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<P>Hi </P>
<P>Echo fromations in Hindi-Urdu and other Indian languages serve both semantic and functional echoing, depending upon the context they are used in. For instance 'pen-ven' may mean 'pen and such items with which one can write' or 'related items such as 'stationary'. In fact echo formations in Indian languages help create superordiante structures. Thus words for English 'stationary', 'furniture' 'real estate' etc. do not have equivalents in mono words in most of the Indian languages . Instead we use echo formation for these. Thus [pen-ven] ' pen etc.'= stationary; [chair -vair] 'chair etc' = furniture; [makaan-vakaan] 'house etc' = real estate</P>
<P>Though I had discussed the topic of echo formation in my 'Reduplication' book as well as in the 'Semantic Universals in Indain Languages' (1994), a student of mine Mr. Shailendra Mohan undertook a detail study of Hindi Echo formations for his M.Phil. dissertation in 1999. I wish this work could be made available to all.</P>
<P>Anvita </P><BR><BR><BR>
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<DIV>Dr. Anvita Abbi </DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Professor of Linguistics</DIV>
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<DIV>Center of Linguistics and English</DIV>
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<DIV>School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies</DIV>
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<DIV>Jawaharlal Nehru University</DIV>
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<DIV>New Delhi 110067, India</DIV>
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<DIV>Phone 6591915, 6582315 [home]</DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: Michael Daniel <DANIEL@QUB.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: daniel@qub.com
<DIV></DIV>>To: LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: 'such as' (similative) plurals and associative plurals
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 02:06:18 +0400
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Hi
<DIV></DIV>>I want to make several points:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>1.
<DIV></DIV>>I support Edith's opinion that 'the Newtons' is not an ASP.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Edith A Moravcsik wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> > Expressions such as "the Shakespeares" or "the Newtons" do indeed differ
<DIV></DIV>> > from "the Smiths" etc.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>2. Is it not true that in European 'stylish' usages as "the Newtons" = 'people
<DIV></DIV>>like Newton', Newton himself is normally not included? (Like in "Newtons are
<DIV></DIV>>not born every day"). But probably it is only characteristic of Russian; native
<DIV></DIV>>speakers of other European languages should comment on that point.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>3. I feel that even in echo-formation which are mentioned by Anvita and which
<DIV></DIV>>are of course an exemplary case of what we discuss under 'such as' plurals the
<DIV></DIV>>inclusion of the referent of the stem is not necessary. When I say something
<DIV></DIV>>like "pen-men" = 'pens and alike' what I actually do is I use a notion of the
<DIV></DIV>>pen as a prototype of a large class of objects. When I say something like "I
<DIV></DIV>>don't need these pen-men" it does not suggest necessarily that what they want
<DIV></DIV>>me to take is 'pen + other objects' - it is simply a representative of a class
<DIV></DIV>>whose prototype is a pen. At least, that was my impression from the examples of
<DIV></DIV>>echo formation and the similar which I met in the literature. Probably Anvita
<DIV></DIV>>could help with that.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > It is interesting that Amharic -i:nna: is used both for the associative
<DIV></DIV>> > plural and also for constructions such as "the Newtons".
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>As I am learning too late, at least in several Turkic languages 'similative
<DIV></DIV>>plurals' of the kind 'the Newtons' and ASP of the kind 'Newton and his
<DIV></DIV>>associates' are identically expressed by general plural suffix (Chuvash,
<DIV></DIV>>Turkish)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Michael Daniel
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