From Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se Mon Dec 5 17:33:02 2011 From: Jordan.Zlatev at ling.lu.se (Jordan Zlatev) Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 17:33:02 +0000 Subject: Final CfP: Language, Culture, Mind V, Lisbon 2012 Message-ID: *******FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS******* Fifth International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind https://sites.google.com/site/languagecultureandmindv/home The Fifth International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind (LCM V) will be held on 27-29 June 2012 at the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon. It will be preceded by a Young Researchers Workshop on 26 June 2012 (same venue), in which young researchers will present their ongoing dissertation projects and current work. The goals of LCM conferences are to contribute to situating the study of language in a contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue (involving philosophy, linguistics, psychology, anthropology, semiotics and other related fields), and to promote a better integration of cognitive and cultural perspectives in empirical and theoretical studies of language. http://www.salc-sssk.org/lcm/ Plenary speakers: · Nick Enfield, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen http://www.mpi.nl/people/enfield-nick · Cynthia Lightfoot, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University http://www.brandywine.psu.edu/Academics/faculty_cgl3.htm · Dan Slobin, Departments of Psychology and Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/people/person_detail.php?person=35 · Beata Stawarska, Department of Philosophy, University of Oregon http://pages.uoregon.edu/uophil/faculty/profiles/stawarsk/ · Sherman Wilcox, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico http://web.mac.com/swilcox/UNM/Welcome.html The theme for LCM V is: *Integrating Semiotic Resources in Communication and Creativity* The conference will include two round tables on the sub-themes: - Multimodality in communication and performance - Creativity, imagination and innovation We invite submissions of individual papers, posters and symposium proposals. (Please indicate the format chosen when you submit the abstract). Formats: - Individual research papers Name, affiliation, 400 word abstract 20 min presentation + 10 minute discussion - Individual poster Name, affiliation, 100 word abstract. 1 minute oral presentation in the main lecture hall, preceding the poster session - Symposia [CLOSED] 90-minute symposia of 3 papers, allowing time for discussion at the end. Up to two 90-minute symposia may be merged for proposals with 5-6 participants. Papers in each symposium should be thematically linked. Proposals for thematic symposia should include: - symposium title - name and affiliation of symposium convener - an introduction of up to 400 words explaining the theme; - all symposium abstracts, in suitable order. Symposium proposers should indicate whether, if a symposium is not accepted as a whole, they wish the individual abstracts to be considered as individual presentations (oral or poster) Deadline for abstract submission of symposia: [CLOSED] Deadline for abstract submission of individual papers and posters: *Dec 15, 2011*. Abstracts should be sent as .rtf or .doc attachments to lcmv.lisbon2012 @gmail.com Important dates · Deadline for abstract submission (symposia): [CLOSED] · Deadline for abstract submission (papers, posters): 15 Dec 2011 · Notification of acceptance (symposia): 15 Jan 2012 · Notification of acceptance (papers, posters): 15 Feb 2012 · Last date for early registration: 1 Mar 2012 · Last date for registration: 1 May 2012 · Final program publication: 15 May 2012 Young Researchers Workshop The LCM V Young Researchers Workshop is a satellite event of the LCM V conference, aimed at graduate students and junior scholars conducting theoretical or empirical research in language and communication including, but not limited to cognitive, social, affective, embodied and/or cultural perspectives. The workshop aims at providing a forum for presenting results and foster interaction and debate in the context of interdisciplinary collaboration. Young researchers in anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, semiotics, semantics, discourse analysis, cognitive and neuroscience are invited to share, and thereby enrich, their study of human natural language and communication. A specialist's comment on each accepted contribution makes the workshop a unique opportunity to receive expert feedback. Abstract specifications: 1 page, 500 words, single-spaced, font size 12 pt, Times New Roman, 2.5 cm margins on all sides. Diagrams must fit in the page. Heading should include: - Title of the paper - Author(s) name - Author(s) affiliation - E-mail address of principal author Deadline for abstract submission: Dec 15, 2011 Abstracts for Young Researchers Workshop presentations should be submitted to: lcmv.workshop at gmail.com The International LCM V scientific committee · Peer Bundgaard, Aarhus University, Center for Semiotics · Carlos Cornejo, Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile, Psychology · Terrence Deacon, University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology · Jules Davidoff, Goldsmiths University of London, Psychology · Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, University of Copenhagen, Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics · Shaun Gallagher, University of Central Florida, Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences · Anders Hougaard, University of Southern Denmark, Institute of Language and Communication · Irraide Ibarretxe Antuñano, University of Zaragosa, General and Hispanic Linguistics · Esa Itkonen, University of Turku, General Linguistics · Ana Mineiro, Catholic University of Portugal, General and Clinical Linguistics · Cornelia Müller, Europa-Universität Viadrina, Applied Linguistics · Urpo Nikanne, Åbo Akademi University, Language and Literature · Augusto Soares da Silva, Catholic University of Portugal, General and Portuguese Linguistics · Göran Sonesson, Lund University, Semiotics · Kristian Tylén, Aarhus University, CFIN/Center for Semiotics The International LCM organizing committee · Alan Cienki, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Language and Communication · Barbara Fultner, Denison University, Philosophy · John Lucy, University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development and Psychology · Aliyah Morgenstern, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, Linguistics · Anneli Pajunen, University of Tampere, Finnish Language · Esther Pascual, University of Groningen, Communication Studies · Victor Rosenthal, Inserm-EHESS, Paris · Chris Sinha, Lund University, Linguistics/Cognitive Semiotics · Jordan Zlatev, Lund University, Linguistics/Cognitive Semiotics LCM V Local organizing committee · Ana Margarida Abrantes, Catholic University of Portugal, Research Center for Communication and Culture · Peter Hanenberg, Catholic University of Portugal, Research Center for Communication and Culture · Verena Lindemann, Research Center for Communication and Culture From christopher.hart at northumbria.ac.uk Mon Dec 5 18:54:33 2011 From: christopher.hart at northumbria.ac.uk (Christopher Hart) Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 18:54:33 -0000 Subject: Final CfP: CADAAD 2012 Message-ID: Dear colleagues, **Final Call for Papers** The fourth international conference Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines (CADAAD) will take place at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal, 4-6 July 2012. The following distinguished scholars have confirmed their participation as plenary speakers: * Professor Paul Chilton (Lancaster University) * Professor Michal Krzyzanowski (Adam Mickiewicz University) * Professor Michelle Lazar (National University of Singapore) * Professor Juana Marín Arrese (Universidad Complutense Madrid) * Professor Teun van Dijk (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) CADAAD conferences are intended to promote current directions and new developments in cross-disciplinary critical discourse studies. We welcome papers dealing with any contemporary social, scientific, political, economic, or professional discourse/genre. Possible topics include but are not limited to the following: * (New) Media discourse * Party political discourse * Advertising * Discourses of war and terrorism * Discourses of discrimination and inequality * Power, ideology and dominance in institutional discourse * Identity in discourse * Education discourses * Environmental discourses * Health communication * Language and the law We especially welcome papers which re-examine existing frameworks for critical discourse studies and/or which highlight and apply new methodologies sourced from anywhere across the humanities, social and cognitive sciences including but without being limited to: * Sociolinguistics * Functional Linguistics * Cognitive Linguistics * Corpus Linguistics * Pragmatics and Argumentation Theory * Conversation and Discourse Analysis * Discursive Psychology * Multimodality * Media Studies * Communication Studies * Political Science Papers will be allocated 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions. The language of the conference is English. Abstracts of no more than 300 words including references should be sent as MS Word attachment to christopher.hart at northumbria.ac.uk before 18 December 2011. Please include in the body of the email but not in the abstract itself your name, affiliation and email address. Notifications of acceptance will be communicated by February 2012. Further information is available at www.cadaad.net/cadaad_2012. For any other inquiries please contact Chris Hart (Christopher.hart at northumbria.ac.uk) or the local organiser, Maria Zara Simões Pinto Coelho (zara at ics.uminho.pt). Kind regards, Chris Hart From dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk Tue Dec 6 09:52:13 2011 From: dick at ling.ucl.ac.uk (Richard Hudson) Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:52:13 +0000 Subject: Feedback from child to caregiver Message-ID: I've just seen Deb Roy (MIT) giving a brilliant presentation on his research, which (among other things) shows that caregivers simplify their use of each word that the child learns as the child learns it. Not unexpected, but nice data. Everyone else has probably seen it, but if not here's the url. http://tinyurl.com/dxy5guf * *Dick* * -- Richard Hudson www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm From john at research.haifa.ac.il Thu Dec 8 09:59:00 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:59:00 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <4EDDE5CD.8090804@ling.ucl.ac.uk> Message-ID: Dear Funknetters, I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their orthography and writing system in general might be improved (the present system is clearly inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible translations can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are many problems, but one of them seems to be that there is no standardized efficient way to make relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of ad-hoc tactics which can be understood correctly but only with a lot of work. Some relative clauses are formally identical to sentences while others use morphemes which have a wide variety of other functions (articles, demonstratives, the 'be' verb, personal pronouns, and prepositions). I know that 'that' can introduce relative clauses and also be a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun but this is much much worse. The problem is even more serious because they use relatively few nominalizations but instead use something which looks like a relative clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated every time as if it were 'the men who were following Jesus'). I'm even finding that when I'm reading myself I mostly identify relative clauses by the head noun which often literally means 'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and 'mony' in principle are both translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very often associated with something which would translate as a relative clause while 'mony' isn't. I don't really know what to do with this. I'm thinking of suggesting to them that some standardized ways to make relatives have to be chosen and stuck to. Do any of you have experience with anything like this? Thanks, John ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From mike_cahill at sil.org Thu Dec 8 15:22:33 2011 From: mike_cahill at sil.org (Mike Cahill) Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 09:22:33 -0600 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <1323338340.4ee08a6488098@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: Hi John, Two issues here: how Dinkas do relative clauses, and the apparent difficulty in reading them. The first line of investigation I'd take is looking at natural texts in Dinka, and how relative clauses are naturally used. It may be that the translators didn't use the most appropriate form of relative clause for a particular context, and that in itself would reduce reading fluency - the reader is hit with an unexpected way of expressing things. I'd also note that different genres of texts may have quite different types of expected relative clauses. Narratives and hortatory texts should be examined separately, as a minimum. Unfortunately, to get a reasonable answer on this is going to take a fair amount of work. For your specific example, "disciple" is one of those terms that often doesn't have a one-word equivalent in a local language. Does it in Dinka? It sounds like it may not. If not, then the translator needs to unpack the meaning, and unfortunately for your frustration level, it may be that the most natural way to express the concept is with a relative clause. Maybe; I don't know Dinka! I'd be VERY leery of advocating a single "standardized efficient" way of presenting relative clauses, or any other syntactic or discourse structure. It's likely to distort the language's natural patterns. Variation is usually there for a reason, even if native speakers can't articulate what that might be (as most English speakers can't either). Mike Cahill -----Original Message----- From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of john at research.haifa.ac.il Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 3:59 AM To: Richard Hudson Cc: funknet Subject: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) Dear Funknetters, I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their orthography and writing system in general might be improved (the present system is clearly inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible translations can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are many problems, but one of them seems to be that there is no standardized efficient way to make relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of ad-hoc tactics which can be understood correctly but only with a lot of work. Some relative clauses are formally identical to sentences while others use morphemes which have a wide variety of other functions (articles, demonstratives, the 'be' verb, personal pronouns, and prepositions). I know that 'that' can introduce relative clauses and also be a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun but this is much much worse. The problem is even more serious because they use relatively few nominalizations but instead use something which looks like a relative clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated every time as if it were 'the men who were following Jesus'). I'm even finding that when I'm reading myself I mostly identify relative clauses by the head noun which often literally means 'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and 'mony' in principle are both translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very often associated with something which would translate as a relative clause while 'mony' isn't. I don't really know what to do with this. I'm thinking of suggesting to them that some standardized ways to make relatives have to be chosen and stuck to. Do any of you have experience with anything like this? Thanks, John ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From john at research.haifa.ac.il Thu Dec 8 16:43:19 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 18:43:19 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <80543a5f6d94884c8665f69ef4615cb9@sil.org> Message-ID: Hi Mike, My information is based completely on the translation of the Book of Matthew. Obviously I'll look at other texts, but there really aren't that many. I don't have direct evidence that relative clauses in particular are difficult to read-- I don't know any Dinkas who are linguistically sophisticated enough to make such a statement (or could even identify what a relative clause is, for that matter), they just report general difficulty. I'm just making a guess based upon what I know about the language. I certainly wouldn't suggest a single formula, I just meant to have a certain set of formulas which they can use, ones which would limit processing difficulty. The problem isn't too much variation, the problem is too much confusion. I would assume that the difference between relative clauses and simple sentences is clear in spoken language through intonation, but this can't be directly represented in writing. I'm also not saying that there's an inherent problem with using relativization instead of nominalization, I'm just saying that this adds greatly to the number of relative-like constructions in texts. John Quoting Mike Cahill : > Hi John, > > Two issues here: how Dinkas do relative clauses, and the apparent difficulty > in reading them. > > The first line of investigation I'd take is looking at natural texts in > Dinka, and how relative clauses are naturally used. It may be that the > translators didn't use the most appropriate form of relative clause for a > particular context, and that in itself would reduce reading fluency - the > reader is hit with an unexpected way of expressing things. I'd also note that > different genres of texts may have quite different types of expected relative > clauses. Narratives and hortatory texts should be examined separately, as a > minimum. Unfortunately, to get a reasonable answer on this is going to take a > fair amount of work. > > For your specific example, "disciple" is one of those terms that often > doesn't have a one-word equivalent in a local language. Does it in Dinka? It > sounds like it may not. If not, then the translator needs to unpack the > meaning, and unfortunately for your frustration level, it may be that the > most natural way to express the concept is with a relative clause. Maybe; I > don't know Dinka! > > I'd be VERY leery of advocating a single "standardized efficient" way of > presenting relative clauses, or any other syntactic or discourse structure. > It's likely to distort the language's natural patterns. Variation is usually > there for a reason, even if native speakers can't articulate what that might > be (as most English speakers can't either). > > Mike Cahill > > > -----Original Message----- > From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu > [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of > john at research.haifa.ac.il > Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 3:59 AM > To: Richard Hudson > Cc: funknet > Subject: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other > languages?) > > Dear Funknetters, > I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their orthography and > writing system in general might be improved (the present system is clearly > inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible translations > can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are many problems, > but one of them seems to be that there is no standardized efficient way to > make relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of ad-hoc tactics which > can be understood correctly but only with a lot of work. Some relative > clauses are formally identical to sentences while others use morphemes which > have a wide variety of other functions (articles, demonstratives, the 'be' > verb, personal pronouns, and prepositions). I know that 'that' can introduce > relative clauses and also be a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative > pronoun but this is much much worse. The problem is even more serious because > they use relatively few nominalizations but instead use something which > looks like a relative clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated every > time as if it were 'the men who were following Jesus'). I'm even finding that > when I'm reading myself I mostly identify relative clauses by the head noun > which often literally means 'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and > 'mony' in principle are both translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very often > associated with something which would translate as a relative clause while > 'mony' isn't. I don't really know what to do with this. I'm thinking of > suggesting to them that some standardized ways to make relatives have to be > chosen and stuck to. Do any of you have experience with anything like this? > Thanks, > John > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From sprui1wc at cmich.edu Thu Dec 8 19:56:27 2011 From: sprui1wc at cmich.edu (Spruiell, William C) Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 19:56:27 +0000 Subject: FUNKNET Digest, Vol 99, Issue 3 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: This would be highly artificial but... could you simply use an *orthographic* marker -- one that isn't intended to stand for a linguistic unit at all? That would partially avoid the "pattern-distortion" issue, and if it's something uncomplicated, like a <^>, it wouldn't be particularly distracting for readers who didn't need it in context. Bill Spruiell Central Michigan University > >Message: 1 >Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:59:00 +0200 >From: john at research.haifa.ac.il >Subject: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other > languages?) >To: Richard Hudson >Cc: funknet >Message-ID: <1323338340.4ee08a6488098 at webmail.haifa.ac.il> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1255 > >Dear Funknetters, >I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their orthography >and >writing system in general might be improved (the present system is clearly >inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible translations >can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are many >problems, but >one of them seems to be that there is no standardized efficient way to >make >relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of ad-hoc tactics which can >be understood correctly but only with a lot of work. Some relative >clauses are >formally identical to sentences while others use morphemes which have a >wide >variety of other functions (articles, demonstratives, the 'be' verb, >personal >pronouns, and prepositions). I know that 'that' can introduce relative >clauses >and also be a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun but >this is >much much worse. The problem is even more serious because they use >relatively >few nominalizations but instead use something which looks like a relative >clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated every time as if it were >'the men >who were following Jesus'). I'm even finding that when I'm reading myself >I >mostly identify relative clauses by the head noun which often literally >means >'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and 'mony' in principle are both >translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very often associated with something >which would translate as a relative clause while 'mony' isn't. I don't >really >know what to do with this. I'm thinking of suggesting to them that some >standardized ways to make relatives have to be chosen and stuck to. Do >any of >you have experience with anything like this? >Thanks, >John > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > > >------------------------------ > >Message: 2 >Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:22:33 -0600 >From: "Mike Cahill" >Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and > other languages?) >To: "Richard Hudson" >Cc: funknet >Message-ID: <80543a5f6d94884c8665f69ef4615cb9 at sil.org> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > >Hi John, > >Two issues here: how Dinkas do relative clauses, and the apparent >difficulty in reading them. > >The first line of investigation I'd take is looking at natural texts in >Dinka, and how relative clauses are naturally used. It may be that the >translators didn't use the most appropriate form of relative clause for a >particular context, and that in itself would reduce reading fluency - the >reader is hit with an unexpected way of expressing things. I'd also note >that different genres of texts may have quite different types of expected >relative clauses. Narratives and hortatory texts should be examined >separately, as a minimum. Unfortunately, to get a reasonable answer on >this is going to take a fair amount of work. > >For your specific example, "disciple" is one of those terms that often >doesn't have a one-word equivalent in a local language. Does it in Dinka? >It sounds like it may not. If not, then the translator needs to unpack >the meaning, and unfortunately for your frustration level, it may be that >the most natural way to express the concept is with a relative clause. >Maybe; I don't know Dinka! > >I'd be VERY leery of advocating a single "standardized efficient" way of >presenting relative clauses, or any other syntactic or discourse >structure. It's likely to distort the language's natural patterns. >Variation is usually there for a reason, even if native speakers can't >articulate what that might be (as most English speakers can't either). > >Mike Cahill > > >-----Original Message----- >From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu >[mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of >john at research.haifa.ac.il >Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 3:59 AM >To: Richard Hudson >Cc: funknet >Subject: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other >languages?) > >Dear Funknetters, >I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their orthography >and writing system in general might be improved (the present system is >clearly inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible >translations can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are >many problems, but one of them seems to be that there is no standardized >efficient way to make relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of >ad-hoc tactics which can be understood correctly but only with a lot of >work. Some relative clauses are formally identical to sentences while >others use morphemes which have a wide variety of other functions >(articles, demonstratives, the 'be' verb, personal pronouns, and >prepositions). I know that 'that' can introduce relative clauses and also >be a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun but this is much >much worse. The problem is even more serious because they use relatively >few nominalizations but instead use something which looks like a > relative clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated every time as if >it were 'the men who were following Jesus'). I'm even finding that when >I'm reading myself I mostly identify relative clauses by the head noun >which often literally means 'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and >'mony' in principle are both translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very >often associated with something which would translate as a relative >clause while 'mony' isn't. I don't really know what to do with this. I'm >thinking of suggesting to them that some standardized ways to make >relatives have to be chosen and stuck to. Do any of you have experience >with anything like this? >Thanks, >John > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > > > > > >------------------------------ > >Message: 3 >Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 18:43:19 +0200 >From: john at research.haifa.ac.il >Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and > other languages?) >To: Mike Cahill >Cc: Richard Hudson , funknet > >Message-ID: <1323362599.4ee0e9273ecb8 at webmail.haifa.ac.il> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1255 > >Hi Mike, >My information is based completely on the translation of the Book of >Matthew. >Obviously I'll look at other texts, but there really aren't that many. I >don't >have direct evidence that relative clauses in particular are difficult to >read-- >I don't know any Dinkas who are linguistically sophisticated enough to >make >such a statement (or could even identify what a relative clause is, for >that >matter), they just report general difficulty. I'm just making a guess >based >upon what I know about the language. I certainly wouldn't suggest a single >formula, I just meant to have a certain set of formulas which they can >use, >ones which would limit processing difficulty. The problem isn't too much >variation, the problem is too much confusion. I would assume that the >difference between relative clauses and simple sentences is clear in >spoken >language through intonation, but this can't be directly represented in >writing. >I'm also not saying that there's an inherent problem with using >relativization >instead of nominalization, I'm just saying that this adds greatly to the >number >of relative-like constructions in texts. >John > > > > > > >Quoting Mike Cahill : > >> Hi John, >> >> Two issues here: how Dinkas do relative clauses, and the apparent >>difficulty >> in reading them. >> >> The first line of investigation I'd take is looking at natural texts in >> Dinka, and how relative clauses are naturally used. It may be that the >> translators didn't use the most appropriate form of relative clause for >>a >> particular context, and that in itself would reduce reading fluency - >>the >> reader is hit with an unexpected way of expressing things. I'd also >>note that >> different genres of texts may have quite different types of expected >>relative >> clauses. Narratives and hortatory texts should be examined separately, >>as a >> minimum. Unfortunately, to get a reasonable answer on this is going to >>take a >> fair amount of work. >> >> For your specific example, "disciple" is one of those terms that often >> doesn't have a one-word equivalent in a local language. Does it in >>Dinka? It >> sounds like it may not. If not, then the translator needs to unpack the >> meaning, and unfortunately for your frustration level, it may be that >>the >> most natural way to express the concept is with a relative clause. >>Maybe; I >> don't know Dinka! >> >> I'd be VERY leery of advocating a single "standardized efficient" way of >> presenting relative clauses, or any other syntactic or discourse >>structure. >> It's likely to distort the language's natural patterns. Variation is >>usually >> there for a reason, even if native speakers can't articulate what that >>might >> be (as most English speakers can't either). >> >> Mike Cahill >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu >> [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of >> john at research.haifa.ac.il >> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2011 3:59 AM >> To: Richard Hudson >> Cc: funknet >> Subject: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other >> languages?) >> >> Dear Funknetters, >> I'm currently working with some Dinka speakers one how their >>orthography and >> writing system in general might be improved (the present system is >>clearly >> inadequate--even native speakers who wrote one of the Bible translations >> can't read their own translation at all fluently). There are many >>problems, >> but one of them seems to be that there is no standardized efficient way >>to >> make relative clauses--there seem to a wide variety of ad-hoc tactics >>which >> can be understood correctly but only with a lot of work. Some relative >> clauses are formally identical to sentences while others use morphemes >>which >> have a wide variety of other functions (articles, demonstratives, the >>'be' >> verb, personal pronouns, and prepositions). I know that 'that' can >>introduce >> relative clauses and also be a demonstrative adjective and a >>demonstrative >> pronoun but this is much much worse. The problem is even more serious >>because >> they use relatively few nominalizations but instead use something which >> looks like a relative clause (e.g. 'Jesus' disciples' is translated >>every >> time as if it were 'the men who were following Jesus'). I'm even >>finding that >> when I'm reading myself I mostly identify relative clauses by the head >>noun >> which often literally means 'person' or 'thing'--for example, 'raan' and >> 'mony' in principle are both translated as 'person', but 'raan' is very >>often >> associated with something which would translate as a relative clause >>while >> 'mony' isn't. I don't really know what to do with this. I'm thinking of >> suggesting to them that some standardized ways to make relatives have >>to be >> chosen and stuck to. Do any of you have experience with anything like >>this? >> Thanks, >> John >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University >> >> >> >> > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > > >End of FUNKNET Digest, Vol 99, Issue 3 >************************************** From kemmer at rice.edu Fri Dec 9 08:07:26 2011 From: kemmer at rice.edu (Suzanne Kemmer) Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 02:07:26 -0600 Subject: CSDL deadline extended to Dec 16 Message-ID: *** Deadline for abstract submission has been extended*** ***The new deadline is December 16, 2011*** CSDL 11: Final Call for Papers ================================================ The 11th conference on: CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE, DISCOURSE, AND LANGUAGE May 17-20, 2012 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ================================================ Abstracts are due December 16, 2011. They should not exceed 500 words, with a possible extra page for data, references, or figures. Please submit your abstract in PDF format. You can reach the abstract submission link from our home page: http://csdl2012.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ ================================================ The theme of the conference is: LANGUAGE AND THE CREATIVE MIND The joint study of language and cognitive mechanisms has created a number of analytical tools and opened many new research questions. Similar concepts are now applied to the study of language structure, gesture and sign language, but also to more centrally creative modalities. It is time to give all researchers interested in cognition, communication, and the creative mind an opportunity to work towards a more integrated approach. We welcome a broad range of papers in cognitive, functional, and discourse linguistics and related research areas in cognitive psychology, situated cognition, etc. Papers are especially encouraged bearing on, but not limited to, the following topics related to the special conference theme: Cognition, Gesture, and Sign Multimodal Communication and Cognition Conceptual Blending and Metaphor Language and Music Embodiment Cognitive Underpinnings of Creativity Visual Artifacts Grammar and Creative Thought Literary Discourse and Cognition To facilitate cross-links and conversations, we will start with a day of workshop-style plenary talks on themes related to the connections between language and various creative modalities. The remaining three days will be filled with more focused research presentations, in parallel sessions, poster sessions, and in plenary format. The following invited speakers will lecture at the conference: Arie Verhagen (Leiden University) Cornelia Mueller (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)) Mark Turner (Case Western Reserve University) Daniel Casasanto (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics/New School for Social Research) Eve Sweetser (University of California, Berkeley) Peter Stockwell (Nottingham University) Seana Coulson (University of California, San Diego) Teenie Matlock (University of California, Merced) Terry Janzen (University of Manitoba) Rena Sharon (University of British Columbia) Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson (University of British Columbia) Parallel session talks will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. There will be 2-3 parallel sessions of regular papers. -- Barbara Dancygier Professor Department of English University of British Columbia 397-1873 East Mall Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1 Canada tel: +1.604.8225738 fax: +1.604.8226906 email: barbara.dancygier at ubc.ca barbara.dancygier at telus.net web: From kemmer at rice.edu Sat Dec 10 15:23:24 2011 From: kemmer at rice.edu (Suzanne Kemmer) Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:23:24 -0600 Subject: CSDL 11 UBC, Vancouver: deadline extended till 12/16 Message-ID: *** Deadline for abstract submission has been extended*** ***The new deadline is December 16, 2011*** CSDL 11: Final Call for Papers ================================================ The 11th conference on: CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURE, DISCOURSE, AND LANGUAGE May 17-20, 2012 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ================================================ Abstracts are due December 16, 2011. They should not exceed 500 words, with a possible extra page for data, references, or figures. Please submit your abstract in PDF format. You can reach the abstract submission link from our home page: http://csdl2012.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ ================================================ The theme of the conference is: LANGUAGE AND THE CREATIVE MIND The joint study of language and cognitive mechanisms has created a number of analytical tools and opened many new research questions. Similar concepts are now applied to the study of language structure, gesture and sign language, but also to more centrally creative modalities. It is time to give all researchers interested in cognition, communication, and the creative mind an opportunity to work towards a more integrated approach. We welcome a broad range of papers in cognitive, functional, and discourse linguistics and related research areas in cognitive psychology, situated cognition, etc. Papers are especially encouraged bearing on, but not limited to, the following topics related to the special conference theme: Cognition, Gesture, and Sign Multimodal Communication and Cognition Conceptual Blending and Metaphor Language and Music Embodiment Cognitive Underpinnings of Creativity Visual Artifacts Grammar and Creative Thought Literary Discourse and Cognition To facilitate cross-links and conversations, we will start with a day of workshop-style plenary talks on themes related to the connections between language and various creative modalities. The remaining three days will be filled with more focused research presentations, in parallel sessions, poster sessions, and in plenary format. The following invited speakers will lecture at the conference: Arie Verhagen (Leiden University) Cornelia Mueller (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)) Mark Turner (Case Western Reserve University) Daniel Casasanto (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics/New School for Social Research) Eve Sweetser (University of California, Berkeley) Peter Stockwell (Nottingham University) Seana Coulson (University of California, San Diego) Teenie Matlock (University of California, Merced) Terry Janzen (University of Manitoba) Rena Sharon (University of British Columbia) Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson (University of British Columbia) Parallel session talks will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. There will be 2-3 parallel sessions of regular papers. -- Barbara Dancygier Professor Department of English University of British Columbia 397-1873 East Mall Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1 Canada tel: +1.604.8225738 fax: +1.604.8226906 email: barbara.dancygier at ubc.ca barbara.dancygier at telus.net web: From grvsmth at panix.com Sun Dec 11 16:00:07 2011 From: grvsmth at panix.com (Angus Grieve-Smith) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:00:07 -0500 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <80543a5f6d94884c8665f69ef4615cb9@sil.org> Message-ID: Yes, I agree with Mike. Relative clauses may exist in English and biblical Greek, but they don't exist in every language. A consistent strategy for translating something does not require changing the grammar of the target language. If the Dinka speakers don't have texts, you need to just listen to them. Relative clauses are just a way to identify a thing based on the activity or state it's involved in. How do they do that spontaneously? If they do it differently from the way we do, or from the way the Evangelists did, maybe their way is better. -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith grvsmth at panix.com From john at research.haifa.ac.il Sun Dec 11 16:14:06 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:14:06 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <4EE4D387.2040001@panix.com> Message-ID: They do have texts. In fact what I'm saying is based on their Bible translation. I'm working with a group of Dinka (the Dinka Language Development Association) to try to improve their writing system so that it can be used for all written functions (education through university level, government, law, etc.). It seems clear to me that this is going to require figuring out some relatively efficient way to do relative clauses. Or do you know of any languages which are used for all written functions which DON'T have relative clauses? I don't. John Quoting Angus Grieve-Smith : > Yes, I agree with Mike. Relative clauses may exist in English and > biblical Greek, but they don't exist in every language. A consistent > strategy for translating something does not require changing the grammar > of the target language. > > If the Dinka speakers don't have texts, you need to just listen to > them. Relative clauses are just a way to identify a thing based on the > activity or state it's involved in. How do they do that spontaneously? > If they do it differently from the way we do, or from the way the > Evangelists did, maybe their way is better. > > -- > -Angus B. Grieve-Smith > grvsmth at panix.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From macw at cmu.edu Sun Dec 11 17:43:47 2011 From: macw at cmu.edu (Brian MacWhinney) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:43:47 -0500 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <1323620046.4ee4d6ce37798@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: John, There are lots of possibilities that one could imagine. One could simply have preposed relatives with no markers at all as in Japanese. Or one could create a relativizer from currently existing deictics. Or one could create adjectival relatives with case markers. And so on. But determining which of these various options makes sense for Dinka would depend heavily on what resources Dinka has and how it structures sentences. For starters, if they have case markers, that is going to help a lot. Looking at the features of Dinka, can you specify some other languages that are relatively close in some of these features and which have already developed relatives? Perhaps that wouid give you the best hint about how to go. Even more ideally, if you could trace the historical development of relatives in those languages, you may get further clues. The problem you pose raises a related question for readers of FunkNet. Does anyone know of languages that have created relativizers or relative structures as a part of over language innovation projects in the last century or so? Understanding how that was done would also be illuminating. -- Brian MacWhinney On Dec 11, 2011, at 11:14 AM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > They do have texts. In fact what I'm saying is based on their Bible translation. > I'm working with a group of Dinka (the Dinka Language Development Association) > to try to improve their writing system so that it can be used for all written > functions (education through university level, government, law, etc.). It seems > clear to me that this is going to require figuring out some relatively > efficient way to do relative clauses. Or do you know of any languages which are > used for all written functions which DON'T have relative clauses? I don't. > John > > > > Quoting Angus Grieve-Smith : > >> Yes, I agree with Mike. Relative clauses may exist in English and >> biblical Greek, but they don't exist in every language. A consistent >> strategy for translating something does not require changing the grammar >> of the target language. >> >> If the Dinka speakers don't have texts, you need to just listen to >> them. Relative clauses are just a way to identify a thing based on the >> activity or state it's involved in. How do they do that spontaneously? >> If they do it differently from the way we do, or from the way the >> Evangelists did, maybe their way is better. >> >> -- >> -Angus B. Grieve-Smith >> grvsmth at panix.com >> >> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > From haspelmath at eva.mpg.de Sun Dec 11 18:20:15 2011 From: haspelmath at eva.mpg.de (Martin Haspelmath) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:20:15 +0100 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka In-Reply-To: <1323620046.4ee4d6ce37798@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: > Or do you know of any languages which are > used for all written functions which DON'T have relative clauses? I don't. Japanese is an example of a language that renders English Relative Clauses by a clause type that does not correspond very closely to them. As Matsumoto (1997) and Comrie (1998) have argued convincingly, Japanese clauses that are translated by English Relative Clauses in fact have broader functions and do not have gaps the way English Relative Clauses do. Since different languages generally have different categories (Croft 2001, Haspelmath 2007), it is not surprising to find languages with categories that don't match English categories closely. However, if one wants to translate large amounts of texts from a source language to a target language, it is inconvenient if one doesn't have a reasonably close match between categories. Bible translators have often more or less arbitrarily chosen certain patterns in the target language to make their lives easier, and if they have enough authority, speakers may accept the disortions of their language, and after a while even regard the missionaries' language as prestigious. I think this is an interesting phenomenon, but I wonder whether Funknet is the right place to give advice to applied linguists who are engaged in this kind of (perhaps in some ways useful, but also rather questionable) enterprise. Martin References Comrie, Bernard. 1998. Rethinking the typology of relative clauses. _Language Design _1.59–86. Croft, William. 2001. _Radical Construction Grammar._ Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haspelmath, Martin. 2007. Pre-established categories don't exist—consequences for language description and typology. _Linguistic Typology_ 11.119-132. Matsumoto, Yoshiko. 1997. _Noun-modifying constructions in Japanese: A frame-semantic approach._ Amsterdam: Benjamins. From mike_cahill at sil.org Sun Dec 11 18:15:20 2011 From: mike_cahill at sil.org (Mike Cahill) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:15:20 -0600 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Brian, It sounds like you're proposing the creation of relative clauses in Dinka because they don't have any? I don't think that was what John's original question assumed. Mike -----Original Message----- From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of Brian MacWhinney Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 11:44 AM To: john at research.haifa.ac.il; Funknet Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) John, There are lots of possibilities that one could imagine. One could simply have preposed relatives with no markers at all as in Japanese. Or one could create a relativizer from currently existing deictics. Or one could create adjectival relatives with case markers. And so on. But determining which of these various options makes sense for Dinka would depend heavily on what resources Dinka has and how it structures sentences. For starters, if they have case markers, that is going to help a lot. Looking at the features of Dinka, can you specify some other languages that are relatively close in some of these features and which have already developed relatives? Perhaps that wouid give you the best hint about how to go. Even more ideally, if you could trace the historical development of relatives in those languages, you may get further clues. The problem you pose raises a related question for readers of FunkNet. Does anyone know of languages that have created relativizers or relative structures as a part of over language innovation projects in the last century or so? Understanding how that was done would also be illuminating. -- Brian MacWhinney On Dec 11, 2011, at 11:14 AM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > They do have texts. In fact what I'm saying is based on their Bible translation. > I'm working with a group of Dinka (the Dinka Language Development > Association) to try to improve their writing system so that it can be > used for all written functions (education through university level, > government, law, etc.). It seems clear to me that this is going to > require figuring out some relatively efficient way to do relative > clauses. Or do you know of any languages which are used for all written functions which DON'T have relative clauses? I don't. > John > > > > Quoting Angus Grieve-Smith : > >> Yes, I agree with Mike. Relative clauses may exist in English >> and biblical Greek, but they don't exist in every language. A >> consistent strategy for translating something does not require >> changing the grammar of the target language. >> >> If the Dinka speakers don't have texts, you need to just listen >> to them. Relative clauses are just a way to identify a thing based >> on the activity or state it's involved in. How do they do that spontaneously? >> If they do it differently from the way we do, or from the way the >> Evangelists did, maybe their way is better. >> >> -- >> -Angus B. Grieve-Smith >> grvsmth at panix.com >> >> > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa > University > From john at research.haifa.ac.il Sun Dec 11 20:33:41 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:33:41 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <5f0972d03bdfd6449bc10897a2075422@sil.org> Message-ID: That's right, Mike. There are things which are like relative clauses, but they're really inefficient in terms of reading because either they look like main clauses (until you get to the end and realize that you've misparsed it) or else are headed by markers which have a really wide variety of other functions (which also leads to misparsing). John Quoting Mike Cahill : > Brian, > > It sounds like you're proposing the creation of relative clauses in Dinka > because they don't have any? I don't think that was what John's original > question assumed. > > Mike > > -----Original Message----- > From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu > [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of Brian MacWhinney > Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 11:44 AM > To: john at research.haifa.ac.il; Funknet > Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other > languages?) > > John, > > There are lots of possibilities that one could imagine. One could > simply have preposed relatives with no markers at all as in Japanese. Or one > could create a relativizer from currently existing deictics. Or one could > create adjectival relatives with case markers. And so on. But determining > which of these various options makes sense for Dinka would depend heavily on > what resources Dinka has and how it structures sentences. For starters, if > they have case markers, that is going to help a lot. > Looking at the features of Dinka, can you specify some other languages > that are relatively close in some of these features and which have already > developed relatives? Perhaps that wouid give you the best hint about how to > go. Even more ideally, if you could trace the historical development of > relatives in those languages, you may get further clues. > The problem you pose raises a related question for readers of FunkNet. > Does anyone know of languages that have created relativizers or relative > structures as a part of over language innovation projects in the last century > or so? Understanding how that was done would also be illuminating. > > -- Brian MacWhinney > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 11:14 AM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > > > They do have texts. In fact what I'm saying is based on their Bible > translation. > > I'm working with a group of Dinka (the Dinka Language Development > > Association) to try to improve their writing system so that it can be > > used for all written functions (education through university level, > > government, law, etc.). It seems clear to me that this is going to > > require figuring out some relatively efficient way to do relative > > clauses. Or do you know of any languages which are used for all written > functions which DON'T have relative clauses? I don't. > > John > > > > > > > > Quoting Angus Grieve-Smith : > > > >> Yes, I agree with Mike. Relative clauses may exist in English > >> and biblical Greek, but they don't exist in every language. A > >> consistent strategy for translating something does not require > >> changing the grammar of the target language. > >> > >> If the Dinka speakers don't have texts, you need to just listen > >> to them. Relative clauses are just a way to identify a thing based > >> on the activity or state it's involved in. How do they do that > spontaneously? > >> If they do it differently from the way we do, or from the way the > >> Evangelists did, maybe their way is better. > >> > >> -- > >> -Angus B. Grieve-Smith > >> grvsmth at panix.com > >> > >> > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -- This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa > > University > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From danielrr2 at gmail.com Sun Dec 11 20:56:14 2011 From: danielrr2 at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Daniel_Ria=F1o?=) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:56:14 +0100 Subject: TAN: Best sellers Message-ID: According to The Guardian's This Week Bestsellers, Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in England. This is something of a record, isn't it? From grvsmth at panix.com Sun Dec 11 21:09:26 2011 From: grvsmth at panix.com (Angus Grieve-Smith) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:09:26 -0500 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <1323635621.4ee513a56d2f7@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: On 12/11/2011 3:33 PM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > That's right, Mike. There are things which are like relative clauses, but > they're really inefficient in terms of reading because either they look > like main clauses (until you get to the end and realize that you've misparsed > it) or else are headed by markers which have a really wide variety of other > functions (which also leads to misparsing). > Well, okay, but they're not that inefficient in terms of speech, right? It's not like Dinka speakers are constantly misunderstanding each other because they thought that a relative clause was a main clause. How do they know? -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith grvsmth at panix.com From munro at ucla.edu Sun Dec 11 21:12:00 2011 From: munro at ucla.edu (Pamela Munro) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:12:00 -0800 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <4EE51C06.5040209@panix.com> Message-ID: Intonation? On 12/11/11 1:09 PM, Angus Grieve-Smith wrote: > On 12/11/2011 3:33 PM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: >> That's right, Mike. There are things which are like relative clauses, >> but >> they're really inefficient in terms of reading because either they look >> like main clauses (until you get to the end and realize that you've >> misparsed >> it) or else are headed by markers which have a really wide variety of >> other >> functions (which also leads to misparsing). >> > > Well, okay, but they're not that inefficient in terms of speech, > right? It's not like Dinka speakers are constantly misunderstanding > each other because they thought that a relative clause was a main > clause. How do they know? > -- Pamela Munro, Professor, Linguistics, UCLA UCLA Box 951543 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543 http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/munro/munro.htm From mark at polymathix.com Sun Dec 11 21:15:00 2011 From: mark at polymathix.com (Mark Line) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:15:00 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Probably. But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... -- Mark On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: > According to The Guardian's This Week > Bestsellers, > Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in > England. This is something of a record, isn't it? From darrick at email.arizona.edu Sun Dec 11 21:17:52 2011 From: darrick at email.arizona.edu (Darin Len Arrick) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:17:52 -0700 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. -- Darin Arrick The University of Arizona Undergraduate Class of 2012 Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy Member, UofA Honors College darrick at email.arizona.edu On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: > Probably. > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > -- Mark > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: > >> According to The Guardian's This Week >> Bestsellers, >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > From danielrr2 at gmail.com Sun Dec 11 21:21:48 2011 From: danielrr2 at gmail.com (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Daniel_Ria=F1o?=) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:21:48 +0100 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Yes, the remark was done tongue-in-cheek, but the fact that a book with the word "grammar" (correctly spelled) in the cover (and even with the air of a Routledge actual grammar) hits the best-selling list is noteworthy per se. A very encomiastic review here . 2011/12/11 Darin Len Arrick > The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction > title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. > > > -- > Darin Arrick > The University of Arizona > Undergraduate Class of 2012 > Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy > Member, UofA Honors College > darrick at email.arizona.edu > > > On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: > > Probably. > > > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even > avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is > _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor > of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm > sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely > Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying > around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S > (and its dead battery). > > > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > > > -- Mark > > > > > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: > > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week > >> Bestsellers, > >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book > in > >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > > > From mark at polymathix.com Sun Dec 11 21:22:19 2011 From: mark at polymathix.com (Mark Line) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:22:19 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On Dec 11, 2011, at 15:17 , Darin Len Arrick wrote: > The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction > title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. Well, of all the....... It didn't even occur to me to check and see if New Finnish Grammar is actually a new Finnish grammar. -- Mark > > > -- > Darin Arrick > The University of Arizona > Undergraduate Class of 2012 > Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy > Member, UofA Honors College > darrick at email.arizona.edu > > > On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: >> Probably. >> >> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >> >> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >> >> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). >> >> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >> >> -- Mark >> >> >> >> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: >> >>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>> Bestsellers, >>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >> From v.evans at bangor.ac.uk Sun Dec 11 21:22:49 2011 From: v.evans at bangor.ac.uk (Vyv Evans) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:22:49 +0000 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi Mark, "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized." Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). With saddest wishes, Vyv Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth www.vyvevans.net Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol School of Linguistics & English Language/ Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics Deputy Head of College (Research)/ Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) College of Arts and Humanities/ Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' A Mouton de Gruyter journal www.languageandcognition.net Mark Line wrote: > Probably. > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > -- Mark > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week >> Bestsellers, >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >> > > -- Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk From lachlan_mackenzie at hotmail.com Sun Dec 11 21:39:33 2011 From: lachlan_mackenzie at hotmail.com (Lachlan Mackenzie) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:39:33 +0000 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: <4EE51F29.5050305@bangor.ac.uk> Message-ID: Hi, I read New Finnish Grammar last month. I always write a brief personal reaction to every book I read, and this is what I wrote: As I was browsing through the fiction section of a bookshop in Dublin, the title of this book leapt off the shelf at me: it was not misclassified but is a novel by an Italian who works as a 'senior linguist' for the European Union. It is set first in Trieste and then in Helsinki during the Second World War and has a simple but brilliant plot. The text consists of three interwoven 'voices': the notebooks of a badly wounded man who has become totally amnesic and aphasic as a result of his injuries; the commentary of his Finnish physician, who assumes on the basis of a name (Sampo Karjalainen) sewn into his jacket that the man must be Finnish and has him sent to Finland; and the three letters from the only woman with whom he spends any time. Sampo's notes are concerned with the impossibility of attaining an identity and of fully getting inside a language. His two names resonate with Finland's national epic the Kalevala and with Karelia, which was occupied by the Soviet Union at the time described in the novel. The novelist and his translator have faced (and actually dodged) the problem of writing literature through the words of an aphasic; the reader needs a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief to take this seriously. Sampo learns his Finnish from a pastor of the Lutheran Church; yet this Italian author has him conducting mass and reading from a breviary. Despite the objections that may be raised, I can see why this book was hailed in Italy as a masterpiece when it appeared in 2000. All the best, Lachlan Mackenzie Prof. J. Lachlan Mackenzie Researcher at ILTEC -- Honorary Professor at VU University -- Editor of Functions of Language -- Research Manager of SCIMITAR ILTEC Avenida Elias Garcia 147 - 5 dto 1050-099 Lisboa Portugal Visit my website: www.lachlanmackenzie.info > Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:22:49 +0000 > From: v.evans at bangor.ac.uk > To: mark at polymathix.com > CC: funknet at mailman.rice.edu > Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] TAN: Best sellers > > Hi Mark, > > "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even > avocational ones, are not stigmatized." > > Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not > all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the > rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see > today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). > > With saddest wishes, > > Vyv > > Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans > Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth > www.vyvevans.net > > Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol > School of Linguistics & English Language/ > Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics > > Deputy Head of College (Research)/ > Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) > College of Arts and Humanities/ > Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > > General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' > A Mouton de Gruyter journal > www.languageandcognition.net > > > > Mark Line wrote: > > Probably. > > > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). > > > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > > > -- Mark > > > > > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: > > > > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week > >> Bestsellers, > >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in > >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > >> > > > > > > -- > Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 > > Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, > gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig > gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y > neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar > unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, > rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a > gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i > hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn > Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu > bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu > 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn > nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract > rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa > Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk > > This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and > is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have > received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately > and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you > must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this > email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do > not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. > Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or > any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless > expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is > not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised > signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance > Office. www.bangor.ac.uk > From john at research.haifa.ac.il Sun Dec 11 21:41:50 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:41:50 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <4EE51CA0.1020300@ucla.edu> Message-ID: I'm sure that intonation does the disambiguation in speech. But that doesn't help in writing. John Quoting Pamela Munro : > Intonation? > > On 12/11/11 1:09 PM, Angus Grieve-Smith wrote: > > On 12/11/2011 3:33 PM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > >> That's right, Mike. There are things which are like relative clauses, > >> but > >> they're really inefficient in terms of reading because either they look > >> like main clauses (until you get to the end and realize that you've > >> misparsed > >> it) or else are headed by markers which have a really wide variety of > >> other > >> functions (which also leads to misparsing). > >> > > > > Well, okay, but they're not that inefficient in terms of speech, > > right? It's not like Dinka speakers are constantly misunderstanding > > each other because they thought that a relative clause was a main > > clause. How do they know? > > > > -- > Pamela Munro, > Professor, Linguistics, UCLA > UCLA Box 951543 > Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543 > http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/munro/munro.htm > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From mark at polymathix.com Sun Dec 11 21:54:49 2011 From: mark at polymathix.com (Mark Line) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:54:49 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: <4EE51F29.5050305@bangor.ac.uk> Message-ID: Yes. Diego said "England" so I also said "England", but of course the Guardian bestsellers are for the UK, not just England. My apologies to you and others elsewhere in the UK. On your other point, I'd say David Cameron was channelling Margaret Thatcher, except she's not dead yet. -- Mark On Dec 11, 2011, at 15:22 , Vyv Evans wrote: > Hi Mark, > > "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized." > > Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). > > With saddest wishes, > > Vyv > Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans > Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth > www.vyvevans.net > > Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol > School of Linguistics & English Language/ > Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics > > Deputy Head of College (Research)/ > Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) > College of Arts and Humanities/ > Coleg y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > > General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' > A Mouton de Gruyter journal > www.languageandcognition.net > > > Mark Line wrote: >> >> Probably. >> >> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >> >> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >> >> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). >> >> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >> >> -- Mark >> >> >> >> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: >> >> >>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>> Bestsellers, >>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >>> >> >> > > -- > Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 > Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk > > This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk > From v.evans at bangor.ac.uk Sun Dec 11 22:08:59 2011 From: v.evans at bangor.ac.uk (Vyv Evans) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:08:59 +0000 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi Mark, Not sure what you mean by 'channelling' Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was an ideological politician and, for all her faults, never used the veto. She understood only too well what that would mean. Cameron doesn't. Best wishes, Vyv ---- Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth www.vyvevans.net Head of School/Pennaeth Ysgol School of Linguistics and English Language/ Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics/ Deputy Head of College (Research)/ Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) College of Arts and Humanities/ Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor General Editor of 'Language and Cognition' A Mouton de Gruyter journal www.languageandcognition.net -----Original Message----- From: Mark Line Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:54:49 To: Vyv Evans Cc: Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] TAN: Best sellers Yes. Diego said "England" so I also said "England", but of course the Guardian bestsellers are for the UK, not just England. My apologies to you and others elsewhere in the UK. On your other point, I'd say David Cameron was channelling Margaret Thatcher, except she's not dead yet. -- Mark On Dec 11, 2011, at 15:22 , Vyv Evans wrote: > Hi Mark, > > "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized." > > Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). > > With saddest wishes, > > Vyv > Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans > Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth > www.vyvevans.net > > Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol > School of Linguistics & English Language/ > Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics > > Deputy Head of College (Research)/ > Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) > College of Arts and Humanities/ > Coleg y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > > General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' > A Mouton de Gruyter journal > www.languageandcognition.net > > > Mark Line wrote: >> >> Probably. >> >> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >> >> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >> >> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). >> >> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >> >> -- Mark >> >> >> >> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: >> >> >>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>> Bestsellers, >>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >>> >> >> > > -- > Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 > Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk > > This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk > From mark at polymathix.com Sun Dec 11 22:16:02 2011 From: mark at polymathix.com (Mark Line) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:16:02 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: <2064542425-1323641218-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1522757996-@b18.c9.bise7.blackberry> Message-ID: Vyv -- I was referring to Thatcher's attitudes toward European integration in general, at least my remembered conception of them as an outsider looking in when she was PM. The veto certainly goes well beyond attitude, doesn't it. -- Mark On Dec 11, 2011, at 16:08 , Vyv Evans wrote: > Hi Mark, > > Not sure what you mean by 'channelling' Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was an ideological politician and, for all her faults, never used the veto. She understood only too well what that would mean. Cameron doesn't. > > Best wishes, > > Vyv > ---- > Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans > Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth > www.vyvevans.net > > Head of School/Pennaeth Ysgol > School of Linguistics and English Language/ > Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics/ > > Deputy Head of College (Research)/ > Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) > College of Arts and Humanities/ > Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > > General Editor of 'Language and Cognition' > A Mouton de Gruyter journal > www.languageandcognition.net > From: Mark Line > Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:54:49 -0600 > To: Vyv Evans > Cc: > Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] TAN: Best sellers > > Yes. Diego said "England" so I also said "England", but of course the Guardian bestsellers are for the UK, not just England. My apologies to you and others elsewhere in the UK. > > On your other point, I'd say David Cameron was channelling Margaret Thatcher, except she's not dead yet. > > > -- Mark > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 15:22 , Vyv Evans wrote: > >> Hi Mark, >> >> "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized." >> >> Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). >> >> With saddest wishes, >> >> Vyv >> Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans >> Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth >> www.vyvevans.net >> >> Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol >> School of Linguistics & English Language/ >> Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg >> Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor >> www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics >> >> Deputy Head of College (Research)/ >> Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) >> College of Arts and Humanities/ >> Coleg y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau >> Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor >> >> General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' >> A Mouton de Gruyter journal >> www.languageandcognition.net >> >> >> Mark Line wrote: >>> >>> Probably. >>> >>> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >>> >>> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >>> >>> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). >>> >>> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >>> >>> -- Mark >>> >>> >>> >>> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: >>> >>> >>>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>>> Bestsellers, >>>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >>>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >>>> >>> >>> >> >> -- >> Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 >> Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk >> >> This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk >> > From v.evans at bangor.ac.uk Sun Dec 11 22:24:28 2011 From: v.evans at bangor.ac.uk (Vyv Evans) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:24:28 +0000 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Perhaps (now) a ways from Funknet topics...but point taken (and agreed). Vyv ---- Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth www.vyvevans.net Head of School/Pennaeth Ysgol School of Linguistics and English Language/ Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics/ Deputy Head of College (Research)/ Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) College of Arts and Humanities/ Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor General Editor of 'Language and Cognition' A Mouton de Gruyter journal www.languageandcognition.net -----Original Message----- From: Mark Line Sender: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:16:02 To: Cc: Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] TAN: Best sellers Vyv -- I was referring to Thatcher's attitudes toward European integration in general, at least my remembered conception of them as an outsider looking in when she was PM. The veto certainly goes well beyond attitude, doesn't it. -- Mark On Dec 11, 2011, at 16:08 , Vyv Evans wrote: > Hi Mark, > > Not sure what you mean by 'channelling' Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was an ideological politician and, for all her faults, never used the veto. She understood only too well what that would mean. Cameron doesn't. > > Best wishes, > > Vyv > ---- > Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans > Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth > www.vyvevans.net > > Head of School/Pennaeth Ysgol > School of Linguistics and English Language/ > Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics/ > > Deputy Head of College (Research)/ > Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) > College of Arts and Humanities/ > Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau > Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor > > General Editor of 'Language and Cognition' > A Mouton de Gruyter journal > www.languageandcognition.net > From: Mark Line > Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:54:49 -0600 > To: Vyv Evans > Cc: > Subject: Re: [FUNKNET] TAN: Best sellers > > Yes. Diego said "England" so I also said "England", but of course the Guardian bestsellers are for the UK, not just England. My apologies to you and others elsewhere in the UK. > > On your other point, I'd say David Cameron was channelling Margaret Thatcher, except she's not dead yet. > > > -- Mark > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 15:22 , Vyv Evans wrote: > >> Hi Mark, >> >> "But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized." >> >> Unfortunately England (I think you mean The United Kingdom, btw) is not all intelligence and forgiveness. We have just turned our back on the rest of Europe, and apparently isolated ourselves from the EU (see today's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/). >> >> With saddest wishes, >> >> Vyv >> Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans >> Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth >> www.vyvevans.net >> >> Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol >> School of Linguistics & English Language/ >> Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg >> Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor >> www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics >> >> Deputy Head of College (Research)/ >> Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) >> College of Arts and Humanities/ >> Coleg y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau >> Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor >> >> General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' >> A Mouton de Gruyter journal >> www.languageandcognition.net >> >> >> Mark Line wrote: >>> >>> Probably. >>> >>> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >>> >>> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >>> >>> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S (and its dead battery). >>> >>> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >>> >>> -- Mark >>> >>> >>> >>> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaño wrote: >>> >>> >>>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>>> Bestsellers, >>>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book in >>>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >>>> >>> >>> >> >> -- >> Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 >> Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk >> >> This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk >> > From john at research.haifa.ac.il Sun Dec 11 22:23:07 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:23:07 +0200 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: This is getting even more off topic (if that's possible), but if you think that intellectual pursuits aren't stigmatized in England, you haven't met too many working-class Englishmen. They think any intellectual male must be gay. John Quoting Daniel Riaסo : > Yes, the remark was done tongue-in-cheek, but the fact that a book with the > word "grammar" (correctly spelled) in the cover (and even with the air of a > Routledge actual grammar) hits the best-selling list is noteworthy per se. > A very encomiastic review > here > . > > 2011/12/11 Darin Len Arrick > > > The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction > > title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. > > > > > > -- > > Darin Arrick > > The University of Arizona > > Undergraduate Class of 2012 > > Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy > > Member, UofA Honors College > > darrick at email.arizona.edu > > > > > > On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: > > > Probably. > > > > > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even > > avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is > > _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > > > > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor > > of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm > > sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely > > Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > > > > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying > > around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S > > (and its dead battery). > > > > > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > > > > > -- Mark > > > > > > > > > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaסo wrote: > > > > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week > > >> Bestsellers, > > >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book > > in > > >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From mark at polymathix.com Sun Dec 11 22:39:53 2011 From: mark at polymathix.com (Mark P. Line) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:39:53 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: <1323642187.4ee52d4bced7c@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: Yes, but I don't think anti-intellectualism is thoroughly mainstreamed the way it is here. Here you can have a senatorial candidate who has to defend herself against charges of witchcraft not because it is considered superstitious or unscientific, but because it's not Christian. -- Mark Sent from my iPad On Dec 11, 2011, at 16:23, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > This is getting even more off topic (if that's possible), but if you think that > intellectual pursuits aren't stigmatized in England, you haven't met too many > working-class Englishmen. They think any intellectual male must be gay. > John > > > > Quoting Daniel Riaסo : > >> Yes, the remark was done tongue-in-cheek, but the fact that a book with the >> word "grammar" (correctly spelled) in the cover (and even with the air of a >> Routledge actual grammar) hits the best-selling list is noteworthy per se. >> A very encomiastic review >> > here >> . >> >> 2011/12/11 Darin Len Arrick >> >>> The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction >>> title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Darin Arrick >>> The University of Arizona >>> Undergraduate Class of 2012 >>> Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy >>> Member, UofA Honors College >>> darrick at email.arizona.edu >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: >>>> Probably. >>>> >>>> But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even >>> avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is >>> _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. >>>> >>>> By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor >>> of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm >>> sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely >>> Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. >>>> >>>> Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying >>> around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S >>> (and its dead battery). >>>> >>>> Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... >>>> >>>> -- Mark >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaסo wrote: >>>> >>>>> According to The Guardian's This Week >>>>> Bestsellers, >>>>> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book >>> in >>>>> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? >>>> >>> >> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From grvsmth at panix.com Sun Dec 11 22:43:33 2011 From: grvsmth at panix.com (Angus Grieve-Smith) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:43:33 -0500 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <1323639710.4ee5239e91ce5@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: On 12/11/2011 4:41 PM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > I'm sure that intonation does the disambiguation in speech. But that > doesn't help in writing. > You mean the writing system for Dinka doesn't have symbols for representing important intonational events, like this one? -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith grvsmth at panix.com From grvsmth at panix.com Sun Dec 11 23:11:21 2011 From: grvsmth at panix.com (Angus Grieve-Smith) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:11:21 -0500 Subject: FUNKNET Digest, Vol 99, Issue 3 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I just noticed that Bill mentioned the punctuation possibility on Thursday. It wouldn't be any more artificial than "?" or "!" or even periods and commas. On 12/8/2011 2:56 PM, Spruiell, William C wrote: > This would be highly artificial but... could you simply use an > *orthographic* marker -- one that isn't intended to stand for a linguistic > unit at all? That would partially avoid the "pattern-distortion" issue, > and if it's something uncomplicated, like a<^>, it wouldn't be > particularly distracting for readers who didn't need it in context. > -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith grvsmth at panix.com From bradley.mcdonnell at gmail.com Sun Dec 11 23:32:25 2011 From: bradley.mcdonnell at gmail.com (Bradley McDonnell) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:32:25 -0800 Subject: Workshop on East Asian Languages: Second Call for Papers Message-ID: *Workshop on East Asian Languages: Call for Papers March 3, 2012* The Linguistics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara announces its 18th Workshop on East Asian Languages (WEAL). The workshop is an informal meeting where participants can present and discuss issues on languages in East Asia, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. WEAL 2012 will take place on Saturday, March 3rd at the McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB, UCSB. Abstracts are invited for talks on any topic in East Asian linguistics. This is an informal workshop for work in progress: presentations could be on the initial results and other issues arising from ongoing projects, rather than finished papers. We especially welcome proposals from UCSB, UCLA and other departments in the Southern California area. We encourage both students and faculty to participate. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be 500 words or less (excluding examples and/or references) and can be submitted by hard copy or email. Please indicate your source(s) and type(s) of data in the abstract (e.g., recordings, texts, conversational, elicited, narrative, etc.). For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper as well as who will be in attendance. Please include the following information along with your abstract: (1) your name; (2) affiliation; (3) mailing address; (4) phone number; (5) email address; (6) title of your paper. **For email submissions*: Include the information noted above in the body of the email message. Include the abstract as an attachment. Please limit your abstracts to the following formats: PDF, RTF, or Microsoft Word document. Send email submissions to: weal2012 at gmail.com **For hard copy submissions*: Please send two copies of your abstract, along with the information noted above to: Workshop on East Asian Languages Attn: Allison Adelman or Heather Simpson Department of Linguistics University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106 DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS: December 18, 2011 Notification of acceptance will be by email no later than January 16, 2012 http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/projects/weal/ General Information: Santa Barbara is situated on the Pacific Ocean near the Santa Yñez Mountains. The UCSB campus is located near the Santa Barbara airport. Participants may also fly into LAX airport in Los Angeles, which is approximately 90 miles southeast of the campus. Shuttle buses run between LAX and Santa Barbara. Information about hotel accommodations will be posted on our website: http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/weal/ For further information, feel free to contact the conference coordinators, Allison Adelman or Heather Simpson, at weal2012 at gmail.com. From bradley.mcdonnell at gmail.com Sun Dec 11 23:36:49 2011 From: bradley.mcdonnell at gmail.com (Bradley McDonnell) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:36:49 -0800 Subject: SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL) Message-ID: SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS Workshop on American Indigenous Languages Santa Barbara, CA April 27th- 28th, 2012 The Linguistics department at the University of California, Santa Barbara announces its 15th Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages (WAIL), which provides a forum for the discussion of theoretical, descriptive, and practical studies of the indigenous languages of the Americas. Anonymous abstracts are invited for talks on any topic relevant to the study of language in the Americas. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should be 500 words or less (excluding examples and/or references) and can be submitted online at http://linguistlist.org/confcustom/wail2012. Hard copy submissions will be accepted from those who do not have internet access. Individuals may submit abstracts for one single-authored and one co-authored paper. Please indicate your source(s) and type(s) of data in the abstract (e.g. recordings, texts, conversational, elicited, narrative, etc.). For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper as well as who will be in attendance. *Online submissions:* Abstracts can be submitted online at http://linguistlist.org/confcustom/wail2012 in PDF format. *For hard copy submissions:* Please send four copies of your abstract, along with a 3x5 card with the following information: (1) your name; (2) affiliation; (3) mailing address; (4) phone number; (5) email address; (6) title of your paper; (7) whether your submission is for the general session or the Special Panel. Send hard copy submissions to: Workshop on American Indigenous Languages Attn: Elliott Hoey or Dibella Wdzenczny Department of Linguistics University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106 DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS:January 31st, 2011 Notification of acceptance will be by email no later than February 29th, 2012. General Information: Santa Barbara is situated on the Pacific Ocean near the Santa Yñez Mountains. The UCSB campus is located near the Santa Barbara airport. Participants may also fly into LAX airport in Los Angeles, which is approximately 90 miles southeast of the campus. Shuttle buses run between LAX and Santa Barbara. Information about hotel accommodations will be posted on our website (http://orgs.sa.ucsb.edu/nailsg/). For further information contact the conference coordinators, Elliott Hoey or Dibella Wdzenczny, atwail.ucsb at gmail.com, or check out our website at http://orgs.sa.ucsb.edu/nailsg/ From john at research.haifa.ac.il Mon Dec 12 05:09:50 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:09:50 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <4EE53215.5010304@panix.com> Message-ID: It does, but it isn't used consistently, and it still wouldn't be nearly enough if it's just used for commas-for-breaks. John Quoting Angus Grieve-Smith : > On 12/11/2011 4:41 PM, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > > I'm sure that intonation does the disambiguation in speech. But that > > doesn't help in writing. > > > > You mean the writing system for Dinka doesn't have symbols for > representing important intonational events, like this one? > > -- > -Angus B. Grieve-Smith > grvsmth at panix.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From smalamud at brandeis.edu Mon Dec 12 05:35:25 2011 From: smalamud at brandeis.edu (Sophia A. Malamud) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:35:25 -0500 Subject: LSA 2012 Symposium on Information Structure and Discourse, in memory of Ellen Prince Message-ID: Dear friends and colleagues, As January approaches, we wanted to send out a reminder announcement about the upcoming event in memory of Ellen on Friday, January 6, at the annual meeting of the LSA. We put together a website with detailed information about the event, and a few things about Ellen. Please check it out: https://sites.google.com/site/inmemoryofellenprince/ We hope to see you there! Warmly, Sophia Malamud and Eleni Miltsakaki From mats.andren at ling.lu.se Mon Dec 12 09:00:06 2011 From: mats.andren at ling.lu.se (=?UTF-8?B?TWF0cyBBbmRyw6lu?=) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:00:06 +0100 Subject: 5th conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies: 1st call for papers In-Reply-To: <1323666590.4ee58c9e8ceb8@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: ISGS 5 - Call for papers The International Society for Gesture Studies announces the Fifth Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies: The communicative body in development, to take place in Lund, Sweden, July 24-27, 2012. The conference celebrates the tenth anniversary of the ISGS. Established in 2002, the ISGS is an international organization that gathers scholars interested in gesture and bodily communicative behaviour, different approaches to sign language, and communication in non-human species. Through its biennial conference series the ISGS constitutes a meeting place for researchers approaching the study of bodily communication from a range of different perspectives. The theme of the fifth conference of ISGS is The Communicative Body in Development. Development is to be understood broadly as any change, typical or atypical, in bodily communicative behaviour across the lifespan, synchronically or diachronically, onto- and phylogenetically, and across species. The conference also welcomes all topics on bodily communication, studied in all settings, and from all theoretical and disciplinary perspectives. Conference web site: http://www.gesturestudies.com/isgs2012/ Plenary speakers (confirmed): - Jana Iverson, University of Pittsburgh - Spencer Kelly, Colgate University - Stefan Kopp, Bielefeld University - Lorenza Mondada, University of Basel - Wendy Sandler, University of Haifa Call We invite abstracts (max 300 words) of unpublished work for individual papers, posters, and thematic panels. - Papers will be 30 minutes; 20 minutes for presentation and 10 for discussion. - Thematic panels are welcome and encouraged. The thematic panels should focus on a well-defined research topic. Each panel will be allocated 2 hours, which should include opening and closing remarks, individual papers, discussants (if included) and general discussion. - Posters are intended as a format for reports on work in progress. Each author may submit no more than three abstracts: one as main author and two as co-author). Important dates: - January 31, 2012: deadline for all submissions - March 31, 2012: notification of acceptance - July 24-27, 2012: conference, starting in the morning July 24, closing in the afternoon on July 27. Conference language The conference language is English. Sign language interpreters will be available. Local committee: - Prof. Marianne Gullberg, Lund University - Dr. Mats Andrén, Lund University - Prof. Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, University of Copenhagen - Dr. Maria Graziano, Lund University - Dr. Agneta Gulz, Lund University - Dr. Elaine Madsen, Lund University - Sandra Debreslioska, MA, Lund University - Maja Petersson, Lund University From tthornes at uca.edu Mon Dec 12 13:09:25 2011 From: tthornes at uca.edu (Tim Thornes) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:09:25 -0600 Subject: TAN: Best sellers Message-ID: For the record, I have known plenty of working-class intellectuals, *even* here in the U.S. T >>> 12/11/11 4:25 PM >>> This is getting even more off topic (if that's possible), but if you think that intellectual pursuits aren't stigmatized in England, you haven't met too many working-class Englishmen. They think any intellectual male must be gay. John Quoting Daniel Riaסo : > Yes, the remark was done tongue-in-cheek, but the fact that a book with the > word "grammar" (correctly spelled) in the cover (and even with the air of a > Routledge actual grammar) hits the best-selling list is noteworthy per se. > A very encomiastic review > here > . > > 2011/12/11 Darin Len Arrick > > > The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a non-fiction > > title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. > > > > > > -- > > Darin Arrick > > The University of Arizona > > Undergraduate Class of 2012 > > Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy > > Member, UofA Honors College > > darrick at email.arizona.edu > > > > > > On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: > > > Probably. > > > > > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even > > avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is > > _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > > > > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The Purveyor > > of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. I'm > > sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely > > Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > > > > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave lying > > around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone 4S > > (and its dead battery). > > > > > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's publicist......... > > > > > > -- Mark > > > > > > > > > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaסo wrote: > > > > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week > > >> Bestsellers, > > >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best selling book > > in > > >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From john at research.haifa.ac.il Mon Dec 12 15:30:38 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:30:38 +0200 Subject: TAN: Best sellers In-Reply-To: <4EE5A8A502000087000BBBDC@gwia1.uca.edu> Message-ID: I have the feeling that there are MORE working-class intellectual males in the US than in England--there's less of a stigma regarding the implications for one's masculinity in the US. That was my point. John Quoting Tim Thornes : > For the record, I have known plenty of working-class intellectuals, > *even* here in the U.S. T > > >>> 12/11/11 4:25 PM >>> > This is getting even more off topic (if that's possible), but if you > think that > intellectual pursuits aren't stigmatized in England, you haven't met too > many > working-class Englishmen. They think any intellectual male must be gay. > John > > > > Quoting Daniel Riaסo : > > > Yes, the remark was done tongue-in-cheek, but the fact that a book > with the > > word "grammar" (correctly spelled) in the cover (and even with the air > of a > > Routledge actual grammar) hits the best-selling list is noteworthy per > se. > > A very encomiastic review > > > here > > . > > > > 2011/12/11 Darin Len Arrick > > > > > The book is fiction, but has what is normally considered a > non-fiction > > > title. It's not actually a grammar of Finnish. > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Darin Arrick > > > The University of Arizona > > > Undergraduate Class of 2012 > > > Major: Linguistics, Minor: Philosophy > > > Member, UofA Honors College > > > darrick at email.arizona.edu > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Mark Line wrote: > > > > Probably. > > > > > > > > But that's England, after all, where intellectual pursuits, even > > > avocational ones, are not stigmatized. The 10th best-selling book is > > > _Quantum Universe_ according to that same list. > > > > > > > > By comparison, this week's bestsellers in USA Today (a.k.a. The > Purveyor > > > of American Culture) are mostly youth pulp, as nearly as I can tell. > I'm > > > sure they're popular among most adult Americans since they're likely > > > Flesch-tested to 6th grade or so. > > > > > > > > Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs is #5 -- something you can leave > lying > > > around on your coffee table while you're showing off your new iPhone > 4S > > > (and its dead battery). > > > > > > > > Still, I guess I might want to hire Diego Marani's > publicist......... > > > > > > > > -- Mark > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Dec 11, 2011, at 14:56 , Daniel Riaסo wrote: > > > > > > > >> According to The Guardian's This Week > > > >> Bestsellers, > > > >> Diego Marani's "New Finnish Grammar" is this week 3rd best > selling book > > > in > > > >> England. This is something of a record, isn't it? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From grvsmth at panix.com Tue Dec 13 18:33:20 2011 From: grvsmth at panix.com (Angus B. Grieve-Smith) Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:33:20 -0500 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <1323666590.4ee58c9e8ceb8@webmail.haifa.ac.il> Message-ID: On Mon, December 12, 2011 12:09 am, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > It does, but it isn't used consistently, and it still wouldn't be nearly > enough if it's just used for commas-for-breaks. I was talking about the question mark, which corresponds to a particular set of intonational contours in English. If there isn't already a symbol in the writing system you're using for Dinka that can reliably disambiguate the relevant intonation contours, why not invent one? -- -Angus B. Grieve-Smith grvsmth at panix.com From john at research.haifa.ac.il Tue Dec 13 19:31:10 2011 From: john at research.haifa.ac.il (john at research.haifa.ac.il) Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:31:10 +0200 Subject: Standardizing relativization in Dinka (and other languages?) In-Reply-To: <329b6bba4ec01d6cdedfcaeef1d3b83e.squirrel@mail.panix.com> Message-ID: Hmm. That's an idea. I wouldn't want to invent a new symbol which they'd need a special keyboard for, but one of the others. I am planning on using a number of punctuation marks to mark morphophonemic function, but there should be some extras on a normal keyboard (semi-colon? Greece uses it for questions). I guess the marker would go at the end of the relative clause? That seems the simplest solution. I'll have to think about this in more specific terms. Thanks, John Quoting "Angus B. Grieve-Smith" : > > On Mon, December 12, 2011 12:09 am, john at research.haifa.ac.il wrote: > > It does, but it isn't used consistently, and it still wouldn't be nearly > > enough if it's just used for commas-for-breaks. > > I was talking about the question mark, which corresponds to a particular > set of intonational contours in English. If there isn't already a symbol > in the writing system you're using for Dinka that can reliably > disambiguate the relevant intonation contours, why not invent one? > > -- > -Angus B. Grieve-Smith > grvsmth at panix.com > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This message was sent using IMP, the Webmail Program of Haifa University From eep at hum.ku.dk Thu Dec 15 13:07:16 2011 From: eep at hum.ku.dk (Elisabeth Engberg - Pedersen) Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:07:16 +0100 Subject: PhD-course Methodology of Linguistics Research Message-ID: APOLOGIES FOR CROSSPOSTINGS http://phd.hum.ku.dk/linguistics/courses/linguisticmethods/ Methodology of Lingusitic Research Time: January 23 - 27, 2011 Venue: Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 120, room 23.2.39 This course aims at giving the participants an introduction to the basic methodologies available in research into language and discourse. The first day will be devoted to the general theory of science as it pertains to research into language and discourse. Central aspects of the collection and treatment of data will be discussed, with an attempt to create a common overview and a first acquaintance with the many theoretical and methodological approaches that are applied in the PhD projects present at the course. The three following days will take us into the methods traditionally used in formal, functional, computational, cognitive and socio-linguistic approaches. The fifth and final day we will again try to combine the general with the specific and discuss how the different approaches relate to each other, and whether ‘I' learnt something that might be advantageously applied in my project from enlarging my acquaintance with other paradigms and approaches. In order to secure the realism of this course framework and a red thread throughout, the same two teachers, Tore Kristiansen and Pia Quist, will be present during the whole course. Registration: Before January 9 th, 2012. Please fill out the registration form (see the top of this page, to the right) and upload an abstract of your project See what the abstract must contain below. We accept applications from PhD students, i.e. graduate students who have finished an MA and are working on a PhD project. Information about admittance will be sent out to applicants shortly after January 13th. Abstract Applicants should write a max. two pages description of their project, outlining: (1) the stage of the project (whether you are just beginning or perhaps close to finishing) (2) the research question (3) the theoretical framework (4) the kind(s) of data that have been or will be collected (5) the methods that have been or will be used to collect the data (6) the methods that have been or will be used to analyze the data These descriptions from the 20 admitted applicants will be posted on this website in order to give all participants the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the gamut of research interests involved at the course. Credits: 4 ECTS. A course certificate will be issued to participants who have participated in at least 80% of the course. Course coordinators: Tore Kristiansen, Pia Quist Programe Monday 23rd (Detailed Programme - Link: Morning and Afternoon) General theory of science as it pertains to research into language and discourse. Data collection and data analysis. Overview of projects. Teachers: Tore Kristiansen and Pia Quist Tuesday 24th Sociolinguistics and Conversational analysis Teachers, morning: Tore Kristiansen and Pia Quist (Detailed Programme - Link) Teacher, afternoon: Johannes Wagner (Detailed Programme - Link) Wednesday 25th Formal and Corpus linguistics Teacher, morning: Per Anker Jensen (Detailed Programme - Link) Teacher, afternoon: Frans Gregersen Thursday 26th Functional and Cognitive Linguistics Teacher, morning: Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen (Detailed Programme - Link) Teacher, afternoon: Lars Heltoft (Detailed Programme - Link) Friday 27th (Detailed Programme - Link) >>From abstract theory and methodology to specific parameters and approaches: Did ‘I' learn anything that will benefit my work on my own project? Teachers: Tore Kristiansen and Pia Quist From v.evans at bangor.ac.uk Thu Dec 15 15:56:44 2011 From: v.evans at bangor.ac.uk (Vyv Evans) Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:56:44 +0000 Subject: EXTENDED DEADLINE 20th Dec -- UK-CLC4, London 2012 Message-ID: *EXTENDED DEADLINE -- 20 December 2011* 4^th UK COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS CONFERENCE -- LONDON 2012 The 4th UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference (UK-CLC4) will take place 10-12 July 2012 at King's College London, London, UK. Confirmed keynote speakers: * Professor Stephen Levinson (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) * Professor George Lakoff (University of California - Berkeley) * Professor Gilles Fauconnier (University of California - San Diego) * Professor Elena Lieven (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) * Professor Martin Pickering (University of Edinburgh) * Professor Lawrence Barsalou (Emory University) We invite the submission of abstracts (for paper or poster presentations) addressing all aspects of Cognitive Linguistics. These include, but are by no means limited to: * Domains and frame semantics * Categorisation, prototypes and polysemy * Metaphor and metonymy * Mental spaces and conceptual blending * Cognitive and construction grammar * Embodiment and linguistic relativity * Language acquisition and language impairment * Language evolution and language change * Language use Cognitive Linguistics is an inherently interdisciplinary enterprise which is broadly concerned with the connection between language and cognition in relation to body, culture and contexts of use. We therefore invite interdisciplinary research that combines theories and methods from across the cognitive, biological and social sciences. These include, but are not limited to: * Linguistics * Psycholinguistics * Anthropology * Evolution * Paleoanthropology * Primatology * Neuroscience * Cognitive and developmental psychology * Discourse and Communication studies Talks will be allocated 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for question. Posters will stay up for a day and be allocated to dedicated, timetabled sessions. The language of the conference is English. Abstracts of no more than 300 words (excluding references) should be submitted online at www.cognitivelinguistics.org.uk/submission/ All abstracts will be subject to double-blind peer review by an international Scientific Committee. The deadline for abstract submission is 20 December, 2011. Notification of acceptance decisions will be communicated by 15 February 2012. For further information, please visit the conference website at www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/education/events/ukclc4 or contact the Local Organising Committee at uk-clc4 at kcl.ac.uk *EXTENDED DEADLINE -- 20 December 2011* REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN All attendees must register for the conference in advance. Registration is irrespective of whether an attendee is presenting at the conference or not. For further details and to register, please visit: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/education/events/ukclc4/reg.html ACCOMMODATION *We strongly encourage you to arrange accommodation as soon as possible, due to the London 2012 Olympics. Please visit: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/education/events/ukclc4/accomm.html * VISAS Please check with the UK Border Agency whether you need a visa and how to obtain one if necessary. If you do require a visa, it is most likely a Business Visitor Visa that you need as this applies to academics attending conferences. Please contact the Local Organising Committee at uk-clc4 at kcl.ac.uk to arrange for a letter of invitation, but note that we can only issue letters of invitations to participants who have formally registered for the conference. -- Professor/Yr Athro Vyv Evans Professor of Linguistics/Athro mewn Ieithyddiaeth www.vyvevans.net Head of School/Pennaeth yr Ysgol School of Linguistics & English Language/ Ysgol Ieithyddiaeth a Iaith Saesneg Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor www.bangor.ac.uk/linguistics Deputy Head of College (Research)/ Dirprwy Bennaeth y Coleg (Ymchwil) College of Arts and Humanities/ Coleg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau Bangor University/Prifysgol Bangor General Editor of 'Language & Cognition' A Mouton de Gruyter journal www.languageandcognition.net -- Rhif Elusen Gofrestredig / Registered Charity No. 1141565 Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk From Maj-Britt.MosegaardHansen at manchester.ac.uk Fri Dec 16 14:58:21 2011 From: Maj-Britt.MosegaardHansen at manchester.ac.uk (Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen) Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:58:21 +0000 Subject: Funding for Ph.D.-students in French linguistics Message-ID: Funding for Doctoral Research in French Studies University of Manchester December 2011 The University of Manchester is offering a number of awards to which individuals wishing to work on PhD topics related to French Studies are encouraged to apply. French Studies at Manchester achieved one of the best scores for its field in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. Our research is strongly interdisciplinary, and we run a thriving Centre for Research in the Visual Cultures of the French-Speaking World (CRIVCOF). PhD students at Manchester are supported by a dynamic research culture and excellent opportunities for research training (http://www.artsmethods.manchester.ac.uk/). We offer expert PhD supervision across a wide range of areas, including: * Linguistics; pragmatics; semantics; variation/change; discourse/interaction; functional/cognitive linguistics (Prof Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen) · Discourse markers; context construction; cohesion in discourse; biolinguistics; argumentation theory (Dr Thanh Nyan) For further information on individual colleagues' research interests and publications, visit: http://staffprofiles.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/StaffList.aspx?ou=I4042. The two main sources of funding, which comprise a fee-bursary and a maintenance grant, are AHRC awards and the University-funded President's Doctoral Scholar Awards. 1. AHRC awards Awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) are competitive and provide payment of tuition fees and a maintenance stipend for UK students, and tuition fees (and a maintenance stipend, subject to eligibility criteria) for EU students. The closing date for AHRC applications is Friday 2 March 2012. 2. President's Doctoral Scholar Awards The University of Manchester has launched a new 2.5m investment in PhD training with the creation of the President's Doctoral Scholar Awards. These awards are open to all new PhD students from all nationalities and research areas. The award covers tuition fees (home/EU or international, as appropriate) and the equivalent of the research council stipend (£13,590 in 2011-12). A completed funding application form should be submitted by Friday 2 March 2012 at the latest. To ensure that you are holding an offer of a place by the funding closing date, please submit your online application for a place on the PhD programme no later than Wednesday 15 February 2012. For funding information and guidelines about how to apply, please visit: http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding/ For informal inquiries about the academic side of the application process, please contact: Professor Dee Reynolds (dee.reynolds at manchester.ac.uk) For questions about the administrative side of the application process, please contact: Ms Rachel Corbishley (Rachel.Corbishley at manchester.ac.uk ) __________________________________________________________ Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen Professor of French Language and Linguistics School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, The University of Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom Tel.: +44(0)161 306-1733 Web site: http://staffprofiles.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/Profile.aspx?Id=Maj-Britt.MosegaardHansen From t.krennmayr at vu.nl Tue Dec 20 12:25:23 2011 From: t.krennmayr at vu.nl (Krennmayr, T.) Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:25:23 +0000 Subject: Metaphor Lab - new website Message-ID: The Metaphor Lab at VU University Amsterdam has launched a new website. http://www.metaphorlab.vu.nl From k.donnelly at lancaster.ac.uk Tue Dec 20 14:59:53 2011 From: k.donnelly at lancaster.ac.uk (Donnelly, Karen) Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:59:53 +0000 Subject: First call for papers: Seventh Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and English Language 2012 Message-ID: The Seventh Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference In Linguistics And English Language THE SEVENTH LANCASTER UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE IN LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE Friday 13 July 2012 http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/laelpgconference/ FIRST CALL FOR ABSTRACTS We are pleased to announce the Seventh Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and English Language (LAEL PG Conference) which will take place at Lancaster University’s Bailrigg Conference Centre, on Friday 13 July 2012. This one-day conference is designed to give linguistics postgraduates from all research areas an opportunity to present and discuss their research in an informal and intellectually stimulating setting. This year’s conference will be opened by Prof Elena Semino (Lancaster University), and there will be guest plenary lectures by: Prof Ruth Wodak (Lancaster University) Dr Paul Baker (Lancaster University). We invite postgraduate students to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations on any area of linguistics, theoretical or applied (see below for abstract submission guidelines) addressing the topic ‘Language in Context’. Key Dates Abstracts must be received by: Monday 19 March 2012 Notification of acceptance: Monday 30 April 2012 Early bird pre-registration deadline: Monday 21 May 2012 Late registration deadline: Sunday 17 June 2012 Conference: Friday 13 July 2012 The Seventh Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference In Linguistics And English Language Abstract Submission Guidelines Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and should be submitted via e-mail as an attachment (Microsoft Word/PDF). Abstracts should not include the author’s name or any other identifying information. Abstracts should be sent to lancspg2012 at gmail.com. The deadline is 19 March 2012. No late submissions will be accepted. All submissions will be blind peer-reviewed. Note that we can ONLY accept abstracts from POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS. We are unable to consider abstracts from authors whose doctoral awards have already been made. Please note: the 300-word limit does not include title, keywords and references. The subject line of the email should contain the words "Abstract submission". Your email message must contain the following information: 1. The title and the presentation type (oral or poster) 2. The name(s) of the author(s) and their affiliation(s) 3. A brief author’s biography (up to 40 words) 4. The author’s e-mail address and contact details 5. Preferably, the main and secondary area of your research, from the list below:  Cognitive linguistics  Corpus linguistics  Critical discourse analysis  Historical linguistics  Literacy studies  Pragmatics/semantics  Phonetics/phonology  Second language teaching/learning/assessment  Sociolinguistics  Syntax/morphology  Stylistics  Translation studies  Other: please specify Presentation Guidelines Accepted abstracts will be allotted 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion. There will be a dedicated poster session on the day of the conference. The Seventh Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference In Linguistics And English Language Publication Guidelines Speakers will also be invited to submit their papers for publication in Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching, Vol. 7: Papers from LAEL PG 2012. This is a peer-reviewed, open-access online publication featuring full papers from the annual Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching (LAEL PG). Please visit http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/pgconference/v01.htm for previous years’ publications. Further Information For further information, please visit our website http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/laelpgconference/ If you have any queries, please email lancspg2012 at gmail.com. Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/LancsPGconferenceLinguistics Twitter page https://twitter.com/#!/LAELPostgradCon From hsimpson at umail.ucsb.edu Tue Dec 27 18:03:48 2011 From: hsimpson at umail.ucsb.edu (Heather E. Simpson) Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:03:48 -0800 Subject: 1st CFP: Cognition and Language Workshop (CLaW) Message-ID: **Apologies for multiple postings** ------------------------------------------ *Cognition and Language Workshop: Call for Papers* **University of California, Santa Barbara, April 14 2012** The Cognition and Language Workshop (CLaW) invites abstracts for talks involving the relation between language and cognition. We welcome talks that investigate language as a cognitive activity as well as talks investigating cognition as a dimension of language. Talks may involve any area of linguistics --- phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, computational linguistics, and others. We especially encourage empirical data-driven perspectives, as well as interdisciplinary talks connecting linguistics to other disciplines within cognitive science. CLaW is organized by SCUL (Studying the Cognitive Underpinnings of Language), an interdisciplinary research group at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Talks will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. Abstracts should describe the methodology used, as well as the conclusions. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words (not including references), and should not contain the author's name or any other identifying information. Abstracts should be in PDF or ODT (OpenOffice/OpenDocument) format. For co-authored papers, please indicate who plans to present the paper. To submit an abstract, email your PDF or ODT file to claw.ucsb at gmail.com. Please include the following information in the body of the email (not in the attached file) : (1) your name; (2) affiliation; (3) mailing address; (4) phone number; (5) email address; (6) title of your paper. DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS: Monday, February 13, 2012. Notification of acceptance will be by email no later than February 27, 2012 Information about registration and travel accommodations are posted on the CLaW website: http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/claw/logistics.html For further information, feel free to contact the conference coordinators at claw.ucsb at gmail.com. From dan at daneverett.org Tue Dec 27 20:57:13 2011 From: dan at daneverett.org (Daniel Everett) Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:57:13 -0500 Subject: Mary Haas interview Message-ID: I am sure that many will have seen this interesting interview with Mary Haas. But I just stumbled across it. It is, for linguists (!), quite fascinating and full of information about early to mid 20th century linguists and linguistics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwab3RfDaWw Dan From lkpinette at gmail.com Wed Dec 28 11:51:06 2011 From: lkpinette at gmail.com (Luke Kundl Pinette) Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:51:06 +0200 Subject: Phrases of politeness Message-ID: Hello all, I'm curious as to whether there's been any research done on systematics of standard terms of politeness, in the same was as for color or evidentiality. Most materials for learning languages seem to assume that each language has distinct terms for hello, goodbye, good morning/afternoon/evening/night, please, thank you, I'm sorry, and excuse me/pardon. This make things interesting in cases like Korean, which uses one greeting for all times of the day but distinguishes formality, or Hawaiian, which uses the same term for "hello" and "goodbye." (My Arabic teacher also claimed that "you're welcome" and "sorry" are the same term in Modern Standard Arabic, though every Arabic speaker I've met claims this isn't the case in their variety of spoken Arabic.) On the other hand, it seems reasonable to assume that some languages might have more such distinctions. I have a few examples, but I don't speak more than a few phrases of any of these languages, and haven't had the opportunity to interrogate native speakers. * I've been told by English speakers of Korean that there are two forms of "goodbye" depending on whether the speaker is staying or going going "anyeongikaseo" and "anyeongikeseo." (I forget which is which.) * I think that the Japanese term "sumimasen" which can mean "thank you" or "I'm sorry" might roughly correspond to "thanks, and I'm sorry for the trouble," as opposed to "gomen nasai" (sorry) or "arigatoo" (thanks), but the one Japanese speaker I asked told me it's just a three-way distinction an English speaker won't be able to make. * Wikitravel claims that Georgian has four forms of pardon/excuse me/sorry, which appear to making distinctions not present in English, though I won't even try to speculate on the exact glosses. /uk'atsravad/ (excuse me: pay attention), /map'atiye (excuse me/pardon)/ /bodishi, (//excuse me/pardon/sorry), //vts'ukhvar/ (sorry) So I guess my questions are: 1. Can anybody confirm, deny, or correct the above examples? 2. Does anybody know other such additional distinctions in other languages? 3. Does anyone know if there's been research into the systematics of politeness. (E.g. A language that distinguishes "sorry" and "excuse me" will also distinguish "hello" and "goodbye" or somesuch.) Thanks and regards (and a happy early New Year's), Luke From caterina.mauri at unipv.it Thu Dec 29 14:41:52 2011 From: caterina.mauri at unipv.it (Caterina Mauri) Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:41:52 +0100 Subject: 2nd Call for Papers - SLE 2012 Workshop on "The meaning and form of vagueness: a cross-linguistic perspective" Message-ID: *** WE APOLOGIZE FOR CROSS-POSTING *** ------------------------ Workshop on: THE MEANING AND FORM OF VAGUENESS: A CROSS-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE 45th Annual Meeting of Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE2012) Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University Stockholm (Sweden), 29 August-1 September 2012 http://www.societaslinguistica.eu http://sle2012.eu Workshop Website: https://sites.google.com/site/workshopvagueness2012/ ------------------------ CONVENORS: Francesca Masini (University of Bologna) – francesca.masini at unibo.it Caterina Mauri (University of Pavia) – caterina.mauri at unipv.it Lucia Tovena (University of Paris VII) – tovena at linguist.jussieu.fr Miriam Voghera (University of Salerno) – voghera at unisa.it SUBFIELDS Historical linguistics, intonation, lexicon, pragmatics, semantics, syntax, typology. KEYWORDS Approximation, categorization, identification, (in)definiteness, (in)determinacy, vagueness. CALL FOR PAPERS - Important dates Abstracts should be submitted to SLE by 15 January 2012 via the conference site (http://www.sle2012.eu/), specifying that the abstract is intended as an “Oral Presentation” in our workshop. The slots last 30 minutes (including discussion: 20+10). Abstracts should be anonymous and contain between 400 and 500 words (exclusive of references). They should state research questions, approach, method, data and (expected) results. Abstracts will receive three scores, two by two members of the SLE 2012 Scientific Committee and one by the workshop convenors. Notification of acceptance will be given by 31 March 2012. For any information please contact workshop.vagueness2012 at gmail.com. For news and updates, please visit the workshop website: https://sites.google.com/site/workshopvagueness2012/ DESCRIPTION “Is it even always an advantage to replace an indistinct picture by a sharp one? Isn’t the indistinct one often exactly what we need?” (Wittgenstein 1953). Indeed, vagueness is a basic property of human languages, which manifests itself at all level of signification and in a number of different ways (Channel 1994). Vagueness is basic in that it fulfills the important communicative task of conveying a piece of information that is indefinite, imprecise, in a word “vague”. The notion of vagueness is part of different scholar traditions and has received numerous definitions. Traditionally, for philosophers and formal linguists, a sentence is vague when it does not give rise to precise truth conditions, and the vagueness of an expression originates in imperfect discrimination (Sorensen 2006, van Rooij 2011), e.g. gradable adjectives or quantity adjectives. In this tradition, a vague expression is not well defined with respect to the specific entities in its domain of application, or when truth is not preserved when moving from a case of which it is true to qualitatively very similar cases (sorites) (Hyde 2005), or when the cutoff point of a series is not known. However, the coverage of the term can be broadened, since vagueness may also concern the information that is communicated and may affect the identification of the referent, be it a class or an entity. Therefore we can recognize two different levels of vagueness: a systemic vagueness, closely related to the notion of indeterminacy, which responds to the general need of multiplicity of meaning in linguistic expressions, and a contextual vagueness, which refers to the multiple determinability of the meaning and function of words or expressions depending on specific speakers’ choices and situational needs. In other words, forms of vagueness may also concern the very content a sentence is meant to convey. We refer to this as “intentional vagueness”. The aim of the workshop is to gather together scholars working on the form and meaning of intentional vagueness, namely on the fact that some constructions (at whatever level, of whatever type) are used by the speakers precisely to encode a vague referent or state of affairs. This type of vagueness can be conveyed by a variety of forms at different levels of encoding, which, by virtue of their belonging to different domains, are often studied by distinct subfields and linguistic traditions: a) syntax: see binominal constructions with approximators of the sort/kind type (cf. Tabor 1994, Denison 2002 for English; Mihatsch 2007, Masini 2010 for Romance languages), some of which have developed into hedges with a more metalinguistic function (Lakoff 1972, Kay 1997), but also some kinds of list constructions, which have been proved to have an approximating function (Bonvino, Masini & Pietrandrea 2009), or again connectives that encode the non-finite nature of the set of linked elements, thus serving as vagueness markers; b) lexicon and semantics: see the relationship between the coding of vagueness and a specific type of lexical source which is recurrent in different languages, e.g. the class of taxonomic nouns, such as Italian tipo (Voghera to appear), Swedish typ (Rosenkvist & Skärlund to appear), French genre (Fleischmen & Yaguello 2004); c) pragmatics: discourse studies have a special role in the investigation of vagueness, since a number of expressions encoding vagueness (e.g. adverbs, connectives, vague category identifiers or general extenders, cf. Channel 1994, Overstreet 1999, Mihatsch 2009) have been mainly examined in terms of their function in discourse, rather than as markers that bear a grammatical meaning (cf. Dubois 1992, Dines 1980, Aijmer 1985 who assimilate these constructions to discourse markers); d) and, recently, intonation: it is generally recognized that vagueness is more frequent in spoken discourse than in written language (Biber et al. 1999) and that prosody can play a crucial role in conveying a vague interpretation of a chunk of speech (Warren 2007). What emerges from this picture is a great specialization in individual areas, but very little communication between the various subfields and methodologies. Moreover, we observe a lack of a true cross-linguistic perspective. This workshop aims at investigating the following three lines of research: 1) Cross-linguistic variation and diachronic paths in the coding of intentional vagueness - How are the various types of vagueness encoded in the world’s languages? Is it possible to identify recurrent patterns? Are there significant typological differences? - On what levels may vagueness be encoded (intonation, lexicon, morphology, syntax, discourse)? Do different levels match with different types of vagueness (e.g. vagueness conveyed syntactically vs. vagueness conveyed phonetically)? - Are there recurrent diachronic patterns leading to the coding of vagueness? - Are specific categories more apt to be reanalyzed as vagueness markers (e.g. connectives, generic nouns, epistemic adverbs)? The latter question is directly related to the second line of research we propose to explore. 2) Intentional vagueness and other functional domains: delimitation issues - How is intentional vagueness connected with phenomena such as indefiniteness, indeterminacy and non-factuality/irrealis that have been discussed in the literature (cf. Lyons 1999, Jayez & Tovena 2006, Mauri & Sansò to appear)? - Assuming that vagueness is a category of its own, then how can we tell it apart from the above-mentioned domains? - Assuming, instead, that vagueness is a larger category, can we say that there are different types of vagueness that typically trigger different encoding strategies across the world’s languages (e.g. indefinite reference is typically encoded by pronouns, adjectives and adverbs)? - In any of the above cases, what would be the best way to represent the relation between all these expressions and their distribution in the languages of the world (e.g. a semiotic hierarchy, a functional map)? 3) Theoretical and metalinguistic issues: how to talk about vagueness? Given the great intra- and cross-linguistic variation in the coding of vagueness, and the lack of a systematic analysis of intentional vagueness, there is a tendency to overproduce ad-hoc categories for given strategies, suffice it to mention the great variety of terms used to name so-called general extenders (Overstreet 1999), e.g.: set marking tags (Dines 1980), utterance-final tags (Aijmer 1985), extension particles (Dubois 1993), vague category identifiers (Channel 1994), post-detailing component (Selting 2006). This probably depends on various factors: - first, the defining criteria of traditional grammatical categories are of little help in identifying the vagueness functions of the investigated constructions. What about items such as English etcetera or Italian tipo: does it say something about their semantics to describe them in terms of “adverbs”? Another case in point is the Italian connective piuttosto che, which has recently developed the value ‘or something like that’ in particular syntactic contexts (Mauri & Giacalone Ramat 2011): is it useful to still analyze it as a connective even if it does not link anything in such contexts? - secondly, vagueness markers are difficult to classify because they may have a reduced or broader distribution than other items of the same grammatical class; - third, vagueness is not only a semantic phenomenon, nor a purely morphosyntactic one, but it may be rather encoded across different levels, and can require multilevel criteria and representation tools. All these factors – we believe – produce great terminological variation and many distinctions. In our opinion, a better understanding of such a complex phenomenon would take great advantage of an effort also on the metalinguistic side: this would be a decisive step not only forward a better descriptive adequacy, but also forward a better explicative adequacy. In other words, we should try to be less ‘vague’ when we talk about vagueness if we want to develop a good theory of vagueness. TOPICS We welcome submissions discussing the form and meaning of vagueness from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective, in line with the questions raised above. Topics of interest include: - identification and description of specific constructions encoding intentional vagueness (at any level of analysis) in one or more languages; - identification and description of strategies (e.g. connectives, adverbs, etc.) used for coding intentional vagueness intra- and cross-linguistically; - typological studies describing recurrent patterns in the coding of intentional vagueness; - synchronic and diachronic analyses regarding the relation of vagueness with (what seem to be) functionally related domains (such as indeterminacy, indefiniteness, non-factuality/irrealis); - diachronic analyses regarding the emergence of constructions encoding intentional vagueness in the languages of the world; - cognitive or formal representations of intentional vagueness, as part of the meaning encoded by a linguistic expression. References Aijmer, Karin. 1985. What happens at the end of our utterances? The use of utterance-final tags introduced by ‘and’ and ‘or’. Papers from the 8th Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics, 366-389. Copenhagen: Institut for Philologie, Kopenhaven University. Biber, Douglas et al. 1999. Longman Grammar of Written and Spoken Language. Essex, England: Pearson Education. Bonvino, Elisabetta, Francesca Masini & Paola Pietrandrea. 2009. List constructions: a semantic network. Paper presented at the 3rd International AFLiCo Conference –Grammars in Construction(s), Paris, May 27-29, 2009. Channell, Joanna. 1994. Vague Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Denison, David. 2002. History of the sort of construction family. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Construction Grammar (ICCG2), Helsinki, September 6-8, 2002. Dines, Elizabeth. 1980. Variation in discourse–and stuff like that. Language in Society 1: 13-31. DuBois, Sylvie. 1993. Extension particles, etc. Language Variation and Change 4: 179-203. Fleischman, Suzanne & Marina Yaguello. 2004. Discourse markers across languages: evidence from English and French. In Carolin Lynn Moder & Aida Martinovic-Zic (eds.), Discourse across languages and cultures, 129–148. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Hyde, Dominic. 2005. Sorites. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sorites-paradox. Jayez, Jacques & Lucia M. Tovena. 2006. Epistemic determiners. Journal of Semantics 23(3). 217-250. Kay, Paul. 1997. The kind of / sort of constructions. In Paul Kay, Words and the meaning of context, 145-158. Stanford: CSLI Publications. Lakoff, George. 1972. Hedges: a study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts. In Paul Peranteau et al. (eds.), Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 183-228. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Margerie, Hélène. 2010. On the rise of (inter)subjective meaning in the grammaticalization of kind of/kinda. In Kristine Davidse et al. (eds.), Subjectification, intersubjectification and grammaticalization, 315-346. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Masini, Francesca (2010), Binominal constructions in Italian of the N-di-N type: towards a typology of light noun constructions. Paper presented at the Workshop on Binominal syntagms as a neglected locus of synchronic variation and diachronic change: Towards a unified approach, 43rd SLE Annual Meeting, Vilnius, 2-5 September 2010. Mauri Caterina & Anna Giacalone Ramat. 2011. Restricted indefiniteness: the case of Italian piuttosto che. Paper presented at the 44th SLE Annual Meeting. Logroño, 9-11 September 2011. Mauri, Caterina & Andrea Sansò (eds.). To appear. What do languages encode when they encode reality status? Special issue to appear in Language Sciences. Mithasch, Wiltrud. 2007. The construction of vagueness: “sort of” expressions in Romance languages. In Günter Radden, Klaus-Michael Köpke, Thomas Berg & Peter Siemund (eds.), Aspects of meaning constructiong meaning: from concepts to utterances, 225-245. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Mithasch, Wiltrud. 2009. The approximators French comme Italian come, Portuguese como Spanish como from a grammaticalization perspective. In Corinne Rossari et al. (eds.), Grammaticalization and pragmatics: facts, approaches, theoretical issues, 65-92. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Overstreet, Marianne 1999. Whales, Candlelight, and Stuff Like That: General Extenders in English Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press. Overstreet, Maryann. 2005. And stuff und so: investigating pragmatics expressions in English and German. Journal of Pragmatics 37. 1845-1864. Rooij, Rob van. 2011. Vagueness and linguistics. In Giuseppina Ronzitti (ed.), Vagueness: a guide. Heidelberg: Springer. Rosenkvist, Henrik & Sanna Skärlund. To appear. Grammaticalization in the present – The changes of Modern Swedish typ. In Anna Giacalone Ramat, Caterina Mauri & Piera Molinelli (eds.), Synchrony and diachrony: a dynamic interface. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Selting, Margret. 2007. Lists as embedded structures and the prosody of list construction as an interactional resource. Journal of Pragmatics 39. 483-526. Sorensen, Roy. 2006. Vagueness. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vagueness/. Tabor, Whitney. 1994. The gradual development of degree modifier sort of and kind of. A corpus proximity model. In Katherine Beals et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 451-465. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. Voghera Miriam. To Appear. A case study on the relationship between grammatical change and synchronic variation: the emergence of tipo[-N] in the Italian language. In Anna Giacalone Ramat, Caterina Mauri & Piera Molinelli (eds.), Synchrony and diachrony: a dynamic interface. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. Warren, Martin. 2007. { / [ OH ] not a < ^ LOT > }: discourse intonation and vague language. In Joan Cutting (ed.), Vague language explored, 182-197. London: Palgrave McMillan --- Caterina Mauri Dept. of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics University of Pavia Strada Nuova 65 27100 Pavia Italy Email: caterina.mauri at unipv.it Homepage: http://lettere.unipv.it/diplinguistica/docenti.php?&id=1114 From elc9j at virginia.edu Thu Dec 29 15:49:47 2011 From: elc9j at virginia.edu (Ellen Contini-Morava) Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:47 -0500 Subject: Phrases of politeness In-Reply-To: <4EFB02AA.8030104@gmail.com> Message-ID: A classic paper is Charles Ferguson's "The Structure and Use of Politeness Formulas", Language in Society 5, 137-151. He has some examples from Arabic as well as English and some other languages. Happy new year to all, Ellen On 12/28/2011 6:51 AM, Luke Kundl Pinette wrote: > Hello all, > I'm curious as to whether there's been any research done on > systematics of standard terms of politeness, in the same was as for > color or evidentiality. > > Most materials for learning languages seem to assume that each > language has distinct terms for hello, goodbye, good > morning/afternoon/evening/night, please, thank you, I'm sorry, and > excuse me/pardon. This make things interesting in cases like Korean, > which uses one greeting for all times of the day but distinguishes > formality, or Hawaiian, which uses the same term for "hello" and > "goodbye." (My Arabic teacher also claimed that "you're welcome" and > "sorry" are the same term in Modern Standard Arabic, though every > Arabic speaker I've met claims this isn't the case in their variety of > spoken Arabic.) > > On the other hand, it seems reasonable to assume that some languages > might have more such distinctions. I have a few examples, but I don't > speak more than a few phrases of any of these languages, and haven't > had the opportunity to interrogate native speakers. > > * I've been told by English speakers of Korean that there are two > forms of "goodbye" depending on whether the speaker is staying or > going going "anyeongikaseo" and "anyeongikeseo." (I forget which is > which.) > * I think that the Japanese term "sumimasen" which can mean "thank > you" or "I'm sorry" might roughly correspond to "thanks, and I'm > sorry for the trouble," as opposed to "gomen nasai" (sorry) or > "arigatoo" (thanks), but the one Japanese speaker I asked told me > it's just a three-way distinction an English speaker won't be able > to make. > * Wikitravel claims that Georgian has four forms of pardon/excuse > me/sorry, which appear to making distinctions not present in > English, though I won't even try to speculate on the exact glosses. > /uk'atsravad/ (excuse me: pay attention), /map'atiye (excuse > me/pardon)/ /bodishi, (//excuse me/pardon/sorry), //vts'ukhvar/ > (sorry) > > > So I guess my questions are: > 1. Can anybody confirm, deny, or correct the above examples? > 2. Does anybody know other such additional distinctions in other > languages? > 3. Does anyone know if there's been research into the systematics of > politeness. (E.g. A language that distinguishes "sorry" and "excuse > me" will also distinguish "hello" and "goodbye" or somesuch.) > > Thanks and regards (and a happy early New Year's), > Luke -- Ellen Contini-Morava Professor, Department of Anthropology Director, Program in Linguistics University of Virginia P.O. Box 400120 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4120 USA phone: +1 (434) 924-6825 fax: +1 (434) 924-1350