gems in diaries

[Ann Peters]

Tom Roeper's point about the usefulness of diaries for infrequent, but
notable phonomena is an important one. It also fits with Mike Tomasello's
piece on sampling frequency in a recent issue of JCL.
As it turned out, all 18 of the anomalous questions that Seth asked (e.g.
what are you cookin' on a hot? what is this a funny?) were recorded in his
father's diary notes. I don't think we found a single one on the tapes. On
the other hand, the tapes were invaluable for providing the background
information on the general development of his syntax, and questions in
particular. (Wilson & Peters, Language 64, 249-73, 1988; in case anyone
wants to read about them.)
ann


****************************
Dr. Ann M. Peters, Professor Emeritus
Graduate Chair                      http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/
Department of Linguistics
University of Hawai`i               email: ann at hawaii.edu
1890 East West Road, Rm 569         phone: 808 956-3241
Honolulu, HI  96822                 fax:   808 956-9166
http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/faculty/ann/