the pragmatics of negotiation, interpreted in a very broad sense. Interlocutors engage in negotiations about every aspect of their interaction - such as floor access and topic selection, contextual assumptions, conversational goals, and the (mis)interpretation and repair of their messages. Topics such as cross-cultural and cross-gender (mis)communications, conversational procedures in disputes and collaborations, argumentation practices, and effects of assumptions and goals on the negotiating strategies of interlocutors are of special interest for this conference. The conference will be interdisciplinary, bringing together pragmaticists, linguists, philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists and political scientists. We are soliciting papers on all issues relevant to the theme of the conference, as well as papers in other areas of pragmatics and dialogue analysis. The conference will include plenary addresses, regular session lectures, and organized panels around any of the relevant topics. Among the plenary speakers: Elinor Ochs (UCLA), Itamar Rabinovitch (Tel Aviv University), Emanual Schegloff (UCLA), Thomas Schelling (University of Maryland), Deborah Schiffrin (Georgetown University), Deborah Tannen (Georgetown University), Ruth Wodak (University of Vienna). Presentation of regular session lectures is 30 minutes long, with a subsequent discussion of 10 minutes. Panels take the form of a series of closely related lectures on a specific topic, which may or may not be directly related to the special topic of the conference. They may consist of one, two or three units of 120 minutes. Within each panel unit a maximum of four 20-minute presentations are given consecutively, followed by a minimum of 30 minutes of discussion (either devoted entirely to an open discussion, or taken up in part by comments by a discussant or discussants). Panels are composed of contributions attracted by panel organizers, combined with individually submitted papers when judged appropriate by the Program Committee in consultation with the panel organizers. Typically, written versions or extensive outlines of all panel contributions should be available before the conference to facilitate discussion. SUBMISSIONS Abstracts for papers and panels should be submitted in the following format: 1. For papers - five copies of an anonymous abstract (up to 300 words). 2. For panels - a preliminary proposal of one page, detailing title, area of interest, name of organizer(s) and invited participants to be sent by Sept. 30, 1998. Organizers of approved panels will then be invited to submit a full set of abstracts, including: a. a brief description of the topic area, b. a list of participants (with full details, see below), c. abstracts by each of the participants by November 1, 1998. 3. In all cases, a page stating: a. title, b. audiovisual/computer request, and c. for each author: I. Full name and affiliation; II. Current address; III. E-mail address; IV. Fax number. Deadline for submission of abstracts: Dec. 1, 1998. Abstracts may be sent by hard copy, disk, or e-mail to Pragma99, Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL. E-mail: pragma99 at post.tau.ac.il Date of notification: March 1, 1999. PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Mira Ariel, Hava Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot, Jonathan Berg, Anat Biletzki, Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Marcelo Dascal, Nomi Erteschik-Shir, Tamar Katriel, Ruth Manor, George-Elia Sarfati, Elda Weizman, Yael Ziv. ============================================================ PRAGMA99 REGISTRATION FORM Please send the following information, accompanied by cheque payable to Tel-Aviv University in the amount of US$75 if paid before November 1, 1998, otherwise US$100, to Pragma99 Faculty of Humanities Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL Dr./Mr./Mrs./Ms./ Name:__________________________ Address:_______________________________________________ University/Organization:___________________________________ Email:__________________________ Fax:____________________(Home)_______________(Office) Telephone:____________________(Home)_____________(Office) Signature:_____________________ Date:________________ Those wishing to pay by credit card should provide the following information: Type of Credit Card: Mastercard/Visa/American Express Name as it appears on Credit Card: Sum of Paymnt: US$__________ Card No.________________________ Expiration Date: __________________ Date:_______________ Signature: _____________________ ********** Those wishing to present a paper should follow the instructions above. Hotel information will be provided after registration. The International Association for Dialogue Analysis is co-sponsoring a part of our conference, which will be devoted to "Negotiation as a Dialogic Concept." For further information, contact Edda Weigand (e-mail: weigand at uni-muenster.de). ============================================================ [Forms can also be returned by fax to 972-3-6407839, or by e-mail to pragma99 at post.tau.ac.il . ] From lamb at RUF.RICE.EDU Wed Nov 11 17:28:54 1998 From: lamb at RUF.RICE.EDU (Sydney M Lamb) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:28:54 -0600 Subject: LACUS 99 Message-ID: (Apologies to those who have already rec'd this message on another list.) LINGUISTICS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES THE TWENTY-SIXTH LACUS FORUM To Be Held at THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA AUGUST 3rd - 7th, 1999 Featured lecturers: Joan Bybee, Univesity of New Mexico Wallace Chafe, UC Santa Barbara Conference Theme: THE LEXICON While abstracts are especially invited on any topics relating to the lexicon including those listed below, abstracts on other linguistic topics and interdisciplinary topics involving language will also be considered: Lexical Semantics The Mental Lexicon Relationships of Lexicon and Syntax Relationships between Lexical and Conceptual Information Relationships between Lexical and Morphological Information Relationships between Lexical and Phonological Information The Cortical Representation of Lexical Information Diachronic Lexicology: The Lexicon through Time Conceptual Categories and Lexical Categories Cognitive Treatments of Lexical Information Lexical Functions Lexicalization Idiomaticity Abstracts should be anonymous (no indication of the author) and should: l - Have an informative but brief title 2 - Clearly state the problem to be addressed or the research questions raised by prior studies. 3 - State the main point(s) or argument(s) of the proposed presentation, with relevant data if possible. If the paper is empirically based, state specific hypotheses and at least an outline of results obtained. 4 - Show relevance to other work or to linguistic research. 5 - Give references to literature cited in the abstract. Submit abstracts via e-mail with 3 camera-ready copies simultaneously sent via snail mail to the addresses below. Those without e-mail available should send 16 hard copies via snail mail. Each author should also send by snail mail a 3x5" card bearing name, addresses (especially e-mail) affiliation, phone, title of paper, audio-visual equipment required (an overhead projector will regularly be available), eligibility for prizes, time desired (normally 15 or 25 minutes plus discussion time), and identification of one or more topics under which the paper falls (from above list, or specify if another). Proposals for panels jor special sessions -- identifying proposed participants -- are also welcome. Please contact Ruth Brend or Syd Lamb right away with your ideas (see addresses below). The annual Presidents' Predoctoral Prize ($100) and Postdoctoral Prize ($500 -- for young untenured scholars) will be awarded to the best papers in each category (only single-authored presentations considered). Limited funds to assist scholars coming from countries with weak currencies may be available. For information contact the Conference Committee Chair. Submit abstracts & proposals to: Ruth Brend, Chair, LACUS Conference Committee, 3361 Burbank Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA (tel. 734-6652787; fax 734-6652787; e-mail, rbrend at umich.edu). Deadline for receipt of abstracts: January 15, 1999. The University of Alberta, the second largest English speaking university in Canada, is located in Edmonton, a cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse city of almost a million people located just a few hours drive from the magnificent Canadian Rockies (about 4 hours to Jasper and about 5 hours to Banff -- the drive is easy and breathtakingly beautiful). Quite reasonable hotel accommodations will be available at the edge of campus, within easy walking distance to the conference rooms. Accommodations will also be available on campus. Restaurants can be found both on and at the periphery of campus, while downtown Edmonton is accessible via the subway. Further information will be sent to all LACUS members and to nonmember authors of accepted abstracts in March. Conference Committee: Ruth Brend, Michigan State University (Emerita), Chair Angela Della Volpe, California State University, Fullerton Sydney Lamb, Rice University Gary Prideaux, University of Alberta Lois Stanford, University of Alberta Address questions about the conference to: Ruth Brend Syd Lamb Address questions about Alberta to: Gary Prideaux , Lois Stanford From john at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL Thu Nov 12 12:07:13 1998 From: john at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL (John Myhill) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 14:07:13 +0200 Subject: Help for an Iraqi student Message-ID: Dear fellow funknetters, For some reason the following plaintive letter came to me at my old address in Michigan. I don't know about order of adjectives in English and in any case I doubt a letter from me in Israel would be delivered to Miss Al-Halawachy in Iraq. Maybe one of you can think of something to send her? John Myhill ---------------------------------------- Miss Ansam A. Al-Halawachy University of Mosul P.O.Box 11099 Mosul Iraq I am an MA student of the Dept. of English College of Arts working on my research project entitled pragmatic constraints on Adjective ordering in English. My work is going around the order of adjectives suggested by Quirk et al. to see if there is really such restricted order or not. As we do not have native speakers o English in my country, so I decided to choose British and AMerican literaty texts i.e. novels to analyze the order of adjectives depending on many factors. Of these factors are the syntactic and semantic properties of adjectives added to them the pragmatic factors such as the psychological state of the heroes, and the context in which the adjectives are ardered. Moreover, the reflection of culture on the writer play an important role, and this is why I have chosen novels from two different cultures. My problem is that I am unable to have an access to any direct article or reference which I can get benefit from specially those concerning the pragmatic side of the research. All the difficulty I am having in collecting the reference is caused by the trade sanctions imposed on my country making ne living in a prison and completely cut off the world. Thus,it would be very kind of yu if you free me by sending me somethng relevant to my concern viz.adjective ordering. And if it is possible to provide me with the addresses of some people who have written abou this field of study. From dlpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU Sat Nov 14 22:33:47 1998 From: dlpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU (Doris Payne) Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 14:33:47 -0800 Subject: University of Oregon SLA & Applied position Message-ID: The Linguistics Department at the University of Oregon has a tenure-track opening for an Assistant Professor of Linguistics with specialization in Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics, beginning Fall 1999. Salary is competitive depending on qualifications and experience. The successful candidate must hold a doctorate at time of appointment; have excellent qualifications for undergraduate and graduate teaching and for directing graduate research; and demonstrate an excellent research and publication program in empirical, functional, and cognitive approaches to second language acquisition and in at least one of the following specializations: language teaching, language planning, minority language development and maintenance. Experience working with K-12 second-language teachers and with intensive- English-language programs is desirable. The Linguistics Department of the University of Oregon has a long-standing commitment to typological and functional approaches to linguistics, the study of minority languages, and language acquisition, and has a growing program in empirical psycholinguistics. Applicants are encouraged to visit our web site at http://logos.uoregon.edu/uoling/ for further information about the Department. Consideration of applications will begin January 1, 1999 and will continue until the position is filled. To apply, send a letter of application, CV, three letters of reference and representative publications to: SLA Search Committee Department of Linguistics University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 USA The University of Oregon is an AA/EO Institution. From anu at VOWEL.UCSB.EDU Mon Nov 16 15:43:27 1998 From: anu at VOWEL.UCSB.EDU (Anu Erringer) Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 07:43:27 -0800 Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS * * * * * * * * * * The Center for Language, Interaction, and Culture (CLIC) Graduate Student Association at UCLA and The Language, Interaction, and Social Organization (LISO) Graduate Student Association at UCSB Issue its call for papers for the fifth annual conference on language, interaction, and culture to be held April 29-May 1,1999. This year's conference will be hosted by the LISO Graduate Student Association at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Plenary Speaker: Dr. Don Kulick Dr. Kulick will also lead a pre-conference workshop for graduate students. Registration information will be forthcoming. Submissions should address topics at the intersection of language, interaction, and culture and would preferably be based on recorded, spontaneous interaction. They must be hard copy and should include: (1) a detachable title page that includes (a) the title of the paper, (b) the author's name, affiliation, postal address, e-mail address, and phone number, (c) a list of equipment needed for the presentation; and (2) SIX COPIES of a 500-1,000 word extended abstract of the paper. No information identifying the author may appear in the abstract. Three copies of submitted abstracts must be received no later than Friday, February 5, 1999. LISO is an interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphasis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose members share an interest in the analysis of recorded social interaction through various approaches, including conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and functional linguistics. LISO is composed of faculty and graduate students from linguistics, sociology, and education, among other departments. CLIC is located at the University of California, Los Angeles. The purpose of CLIC is to promote cross-disciplinary discussion about issues regarding language as a complex resource for thinking and acting in the world. CLIC is composed of faculty and graduate students from anthropology, applied linguistics, education, psychology, and sociology. Submissions not received in triplicate or not received by the deadline will not be considered. Further questions can be addressed via e-mail to clic at ucla.edu or harbison at cats.ucsc.edu. All submissions should be mailed to: LISO Graduate Student Association University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Sociology 2834 Ellison Hall Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3100 From jmacfarl at UNM.EDU Tue Nov 17 15:29:11 1998 From: jmacfarl at UNM.EDU (James Macfarlane) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 08:29:11 -0700 Subject: HDLS-2 CALL FOR PAPERS Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS The High Desert Linguistics Society 2nd Student Conference in Linguistics (HDLS-2) March 26-27, 1999 University of New Mexico Albuquerque KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Sandra Thompson We invite papers from all areas of linguistics, but special consideration will be given to the following specific areas of inquiry: Form and Function Language Change and Grammaticization Discourse Analysis Native American Linguistics Sign Language Linguistics Computational Linguistics Sociolinguistics & Language Planning ABSTRACTS for 20-minutes papers may be a maximum of one page. At the top of the abstract (if by e-mail) or on a separate page (if on paper), please include: title of paper author name(s) and affiliation(s) topic area (from the list above or whatever seems appropriate) e-mail address paper mailing address SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Abstracts must be received by Jan. 22, 1999. WHERE TO SUBMIT: Abstracts for 20-minute papers should be e-mailed in ascii, Word, or Word Perfect form to: . Please use "Abstract" as your subject header. If you are submitting more than one abstract, please e-mail each separately. If you prefer to use regular mail, send two copies of your abstract to: HDLS-2 Abstracts University of New Mexico Humanities 526 Albuquerque, NM 87131 INQUIRIES: For more information, visit the conference web site forthcoming in December at . e-mail inquiries: hdls at unm.edu The proceedings of the conference will be published. From wilcox at UNM.EDU Wed Nov 18 05:09:03 1998 From: wilcox at UNM.EDU (Sherman Wilcox) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 22:09:03 -0700 Subject: Call for Papers Message-ID: Theme Session Call for Papers 6th International Cognitive Linguistics Association (ICLA) Conference (Stockholm, July 1999) Typological Research on Signed Languages: Cognition and Discourse Structure Session Coordinators: Sherman Wilcox and Terry Janzen Several hundred signed languages are known to exist in the world, used within communities in which the signed language is the primary language. Most grammatical description of these languages, however, is not extensive, and is confined to no more than a handful of these languages. There is speculation that signed languages may share a significant number of linguistic features even when such languages are genetically unrelated, due in part to their common use of the hands and body as articulators and the eyes, rather than ears, as perceptual organs. Very little actual work, however, has been carried out with respect to which specific grammatical features are shared, and which may differ. Many questions surrounding the relationship between cognition and signed language structure involve the cross-linguistic typology of structural and semantic categories. It is not yet clear, however, whether certain linguistic features of signed languages emerge cross-linguistically because users of these languages employ similar articulatory and perceptual systems, and how much variation between and within particular categories exists. The purpose of this session is to focus on information processing and discourse structure as typological features among signed languages. A cognitive approach to this topic assumes that signers will structure their discourse to best represent and convey what is cognitively salient, and that the grammar that emerges within a community of language users will reflect this cognitive motivation. We invite papers which focus on cognition and features of discourse structure in a variety of signed languages, with the intention of facilitating discussion among researchers regarding typological features. Abstracts (700 to 1400 words) are invited, and should be submitted by November 31 to each of the following: wilcox at unm.edu tjanzen at post.rrcc.mb.ca =========================== Sherman Wilcox, Ph.D. Associate Professor Dept. of Linguistics University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox From tomas at EVA.MPG.DE Wed Nov 18 12:41:31 1998 From: tomas at EVA.MPG.DE (Michael Tomasello) Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 13:41:31 +0100 Subject: book notice Message-ID: THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE: COGNITIVE AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE STRUCTURE Edited by Michael Tomasello Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998 Introduction:The Cognitive-Functional Perspective on Language Structure Michael Tomasello Conceptualization, Symbolization, and Grammar Ronald Langacker The Functional Approach to Grammar Talmy Givón The Structure of Events and the Structure of Language William Croft Language and the Flow of Thought Wallace Chafe The Semantics of English Causative Constructions in a Universal-Typological Perspective Anna Wierzbicka Emergent Grammar Paul Hopper Syntactic Constructions as Prototype Categories John Taylor Patterns of Experience in Patterns of Language Adele Goldberg The Acquisition of Wh-Questions and the Mechanisms of Language Acquisition Robert van Valin Mental Spaces, Language Modalities, and Conceptual Itegration Gilles Fauconnier From meyer at UMBSKY.CC.UMB.EDU Sat Nov 28 13:29:56 1998 From: meyer at UMBSKY.CC.UMB.EDU (Charles Meyer) Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 08:29:56 -0500 Subject: New Corpus Message-ID: The Survey of English Usage, University College London, is pleased to announce the release of the ICE-GB corpus, the British component of the International Corpus of English (ICE). ICE-GB is a fully parsed corpus of adult British English from the 1990s. It contains 300 spoken texts and 200 written texts - a total of 1 million words. The texts are distributed across 32 categories, including private conversations, telephone calls, court proceedings, broadcasts, social letters, examination scripts, and academic writing. ICE-GB has been grammatically analysed at wordclass level, and at the function and category levels. The analyses are presented as labelled syntactic trees - 83,419 trees in total. The corpus is distributed with its own dedicated retrieval software, ICECUP. ICE-GB and ICECUP are available now on CD-ROM. A Sample Corpus of ten parsed texts, together with ICECUP, may be downloaded free from the Survey website, at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/ With apologies for cross postings. From kuzar at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL Mon Nov 30 05:26:56 1998 From: kuzar at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL (Ron Kuzar) Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 07:26:56 +0200 Subject: Position: Modern Hebrew - Tel Aviv Message-ID: Tenure-Track Position in Modern Hebrew Language Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages Tel Aviv University The Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages, Tel Aviv University, is seeking to fill a tenure-track position in Modern Hebrew Language beginning fall, 1999. Academic level is flexible. Complete Ph.D. is required. For full consideration, applications including cover letter, CV, three letters of reference, and a representative research sample should be received by December 31, 1998. Send application to: Professor Marcelo Dascal / Dean The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities Tel Aviv University P.O. Box 39040 IL-69978 Tel Aviv, Israel Any questions? Write to: Dr. Moshe Florentin / Chair Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages Tel Aviv University florenti at post.tau.ac.il Please do not use automatic reply. From Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU Mon Nov 2 17:50:25 1998 From: Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU (Bert Peeters) Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 09:50:25 -0800 Subject: Unaccusativity Message-ID: I have started to look at unaccusativity in a broad range of typologically different languages, to try and improve on what others have said regarding its semantics. Would those who know of languages that are said to have unaccusative verbs please tell me which verbs are (or can be) unaccusative, and why these verbs (rather than others) are deemed to be unaccusative? It does not matter which language(s) you work on or know of (accusative or ergative, fixed word order or non-configurational...), all information (including if at all possible references to the literature) is welcome. Thanks to all. I'll summarize if there is sufficient interest. Bert Peeters -- Dr Bert Peeters - School of English & European Languages and Literatures University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-82, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia Tel.: +61 (0)3 6226 2344 / Fax.: +61 (0)3 6226 7631 E-mail: Bert.Peeters at utas.edu.au http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU Tue Nov 3 18:06:24 1998 From: Bert.Peeters at UTAS.EDU.AU (Bert Peeters) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:06:24 -0800 Subject: Unaccusativity Message-ID: I have been asked to further clarify my recent query regarding unaccusativity. An amended text follows hereafter. To try and improve on what others have said regarding the semantics of unaccusativity, I have started to look at unaccusative verbs in a broad range of typologically different languages. A verb or a construction involving a verb qualifies as unaccusative if there is evidence that its subject (which would typically be its only argument) behaves in certain ways as a direct object rather than a subject, or is morphologically marked in the same way as a direct object. Defined in this way, unaccusativity seems to exist not only in ergative and semi-ergative languages, but also in accusative languages. In the case of semi-ergative languages, there is a split between accusative and ergative patterning according to the meaning of the verb (split intransitivity), its tense/mood/aspect, or the nature of the arguments involved. Would those who know of languages that are said to have unaccusative verbs and/or constructions please tell me which verbs are (or can be) unaccusative, and why these verbs rather than others are deemed to be unaccusative? It does not matter which language(s) you work on or know of, all information (including if at all possible references to the literature) is welcome. Thanks to all. I'll summarize if there is sufficient interest. Bert Peeters -- Dr Bert Peeters - School of English & European Languages and Literatures University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-82, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia Tel.: +61 (0)3 6226 2344 / Fax.: +61 (0)3 6226 7631 E-mail: Bert.Peeters at utas.edu.au http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Nov 4 04:56:00 1998 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 22:56:00 -0600 Subject: October LSA Bulletin (fwd) Message-ID: Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 08:36:00 -0500 From: LSA The October LSA Bulletin is now available on the LSA web site: www.lsadc.org From dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK Fri Nov 6 11:00:19 1998 From: dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK (Dick Hudson) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 11:00:19 +0000 Subject: Deacon's Symbolic Species Message-ID: A few weeks ago I asked on this list for views on Terrence Deacon's book `The Symbolic Species', and references to reviews. Apart from Lachlan Mackenzie, I don't think anyone replied directly to the list, but several people wrote to me directly, agreeing with my view that it's a very important book and/or offering references to reviews. Several asked me to summarise back to the list, so here goes. Here's my list of reviews, which make very good reading. I've looked up nearly all of them so I may as well add a few words on each as a guide. They're all basically enthusiastic except Poeppel, so I won't keep on repeating this; I'll just mention the points they criticise. Jim Hurford, in Times Literary Supplement http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~jim/reviews.html or http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~oliphant/lec/publications. := discussion of symbol, index and icon. Robin Lakoff, in Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/reviews/symbolicspe cies.htm := a bit hard to read. William Calvin, in NY Times Book Review http://WilliamCalvin.com/1990s/1997DeaconBkRevNYT.htm or http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/10/reviews/970810.10calvint.html := No serious complaint Ralph Holloway, in American Scientist No url recorded, but I found it by searching for Terrence Deacon := con Deacon, human prefrontal lobes aren't in fact larger than those of chimps. Mark Turner, in Bostonia, Spring 1998.1, 72-3 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~mturn/WWW/deacon.html := no complaint Robert Berwick in the Los Angeles Times, Sunday, September 7,1997. (I haven't read this one.) David Poeppel, in Nature 388:734, 1997. := Very unenthusiastic. Deacon's idea is mere speculation, in contrast with the Chomskyan idea. He classifies Deacon as (a) simply anti-innatist and (b) tied to general learning and development mechanisms; but both classifications are wrong. Deacon just (c) objects to the idea that there's an innate module for grammar. He claims: (a) that we are innately endowed for learning symbols, (b) that `language is not processed by some general learning capacity, but by quite heterogeneous cognitive subsystems' (p. 298) (c) that `although our brains and sensorimotor abilities exhibit many adaptations for language that together might be called an instinct, grammatical knowledge cannot be one of them.' (p. 328) ============================================================================== Richard (=Dick) Hudson Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT work phone: +171 419 3152; work fax: +171 383 4108 email: dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk web-sites: home page = http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm unpublished papers available by ftp = ....uk/home/dick/papers.htm From Simon.Winter at FIL.LU.SE Fri Nov 6 11:32:21 1998 From: Simon.Winter at FIL.LU.SE (Simon Winter) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 12:32:21 +0100 Subject: Ph.D. diss.: "Expectations and Linguistic Meaning" Message-ID: I hope that this dissertation could be of interest for this list. Apologies for duplicate postings. Winter, Simon. 1998. Expectations and Linguistic Meaning. Ph.D. thesis. Lund University, Cognitive Science dept. Abstracts and full text available at: http://lucs.fil.lu.se/People/Simon.Winter/Thesis/ ========================================================================== ABSTRACT: What is the relation between the words in language and our everyday actions? Are linguistic structures dependent on our actions, or does language function on its own? This thesis deals with the pragmatic foundations of language and proposes a model of meaning in language that is based on our expectations about the world and about other people. On this view, language is seen as composed of three functional layers of pragmatics, semantics and morpho-syntax, with each layer having a certain autonomy: semantics captures useful generalizations from the pragmatic level, and morpho-syntax captures generalizations from the semantic level. The five papers in the thesis study different aspects of this overarching model. The first paper explores what happens when individual cognitive structures are shared in language and proposes a model of how names, nouns and adjectives emerge as different levels of abstraction. Further, some cognitive prerequisites for referential communication are discussed. The second paper proposes a model of how breakdowns in an expert-novice task trigger discourse on the levels of instructions, coordinations and labels (words). These levels are correlated with a gradual conventionalization from pragmatics to semantics. The third paper shows how the modal verbs can be modeled in terms of expectations and social power. The fourth paper argues that meaning in language can be traced back to features of the environment of all living creatures that are inherently meaningful. Examples of such features are food, mates and shelter. The space of meaningful features can be extended by categorization: previously meaningless features gain meaning by association with meaningful features. The fifth paper, finally, uses computer simulations to model the pragmatic process of stabilizing a simple lexicon. ========================================================================== Simon Winter, Ph.D. Lund University Cognitive Science Kungshuset, Lundag?rd S-222 22 LUND Tel: +46 (0)708 13 23 59 Sweden Fax: +46 (0)46 222 48 17 WWW http://lucs.fil.lu.se/People/Simon.Winter/ From STRECHTER at CSUCHICO.EDU Mon Nov 9 17:07:43 1998 From: STRECHTER at CSUCHICO.EDU (Trechter, Sara) Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 09:07:43 -0800 Subject: more jobs Message-ID: The English Department at California State University, Chico announces a tenure track (Assistant Professor) position in linguistics. The two previously announced positions are included below. The 3rd position requires a Ph.D. in linguistics with research/training in phonology; experience in teaching core-area linguistics courses as well as introduction to Second Language Acquisition. Tenure-track faculty are required to pursue research and publication and provide service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, and teaching responsibilities will include introduction to linguistics, introduction to phonology/morphology, introduction to second language acquisition: theory and methods, and graduate seminars in linguistics (as needed). The two previously announced positions: 1. Assistant Professor in Linguistics. The position in linguistics requires a Ph.D. in linguistics with research/training in discourse and cognitive/functional approaches to syntax; experience in teaching core-area linguistics courses as well as introduction to Second Language Acquisition. A research interest in non-Indo-European languages(s) is desirable. Tenure-track faculty are required to pursue research and publication and provide service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, and teaching responsibilities will include introduction to linguistics, introduction to syntax, introduction to second language acquisition: theory and methods, and graduate seminars in linguistics (as needed). 2. Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics: The applied linguistics/TESOL position requires a Ph.D. in applied linguistics or TESOL (with a strong linguistics background); teaching experience in English for Academic Purposes programs in the US and ESL in a non-US setting, or ESL/bilingual programs in K-12 schools in the US. The position also involves advising ESL students, pursuing research and publication, and service to the university community. The teaching load is 4 courses per semester, including ESL, introduction to second language acquisition theory and methods, and a graduate seminar in second language acquisition. As a university that educates students of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, we value a diverse faculty and staff and seek to create as diverse a pool of candidates as possible. Starting date for both positions is August 1999. Salary ranges from 37,956-40,692. Deadline for applications is December 3, 1998 (and continue as necessary). Please mail letter of application, current CV, and recommendations to: Karen C. Hatch Department of English California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0830 Sara Trechter, Asst. Professor Linguistics Minor/English Department strechter at csuchico.edu From dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK Tue Nov 10 12:01:02 1998 From: dick at LINGUISTICS.UCL.AC.UK (Dick Hudson) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 12:01:02 +0000 Subject: subscribing Message-ID: Someone has just asked me how to subscribe to funknet, but I can't find the details. Other subscribers may be in the same position, so could we have an information message that we can store, please? ============================================================================== Richard (=Dick) Hudson Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT work phone: +171 419 3152; work fax: +171 383 4108 email: dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk web-sites: home page = http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm unpublished papers available by ftp = ....uk/home/dick/papers.htm From funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU Tue Nov 10 14:21:47 1998 From: funkadmn at RUF.RICE.EDU (funkadmn Departmental Account) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 08:21:47 -0600 Subject: Subscribing to funknet Message-ID: Here is a summary of funknet commands. You can also find info on funknet at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/funkcom.html. --MB LISTSERV PRODEDURES 1. To send a message to the entire list, use funknet at rice.edu 2. If you want to subscribe to funknet, send the message subscribe funknet to the address listserv at rice.edu 3. To unsubscribe from funknet, send the message unsubscribe funknet to the address listserv at rice.edu This message must be sent from the address that is currently on the funknet list. If you wish to have deleted from the list an old address from which you can no longer send mail, send a request to FUNKNET-request at rice.edu To change your address, send an 'unsubscribe' command from the old address and a 'subscribe' command from the new address. 4. If you would like more info on the sorts of commands you can use to manipulate the LISTSERV program, send the message get listserv memo to listserv at rice.edu From Ziv at HUM.HUJI.AC.IL Wed Nov 11 19:31:00 1998 From: Ziv at HUM.HUJI.AC.IL (Ziv Yael) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:31:00 PST Subject: PRAGMA 99 extension of deadline Message-ID: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FORWARDED FROM: Ziv Yael Return-Path: Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19981110010310.007e2460 at post.tau.ac.il> X-Sender: anatbi at post.tau.ac.il (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 01:03:10 -0800 To: Delphine , Jonathan Berg , marcelo dascal , Anat Biletzki , Elda Weizman , Tamar Katriel , Shoshana Blum-Kulka , nomi shir , Hava Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot , Mira Ariel , Yael Ziv , Ruth W Manor , Rachel Giora , sarfati at ccsg.tau.ac.il From: Anat Biletzki Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi everyone, I'm enclosing a copy of the Call for Papers with extended deadline. I've sent it to the two philosophy lists. Please distribute widely and let me or Delphine (at Pragma99 at ccsg.tau.ac.il) know where it's gone. Lehitra'ot, Anat *************** EXTENDED DEADLINE - DECEMBER 1, 1998: Call for Papers PRAGMA99 International Pragmatics Conference on PRAGMATICS AND NEGOTIATION June 13-16, 1999 Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Israel The main theme of this conference is the pragmatics of negotiation, interpreted in a very broad sense. Interlocutors engage in negotiations about every aspect of their interaction - such as floor access and topic selection, contextual assumptions, conversational goals, and the (mis)interpretation and repair of their messages. Topics such as cross-cultural and cross-gender (mis)communications, conversational procedures in disputes and collaborations, argumentation practices, and effects of assumptions and goals on the negotiating strategies of interlocutors are of special interest for this conference. The conference will be interdisciplinary, bringing together pragmaticists, linguists, philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists and political scientists. We are soliciting papers on all issues relevant to the theme of the conference, as well as papers in other areas of pragmatics and dialogue analysis. The conference will include plenary addresses, regular session lectures, and organized panels around any of the relevant topics. Among the plenary speakers: Elinor Ochs (UCLA), Itamar Rabinovitch (Tel Aviv University), Emanual Schegloff (UCLA), Thomas Schelling (University of Maryland), Deborah Schiffrin (Georgetown University), Deborah Tannen (Georgetown University), Ruth Wodak (University of Vienna). Presentation of regular session lectures is 30 minutes long, with a subsequent discussion of 10 minutes. Panels take the form of a series of closely related lectures on a specific topic, which may or may not be directly related to the special topic of the conference. They may consist of one, two or three units of 120 minutes. Within each panel unit a maximum of four 20-minute presentations are given consecutively, followed by a minimum of 30 minutes of discussion (either devoted entirely to an open discussion, or taken up in part by comments by a discussant or discussants). Panels are composed of contributions attracted by panel organizers, combined with individually submitted papers when judged appropriate by the Program Committee in consultation with the panel organizers. Typically, written versions or extensive outlines of all panel contributions should be available before the conference to facilitate discussion. SUBMISSIONS Abstracts for papers and panels should be submitted in the following format: 1. For papers - five copies of an anonymous abstract (up to 300 words). 2. For panels - a preliminary proposal of one page, detailing title, area of interest, name of organizer(s) and invited participants to be sent by Sept. 30, 1998. Organizers of approved panels will then be invited to submit a full set of abstracts, including: a. a brief description of the topic area, b. a list of participants (with full details, see below), c. abstracts by each of the participants by November 1, 1998. 3. In all cases, a page stating: a. title, b. audiovisual/computer request, and c. for each author: I. Full name and affiliation; II. Current address; III. E-mail address; IV. Fax number. Deadline for submission of abstracts: Dec. 1, 1998. Abstracts may be sent by hard copy, disk, or e-mail to Pragma99, Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL. E-mail: pragma99 at post.tau.ac.il Date of notification: March 1, 1999. PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Mira Ariel, Hava Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot, Jonathan Berg, Anat Biletzki, Shoshana Blum-Kulka, Marcelo Dascal, Nomi Erteschik-Shir, Tamar Katriel, Ruth Manor, George-Elia Sarfati, Elda Weizman, Yael Ziv. ============================================================ PRAGMA99 REGISTRATION FORM Please send the following information, accompanied by cheque payable to Tel-Aviv University in the amount of US$75 if paid before November 1, 1998, otherwise US$100, to Pragma99 Faculty of Humanities Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL Dr./Mr./Mrs./Ms./ Name:__________________________ Address:_______________________________________________ University/Organization:___________________________________ Email:__________________________ Fax:____________________(Home)_______________(Office) Telephone:____________________(Home)_____________(Office) Signature:_____________________ Date:________________ Those wishing to pay by credit card should provide the following information: Type of Credit Card: Mastercard/Visa/American Express Name as it appears on Credit Card: Sum of Paymnt: US$__________ Card No.________________________ Expiration Date: __________________ Date:_______________ Signature: _____________________ ********** Those wishing to present a paper should follow the instructions above. Hotel information will be provided after registration. The International Association for Dialogue Analysis is co-sponsoring a part of our conference, which will be devoted to "Negotiation as a Dialogic Concept." For further information, contact Edda Weigand (e-mail: weigand at uni-muenster.de). ============================================================ [Forms can also be returned by fax to 972-3-6407839, or by e-mail to pragma99 at post.tau.ac.il . ] From lamb at RUF.RICE.EDU Wed Nov 11 17:28:54 1998 From: lamb at RUF.RICE.EDU (Sydney M Lamb) Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:28:54 -0600 Subject: LACUS 99 Message-ID: (Apologies to those who have already rec'd this message on another list.) LINGUISTICS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES THE TWENTY-SIXTH LACUS FORUM To Be Held at THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA AUGUST 3rd - 7th, 1999 Featured lecturers: Joan Bybee, Univesity of New Mexico Wallace Chafe, UC Santa Barbara Conference Theme: THE LEXICON While abstracts are especially invited on any topics relating to the lexicon including those listed below, abstracts on other linguistic topics and interdisciplinary topics involving language will also be considered: Lexical Semantics The Mental Lexicon Relationships of Lexicon and Syntax Relationships between Lexical and Conceptual Information Relationships between Lexical and Morphological Information Relationships between Lexical and Phonological Information The Cortical Representation of Lexical Information Diachronic Lexicology: The Lexicon through Time Conceptual Categories and Lexical Categories Cognitive Treatments of Lexical Information Lexical Functions Lexicalization Idiomaticity Abstracts should be anonymous (no indication of the author) and should: l - Have an informative but brief title 2 - Clearly state the problem to be addressed or the research questions raised by prior studies. 3 - State the main point(s) or argument(s) of the proposed presentation, with relevant data if possible. If the paper is empirically based, state specific hypotheses and at least an outline of results obtained. 4 - Show relevance to other work or to linguistic research. 5 - Give references to literature cited in the abstract. Submit abstracts via e-mail with 3 camera-ready copies simultaneously sent via snail mail to the addresses below. Those without e-mail available should send 16 hard copies via snail mail. Each author should also send by snail mail a 3x5" card bearing name, addresses (especially e-mail) affiliation, phone, title of paper, audio-visual equipment required (an overhead projector will regularly be available), eligibility for prizes, time desired (normally 15 or 25 minutes plus discussion time), and identification of one or more topics under which the paper falls (from above list, or specify if another). Proposals for panels jor special sessions -- identifying proposed participants -- are also welcome. Please contact Ruth Brend or Syd Lamb right away with your ideas (see addresses below). The annual Presidents' Predoctoral Prize ($100) and Postdoctoral Prize ($500 -- for young untenured scholars) will be awarded to the best papers in each category (only single-authored presentations considered). Limited funds to assist scholars coming from countries with weak currencies may be available. For information contact the Conference Committee Chair. Submit abstracts & proposals to: Ruth Brend, Chair, LACUS Conference Committee, 3361 Burbank Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA (tel. 734-6652787; fax 734-6652787; e-mail, rbrend at umich.edu). Deadline for receipt of abstracts: January 15, 1999. The University of Alberta, the second largest English speaking university in Canada, is located in Edmonton, a cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse city of almost a million people located just a few hours drive from the magnificent Canadian Rockies (about 4 hours to Jasper and about 5 hours to Banff -- the drive is easy and breathtakingly beautiful). Quite reasonable hotel accommodations will be available at the edge of campus, within easy walking distance to the conference rooms. Accommodations will also be available on campus. Restaurants can be found both on and at the periphery of campus, while downtown Edmonton is accessible via the subway. Further information will be sent to all LACUS members and to nonmember authors of accepted abstracts in March. Conference Committee: Ruth Brend, Michigan State University (Emerita), Chair Angela Della Volpe, California State University, Fullerton Sydney Lamb, Rice University Gary Prideaux, University of Alberta Lois Stanford, University of Alberta Address questions about the conference to: Ruth Brend Syd Lamb Address questions about Alberta to: Gary Prideaux , Lois Stanford From john at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL Thu Nov 12 12:07:13 1998 From: john at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL (John Myhill) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 14:07:13 +0200 Subject: Help for an Iraqi student Message-ID: Dear fellow funknetters, For some reason the following plaintive letter came to me at my old address in Michigan. I don't know about order of adjectives in English and in any case I doubt a letter from me in Israel would be delivered to Miss Al-Halawachy in Iraq. Maybe one of you can think of something to send her? John Myhill ---------------------------------------- Miss Ansam A. Al-Halawachy University of Mosul P.O.Box 11099 Mosul Iraq I am an MA student of the Dept. of English College of Arts working on my research project entitled pragmatic constraints on Adjective ordering in English. My work is going around the order of adjectives suggested by Quirk et al. to see if there is really such restricted order or not. As we do not have native speakers o English in my country, so I decided to choose British and AMerican literaty texts i.e. novels to analyze the order of adjectives depending on many factors. Of these factors are the syntactic and semantic properties of adjectives added to them the pragmatic factors such as the psychological state of the heroes, and the context in which the adjectives are ardered. Moreover, the reflection of culture on the writer play an important role, and this is why I have chosen novels from two different cultures. My problem is that I am unable to have an access to any direct article or reference which I can get benefit from specially those concerning the pragmatic side of the research. All the difficulty I am having in collecting the reference is caused by the trade sanctions imposed on my country making ne living in a prison and completely cut off the world. Thus,it would be very kind of yu if you free me by sending me somethng relevant to my concern viz.adjective ordering. And if it is possible to provide me with the addresses of some people who have written abou this field of study. From dlpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU Sat Nov 14 22:33:47 1998 From: dlpayne at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU (Doris Payne) Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 14:33:47 -0800 Subject: University of Oregon SLA & Applied position Message-ID: The Linguistics Department at the University of Oregon has a tenure-track opening for an Assistant Professor of Linguistics with specialization in Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics, beginning Fall 1999. Salary is competitive depending on qualifications and experience. The successful candidate must hold a doctorate at time of appointment; have excellent qualifications for undergraduate and graduate teaching and for directing graduate research; and demonstrate an excellent research and publication program in empirical, functional, and cognitive approaches to second language acquisition and in at least one of the following specializations: language teaching, language planning, minority language development and maintenance. Experience working with K-12 second-language teachers and with intensive- English-language programs is desirable. The Linguistics Department of the University of Oregon has a long-standing commitment to typological and functional approaches to linguistics, the study of minority languages, and language acquisition, and has a growing program in empirical psycholinguistics. Applicants are encouraged to visit our web site at http://logos.uoregon.edu/uoling/ for further information about the Department. Consideration of applications will begin January 1, 1999 and will continue until the position is filled. To apply, send a letter of application, CV, three letters of reference and representative publications to: SLA Search Committee Department of Linguistics University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 USA The University of Oregon is an AA/EO Institution. From anu at VOWEL.UCSB.EDU Mon Nov 16 15:43:27 1998 From: anu at VOWEL.UCSB.EDU (Anu Erringer) Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 07:43:27 -0800 Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS Message-ID: * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS * * * * * * * * * * The Center for Language, Interaction, and Culture (CLIC) Graduate Student Association at UCLA and The Language, Interaction, and Social Organization (LISO) Graduate Student Association at UCSB Issue its call for papers for the fifth annual conference on language, interaction, and culture to be held April 29-May 1,1999. This year's conference will be hosted by the LISO Graduate Student Association at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Plenary Speaker: Dr. Don Kulick Dr. Kulick will also lead a pre-conference workshop for graduate students. Registration information will be forthcoming. Submissions should address topics at the intersection of language, interaction, and culture and would preferably be based on recorded, spontaneous interaction. They must be hard copy and should include: (1) a detachable title page that includes (a) the title of the paper, (b) the author's name, affiliation, postal address, e-mail address, and phone number, (c) a list of equipment needed for the presentation; and (2) SIX COPIES of a 500-1,000 word extended abstract of the paper. No information identifying the author may appear in the abstract. Three copies of submitted abstracts must be received no later than Friday, February 5, 1999. LISO is an interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphasis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose members share an interest in the analysis of recorded social interaction through various approaches, including conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and functional linguistics. LISO is composed of faculty and graduate students from linguistics, sociology, and education, among other departments. CLIC is located at the University of California, Los Angeles. The purpose of CLIC is to promote cross-disciplinary discussion about issues regarding language as a complex resource for thinking and acting in the world. CLIC is composed of faculty and graduate students from anthropology, applied linguistics, education, psychology, and sociology. Submissions not received in triplicate or not received by the deadline will not be considered. Further questions can be addressed via e-mail to clic at ucla.edu or harbison at cats.ucsc.edu. All submissions should be mailed to: LISO Graduate Student Association University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Sociology 2834 Ellison Hall Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3100 From jmacfarl at UNM.EDU Tue Nov 17 15:29:11 1998 From: jmacfarl at UNM.EDU (James Macfarlane) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 08:29:11 -0700 Subject: HDLS-2 CALL FOR PAPERS Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS The High Desert Linguistics Society 2nd Student Conference in Linguistics (HDLS-2) March 26-27, 1999 University of New Mexico Albuquerque KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Sandra Thompson We invite papers from all areas of linguistics, but special consideration will be given to the following specific areas of inquiry: Form and Function Language Change and Grammaticization Discourse Analysis Native American Linguistics Sign Language Linguistics Computational Linguistics Sociolinguistics & Language Planning ABSTRACTS for 20-minutes papers may be a maximum of one page. At the top of the abstract (if by e-mail) or on a separate page (if on paper), please include: title of paper author name(s) and affiliation(s) topic area (from the list above or whatever seems appropriate) e-mail address paper mailing address SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Abstracts must be received by Jan. 22, 1999. WHERE TO SUBMIT: Abstracts for 20-minute papers should be e-mailed in ascii, Word, or Word Perfect form to: . Please use "Abstract" as your subject header. If you are submitting more than one abstract, please e-mail each separately. If you prefer to use regular mail, send two copies of your abstract to: HDLS-2 Abstracts University of New Mexico Humanities 526 Albuquerque, NM 87131 INQUIRIES: For more information, visit the conference web site forthcoming in December at . e-mail inquiries: hdls at unm.edu The proceedings of the conference will be published. From wilcox at UNM.EDU Wed Nov 18 05:09:03 1998 From: wilcox at UNM.EDU (Sherman Wilcox) Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 22:09:03 -0700 Subject: Call for Papers Message-ID: Theme Session Call for Papers 6th International Cognitive Linguistics Association (ICLA) Conference (Stockholm, July 1999) Typological Research on Signed Languages: Cognition and Discourse Structure Session Coordinators: Sherman Wilcox and Terry Janzen Several hundred signed languages are known to exist in the world, used within communities in which the signed language is the primary language. Most grammatical description of these languages, however, is not extensive, and is confined to no more than a handful of these languages. There is speculation that signed languages may share a significant number of linguistic features even when such languages are genetically unrelated, due in part to their common use of the hands and body as articulators and the eyes, rather than ears, as perceptual organs. Very little actual work, however, has been carried out with respect to which specific grammatical features are shared, and which may differ. Many questions surrounding the relationship between cognition and signed language structure involve the cross-linguistic typology of structural and semantic categories. It is not yet clear, however, whether certain linguistic features of signed languages emerge cross-linguistically because users of these languages employ similar articulatory and perceptual systems, and how much variation between and within particular categories exists. The purpose of this session is to focus on information processing and discourse structure as typological features among signed languages. A cognitive approach to this topic assumes that signers will structure their discourse to best represent and convey what is cognitively salient, and that the grammar that emerges within a community of language users will reflect this cognitive motivation. We invite papers which focus on cognition and features of discourse structure in a variety of signed languages, with the intention of facilitating discussion among researchers regarding typological features. Abstracts (700 to 1400 words) are invited, and should be submitted by November 31 to each of the following: wilcox at unm.edu tjanzen at post.rrcc.mb.ca =========================== Sherman Wilcox, Ph.D. Associate Professor Dept. of Linguistics University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox From tomas at EVA.MPG.DE Wed Nov 18 12:41:31 1998 From: tomas at EVA.MPG.DE (Michael Tomasello) Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 13:41:31 +0100 Subject: book notice Message-ID: THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE: COGNITIVE AND FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE STRUCTURE Edited by Michael Tomasello Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998 Introduction:The Cognitive-Functional Perspective on Language Structure Michael Tomasello Conceptualization, Symbolization, and Grammar Ronald Langacker The Functional Approach to Grammar Talmy Giv?n The Structure of Events and the Structure of Language William Croft Language and the Flow of Thought Wallace Chafe The Semantics of English Causative Constructions in a Universal-Typological Perspective Anna Wierzbicka Emergent Grammar Paul Hopper Syntactic Constructions as Prototype Categories John Taylor Patterns of Experience in Patterns of Language Adele Goldberg The Acquisition of Wh-Questions and the Mechanisms of Language Acquisition Robert van Valin Mental Spaces, Language Modalities, and Conceptual Itegration Gilles Fauconnier From meyer at UMBSKY.CC.UMB.EDU Sat Nov 28 13:29:56 1998 From: meyer at UMBSKY.CC.UMB.EDU (Charles Meyer) Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 08:29:56 -0500 Subject: New Corpus Message-ID: The Survey of English Usage, University College London, is pleased to announce the release of the ICE-GB corpus, the British component of the International Corpus of English (ICE). ICE-GB is a fully parsed corpus of adult British English from the 1990s. It contains 300 spoken texts and 200 written texts - a total of 1 million words. The texts are distributed across 32 categories, including private conversations, telephone calls, court proceedings, broadcasts, social letters, examination scripts, and academic writing. ICE-GB has been grammatically analysed at wordclass level, and at the function and category levels. The analyses are presented as labelled syntactic trees - 83,419 trees in total. The corpus is distributed with its own dedicated retrieval software, ICECUP. ICE-GB and ICECUP are available now on CD-ROM. A Sample Corpus of ten parsed texts, together with ICECUP, may be downloaded free from the Survey website, at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/ With apologies for cross postings. From kuzar at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL Mon Nov 30 05:26:56 1998 From: kuzar at RESEARCH.HAIFA.AC.IL (Ron Kuzar) Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 07:26:56 +0200 Subject: Position: Modern Hebrew - Tel Aviv Message-ID: Tenure-Track Position in Modern Hebrew Language Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages Tel Aviv University The Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages, Tel Aviv University, is seeking to fill a tenure-track position in Modern Hebrew Language beginning fall, 1999. Academic level is flexible. Complete Ph.D. is required. For full consideration, applications including cover letter, CV, three letters of reference, and a representative research sample should be received by December 31, 1998. Send application to: Professor Marcelo Dascal / Dean The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities Tel Aviv University P.O. Box 39040 IL-69978 Tel Aviv, Israel Any questions? Write to: Dr. Moshe Florentin / Chair Department of Hebrew Language and Semitic Languages Tel Aviv University florenti at post.tau.ac.il Please do not use automatic reply.