name, internationality

[Kenneth Allen Hyde]

On Wed, 4 Aug 1999, Jeff Deby wrote:

> I definitely cringe at cutesy or forced-sounding ones.

Actually, I think that putting the I at the end of GALAI makes it seem
less forced (despite the fact that it is in fact an conscious artifice).
Of course, we could put a decided French spin on the whole thing, move
"international," and get GALIA.  But people might question our commitment
to cultural pluralism and diversity. =)  (I offer this, not in any
seriousness, but as an illustration of what I think you might mean by
"cutesy.")

> Question: if we have "international" in our title, does this mean we're
> prepared to, say, have conferences not in the USA?  If not, would that
> make us hypocritical or lip-servicing?

I don't see that having "international" in the name of the organization
necessarily commits us to having conferences outside the US.  Rather, it
can be read as making a claim about our membership or about our commitment
to including non-American research programs and theoretical frameworks.
On the other hand, I don't necessarily see why we shouldn't have a
conference that is held in more than one country.  I mean, would a
conference in Bruxelles be any more of a logistic nightmare than a
conference in Hawaii?  It seems like having a conference in Europe would
probably be easier than having one in quite a few US states; so why rule
it out?

Kenneth Allen Hyde     |  No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife
Univ. of Delaware      |  between the shoulder blades will seriously
Dept. of Linguistics   |  cramp his style  -- Old Jhereg proverb
kenny at Udel.Edu         |  A mind is a terrible toy to waste! -- Me

//www.ling.udel.edu/hyde/prof/ken.html