From dlevere at ilstu.edu  Wed Jul  1 19:39:08 2009
From: dlevere at ilstu.edu (Daniel Everett)
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:39:08 -0400
Subject: new site
Message-ID: <WED.1.JUL.2009.153908.0400.DLEVERE@ILSTU.EDU>

A new site has been developed to present recent research results on  
information structure in Amazonian languages.

The research presented is based on the work of various linguists at a  
variety of institutions. This material is based upon work supported by  
the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0344361. The principal  
investigators for the grant were Robert Van Valin, Jr. and Daniel  
Everett.

  http://wings.buffalo.edu/linguistics//people/faculty/vanvalin/infostructure/Site/Intro.html


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Thu Jul  2 03:51:52 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:51:52 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <fbc2b45d8857.4a143a43@utu.fi>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.115152.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Hello Esa. Great to see you encouraging debate on this very important
issue of complexity in linguistics.

I have a different view of linguistic complexity. You know it already,
but I have found new expressions for it. Perhaps you would comment.

I believe homonymy and idiosyncrasy do admit of the same explanation,
but I don't think the explanation is redundancy. I think we see
homonymy and idiosyncrasy because they are both forms of randomness.

For years we've been running around wondering why language is so full
of randomness. Randomness has been synonymous with inefficiency in our
minds. We have completely failed to grasp that randomness actually
gives us great descriptive power.

And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows us
to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
many we can find.)

Note this also gives a search for patterns a fundamental role in
language: analogy etc. Something I think we have always agreed on.

Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if a
system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has gone
into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim is
that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)

If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if they
become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
be maximally complex.

-Rob

On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 10:13 PM, Esa Itkonen<eitkonen at utu.fi> wrote:
> Dear FUNKNETters: Nowadays complexity seems to be on almost everybody's agenda. But it is not a simple notion, as you can see if you just care to read the last addition to the list of "available as full texts" on my homepage (click below).
> Esa
>
> Homepage: http://users.utu.fi/eitkonen
>


From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Thu Jul  2 11:24:00 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (Muhammad Alzaidi)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:24:00 +0100
Subject: Montague grammar
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.122400.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Can anyone help me to get any paper where it used Montague Grammar. I want to deal with this grammar but I need to see one of the samples to know how the grammar is dealt with.

Waiting

thank you

Regards,
M

_________________________________________________________________
Share your photos with Windows Live Photos – Free.
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/134665338/direct/01/

From hopper at cmu.edu  Thu Jul  2 12:00:41 2009
From: hopper at cmu.edu (Paul Hopper)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:00:41 -0400
Subject: unusual (?) passive/possessive
In-Reply-To: <29038613.1246219058156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.080041.0400.HOPPER@CMU.EDU>

Jess,

It looks like the -m- isn't a passive but some kind of applicative, and
the subject NP got there by "possessor ascension" (you could google this
to find other examples). In a wider sense ethical datives etc. might
belong here.

Paul




On Sun, June 28, 2009 3:57 pm, jess tauber wrote:
> Another long hot day...
>
>
> In Yahgan there is a construction I find a bit unusual, but my lack of
> experience with other languages makes me a bit hesitant here, so I'm
> wondering if list-lurkers can help.
>
> Ex.   hame:amana:nude: shuganiki:pa < ha-m-yamana:n-ude: = 1st
> sbj-pass/refl-live/survive/recover-past;  shugani-ki:pa ?-female/woman =
> daughter 'My daughter is getting better'.
>
> This type of construction works for all three bound person pronoun
> prefixes.
>
> Ex.   kvme:ipvnude: bix <  kv-m-yipvn-ude:  =  3rd
> sbj-pass/refl-catch-past;  bix bird 'His bird was caught/someone hit is
> bird'.
>
> Possession of the nominal is unexpressed in these sentences, where
> normally it would have another possessing nominal preceding it, and in
> other constructions one can have the expressed possessor.
>
> Here the possessed NP seems always to follow the verb, and is zero-marked
> for case. With the expressed possessor neither of these conditions seem
> to be true.
>
> Is this sort of thing normal for some kinds of languages? Thanks.
>
>
> Jess Tauber
> phonosemantics at earthlink.net
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Prof. Dr. Paul J. Hopper
Senior Fellow
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Albertstr. 19
D-79104 Freiburg
and
Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities
Department of English
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213


From dlevere at ilstu.edu  Thu Jul  2 12:02:51 2009
From: dlevere at ilstu.edu (Daniel Everett)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:02:51 -0400
Subject: unusual (?) passive/possessive
In-Reply-To: <45e51324d48d673fcd5c5941f3eb3e90.squirrel@webmail.andrew.cmu.edu>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.080251.0400.DLEVERE@ILSTU.EDU>

This is also common in Arawan languages. Bob Dixon has written on this  
in his grammar of Jarawara and in an article for the Journal of  
Linguistics. I have a chapter on possession and its relation to  
ethical datives in my book, Why there are no clitics.

Dan


On 2 Jul 2009, at 08:00, Paul Hopper wrote:

> Jess,
>
> It looks like the -m- isn't a passive but some kind of applicative,  
> and
> the subject NP got there by "possessor ascension" (you could google  
> this
> to find other examples). In a wider sense ethical datives etc. might
> belong here.
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, June 28, 2009 3:57 pm, jess tauber wrote:
>> Another long hot day...
>>
>>
>> In Yahgan there is a construction I find a bit unusual, but my lack  
>> of
>> experience with other languages makes me a bit hesitant here, so I'm
>> wondering if list-lurkers can help.
>>
>> Ex.   hame:amana:nude: shuganiki:pa < ha-m-yamana:n-ude: = 1st
>> sbj-pass/refl-live/survive/recover-past;  shugani-ki:pa ?-female/ 
>> woman =
>> daughter 'My daughter is getting better'.
>>
>> This type of construction works for all three bound person pronoun
>> prefixes.
>>
>> Ex.   kvme:ipvnude: bix <  kv-m-yipvn-ude:  =  3rd
>> sbj-pass/refl-catch-past;  bix bird 'His bird was caught/someone  
>> hit is
>> bird'.
>>
>> Possession of the nominal is unexpressed in these sentences, where
>> normally it would have another possessing nominal preceding it, and  
>> in
>> other constructions one can have the expressed possessor.
>>
>> Here the possessed NP seems always to follow the verb, and is zero- 
>> marked
>> for case. With the expressed possessor neither of these conditions  
>> seem
>> to be true.
>>
>> Is this sort of thing normal for some kinds of languages? Thanks.
>>
>>
>> Jess Tauber
>> phonosemantics at earthlink.net
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Prof. Dr. Paul J. Hopper
> Senior Fellow
> Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
> Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
> Albertstr. 19
> D-79104 Freiburg
> and
> Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities
> Department of English
> Carnegie Mellon University
> Pittsburgh, PA 15213
>
>


From dorgeloh at mail.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de  Thu Jul  2 12:05:57 2009
From: dorgeloh at mail.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de (Heidrun Dorgeloh)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:05:57 +0200
Subject: Subject-complement inversion/ some more references
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.140557.0200.DORGELOH@MAIL.RZ.UNIDUESSELDORF.DE>

>In addition to Birner's and Chen's work on 
>inversion that have already been named (a couple 
>of days ago), may I also draw your attention to 
>some further work on subject-complement (or 
>"full") inversion that has been carried out over 
>the recent years at different places:
>
>Dorgeloh, Heidrun.1997. Inversion in Modern 
>English: Form and Function. Amsterdam/ 
>Philadelphia: Benjamins (Studies in Discourse and Grammar Series).
>Kreyer, Rolf. 2006. Inversion in Modern Written 
>English: Syntactic Complexity, Information 
>Status and the Creative Writer. Tuebingen: 
>Gunter Narr (Language in Performance Series).
>Copy, Christine - Lucie Gournay (eds.), 2006. 
>Points de vue sur l'inversion (Special Issue of 
>'Cahiers de Recherche', contains some articles 
>in French but most of them in English)
>
>Hope this helps any list members interested.
>Heidrun Dorgeloh
>
>--------------------
>Dr. Heidrun Dorgeloh
>Institut fuer englische Sprachwissenschaft - Anglistik III
>Universitaet Duesseldorf
>Universitaetsstr.1, D-40229 Düsseldorf
>Tel.49-(0)211-81-13774, Fax -13026


From Mike_Cahill at sil.org  Thu Jul  2 13:59:26 2009
From: Mike_Cahill at sil.org (Mike_Cahill at sil.org)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:59:26 -0500
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <7616afbc0907012051g3cd615c6wd8d0269d1eba71b8@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.085926.0500.>

Dear Rob,

I mostly just listen to people on this list, but can't resist a comment on
your concluding paragraphs:

      "Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
      idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
      that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if
      a
      system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
      Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has
      gone
      into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim
      is
      that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
      equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)

      If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
      language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
      question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if
      they
      become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
      do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
      be maximally complex."

This connects randomness, computational irreducibility, and complexity.
Randomness = maximally complex. This of courses hinges on what you mean by
complex, and there can be at least two ways of looking at that. If an
entity is nonuniform with multitudes of parts, then it appears complex. But
that apparent complexity could be the result of randomness (think of sand
dunes shaped by wind) or it could be what you might call "specified
complexity," with a code and system behind it (think letters written on a
beach). The DNA of any organism is quite complex, but is far from random.
If you randomized the peptide chains that compose it, that molecule might
still have the appearance of complexity, but scrambled (random!) DNA is
unsystematic and useless.

A specified complexity would be amenable to analysis and computational
treatment, while random complexity would not. So I'd agree with the
statement that "systems exhibiting random patterns ... are computationally
irreducible". But the part I left out, in the ellipsis ("in particular
language") is what the point is. I'm not so sure that randomness short
circuits the debate on complexity as much as avoids it.

Finally, when you state that
      And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows
      us
      to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
      many we can find.)

I'm wondering what you mean by randomness. Randomness by definition is the
lack of pattern.

A nice exercise to start the morning with.

Mike Cahill


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Thu Jul  2 15:46:47 2009
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:46:47 -0400
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.114647.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

Sounds like perhaps Mandelbrot to the rescue? 

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1050932219/program/979359664

I remember first reading about fractals during the craze back in the late Disco era.

Trying to figure out complexity 'by eye' is probably impossible when enough different pieces are involved. Too easy to devolve into a frustrating game of whackamole.

Jess Tauber


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Fri Jul  3 00:10:57 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 08:10:57 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <OF541DC015.D7A1F4D9-ON862575E7.004A9B20-862575E7.004D3973@notes.sil.org>
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.081057.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Hi Mike,

You give a number of definitions yourself. Which is good. It shows you
are thinking about it:

"complex" = "nonuniform with multitudes of parts"

"specified complexity" = "with a code and system behind it."

"Randomness by definition is the lack of pattern."

I wonder where you get these definitions from? You structure your
argument around them. Do they mean anything? For instance, what does
"lack of pattern" mean?

You are absolutely right we need to think about what we mean by some
of these things. The senses in which I am using "randomness" and
"complexity" are closest to those of Kolmogorov and Chaitin. Wikipedia
will get us started:

"Kolmogorov randomness

Kolmogorov randomness (also called algorithmic randomness) defines a
string (usually of bits) as being random if and only if it is shorter
than any computer program that can produce that string. This
definition of randomness is critically dependent on the definition of
Kolmogorov complexity. To make this definition complete, a computer
has to be specified, usually a Turing machine. According to the above
definition of randomness, a random string is also an "incompressible"
string, in the sense that it is impossible to give a representation of
the string using a program whose length is shorter than the length of
the string itself. However, according to this definition, most strings
shorter than a certain length end up to be (Chaitin-Kolmogorovically)
random because the best one can do with very small strings is to write
a program that simply prints these strings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmogorov_complexity#Kolmogorov_randomness

You are astute in that there is an implicit assumption in my use of
these definitions. I am assuming language can be thought of as a
computable process. Some may object. Of course by contrast the
advantage of accepting these definitions is exactly that it does at
least hold out the hope, the first for years, of identifying a
computable process we can use to model language.

-Rob

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 9:59 PM, <Mike_Cahill at sil.org> wrote:
> Dear Rob,
>
> I mostly just listen to people on this list, but can't resist a comment on
> your concluding paragraphs:
>
>      "Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
>      idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
>      that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if
>      a
>      system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
>      Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has
>      gone
>      into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim
>      is
>      that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
>      equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)
>
>      If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
>      language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
>      question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if
>      they
>      become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
>      do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
>      be maximally complex."
>
> This connects randomness, computational irreducibility, and complexity.
> Randomness = maximally complex. This of courses hinges on what you mean by
> complex, and there can be at least two ways of looking at that. If an
> entity is nonuniform with multitudes of parts, then it appears complex. But
> that apparent complexity could be the result of randomness (think of sand
> dunes shaped by wind) or it could be what you might call "specified
> complexity," with a code and system behind it (think letters written on a
> beach). The DNA of any organism is quite complex, but is far from random.
> If you randomized the peptide chains that compose it, that molecule might
> still have the appearance of complexity, but scrambled (random!) DNA is
> unsystematic and useless.
>
> A specified complexity would be amenable to analysis and computational
> treatment, while random complexity would not. So I'd agree with the
> statement that "systems exhibiting random patterns ... are computationally
> irreducible". But the part I left out, in the ellipsis ("in particular
> language") is what the point is. I'm not so sure that randomness short
> circuits the debate on complexity as much as avoids it.
>
> Finally, when you state that
>      And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows
>      us
>      to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
>      many we can find.)
>
> I'm wondering what you mean by randomness. Randomness by definition is the
> lack of pattern.
>
> A nice exercise to start the morning with.
>
> Mike Cahill


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Fri Jul  3 01:19:24 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 09:19:24 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <30137336.1246549607998.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.091924.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Yes, nice reference Jess. Fractals have something of the kind of
complexity I am talking about.

Here's a paper which explores the idea we might need to model language
as a fractal:

NEURO-FRACTAL COMPOSITION OF MEANING: TOWARD A COLLAGE
THEOREM FOR LANGUAGE
Simon D. Levy 1
levys at wlu.edu
Computer Science Department
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USA

http://www.cs.wlu.edu/~levy/pubs/bics2004.pdf

That said, I don't think the complexity of language is fractal. The
power of language is more general than that. Wolfram has probably gone
into the kinds of processes which can generate random patterns most
exhaustively. Though I see no evidence he has considered the idea
natural language might be such a process..

-Rob

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:46 PM, jess
tauber<phonosemantics at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Sounds like perhaps Mandelbrot to the rescue?
>
> http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1050932219/program/979359664
>
> I remember first reading about fractals during the craze back in the late Disco era.
>
> Trying to figure out complexity 'by eye' is probably impossible when enough different pieces are involved. Too easy to devolve into a frustrating game of whackamole.
>
> Jess Tauber
>


From francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es  Fri Jul  3 08:30:28 2009
From: francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Francisco_Jos=E9_Ruiz_De_Mendoza_Ib=E1=F1ez=22?=)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 10:30:28 +0200
Subject: CRAL 2009: Figurative Language Learning and Use [CFP] [update]
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.103028.0200.FRANCISCO.RUIZDEMENDOZA@UNIRIOJA.ES>

Please, circulate

[We apologize for cross postings]


The Center for Research on the Applications of Language (CRAL), based at the University of La Rioja, Spain, solicits papers for the International Conference on Figurative Language Learning and Figurative Language Use: Theory and Applications. An International Conference in Honor of Professor Paul Meara, to be held on October 29-31, 2009, at the  University of La Rioja.
 
Call Deadline: September 1, 2009
Acceptance notification: September 10
Registration deadline: October 15
Date: October, 29-31, 2009

 
Further information: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/call-for-papers
 
Submissions: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/dashboard
 
For technical questions: webmaster at cilap.es


The Organizing Committee



Francisco J. RUIZ-DE-MENDOZA
University of La Rioja
Department of Modern Philologies
c/ San José de Calasanz s/n
26004, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain
Tel. (+34) (941) 299430 /299433
  Fax. (+34) (941) 299419
francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es
http://www.lexicom.es/
http://www.cilap.es/en/introduccion


From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Sat Jul  4 04:14:15 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (mohd z)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:14:15 +0100
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language
 brain)..?
Message-ID: <SAT.4.JUL.2009.051415.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>


Good Morning!

I've read an article that is about " Origins of the left and right brain" written by Peter F. MacNeilage, Lesley J. Rogers and Giorgio Vallortigara. Anyway, I did a strange thing that made me able to complete reading the article because it is really interesting. The strange thing I did is undescribable. So, I hope you have a quick look at it, "attachment"

Regards,
Linguistics Lover

_________________________________________________________________
Get the best of MSN on your mobile
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/147991039/direct/01/

From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Sat Jul  4 04:25:48 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (mohd z)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:25:48 +0100
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language
 brain)..?
Message-ID: <SAT.4.JUL.2009.052548.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>

Hi!

Sorry for the trouble I caused. I thought that the e-mail serice will send attachment but it did not. anyway I uploaded it here.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/s287pj
Thank you

From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk
To: funknet at mailman.rice.edu
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language brain)..?
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:14:15 +0100








Good Morning!

I've read an article that is about " Origins of the left and right brain" written by Peter F. MacNeilage, Lesley J. Rogers and Giorgio Vallortigara. Anyway, I did a strange thing that made me able to complete reading the article because it is really interesting. The strange thing I did is undescribable. So, I hope you have a quick look at it, "attachment"

Regards,
Linguistics Lover

Beyond Hotmail - see what else you can do with Windows Live. Find out more.
_________________________________________________________________
Get the best of MSN on your mobile
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/147991039/direct/01/

From i.mushin at uq.edu.au  Tue Jul  7 04:48:33 2009
From: i.mushin at uq.edu.au (Ilana Mushin)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:48:33 +1000
Subject: Job opportunity - continuing position
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.144833.1000.I.MUSHIN@UQ.EDU.AU>

Dear Funknetters,
Please find attached the job advertisement for a new continuing lecturer
position in Linguistics (Semantics) at University of Queensland, Australia.

All information on selection criteria and how to apply can be found by
following the links in the attached ad.

Closing date: August 12th 2009
Starting date: January 2010

All the best
Ilana

-- 
Dr Ilana Mushin
Lecturer in Linguistics
Linguistics Major Convener
English Language and Communication Major Convener

School of English, Media Studies and Art History
University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072

Ph. 61-7-3365 2982
Fax. 61-7-3365 2799

CRICOS Provider No: 00025B


From i.mushin at uq.edu.au  Tue Jul  7 04:51:42 2009
From: i.mushin at uq.edu.au (Ilana Mushin)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:51:42 +1000
Subject: Job opportunity -trying again
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.145142.1000.I.MUSHIN@UQ.EDU.AU>

I'm having attachment problems. Here are the relevant sites to access the
position description.

Dear Funknetters,
Please find attached the job advertisement for a new continuing lecturer
position in Linguistics (Semantics) at University of Queensland, Australia.

All information on selection criteria and how to apply can be found by
following the links in the attached ad.

Closing date: August 12th 2009
Starting date: January 2010

All the best
Ilana

This is a full-time, continuing appointment at Academic level B. Contact
Obtain the position description and selection criteria at
http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=43&PageNumber=1&JobID
=15655102 
<http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=43&amp;PageNumber=1&
amp;JobID=15655102>  online or contact Dean Griffiths on (07) 3365 4921 or
e-mail d.griffiths1 at uq.edu.au. To discuss the role contact Professor Alfredo
Martinez-Exposito, telephone (07) 3365 6336 or email a.martinez at uq.edu.au.
Send applications to the Human Resources Consultant, Faculty of Arts, The
University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, or email
applications.arts at uq.edu.au.  Applications close  12 August 2009. Reference
No 3020800.    
-- 
Dr Ilana Mushin
Lecturer in Linguistics
Linguistics Major Convener
English Language and Communication Major Convener

School of English, Media Studies and Art History
University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072

Ph. 61-7-3365 2982
Fax. 61-7-3365 2799

CRICOS Provider No: 00025B


From Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se  Tue Jul  7 07:48:46 2009
From: Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se (Jordan Zlatev)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 09:48:46 +0200
Subject: Call for papers: Language, Culture, Mind 4
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.094846.0200.JORDAN.ZLATEV@LING.LU.SE>

Call for abstracts
Language, Culture and Mind (LCM 4)
http://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/fin/LCM4/

The 4th International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind (LCM 4) will be held in Turku, Finland, at Åbo Akademi University, 21st-23rd June 2010. The goals of LCM conferences are to contribute to situating the study of language in a contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue (involving linguistics, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, semiotics and other related fields), and to promote a better integration of cognitive and cultural perspectives in empirical and theoretical studies of language.

Currently confirmed plenary speakers:
* Associate Prof. Jukka Hyönä, University of Turku
* Prof. Peggy Miller, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
* Prof. Cornelia Müller, Berlin Gesture Centre and Europa Universität Viadrina
* Prof. Bradd Shore, Emory University, Atlanta
* Prof. Dan Zahavi, Centre for Subjectivity Research, Copenhagen

The International LCM committee invites the submission of abstracts for presentations (oral and posters), on topics including but not limited to:
* biological and cultural co-evolution
* comparative study of communication systems
* cognitive and cultural schematization in language
* emergence of language in ontogeny and phylogeny
* language in social interaction and multi-modal communication
* language, intersubjectivity and normativity
* language and thought, emotion and consciousness

Abstracts of up to 500 words, including references, should be sent to lcm4turku at gmail.com<mailto:lcm4turku at gmail.com> as an attachment, in pdf or rtf format. Indicate if the abstract is for an oral or poster presentation. Note that there will be proper poster session(s), with one minute self-presentations to the audience in the plenary hall, just before the poster session. The deadline for abstract submission is Dec 15, 2009. Please see the homesite for additional information on abstract formatting.
Registration for the conference should be done through the online registration form; see http://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/fin/LCM4/registration.html.

The fees for the LCM conference are:
* Early registration (until 1st March 2010): 140 euros
* Late registration (from 2nd March 2010 to 1st May 2010): 165 euros
* Reduced registration fee (see registration form): 125 euros
* The Finnish Evening 70 euros
The registration fee includes lunch and coffee breaks during the conference, admission to all scientific sessions, all congress materials and administration costs. The Finnish evening fee includes a steam ship trip, dinner and sauna (swimming), and Finnish tango music.

Important dates
* Deadline for abstract submission 15 Dec 2009
* Notification of acceptance 15 Feb 2010
* Last date for early registration 1 Mar 2010
* Last date for registration 1 May 2010
* Final program publication 15th May 2010

The international LCM committee
* Alan Cienki, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Language and Communication
* Carlos Cornejo, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Psychology
* Barbara Fultner, Denison University, Philosophy
* Anders Hougaard, University of Southern Denmark, Social Cognition
* Esa Itkonen, University of Turku, Linguistics
* John Lucy, University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development and Psychology
* Aliyah Morgenstern, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, Linguistics
* Chris Sinha, University of Portsmouth, Psychology
* Daniel Wolk, University of Kurdistan Hawler, Sociology
* Jordan Zlatev, Lund University, Linguistics/Cognitive Semiotics

LCM4 Local organizing committee
* Urpo Nikanne, Åbo Akademi University, Finnish language
* Anneli Pajunen, University of Tampere, Finnish languge
* Esa Itkonen, University of Turku, General linguistics


From amnfn at well.com  Sat Jul 11 19:08:28 2009
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:08:28 -0700
Subject: Volunteer Opportunity Announcement: Internship with Project Bow
Message-ID: <SAT.11.JUL.2009.120828.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

Fall Internship with Project Bow

Hiring Organization:
Inverted-A, Inc.

Date Posted:
2009-06-26

Position Description:
Interns will work on language acquisition and literacy with Bow, a seven 
year old chimpanzee. Bow communicates using standard orthography in two 
languages: English and Hebrew. (Special consideration will be given to 
applicants who are fluent in Hebrew, as well as English.)

The teaching method involves intensive floortime interactions to draw Bow 
into as many circles of communication as possible. We use language in 
context, not rote training. In order to learn, Bow has to be interested in 
and enjoy the interactions with others.

Interns must respect Bow's considerable intellectual achievements and at 
the same time be willing to demand even more of him. Interns must maintain 
realistic expectations and avoid undue sentimentality.

The average workday in the internship will involve three hours playing 
with Bow, three hours filming others playing with Bow or taking shorthand 
notes on dialogues with Bow, and two hours editing video footage or 
transcribing data into the computer.

Interns will be involved in contributing to progress reports in both 
written and video formats.

Qualifications/Experience:
Native speaker of at least one of the test languages: English or Hebrew. 
Candidates with fluency in more than one of the test languages are 
especially encouraged to apply.

B.A. or B.S. in linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, anthropology 
or a related field.

Application requires a letter of application, CV, two
letters of reference on academic matters, two references from a landlord, 
and a medical report.

The medical report must include tests for communicable diseases such as 
TB, hepatitis (all forms)and HIV. It should also include a regular 
physical and a medical history. Email us to receive the new medical report 
form.

Interns must be assertive and willing to use their voice in order to 
command Bow's respect. If you are not able to lower the pitch of your 
voice or to increase the decibel level as necessary, you will not be able 
to perform adequately. Some experience working with children with 
behavioral problems would be a plus.

Salary/funding:
No stipend is available, but room and board will be provided. (There is no 
travel allowance.)

Support provided for internship/volunteer positions (travel, meals, 
lodging):
Lodging and meals during the internship period will be provided.
There is no allowance for transportation.
The location is secluded. You will need a car.

Term of Appointment:
September 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009

Application Deadline:
August 1, 2009

Comments:
In order to be considered complete, an application must include :
(1) letter of application
(2) CV
(3) Medical report from physician
(a) Blood tests
(b)physical
(c) medical history
(4) 2 letters of academic reference and 2 letters from landlords.
The medical report takes time. It is a good idea to start the process with 
your doctor at least one month in advance of the application deadline. Ask 
for our medical report form well in advance of the deadline.

Please be advised that review of applications only begins after the 
deadline. This means you will not be called for an interview until after 
August 1, 2009, even if you application is completed early. Please do not 
apply if you cannot wait until after the deadline to find out if you are 
in the running.

Contact Information:
Aya Katz
Inverted-A, Inc.
P.O. Box 267
Licking, MO 65542
USA

Telephone Number:
573-247-0055

Fax Number:
417-457-6652

Website:
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Project-Bow-2007-DVD

E-mail Address:
amnfn at well.com


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Sun Jul 12 13:56:47 2009
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:56:47 -0400
Subject: circumstantial voice
Message-ID: <SUN.12.JUL.2009.095647.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

Do any of you know of any non-Austronesian languages with circumstantial voice morphology? I can't seem to find any references to such with the usual search engines. Thanks. Jess Tauber phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From amnfn at well.com  Mon Jul 13 15:08:08 2009
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:08:08 -0700
Subject: Volunteer Position for TTS programmer
Message-ID: <MON.13.JUL.2009.080808.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

Position Description:
Project Bow, an independent research project that explores literacy by a 
chimpanzee in both Hebrew and English, is looking for an intern with 
extensive computer programming experience in the field of text-to-speech 
(TTS).

We are currently updating our standards of proof by switching to a 
touchscreen computer for Bow to use in typing out his communication. Up to 
this point, Bow had simply used laminated sheets with letters on them. 
Because Bow points faster than we can see, it is important for the 
touchscreen computer to sound out what Bow types in two languages.

Applicants will participate in the development of new protocols and will 
do extensive programming to perfect our current TTS program. Because 
adjustments will need to be made in accordance with Bow's usage of the 
program, interns are also expected to form a working relationship with Bow 
and to understand his needs as a TTS user.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Change-Key-Colors-in-RapidQ

Qualifications/Experience:
Applicants should have a degree in computer science, cognitive science or 
a related field. Experience in the following programming languages and 
programming environments and pre-existing software packages will be 
considered a plus: RapidQ, Visual Basic, C++, SQL, Melingo, Nakdan, 
Ivonna.

Knowledge of Hebrew as well as English is desired. Natural language 
processing experience would be of great help.

An open mind toward non-human communication and the ability to inter-act 
productively with other species are required. Specific experience with 
chimpanzees is not required, but will be considered a plus.

Applicants should submit:
(a) a letter of application and CV
(b) medical report (ask for the form)
(c) three letters of recommendation on academic and programming ability
(d) three letters of recommendation on good character from landlords, 
roommates and/or dormitory personnel.

Salary/funding:
This is a volunteer position, and there is no salary. Room and board 
during the internship period will be provided. There is no travel 
allowance. The location is extremely secluded. Volunteers must have their 
own car.

Support provided for internship/volunteer positions (travel, meals, 
lodging):
Each volunteer will have a private bedroom with access to communal 
bathrooms and kitchen.

Term of Appointment:
September 15, 2009 through May 31, 2010

Application Deadline:
August 15, 2009

Comments:
In order to be considered the application must be complete on or before 
the deadline. However, no matter how early you complete your application, 
do not expect to be contacted for an interview until about a week after 
the deadline. If you cannot wait that long to hear from us, please do not 
apply.

Contact Information:
Aya Katz
P.O. Box 267
Licking, MO 65542
USA

Telephone Number:
573-247-0055

Fax Number:
417-457-6652

Website:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Bow-and-Literacy

E-mail Address:
amnfn at well.com


From paul at benjamins.com  Mon Jul 13 16:18:42 2009
From: paul at benjamins.com (Paul Peranteau)
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:18:42 -0400
Subject: New Benjamins title - Dufter & Jacob: Focus and Background in
 Romance Languages
Message-ID: <MON.13.JUL.2009.121842.0400.PAUL@BENJAMINS.COM>

Focus and Background in Romance Languages

Edited by Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich / Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg

Studies in Language Companion Series 112

2009. vii, 362 pp.

Hardbound:  978 90 272 0579 7 / EUR 99.00 / USD 149.00

e-Book  Not yet available
978 90 272 8952 0 / EUR 99.00 / USD 149.00

Focusbackground structure has taken center stage in much current 
theorizing about sentence prosody, syntax, and semantics. However, 
both the inventory of focus expressions found cross-linguistically 
and the interpretive consequences associated with each of these 
continue to be insufficiently described. This volume aims at 
providing new observations on the availability and the use of focus 
markings in Romance languages. In doing so, it documents the 
plurality of research on focus in Spanish, Portuguese, French, 
Italian, and Romanian. Topics covered include constituent fronting 
and clefting, the position of subjects and focus particles, clitic 
doubling of objects, and information packaging in complex sentences. 
In addition, some contributions explore focusbackground structure 
from acquisitional and diachronic angles, while others adopt a 
comparative perspective, studying differences between individual 
Romance and Germanic languages. Therefore, this volume is of interest 
to a broad audience within linguistics, including syntacticians, 
semanticists, and historical linguists.


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


Table of contents

Preface
Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Introduction
Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Topicalization and focalization in French SI-clauses
Jeanne Aptekman
Discourse functions of fronted foci in Italian and Spanish
Lisa Brunetti
Clefting and discourse organization: Comparing Germanic and Romance
Andreas Dufter
Cleft sentences from Old Portuguese to Modern Portuguese
Mary Aizawa Kato and Ilza Ribeiro
Fronting and verum focus in Spanish
Manuel Leonetti and M. Victoria Escandell-Vidal
Additive focus particles in bilingual language acquisition
Estelle Leray
Major constituent order, information packaging, and narrative 
structure in two Middle French texts
Claude Muller
Grammatical and contextual restrictions on focal alternatives
Edgar Onea and Klaus von Heusinger
Verb placement in Old Portuguese
Esther Rinke
Topic, focus, and background in Italian clauses
Vieri Samek-Lodovici
Index

Paul Peranteau (paul at benjamins.com)
General Manager
John Benjamins Publishing Company
763 N. 24th St.
Philadelphia PA  19130
Phone: 215 769-3444
Fax: 215 769-3446
John Benjamins Publishing Co. website: http://www.benjamins.com 


From fjn at u.washington.edu  Tue Jul 14 19:55:00 2009
From: fjn at u.washington.edu (Frederick J Newmeyer)
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:55:00 -0700
Subject: topic and focus markers
Message-ID: <TUE.14.JUL.2009.125500.0700.FJN@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Dear Funknetters,

I am looking for examples of cases where what are conventionally called 'topic markers' or 'focus markers' in a particular language have broadened their functions so that some of the constructions that they are associated with could not reasonably be called the 'topics' or 'focuses' of the sentence.

Thanks in advance. I'll summarize if there appears to be a lot of interest.

--fritz

Frederick J. Newmeyer
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University
[for my postal address, please contact me by e-mail]


From Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com  Thu Jul 16 12:41:08 2009
From: Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com (Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com)
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:41:08 +0200
Subject: Mouton de Gruyter: full time position of Editorial Director
Message-ID: <THU.16.JUL.2009.144108.0200.>

Walter de Gruyter Verlag GmbH & Co. KG

For our imprint

Mouton de Gruyter 

we are currently looking to fill the full-time position of

Editorial Director

located in the Berlin headquarters, and starting at the earliest possible date. Responsibilities
include the strategic planning and implementation of the Mouton program in coordination
with the Managing Director and Vice President Publishing of the unit, while overseeing a
team of eight highly motivated individuals within the editorial office. Coordination with the
editorial office of the US will be essential, as the Editorial Director will also be the contact
person for international marketing and distribution strategies in Europe and the USA.
One of the main qualifications for the position is a thorough insight and understanding of all
subject areas covered by Mouton. The ideal candidate will add to the imprint with
knowledge of adjacent scientific areas, such as psychology, cognitive science, and
neuroscience, and will have developed book and journal programs at an academic publishing
house, or have acquired similar qualifications working at a research institute. Based on
his/her experience, the applicant will bring his/her own professional ties with scientific
societies and individuals to Mouton, and will deepen his/her knowledge by travelling to
international conferences as well as being in contact with Mouton affiliated editors and
authors.

In addition, applicants should have a distinct knowledge of project management, experience
creating and implementing budgets, be comfortable in complex work contexts, and bring the
team spirit and skills needed to lead an editorial team.

The language for negotiation and correspondence is English; the working language is
German. The position is not tied to collective labor agreements and offers fixed and variable
German social benefits to be discussed with the appropriate candidate.
The previous holder of the position will continue to oversee the imprint in her position as
member of the Board of Directors as well as Vice President Publishing.

We are looking forward to a detailed application of your work history, salary requirements,
and general qualifications per mail or email. Please also include your earliest possible
starting date.

Please send to:
Walter de Gruyter Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Kerstin Maiazza/HR
Genthiner Str. 13
10785 Berlin
By Email: maiazza at degruyter.com.


__________________________________________________________________________

Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Julia Ulrich
Product Marketing Manager 
Genthiner Strasse 13
10785 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 (30) 26 005 173
Fax: +49 (30) 26 005 322
Email: julia.ulrich at degruyter.com
www.mouton-publishers.com
www.degruyter.com
Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG. Genthiner Str. 13. 10785 Berlin. Sitz Berlin. Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HR A 2065. Rechtsform: Kommanditgesellschaft. 
Komplementär: de Gruyter Verlagsbeteiligungs GmbH, Sitz Berlin, Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HR B 46487.
Geschäftsführer: Dr. Sven Fund, Beiratsvorsitzender: Dr. Bernd Balzereit.

  sustainable thinking...please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to




From elc9j at virginia.edu  Sat Jul 18 22:26:57 2009
From: elc9j at virginia.edu (Ellen Contini-Morava)
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:26:57 -0400
Subject: Erica Garcia, 1934-2009
Message-ID: <SAT.18.JUL.2009.182657.0400.ELC9J@VIRGINIA.EDU>

[With apologies for cross-posting]

	We grieve to announce the passing of Erica C. García, in Leiden, the
Netherlands, of cardiac arrest in the early hours of July 5, 2009. She
had returned to Holland from Italy (her home since her retirement from
Leiden University) to do research in the university library. She had
just finished correcting the final proofs of what must be regarded as
the magnum opus of her 40-year-long linguistic career, her 300-page
book entitled /The Motivated Syntax of Arbitrary Signs: Cognitive
Constraints on Spanish Clitic Clustering/ (John Benjamins, in press).
The theoretical point of the book, and the theme of many if not most
of her numerous articles on many topics, is that the only
arbitrariness in Language is that of the linguistic sign, and that
phenomena which others have treated as products of an arbitrary syntax
(as in various versions of generative grammar and other formal schools
of linguistics) are more profitably regarded as the product of the
meaning of the sign or signs in question and the non-arbitrary
interpretive or compositional routines motivated by those meanings.
There is, in other words, no "machinery for machinery's sake" in
Language. As she states in the conclusion of her forthcoming book:

	"Language is, fundamentally, a phenomenon of the "third type"..., i.e. an 
  unintended human-social product, shaped in invisible-hand fashion 
  through and in its actual performance... "Competence" and "performance" 
  can thus hardly be kept apart, for they coexist in the same mind, and 
  one's own and others' performance can always be (re)interpreted as 
  evidence of what the "language" itself is like.
	This indeterminacy is truly fundamental, for syntactic versatility is 
  inexorably required by the unpredictability of language users' 
  communicative needs, whose vagaries constantly require improvised - and 
  hence iconic - syn-tactic expression. Communicative openness and 
  versatility have a cost, ie the cognitive effort required by 
  com-position, in both production and interpretation.
	Cognitively economical solutions of communicative problems can be 
  expected to enjoy a quantitative edge in use: that favours their 
  rote-recall, and may eventually result in re-analysis of a con-struct as 
  a structurally "arbitrary" unit. As often pointed out, grammatical 
  change is a one-way street from iconic com-position, where calculus 
  plays a dominant role, to the simple retrieval of an arbitrary symbol... 
  The critical shift presumably takes place when the retrieval of an 
  (unanalyzed complex) item proves cognitively more economic than actual 
  calculus of the sequence..., but the cognitive cost of competing 
  alternatives cannot be gauged without some idea of what synchronically 
  motivates the choice of one as against another communicative alternative."


 	Erica García received her Ph.D. from the Columbia University
Department of Linguistics in 1964, during what has been called that
Department's "Golden Age", with such scholars as Robert Austerlitz,
William Diver, Marvin Herzog, William Labov, John Lotz, and Uriel
Weinreich. In the early years, she was associated with the approach to
linguistics originated by Diver and which has since come to be known
as the "Columbia School;" cf. Contini-Morava and Sussman Goldberg
(1995) and Davis, Gorup, and Stern (2006). Her first book-length
attempt to deal with Spanish clitic pronouns, /The Role of Theory in
Linguistic Analysis/ (1975), dates from this period. After leaving
Columbia in 1972, she taught briefly in the Interdepartmental
Linguistics Program at Lehman College of the City University of New
York, then moved to Leiden University, where she became Associate
Professor (1979) and Professor (1992) in the Department of Languages
and Cultures of Latin America. She retired in 1999. She was also a
member of the editorial board of Lingua from 1983 to 1996.


  	Brilliant, fierce, intolerant of intellectual dishonesty and
incompetence, Erica refused to play the non-threatening, secondary
role which women were expected to play in academe in the 1970s. Those
who studied with her or who asked her for critical comments on their
manuscripts discovered that she was unrelentingly thorough in matters
of both theory and data, uncovering every weakness in fact and
argumentation, no matter what language was the topic. There was many a
chuckle over Geoff Nunberg's cartoon of her roasting a hapless seminar
participant in a cauldron, captioned "The Inhuman Factor". However, no
matter how unpleasant it might have been to endure the roasting, the
result was always a great improvement over the earlier draft. Those
students at Columbia or CUNY who learned to do linguistics by writing
Master's Essays or dissertations under her guidance learned full well
what she meant when she would comment on the perceived slovenly work
of some linguist giving a talk that "The trouble with Linguist X is
that s/he has never written a Master's Essay."

	A complete bibliography of Erica García's work must await publication 
of a much more complete obituary than this brief notice could be. Her 
interests ranged from the history of English to psycholinguistics to 
many aspects of Spanish grammar. She published in such varied 
collections as Discourse and Syntax (1979), Discourse Perspectives 
on Syntax (1981), New Vistas in Grammar: Invariance and Variation 
(1991), Studies in Language Variation (1977), and Studies in Romance 
Linguistics (1986). Her articles also appeared in such journals as 
Folia Linguistica, /The Journal of Psycholinguistic Research/, /Lexis/, 
/Lenguaje en Context/, /Lingua/, /Linguistics/, /Linguistische Berichte/, and 
Neuphilologische /Mitteilungen/.

References:

Contini-Morava, Ellen and Barbara Sussman Goldberg (eds.) 1995. /Meaning 
as Explanation: Advances in Linguistic Sign Theory/. Berlin and New 
York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Davis, Joseph; Radmila J. Gorup and Nancy Stern. (eds.) 2006. /Advances 
in Functional Linguistics: Columbia School beyond its origins/. 
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

García, Erica. 1975. /The Role of Theory in Linguistic Analysis: the 
Spanish pronoun system./ Amsterdam: North Holland.

(in press). /The Motivated Syntax of Arbitrary Signs: cognitive 
constraints on Spanish clitic clustering/. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

***************************************
Robert S. Kirsner 
Department of Germanic Languages 
212 Royce Hall - UCLA 
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1539 USA 

Ellen Contini-Morava
Department of Anthropology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4120 USA


From bischoff.st at gmail.com  Sat Jul 25 16:56:23 2009
From: bischoff.st at gmail.com (s.t. bischoff)
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:56:23 -0400
Subject: Slovak language law
Message-ID: <SAT.25.JUL.2009.125623.0400.BISCHOFF.ST@GMAIL.COM>

From: Kersti Borjars <kersti.borjars at MAN.AC.UK>
Date: July 24, 2009 11:16:14 PM GMT-07:00
To: LAGB at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: [LAGB] Language law
Reply-To: Kersti Borjars <kersti.borjars at MAN.AC.UK>

I have been asked by Katalin É. Kiss from the Research Institute for
Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, if I could circulate the
attached document about a new Slovak Language Law to LAGB member. The
document forbids the use in public places of languages and language
variants other than the version of Slovak codified by the Cultural
Ministry.

A petition against it can be signed at http://peticio.nytud.hu.

Kersti Börjars
-----
Statement on the modification of the so-called Language Law in Slovakia


The National Council of the Slovak Republic passed an act on June
30th, 2009, modifying
earlier regulations applying to the use of the Slovak language as the
state language of the
Slovak Republic. The new regulations restrict the use not only of
other languages but also
variants of the Slovak language, threatening violations of the law by
imposing fines of EUR
100 to 5000 on individuals and businesses, running to EUR 165,000 in
case of media
organisations.


Some of the linguistically relevant new sections of the Act 270/1995
“on the state language of
the Slovak Republic” are summarised below (in unofficial translation).


2. §, (1) “[S]tate authorities, authorities of local governments and
other authorities of public
administration are required to protect the state language”
2. § (3) “The codified form of the state language is approved and
released by the Ministry of
Culture […] on its web page.”


5. § (5) “Occasional printed matter intended for the public for
cultural use, catalogues of
galleries, museums, and libraries, programmes of cinemas, theatres,
concerts, and other
cultural events shall be published in state language, except those,
which are published in
language of national minority. This kind of printed matter, catalogues
or programs, published
in the language of national minority shall include content identical
in meaning with that in
the state language. Printed matter, catalogues and programmes
published in the state
language as mentioned in previous sentence may include texts of
appropriate lengths in
languages other than the state language, whose content shall be
identical with that of the text
in the state language and follows the text in the state language.”


5. § (7) “Inscriptions on monuments, memorials and memorial tables
shall be in the state
language. Provided they are translated into other languages, the text
in the foreign language
shall follow the text in the state language and its content shall be
identical with the content of
the text in the state language. The text in the foreign language shall
exhibit lettering of
identical with or smaller size than the lettering of text in the state
language. The constructor
is obliged to request a binding statement from the Ministry of Culture
for the approval of the
inscription on the monument, memorial and memorial plaque in
accordance with the present
Act.”


5. § (8) “Any participant at a public meeting or event on the
territory of the Slovak Republic
has the right to deliver a speech in the state language.”


8. § (4) ”The communication of the staff of healthcare institutions
and the institutions of
social services with patients or clients is generally carried out in
the state language; provided
there is a patient or client who does not have a command of the state language,
communication may be carried out in a language in which it is possible
to understand the
patient or client. The patient or client belonging to a national
minority is entitled use their
own mother tongue when communicating with the staff of these
institutions in settlements,
where the language of the national minority is used in official
contact according to a
particular regulation [i.e., where the ratio of the minority is 20 per
cent or above]. The
members of staff are not obliged to have a command of the language of
the national
minority.”


9. § (1)  Adherence to obligations as specified [in this Act] shall be
supervised by the Ministry
of Culture. In the execution of supervision, the Ministry of Culture
shall observe the codified
form of the state language […].
10. § (1) The Ministry of Culture shall submit a report to the
Government on the state of the
usage of the state language on the territory of the Slovak Republic
once every two years.


We find these restrictions untenable both linguistically and from the
point of view of
human rights. By determining the language, and the language variant to
be used, the Act
wishes to control communication in all public situations, also those
outside the competence of
the state, such as consultations among patients and doctors,
scientific conferences, business
meetings, communication in the offices of local governments.
Freedom of speech, including the choice of the language of communication, is an
inalienable human right according to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights,
which cannot be rendered an offence to be punished by a fine in the
21st century European
Union. From this right, the European Union cannot return to the
anachronistic principle of
“cuius regio, eius lingua”. Restricting the freedom of language use to
this degree is
particularly offensive in a member state of the Council of Europe and
the European Union,
since both the Council of Europe and the European Union respect
multilingualism, and also
expect their member states to do so.
 The explicit requirement that any content in a language different
from the state
language be translated from the state language runs counter to the
principle of the equal status
of languages that has been long accepted in the science of languages.
Thereby the Act violates
not only freedom but also equality; it is severely discriminating.
The Statute also criminalizes the use of all variants of the Slovak
language other than
that worked out and codified on the website of the Ministry of
Culture, thereby discriminating
against all Slovak speakers speaking dialects and other non-standard
varieties, primarily
people of a low social status, including the large Romani population.
It is a basic tenet of linguistics that the use of one’s native
language and language
variant cannot be restricted and/or regulated by enforcing laws, and
imposing fines on alleged
‘violators’ of some codified form. No conscientious linguist believes
that any language can
have one and only one codified form decreed to be observed in all
public communication by
all speakers, whether native or not. Languages are known to have
changed continuously over
time and location, and an attempt to carve them in stone can only be
successful in the case of
dead languages.
 In view of the above, we express our concern and objection with
respect to the new
regulations of the Law.


From francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es  Tue Jul 28 09:14:44 2009
From: francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Francisco_Jos=E9_Ruiz_De_Mendoza_Ib=E1=F1ez=22?=)
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:14:44 +0200
Subject: CRAL 2009: early submissions, registration and other updates
Message-ID: <TUE.28.JUL.2009.111444.0200.FRANCISCO.RUIZDEMENDOZA@UNIRIOJA.ES>

Please, circulate

[We apologize for cross postings]


The Center for Research on the Applications of Language (CRAL), based at the University of La Rioja, Spain, solicits papers for the International Conference on Figurative Language Learning and Figurative Language Use: Theory and Applications. An International Conference in Honor of Professor Paul Meara, to be held on October 29-31, 2009, at the  University of La Rioja.

With a view to facilitating hotel reservations and flight scheduling to Conference participants, all proposals sent before August 17 will receive their acceptance/rejection notifications on August 25. The rest of the proposals will receive their notifications on September 10.
 
Early submission deadline: August 16, 2009
Final submission deadline: September 1, 2009
Acceptance notifications: August 25/ September 10
Registration deadline: October 15
Date: October, 29-31, 2009
 
You may find updated information on the Conference venue, provisional program, registration, accommodation, etc., at:

http://cral09.cilap.es/en/introduction
 
Submissions: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/dashboard

Registration: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/registration-form
 
Accommodation: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/accommodation

For technical questions: webmaster at cilap.es
 

The Organizing Committee 


From dlevere at ilstu.edu  Wed Jul  1 19:39:08 2009
From: dlevere at ilstu.edu (Daniel Everett)
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:39:08 -0400
Subject: new site
Message-ID: <WED.1.JUL.2009.153908.0400.DLEVERE@ILSTU.EDU>

A new site has been developed to present recent research results on  
information structure in Amazonian languages.

The research presented is based on the work of various linguists at a  
variety of institutions. This material is based upon work supported by  
the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0344361. The principal  
investigators for the grant were Robert Van Valin, Jr. and Daniel  
Everett.

  http://wings.buffalo.edu/linguistics//people/faculty/vanvalin/infostructure/Site/Intro.html


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Thu Jul  2 03:51:52 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:51:52 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <fbc2b45d8857.4a143a43@utu.fi>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.115152.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Hello Esa. Great to see you encouraging debate on this very important
issue of complexity in linguistics.

I have a different view of linguistic complexity. You know it already,
but I have found new expressions for it. Perhaps you would comment.

I believe homonymy and idiosyncrasy do admit of the same explanation,
but I don't think the explanation is redundancy. I think we see
homonymy and idiosyncrasy because they are both forms of randomness.

For years we've been running around wondering why language is so full
of randomness. Randomness has been synonymous with inefficiency in our
minds. We have completely failed to grasp that randomness actually
gives us great descriptive power.

And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows us
to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
many we can find.)

Note this also gives a search for patterns a fundamental role in
language: analogy etc. Something I think we have always agreed on.

Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if a
system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has gone
into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim is
that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)

If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if they
become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
be maximally complex.

-Rob

On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 10:13 PM, Esa Itkonen<eitkonen at utu.fi> wrote:
> Dear FUNKNETters: Nowadays complexity seems to be on almost everybody's agenda. But it is not a simple notion, as you can see if you just care to read the last addition to the list of "available as full texts" on my homepage (click below).
> Esa
>
> Homepage: http://users.utu.fi/eitkonen
>


From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Thu Jul  2 11:24:00 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (Muhammad Alzaidi)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:24:00 +0100
Subject: Montague grammar
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.122400.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Can anyone help me to get any paper where it used Montague Grammar. I want to deal with this grammar but I need to see one of the samples to know how the grammar is dealt with.

Waiting

thank you

Regards,
M

_________________________________________________________________
Share your photos with Windows Live Photos ? Free.
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From hopper at cmu.edu  Thu Jul  2 12:00:41 2009
From: hopper at cmu.edu (Paul Hopper)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:00:41 -0400
Subject: unusual (?) passive/possessive
In-Reply-To: <29038613.1246219058156.JavaMail.root@elwamui-polski.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.080041.0400.HOPPER@CMU.EDU>

Jess,

It looks like the -m- isn't a passive but some kind of applicative, and
the subject NP got there by "possessor ascension" (you could google this
to find other examples). In a wider sense ethical datives etc. might
belong here.

Paul




On Sun, June 28, 2009 3:57 pm, jess tauber wrote:
> Another long hot day...
>
>
> In Yahgan there is a construction I find a bit unusual, but my lack of
> experience with other languages makes me a bit hesitant here, so I'm
> wondering if list-lurkers can help.
>
> Ex.   hame:amana:nude: shuganiki:pa < ha-m-yamana:n-ude: = 1st
> sbj-pass/refl-live/survive/recover-past;  shugani-ki:pa ?-female/woman =
> daughter 'My daughter is getting better'.
>
> This type of construction works for all three bound person pronoun
> prefixes.
>
> Ex.   kvme:ipvnude: bix <  kv-m-yipvn-ude:  =  3rd
> sbj-pass/refl-catch-past;  bix bird 'His bird was caught/someone hit is
> bird'.
>
> Possession of the nominal is unexpressed in these sentences, where
> normally it would have another possessing nominal preceding it, and in
> other constructions one can have the expressed possessor.
>
> Here the possessed NP seems always to follow the verb, and is zero-marked
> for case. With the expressed possessor neither of these conditions seem
> to be true.
>
> Is this sort of thing normal for some kinds of languages? Thanks.
>
>
> Jess Tauber
> phonosemantics at earthlink.net
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Prof. Dr. Paul J. Hopper
Senior Fellow
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
Albert-Ludwigs-Universit?t Freiburg
Albertstr. 19
D-79104 Freiburg
and
Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities
Department of English
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213


From dlevere at ilstu.edu  Thu Jul  2 12:02:51 2009
From: dlevere at ilstu.edu (Daniel Everett)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:02:51 -0400
Subject: unusual (?) passive/possessive
In-Reply-To: <45e51324d48d673fcd5c5941f3eb3e90.squirrel@webmail.andrew.cmu.edu>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.080251.0400.DLEVERE@ILSTU.EDU>

This is also common in Arawan languages. Bob Dixon has written on this  
in his grammar of Jarawara and in an article for the Journal of  
Linguistics. I have a chapter on possession and its relation to  
ethical datives in my book, Why there are no clitics.

Dan


On 2 Jul 2009, at 08:00, Paul Hopper wrote:

> Jess,
>
> It looks like the -m- isn't a passive but some kind of applicative,  
> and
> the subject NP got there by "possessor ascension" (you could google  
> this
> to find other examples). In a wider sense ethical datives etc. might
> belong here.
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, June 28, 2009 3:57 pm, jess tauber wrote:
>> Another long hot day...
>>
>>
>> In Yahgan there is a construction I find a bit unusual, but my lack  
>> of
>> experience with other languages makes me a bit hesitant here, so I'm
>> wondering if list-lurkers can help.
>>
>> Ex.   hame:amana:nude: shuganiki:pa < ha-m-yamana:n-ude: = 1st
>> sbj-pass/refl-live/survive/recover-past;  shugani-ki:pa ?-female/ 
>> woman =
>> daughter 'My daughter is getting better'.
>>
>> This type of construction works for all three bound person pronoun
>> prefixes.
>>
>> Ex.   kvme:ipvnude: bix <  kv-m-yipvn-ude:  =  3rd
>> sbj-pass/refl-catch-past;  bix bird 'His bird was caught/someone  
>> hit is
>> bird'.
>>
>> Possession of the nominal is unexpressed in these sentences, where
>> normally it would have another possessing nominal preceding it, and  
>> in
>> other constructions one can have the expressed possessor.
>>
>> Here the possessed NP seems always to follow the verb, and is zero- 
>> marked
>> for case. With the expressed possessor neither of these conditions  
>> seem
>> to be true.
>>
>> Is this sort of thing normal for some kinds of languages? Thanks.
>>
>>
>> Jess Tauber
>> phonosemantics at earthlink.net
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Prof. Dr. Paul J. Hopper
> Senior Fellow
> Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
> Albert-Ludwigs-Universit?t Freiburg
> Albertstr. 19
> D-79104 Freiburg
> and
> Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities
> Department of English
> Carnegie Mellon University
> Pittsburgh, PA 15213
>
>


From dorgeloh at mail.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de  Thu Jul  2 12:05:57 2009
From: dorgeloh at mail.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de (Heidrun Dorgeloh)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:05:57 +0200
Subject: Subject-complement inversion/ some more references
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.140557.0200.DORGELOH@MAIL.RZ.UNIDUESSELDORF.DE>

>In addition to Birner's and Chen's work on 
>inversion that have already been named (a couple 
>of days ago), may I also draw your attention to 
>some further work on subject-complement (or 
>"full") inversion that has been carried out over 
>the recent years at different places:
>
>Dorgeloh, Heidrun.1997. Inversion in Modern 
>English: Form and Function. Amsterdam/ 
>Philadelphia: Benjamins (Studies in Discourse and Grammar Series).
>Kreyer, Rolf. 2006. Inversion in Modern Written 
>English: Syntactic Complexity, Information 
>Status and the Creative Writer. Tuebingen: 
>Gunter Narr (Language in Performance Series).
>Copy, Christine - Lucie Gournay (eds.), 2006. 
>Points de vue sur l'inversion (Special Issue of 
>'Cahiers de Recherche', contains some articles 
>in French but most of them in English)
>
>Hope this helps any list members interested.
>Heidrun Dorgeloh
>
>--------------------
>Dr. Heidrun Dorgeloh
>Institut fuer englische Sprachwissenschaft - Anglistik III
>Universitaet Duesseldorf
>Universitaetsstr.1, D-40229 D?sseldorf
>Tel.49-(0)211-81-13774, Fax -13026


From Mike_Cahill at sil.org  Thu Jul  2 13:59:26 2009
From: Mike_Cahill at sil.org (Mike_Cahill at sil.org)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:59:26 -0500
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <7616afbc0907012051g3cd615c6wd8d0269d1eba71b8@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.085926.0500.>

Dear Rob,

I mostly just listen to people on this list, but can't resist a comment on
your concluding paragraphs:

      "Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
      idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
      that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if
      a
      system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
      Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has
      gone
      into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim
      is
      that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
      equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)

      If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
      language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
      question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if
      they
      become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
      do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
      be maximally complex."

This connects randomness, computational irreducibility, and complexity.
Randomness = maximally complex. This of courses hinges on what you mean by
complex, and there can be at least two ways of looking at that. If an
entity is nonuniform with multitudes of parts, then it appears complex. But
that apparent complexity could be the result of randomness (think of sand
dunes shaped by wind) or it could be what you might call "specified
complexity," with a code and system behind it (think letters written on a
beach). The DNA of any organism is quite complex, but is far from random.
If you randomized the peptide chains that compose it, that molecule might
still have the appearance of complexity, but scrambled (random!) DNA is
unsystematic and useless.

A specified complexity would be amenable to analysis and computational
treatment, while random complexity would not. So I'd agree with the
statement that "systems exhibiting random patterns ... are computationally
irreducible". But the part I left out, in the ellipsis ("in particular
language") is what the point is. I'm not so sure that randomness short
circuits the debate on complexity as much as avoids it.

Finally, when you state that
      And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows
      us
      to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
      many we can find.)

I'm wondering what you mean by randomness. Randomness by definition is the
lack of pattern.

A nice exercise to start the morning with.

Mike Cahill


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Thu Jul  2 15:46:47 2009
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:46:47 -0400
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
Message-ID: <THU.2.JUL.2009.114647.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

Sounds like perhaps Mandelbrot to the rescue? 

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1050932219/program/979359664

I remember first reading about fractals during the craze back in the late Disco era.

Trying to figure out complexity 'by eye' is probably impossible when enough different pieces are involved. Too easy to devolve into a frustrating game of whackamole.

Jess Tauber


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Fri Jul  3 00:10:57 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 08:10:57 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <OF541DC015.D7A1F4D9-ON862575E7.004A9B20-862575E7.004D3973@notes.sil.org>
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.081057.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Hi Mike,

You give a number of definitions yourself. Which is good. It shows you
are thinking about it:

"complex" = "nonuniform with multitudes of parts"

"specified complexity" = "with a code and system behind it."

"Randomness by definition is the lack of pattern."

I wonder where you get these definitions from? You structure your
argument around them. Do they mean anything? For instance, what does
"lack of pattern" mean?

You are absolutely right we need to think about what we mean by some
of these things. The senses in which I am using "randomness" and
"complexity" are closest to those of Kolmogorov and Chaitin. Wikipedia
will get us started:

"Kolmogorov randomness

Kolmogorov randomness (also called algorithmic randomness) defines a
string (usually of bits) as being random if and only if it is shorter
than any computer program that can produce that string. This
definition of randomness is critically dependent on the definition of
Kolmogorov complexity. To make this definition complete, a computer
has to be specified, usually a Turing machine. According to the above
definition of randomness, a random string is also an "incompressible"
string, in the sense that it is impossible to give a representation of
the string using a program whose length is shorter than the length of
the string itself. However, according to this definition, most strings
shorter than a certain length end up to be (Chaitin-Kolmogorovically)
random because the best one can do with very small strings is to write
a program that simply prints these strings."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolmogorov_complexity#Kolmogorov_randomness

You are astute in that there is an implicit assumption in my use of
these definitions. I am assuming language can be thought of as a
computable process. Some may object. Of course by contrast the
advantage of accepting these definitions is exactly that it does at
least hold out the hope, the first for years, of identifying a
computable process we can use to model language.

-Rob

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 9:59 PM, <Mike_Cahill at sil.org> wrote:
> Dear Rob,
>
> I mostly just listen to people on this list, but can't resist a comment on
> your concluding paragraphs:
>
> ? ? ?"Another nice thing about randomness as an explanation for homonymy,
> ? ? ?idiosyncrasy, and most other problems which vex us in language, is
> ? ? ?that it short circuits the debate on complexity. The idea is that if
> ? ? ?a
> ? ? ?system exhibits random patterns it is already maximally complex.
> ? ? ?Stephen Wolfram calls this "computational irreducibility." He has
> ? ? ?gone
> ? ? ?into it quite extensively. Though not for language. His shock claim
> ? ? ?is
> ? ? ?that the vast majority of systems are already maximally, and thus
> ? ? ?equally, complex (in the sense of being universal computers.)
>
> ? ? ?If that is true and systems exhibiting random patterns, in particular
> ? ? ?language, are computationally irreducible, then it may not be a
> ? ? ?question of comparing the complexity of languages and deciding if
> ? ? ?they
> ? ? ?become more or less complex over time. The important question may be
> ? ? ?do they exhibit random patterns. Because if they do they may already
> ? ? ?be maximally complex."
>
> This connects randomness, computational irreducibility, and complexity.
> Randomness = maximally complex. This of courses hinges on what you mean by
> complex, and there can be at least two ways of looking at that. If an
> entity is nonuniform with multitudes of parts, then it appears complex. But
> that apparent complexity could be the result of randomness (think of sand
> dunes shaped by wind) or it could be what you might call "specified
> complexity," with a code and system behind it (think letters written on a
> beach). The DNA of any organism is quite complex, but is far from random.
> If you randomized the peptide chains that compose it, that molecule might
> still have the appearance of complexity, but scrambled (random!) DNA is
> unsystematic and useless.
>
> A specified complexity would be amenable to analysis and computational
> treatment, while random complexity would not. So I'd agree with the
> statement that "systems exhibiting random patterns ... are computationally
> irreducible". But the part I left out, in the ellipsis ("in particular
> language") is what the point is. I'm not so sure that randomness short
> circuits the debate on complexity as much as avoids it.
>
> Finally, when you state that
> ? ? ?And why is randomness so important? Because paradoxically it allows
> ? ? ?us
> ? ? ?to find more patterns (if patterns are regular then rules limit how
> ? ? ?many we can find.)
>
> I'm wondering what you mean by randomness. Randomness by definition is the
> lack of pattern.
>
> A nice exercise to start the morning with.
>
> Mike Cahill


From lists at chaoticlanguage.com  Fri Jul  3 01:19:24 2009
From: lists at chaoticlanguage.com (Rob Freeman)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 09:19:24 +0800
Subject: pitfalls of complexity
In-Reply-To: <30137336.1246549607998.JavaMail.root@wamui-junio.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.091924.0800.LISTS@CHAOTICLANGUAGE.COM>

Yes, nice reference Jess. Fractals have something of the kind of
complexity I am talking about.

Here's a paper which explores the idea we might need to model language
as a fractal:

NEURO-FRACTAL COMPOSITION OF MEANING: TOWARD A COLLAGE
THEOREM FOR LANGUAGE
Simon D. Levy 1
levys at wlu.edu
Computer Science Department
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USA

http://www.cs.wlu.edu/~levy/pubs/bics2004.pdf

That said, I don't think the complexity of language is fractal. The
power of language is more general than that. Wolfram has probably gone
into the kinds of processes which can generate random patterns most
exhaustively. Though I see no evidence he has considered the idea
natural language might be such a process..

-Rob

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:46 PM, jess
tauber<phonosemantics at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Sounds like perhaps Mandelbrot to the rescue?
>
> http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1050932219/program/979359664
>
> I remember first reading about fractals during the craze back in the late Disco era.
>
> Trying to figure out complexity 'by eye' is probably impossible when enough different pieces are involved. Too easy to devolve into a frustrating game of whackamole.
>
> Jess Tauber
>


From francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es  Fri Jul  3 08:30:28 2009
From: francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Francisco_Jos=E9_Ruiz_De_Mendoza_Ib=E1=F1ez=22?=)
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 10:30:28 +0200
Subject: CRAL 2009: Figurative Language Learning and Use [CFP] [update]
Message-ID: <FRI.3.JUL.2009.103028.0200.FRANCISCO.RUIZDEMENDOZA@UNIRIOJA.ES>

Please, circulate

[We apologize for cross postings]


The Center for Research on the Applications of Language (CRAL), based at the University of La Rioja, Spain, solicits papers for the International Conference on Figurative Language Learning and Figurative Language Use: Theory and Applications. An International Conference in Honor of Professor Paul Meara, to be held on October 29-31, 2009, at the? University of La Rioja.
 
Call Deadline: September 1, 2009
Acceptance notification: September 10
Registration deadline: October 15
Date: October, 29-31, 2009

?
Further information: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/call-for-papers
 
Submissions: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/dashboard
?
For technical questions: webmaster at cilap.es


The Organizing Committee



Francisco J. RUIZ-DE-MENDOZA
University of La Rioja
Department of Modern Philologies
c/ San Jos? de Calasanz s/n
26004, Logro?o, La Rioja, Spain
Tel. (+34) (941) 299430 /299433
  Fax. (+34) (941) 299419
francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es
http://www.lexicom.es/
http://www.cilap.es/en/introduccion


From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Sat Jul  4 04:14:15 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (mohd z)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:14:15 +0100
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language
 brain)..?
Message-ID: <SAT.4.JUL.2009.051415.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>


Good Morning!

I've read an article that is about " Origins of the left and right brain" written by Peter F. MacNeilage, Lesley J. Rogers and Giorgio Vallortigara. Anyway, I did a strange thing that made me able to complete reading the article because it is really interesting. The strange thing I did is undescribable. So, I hope you have a quick look at it, "attachment"

Regards,
Linguistics Lover

_________________________________________________________________
Get the best of MSN on your mobile
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/147991039/direct/01/

From mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk  Sat Jul  4 04:25:48 2009
From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk (mohd z)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:25:48 +0100
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language
 brain)..?
Message-ID: <SAT.4.JUL.2009.052548.0100.MOHD.ZAIDI2007@HOTMAIL.CO.UK>

Hi!

Sorry for the trouble I caused. I thought that the e-mail serice will send attachment but it did not. anyway I uploaded it here.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/s287pj
Thank you

From: mohd.zaidi2007 at hotmail.co.uk
To: funknet at mailman.rice.edu
Subject: Origins of the left and right brain..(where is the language brain)..?
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 2009 05:14:15 +0100








Good Morning!

I've read an article that is about " Origins of the left and right brain" written by Peter F. MacNeilage, Lesley J. Rogers and Giorgio Vallortigara. Anyway, I did a strange thing that made me able to complete reading the article because it is really interesting. The strange thing I did is undescribable. So, I hope you have a quick look at it, "attachment"

Regards,
Linguistics Lover

Beyond Hotmail - see what else you can do with Windows Live. Find out more.
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From i.mushin at uq.edu.au  Tue Jul  7 04:48:33 2009
From: i.mushin at uq.edu.au (Ilana Mushin)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:48:33 +1000
Subject: Job opportunity - continuing position
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.144833.1000.I.MUSHIN@UQ.EDU.AU>

Dear Funknetters,
Please find attached the job advertisement for a new continuing lecturer
position in Linguistics (Semantics) at University of Queensland, Australia.

All information on selection criteria and how to apply can be found by
following the links in the attached ad.

Closing date: August 12th 2009
Starting date: January 2010

All the best
Ilana

-- 
Dr Ilana Mushin
Lecturer in Linguistics
Linguistics Major Convener
English Language and Communication Major Convener

School of English, Media Studies and Art History
University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072

Ph. 61-7-3365 2982
Fax. 61-7-3365 2799

CRICOS Provider No: 00025B


From i.mushin at uq.edu.au  Tue Jul  7 04:51:42 2009
From: i.mushin at uq.edu.au (Ilana Mushin)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:51:42 +1000
Subject: Job opportunity -trying again
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.145142.1000.I.MUSHIN@UQ.EDU.AU>

I'm having attachment problems. Here are the relevant sites to access the
position description.

Dear Funknetters,
Please find attached the job advertisement for a new continuing lecturer
position in Linguistics (Semantics) at University of Queensland, Australia.

All information on selection criteria and how to apply can be found by
following the links in the attached ad.

Closing date: August 12th 2009
Starting date: January 2010

All the best
Ilana

This is a full-time, continuing appointment at Academic level B. Contact
Obtain the position description and selection criteria at
http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=43&PageNumber=1&JobID
=15655102 
<http://www.seek.com.au/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=43&amp;PageNumber=1&
amp;JobID=15655102>  online or contact Dean Griffiths on (07) 3365 4921 or
e-mail d.griffiths1 at uq.edu.au. To discuss the role contact Professor Alfredo
Martinez-Exposito, telephone (07) 3365 6336 or email a.martinez at uq.edu.au.
Send applications to the Human Resources Consultant, Faculty of Arts, The
University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, or email
applications.arts at uq.edu.au.  Applications close  12 August 2009. Reference
No 3020800.    
-- 
Dr Ilana Mushin
Lecturer in Linguistics
Linguistics Major Convener
English Language and Communication Major Convener

School of English, Media Studies and Art History
University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD 4072

Ph. 61-7-3365 2982
Fax. 61-7-3365 2799

CRICOS Provider No: 00025B


From Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se  Tue Jul  7 07:48:46 2009
From: Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se (Jordan Zlatev)
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 09:48:46 +0200
Subject: Call for papers: Language, Culture, Mind 4
Message-ID: <TUE.7.JUL.2009.094846.0200.JORDAN.ZLATEV@LING.LU.SE>

Call for abstracts
Language, Culture and Mind (LCM 4)
http://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/fin/LCM4/

The 4th International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind (LCM 4) will be held in Turku, Finland, at ?bo Akademi University, 21st-23rd June 2010. The goals of LCM conferences are to contribute to situating the study of language in a contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue (involving linguistics, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, semiotics and other related fields), and to promote a better integration of cognitive and cultural perspectives in empirical and theoretical studies of language.

Currently confirmed plenary speakers:
* Associate Prof. Jukka Hy?n?, University of Turku
* Prof. Peggy Miller, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
* Prof. Cornelia M?ller, Berlin Gesture Centre and Europa Universit?t Viadrina
* Prof. Bradd Shore, Emory University, Atlanta
* Prof. Dan Zahavi, Centre for Subjectivity Research, Copenhagen

The International LCM committee invites the submission of abstracts for presentations (oral and posters), on topics including but not limited to:
* biological and cultural co-evolution
* comparative study of communication systems
* cognitive and cultural schematization in language
* emergence of language in ontogeny and phylogeny
* language in social interaction and multi-modal communication
* language, intersubjectivity and normativity
* language and thought, emotion and consciousness

Abstracts of up to 500 words, including references, should be sent to lcm4turku at gmail.com<mailto:lcm4turku at gmail.com> as an attachment, in pdf or rtf format. Indicate if the abstract is for an oral or poster presentation. Note that there will be proper poster session(s), with one minute self-presentations to the audience in the plenary hall, just before the poster session. The deadline for abstract submission is Dec 15, 2009. Please see the homesite for additional information on abstract formatting.
Registration for the conference should be done through the online registration form; see http://web.abo.fi/fak/hf/fin/LCM4/registration.html.

The fees for the LCM conference are:
* Early registration (until 1st March 2010): 140 euros
* Late registration (from 2nd March 2010 to 1st May 2010): 165 euros
* Reduced registration fee (see registration form): 125 euros
* The Finnish Evening 70 euros
The registration fee includes lunch and coffee breaks during the conference, admission to all scientific sessions, all congress materials and administration costs. The Finnish evening fee includes a steam ship trip, dinner and sauna (swimming), and Finnish tango music.

Important dates
* Deadline for abstract submission 15 Dec 2009
* Notification of acceptance 15 Feb 2010
* Last date for early registration 1 Mar 2010
* Last date for registration 1 May 2010
* Final program publication 15th May 2010

The international LCM committee
* Alan Cienki, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Language and Communication
* Carlos Cornejo, Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica de Chile, Psychology
* Barbara Fultner, Denison University, Philosophy
* Anders Hougaard, University of Southern Denmark, Social Cognition
* Esa Itkonen, University of Turku, Linguistics
* John Lucy, University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development and Psychology
* Aliyah Morgenstern, Universit? Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, Linguistics
* Chris Sinha, University of Portsmouth, Psychology
* Daniel Wolk, University of Kurdistan Hawler, Sociology
* Jordan Zlatev, Lund University, Linguistics/Cognitive Semiotics

LCM4 Local organizing committee
* Urpo Nikanne, ?bo Akademi University, Finnish language
* Anneli Pajunen, University of Tampere, Finnish languge
* Esa Itkonen, University of Turku, General linguistics


From amnfn at well.com  Sat Jul 11 19:08:28 2009
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:08:28 -0700
Subject: Volunteer Opportunity Announcement: Internship with Project Bow
Message-ID: <SAT.11.JUL.2009.120828.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

Fall Internship with Project Bow

Hiring Organization:
Inverted-A, Inc.

Date Posted:
2009-06-26

Position Description:
Interns will work on language acquisition and literacy with Bow, a seven 
year old chimpanzee. Bow communicates using standard orthography in two 
languages: English and Hebrew. (Special consideration will be given to 
applicants who are fluent in Hebrew, as well as English.)

The teaching method involves intensive floortime interactions to draw Bow 
into as many circles of communication as possible. We use language in 
context, not rote training. In order to learn, Bow has to be interested in 
and enjoy the interactions with others.

Interns must respect Bow's considerable intellectual achievements and at 
the same time be willing to demand even more of him. Interns must maintain 
realistic expectations and avoid undue sentimentality.

The average workday in the internship will involve three hours playing 
with Bow, three hours filming others playing with Bow or taking shorthand 
notes on dialogues with Bow, and two hours editing video footage or 
transcribing data into the computer.

Interns will be involved in contributing to progress reports in both 
written and video formats.

Qualifications/Experience:
Native speaker of at least one of the test languages: English or Hebrew. 
Candidates with fluency in more than one of the test languages are 
especially encouraged to apply.

B.A. or B.S. in linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, anthropology 
or a related field.

Application requires a letter of application, CV, two
letters of reference on academic matters, two references from a landlord, 
and a medical report.

The medical report must include tests for communicable diseases such as 
TB, hepatitis (all forms)and HIV. It should also include a regular 
physical and a medical history. Email us to receive the new medical report 
form.

Interns must be assertive and willing to use their voice in order to 
command Bow's respect. If you are not able to lower the pitch of your 
voice or to increase the decibel level as necessary, you will not be able 
to perform adequately. Some experience working with children with 
behavioral problems would be a plus.

Salary/funding:
No stipend is available, but room and board will be provided. (There is no 
travel allowance.)

Support provided for internship/volunteer positions (travel, meals, 
lodging):
Lodging and meals during the internship period will be provided.
There is no allowance for transportation.
The location is secluded. You will need a car.

Term of Appointment:
September 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009

Application Deadline:
August 1, 2009

Comments:
In order to be considered complete, an application must include :
(1) letter of application
(2) CV
(3) Medical report from physician
(a) Blood tests
(b)physical
(c) medical history
(4) 2 letters of academic reference and 2 letters from landlords.
The medical report takes time. It is a good idea to start the process with 
your doctor at least one month in advance of the application deadline. Ask 
for our medical report form well in advance of the deadline.

Please be advised that review of applications only begins after the 
deadline. This means you will not be called for an interview until after 
August 1, 2009, even if you application is completed early. Please do not 
apply if you cannot wait until after the deadline to find out if you are 
in the running.

Contact Information:
Aya Katz
Inverted-A, Inc.
P.O. Box 267
Licking, MO 65542
USA

Telephone Number:
573-247-0055

Fax Number:
417-457-6652

Website:
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Project-Bow-2007-DVD

E-mail Address:
amnfn at well.com


From phonosemantics at earthlink.net  Sun Jul 12 13:56:47 2009
From: phonosemantics at earthlink.net (jess tauber)
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:56:47 -0400
Subject: circumstantial voice
Message-ID: <SUN.12.JUL.2009.095647.0400.PHONOSEMANTICS@EARTHLINK.NET>

Do any of you know of any non-Austronesian languages with circumstantial voice morphology? I can't seem to find any references to such with the usual search engines. Thanks. Jess Tauber phonosemantics at earthlink.net


From amnfn at well.com  Mon Jul 13 15:08:08 2009
From: amnfn at well.com (A. Katz)
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:08:08 -0700
Subject: Volunteer Position for TTS programmer
Message-ID: <MON.13.JUL.2009.080808.0700.AMNFN@WELL.COM>

Position Description:
Project Bow, an independent research project that explores literacy by a 
chimpanzee in both Hebrew and English, is looking for an intern with 
extensive computer programming experience in the field of text-to-speech 
(TTS).

We are currently updating our standards of proof by switching to a 
touchscreen computer for Bow to use in typing out his communication. Up to 
this point, Bow had simply used laminated sheets with letters on them. 
Because Bow points faster than we can see, it is important for the 
touchscreen computer to sound out what Bow types in two languages.

Applicants will participate in the development of new protocols and will 
do extensive programming to perfect our current TTS program. Because 
adjustments will need to be made in accordance with Bow's usage of the 
program, interns are also expected to form a working relationship with Bow 
and to understand his needs as a TTS user.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Change-Key-Colors-in-RapidQ

Qualifications/Experience:
Applicants should have a degree in computer science, cognitive science or 
a related field. Experience in the following programming languages and 
programming environments and pre-existing software packages will be 
considered a plus: RapidQ, Visual Basic, C++, SQL, Melingo, Nakdan, 
Ivonna.

Knowledge of Hebrew as well as English is desired. Natural language 
processing experience would be of great help.

An open mind toward non-human communication and the ability to inter-act 
productively with other species are required. Specific experience with 
chimpanzees is not required, but will be considered a plus.

Applicants should submit:
(a) a letter of application and CV
(b) medical report (ask for the form)
(c) three letters of recommendation on academic and programming ability
(d) three letters of recommendation on good character from landlords, 
roommates and/or dormitory personnel.

Salary/funding:
This is a volunteer position, and there is no salary. Room and board 
during the internship period will be provided. There is no travel 
allowance. The location is extremely secluded. Volunteers must have their 
own car.

Support provided for internship/volunteer positions (travel, meals, 
lodging):
Each volunteer will have a private bedroom with access to communal 
bathrooms and kitchen.

Term of Appointment:
September 15, 2009 through May 31, 2010

Application Deadline:
August 15, 2009

Comments:
In order to be considered the application must be complete on or before 
the deadline. However, no matter how early you complete your application, 
do not expect to be contacted for an interview until about a week after 
the deadline. If you cannot wait that long to hear from us, please do not 
apply.

Contact Information:
Aya Katz
P.O. Box 267
Licking, MO 65542
USA

Telephone Number:
573-247-0055

Fax Number:
417-457-6652

Website:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Bow-and-Literacy

E-mail Address:
amnfn at well.com


From paul at benjamins.com  Mon Jul 13 16:18:42 2009
From: paul at benjamins.com (Paul Peranteau)
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:18:42 -0400
Subject: New Benjamins title - Dufter & Jacob: Focus and Background in
 Romance Languages
Message-ID: <MON.13.JUL.2009.121842.0400.PAUL@BENJAMINS.COM>

Focus and Background in Romance Languages

Edited by Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich / Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg

Studies in Language Companion Series 112

2009. vii, 362 pp.

Hardbound:  978 90 272 0579 7 / EUR 99.00 / USD 149.00

e-Book  Not yet available
978 90 272 8952 0 / EUR 99.00 / USD 149.00

Focusbackground structure has taken center stage in much current 
theorizing about sentence prosody, syntax, and semantics. However, 
both the inventory of focus expressions found cross-linguistically 
and the interpretive consequences associated with each of these 
continue to be insufficiently described. This volume aims at 
providing new observations on the availability and the use of focus 
markings in Romance languages. In doing so, it documents the 
plurality of research on focus in Spanish, Portuguese, French, 
Italian, and Romanian. Topics covered include constituent fronting 
and clefting, the position of subjects and focus particles, clitic 
doubling of objects, and information packaging in complex sentences. 
In addition, some contributions explore focusbackground structure 
from acquisitional and diachronic angles, while others adopt a 
comparative perspective, studying differences between individual 
Romance and Germanic languages. Therefore, this volume is of interest 
to a broad audience within linguistics, including syntacticians, 
semanticists, and historical linguists.


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


Table of contents

Preface
Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Introduction
Andreas Dufter and Daniel Jacob
Topicalization and focalization in French SI-clauses
Jeanne Aptekman
Discourse functions of fronted foci in Italian and Spanish
Lisa Brunetti
Clefting and discourse organization: Comparing Germanic and Romance
Andreas Dufter
Cleft sentences from Old Portuguese to Modern Portuguese
Mary Aizawa Kato and Ilza Ribeiro
Fronting and verum focus in Spanish
Manuel Leonetti and M. Victoria Escandell-Vidal
Additive focus particles in bilingual language acquisition
Estelle Leray
Major constituent order, information packaging, and narrative 
structure in two Middle French texts
Claude Muller
Grammatical and contextual restrictions on focal alternatives
Edgar Onea and Klaus von Heusinger
Verb placement in Old Portuguese
Esther Rinke
Topic, focus, and background in Italian clauses
Vieri Samek-Lodovici
Index

Paul Peranteau (paul at benjamins.com)
General Manager
John Benjamins Publishing Company
763 N. 24th St.
Philadelphia PA  19130
Phone: 215 769-3444
Fax: 215 769-3446
John Benjamins Publishing Co. website: http://www.benjamins.com 


From fjn at u.washington.edu  Tue Jul 14 19:55:00 2009
From: fjn at u.washington.edu (Frederick J Newmeyer)
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:55:00 -0700
Subject: topic and focus markers
Message-ID: <TUE.14.JUL.2009.125500.0700.FJN@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Dear Funknetters,

I am looking for examples of cases where what are conventionally called 'topic markers' or 'focus markers' in a particular language have broadened their functions so that some of the constructions that they are associated with could not reasonably be called the 'topics' or 'focuses' of the sentence.

Thanks in advance. I'll summarize if there appears to be a lot of interest.

--fritz

Frederick J. Newmeyer
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University
[for my postal address, please contact me by e-mail]


From Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com  Thu Jul 16 12:41:08 2009
From: Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com (Julia.Ulrich at degruyter.com)
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:41:08 +0200
Subject: Mouton de Gruyter: full time position of Editorial Director
Message-ID: <THU.16.JUL.2009.144108.0200.>

Walter de Gruyter Verlag GmbH & Co. KG

For our imprint

Mouton de Gruyter 

we are currently looking to fill the full-time position of

Editorial Director

located in the Berlin headquarters, and starting at the earliest possible date. Responsibilities
include the strategic planning and implementation of the Mouton program in coordination
with the Managing Director and Vice President Publishing of the unit, while overseeing a
team of eight highly motivated individuals within the editorial office. Coordination with the
editorial office of the US will be essential, as the Editorial Director will also be the contact
person for international marketing and distribution strategies in Europe and the USA.
One of the main qualifications for the position is a thorough insight and understanding of all
subject areas covered by Mouton. The ideal candidate will add to the imprint with
knowledge of adjacent scientific areas, such as psychology, cognitive science, and
neuroscience, and will have developed book and journal programs at an academic publishing
house, or have acquired similar qualifications working at a research institute. Based on
his/her experience, the applicant will bring his/her own professional ties with scientific
societies and individuals to Mouton, and will deepen his/her knowledge by travelling to
international conferences as well as being in contact with Mouton affiliated editors and
authors.

In addition, applicants should have a distinct knowledge of project management, experience
creating and implementing budgets, be comfortable in complex work contexts, and bring the
team spirit and skills needed to lead an editorial team.

The language for negotiation and correspondence is English; the working language is
German. The position is not tied to collective labor agreements and offers fixed and variable
German social benefits to be discussed with the appropriate candidate.
The previous holder of the position will continue to oversee the imprint in her position as
member of the Board of Directors as well as Vice President Publishing.

We are looking forward to a detailed application of your work history, salary requirements,
and general qualifications per mail or email. Please also include your earliest possible
starting date.

Please send to:
Walter de Gruyter Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Kerstin Maiazza/HR
Genthiner Str. 13
10785 Berlin
By Email: maiazza at degruyter.com.


__________________________________________________________________________

Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Julia Ulrich
Product Marketing Manager?
Genthiner Strasse 13
10785 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 (30) 26 005 173
Fax: +49 (30) 26 005 322
Email: julia.ulrich at degruyter.com
www.mouton-publishers.com
www.degruyter.com
Verlag Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG. Genthiner Str. 13. 10785 Berlin. Sitz Berlin. Amtsgericht Charlottenburg HR A 2065. Rechtsform: Kommanditgesellschaft. 
Komplement?r: de Gruyter Verlagsbeteiligungs GmbH, Sitz Berlin, Amtsgericht Charlottenburg, HR B 46487.
Gesch?ftsf?hrer: Dr. Sven Fund, Beiratsvorsitzender: Dr. Bernd Balzereit.

?? sustainable thinking...please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to




From elc9j at virginia.edu  Sat Jul 18 22:26:57 2009
From: elc9j at virginia.edu (Ellen Contini-Morava)
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:26:57 -0400
Subject: Erica Garcia, 1934-2009
Message-ID: <SAT.18.JUL.2009.182657.0400.ELC9J@VIRGINIA.EDU>

[With apologies for cross-posting]

	We grieve to announce the passing of Erica C. Garc?a, in Leiden, the
Netherlands, of cardiac arrest in the early hours of July 5, 2009. She
had returned to Holland from Italy (her home since her retirement from
Leiden University) to do research in the university library. She had
just finished correcting the final proofs of what must be regarded as
the magnum opus of her 40-year-long linguistic career, her 300-page
book entitled /The Motivated Syntax of Arbitrary Signs: Cognitive
Constraints on Spanish Clitic Clustering/ (John Benjamins, in press).
The theoretical point of the book, and the theme of many if not most
of her numerous articles on many topics, is that the only
arbitrariness in Language is that of the linguistic sign, and that
phenomena which others have treated as products of an arbitrary syntax
(as in various versions of generative grammar and other formal schools
of linguistics) are more profitably regarded as the product of the
meaning of the sign or signs in question and the non-arbitrary
interpretive or compositional routines motivated by those meanings.
There is, in other words, no "machinery for machinery's sake" in
Language. As she states in the conclusion of her forthcoming book:

	"Language is, fundamentally, a phenomenon of the "third type"..., i.e. an 
  unintended human-social product, shaped in invisible-hand fashion 
  through and in its actual performance... "Competence" and "performance" 
  can thus hardly be kept apart, for they coexist in the same mind, and 
  one's own and others' performance can always be (re)interpreted as 
  evidence of what the "language" itself is like.
	This indeterminacy is truly fundamental, for syntactic versatility is 
  inexorably required by the unpredictability of language users' 
  communicative needs, whose vagaries constantly require improvised - and 
  hence iconic - syn-tactic expression. Communicative openness and 
  versatility have a cost, ie the cognitive effort required by 
  com-position, in both production and interpretation.
	Cognitively economical solutions of communicative problems can be 
  expected to enjoy a quantitative edge in use: that favours their 
  rote-recall, and may eventually result in re-analysis of a con-struct as 
  a structurally "arbitrary" unit. As often pointed out, grammatical 
  change is a one-way street from iconic com-position, where calculus 
  plays a dominant role, to the simple retrieval of an arbitrary symbol... 
  The critical shift presumably takes place when the retrieval of an 
  (unanalyzed complex) item proves cognitively more economic than actual 
  calculus of the sequence..., but the cognitive cost of competing 
  alternatives cannot be gauged without some idea of what synchronically 
  motivates the choice of one as against another communicative alternative."


 	Erica Garc?a received her Ph.D. from the Columbia University
Department of Linguistics in 1964, during what has been called that
Department's "Golden Age", with such scholars as Robert Austerlitz,
William Diver, Marvin Herzog, William Labov, John Lotz, and Uriel
Weinreich. In the early years, she was associated with the approach to
linguistics originated by Diver and which has since come to be known
as the "Columbia School;" cf. Contini-Morava and Sussman Goldberg
(1995) and Davis, Gorup, and Stern (2006). Her first book-length
attempt to deal with Spanish clitic pronouns, /The Role of Theory in
Linguistic Analysis/ (1975), dates from this period. After leaving
Columbia in 1972, she taught briefly in the Interdepartmental
Linguistics Program at Lehman College of the City University of New
York, then moved to Leiden University, where she became Associate
Professor (1979) and Professor (1992) in the Department of Languages
and Cultures of Latin America. She retired in 1999. She was also a
member of the editorial board of Lingua from 1983 to 1996.


  	Brilliant, fierce, intolerant of intellectual dishonesty and
incompetence, Erica refused to play the non-threatening, secondary
role which women were expected to play in academe in the 1970s. Those
who studied with her or who asked her for critical comments on their
manuscripts discovered that she was unrelentingly thorough in matters
of both theory and data, uncovering every weakness in fact and
argumentation, no matter what language was the topic. There was many a
chuckle over Geoff Nunberg's cartoon of her roasting a hapless seminar
participant in a cauldron, captioned "The Inhuman Factor". However, no
matter how unpleasant it might have been to endure the roasting, the
result was always a great improvement over the earlier draft. Those
students at Columbia or CUNY who learned to do linguistics by writing
Master's Essays or dissertations under her guidance learned full well
what she meant when she would comment on the perceived slovenly work
of some linguist giving a talk that "The trouble with Linguist X is
that s/he has never written a Master's Essay."

	A complete bibliography of Erica Garc?a's work must await publication 
of a much more complete obituary than this brief notice could be. Her 
interests ranged from the history of English to psycholinguistics to 
many aspects of Spanish grammar. She published in such varied 
collections as Discourse and Syntax (1979), Discourse Perspectives 
on Syntax (1981), New Vistas in Grammar: Invariance and Variation 
(1991), Studies in Language Variation (1977), and Studies in Romance 
Linguistics (1986). Her articles also appeared in such journals as 
Folia Linguistica, /The Journal of Psycholinguistic Research/, /Lexis/, 
/Lenguaje en Context/, /Lingua/, /Linguistics/, /Linguistische Berichte/, and 
Neuphilologische /Mitteilungen/.

References:

Contini-Morava, Ellen and Barbara Sussman Goldberg (eds.) 1995. /Meaning 
as Explanation: Advances in Linguistic Sign Theory/. Berlin and New 
York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Davis, Joseph; Radmila J. Gorup and Nancy Stern. (eds.) 2006. /Advances 
in Functional Linguistics: Columbia School beyond its origins/. 
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Garc?a, Erica. 1975. /The Role of Theory in Linguistic Analysis: the 
Spanish pronoun system./ Amsterdam: North Holland.

(in press). /The Motivated Syntax of Arbitrary Signs: cognitive 
constraints on Spanish clitic clustering/. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

***************************************
Robert S. Kirsner 
Department of Germanic Languages 
212 Royce Hall - UCLA 
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1539 USA 

Ellen Contini-Morava
Department of Anthropology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4120 USA


From bischoff.st at gmail.com  Sat Jul 25 16:56:23 2009
From: bischoff.st at gmail.com (s.t. bischoff)
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:56:23 -0400
Subject: Slovak language law
Message-ID: <SAT.25.JUL.2009.125623.0400.BISCHOFF.ST@GMAIL.COM>

From: Kersti Borjars <kersti.borjars at MAN.AC.UK>
Date: July 24, 2009 11:16:14 PM GMT-07:00
To: LAGB at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: [LAGB] Language law
Reply-To: Kersti Borjars <kersti.borjars at MAN.AC.UK>

I have been asked by Katalin ?. Kiss from the Research Institute for
Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, if I could circulate the
attached document about a new Slovak Language Law to LAGB member. The
document forbids the use in public places of languages and language
variants other than the version of Slovak codified by the Cultural
Ministry.

A petition against it can be signed at http://peticio.nytud.hu.

Kersti B?rjars
-----
Statement on the modification of the so-called Language Law in Slovakia


The National Council of the Slovak Republic passed an act on June
30th, 2009, modifying
earlier regulations applying to the use of the Slovak language as the
state language of the
Slovak Republic. The new regulations restrict the use not only of
other languages but also
variants of the Slovak language, threatening violations of the law by
imposing fines of EUR
100 to 5000 on individuals and businesses, running to EUR 165,000 in
case of media
organisations.


Some of the linguistically relevant new sections of the Act 270/1995
?on the state language of
the Slovak Republic? are summarised below (in unofficial translation).


2. ?, (1) ?[S]tate authorities, authorities of local governments and
other authorities of public
administration are required to protect the state language?
2. ? (3) ?The codified form of the state language is approved and
released by the Ministry of
Culture [?] on its web page.?


5. ? (5) ?Occasional printed matter intended for the public for
cultural use, catalogues of
galleries, museums, and libraries, programmes of cinemas, theatres,
concerts, and other
cultural events shall be published in state language, except those,
which are published in
language of national minority. This kind of printed matter, catalogues
or programs, published
in the language of national minority shall include content identical
in meaning with that in
the state language. Printed matter, catalogues and programmes
published in the state
language as mentioned in previous sentence may include texts of
appropriate lengths in
languages other than the state language, whose content shall be
identical with that of the text
in the state language and follows the text in the state language.?


5. ? (7) ?Inscriptions on monuments, memorials and memorial tables
shall be in the state
language. Provided they are translated into other languages, the text
in the foreign language
shall follow the text in the state language and its content shall be
identical with the content of
the text in the state language. The text in the foreign language shall
exhibit lettering of
identical with or smaller size than the lettering of text in the state
language. The constructor
is obliged to request a binding statement from the Ministry of Culture
for the approval of the
inscription on the monument, memorial and memorial plaque in
accordance with the present
Act.?


5. ? (8) ?Any participant at a public meeting or event on the
territory of the Slovak Republic
has the right to deliver a speech in the state language.?


8. ? (4) ?The communication of the staff of healthcare institutions
and the institutions of
social services with patients or clients is generally carried out in
the state language; provided
there is a patient or client who does not have a command of the state language,
communication may be carried out in a language in which it is possible
to understand the
patient or client. The patient or client belonging to a national
minority is entitled use their
own mother tongue when communicating with the staff of these
institutions in settlements,
where the language of the national minority is used in official
contact according to a
particular regulation [i.e., where the ratio of the minority is 20 per
cent or above]. The
members of staff are not obliged to have a command of the language of
the national
minority.?


9. ? (1)  Adherence to obligations as specified [in this Act] shall be
supervised by the Ministry
of Culture. In the execution of supervision, the Ministry of Culture
shall observe the codified
form of the state language [?].
10. ? (1) The Ministry of Culture shall submit a report to the
Government on the state of the
usage of the state language on the territory of the Slovak Republic
once every two years.


We find these restrictions untenable both linguistically and from the
point of view of
human rights. By determining the language, and the language variant to
be used, the Act
wishes to control communication in all public situations, also those
outside the competence of
the state, such as consultations among patients and doctors,
scientific conferences, business
meetings, communication in the offices of local governments.
Freedom of speech, including the choice of the language of communication, is an
inalienable human right according to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights,
which cannot be rendered an offence to be punished by a fine in the
21st century European
Union. From this right, the European Union cannot return to the
anachronistic principle of
?cuius regio, eius lingua?. Restricting the freedom of language use to
this degree is
particularly offensive in a member state of the Council of Europe and
the European Union,
since both the Council of Europe and the European Union respect
multilingualism, and also
expect their member states to do so.
 The explicit requirement that any content in a language different
from the state
language be translated from the state language runs counter to the
principle of the equal status
of languages that has been long accepted in the science of languages.
Thereby the Act violates
not only freedom but also equality; it is severely discriminating.
The Statute also criminalizes the use of all variants of the Slovak
language other than
that worked out and codified on the website of the Ministry of
Culture, thereby discriminating
against all Slovak speakers speaking dialects and other non-standard
varieties, primarily
people of a low social status, including the large Romani population.
It is a basic tenet of linguistics that the use of one?s native
language and language
variant cannot be restricted and/or regulated by enforcing laws, and
imposing fines on alleged
?violators? of some codified form. No conscientious linguist believes
that any language can
have one and only one codified form decreed to be observed in all
public communication by
all speakers, whether native or not. Languages are known to have
changed continuously over
time and location, and an attempt to carve them in stone can only be
successful in the case of
dead languages.
 In view of the above, we express our concern and objection with
respect to the new
regulations of the Law.


From francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es  Tue Jul 28 09:14:44 2009
From: francisco.ruizdemendoza at unirioja.es (=?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Francisco_Jos=E9_Ruiz_De_Mendoza_Ib=E1=F1ez=22?=)
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:14:44 +0200
Subject: CRAL 2009: early submissions, registration and other updates
Message-ID: <TUE.28.JUL.2009.111444.0200.FRANCISCO.RUIZDEMENDOZA@UNIRIOJA.ES>

Please, circulate

[We apologize for cross postings]


The Center for Research on the Applications of Language (CRAL), based at the University of La Rioja, Spain, solicits papers for the International Conference on Figurative Language Learning and Figurative Language Use: Theory and Applications. An International Conference in Honor of Professor Paul Meara, to be held on October 29-31, 2009, at the? University of La Rioja.

With a view to facilitating hotel reservations and flight scheduling to Conference participants, all proposals sent before August 17 will receive their acceptance/rejection notifications on August 25. The rest of the proposals will receive their notifications on September 10.
 
Early submission deadline: August 16, 2009
Final submission deadline: September 1, 2009
Acceptance notifications: August 25/ September 10
Registration deadline: October 15
Date: October, 29-31, 2009
 
You may find updated information on the Conference venue, provisional program, registration, accommodation, etc., at:

http://cral09.cilap.es/en/introduction
 
Submissions: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/dashboard

Registration: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/registration-form
 
Accommodation: http://cral09.cilap.es/en/accommodation

For technical questions: webmaster at cilap.es
 

The Organizing Committee