From amnfn at well.com  Tue May  1 04:55:36 2007
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:55:36 -0700
Subject: Language and 'Self-Expression' (2)
In-Reply-To: <4139.128.2.68.40.1177956348.squirrel@128.2.68.40>
Message-ID: <MON.30.APR.2007.215536.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

The question is, when we correct our own speech directed at oursleves or
our dog, is it always just a question of "internalizing collective
reproach"? Sometimes, couldn't it be just a question of realizing we made
a mistake in calculation?

Clearly, there is a kind of self-editing that involves putting ourselves
in a hearer's place and trying to see if he would understand our message
or be offended by its form. Correcting an "ain't" to "isn't" or putting
something in subjunctive instead of imperative fall into that type of
correction, as does substituting politically correct jargon
for a more archaic term that is undergoing pejorization (say,
"elders" instead of "the old".)

But if we find we negated the wrong clause or used a word that doesn't at
all mean what we intended, isn't that type of self-correction just a
question of clarifying our own thoughts? In that case, it would be the
message we are correcting, without regard to the approval or disapproval
of an internalized hearer.


     --Aya

================================================================
Dr. Aya Katz, Inverted-A, Inc, P.O. Box 267, Licking, MO
65542 USA
(417) 457-6652 (573) 247-0055
http://www.well.com/user/amnfn
=================================================================





On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Paul Hopper wrote:

> Fascinating! I've even caught myself correcting speech errors when I talk to
> my dog.
>
> My speech errors, that is.
>
> All this reminds me of David Bloor's definition of conscience: "the
>internalized image of collective reproach." (I'm afraid I don't have a
>reference for this. Probably his 'Knowledge and Social Imagery.')) We're
>constrained by norms even when no one is listening.
>
> - Paul
>
>
>
>
> > Yes, there is research on slips of the tongue in inner speech. They show
> > the same patterns as slips in audible speech. Done by Peter Reich, or by
> > someone he knows -- I'll copy him on this message. I too have noticed
> > speech errors in my inner speech.
> >
> > All best,   - Syd Lamb
> >
> > On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Johanna Rubba wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> As to "talking to oneself", it certainly does involve speech. I have
> >> made speech errors while talking to myself (not out loud -- solely in my
> >> head). There is probably research somewhere that shows activation in the
> >> motor cortex and perhaps even the speech muscles that sometimes
> >> accompanies talking to oneself -- maybe someone on the list knows this
> >> for a fact. I believe I have read or heard something to that effect
> >> regarding people who subvocalize when they read.
> >>
> >> I posted a message about language and communication on the Pirah�
> >> thread, but it never appeared. I wonder if I sent it only to a single
> >> address. If you received a message, could you send it back to me to
> >> post, or post it for me?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics Linguistics Minor
> >> Advisor English Department California Polytechnic State University, San
> >> Luis Obispo E-mail: jrubba at calpoly.edu Tel.: 805.756.2184 Dept. Ofc. Tel.:
> >> 805.756.2596 Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374 URL:
> >> http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > Sydney M. Lamb			http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lamb/ Linguistics and Cognitive
> > Sciences Rice University, Houston, TX
> >
> >
>
>


From Salinas17 at aol.com  Tue May  1 13:48:12 2007
From: Salinas17 at aol.com (Salinas17 at aol.com)
Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 09:48:12 EDT
Subject: Talking to Ourselves
Message-ID: <TUE.1.MAY.2007.094812.EDT.>

In a message dated 5/1/07 12:56:44 AM, amnfn at well.com writes:
<<when we correct our own speech directed at ourselves or our dog, is it 
always just a question of "internalizing collective reproach"?>> 

Aya - I think Paul was making an analogy.  He wasn't saying "conscience" was 
making us correct our speech. 

<< if we find we negated the wrong clause or used a word that doesn't at all 
mean what we intended, isn't that type of self-correction just a question of 
clarifying our own thoughts? In that case, it would be the message we are 
correcting, without regard to the approval or disapproval of an internalized 
hearer. >>

Well, any kind of correction or self-correction -- including clarifying our 
own thoughts -- needs something against which to evaluate correctness.  And, 
yes, this internal judge can disregard how other listeners might understand us.  
But how does that judge know what's clarifying or what muddying?  What 
experience or know-how makes her qualified?

And don't we accept the value of peer-review when we talk to ourselves?  
Isn't there value in another ear?  Couldn't we be a little lax in evaluating 
ourselves since no one else is listening?

Also, isn't there a difference between "approval or disapproval" in a 
listener and comprehension or lack of it?  Can we talk to ourselves and not 
understand?  Or would that be a clinical condition?

Over with the AI folk, there's some sentiment that our normal day-to-day 
language -- like English -- is a poor way to talk to ourselves.  It carries too 
much baggage designed to aid communication with others that should be 
unnecessary when we talk to ourselves.

See C. Fields, Why do we talk to ourselves?, Journal of Experimental & 
Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, October 2002 , pages 255 - 272.
"When stripped of its everyday familiarity, the virtually constant inner 
dialogue experienced by virtually everyone presents a mystery: why do we use 
language to communicate to ourselves. When examined from a design perspective in 
light of currently plausible cognitive neuroscience, language seems highly 
non-optimal as an internal communication medium... "

Regards,
Steve Long















<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free at 
http://www.aol.com.</HTML>


From mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk  Thu May  3 06:59:32 2007
From: mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk (mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk)
Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 07:59:32 +0100
Subject: Post-graduate support:  U. of Manchester
Message-ID: <THU.3.MAY.2007.075932.0100.>

> University of Manchester
>
> School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
>
> Postgraduate Funding Opportunities 2007/8
>
> The School's postgraduate community is one of the
> largest and most diverse in the UK, enjoying
> state-of-the-art facilities and excellent support
> within a high-quality research environment. In step
> with our continuing expansion, we are enhancing our
> support for students registering for a research
> (PhD) or a taught (MA) programme in 2007-8.
>
> The School is pleased to announce funding
> opportunities for Home/EU and International PhD and
> MA students:
>
> PhD Studentships: (ie. fees and maintenance)
>
> Please note, applicants who are eligible and
> suitably qualified are required to apply to the
> AHRC.
>
> PhD and MA Fee Bursaries: (assistance with fees)
>
> The School offers an extensive range of research
> specialisations and Masters programmes in the
> following areas: East Asian Studies, European
> Languages and Cultures, Latin American Cultural
> Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Linguistics and
> English Language and Translation Studies.
>
> For more information on the above programmes, please
> visit our website at www.manchester.ac.uk/llc
>
> Please quote reference number STB/2901.
>
> The closing date for receipt of applications for the
> funding competitions is 29 June 2007.
>
> Please note, only successful applicants will be
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>
> Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTFs)
>
> The GTF will be required to undertake a PhD
> programme of study AND to teach for 6 hours per week
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> Seven GTFs are available in 2007/08 in the following
> language areas: Academic Reading in French (0.5);
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>
> Please quote reference number GTF/2901
>
> The closing date for receipt of applications for the
> GTF competition is 14 May 2007.
>
> For further details, including the procedure for
> applications, please email the Postgraduate
> Administrator: sara.duncalf at manchester.ac.uk


From sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr  Thu May  3 07:51:18 2007
From: sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr (Sylvester Osu)
Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 09:51:18 +0200
Subject: Call For Papers Reminder
Message-ID: <THU.3.MAY.2007.095118.0200.SYLVESTER.OSU@WANADOO.FR>

CALL FOR PAPERS - REMINDER

CONFERENCE "CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY AND THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFICATION"

29 & 30 NOVEMBER 2007

Université François Rabelais, Tours
UFR Lettres et Langues, « Langues & Représentations » Research Group
3 rue des Tanneurs
37041 Tours Cedex 1, France
http://langrep.univ-tours.fr

ORGANISING COMMITTEE:
Sylvester Osu, Gilles Col, Nathalie Garric, Fabienne Toupin

DESCRIPTION

The world's languages use diverse means to construct and express the
identity of people and objects. These means include denomination (e.g.
proper nouns, noun phrases, denominal adjectives, etc.) in the sense of
categorising living beings and/or inanimate objects through the act of
naming, and reduplication (e.g. a salad salad, I mean up-up, etc.) which in
some of its uses amounts to typifying. Categorisation is a way of
identifying an element with a group while marking its singularity (see e.g.
Folkbiology). On the other hand, to produce a sequence like 'un parfum pour
les femmes femmes' is tantamount to setting up a subcategory of women par
excellence and consequently, introducing a difference among women.

In recent years, identification has received a great deal of attention in
linguistics. In some theoretical models it has even come to be regarded as a
form of linguistic operation.

The aim of this conference is to outline the different linguistic operations
of identification insofar as they involve the construction of identity and
the different linguistic devices through which the identity of a person or
object is constructed.

We welcome contributions that show how the two notions of identity and
identification are articulated in both language and discourse. Contributions
can stem from any theoretical background, be based upon any methodological
approach and address the issue in any of the world's languages.

LANGUAGES
The conference will feature presentations in French as well as in English.


ABSTRACTS
Please submit your abstracts in both RTF and PDF (2 pages minimum and 3 max,
in 12-point Times New Roman, simple spacing) by e-mail to the following
address: langrep at univ-tours.fr no later than 31 May 2007, submission
deadline. Please include the title of the paper but do not mention the name
of the author as abstracts will be refereed anonymously. A separate page
should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, affiliation,
postal and email addresses.

PUBLICATIONS
We intend to publish the papers accepted for the conference. To this effect,
revised versions will be reviewed anew by the members of the scientific
committee.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Gabriel Bergounioux (Université d'Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)
Isabelle Bril (LACITO-CNRS, Paris)
Pierre Cadiot (Université d'Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)
Gilles Col (Université François Rabelais, Tours/FORELL, Poitiers)
Jean-Michel Fournier (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Jean-Jacques Franckel (Université de Paris X, Nanterre/ LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS, 
Paris)
Jacques François (Université de Caen Basse-Normandie/CRISCO, FRE 2805)
Nathalie Garric (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Thierry Grass (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Bernhard Hurch (Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Graz, Austria)
Raphaël Kabore (Université Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/LACITO-CNRS, Paris)
Georges Kleiber (Université Marc Bloch Strasbourg & EA 1339 LDL- Scolia)
Daniel Lebaud (Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon)
Fiona McLaughlin (University of Florida, USA)
François Nemo (Université d'Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)
Sylvester Osu (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Denis Paillard (LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS - Université Paris 7, Paris)
Michel Paillard (Université de Poitiers/FORELL, Poitiers)
Fabienne Toupin (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Bernard Victorri (LATTICE (UMR 8094) CNRS-ENS, Montrouge)

IMPORTANT DATES
Abstract deadline: 31 May 2007
Notification: 15 July 2007
Conference dates: Thursday 29 & Friday 30 November 2007
Deadline for registration: 15 September 2007

VENUE : Tours (France). The halls will be announced with the programme.

REGISTRATION: 80 EUR (40 EUR for students)

FURTHER INFORMATION
Sylvester Osu
Phone: 336.78.34.13.51
Email: Sylvester.osu at univ-tours.fr
http://langrep.univ-tours.fr

Université François Rabelais, Tours
UFR Lettres et Langues
Département des Sciences du Langage
3 rue des Tanneurs
37041 Tours Cedex 1, France


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May  5 04:35:02 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 23:35:02 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <FRI.4.MAY.2007.233502.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

I was grateful to learn from Esa Itkonen of John Colopinto's article in the
April 16 issue of _The New Yorker_ and to read the discussion on Funknet
that followed his message. And I'm of course even more grateful to Dan
Everett for what made this article and discussion possible--his many decades
of research among the Piraha.

I also found charming the brief discussion between Esa and Dan as to who had
first disputed generative theories. I've been disputing them in public since
1987 and even longer privately, but I can scarcely claim primacy in this
field, since the last four decades have seen no shortage of criticism and
even ridicule directed at these theories. One of their most qualified
disputants has consistently been Chomsky's definitive bibliographer E.F.
Konrad Koerner, perhaps the primary authority on the history of linguistics.
Other international scholars who have voiced their doubts have included
Larry Trask, Maurice Gross, Yuen Ren Chao, I.A. Richards, and George
Steiner. A more detailed--but still far from complete--list of such doubters
among linguists and other language scholars can be found on my website at:

http://language.home.sprynet.com/lingdex/tggbib.htm

But as truly remarkable as Dan's achievement undoubtedly is, it seems to me
that the matter of the Piraha is only the least of grounds for demonstrating
that Chomsky's theories have always been incorrect.

Overlooked through all these decades has been the unavoidable truth that the
primary purpose of language has never been communication. Rather, that
purpose has been and remains even today to persuade ourselves against all
opposing odds that we understand the world and what is happening around us.
To make ourselves believe that we know what we are talking about, when quite
often we do not. And to reassure ourselves that our knowledge must be valid
because others agree with us, when of course they may be just as ignorant as
we are. And finally that we have the right to ignore, abuse, and even punish
those who disagree with us. It is our attempt to protect ourselves from
recognizing this primary purpose that has launched the countless perversions
of language we find around us, including religions, nationalisms, and
assorted theories of reality, perhaps even including "science" during some
of its stages.

How convenient to suppose that all the words, sayings, ideas, melodies and
designs we have been exposed to and diligently studied are the only ones we
need to bother with.

Amidst this conflagration of ignorance there has always been one area of
learning that could have helped us to emerge from the cave and behold
something resembling light. It ought to have disabused us of our fantasies
and provided the antidote to their excesses. It is of course the study of
languages, what we call linguistics.

But the final proof that we prefer those fantasies to rigorous knowledge is
that even linguistics has failed us. It too, instead of truly studying
language, has merely fallen into the trap implicit in its primary purpose.
So much so that many professional linguists also imagine that they know what
they are talking about and claim the right to ignore, abuse, or punish those
who disagree with them.

Had it been otherwise, we might today enjoy a truly liberating linguistics
instead of the limiting linguistics we experience all around us.

I find the question of whether it will take 20 or 40 years for Chomskyan
theories to die out beside the point. Like so much of our study today, it is
rooted in fixed numbers and assumes that all other factors will remain
equal, when they may not remain equal at all. I can envision a number of
circumstances that could dramatically reduce either number. For instance:

1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI, "mainstream
linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since Chomsky
imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine language is
nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate appears
ever more dubious. The Japanese recognized this when they bestowed the Kyoto
Award on Chomsky and John McCarthy, the father of Strong AI, on the same
platform in the same year.

2) Times and trends change, sometimes even for good reasons. Since some
innermost cult members now seem to be changing their minds, what is to stop
others from following? Colopinto tells us that even Pinter is among these.
Could he yet proclaim himself a Whorfian and recant the nine fierce
anti-Whorfian pages in his 1994 book? Might he even stop dismissing his
opponents as mere "language mavens" when he realizes that the
Cambridge-on-Charles crew have been the real language mavens all along?

3. Colopinto's piece may well be followed by other coverage of linguistics
by the press, radio, and TV. When Chomskyans studied Orwell's works, they
learned not only how to detect propaganda but how to create it, enabling
them to monopolize most discussions of language in popular media over
several decades. That monopoly may now be at an end.

4) When Americans learn the full cost borne by tax-payers to support
generative/MT work through the decades, a sudden disinclination to continue
such research could intervene. Seven years ago one journalist described MT
alone as having "burned through billions of dollars,"

5) The ultimate translation blunder, whether in diplomacy, medicine, or
technology, is simply waiting in the wings to happen. MT and mainstream
linguistics are likely to play a central role in bringing about this
translation Katrina. At the very least the Beijing Olympics will heighten
awareness of the cultural (and not generative) basis for many confused
translations. Chinglish and its cousins in other languages will not be
totally eliminated in time for the games, and journalists are already having
a field day providing examples. At some point some authority will need to
point out that Chinglish arises not from bad translation alone but from
culturally based interpretations of reality residing in the Chinese
language. Also, I happened to watch the opening procession of the Pan-Asian
Games in Beijing on TV, when nations entered the arena not in any alphabetic
order but according to the stroke number of Chinese characters, so that
based on the 2-stroke character ma3 ("horse," used as a phonetic) the
Maldive Islands team marched in first. This means the procession in 2008 is
likely to be led by Mali, Madagascar, or the Maldives, surely providing
Westerners with insights into the truly foreign nature of many languages.

Finally, a note on "recursion." How convenient for mainstreamers to imagine
that recursion fails to occur only in a tongue spoken by 350 natives in
Brazil. But what if we were to suddenly discover that recursion as such is
also missing from that family of languages used by more native speakers than
any other on earth, by one-point-three _billion_ people? My Chinese is no
longer as strong as it once was, but I distinctly remember that sentences in
our language such as:

"The man who met the girl with the sensuous smile was absent-minded."

would be routinely switched over in Chinese to something like:

"The man met the girl.
The girl had a sensuous smile.
The man was absent-minded."

This is simply a fact of life about Chinese and cannot be denied. What I
fear most, based on bitter past experience in dealing with mainstreamers, is
that the response to this simple statement will take the form not only of
_total denial_ but will indulge in petty personal abuse aimed in my
direction. It will illegitimately be claimed that the Chinese version is
nonetheless a perfect form of recursion  (which I am allegedly too ignorant
to recognize), even though it is open to various misinterpretations not
present in the English version.  In Steve Long's clever summation,
recursiveness is merely a "parlour trick" and has  "little to do with the
basic nature of language."

And as Prof. Everett clearly states:

"People believe they've actually studied a language when they have given it
a Chomskyan formalism. And... may have given us absolutely no insight
whatsoever into that language as a foreign language."

Ultimately there is no real substitute for going to a country, learning its
language the hard way, and even proceeding to various stages of "going
native." This is something I have done in at least four different countries
over the decades and is clearly also something Dan Everett has done to an
even higher degree. Those who have not experienced this process will simply
miss out on all manner of language realities and are likely to have also
missed some of the satiric and ironic elements in this message. Perhaps
Larry Trask, a linguist trained as a chemist and hence a real scientist, has
said it all best:

"This stuff is so much half-baked twaddle, more akin to a religious movement
than to a scholarly enterprise. I am confident that our successors will look
back on UG as a huge waste of time."

all the best to all!

alex


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May  5 23:55:51 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Sat, 5 May 2007 18:55:51 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <SAT.5.MAY.2007.185551.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Was unhappy to discover that I misspelled John Colapinto's last name in
yesterday's posting, perhaps further proof of my thesis that we like to
imagine we know things when we really don't...

all the best to all!

alex


From timo.honkela at tkk.fi  Sun May  6 19:52:04 2007
From: timo.honkela at tkk.fi (timo.honkela at tkk.fi)
Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 22:52:04 +0300
Subject: PirahN
In-Reply-To: <002e01c78ece$bfac3650$e7e9d718@v7t0g4>
Message-ID: <SUN.6.MAY.2007.225204.0300.>

On Fri, 4 May 2007, Alexander Gross2 wrote:

> 1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI, "mainstream
> linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since Chomsky
> imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
> language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine language is
> nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
> that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate appears
> ever more dubious. 

Thank you for the interesting comments, points of view and links that
you provided. The MT issue is discussed in depth in the following 
article: "Philosophical Aspects of Neural, Probabilistic and 
Fuzzy Modeling of Language Use and Translation". Proceedings of
IJCNN'07, International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, in print.

The article is available at  
http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/honkela_translation_ijcnn07.pdf

Comments are most welcome! (The conference is organized in 
August in Orlando with a special session on Philosophical Aspects 
of Neural Network Modeling.)

Abstract:

Serious efforts to develop computerized systems for natural language 
understanding and machine translation have taken place for more than 
half a century. Some successful systems that translate texts in 
limited domains such as weather forecasts have been implemented. 
However, the more general the domain or complex the style of the text 
the more difficult it is to reach high quality translation. The same 
applies to natural language understanding. All systems need to deal 
with problems like ambiguity, lack of semantic coverage and pragmatic 
insight. In this article, some philosophical questions that underlie 
the difficulty of natural language understanding and good quality 
translation are first studied. These two areas of dealing with 
languages are actually closely related. Namely, for instance Quine's 
notion of indeterminacy of translation have shown that the problem of 
translation does not only hold for translation between different 
languages but similar problems are encountered when communication 
between users of same language is considered. The term intralingual 
translation has been used e.g. by Roman Jakobson. Intralingual 
translation relates to translation between languages and to the 
problem of sameness of meaning. In this article, arguments and methods 
of considering translation and meaning within the framework of 
continuous-valued multidimensional representations, probability 
theory, fuzzy sets and neural adaptive systems are considered.

Best regards,
Timo

--
Timo Honkela, Chief Research Scientist, PhD, Docent
Adaptive Informatics Research Center
Laboratory of Computer and Information Science
Helsinki University of Technology
P.O.Box 5400, FI-02015 TKK

timo.honkela at tkk.fi,  http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/


From language at sprynet.com  Wed May  9 02:33:40 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 21:33:40 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <TUE.8.MAY.2007.213340.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Thanks for your reply, Timo.  I sometimes feel that posting on discussion
groups like FUNKNET is like placing one's head on a chopping block.  Though
i've received two positive responses privately, yours is the first to appear
on-line.  I've skimmed through your paper & even gone to your website to
find out more about your mental maps.  Give me a bit more time to read it
again, and i'll get back to you.

all the best!

alex

ps--if you haven't already read my thoughts about mapping language, you'll
find them on  my site at:

http://languag2.home.sprynet.com/f/evishop.htm.

----- Original Message -----
From: <timo.honkela at tkk.fi>
To: <funknet at mailman.rice.edu>; "Alexander Gross2" <language at sprynet.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] PirahN


> On Fri, 4 May 2007, Alexander Gross2 wrote:
>
> > 1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI,
"mainstream
> > linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since
Chomsky
> > imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
> > language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine
language is
> > nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
> > that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate
appears
> > ever more dubious.
>
> Thank you for the interesting comments, points of view and links that
> you provided. The MT issue is discussed in depth in the following
> article: "Philosophical Aspects of Neural, Probabilistic and
> Fuzzy Modeling of Language Use and Translation". Proceedings of
> IJCNN'07, International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, in print.
>
> The article is available at
> http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/honkela_translation_ijcnn07.pdf
>
> Comments are most welcome! (The conference is organized in
> August in Orlando with a special session on Philosophical Aspects
> of Neural Network Modeling.)
>
> Abstract:
>
> Serious efforts to develop computerized systems for natural language
> understanding and machine translation have taken place for more than
> half a century. Some successful systems that translate texts in
> limited domains such as weather forecasts have been implemented.
> However, the more general the domain or complex the style of the text
> the more difficult it is to reach high quality translation. The same
> applies to natural language understanding. All systems need to deal
> with problems like ambiguity, lack of semantic coverage and pragmatic
> insight. In this article, some philosophical questions that underlie
> the difficulty of natural language understanding and good quality
> translation are first studied. These two areas of dealing with
> languages are actually closely related. Namely, for instance Quine's
> notion of indeterminacy of translation have shown that the problem of
> translation does not only hold for translation between different
> languages but similar problems are encountered when communication
> between users of same language is considered. The term intralingual
> translation has been used e.g. by Roman Jakobson. Intralingual
> translation relates to translation between languages and to the
> problem of sameness of meaning. In this article, arguments and methods
> of considering translation and meaning within the framework of
> continuous-valued multidimensional representations, probability
> theory, fuzzy sets and neural adaptive systems are considered.
>
> Best regards,
> Timo
>
> --
> Timo Honkela, Chief Research Scientist, PhD, Docent
> Adaptive Informatics Research Center
> Laboratory of Computer and Information Science
> Helsinki University of Technology
> P.O.Box 5400, FI-02015 TKK
>
> timo.honkela at tkk.fi,  http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/
>
>


From language at sprynet.com  Thu May 10 04:34:32 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 23:34:32 -0500
Subject: Language and "Self-Expression"
Message-ID: <WED.9.MAY.2007.233432.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

I was pleased to read the exchange between Aya, Denis, & Steve on autism &
language learning.  Perhaps you are already aware of the achievements of the
English autistic savant Daniel Tammet in this regard.  He has been dubbed
BRAIN MAN and is frequently featured on TV, radio, and in the press.  If
you're not aware of his abilities, you might want to obtain a copy of the
Discovery/Science Channel one-hour program devoted to him, also called
BRAIN MAN, as it might be useful for presenting to students.  You can read
extensively about him both on wikipedia and his own website, at:

http://www.optimnem.co.uk/

The one-hour program contains an account of his having learned Icelandic in
a single week, sufficient to be interviewed in that tongue on an Icelandic
TV program at the end of the week.  I certainly respect him as one of the
most remarkable linguists I know of, but I still have a few doubts about
this feat.  He admits in the blog on his site to having made a few mistakes
in grammar and makes an essentially anti-mainstream argument that grammar
isn't all that important.

Here are some more comments I made about him a year ago on LANTRA, a
discussion group for professional translators:

-----------------------

Compared to Kim Peek, perhaps the best known autistic savant as the model
for the Dustin Hoffman film Rain Man, Daniel Tammet is quite well-spoken &
comes across as close to "normal."  And unlike Peek, his abilities extend to
a talent for learning & speaking foreign languages.

In fact, the TV producers threw in a "test" to prove these abilities.  Like
so much on television, this test was full of holes, a bit like assuming that
children who win nationwide spelling bees are actually learning something
important about language. but it was nonetheless impressive in its way.

They challenged Tammet to learn a language well enough in a week to be able
to appear speaking it on a live show with native TV news people.  The
language they chose for him was Icelandic, which they spent some time trying
to convince viewers is incredibly difficult to learn, flashing screen shots
of its slightly offbeat written form with its extra letters.  The audience
was told that he was starting entirely from scratch, though it wasn't
mentioned that he was in fact starting from a closely related language,
English. And since he was already described as a master linguist, he could
well have already known German as well.  Perhaps even another Scandinavian
language, which would have made the whole "test" something of a setup for
him.

We were told none of this, possibly because even the show's producers
weren't aware that it was important.  Anyway, we saw him pass the test with
what appeared to be flying colors by "speaking Icelandic" with Icelanders in
excerpts from his TV appearance.

Okay, i don't want to pull any kind of personal rank as a linguist, as i am
deeply in awe of several LANTRA members for your prodigious language
accomplishments.  And for many years i have also had the good luck of
counting among my friends the UN translator Alex Schwartz, whom the Guiness
Book of Records names as the "greatest US linguist."  So I know I have a few
skills but i don't truly measure up  to what some of you on LANTRA have
achieved.

But I do know i could have come close to matching Daniel Tammet's feat, at
least when i was a bit younger, if not in a week, then certainly a month.
What's more, I don't truly regard learning languages that way as any deep
test of linguistic skill, in fact I find I sometimes have to STOP myself
from learning another language I may find interesting, since I'm all too
keenly aware of the many other requirements for truly deep & useful
knowledge of a language.

-----------------------------

None of which detracts from Tammet's many remarkable skills.  On his
website, you'll find that he also offers courses on how to learn languages
more easily.  And he has also created a language of his own, perhaps as a an
outgrowth of his condition.  It is based on Estonian, whose vowel sounds he
finds particularly attractive.

I guess I should confess that I have some practical and personal reasons of
my own for my interest in the Autism/Asperger's Spectrum.  Both my wife of
48 years & her late brother have a place on it: though an "Aspie," Ilene is
an accomplished artist/designer with a prodigious memory, Morton was a high
functioning autistic genius, the very first electronic engineer to be hired
by IBM back in 1949. He served as a VP during some of their most famous
projects, including their early MT program, which he believed would solve
most of the linguistic and technical intricacies and be ready as a
functioning prototype in time for the NY World's Fair of 1963.

all the best to all!

alex

----- Original Message -----
From: "A. Katz" <amnfn at well.com>
To: <Salinas17 at aol.com>
Cc: <funknet at mailman.rice.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 10:58 PM
Subject: [FUNKNET] Re: Language and "Self-Expression"


> Communication can be intentional or unintentional. Vocalization can be
> voluntary or involuntary. In the context of a discussion of the
> separability of language structure from communication, "self-expression"
> means a form-to-meaning mapping that encodes information where the speaker
> had no intent to communicate with another.
>
> Sometimes the vocalization is involuntary. The speaker just couldn't help
> himself. He might prefer not to communicate, but the need to express his
> thoughts and feelings overrides his concern about sharing information. At
> other times, the speaker may be unaware that he has an audience.
>
> When someone cries out in pain, everyone who hears understands the
> message. But it is not a message that the injured party necessarily meant
> to send out. The urge to cry out is difficult to overcome. We might not
want
> others to know we are suffering. Nature made sure we would let others
> know, because it might save the lives of our group mates, who would be
> alerted to the danger.
>
> Babies are born with a repertoire of cries that alert caretakers to their
> needs. But a newborn does not know that there are others. The concept of
> self versus other develops much later. When a baby cries out, it is
> self-expression, regardless of the fact that for hearers the cries
> function as a form of communication, in that the baby supplies them with
> important information about its needs.
>
> If Abraham Lincoln had composed and spoken the Gettysburg Address without
> intending it for an audience, then it would have been mere
> self-expression. Since he did intend it for an audience, we can safely say
> that it was an intentional act of communication.
>
> Some people with autistic spectrum disorders master both grammar and its
> mapping onto meaning, without developing a theory of mind. When they
> speak, they comment on reality without taking into consideration what
> others will make of their comments. Their speech is motivated by self-
> expression, but they are using a language they picked up from their
> environment, so anybody listening in can understand what was said.
>
> Best,
>
>       --Aya Katz
>
> ================================================================
> Dr. Aya Katz, Inverted-A, Inc, P.O. Box 267, Licking, MO
> 65542 USA
> (417) 457-6652 (573) 247-0055
> http://www.well.com/user/amnfn
> =================================================================
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 Salinas17 at aol.com wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 4/27/07 4:34:58 AM, amnfn at well.com writes:
> > <<The motive for sound-to-meaning mapping on the part of speakers can be
> > self-expression, even though the overall effect is communication with
others.  In
> > all likelihood, self expression was the initial motive of speakers, even
> > though it was communication with others that served as the force that
kept that
> > motive a part of our human behavioral repertoire.>>
> >
> > This is an example of how absolutely critical *common reference* is to
> > language.  Are Aya and I talking about the same thing when we talk about
> > "self-expression"?
> >
> > I'm not sure what Aya means by "self-expression."  I've heard the term
of
> > course many times.  But I'm unsure what it specifically refers to, in
this
> > context.
> >
> > The term "self-expression" has been used in discourse analysis, general
> > sociolinguistics and even marketing research to refer to the
individualistic
> > element in language or how something is congruent with one's own sense
of identity.
> > In these areas, it's not really separate from communication, but more
like
> > the opposite of "group-expression"  -- conformity of ideas, styles or
ways of
> > thinking.  Look up "self-expression" on Google and you'll see that, in
the
> > vernacular, it usually doesn't mean anything like
non-communication"  -- quite the
> > contrary.  I believe Chomsky has used the term in connection with his
Free
> > Speech position, which is also inherently about communication.  (Nobody
has to
> > be concerned about Free Speech if they never intend to express their
ideas to
> > anyone else.)
> >
> > Chomsky has also distinguished "self-expression" from communication, but
I
> > must confess I don't understand the contrast.  "Self-expression" seems
to be
> > about the origin of the message, not about who it's meant for.   When
Lincoln
> > spoke the Gettysburg Address, that was self-expression.  If I just quote
the
> > Gettyburg Address in a speech, without regard for what the words mean,
that is not
> > self-expression -- it's somebody else's.  This seems to be a logical
> > understanding of the word.
> >
> > But the context of Aya's message seems to suggest that there is some
kind of
> > non-communal use of language called "self-expression."
> >
> > I take it that this means talking to one's-self instead of anyone else.
I
> > would call this "self-communication", I guess.  There's no doubt it
happens all
> > the time, but just as a matter of sequence in the acquisition of
language, it
> > can only be a secondary effect.
> >
> > In order to talk to myself in English, I have to learn English first.
> > English is a communal language, shared by billions of people who spoke
it before I
> > was born.  Every single one of those people without exception were not
born
> > speaking English.  It had to be shared with them.  Communication is how
every
> > single person in the world learns a language.  No one speaks raw
Universal
> > Grammar and that's a good reason to think no one speaks it to himself
either.
> >
> > Now, let's say I have another language -- my own private language -- my
> > "self-expression" language.  Since I don't use it for communicating with
anybody
> > but myself, it is not a normal language.
> >
> > But let's say I constantly violate the rules of grammar in my private
> > language.  What is the consequence of my violation?  Are those
expressions I make to
> > myself "unacceptible", "incomprehensible" or simply "ungrammatical?"  In
those
> > cases, would I say I do not understand my own private language?  Do I
rap
> > myself on my knuckles for using bad grammar and correct myself?
> >
> > Of course, there is an advantage to this private language.  I don't have
to
> > worry about sharing common references with anybody else.   In English, I
need
> > to call a horse a "horse", or a self-expression a "self-expression" or I
will
> > have poor hope of being understood.  However, in my private language, I
can
> > call a cow a "horse", a spotted dog a "horse" and a self-expression a
"horse" and
> > have no problem with understanding myself.  I even always know which
kind of
> > "horse" I am referring to, and can also use the word as a verb or a
pronomial
> > because I always know what I am referring to, even if I'm using the same
word
> > all those different ways.
> >
> > And no one's going to correct my "self-expression" because communication
with
> > others has no importance.   Turning this into audible speech, however,
can
> > present a problem.
> >
> > We don't hear such private "self-expression" languages spoken out loud
much
> > around town.  People who spout incomprehensible "self-expressions" on a
regular
> > basis are not treated with much understanding by most folk.  They are
often
> > diagnosed as having mental problems.  Perhaps it would be more
enlightened to
> > consider them just people who have choosen to use their LADs and UGs for
> > non-communicative purposes.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Steve Long
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free
at
> > http://www.aol.com.</HTML>
> >
> >
>


From ekapia at bu.edu  Fri May 11 00:03:06 2007
From: ekapia at bu.edu (ekapia at bu.edu)
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 20:03:06 -0400
Subject: BUCLD 32: Call for Papers Final Reminder
Message-ID: <THU.10.MAY.2007.200306.0400.>

CALL FOR PAPERS FINAL REMINDER

THE 32nd ANNUAL BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
NOVEMBER 2-4, 2007

Keynote Speaker:
Ellen Bialystok, York University
"Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism Across the Lifespan"

Plenary Speaker:
William O?Grady, University of Hawai?i at Manoa
"Does Emergentism Have a Chance?"

Lunch Symposium:
?The Production and Processing of Grammatical Morphemes?
Katherine Demuth, Brown University
Anne Fernald, Stanford University
Lee Osterhout, University of Washington
Virginia Valian, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center

Submissions which present research on any topic in the fields of first 
and second language acquisition from any theoretical perspectives will 
be fully considered, including:

* Bilingualism
* Cognition & Language
* Creoles & Pidgins
* Dialects
* Discourse and Narrative
* Gesture
* Hearing Impairment and Deafness
* Input & Interaction
* Language Disorders (Autism, Down Syndrome, SLI, Williams Syndrome, etc.)
* Linguistic Theory (Syntax, Semantics, Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon)
* Neurolinguistics
* Pragmatics
* Pre-linguistic Development
* Reading and Literacy
* Signed Languages
* Sociolinguistics
* Speech Perception & Production

Presentations will be 20 minutes long followed by a 10 minute question 
period. Posters
will be on display for a full day with two attended sessions during the day.

ABSTRACT FORMAT AND CONTENT

* Abstracts submitted must represent original, unpublished research.
* Abstracts should be anonymous, clearly titled and no more than 500 
words in length. Text of abstract should fit on one page, with a second 
page for examples, figures, or references. Abstracts longer than 500 
words will be rejected without being evaluated.
* Please note the word count at the bottom of the abstract. Note that 
word counts should not include the abstract title, figure or table 
titles, examples, or the list of references.
* A suggested format and style for abstracts is available at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/template.html
* Three examples of how to formulate the content of the abstract can be 
found at:
http://www.lsadc.org/info/dec02bulletin/model.html
http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/bucholtz/sociocultural/abstracttips.html
http://www.ulcl.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=5&c=124
* The criteria used by the reviewers to evaluate abstracts can be found at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/reviewprocess.html#rate
* All abstracts must be submitted as PDF documents. Specific 
instructions for how to create PDF documents are available at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/pdfinfo.html.
If you encounter a problem creating a PDF file, please contact us for 
further assistance.
Please use the first author's last name as the file name (eg. 
Smith.pdf). No author
information should appear anywhere in the contents of the PDF file itself.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

* Electronic submission: To facilitate the abstract submission process, 
abstracts will be
submitted using the form available at the conference website at
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/abstract.htm.
* Specific instructions for abstract submission are available on this website.
* Abstracts will be accepted between April 1 and May 15.
* Contact information for each author must be submitted via webform. No 
author information should appear anywhere in the abstract PDF.
* At the time of submission you will be asked whether you would like 
your abstract to be
considered for a poster, a paper, or both. Note that this preference is 
not revealed to the reviewers, and thus is not considered in the review 
process.
* Although each author may submit as many abstracts as desired, we will 
accept for
presentation by each author: (a) a maximum of 1 first authored 
paper/poster, and (b) a
maximum of 2 papers/posters in any authorship status. Note that no 
changes in authorship (including deleting an author or changing author 
order) will be possible after the review process is completed or for 
publication in the conference proceedings.

DEADLINE

* All submissions must be received by 8:00 PM EST, May 15, 2007.
* Late abstracts will not be considered, whatever the reason for the delay.
* We regret that we cannot accept abstract submissions by fax or email.
* Submissions via surface mail will only be accepted in special 
circumstances, on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us well in 
advance of the submission deadline (May 15, 2007) to make these 
arrangements.

ABSTRACT SELECTION

* Each abstract is blind reviewed by 5 reviewers from a panel of 
approximately 140
international scholars. Further information about the review process is 
available at
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/reviewprocess.html.
* Acknowledgment of receipt of the abstract will be sent by email as 
soon as possible after receipt. Notice of acceptance or rejection will 
be sent to first authors only, in early
August, by email. Pre-registration materials and preliminary schedule 
will be available
in late August, 2007.
* If your abstract is accepted, you will need to submit a 150-word 
abstract including
title, author(s) and affiliation(s) for inclusion in the conference 
handbook. Guidelines
will be provided along with notification of acceptance.
* Abstracts accepted as papers will be invited for publication in the 
BUCLD Proceedings.
* Abstracts accepted as posters will be invited for publication online 
only, but not in the
printed version.
* All conference papers will be selected on the basis of abstracts 
submitted. Although each abstract will be evaluated individually, we 
will attempt to honor requests to schedule accepted papers together in 
group sessions.
* No schedule changes will be possible once the schedule is set. 
Scheduling requests for religious reasons only must be made before the 
review process is complete (i.e. at the time of submission). A space is 
provided on the abstract submission webform to specify such requests.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Information regarding the conference may be accessed on the BUCLD website:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/
Boston University Conference on Language Development
96 Cummington Street, Room 244
Boston, MA 02215
U.S.A.
Telephone: (617) 353-3085
e-mail: langconf at bu.edu


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May 12 05:09:13 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 00:09:13 -0500
Subject: PIRAHA: The Film
Message-ID: <SAT.12.MAY.2007.000913.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Things sometimes get so serious around here that I hope at least some of you can find room for a more humorous approach.  A friend just sent me a copy of a film treatment he will be pitching to Hollywood producers next week.  I'm sure he would value any comments you may choose to make, as would I.  Here it is:

  Crossing the Language Barrier

              Adapted from the New Yorker article

Glorious sunlight and swelling tropical rhythms announce that we are in the jungles of Brazil, where the famous anthropologist Daniel Everett (played by Nick Nolte) has come to investigate a mysterious language among an even more mysterious people: the Piraha.  We are on the shores of the Amazon (not the real river, but Amazon is better known), and we watch as he and his young assistant (Leo DiCaprio) explore their exotic surroundings and greet the members of this tribe, who reply in their musical language as they hunt and build their homes and perform other tribal activities.  Everett-Nolte's assistant attempts to initiate a romance with a Piraha maiden (Salma Hayek).  The next day a second assistant (Johnie Depp) arrives by plane: self-sufficient and cocksure, he tells the other two that their expedition is sure to be a success, as he has already figured out what must be the key to the tribe's language.  He attempts to communicate with the natives without much success and grows ever more frustrated by his failure.

The next day he dives into the Amazon for a swim and is half-eaten alive by ravenous piranhas.  He is close to death when he reaches shore and unlikely to survive, but the tribe members save his life with their herbal remedies.  At one point he becomes delirious, calling out: Don't you see, it's useless, Piraha is nothing but a giant Piranha, it will devour us all.  The next day he is flown out on a stretcher to a Western hospital.  Nolte-Everett and his assistant are devastated by this event and debate whether there can still be any hope of understanding the language.

Cut to the Pentagon in Washington, where a high-ranking general is on the phone to an MIT savant.  Split screen between them: Damn it, says the general, you've got to get that Babelfish going, that switchbox of yours, whatever you call it.  We've funded you for fifty years now, and I'm not sure I can guarantee you any further support.  We urgently need to translate all languages into all other languages, it's a matter of life and death.  Don't worry, replies the savant, we're very close to succeeding, I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Transition back to Brazil, where despite the language barrier the first assistant (DiCaprio) is making progress in courting the Piraha girl.  Their romance blossoms into a long, passionate, and inventive session of love making.  She speaks Piraha to him, and he replies, at first hestitantly but more fluently and melodiously as their intimacy mounts. After their final climax, the maiden imparts to her lover the true secret of their language.  But that's impossible, her partner replies, it couldn't possibly be that simple.

Cut to MIT, where the savant enters a room of towering mainframes staffed by his grad students.  Alright, he tells them, handing them a disk, this is the final formulation, make the computers translate these texts.  Lights flash from the mainframes, and an enormous cacophony is heard.  Switch between the anguished faces of the savant and his pupils, as the noise and flashing reach a crescendo.  Finally the network begins to announce the results of its work in a HAL-like voice.  We hear it proclaiming one by one many of the most famous and most hilarious MT bloopers.  Well, says the savant, at least we're getting close.

Back to Brazil, where the lovers are still gazing excitedly into each other's eyes.  No, he repeats, that couldn't possibly be true.  But then he is seized by doubt and leads her to Everett-Nolte, where both of them, still somewhat dishevelled after their exertions, try to explain to him what she believes the secret of the Piraha language must be.  They agree that it still doesn't quite make sense, but the anthropologist is intrigued.

Let me think about this a bit, he replies, I need to go for a walk.  The music swells as Everett-Nolte strides outside and walks by himself down along the shores of the Amazon, where crocodiles  threaten to attack him at every step.  The music grows ever more intense, as do the scenic effects.  In addition to the crocodiles we now see toucans, two-toed sloths, marmosets, giant anteaters, all the fantasmagoria of tropical flora and fauna against the luminous background of the Amazon sky, seeming to surround the anthropologist on every side.  Yes, he says, I think I've found the secret.  He turns around and retraces his steps.

Now we are back at MIT, where the grad students are busy dismantling the mainframes and lugging them to a truck outside.  The general appears, followed by the savant.  I'm sorry it had to end like this, says the general, it was a really good idea.  Yes, I'm sorry too, replies the savant.

Finale on the banks of the Amazon: once again the sounds and sights have begun to soar, while in the background we see the Piraha people busily at work and hear once more the wondrous murmuring of their language.  Nolte, DiCaprio, and Hayek stand together on the shore, gazing across the river. My God, we did it, says DiCaprio.  Yes, we did it, replies the protagonist.

The musical and visual sensorium reaches an absolute climax, mingling both sunrise and sunset together, as the anthropologist sums up: There is no Babelfish, no switchbox, no way you can ever translate all the world's languages into each other.  The only hope we have as human beings is to learn each other's languages.  Only then can we truly hope to understand one another.

--------------------------------------

I hope I have offended no one by any of this, which I have clearly labeled as humor, however unsuccessful it may be.  After all, it couldn't possibly be a description of reality.  Or could it...?

all the best!

alex

PS--I want to make it clear that I have not written this "film treatment" to demean Prof. Everett's achievements in any way, on the contrary I see it as one way of expressing my admiration for them.  I have written to him to apologize in case he takes any of it the wrong way, and by hyphenating his name with Nolte's I have tried to make it clear that just as the Amazon is not the same as the Maici, so this is in no way an image of him or his work. Or as the classic disclaimer has it: this is entirely a work of fiction, and any similarity between the two Everetts is purely coincidental.


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Sat May 12 18:56:53 2007
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 13:56:53 -0500
Subject: Piraha: The Film
Message-ID: <SAT.12.MAY.2007.135653.0500.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

You forgot to mention that the savant was played by Alec Baldwin....

Jess Tauber
phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From andrea.schalley at une.edu.au  Wed May 16 02:46:12 2007
From: andrea.schalley at une.edu.au (Andrea Schalley)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 12:46:12 +1000
Subject: CIL 18 workshop on Linguistic Studies of Ontology: Call for
 abstracts
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.124612.1000.ANDREA.SCHALLEY@UNE.EDU.AU>

****************************************************************
Final call for abstracts:    Deadline May 31, 2007

—LINGUISTIC STUDIES OF ONTOLOGY—
 From Lexical Semantics to Formal Ontologies and Back

Workshop at the
18th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF LINGUISTS (CIL 18)

<http://cil18.org>
Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

July 21-26, 2008

****************************************************************

—DESCRIPTION—

Recent developments in the study of ontology have important  
implications for cognitive science, knowledge engineering, and  
theoretical linguistics. In particular, research on lexical ontology  
deals with how concepts are lexicalized and organized across  
languages and cultures. This workshop aims to explore this new  
departure in linguistic studies by building upon the three important  
premises assumed in Fellbaum (1998), Schalley and Zaefferer (2007),  
and Huang et al. (2007): First, that lexicalized concepts have a  
special status in every language (as opposed to concepts that require  
complex coding), second that lexically coded concepts can be shared  
by different languages, and third that lexicalization universals are  
relevant for the construction of cross-lingually portable formal  
ontologies.

Topics of this workshop include foundational issues pertaining to the  
relation between formal ontology and linguistic ontologies, as well  
as descriptive issues pertaining to the interface between conceptual  
ontologies and lexica. In particular, we would like to focus on the  
following issues during this workshop:

- Cross-lingual portability of upper-ontologies
- Ontology-based approaches to comparative linguistics
- Ontology enrichment: from concept formation via complex coding to  
lexicalisation
- Possible relevance of formal ontological principles (e.g. Roles  
cannot subsume Types) to psychological/linguistic reality

REFERENCES
Fellbaum, Christiane. 1998. WordNet: An electronic lexical database.  
MIT Press.
Huang, Chu-Ren et al. Eds. 2007. Ontologies and the Lexicon.  
Cambridge University Press.
Schalley, Andrea C. and Zaefferer, Dietmar. Eds.  2007.  
Ontolinguistics. Mouton de Gruyter.

—SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS—

A two-page abstract including everything should be sent  
electronically to both <cil18 at cil18.org> and <churenhuang at gmail.com>.  
An MS Word and/or .pdf file may be accepted.

—IMPORTANT DATES—

Deadline for Abstract Submission: May 31, 2007
Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: August 31, 2007
Submission of accepted abstract for publication in the proceedings:  
February 15, 2008
Submission of final paper to be published in CIL18 CD: September 30,  
2008

For more information, visit the website (<http://cil18.org>) or  
contact the organizer at <churenhuang at gmail.com>.

—ORGANIZER—

Chu-Ren Huang
Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica
Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan
E-mail address: <churenhuang at gmail.com> Fax: 886-2-27856622, Tel:  
886-2-26523108

—PROGRAM COMMITTEE—

Christiane Fellbaum (Princeton)
Shu-kai Hsieh (I-Lan)
Chu-Ren Huang (Taipei)
Alessandro Lenci (Pisa)
Adam Pease (San Francisco)
Alessandro Oltramari (Trento)
Laurent Prévot (Toulouse)
James Pustejovsky (Brandies)
Andrea C. Schalley (Armidale)
Piek Vossen (Amsterdam)
Dietmar Zaefferer (Munich)


From jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se  Wed May 16 11:56:12 2007
From: jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se (Jordan Zlatev)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 13:56:12 +0200
Subject: Final call for papers: SALC
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.135612.0200.JORDAN.ZLATEV@LING.LU.SE>

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS
 
Includes one new theme session!
 
The First Conference of the Swedish Association for Language and 
Cognition (SALC)
Lund, Nov 29 - Dec 1, 2007
http://www.salc-sssk.org/conference
 
We invite the submission of abstracts for oral or poster presentations 
for the The First Conference of the Swedish Association for Language 
and Cognition (SALC)/Svenska Sällskapet för Språk och Kognition (SSSK) 
to be held at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University 
between Nov 29 and Dec 1, 2007. Presentations should involve research 
in which language is not treated in isolation (e.g. as a "module"), but 
both as based on structures and processes of general cognition (e.g. 
perception, memory and reasoning) and social cognition (e.g. joint 
attention and imitation), and as affecting such structures and 
processes. The conference, as SALC in general, is intended to be a 
forum for the exchange of ideas between disciplines, fields of study 
and theoretical frameworks. Topics include, but are not limited to:
 
* semantic analysis and cognition
* discourse analysis and cognition
* grammar and cognition
* pragmatics and cognition
* semiotics and cognition
* linguistic typology and cognition
* language and cognitive development
* language and cognitive evolution
* language change and cognition
* language and gesture
* language, emotion and consciousness
* linguistic relativity and linguistic mediation
 
Plenary speakers
* Susan Goldin-Meadow, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
* Esa Itkonen, Department of Linguistics, University of Turku
* Chris Sinha, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth
* Östen Dahl, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University
* Peter Gärdenfors, Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University
 
Theme sessions
”Space in language and cognition” (Conveners: Carita Paradis, Marlene 
Johansson Falck, Carita Lundmark and Ulf Magnusson)
The link between spatial concepts and construals in linguistic 
expressions and in thought is a rapidly growing field of inquiry which 
cuts across disciplines such as linguistics, cognitive psychology, 
anthropology, computer science and philosophy. Oxford University Press 
will be publishing papers from the session in an edited volume of 
strictly peer-reviewed papers that capture cutting-edge scholarship in 
this area.
 
”Language and gesture” (Conveners: Jordan Zlatev and Cornelia Mueller)
While there is a consensus on the close relationship between language 
and gesture, there is an ongoing debate on the exact relationship 
between the two: do they constitute a "unified system" (e.g. McNeil) or 
two closely integrated but distinct semiotic resources (e.g. Donald), 
supported by distinct cognitive mechanisms (e.g. Kita and Özyürek)? We 
plan a publication of papers addressing this issue from different 
perspectives: semiotics, interaction studies, development, evolution 
and neuroscience.
 
”The dynamics of symbolic matter” (Conveners: Stephen Cowley and Paul 
Thibault)
Language simultaneously links brains, bodies and material artefacts. 
Since the resulting dynamics prompt human activity, we - and language – 
are produced, structured, and function across many time scales. On this 
distributed perspective, human sense-making is traced, above all, to 
skills
in integrating real-time events with verbal patterns (and other 
second-order cultural artefacts). Accordingly, we aim to consider how 
the resulting cognitive dynamics function in (some of the) time-scales 
relevant to brains,
bodies, the experiential present, human relationships, development, 
history and co-evolution. Finally, we will apply the perspective to 
robotic and other cognitive models. The outcome will be a peer-reviewed 
special issue of a Journal that examines the dynamics of what we deem 
'symbolic'.
 
 
One page abstracts (at most 500 words) should be sent as an attachment 
(MS Word preferred) to Marlene Johansson Falck, at 
marlene at magicspelling.com by June 1st 2007. Abstracts will then be 
reviewed by two members of the Scientific Committee, and notification 
of acceptance will be sent by August 1st. Please indicate whether an 
oral or poster presentation is preferred, and if a poster presentation 
is acceptable if the space of the program does not allow for an oral 
presentation. If you wish your contribution to be considered for one of 
the theme sessions, please indicate this. The conference will be held 
in English.
 
Registration fees, including conference participation, book of 
abstracts, and coffee/snacks:
* Faculty: 50 euro/450 SEK (40 euro/360 SEK for SALC members)
* Students: 40 euro/360 SEK (30 euro/270 SEK for SALC members)
On-line registration facilities will be announced soon.
 
Important Dates
* Feb 23: First Call for Papers
* June 1: Deadline for abstract submission
* August 15: Notification of acceptance
* October 1: Programme announced
* Nov 29 (afternoon) - Dec 1 (whole day): Conference
 
Scientific Committee
* Jóhanna Barddal, Department of Linguistics, University of Bergen
* Ingar Brinck, Department of Philosophy, Lund University
* Alan Cienki Department of Language and Communication, Vrije 
Universiteit, Amsterdam
* Östen Dahl, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University
* Caroline David, Département d'études anglophones, Université 
Paul-Valéry, Montpellier III
* Per Durst-Andersen, Centre for Language, Cognition and Mentality, 
Copenhagen Business School
* Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, Department of Nordic Studies and 
Linguistics, University of Copenhagen
* Adam Glaz, Department of English UMCS, Lublin
* Peter Gärdenfors, Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University
* Peter Harder, Department of English, University of Copenhagen
* Merle Horne, Department of Linguistics, Lund University
* Anders Hougaard, Institute of Language and Communication, University 
of Southern Denmark
* Daniel Hutto, Philosophy, University of Hetyfordshire
* Esa Itkonen, Department of Linguistics, University of Turku
* Christer Johansson, Department of Linguistics, University of Bergen
* Henryk Kardela, Department of English, Universytet Marii 
Curie-Sklodowskiej
* Suzanne Kemmer, Department of Linguistics, Rice University
* Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm 
University
* Maarten Lemmens, English Linguistics, Universitè de Lille3
* Cornelia Mueller, Department for Cultural Studies, Europa-Universität 
Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
* Chris Sinha, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth
* Victor Smith, Copenhagen Business School
* Göran Sonesson, Department of Semiotics, Lund University
* Paul Thibault, Linguistics and Media Communication, Agder University
	
Organizing Committee
* Jordan Zlatev, Lund University and Umeå University
* Mats Andrén, Lund University
* Marlene Johansson Falck, Stockholm University
* Carita Lundmark, Mid Sweden University
* Ulf Magnusson, Luleå University of Technology
* Carita Paradis, Växjö University

***************************************************
Jordan Zlatev, Associate Professor
Department of Linguistics
Center for Languages and Literature
Lund University
Box 201
221 00 Lund, Sweden

email: jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se
http://www.ling.lu.se/persons/JordanZlatev.html
***************************************************


From sally.rice at ualberta.ca  Wed May 16 21:14:54 2007
From: sally.rice at ualberta.ca (Sally Rice)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 15:14:54 -0600
Subject: Staffing changes and new graduate research money at the
 University of Alberta
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.151454.0600.SALLY.RICE@UALBERTA.CA>

*** APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS ***

Dear Colleagues,

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta (Canada) 
would like to announce (A) some recent additions to our faculty as 
well as (B) the infusion of new research funding to support 
last-minute graduate student applicants for September 2007 admission.

(A) The following individuals have joined the Department since July 2006:

Dr. Harald Baayen (PhD 1990, U Amsterdam)
	quantificational linguistics, psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics
Dr. Patrick Bolger (PhD 2006, U Arizona)		<pbolger at ualberta.ca>
	psycholinguistics, reading comprehension, writing systems
Dr. Anne-Michelle Tessier (PhD 2006, U Mass	<amtessier at ualberta.ca>
	phonological theory, child phonology
Dr. Benjamin Tucker (PhD 2007, U Arizona)
	experimental phonetics, psycholinguistics, language documentation

They join:

Dr. David Beck (PhD 2000, U Toronto)		<dbeck at ualberta.ca>
	morphosyntax, typology, Amerindian languages, Totonac
Dr. Robert Kirchner (PhD 1998, UCLA)		<kirchner at ualberta.ca>
	phonological theory, modeling of speech processing
Dr. Gary Libben (PhD 1987, McGill)		<gary.libben at ualberta.ca>
	psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, second language acquisition
Dr. Terry Nadasdi (PhD 1995, U Toronto)		<nadasdi at ualberta.ca>
	sociolinguistics, French linguistics
Dr. Terrance Nearey (PhD 1977, U Connecticut)	<t.nearey at ualberta.ca>
	experimental phonetics, laboratory phonology
Dr. John Newman (PhD 1981, UCSD)		<john.newman at ualberta.ca>
	syntax/semantics, corpus linguistics, Chinese, SE Asian languages
Dr. Johanne Paradis (PhD 1997, McGill)		<johanne.paradis at ualberta.ca>
	first and second language acquisition, syntax, SLI
Dr. Sally Rice (PhD 1987, UCSD)			<sally.rice at ualberta.ca>
	syntax/semantics, cognitive and corpus linguistics, 
Athapaskan languages

(B) We also have new research funding in place to support up to 5 
additional Master's or PhD students for September 2007 admission on 
research projects related to Athapaskan language studies and English 
corpus linguistics. Our graduate degree programs are oriented toward 
the empirical and experimental study of language.  Much of the 
current faculty research in the department (in no particular order) 
is focused on:

o	psycholinguistics (especially the mental lexicon and 
morphological processing)
o	experimental phonetics/laboratory phonology
o	language documentation (especially indigenous languages of 
the Americas)
o	corpus linguistics
o	syntax/semantics from a cognitive, functional, or typological 
perspective
o	language representation and processing in bilingual children & adults

The Department runs the Centre for Comparative Psycholinguistics and 
is a partial home to CILLDI, the Canadian Indigenous Languages and 
Literacy Development Institute. The ICE-Canada corpus of Canadian 
English is also housed here, as is the journal, Linguistics 
Abstracts, as of July 2007.

We offer both a thesis-based and a course-based Masters of Science 
(MSc). Students usually complete an MSc within 4 semesters. For 
students going on to complete a PhD here, another 3-4 years is 
generally needed.  Students being admitted directly into the PhD 
should anticipate spending 4-5 years completing coursework, candidacy 
exam requirements, and their doctoral research. A more complete 
description of our three graduate degrees can be found at:
<http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/linguistics/>.
Potential students can also contact Dr. Sally Rice, the Graduate 
Coordinator, at <sally.rice at ualberta.ca>.


From els603 at bangor.ac.uk  Fri May 18 10:54:21 2007
From: els603 at bangor.ac.uk (June Luchjenbroers)
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 11:54:21 +0100
Subject: UK-Cognitive Linguistics conference, Cardiff
In-Reply-To: <1170328445.45c1cb7dc20d7@webmail.bangor.ac.uk>
Message-ID: <FRI.18.MAY.2007.115421.0100.>

SORRY FOR CROSS-POSTINGS....

Registration details & draft conference programs 
are now available from our conference website:
 
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/encap/ncdl/index.html

See you in Cardiff   :-)

June & Michelle

---------

--
This mail sent through http://webmail.bangor.ac.uk


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gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y
neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar
unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi,
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gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i
hanfonodd yn unig  ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn
Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor yn gwarantu
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Cyllid Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor.  www.bangor.ac.uk

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From Vyv.Evans at brighton.ac.uk  Mon May 21 10:03:21 2007
From: Vyv.Evans at brighton.ac.uk (Vyvyan Evans)
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 11:03:21 +0100
Subject: Reminder: Scholarships for Language & Cognition Study at Brighton
Message-ID: <MON.21.MAY.2007.110321.0100.>

 
Dear colleagues.
 
This is a reminder that we have up to 3 international scholarships to support graduate study for suitably qualified students on our new MAs.  The scholarships are available for entry in September 2007.  New graduate programmes at Brighton include:
 
--MA in Cognitive Linguistics
--MA in Language, Communication and Cognition
--MRes (Master of Research) in Cognitive Linguistics
 
Details regarding all three programmes, plus the scholarships are available on the web here:
http://www.vyvevans.net/CLBrighton.htm
 
Regards,
 
Vyv Evans
www.vyvevans.net


From maria.ivana at virgilio.it  Tue May 22 22:45:07 2007
From: maria.ivana at virgilio.it (Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 00:45:07 +0200
Subject: 1st CFP: GLOBENG. International Conference on Global English
 (14-16 February 2008, Verona, Italy)
Message-ID: <WED.23.MAY.2007.004507.0200.MARIA.IVANA@VIRGILIO.IT>

Apologies for cross-posting.

 

********************************************************************************

 

FIRST CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

 

GlobEng. International Conference on Global English

Dept. of English Studies, University of Verona, 14-16 February 2008

Verona, Italy

Website: http://profs.lingue.univr.it/globeng/index.html

 

 

The Department of English Studies of the University of Verona is proud to announce GlobEng: International Conference on Global English. 

The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the presentation of research discussing issues related to the role of English as a global language. 

 

The debate over the status of English as an International language has been flourishing in the last few decades and is still open to new prospective developments. 

Starting from the awareness of English undisputedly prominent role as a Lingua Franca in international communication, the fact that native speakers are currently a minority, compared to second-language users of the language has been repeatedly highlighted. 

The changing status of English has led to the emergence of a new linguistic scenery. On the one hand, the so-called native varieties have become highly differentiated and acquired greater autonomy, while on the other, the rapid growth of a community of non-native speakers, thanks to increasing international exchanges, has triggered reflection on the possible rise of a new International English, as opposed to the current native varieties.

 

A wide range of issues are brought to the fore in this connection, especially focusing on the possible evolution of the current scenario, both in Europe and in the rest of the world, with a reflection on (and a possible revision of) the notion of Standard, and the crucial implications that prospective developments might have on English Language Teaching (ELT).

 

 

The programme includes plenary lectures by renowned scholars in the field, such as David Crystal, Jennifer Jenkins, Adrian Hollyday, Alan Maley, Barbara Seidlhofer and Simon Sweeney.

 

Papers are encouraged which address the following topics:

-        Pronunciation Models: new vs. standard

-        Implications of new morphosyntactic models

-        Semantic and pragmatic implications of globalising English

-        Cultures, media and globalisation

-        Identities and international communication

-        Language policies in the European Community

-        English and other languages in the classroom

-        The teaching of English as a foreign/second language and as a specialised language 

-        Terminological issues and new taxonomies

 

Contributions are invited for 20-minute presentations (plus discussion). Abstracts should not exceed 300 words in length (references excluded). They should be anonymous and should be sent as email attachments (preferably .pdf or rtf format) to: 
globeng at lingue.univr.it

 

Please conform to the following specifications: 

- Times New Roman pt.12 or equivalent font, single-spaced.

- Please do not include your name or any obvious form of identifiers in the abstract. This is because the abstracts will be subject to anonymous peer-review.
- In order to assist with the reviewing process, please also list up to 5 keywords in the email message

Submission: 

 Abstracts should be submitted as an attachment in MS Word, or PDF format; 
 Subject line of the email should be GlobEng and abstract title; 
 Email message should include: Talk Title, Author's Name(s), Title(s), Affiliation(s), Contact Info (email address, postal address, telephone number, fax number) 
 Abstracts should be submitted via email to: globeng at lingue.univr.it 

Abstracts should reach us by 30 September 2007. 

For further information 
Web site: http://profs.lingue.univr.it/globeng/index.html
E-mail: globeng at lingue.univr.it

Important Dates:

 

Submission deadline: 30 September 2007 
Notification of acceptance: 30 November 2007

Early Registration: tba

Late Registration: tba
GlobEng: 14-15-16 February 2008

Scientific Coordinator:

 

Prof. Cesare Gagliardi 

 

Scientific and Organizing Committee:

 

Elisabetta Adami

Anna Belladelli

Roberto Cagliero

Cristiana Chiarini

Marta Degani

Roberta Facchinetti

Cristina Gatti

Sharon Hartle

Maria Ivana Lorenzetti

Paola Vettorel 

Anna Zanfei

 

 

Dr. Maria Ivana Lorenzetti, Ph.D. (University of Pisa)
Assistant Professor in English Linguistics
Dept. of English Studies
University of Verona
Lungadige di Porta Vittoria 41
37129 Verona (VR) ITALY

E-mail: mariaivana.lorenzetti AT univr.it  


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Thu May 24 03:02:19 2007
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 23:02:19 -0400
Subject: Word order and control?
Message-ID: <WED.23.MAY.2007.230219.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

The language with which I work, Yahgan (isolate, Tierra del Fuego) exhibits extensive case marking for nonsubject NP's (Subject pronouns are coreferenced on the verb, with voice markers between). There is also quite variable NP ordering, with full subjects and objects on either side of the verb, and seemingly in no particular order between S and O.

But as I examine more deeply into usage I'm finding that ordering does in fact appear to be motivated, especially by animacy, control, and affectedness relations.

For instance hai skaia ha-ta:gu-de: (1.S 2.O 1-give-pst) 'I gave you' versus hai hat-aki-de: skaia (1.S 1-hit-pst 2.O) 'I hit you'.

In most instances I've seen so far when Obj appears before the verb the NP is less affected, and often the affect is beneficial, and welcome. But when it appears after it is usually more affected, and in malefactive senses (which I assume are usually unwelcome).

Conversely, when a Subj appears AFTER the verb, then the NP appears to have less than usual agentive control over the situation. Some constructions seem to have grammaticalized this ordering pattern, for instance in negative or unrealized situations, or where the speaker is asserting something about the subject.

I am not sure this type of patterning, for objects, extends to all persons, numbers, etc. In Yahgan, for singulars, lowered situational animacy requires the use, in 3rd person, of the case form -ima for higher animates (while lower animates as objects do not require an overt case mark), whereas dative -ikaia only is found affixed to 1st and 2nd person pronoun bases when these are objects. As number increases (duals, plurals) both -ima and -ikaia can be used.

The vast majority of the pronominal object forms with variable ordering seem to be the 1st and 2nd singulars (1.O haia (hakaia in another dialect), 2.O skaia) where there are no alternatives in -ima, though there is no shortage of 3rd person forms with variable ordering.

I've heard more than once that variable word order is used to disambiguate situations where case marking is insufficient to do the trick, even when a case system is extensive. Is this usually true in languages, and is it usual even when case marks are retained on the NP's so ordered, and if so, is reordering aimed at more pragmatic nuancing, as seems to be the situation with Yahgan?

Typologically, Yahgan veers between SOV and SVO orders for the most part, with the latter seemingly used more often for main clauses. One might expect, then, that SVO is the newer one. But then if this is so, does the change of ordering (which also often interacts with voice and TAM), combined with what was laid out above, imply a change in expected or default values for control/animacy or responsibility /affectedness for the entire system?

Much of the grammatical morphology of Yahgan appears to be spanking new. In addition the language makes extensive use of compound or serial verbs. I've been told that extensive case and extensive serialization don't usually go together. It would be interesting to know which system was older- my guess is that it is case, and that this was losing ground to a newer SVO system focusing on verb morphology. In addition, perhaps SVO was just a rest stop on the way to verb-initial ordering. Most of the languages that I've seen with relatively open bipartite systems are verb-initial, and Yahgan is like this, as a specialization of serialization, perhaps?

Anyway, I would love to hear from those in the know about similar ordering patterns in other languages, as well as anyone that might tell me what the diachronic typological motivation could be.

Hmmph- I guess I shoulda stayed with the program..... 

Thanks all,
Jess Tauber
phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From Nino.Amiridze at let.uu.nl  Mon May 28 18:52:12 2007
From: Nino.Amiridze at let.uu.nl (Amiridze, Nino)
Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 20:52:12 +0200
Subject: Call for abstracts: Morphological Variation and Change in Languag
 es of the Caucasus
Message-ID: <MON.28.MAY.2007.205212.0200.NINO.AMIRIDZE@LET.UU.NL>

[Apologies for multiple posting]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
  MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION AND CHANGE IN LANGUAGES OF THE CAUCASUS

      Workshop at the 13th International Morphology Meeting
                 February 2008, Vienna, Austria

http://www.let.uu.nl/~nino.amiridze/personal/organization/mvclc.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Call for Abstracts
==================
A great diversity of languages is spoken in the Caucasus, most of
which have rich inflectional systems, on the noun (e.g. North-East
Caucasian), on the verb (e.g. North-West Caucasian), or both (e.g.
South Caucasian).

The Caucasus offers rich material for studying genetically diverse
languages being in close contact for centuries, e.g. Georgian (South
Caucasian) with Abkhaz (North-West Caucasian); Ossetian
(Indo-European) and Batsbi (North-East Caucasian); Armenian
(Indo-European) with Azeri (Turkic); or Kumyk (Turkic) with major
North-East Caucasian languages of Daghestan; or, for a much shorter
period, the languages indigenous to the region being in contact with
the unrelated Russian and Turkish. While much is known about the
contemporary grammar of individual languages of the Caucasus, much
less can be said with regard to the various contact situations and
their impact on the morphosyntax of individual languages. Our
workshop aims to broaden the knowledge on this subject.

We invite researchers working on morphological variation and change
in the languages spoken in the Caucasus to submit abstracts for
participation in the workshop, planned to be held at the 13th
International Morphology Meeting. We would like to invite
contributions dealing with contact-induced morphological changes in
any language of the Caucasus region. This includes investigations of
changes driven by influence from any other language of the region,
irrespective of the genetic affiliation of the languages in contact.
Of great interest are not only inter-family, but also somewhat more
subtle intra-family contacts, such as contacts between various
North-East Caucasian languages spoken in adjacent areas or
neighboring villages. Contributions exploring morphological
variation and language-internal morphological changes are also
welcome.

Important Dates
===============
Abstract submission:                  September 17, 2007
Notification:                           October 31, 2007
Workshop:            In the first week of February, 2008
                (The exact date will be announced later)

Organizers
==========
    * Nino Amiridze, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)
    * Michael Daniel, Moscow State University (Russia)
    * Silvia Kutscher, University of Cologne (Germany)

Publication
===========
If after the workshop there will be interest in publishing either a
proceedings or a special journal issue, then the organizers will
take responsibility of finding a suitable forum and will act as
editors.

Submission
==========
Abstracts (maximum 3 pages, including data and references) have to
be submitted electronically as portable document format (.pdf) or
Microsoft Word (.doc) files via the EasyChair conference management
system: http://www.easychair.org/MVCLC2008/.

If you do not have an EasyChair account, click on the button "I have
no EasyChair Account" on that page and follow the instructions. When
you receive a password, you can enter the site and upload your
abstract.

Workshop Web Page
=================
http://www.let.uu.nl/~nino.amiridze/personal/organization/mvclc.html


From hougaard at language.sdu.dk  Tue May 29 11:24:48 2007
From: hougaard at language.sdu.dk (Anders Hougaard)
Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 13:24:48 +0200
Subject: CONFERENCE: Language, Culture and Mind 3
Message-ID: <TUE.29.MAY.2007.132448.0200.HOUGAARD@LANGUAGE.SDU.DK>

CONFERENCE:

LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND MIND 3


2nd THEME SESSIONS CALL                       

The LCM committee and local organizers call for theme session proposals for the third conference in the series Language, Culture and Mind.

The conference will be held in modern and comfortable conference facilities in ODENSE 14TH-16TH JULY, 2008.

The conference aims at establishing an interdisciplinary forum for an integration of cognitive, social and cultural perspectives in theoretical and empirical studies of language and communication

The special theme of the conference is Social Life and Meaning Construction.

We call for contributions from scholars and scientists in anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, semiotics, semantics, social interaction, discourse analysis, cognitive and neuroscience, who wish both to impart their insights and findings, and learn from other disciplines. Preference will be given to submissions which emphasize interdisciplinarity, the interaction between social life, culture, mind and language, and/or multi-methodological approaches in language and communication sciences.



Dates

      *First call for Theme Sessions:                       April 1, 2007
      * Second call for Theme Sessions:                    May 1, 2007
      * Third call for Theme Sessions:                     June 1, 2007
      * Deadline for Theme Sessions submissions:      July 1, 2007
      * Notification for Theme Sessions :                  August 1, 2007


NOTICE: calls for the general session and for posters will be made later.

Submissions guidelines

Max. 500 words (including references)
To be submitted to lcm at language.sdu.dk <mailto:lcm at language.sdu.dk>
Submissions will be evaluated according to their

*       Relevance
*       Quality
*       Coherence
*       Originality
*       Organization

Once your suggestion is approved, you will need to arrange for Theme Session Contributors for your theme. They will need to submit abstracts for their contributions and as Theme Session Organizer you will be responsible for their review. More than one person may organize a theme.

NOTICE: The LCM reserves the right to reject papers accepted by Theme Session reviewers. However, this right will only be exercised if accepted papers deviate too far from the goals of LCM with respect to their content and/or quality.


Plenary speakers:
                                               
Michael Chandler <http://www.psych.ubc.ca/faculty/profile/index.psy?fullname=Chandler,%20Michael&area=Developmental&designation=core>  (University of British Columbia)
Alessandro Duranti <http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/duranti/>  (University of California at Los Angeles)                  
Derek Edwards <http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/depstaff/staff/edwards.html>  (University of Loughborough)
Marianne Gullberg <http://www.mpi.nl/Members/MarianneGullberg>  (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics)
Esa Itkonen <http://notes.utu.fi/ty/webexper.nsf/0/a795abc1fb3b93d8c22566830029cd4b?OpenDocument>  (University of Turku)


Conference Website:

http://www.lcm.sdu.dk <http://www.lcm.sdu.dk/>  (under constructon!)                                    


Earlier LCM conferences:

1st LCM conference: Portsmouth 2004
2nd LCM conference: Paris 2006 <http://www.lcm2006.net/>

The international LCM committee:

Raphael Berthele
Carlos Cornejo
Caroline David
Merlin Donald
Barbara Fultner
Anders R. Hougaard
Jean Lassègue
John A Lucy
Aliyah Morgenstern
Eve Pinsker
Vera da Silva Sinha
Chris Sinha
Jordan Zlatev


The local organizing committee:

Center for Social Practises and Cognition (SoPraCon):

Rineke Brouwer
Dennis Day
Annette Grindsted
Anders R. Hougaard
Gitte R. Hougaard (Director)
Kristian Mortensen


Scientific Committee (incomplete list)

Anne Salazar Orvig
Meredith Williams
Todd Oakley
Jonathan Potter
Robin Wooffitt
Alan Cienki
Cornellia Müller
Ewa Dabrowska
Edy Veneziano
Shaun Gallagher
Edwin Hutchins

*****
Anders R. Hougaard
Assistant professor, PhD
Institute of Language and Communication
University of Southern Denmark, Odense
hougaard at language.sdu.dk
Phone: +45 65503154
Fax: + 45 65932483


From sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr  Thu May 31 10:50:47 2007
From: sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr (Sylvester Osu)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 12:50:47 +0200
Subject: Call for papers: deadline extension
Message-ID: <THU.31.MAY.2007.125047.0200.SYLVESTER.OSU@WANADOO.FR>

Dear Colleagues,

Please note that the deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to 
30 June 2007.

http://langrep.univ-tours.fr


Call for papers



Construction of identity and the process of identification



Organising committee:

Sylvester Osu, Gilles Col, Nathalie Garric, Fabienne Toupin



The world’s languages use diverse means to construct and express the 
identity of people and objects. These means include denomination (e.g. 
proper nouns, noun phrases, denominal adjectives, etc.) in the sense of 
categorising living beings and/or inanimate objects through the act of 
naming, and reduplication (e.g. a salad salad, I mean up-up, etc.) which in 
some of its uses amounts to typifying. Categorisation is a way of 
identifying an element with a group while marking its singularity (see e.g. 
Folkbiology). On the other hand, to produce a sequence like ‘un parfum pour 
les femmes femmes’ is tantamount to setting up a subcategory of women par 
excellence and consequently, introducing a difference among women.



In recent years, identification has received a great deal of attention in 
linguistics. In some theoretical models it has even come to be regarded as a 
form of linguistic operation.



The aim of this conference is to outline the different linguistic operations 
of identification insofar as they involve the construction of identity and 
the different linguistic devices through which the identity of a person or 
object is constructed.



We welcome contributions that show how the two notions of identity and 
identification are articulated in both language and discourse. Contributions 
can stem from any theoretical background, be based upon any methodological 
approach and address the issue in any of the world’s languages.



Languages

The conference will feature presentations in French as well as in English.



Abstracts



Please submit your abstracts in both RTF and PDF (2 pages minimum and 3 max, 
in 12-point Times New Roman, simple spacing) by e-mail to the following 
address: langrep at univ-tours.fr no later than 31 May 2007, submission 
deadline. Please include the title of the paper but do not mention the name 
of the author as abstracts will be refereed anonymously. A separate page 
should contain the title of the paper, the author’s name, affiliation, 
postal and email addresses.



Publications



We intend to publish the papers accepted for the conference. To this effect, 
revised versions will be reviewed anew by the members of the scientific 
committee.



Comité Scientifique

Gabriel Bergounioux (Université d’Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)

Isabelle Bril (LACITO-CNRS, Paris)

Pierre Cadiot (Université d’Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)

Gilles Col (Université François Rabelais, Tours/FORELL, Poitiers)

Jean-Michel Fournier (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Jean-Jacques Franckel (Université de Paris X, Nanterre/ LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS, 
Paris)

Jacques François (Université de Caen Basse-Normandie/CRISCO, FRE 2805)

Nathalie Garric (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Thierry Grass (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Bernhard Hurch (Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Graz, Austria)

Raphaël Kabore (Université Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/LACITO-CNRS, Paris)

Georges Kleiber (Université Marc Bloch Strasbourg & EA 1339 LDL- Scolia)

Daniel Lebaud (Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon)

Fiona McLaughlin (University of Florida, USA)

François Nemo (Université d’Orléans/CORAL, Orléans)

Sylvester Osu (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Denis Paillard (LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS - Université Paris 7, Paris)

Michel Paillard (Université de Poitiers/FORELL, Poitiers)

Fabienne Toupin (Université François Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Bernard Victorri (LATTICE (UMR 8094) CNRS-ENS, Montrouge)



Important dates

Abstract deadline: 30 June 2007

Notification: 31 July 2007

Conference dates: Thursday 29 & Friday 30 November 2007

Deadline for registration: 15 September 2007



Venue: Tours (France). The halls will be announced with the programme.



Registration fee: 80 EUR (Students: 40 EUR)



For further questions please contact:



Sylvester Osu

Phone: 336.78.34.13.51

Email: Sylvester.osu at univ-tours.fr

Université François Rabelais, Tours

UFR Lettres et Langues

Département des Sciences du Langage

3 rue des Tanneurs

37041 Tours Cedex 1, France


From amnfn at well.com  Tue May  1 04:55:36 2007
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:55:36 -0700
Subject: Language and 'Self-Expression' (2)
In-Reply-To: <4139.128.2.68.40.1177956348.squirrel@128.2.68.40>
Message-ID: <MON.30.APR.2007.215536.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

The question is, when we correct our own speech directed at oursleves or
our dog, is it always just a question of "internalizing collective
reproach"? Sometimes, couldn't it be just a question of realizing we made
a mistake in calculation?

Clearly, there is a kind of self-editing that involves putting ourselves
in a hearer's place and trying to see if he would understand our message
or be offended by its form. Correcting an "ain't" to "isn't" or putting
something in subjunctive instead of imperative fall into that type of
correction, as does substituting politically correct jargon
for a more archaic term that is undergoing pejorization (say,
"elders" instead of "the old".)

But if we find we negated the wrong clause or used a word that doesn't at
all mean what we intended, isn't that type of self-correction just a
question of clarifying our own thoughts? In that case, it would be the
message we are correcting, without regard to the approval or disapproval
of an internalized hearer.


     --Aya

================================================================
Dr. Aya Katz, Inverted-A, Inc, P.O. Box 267, Licking, MO
65542 USA
(417) 457-6652 (573) 247-0055
http://www.well.com/user/amnfn
=================================================================





On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Paul Hopper wrote:

> Fascinating! I've even caught myself correcting speech errors when I talk to
> my dog.
>
> My speech errors, that is.
>
> All this reminds me of David Bloor's definition of conscience: "the
>internalized image of collective reproach." (I'm afraid I don't have a
>reference for this. Probably his 'Knowledge and Social Imagery.')) We're
>constrained by norms even when no one is listening.
>
> - Paul
>
>
>
>
> > Yes, there is research on slips of the tongue in inner speech. They show
> > the same patterns as slips in audible speech. Done by Peter Reich, or by
> > someone he knows -- I'll copy him on this message. I too have noticed
> > speech errors in my inner speech.
> >
> > All best,   - Syd Lamb
> >
> > On Mon, 30 Apr 2007, Johanna Rubba wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> As to "talking to oneself", it certainly does involve speech. I have
> >> made speech errors while talking to myself (not out loud -- solely in my
> >> head). There is probably research somewhere that shows activation in the
> >> motor cortex and perhaps even the speech muscles that sometimes
> >> accompanies talking to oneself -- maybe someone on the list knows this
> >> for a fact. I believe I have read or heard something to that effect
> >> regarding people who subvocalize when they read.
> >>
> >> I posted a message about language and communication on the Pirah?
> >> thread, but it never appeared. I wonder if I sent it only to a single
> >> address. If you received a message, could you send it back to me to
> >> post, or post it for me?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics Linguistics Minor
> >> Advisor English Department California Polytechnic State University, San
> >> Luis Obispo E-mail: jrubba at calpoly.edu Tel.: 805.756.2184 Dept. Ofc. Tel.:
> >> 805.756.2596 Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374 URL:
> >> http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > Sydney M. Lamb			http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lamb/ Linguistics and Cognitive
> > Sciences Rice University, Houston, TX
> >
> >
>
>


From Salinas17 at aol.com  Tue May  1 13:48:12 2007
From: Salinas17 at aol.com (Salinas17 at aol.com)
Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 09:48:12 EDT
Subject: Talking to Ourselves
Message-ID: <TUE.1.MAY.2007.094812.EDT.>

In a message dated 5/1/07 12:56:44 AM, amnfn at well.com writes:
<<when we correct our own speech directed at ourselves or our dog, is it 
always just a question of "internalizing collective reproach"?>> 

Aya - I think Paul was making an analogy.  He wasn't saying "conscience" was 
making us correct our speech. 

<< if we find we negated the wrong clause or used a word that doesn't at all 
mean what we intended, isn't that type of self-correction just a question of 
clarifying our own thoughts? In that case, it would be the message we are 
correcting, without regard to the approval or disapproval of an internalized 
hearer. >>

Well, any kind of correction or self-correction -- including clarifying our 
own thoughts -- needs something against which to evaluate correctness.  And, 
yes, this internal judge can disregard how other listeners might understand us.  
But how does that judge know what's clarifying or what muddying?  What 
experience or know-how makes her qualified?

And don't we accept the value of peer-review when we talk to ourselves?  
Isn't there value in another ear?  Couldn't we be a little lax in evaluating 
ourselves since no one else is listening?

Also, isn't there a difference between "approval or disapproval" in a 
listener and comprehension or lack of it?  Can we talk to ourselves and not 
understand?  Or would that be a clinical condition?

Over with the AI folk, there's some sentiment that our normal day-to-day 
language -- like English -- is a poor way to talk to ourselves.  It carries too 
much baggage designed to aid communication with others that should be 
unnecessary when we talk to ourselves.

See C. Fields, Why do we talk to ourselves?, Journal of Experimental & 
Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, October 2002 , pages 255 - 272.
"When stripped of its everyday familiarity, the virtually constant inner 
dialogue experienced by virtually everyone presents a mystery: why do we use 
language to communicate to ourselves. When examined from a design perspective in 
light of currently plausible cognitive neuroscience, language seems highly 
non-optimal as an internal communication medium... "

Regards,
Steve Long















<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free at 
http://www.aol.com.</HTML>


From mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk  Thu May  3 06:59:32 2007
From: mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk (mfgssmm3 at manchester.ac.uk)
Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 07:59:32 +0100
Subject: Post-graduate support:  U. of Manchester
Message-ID: <THU.3.MAY.2007.075932.0100.>

> University of Manchester
>
> School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures
>
> Postgraduate Funding Opportunities 2007/8
>
> The School's postgraduate community is one of the
> largest and most diverse in the UK, enjoying
> state-of-the-art facilities and excellent support
> within a high-quality research environment. In step
> with our continuing expansion, we are enhancing our
> support for students registering for a research
> (PhD) or a taught (MA) programme in 2007-8.
>
> The School is pleased to announce funding
> opportunities for Home/EU and International PhD and
> MA students:
>
> PhD Studentships: (ie. fees and maintenance)
>
> Please note, applicants who are eligible and
> suitably qualified are required to apply to the
> AHRC.
>
> PhD and MA Fee Bursaries: (assistance with fees)
>
> The School offers an extensive range of research
> specialisations and Masters programmes in the
> following areas: East Asian Studies, European
> Languages and Cultures, Latin American Cultural
> Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Linguistics and
> English Language and Translation Studies.
>
> For more information on the above programmes, please
> visit our website at www.manchester.ac.uk/llc
>
> Please quote reference number STB/2901.
>
> The closing date for receipt of applications for the
> funding competitions is 29 June 2007.
>
> Please note, only successful applicants will be
> contacted.
>
> Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTFs)
>
> The GTF will be required to undertake a PhD
> programme of study AND to teach for 6 hours per week
> full time or 3 hours part time.
>
> Seven GTFs are available in 2007/08 in the following
> language areas: Academic Reading in French (0.5);
> French Language & Linguistics; Italian; Linguistics
> & English Language; Polish (0.5); Russian; and
> Spanish.
>
> Please quote reference number GTF/2901
>
> The closing date for receipt of applications for the
> GTF competition is 14 May 2007.
>
> For further details, including the procedure for
> applications, please email the Postgraduate
> Administrator: sara.duncalf at manchester.ac.uk


From sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr  Thu May  3 07:51:18 2007
From: sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr (Sylvester Osu)
Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 09:51:18 +0200
Subject: Call For Papers Reminder
Message-ID: <THU.3.MAY.2007.095118.0200.SYLVESTER.OSU@WANADOO.FR>

CALL FOR PAPERS - REMINDER

CONFERENCE "CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY AND THE PROCESS OF IDENTIFICATION"

29 & 30 NOVEMBER 2007

Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais, Tours
UFR Lettres et Langues, ? Langues & Repr?sentations ? Research Group
3 rue des Tanneurs
37041 Tours Cedex 1, France
http://langrep.univ-tours.fr

ORGANISING COMMITTEE:
Sylvester Osu, Gilles Col, Nathalie Garric, Fabienne Toupin

DESCRIPTION

The world's languages use diverse means to construct and express the
identity of people and objects. These means include denomination (e.g.
proper nouns, noun phrases, denominal adjectives, etc.) in the sense of
categorising living beings and/or inanimate objects through the act of
naming, and reduplication (e.g. a salad salad, I mean up-up, etc.) which in
some of its uses amounts to typifying. Categorisation is a way of
identifying an element with a group while marking its singularity (see e.g.
Folkbiology). On the other hand, to produce a sequence like 'un parfum pour
les femmes femmes' is tantamount to setting up a subcategory of women par
excellence and consequently, introducing a difference among women.

In recent years, identification has received a great deal of attention in
linguistics. In some theoretical models it has even come to be regarded as a
form of linguistic operation.

The aim of this conference is to outline the different linguistic operations
of identification insofar as they involve the construction of identity and
the different linguistic devices through which the identity of a person or
object is constructed.

We welcome contributions that show how the two notions of identity and
identification are articulated in both language and discourse. Contributions
can stem from any theoretical background, be based upon any methodological
approach and address the issue in any of the world's languages.

LANGUAGES
The conference will feature presentations in French as well as in English.


ABSTRACTS
Please submit your abstracts in both RTF and PDF (2 pages minimum and 3 max,
in 12-point Times New Roman, simple spacing) by e-mail to the following
address: langrep at univ-tours.fr no later than 31 May 2007, submission
deadline. Please include the title of the paper but do not mention the name
of the author as abstracts will be refereed anonymously. A separate page
should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, affiliation,
postal and email addresses.

PUBLICATIONS
We intend to publish the papers accepted for the conference. To this effect,
revised versions will be reviewed anew by the members of the scientific
committee.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Gabriel Bergounioux (Universit? d'Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)
Isabelle Bril (LACITO-CNRS, Paris)
Pierre Cadiot (Universit? d'Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)
Gilles Col (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais, Tours/FORELL, Poitiers)
Jean-Michel Fournier (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Jean-Jacques Franckel (Universit? de Paris X, Nanterre/ LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS, 
Paris)
Jacques Fran?ois (Universit? de Caen Basse-Normandie/CRISCO, FRE 2805)
Nathalie Garric (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Thierry Grass (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Bernhard Hurch (Institut f?r Sprachwissenschaft, Universit?t Graz, Austria)
Rapha?l Kabore (Universit? Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/LACITO-CNRS, Paris)
Georges Kleiber (Universit? Marc Bloch Strasbourg & EA 1339 LDL- Scolia)
Daniel Lebaud (Universit? de Franche-Comt?, Besan?on)
Fiona McLaughlin (University of Florida, USA)
Fran?ois Nemo (Universit? d'Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)
Sylvester Osu (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Denis Paillard (LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS - Universit? Paris 7, Paris)
Michel Paillard (Universit? de Poitiers/FORELL, Poitiers)
Fabienne Toupin (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)
Bernard Victorri (LATTICE (UMR 8094) CNRS-ENS, Montrouge)

IMPORTANT DATES
Abstract deadline: 31 May 2007
Notification: 15 July 2007
Conference dates: Thursday 29 & Friday 30 November 2007
Deadline for registration: 15 September 2007

VENUE : Tours (France). The halls will be announced with the programme.

REGISTRATION: 80 EUR (40 EUR for students)

FURTHER INFORMATION
Sylvester Osu
Phone: 336.78.34.13.51
Email: Sylvester.osu at univ-tours.fr
http://langrep.univ-tours.fr

Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais, Tours
UFR Lettres et Langues
D?partement des Sciences du Langage
3 rue des Tanneurs
37041 Tours Cedex 1, France


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May  5 04:35:02 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 23:35:02 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <FRI.4.MAY.2007.233502.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

I was grateful to learn from Esa Itkonen of John Colopinto's article in the
April 16 issue of _The New Yorker_ and to read the discussion on Funknet
that followed his message. And I'm of course even more grateful to Dan
Everett for what made this article and discussion possible--his many decades
of research among the Piraha.

I also found charming the brief discussion between Esa and Dan as to who had
first disputed generative theories. I've been disputing them in public since
1987 and even longer privately, but I can scarcely claim primacy in this
field, since the last four decades have seen no shortage of criticism and
even ridicule directed at these theories. One of their most qualified
disputants has consistently been Chomsky's definitive bibliographer E.F.
Konrad Koerner, perhaps the primary authority on the history of linguistics.
Other international scholars who have voiced their doubts have included
Larry Trask, Maurice Gross, Yuen Ren Chao, I.A. Richards, and George
Steiner. A more detailed--but still far from complete--list of such doubters
among linguists and other language scholars can be found on my website at:

http://language.home.sprynet.com/lingdex/tggbib.htm

But as truly remarkable as Dan's achievement undoubtedly is, it seems to me
that the matter of the Piraha is only the least of grounds for demonstrating
that Chomsky's theories have always been incorrect.

Overlooked through all these decades has been the unavoidable truth that the
primary purpose of language has never been communication. Rather, that
purpose has been and remains even today to persuade ourselves against all
opposing odds that we understand the world and what is happening around us.
To make ourselves believe that we know what we are talking about, when quite
often we do not. And to reassure ourselves that our knowledge must be valid
because others agree with us, when of course they may be just as ignorant as
we are. And finally that we have the right to ignore, abuse, and even punish
those who disagree with us. It is our attempt to protect ourselves from
recognizing this primary purpose that has launched the countless perversions
of language we find around us, including religions, nationalisms, and
assorted theories of reality, perhaps even including "science" during some
of its stages.

How convenient to suppose that all the words, sayings, ideas, melodies and
designs we have been exposed to and diligently studied are the only ones we
need to bother with.

Amidst this conflagration of ignorance there has always been one area of
learning that could have helped us to emerge from the cave and behold
something resembling light. It ought to have disabused us of our fantasies
and provided the antidote to their excesses. It is of course the study of
languages, what we call linguistics.

But the final proof that we prefer those fantasies to rigorous knowledge is
that even linguistics has failed us. It too, instead of truly studying
language, has merely fallen into the trap implicit in its primary purpose.
So much so that many professional linguists also imagine that they know what
they are talking about and claim the right to ignore, abuse, or punish those
who disagree with them.

Had it been otherwise, we might today enjoy a truly liberating linguistics
instead of the limiting linguistics we experience all around us.

I find the question of whether it will take 20 or 40 years for Chomskyan
theories to die out beside the point. Like so much of our study today, it is
rooted in fixed numbers and assumes that all other factors will remain
equal, when they may not remain equal at all. I can envision a number of
circumstances that could dramatically reduce either number. For instance:

1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI, "mainstream
linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since Chomsky
imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine language is
nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate appears
ever more dubious. The Japanese recognized this when they bestowed the Kyoto
Award on Chomsky and John McCarthy, the father of Strong AI, on the same
platform in the same year.

2) Times and trends change, sometimes even for good reasons. Since some
innermost cult members now seem to be changing their minds, what is to stop
others from following? Colopinto tells us that even Pinter is among these.
Could he yet proclaim himself a Whorfian and recant the nine fierce
anti-Whorfian pages in his 1994 book? Might he even stop dismissing his
opponents as mere "language mavens" when he realizes that the
Cambridge-on-Charles crew have been the real language mavens all along?

3. Colopinto's piece may well be followed by other coverage of linguistics
by the press, radio, and TV. When Chomskyans studied Orwell's works, they
learned not only how to detect propaganda but how to create it, enabling
them to monopolize most discussions of language in popular media over
several decades. That monopoly may now be at an end.

4) When Americans learn the full cost borne by tax-payers to support
generative/MT work through the decades, a sudden disinclination to continue
such research could intervene. Seven years ago one journalist described MT
alone as having "burned through billions of dollars,"

5) The ultimate translation blunder, whether in diplomacy, medicine, or
technology, is simply waiting in the wings to happen. MT and mainstream
linguistics are likely to play a central role in bringing about this
translation Katrina. At the very least the Beijing Olympics will heighten
awareness of the cultural (and not generative) basis for many confused
translations. Chinglish and its cousins in other languages will not be
totally eliminated in time for the games, and journalists are already having
a field day providing examples. At some point some authority will need to
point out that Chinglish arises not from bad translation alone but from
culturally based interpretations of reality residing in the Chinese
language. Also, I happened to watch the opening procession of the Pan-Asian
Games in Beijing on TV, when nations entered the arena not in any alphabetic
order but according to the stroke number of Chinese characters, so that
based on the 2-stroke character ma3 ("horse," used as a phonetic) the
Maldive Islands team marched in first. This means the procession in 2008 is
likely to be led by Mali, Madagascar, or the Maldives, surely providing
Westerners with insights into the truly foreign nature of many languages.

Finally, a note on "recursion." How convenient for mainstreamers to imagine
that recursion fails to occur only in a tongue spoken by 350 natives in
Brazil. But what if we were to suddenly discover that recursion as such is
also missing from that family of languages used by more native speakers than
any other on earth, by one-point-three _billion_ people? My Chinese is no
longer as strong as it once was, but I distinctly remember that sentences in
our language such as:

"The man who met the girl with the sensuous smile was absent-minded."

would be routinely switched over in Chinese to something like:

"The man met the girl.
The girl had a sensuous smile.
The man was absent-minded."

This is simply a fact of life about Chinese and cannot be denied. What I
fear most, based on bitter past experience in dealing with mainstreamers, is
that the response to this simple statement will take the form not only of
_total denial_ but will indulge in petty personal abuse aimed in my
direction. It will illegitimately be claimed that the Chinese version is
nonetheless a perfect form of recursion  (which I am allegedly too ignorant
to recognize), even though it is open to various misinterpretations not
present in the English version.  In Steve Long's clever summation,
recursiveness is merely a "parlour trick" and has  "little to do with the
basic nature of language."

And as Prof. Everett clearly states:

"People believe they've actually studied a language when they have given it
a Chomskyan formalism. And... may have given us absolutely no insight
whatsoever into that language as a foreign language."

Ultimately there is no real substitute for going to a country, learning its
language the hard way, and even proceeding to various stages of "going
native." This is something I have done in at least four different countries
over the decades and is clearly also something Dan Everett has done to an
even higher degree. Those who have not experienced this process will simply
miss out on all manner of language realities and are likely to have also
missed some of the satiric and ironic elements in this message. Perhaps
Larry Trask, a linguist trained as a chemist and hence a real scientist, has
said it all best:

"This stuff is so much half-baked twaddle, more akin to a religious movement
than to a scholarly enterprise. I am confident that our successors will look
back on UG as a huge waste of time."

all the best to all!

alex


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May  5 23:55:51 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Sat, 5 May 2007 18:55:51 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <SAT.5.MAY.2007.185551.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Was unhappy to discover that I misspelled John Colapinto's last name in
yesterday's posting, perhaps further proof of my thesis that we like to
imagine we know things when we really don't...

all the best to all!

alex


From timo.honkela at tkk.fi  Sun May  6 19:52:04 2007
From: timo.honkela at tkk.fi (timo.honkela at tkk.fi)
Date: Sun, 6 May 2007 22:52:04 +0300
Subject: PirahN
In-Reply-To: <002e01c78ece$bfac3650$e7e9d718@v7t0g4>
Message-ID: <SUN.6.MAY.2007.225204.0300.>

On Fri, 4 May 2007, Alexander Gross2 wrote:

> 1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI, "mainstream
> linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since Chomsky
> imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
> language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine language is
> nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
> that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate appears
> ever more dubious. 

Thank you for the interesting comments, points of view and links that
you provided. The MT issue is discussed in depth in the following 
article: "Philosophical Aspects of Neural, Probabilistic and 
Fuzzy Modeling of Language Use and Translation". Proceedings of
IJCNN'07, International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, in print.

The article is available at  
http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/honkela_translation_ijcnn07.pdf

Comments are most welcome! (The conference is organized in 
August in Orlando with a special session on Philosophical Aspects 
of Neural Network Modeling.)

Abstract:

Serious efforts to develop computerized systems for natural language 
understanding and machine translation have taken place for more than 
half a century. Some successful systems that translate texts in 
limited domains such as weather forecasts have been implemented. 
However, the more general the domain or complex the style of the text 
the more difficult it is to reach high quality translation. The same 
applies to natural language understanding. All systems need to deal 
with problems like ambiguity, lack of semantic coverage and pragmatic 
insight. In this article, some philosophical questions that underlie 
the difficulty of natural language understanding and good quality 
translation are first studied. These two areas of dealing with 
languages are actually closely related. Namely, for instance Quine's 
notion of indeterminacy of translation have shown that the problem of 
translation does not only hold for translation between different 
languages but similar problems are encountered when communication 
between users of same language is considered. The term intralingual 
translation has been used e.g. by Roman Jakobson. Intralingual 
translation relates to translation between languages and to the 
problem of sameness of meaning. In this article, arguments and methods 
of considering translation and meaning within the framework of 
continuous-valued multidimensional representations, probability 
theory, fuzzy sets and neural adaptive systems are considered.

Best regards,
Timo

--
Timo Honkela, Chief Research Scientist, PhD, Docent
Adaptive Informatics Research Center
Laboratory of Computer and Information Science
Helsinki University of Technology
P.O.Box 5400, FI-02015 TKK

timo.honkela at tkk.fi,  http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/


From language at sprynet.com  Wed May  9 02:33:40 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 21:33:40 -0500
Subject: PirahN
Message-ID: <TUE.8.MAY.2007.213340.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Thanks for your reply, Timo.  I sometimes feel that posting on discussion
groups like FUNKNET is like placing one's head on a chopping block.  Though
i've received two positive responses privately, yours is the first to appear
on-line.  I've skimmed through your paper & even gone to your website to
find out more about your mental maps.  Give me a bit more time to read it
again, and i'll get back to you.

all the best!

alex

ps--if you haven't already read my thoughts about mapping language, you'll
find them on  my site at:

http://languag2.home.sprynet.com/f/evishop.htm.

----- Original Message -----
From: <timo.honkela at tkk.fi>
To: <funknet at mailman.rice.edu>; "Alexander Gross2" <language at sprynet.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] PirahN


> On Fri, 4 May 2007, Alexander Gross2 wrote:
>
> > 1) The growing perceived failure of most branches of Strong AI,
"mainstream
> > linguistics" among them through its close association with MT. Since
Chomsky
> > imagines that language is a "switchbox" that can readily leap from one
> > language to another, and since at least some researchers imagine
language is
> > nothing more than computer code, it should come as no surprise to anyone
> > that MT has always been an integral part of Strong AI, whose fate
appears
> > ever more dubious.
>
> Thank you for the interesting comments, points of view and links that
> you provided. The MT issue is discussed in depth in the following
> article: "Philosophical Aspects of Neural, Probabilistic and
> Fuzzy Modeling of Language Use and Translation". Proceedings of
> IJCNN'07, International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, in print.
>
> The article is available at
> http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/honkela_translation_ijcnn07.pdf
>
> Comments are most welcome! (The conference is organized in
> August in Orlando with a special session on Philosophical Aspects
> of Neural Network Modeling.)
>
> Abstract:
>
> Serious efforts to develop computerized systems for natural language
> understanding and machine translation have taken place for more than
> half a century. Some successful systems that translate texts in
> limited domains such as weather forecasts have been implemented.
> However, the more general the domain or complex the style of the text
> the more difficult it is to reach high quality translation. The same
> applies to natural language understanding. All systems need to deal
> with problems like ambiguity, lack of semantic coverage and pragmatic
> insight. In this article, some philosophical questions that underlie
> the difficulty of natural language understanding and good quality
> translation are first studied. These two areas of dealing with
> languages are actually closely related. Namely, for instance Quine's
> notion of indeterminacy of translation have shown that the problem of
> translation does not only hold for translation between different
> languages but similar problems are encountered when communication
> between users of same language is considered. The term intralingual
> translation has been used e.g. by Roman Jakobson. Intralingual
> translation relates to translation between languages and to the
> problem of sameness of meaning. In this article, arguments and methods
> of considering translation and meaning within the framework of
> continuous-valued multidimensional representations, probability
> theory, fuzzy sets and neural adaptive systems are considered.
>
> Best regards,
> Timo
>
> --
> Timo Honkela, Chief Research Scientist, PhD, Docent
> Adaptive Informatics Research Center
> Laboratory of Computer and Information Science
> Helsinki University of Technology
> P.O.Box 5400, FI-02015 TKK
>
> timo.honkela at tkk.fi,  http://www.cis.hut.fi/tho/
>
>


From language at sprynet.com  Thu May 10 04:34:32 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 23:34:32 -0500
Subject: Language and "Self-Expression"
Message-ID: <WED.9.MAY.2007.233432.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

I was pleased to read the exchange between Aya, Denis, & Steve on autism &
language learning.  Perhaps you are already aware of the achievements of the
English autistic savant Daniel Tammet in this regard.  He has been dubbed
BRAIN MAN and is frequently featured on TV, radio, and in the press.  If
you're not aware of his abilities, you might want to obtain a copy of the
Discovery/Science Channel one-hour program devoted to him, also called
BRAIN MAN, as it might be useful for presenting to students.  You can read
extensively about him both on wikipedia and his own website, at:

http://www.optimnem.co.uk/

The one-hour program contains an account of his having learned Icelandic in
a single week, sufficient to be interviewed in that tongue on an Icelandic
TV program at the end of the week.  I certainly respect him as one of the
most remarkable linguists I know of, but I still have a few doubts about
this feat.  He admits in the blog on his site to having made a few mistakes
in grammar and makes an essentially anti-mainstream argument that grammar
isn't all that important.

Here are some more comments I made about him a year ago on LANTRA, a
discussion group for professional translators:

-----------------------

Compared to Kim Peek, perhaps the best known autistic savant as the model
for the Dustin Hoffman film Rain Man, Daniel Tammet is quite well-spoken &
comes across as close to "normal."  And unlike Peek, his abilities extend to
a talent for learning & speaking foreign languages.

In fact, the TV producers threw in a "test" to prove these abilities.  Like
so much on television, this test was full of holes, a bit like assuming that
children who win nationwide spelling bees are actually learning something
important about language. but it was nonetheless impressive in its way.

They challenged Tammet to learn a language well enough in a week to be able
to appear speaking it on a live show with native TV news people.  The
language they chose for him was Icelandic, which they spent some time trying
to convince viewers is incredibly difficult to learn, flashing screen shots
of its slightly offbeat written form with its extra letters.  The audience
was told that he was starting entirely from scratch, though it wasn't
mentioned that he was in fact starting from a closely related language,
English. And since he was already described as a master linguist, he could
well have already known German as well.  Perhaps even another Scandinavian
language, which would have made the whole "test" something of a setup for
him.

We were told none of this, possibly because even the show's producers
weren't aware that it was important.  Anyway, we saw him pass the test with
what appeared to be flying colors by "speaking Icelandic" with Icelanders in
excerpts from his TV appearance.

Okay, i don't want to pull any kind of personal rank as a linguist, as i am
deeply in awe of several LANTRA members for your prodigious language
accomplishments.  And for many years i have also had the good luck of
counting among my friends the UN translator Alex Schwartz, whom the Guiness
Book of Records names as the "greatest US linguist."  So I know I have a few
skills but i don't truly measure up  to what some of you on LANTRA have
achieved.

But I do know i could have come close to matching Daniel Tammet's feat, at
least when i was a bit younger, if not in a week, then certainly a month.
What's more, I don't truly regard learning languages that way as any deep
test of linguistic skill, in fact I find I sometimes have to STOP myself
from learning another language I may find interesting, since I'm all too
keenly aware of the many other requirements for truly deep & useful
knowledge of a language.

-----------------------------

None of which detracts from Tammet's many remarkable skills.  On his
website, you'll find that he also offers courses on how to learn languages
more easily.  And he has also created a language of his own, perhaps as a an
outgrowth of his condition.  It is based on Estonian, whose vowel sounds he
finds particularly attractive.

I guess I should confess that I have some practical and personal reasons of
my own for my interest in the Autism/Asperger's Spectrum.  Both my wife of
48 years & her late brother have a place on it: though an "Aspie," Ilene is
an accomplished artist/designer with a prodigious memory, Morton was a high
functioning autistic genius, the very first electronic engineer to be hired
by IBM back in 1949. He served as a VP during some of their most famous
projects, including their early MT program, which he believed would solve
most of the linguistic and technical intricacies and be ready as a
functioning prototype in time for the NY World's Fair of 1963.

all the best to all!

alex

----- Original Message -----
From: "A. Katz" <amnfn at well.com>
To: <Salinas17 at aol.com>
Cc: <funknet at mailman.rice.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 10:58 PM
Subject: [FUNKNET] Re: Language and "Self-Expression"


> Communication can be intentional or unintentional. Vocalization can be
> voluntary or involuntary. In the context of a discussion of the
> separability of language structure from communication, "self-expression"
> means a form-to-meaning mapping that encodes information where the speaker
> had no intent to communicate with another.
>
> Sometimes the vocalization is involuntary. The speaker just couldn't help
> himself. He might prefer not to communicate, but the need to express his
> thoughts and feelings overrides his concern about sharing information. At
> other times, the speaker may be unaware that he has an audience.
>
> When someone cries out in pain, everyone who hears understands the
> message. But it is not a message that the injured party necessarily meant
> to send out. The urge to cry out is difficult to overcome. We might not
want
> others to know we are suffering. Nature made sure we would let others
> know, because it might save the lives of our group mates, who would be
> alerted to the danger.
>
> Babies are born with a repertoire of cries that alert caretakers to their
> needs. But a newborn does not know that there are others. The concept of
> self versus other develops much later. When a baby cries out, it is
> self-expression, regardless of the fact that for hearers the cries
> function as a form of communication, in that the baby supplies them with
> important information about its needs.
>
> If Abraham Lincoln had composed and spoken the Gettysburg Address without
> intending it for an audience, then it would have been mere
> self-expression. Since he did intend it for an audience, we can safely say
> that it was an intentional act of communication.
>
> Some people with autistic spectrum disorders master both grammar and its
> mapping onto meaning, without developing a theory of mind. When they
> speak, they comment on reality without taking into consideration what
> others will make of their comments. Their speech is motivated by self-
> expression, but they are using a language they picked up from their
> environment, so anybody listening in can understand what was said.
>
> Best,
>
>       --Aya Katz
>
> ================================================================
> Dr. Aya Katz, Inverted-A, Inc, P.O. Box 267, Licking, MO
> 65542 USA
> (417) 457-6652 (573) 247-0055
> http://www.well.com/user/amnfn
> =================================================================
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 Salinas17 at aol.com wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 4/27/07 4:34:58 AM, amnfn at well.com writes:
> > <<The motive for sound-to-meaning mapping on the part of speakers can be
> > self-expression, even though the overall effect is communication with
others.  In
> > all likelihood, self expression was the initial motive of speakers, even
> > though it was communication with others that served as the force that
kept that
> > motive a part of our human behavioral repertoire.>>
> >
> > This is an example of how absolutely critical *common reference* is to
> > language.  Are Aya and I talking about the same thing when we talk about
> > "self-expression"?
> >
> > I'm not sure what Aya means by "self-expression."  I've heard the term
of
> > course many times.  But I'm unsure what it specifically refers to, in
this
> > context.
> >
> > The term "self-expression" has been used in discourse analysis, general
> > sociolinguistics and even marketing research to refer to the
individualistic
> > element in language or how something is congruent with one's own sense
of identity.
> > In these areas, it's not really separate from communication, but more
like
> > the opposite of "group-expression"  -- conformity of ideas, styles or
ways of
> > thinking.  Look up "self-expression" on Google and you'll see that, in
the
> > vernacular, it usually doesn't mean anything like
non-communication"  -- quite the
> > contrary.  I believe Chomsky has used the term in connection with his
Free
> > Speech position, which is also inherently about communication.  (Nobody
has to
> > be concerned about Free Speech if they never intend to express their
ideas to
> > anyone else.)
> >
> > Chomsky has also distinguished "self-expression" from communication, but
I
> > must confess I don't understand the contrast.  "Self-expression" seems
to be
> > about the origin of the message, not about who it's meant for.   When
Lincoln
> > spoke the Gettysburg Address, that was self-expression.  If I just quote
the
> > Gettyburg Address in a speech, without regard for what the words mean,
that is not
> > self-expression -- it's somebody else's.  This seems to be a logical
> > understanding of the word.
> >
> > But the context of Aya's message seems to suggest that there is some
kind of
> > non-communal use of language called "self-expression."
> >
> > I take it that this means talking to one's-self instead of anyone else.
I
> > would call this "self-communication", I guess.  There's no doubt it
happens all
> > the time, but just as a matter of sequence in the acquisition of
language, it
> > can only be a secondary effect.
> >
> > In order to talk to myself in English, I have to learn English first.
> > English is a communal language, shared by billions of people who spoke
it before I
> > was born.  Every single one of those people without exception were not
born
> > speaking English.  It had to be shared with them.  Communication is how
every
> > single person in the world learns a language.  No one speaks raw
Universal
> > Grammar and that's a good reason to think no one speaks it to himself
either.
> >
> > Now, let's say I have another language -- my own private language -- my
> > "self-expression" language.  Since I don't use it for communicating with
anybody
> > but myself, it is not a normal language.
> >
> > But let's say I constantly violate the rules of grammar in my private
> > language.  What is the consequence of my violation?  Are those
expressions I make to
> > myself "unacceptible", "incomprehensible" or simply "ungrammatical?"  In
those
> > cases, would I say I do not understand my own private language?  Do I
rap
> > myself on my knuckles for using bad grammar and correct myself?
> >
> > Of course, there is an advantage to this private language.  I don't have
to
> > worry about sharing common references with anybody else.   In English, I
need
> > to call a horse a "horse", or a self-expression a "self-expression" or I
will
> > have poor hope of being understood.  However, in my private language, I
can
> > call a cow a "horse", a spotted dog a "horse" and a self-expression a
"horse" and
> > have no problem with understanding myself.  I even always know which
kind of
> > "horse" I am referring to, and can also use the word as a verb or a
pronomial
> > because I always know what I am referring to, even if I'm using the same
word
> > all those different ways.
> >
> > And no one's going to correct my "self-expression" because communication
with
> > others has no importance.   Turning this into audible speech, however,
can
> > present a problem.
> >
> > We don't hear such private "self-expression" languages spoken out loud
much
> > around town.  People who spout incomprehensible "self-expressions" on a
regular
> > basis are not treated with much understanding by most folk.  They are
often
> > diagnosed as having mental problems.  Perhaps it would be more
enlightened to
> > consider them just people who have choosen to use their LADs and UGs for
> > non-communicative purposes.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Steve Long
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free
at
> > http://www.aol.com.</HTML>
> >
> >
>


From ekapia at bu.edu  Fri May 11 00:03:06 2007
From: ekapia at bu.edu (ekapia at bu.edu)
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 20:03:06 -0400
Subject: BUCLD 32: Call for Papers Final Reminder
Message-ID: <THU.10.MAY.2007.200306.0400.>

CALL FOR PAPERS FINAL REMINDER

THE 32nd ANNUAL BOSTON UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
NOVEMBER 2-4, 2007

Keynote Speaker:
Ellen Bialystok, York University
"Cognitive Effects of Bilingualism Across the Lifespan"

Plenary Speaker:
William O?Grady, University of Hawai?i at Manoa
"Does Emergentism Have a Chance?"

Lunch Symposium:
?The Production and Processing of Grammatical Morphemes?
Katherine Demuth, Brown University
Anne Fernald, Stanford University
Lee Osterhout, University of Washington
Virginia Valian, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center

Submissions which present research on any topic in the fields of first 
and second language acquisition from any theoretical perspectives will 
be fully considered, including:

* Bilingualism
* Cognition & Language
* Creoles & Pidgins
* Dialects
* Discourse and Narrative
* Gesture
* Hearing Impairment and Deafness
* Input & Interaction
* Language Disorders (Autism, Down Syndrome, SLI, Williams Syndrome, etc.)
* Linguistic Theory (Syntax, Semantics, Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon)
* Neurolinguistics
* Pragmatics
* Pre-linguistic Development
* Reading and Literacy
* Signed Languages
* Sociolinguistics
* Speech Perception & Production

Presentations will be 20 minutes long followed by a 10 minute question 
period. Posters
will be on display for a full day with two attended sessions during the day.

ABSTRACT FORMAT AND CONTENT

* Abstracts submitted must represent original, unpublished research.
* Abstracts should be anonymous, clearly titled and no more than 500 
words in length. Text of abstract should fit on one page, with a second 
page for examples, figures, or references. Abstracts longer than 500 
words will be rejected without being evaluated.
* Please note the word count at the bottom of the abstract. Note that 
word counts should not include the abstract title, figure or table 
titles, examples, or the list of references.
* A suggested format and style for abstracts is available at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/template.html
* Three examples of how to formulate the content of the abstract can be 
found at:
http://www.lsadc.org/info/dec02bulletin/model.html
http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/bucholtz/sociocultural/abstracttips.html
http://www.ulcl.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=5&c=124
* The criteria used by the reviewers to evaluate abstracts can be found at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/reviewprocess.html#rate
* All abstracts must be submitted as PDF documents. Specific 
instructions for how to create PDF documents are available at:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/pdfinfo.html.
If you encounter a problem creating a PDF file, please contact us for 
further assistance.
Please use the first author's last name as the file name (eg. 
Smith.pdf). No author
information should appear anywhere in the contents of the PDF file itself.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

* Electronic submission: To facilitate the abstract submission process, 
abstracts will be
submitted using the form available at the conference website at
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/abstract.htm.
* Specific instructions for abstract submission are available on this website.
* Abstracts will be accepted between April 1 and May 15.
* Contact information for each author must be submitted via webform. No 
author information should appear anywhere in the abstract PDF.
* At the time of submission you will be asked whether you would like 
your abstract to be
considered for a poster, a paper, or both. Note that this preference is 
not revealed to the reviewers, and thus is not considered in the review 
process.
* Although each author may submit as many abstracts as desired, we will 
accept for
presentation by each author: (a) a maximum of 1 first authored 
paper/poster, and (b) a
maximum of 2 papers/posters in any authorship status. Note that no 
changes in authorship (including deleting an author or changing author 
order) will be possible after the review process is completed or for 
publication in the conference proceedings.

DEADLINE

* All submissions must be received by 8:00 PM EST, May 15, 2007.
* Late abstracts will not be considered, whatever the reason for the delay.
* We regret that we cannot accept abstract submissions by fax or email.
* Submissions via surface mail will only be accepted in special 
circumstances, on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us well in 
advance of the submission deadline (May 15, 2007) to make these 
arrangements.

ABSTRACT SELECTION

* Each abstract is blind reviewed by 5 reviewers from a panel of 
approximately 140
international scholars. Further information about the review process is 
available at
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/reviewprocess.html.
* Acknowledgment of receipt of the abstract will be sent by email as 
soon as possible after receipt. Notice of acceptance or rejection will 
be sent to first authors only, in early
August, by email. Pre-registration materials and preliminary schedule 
will be available
in late August, 2007.
* If your abstract is accepted, you will need to submit a 150-word 
abstract including
title, author(s) and affiliation(s) for inclusion in the conference 
handbook. Guidelines
will be provided along with notification of acceptance.
* Abstracts accepted as papers will be invited for publication in the 
BUCLD Proceedings.
* Abstracts accepted as posters will be invited for publication online 
only, but not in the
printed version.
* All conference papers will be selected on the basis of abstracts 
submitted. Although each abstract will be evaluated individually, we 
will attempt to honor requests to schedule accepted papers together in 
group sessions.
* No schedule changes will be possible once the schedule is set. 
Scheduling requests for religious reasons only must be made before the 
review process is complete (i.e. at the time of submission). A space is 
provided on the abstract submission webform to specify such requests.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Information regarding the conference may be accessed on the BUCLD website:
http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/APPLIED/BUCLD/
Boston University Conference on Language Development
96 Cummington Street, Room 244
Boston, MA 02215
U.S.A.
Telephone: (617) 353-3085
e-mail: langconf at bu.edu


From language at sprynet.com  Sat May 12 05:09:13 2007
From: language at sprynet.com (Alexander Gross2)
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 00:09:13 -0500
Subject: PIRAHA: The Film
Message-ID: <SAT.12.MAY.2007.000913.0500.LANGUAGE@SPRYNET.COM>

Things sometimes get so serious around here that I hope at least some of you can find room for a more humorous approach.  A friend just sent me a copy of a film treatment he will be pitching to Hollywood producers next week.  I'm sure he would value any comments you may choose to make, as would I.  Here it is:

  Crossing the Language Barrier

              Adapted from the New Yorker article

Glorious sunlight and swelling tropical rhythms announce that we are in the jungles of Brazil, where the famous anthropologist Daniel Everett (played by Nick Nolte) has come to investigate a mysterious language among an even more mysterious people: the Piraha.  We are on the shores of the Amazon (not the real river, but Amazon is better known), and we watch as he and his young assistant (Leo DiCaprio) explore their exotic surroundings and greet the members of this tribe, who reply in their musical language as they hunt and build their homes and perform other tribal activities.  Everett-Nolte's assistant attempts to initiate a romance with a Piraha maiden (Salma Hayek).  The next day a second assistant (Johnie Depp) arrives by plane: self-sufficient and cocksure, he tells the other two that their expedition is sure to be a success, as he has already figured out what must be the key to the tribe's language.  He attempts to communicate with the natives without much success and grows ever more frustrated by his failure.

The next day he dives into the Amazon for a swim and is half-eaten alive by ravenous piranhas.  He is close to death when he reaches shore and unlikely to survive, but the tribe members save his life with their herbal remedies.  At one point he becomes delirious, calling out: Don't you see, it's useless, Piraha is nothing but a giant Piranha, it will devour us all.  The next day he is flown out on a stretcher to a Western hospital.  Nolte-Everett and his assistant are devastated by this event and debate whether there can still be any hope of understanding the language.

Cut to the Pentagon in Washington, where a high-ranking general is on the phone to an MIT savant.  Split screen between them: Damn it, says the general, you've got to get that Babelfish going, that switchbox of yours, whatever you call it.  We've funded you for fifty years now, and I'm not sure I can guarantee you any further support.  We urgently need to translate all languages into all other languages, it's a matter of life and death.  Don't worry, replies the savant, we're very close to succeeding, I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Transition back to Brazil, where despite the language barrier the first assistant (DiCaprio) is making progress in courting the Piraha girl.  Their romance blossoms into a long, passionate, and inventive session of love making.  She speaks Piraha to him, and he replies, at first hestitantly but more fluently and melodiously as their intimacy mounts. After their final climax, the maiden imparts to her lover the true secret of their language.  But that's impossible, her partner replies, it couldn't possibly be that simple.

Cut to MIT, where the savant enters a room of towering mainframes staffed by his grad students.  Alright, he tells them, handing them a disk, this is the final formulation, make the computers translate these texts.  Lights flash from the mainframes, and an enormous cacophony is heard.  Switch between the anguished faces of the savant and his pupils, as the noise and flashing reach a crescendo.  Finally the network begins to announce the results of its work in a HAL-like voice.  We hear it proclaiming one by one many of the most famous and most hilarious MT bloopers.  Well, says the savant, at least we're getting close.

Back to Brazil, where the lovers are still gazing excitedly into each other's eyes.  No, he repeats, that couldn't possibly be true.  But then he is seized by doubt and leads her to Everett-Nolte, where both of them, still somewhat dishevelled after their exertions, try to explain to him what she believes the secret of the Piraha language must be.  They agree that it still doesn't quite make sense, but the anthropologist is intrigued.

Let me think about this a bit, he replies, I need to go for a walk.  The music swells as Everett-Nolte strides outside and walks by himself down along the shores of the Amazon, where crocodiles  threaten to attack him at every step.  The music grows ever more intense, as do the scenic effects.  In addition to the crocodiles we now see toucans, two-toed sloths, marmosets, giant anteaters, all the fantasmagoria of tropical flora and fauna against the luminous background of the Amazon sky, seeming to surround the anthropologist on every side.  Yes, he says, I think I've found the secret.  He turns around and retraces his steps.

Now we are back at MIT, where the grad students are busy dismantling the mainframes and lugging them to a truck outside.  The general appears, followed by the savant.  I'm sorry it had to end like this, says the general, it was a really good idea.  Yes, I'm sorry too, replies the savant.

Finale on the banks of the Amazon: once again the sounds and sights have begun to soar, while in the background we see the Piraha people busily at work and hear once more the wondrous murmuring of their language.  Nolte, DiCaprio, and Hayek stand together on the shore, gazing across the river. My God, we did it, says DiCaprio.  Yes, we did it, replies the protagonist.

The musical and visual sensorium reaches an absolute climax, mingling both sunrise and sunset together, as the anthropologist sums up: There is no Babelfish, no switchbox, no way you can ever translate all the world's languages into each other.  The only hope we have as human beings is to learn each other's languages.  Only then can we truly hope to understand one another.

--------------------------------------

I hope I have offended no one by any of this, which I have clearly labeled as humor, however unsuccessful it may be.  After all, it couldn't possibly be a description of reality.  Or could it...?

all the best!

alex

PS--I want to make it clear that I have not written this "film treatment" to demean Prof. Everett's achievements in any way, on the contrary I see it as one way of expressing my admiration for them.  I have written to him to apologize in case he takes any of it the wrong way, and by hyphenating his name with Nolte's I have tried to make it clear that just as the Amazon is not the same as the Maici, so this is in no way an image of him or his work. Or as the classic disclaimer has it: this is entirely a work of fiction, and any similarity between the two Everetts is purely coincidental.


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Sat May 12 18:56:53 2007
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 13:56:53 -0500
Subject: Piraha: The Film
Message-ID: <SAT.12.MAY.2007.135653.0500.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

You forgot to mention that the savant was played by Alec Baldwin....

Jess Tauber
phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From andrea.schalley at une.edu.au  Wed May 16 02:46:12 2007
From: andrea.schalley at une.edu.au (Andrea Schalley)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 12:46:12 +1000
Subject: CIL 18 workshop on Linguistic Studies of Ontology: Call for
 abstracts
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.124612.1000.ANDREA.SCHALLEY@UNE.EDU.AU>

****************************************************************
Final call for abstracts:    Deadline May 31, 2007

?LINGUISTIC STUDIES OF ONTOLOGY?
 From Lexical Semantics to Formal Ontologies and Back

Workshop at the
18th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF LINGUISTS (CIL 18)

<http://cil18.org>
Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

July 21-26, 2008

****************************************************************

?DESCRIPTION?

Recent developments in the study of ontology have important  
implications for cognitive science, knowledge engineering, and  
theoretical linguistics. In particular, research on lexical ontology  
deals with how concepts are lexicalized and organized across  
languages and cultures. This workshop aims to explore this new  
departure in linguistic studies by building upon the three important  
premises assumed in Fellbaum (1998), Schalley and Zaefferer (2007),  
and Huang et al. (2007): First, that lexicalized concepts have a  
special status in every language (as opposed to concepts that require  
complex coding), second that lexically coded concepts can be shared  
by different languages, and third that lexicalization universals are  
relevant for the construction of cross-lingually portable formal  
ontologies.

Topics of this workshop include foundational issues pertaining to the  
relation between formal ontology and linguistic ontologies, as well  
as descriptive issues pertaining to the interface between conceptual  
ontologies and lexica. In particular, we would like to focus on the  
following issues during this workshop:

- Cross-lingual portability of upper-ontologies
- Ontology-based approaches to comparative linguistics
- Ontology enrichment: from concept formation via complex coding to  
lexicalisation
- Possible relevance of formal ontological principles (e.g. Roles  
cannot subsume Types) to psychological/linguistic reality

REFERENCES
Fellbaum, Christiane. 1998. WordNet: An electronic lexical database.  
MIT Press.
Huang, Chu-Ren et al. Eds. 2007. Ontologies and the Lexicon.  
Cambridge University Press.
Schalley, Andrea C. and Zaefferer, Dietmar. Eds.  2007.  
Ontolinguistics. Mouton de Gruyter.

?SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS?

A two-page abstract including everything should be sent  
electronically to both <cil18 at cil18.org> and <churenhuang at gmail.com>.  
An MS Word and/or .pdf file may be accepted.

?IMPORTANT DATES?

Deadline for Abstract Submission: May 31, 2007
Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: August 31, 2007
Submission of accepted abstract for publication in the proceedings:  
February 15, 2008
Submission of final paper to be published in CIL18 CD: September 30,  
2008

For more information, visit the website (<http://cil18.org>) or  
contact the organizer at <churenhuang at gmail.com>.

?ORGANIZER?

Chu-Ren Huang
Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica
Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan
E-mail address: <churenhuang at gmail.com> Fax: 886-2-27856622, Tel:  
886-2-26523108

?PROGRAM COMMITTEE?

Christiane Fellbaum (Princeton)
Shu-kai Hsieh (I-Lan)
Chu-Ren Huang (Taipei)
Alessandro Lenci (Pisa)
Adam Pease (San Francisco)
Alessandro Oltramari (Trento)
Laurent Pr?vot (Toulouse)
James Pustejovsky (Brandies)
Andrea C. Schalley (Armidale)
Piek Vossen (Amsterdam)
Dietmar Zaefferer (Munich)


From jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se  Wed May 16 11:56:12 2007
From: jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se (Jordan Zlatev)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 13:56:12 +0200
Subject: Final call for papers: SALC
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.135612.0200.JORDAN.ZLATEV@LING.LU.SE>

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS
?
Includes one new theme session!
?
The First Conference of the Swedish Association for Language and 
Cognition (SALC)
Lund, Nov 29 - Dec 1, 2007
http://www.salc-sssk.org/conference
?
We invite the submission of abstracts for oral or poster presentations 
for the The First Conference of the Swedish Association for Language 
and Cognition (SALC)/Svenska S?llskapet f?r Spr?k och Kognition (SSSK) 
to be held at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University 
between Nov 29 and Dec 1, 2007. Presentations should involve research 
in which language is not treated in isolation (e.g. as a "module"), but 
both as based on structures and processes of general cognition (e.g. 
perception, memory and reasoning) and social cognition (e.g. joint 
attention and imitation), and as affecting such structures and 
processes. The conference, as SALC in general, is intended to be a 
forum for the exchange of ideas between disciplines, fields of study 
and theoretical frameworks. Topics include, but are not limited to:
?
* semantic analysis and cognition
* discourse analysis and cognition
* grammar and cognition
* pragmatics and cognition
* semiotics and cognition
* linguistic typology and cognition
* language and cognitive development
* language and cognitive evolution
* language change and cognition
* language and gesture
* language, emotion and consciousness
* linguistic relativity and linguistic mediation
?
Plenary speakers
* Susan Goldin-Meadow, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
* Esa Itkonen, Department of Linguistics, University of Turku
* Chris Sinha, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth
* ?sten Dahl, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University
* Peter G?rdenfors, Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University
?
Theme sessions
?Space in language and cognition? (Conveners: Carita Paradis, Marlene 
Johansson Falck, Carita Lundmark and Ulf Magnusson)
The link between spatial concepts and construals in linguistic 
expressions and in thought is a rapidly growing field of inquiry which 
cuts across disciplines such as linguistics, cognitive psychology, 
anthropology, computer science and philosophy. Oxford University Press 
will be publishing papers from the session in an edited volume of 
strictly peer-reviewed papers that capture cutting-edge scholarship in 
this area.
?
?Language and gesture? (Conveners: Jordan Zlatev and Cornelia Mueller)
While there is a consensus on the close relationship between language 
and gesture, there is an ongoing debate on the exact relationship 
between the two: do they constitute a "unified system" (e.g. McNeil) or 
two closely integrated but distinct semiotic resources (e.g. Donald), 
supported by distinct cognitive mechanisms (e.g. Kita and ?zy?rek)? We 
plan a publication of papers addressing this issue from different 
perspectives: semiotics, interaction studies, development, evolution 
and neuroscience.
?
?The dynamics of symbolic matter? (Conveners: Stephen Cowley and Paul 
Thibault)
Language simultaneously links brains, bodies and material artefacts. 
Since the resulting dynamics prompt human activity, we - and language ? 
are produced, structured, and function across many time scales. On this 
distributed perspective, human sense-making is traced, above all, to 
skills
in integrating real-time events with verbal patterns (and other 
second-order cultural artefacts). Accordingly, we aim to consider how 
the resulting cognitive dynamics function in (some of the) time-scales 
relevant to brains,
bodies, the experiential present, human relationships, development, 
history and co-evolution. Finally, we will apply the perspective to 
robotic and other cognitive models. The outcome will be a peer-reviewed 
special issue of a Journal that examines the dynamics of what we deem 
'symbolic'.
?
?
One page abstracts (at most 500 words) should be sent as an attachment 
(MS Word preferred) to Marlene Johansson Falck, at 
marlene at magicspelling.com by June 1st 2007. Abstracts will then be 
reviewed by two members of the Scientific Committee, and notification 
of acceptance will be sent by August 1st. Please indicate whether an 
oral or poster presentation is preferred, and if a poster presentation 
is acceptable if the space of the program does not allow for an oral 
presentation. If you wish your contribution to be considered for one of 
the theme sessions, please indicate this. The conference will be held 
in English.
?
Registration fees, including conference participation, book of 
abstracts, and coffee/snacks:
* Faculty: 50 euro/450 SEK (40 euro/360 SEK for SALC members)
* Students: 40 euro/360 SEK (30 euro/270 SEK for SALC members)
On-line registration facilities will be announced soon.
?
Important Dates
* Feb 23: First Call for Papers
* June 1: Deadline for abstract submission
* August 15: Notification of acceptance
* October 1: Programme announced
* Nov 29 (afternoon) - Dec 1 (whole day): Conference
?
Scientific Committee
* J?hanna Barddal, Department of Linguistics, University of Bergen
* Ingar Brinck, Department of Philosophy, Lund University
* Alan Cienki Department of Language and Communication, Vrije 
Universiteit, Amsterdam
* ?sten Dahl, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University
* Caroline David, D?partement d'?tudes anglophones, Universit? 
Paul-Val?ry, Montpellier III
* Per Durst-Andersen, Centre for Language, Cognition and Mentality, 
Copenhagen Business School
* Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, Department of Nordic Studies and 
Linguistics, University of Copenhagen
* Adam Glaz, Department of English UMCS, Lublin
* Peter G?rdenfors, Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University
* Peter Harder, Department of English, University of Copenhagen
* Merle Horne, Department of Linguistics, Lund University
* Anders Hougaard, Institute of Language and Communication, University 
of Southern Denmark
* Daniel Hutto, Philosophy, University of Hetyfordshire
* Esa Itkonen, Department of Linguistics, University of Turku
* Christer Johansson, Department of Linguistics, University of Bergen
* Henryk Kardela, Department of English, Universytet Marii 
Curie-Sklodowskiej
* Suzanne Kemmer, Department of Linguistics, Rice University
* Maria Koptjevskaja Tamm, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm 
University
* Maarten Lemmens, English Linguistics, Universit? de Lille3
* Cornelia Mueller, Department for Cultural Studies, Europa-Universit?t 
Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
* Chris Sinha, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth
* Victor Smith, Copenhagen Business School
* G?ran Sonesson, Department of Semiotics, Lund University
* Paul Thibault, Linguistics and Media Communication, Agder University
	
Organizing Committee
* Jordan Zlatev, Lund University and Ume? University
* Mats Andr?n, Lund University
* Marlene Johansson Falck, Stockholm University
* Carita Lundmark, Mid Sweden University
* Ulf Magnusson, Lule? University of Technology
* Carita Paradis, V?xj? University

***************************************************
Jordan Zlatev, Associate Professor
Department of Linguistics
Center for Languages and Literature
Lund University
Box 201
221 00 Lund, Sweden

email: jordan.zlatev at ling.lu.se
http://www.ling.lu.se/persons/JordanZlatev.html
***************************************************


From sally.rice at ualberta.ca  Wed May 16 21:14:54 2007
From: sally.rice at ualberta.ca (Sally Rice)
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 15:14:54 -0600
Subject: Staffing changes and new graduate research money at the
 University of Alberta
Message-ID: <WED.16.MAY.2007.151454.0600.SALLY.RICE@UALBERTA.CA>

*** APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS ***

Dear Colleagues,

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta (Canada) 
would like to announce (A) some recent additions to our faculty as 
well as (B) the infusion of new research funding to support 
last-minute graduate student applicants for September 2007 admission.

(A) The following individuals have joined the Department since July 2006:

Dr. Harald Baayen (PhD 1990, U Amsterdam)
	quantificational linguistics, psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics
Dr. Patrick Bolger (PhD 2006, U Arizona)		<pbolger at ualberta.ca>
	psycholinguistics, reading comprehension, writing systems
Dr. Anne-Michelle Tessier (PhD 2006, U Mass	<amtessier at ualberta.ca>
	phonological theory, child phonology
Dr. Benjamin Tucker (PhD 2007, U Arizona)
	experimental phonetics, psycholinguistics, language documentation

They join:

Dr. David Beck (PhD 2000, U Toronto)		<dbeck at ualberta.ca>
	morphosyntax, typology, Amerindian languages, Totonac
Dr. Robert Kirchner (PhD 1998, UCLA)		<kirchner at ualberta.ca>
	phonological theory, modeling of speech processing
Dr. Gary Libben (PhD 1987, McGill)		<gary.libben at ualberta.ca>
	psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, second language acquisition
Dr. Terry Nadasdi (PhD 1995, U Toronto)		<nadasdi at ualberta.ca>
	sociolinguistics, French linguistics
Dr. Terrance Nearey (PhD 1977, U Connecticut)	<t.nearey at ualberta.ca>
	experimental phonetics, laboratory phonology
Dr. John Newman (PhD 1981, UCSD)		<john.newman at ualberta.ca>
	syntax/semantics, corpus linguistics, Chinese, SE Asian languages
Dr. Johanne Paradis (PhD 1997, McGill)		<johanne.paradis at ualberta.ca>
	first and second language acquisition, syntax, SLI
Dr. Sally Rice (PhD 1987, UCSD)			<sally.rice at ualberta.ca>
	syntax/semantics, cognitive and corpus linguistics, 
Athapaskan languages

(B) We also have new research funding in place to support up to 5 
additional Master's or PhD students for September 2007 admission on 
research projects related to Athapaskan language studies and English 
corpus linguistics. Our graduate degree programs are oriented toward 
the empirical and experimental study of language.  Much of the 
current faculty research in the department (in no particular order) 
is focused on:

o	psycholinguistics (especially the mental lexicon and 
morphological processing)
o	experimental phonetics/laboratory phonology
o	language documentation (especially indigenous languages of 
the Americas)
o	corpus linguistics
o	syntax/semantics from a cognitive, functional, or typological 
perspective
o	language representation and processing in bilingual children & adults

The Department runs the Centre for Comparative Psycholinguistics and 
is a partial home to CILLDI, the Canadian Indigenous Languages and 
Literacy Development Institute. The ICE-Canada corpus of Canadian 
English is also housed here, as is the journal, Linguistics 
Abstracts, as of July 2007.

We offer both a thesis-based and a course-based Masters of Science 
(MSc). Students usually complete an MSc within 4 semesters. For 
students going on to complete a PhD here, another 3-4 years is 
generally needed.  Students being admitted directly into the PhD 
should anticipate spending 4-5 years completing coursework, candidacy 
exam requirements, and their doctoral research. A more complete 
description of our three graduate degrees can be found at:
<http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/linguistics/>.
Potential students can also contact Dr. Sally Rice, the Graduate 
Coordinator, at <sally.rice at ualberta.ca>.


From els603 at bangor.ac.uk  Fri May 18 10:54:21 2007
From: els603 at bangor.ac.uk (June Luchjenbroers)
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 11:54:21 +0100
Subject: UK-Cognitive Linguistics conference, Cardiff
In-Reply-To: <1170328445.45c1cb7dc20d7@webmail.bangor.ac.uk>
Message-ID: <FRI.18.MAY.2007.115421.0100.>

SORRY FOR CROSS-POSTINGS....

Registration details & draft conference programs 
are now available from our conference website:
 
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/encap/ncdl/index.html

See you in Cardiff   :-)

June & Michelle

---------

--
This mail sent through http://webmail.bangor.ac.uk


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From Vyv.Evans at brighton.ac.uk  Mon May 21 10:03:21 2007
From: Vyv.Evans at brighton.ac.uk (Vyvyan Evans)
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 11:03:21 +0100
Subject: Reminder: Scholarships for Language & Cognition Study at Brighton
Message-ID: <MON.21.MAY.2007.110321.0100.>

 
Dear colleagues.
 
This is a reminder that we have up to 3 international scholarships to support graduate study for suitably qualified students on our new MAs.  The scholarships are available for entry in September 2007.  New graduate programmes at Brighton include:
 
--MA in Cognitive Linguistics
--MA in Language, Communication and Cognition
--MRes (Master of Research) in Cognitive Linguistics
 
Details regarding all three programmes, plus the scholarships are available on the web here:
http://www.vyvevans.net/CLBrighton.htm
 
Regards,
 
Vyv Evans
www.vyvevans.net


From maria.ivana at virgilio.it  Tue May 22 22:45:07 2007
From: maria.ivana at virgilio.it (Maria Ivana Lorenzetti)
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 00:45:07 +0200
Subject: 1st CFP: GLOBENG. International Conference on Global English
 (14-16 February 2008, Verona, Italy)
Message-ID: <WED.23.MAY.2007.004507.0200.MARIA.IVANA@VIRGILIO.IT>

Apologies for cross-posting.

 

********************************************************************************

 

FIRST CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

 

GlobEng. International Conference on Global English

Dept. of English Studies, University of Verona, 14-16 February 2008

Verona, Italy

Website: http://profs.lingue.univr.it/globeng/index.html

 

 

The Department of English Studies of the University of Verona is proud to announce GlobEng: International Conference on Global English. 

The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the presentation of research discussing issues related to the role of English as a global language. 

 

The debate over the status of English as an International language has been flourishing in the last few decades and is still open to new prospective developments. 

Starting from the awareness of English undisputedly prominent role as a Lingua Franca in international communication, the fact that native speakers are currently a minority, compared to second-language users of the language has been repeatedly highlighted. 

The changing status of English has led to the emergence of a new linguistic scenery. On the one hand, the so-called native varieties have become highly differentiated and acquired greater autonomy, while on the other, the rapid growth of a community of non-native speakers, thanks to increasing international exchanges, has triggered reflection on the possible rise of a new International English, as opposed to the current native varieties.

 

A wide range of issues are brought to the fore in this connection, especially focusing on the possible evolution of the current scenario, both in Europe and in the rest of the world, with a reflection on (and a possible revision of) the notion of Standard, and the crucial implications that prospective developments might have on English Language Teaching (ELT).

 

 

The programme includes plenary lectures by renowned scholars in the field, such as David Crystal, Jennifer Jenkins, Adrian Hollyday, Alan Maley, Barbara Seidlhofer and Simon Sweeney.

 

Papers are encouraged which address the following topics:

-        Pronunciation Models: new vs. standard

-        Implications of new morphosyntactic models

-        Semantic and pragmatic implications of globalising English

-        Cultures, media and globalisation

-        Identities and international communication

-        Language policies in the European Community

-        English and other languages in the classroom

-        The teaching of English as a foreign/second language and as a specialised language 

-        Terminological issues and new taxonomies

 

Contributions are invited for 20-minute presentations (plus discussion). Abstracts should not exceed 300 words in length (references excluded). They should be anonymous and should be sent as email attachments (preferably .pdf or rtf format) to: 
globeng at lingue.univr.it

 

Please conform to the following specifications: 

- Times New Roman pt.12 or equivalent font, single-spaced.

- Please do not include your name or any obvious form of identifiers in the abstract. This is because the abstracts will be subject to anonymous peer-review.
- In order to assist with the reviewing process, please also list up to 5 keywords in the email message

Submission: 

 Abstracts should be submitted as an attachment in MS Word, or PDF format; 
 Subject line of the email should be GlobEng and abstract title; 
 Email message should include: Talk Title, Author's Name(s), Title(s), Affiliation(s), Contact Info (email address, postal address, telephone number, fax number) 
 Abstracts should be submitted via email to: globeng at lingue.univr.it 

Abstracts should reach us by 30 September 2007. 

For further information 
Web site: http://profs.lingue.univr.it/globeng/index.html
E-mail: globeng at lingue.univr.it

Important Dates:

 

Submission deadline: 30 September 2007 
Notification of acceptance: 30 November 2007

Early Registration: tba

Late Registration: tba
GlobEng: 14-15-16 February 2008

Scientific Coordinator:

 

Prof. Cesare Gagliardi 

 

Scientific and Organizing Committee:

 

Elisabetta Adami

Anna Belladelli

Roberto Cagliero

Cristiana Chiarini

Marta Degani

Roberta Facchinetti

Cristina Gatti

Sharon Hartle

Maria Ivana Lorenzetti

Paola Vettorel 

Anna Zanfei

 

 

Dr. Maria Ivana Lorenzetti, Ph.D. (University of Pisa)
Assistant Professor in English Linguistics
Dept. of English Studies
University of Verona
Lungadige di Porta Vittoria 41
37129 Verona (VR) ITALY

E-mail: mariaivana.lorenzetti AT univr.it  


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Thu May 24 03:02:19 2007
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 23:02:19 -0400
Subject: Word order and control?
Message-ID: <WED.23.MAY.2007.230219.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

The language with which I work, Yahgan (isolate, Tierra del Fuego) exhibits extensive case marking for nonsubject NP's (Subject pronouns are coreferenced on the verb, with voice markers between). There is also quite variable NP ordering, with full subjects and objects on either side of the verb, and seemingly in no particular order between S and O.

But as I examine more deeply into usage I'm finding that ordering does in fact appear to be motivated, especially by animacy, control, and affectedness relations.

For instance hai skaia ha-ta:gu-de: (1.S 2.O 1-give-pst) 'I gave you' versus hai hat-aki-de: skaia (1.S 1-hit-pst 2.O) 'I hit you'.

In most instances I've seen so far when Obj appears before the verb the NP is less affected, and often the affect is beneficial, and welcome. But when it appears after it is usually more affected, and in malefactive senses (which I assume are usually unwelcome).

Conversely, when a Subj appears AFTER the verb, then the NP appears to have less than usual agentive control over the situation. Some constructions seem to have grammaticalized this ordering pattern, for instance in negative or unrealized situations, or where the speaker is asserting something about the subject.

I am not sure this type of patterning, for objects, extends to all persons, numbers, etc. In Yahgan, for singulars, lowered situational animacy requires the use, in 3rd person, of the case form -ima for higher animates (while lower animates as objects do not require an overt case mark), whereas dative -ikaia only is found affixed to 1st and 2nd person pronoun bases when these are objects. As number increases (duals, plurals) both -ima and -ikaia can be used.

The vast majority of the pronominal object forms with variable ordering seem to be the 1st and 2nd singulars (1.O haia (hakaia in another dialect), 2.O skaia) where there are no alternatives in -ima, though there is no shortage of 3rd person forms with variable ordering.

I've heard more than once that variable word order is used to disambiguate situations where case marking is insufficient to do the trick, even when a case system is extensive. Is this usually true in languages, and is it usual even when case marks are retained on the NP's so ordered, and if so, is reordering aimed at more pragmatic nuancing, as seems to be the situation with Yahgan?

Typologically, Yahgan veers between SOV and SVO orders for the most part, with the latter seemingly used more often for main clauses. One might expect, then, that SVO is the newer one. But then if this is so, does the change of ordering (which also often interacts with voice and TAM), combined with what was laid out above, imply a change in expected or default values for control/animacy or responsibility /affectedness for the entire system?

Much of the grammatical morphology of Yahgan appears to be spanking new. In addition the language makes extensive use of compound or serial verbs. I've been told that extensive case and extensive serialization don't usually go together. It would be interesting to know which system was older- my guess is that it is case, and that this was losing ground to a newer SVO system focusing on verb morphology. In addition, perhaps SVO was just a rest stop on the way to verb-initial ordering. Most of the languages that I've seen with relatively open bipartite systems are verb-initial, and Yahgan is like this, as a specialization of serialization, perhaps?

Anyway, I would love to hear from those in the know about similar ordering patterns in other languages, as well as anyone that might tell me what the diachronic typological motivation could be.

Hmmph- I guess I shoulda stayed with the program..... 

Thanks all,
Jess Tauber
phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From Nino.Amiridze at let.uu.nl  Mon May 28 18:52:12 2007
From: Nino.Amiridze at let.uu.nl (Amiridze, Nino)
Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 20:52:12 +0200
Subject: Call for abstracts: Morphological Variation and Change in Languag
 es of the Caucasus
Message-ID: <MON.28.MAY.2007.205212.0200.NINO.AMIRIDZE@LET.UU.NL>

[Apologies for multiple posting]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
  MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION AND CHANGE IN LANGUAGES OF THE CAUCASUS

      Workshop at the 13th International Morphology Meeting
                 February 2008, Vienna, Austria

http://www.let.uu.nl/~nino.amiridze/personal/organization/mvclc.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Call for Abstracts
==================
A great diversity of languages is spoken in the Caucasus, most of
which have rich inflectional systems, on the noun (e.g. North-East
Caucasian), on the verb (e.g. North-West Caucasian), or both (e.g.
South Caucasian).

The Caucasus offers rich material for studying genetically diverse
languages being in close contact for centuries, e.g. Georgian (South
Caucasian) with Abkhaz (North-West Caucasian); Ossetian
(Indo-European) and Batsbi (North-East Caucasian); Armenian
(Indo-European) with Azeri (Turkic); or Kumyk (Turkic) with major
North-East Caucasian languages of Daghestan; or, for a much shorter
period, the languages indigenous to the region being in contact with
the unrelated Russian and Turkish. While much is known about the
contemporary grammar of individual languages of the Caucasus, much
less can be said with regard to the various contact situations and
their impact on the morphosyntax of individual languages. Our
workshop aims to broaden the knowledge on this subject.

We invite researchers working on morphological variation and change
in the languages spoken in the Caucasus to submit abstracts for
participation in the workshop, planned to be held at the 13th
International Morphology Meeting. We would like to invite
contributions dealing with contact-induced morphological changes in
any language of the Caucasus region. This includes investigations of
changes driven by influence from any other language of the region,
irrespective of the genetic affiliation of the languages in contact.
Of great interest are not only inter-family, but also somewhat more
subtle intra-family contacts, such as contacts between various
North-East Caucasian languages spoken in adjacent areas or
neighboring villages. Contributions exploring morphological
variation and language-internal morphological changes are also
welcome.

Important Dates
===============
Abstract submission:                  September 17, 2007
Notification:                           October 31, 2007
Workshop:            In the first week of February, 2008
                (The exact date will be announced later)

Organizers
==========
    * Nino Amiridze, Utrecht University (The Netherlands)
    * Michael Daniel, Moscow State University (Russia)
    * Silvia Kutscher, University of Cologne (Germany)

Publication
===========
If after the workshop there will be interest in publishing either a
proceedings or a special journal issue, then the organizers will
take responsibility of finding a suitable forum and will act as
editors.

Submission
==========
Abstracts (maximum 3 pages, including data and references) have to
be submitted electronically as portable document format (.pdf) or
Microsoft Word (.doc) files via the EasyChair conference management
system: http://www.easychair.org/MVCLC2008/.

If you do not have an EasyChair account, click on the button "I have
no EasyChair Account" on that page and follow the instructions. When
you receive a password, you can enter the site and upload your
abstract.

Workshop Web Page
=================
http://www.let.uu.nl/~nino.amiridze/personal/organization/mvclc.html


From hougaard at language.sdu.dk  Tue May 29 11:24:48 2007
From: hougaard at language.sdu.dk (Anders Hougaard)
Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 13:24:48 +0200
Subject: CONFERENCE: Language, Culture and Mind 3
Message-ID: <TUE.29.MAY.2007.132448.0200.HOUGAARD@LANGUAGE.SDU.DK>

CONFERENCE:

LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND MIND 3


2nd THEME SESSIONS CALL                       

The LCM committee and local organizers call for theme session proposals for the third conference in the series Language, Culture and Mind.

The conference will be held in modern and comfortable conference facilities in ODENSE 14TH-16TH JULY, 2008.

The conference aims at establishing an interdisciplinary forum for an integration of cognitive, social and cultural perspectives in theoretical and empirical studies of language and communication

The special theme of the conference is Social Life and Meaning Construction.

We call for contributions from scholars and scientists in anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, semiotics, semantics, social interaction, discourse analysis, cognitive and neuroscience, who wish both to impart their insights and findings, and learn from other disciplines. Preference will be given to submissions which emphasize interdisciplinarity, the interaction between social life, culture, mind and language, and/or multi-methodological approaches in language and communication sciences.



Dates

      *First call for Theme Sessions:                       April 1, 2007
      * Second call for Theme Sessions:                    May 1, 2007
      * Third call for Theme Sessions:                     June 1, 2007
      * Deadline for Theme Sessions submissions:      July 1, 2007
      * Notification for Theme Sessions :                  August 1, 2007


NOTICE: calls for the general session and for posters will be made later.

Submissions guidelines

Max. 500 words (including references)
To be submitted to lcm at language.sdu.dk <mailto:lcm at language.sdu.dk>
Submissions will be evaluated according to their

*       Relevance
*       Quality
*       Coherence
*       Originality
*       Organization

Once your suggestion is approved, you will need to arrange for Theme Session Contributors for your theme. They will need to submit abstracts for their contributions and as Theme Session Organizer you will be responsible for their review. More than one person may organize a theme.

NOTICE: The LCM reserves the right to reject papers accepted by Theme Session reviewers. However, this right will only be exercised if accepted papers deviate too far from the goals of LCM with respect to their content and/or quality.


Plenary speakers:
                                               
Michael Chandler <http://www.psych.ubc.ca/faculty/profile/index.psy?fullname=Chandler,%20Michael&area=Developmental&designation=core>  (University of British Columbia)
Alessandro Duranti <http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/duranti/>  (University of California at Los Angeles)                  
Derek Edwards <http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/depstaff/staff/edwards.html>  (University of Loughborough)
Marianne Gullberg <http://www.mpi.nl/Members/MarianneGullberg>  (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics)
Esa Itkonen <http://notes.utu.fi/ty/webexper.nsf/0/a795abc1fb3b93d8c22566830029cd4b?OpenDocument>  (University of Turku)


Conference Website:

http://www.lcm.sdu.dk <http://www.lcm.sdu.dk/>  (under constructon!)                                    


Earlier LCM conferences:

1st LCM conference: Portsmouth 2004
2nd LCM conference: Paris 2006 <http://www.lcm2006.net/>

The international LCM committee:

Raphael Berthele
Carlos Cornejo
Caroline David
Merlin Donald
Barbara Fultner
Anders R. Hougaard
Jean Lass?gue
John A Lucy
Aliyah Morgenstern
Eve Pinsker
Vera da Silva Sinha
Chris Sinha
Jordan Zlatev


The local organizing committee:

Center for Social Practises and Cognition (SoPraCon):

Rineke Brouwer
Dennis Day
Annette Grindsted
Anders R. Hougaard
Gitte R. Hougaard (Director)
Kristian Mortensen


Scientific Committee (incomplete list)

Anne Salazar Orvig
Meredith Williams
Todd Oakley
Jonathan Potter
Robin Wooffitt
Alan Cienki
Cornellia M?ller
Ewa Dabrowska
Edy Veneziano
Shaun Gallagher
Edwin Hutchins

*****
Anders R. Hougaard
Assistant professor, PhD
Institute of Language and Communication
University of Southern Denmark, Odense
hougaard at language.sdu.dk
Phone: +45 65503154
Fax: + 45 65932483


From sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr  Thu May 31 10:50:47 2007
From: sylvester.osu at wanadoo.fr (Sylvester Osu)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 12:50:47 +0200
Subject: Call for papers: deadline extension
Message-ID: <THU.31.MAY.2007.125047.0200.SYLVESTER.OSU@WANADOO.FR>

Dear Colleagues,

Please note that the deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to 
30 June 2007.

http://langrep.univ-tours.fr


Call for papers



Construction of identity and the process of identification



Organising committee:

Sylvester Osu, Gilles Col, Nathalie Garric, Fabienne Toupin



The world?s languages use diverse means to construct and express the 
identity of people and objects. These means include denomination (e.g. 
proper nouns, noun phrases, denominal adjectives, etc.) in the sense of 
categorising living beings and/or inanimate objects through the act of 
naming, and reduplication (e.g. a salad salad, I mean up-up, etc.) which in 
some of its uses amounts to typifying. Categorisation is a way of 
identifying an element with a group while marking its singularity (see e.g. 
Folkbiology). On the other hand, to produce a sequence like ?un parfum pour 
les femmes femmes? is tantamount to setting up a subcategory of women par 
excellence and consequently, introducing a difference among women.



In recent years, identification has received a great deal of attention in 
linguistics. In some theoretical models it has even come to be regarded as a 
form of linguistic operation.



The aim of this conference is to outline the different linguistic operations 
of identification insofar as they involve the construction of identity and 
the different linguistic devices through which the identity of a person or 
object is constructed.



We welcome contributions that show how the two notions of identity and 
identification are articulated in both language and discourse. Contributions 
can stem from any theoretical background, be based upon any methodological 
approach and address the issue in any of the world?s languages.



Languages

The conference will feature presentations in French as well as in English.



Abstracts



Please submit your abstracts in both RTF and PDF (2 pages minimum and 3 max, 
in 12-point Times New Roman, simple spacing) by e-mail to the following 
address: langrep at univ-tours.fr no later than 31 May 2007, submission 
deadline. Please include the title of the paper but do not mention the name 
of the author as abstracts will be refereed anonymously. A separate page 
should contain the title of the paper, the author?s name, affiliation, 
postal and email addresses.



Publications



We intend to publish the papers accepted for the conference. To this effect, 
revised versions will be reviewed anew by the members of the scientific 
committee.



Comit? Scientifique

Gabriel Bergounioux (Universit? d?Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)

Isabelle Bril (LACITO-CNRS, Paris)

Pierre Cadiot (Universit? d?Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)

Gilles Col (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais, Tours/FORELL, Poitiers)

Jean-Michel Fournier (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Jean-Jacques Franckel (Universit? de Paris X, Nanterre/ LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS, 
Paris)

Jacques Fran?ois (Universit? de Caen Basse-Normandie/CRISCO, FRE 2805)

Nathalie Garric (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Thierry Grass (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Bernhard Hurch (Institut f?r Sprachwissenschaft, Universit?t Graz, Austria)

Rapha?l Kabore (Universit? Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle/LACITO-CNRS, Paris)

Georges Kleiber (Universit? Marc Bloch Strasbourg & EA 1339 LDL- Scolia)

Daniel Lebaud (Universit? de Franche-Comt?, Besan?on)

Fiona McLaughlin (University of Florida, USA)

Fran?ois Nemo (Universit? d?Orl?ans/CORAL, Orl?ans)

Sylvester Osu (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Denis Paillard (LLF (UMR 7110) CNRS - Universit? Paris 7, Paris)

Michel Paillard (Universit? de Poitiers/FORELL, Poitiers)

Fabienne Toupin (Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais/L&R, Tours)

Bernard Victorri (LATTICE (UMR 8094) CNRS-ENS, Montrouge)



Important dates

Abstract deadline: 30 June 2007

Notification: 31 July 2007

Conference dates: Thursday 29 & Friday 30 November 2007

Deadline for registration: 15 September 2007



Venue: Tours (France). The halls will be announced with the programme.



Registration fee: 80 EUR (Students: 40 EUR)



For further questions please contact:



Sylvester Osu

Phone: 336.78.34.13.51

Email: Sylvester.osu at univ-tours.fr

Universit? Fran?ois Rabelais, Tours

UFR Lettres et Langues

D?partement des Sciences du Langage

3 rue des Tanneurs

37041 Tours Cedex 1, France