6.539 Qs: Vietnamese, Use of "many a...", Official lg, Tati & Talysh

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-539. Tue 11 Apr 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines: 141
 
Subject: 6.539 Qs: Vietnamese, Use of "many a...", Official lg, Tati & Talysh
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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               Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
               Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
               Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>
 
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1)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 22:52:19 -0500 (EST)
From: "Robert Port" (port at cs.indiana.edu)
Subject: Vietnamese tones in ascii?
 
2)
Date:        Fri, 07 Apr 95 01:11:15 EDT
From: cxyb (CXYB%MCGILLA.BITNET at VM1.MCGILL.CA)
Subject: THe use of "many a..."
 
3)
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 11:55:00 +0200 (DFT)
From: fs3a505 at rrz.uni-hamburg.de (A. Stenzel)
Subject: Official lg/USA
 
4)
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 14:39:27 +0100
From: Jan.Rijkhoff at uni-konstanz.de
Subject: Tati & Talysh
 
-------------------------Messages--------------------------------------
1)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 22:52:19 -0500 (EST)
From: "Robert Port" (port at cs.indiana.edu)
Subject: Vietnamese tones in ascii?
 
This brief article (suspiciously dated Apr 1) suggests that the
letters used to mark tone in Vietnamese as written in ascii calls for
frequent use of the sequence `sex'.  Is this for real?  How ARE tones
written in keyboard Vietnamese?
 
)From Edupage 4/4/95:
 
) TOO MUCH "SEX" SPOILS VIETNAM ONLINE TEST
) A test of Vietnam Prodigy was suspended because anti-smut software was
) overloaded, triggered too often by repeated use of the word "sex."  Because
) tonal marks required by the Vietnamese language are not correctly shown on
) the computer screen, Vietnamese users rely on Roman letters to indicate
) those marks, causing the letters "sex" to show up in about 85% of all
) messages.  (Agence France-Presse 4/1/95)
 
        Bob Port
        Linguistics/ Comp Sci/ Cog Sci
        Indiana University
        Bloomington, IN
 
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2)
Date:        Fri, 07 Apr 95 01:11:15 EDT
From: cxyb (CXYB%MCGILLA.BITNET at VM1.MCGILL.CA)
Subject: THe use of "many a..."
 
List members,
 
I have a question about the peculiar use of a singular after "many".
Is it accptable to use "many" in the following example, and, if so,
what's the justification for that?
 
        - He helped me with many a difficult problem
 
Thank you in advance,
 
Kevin McDade
McGill University
 
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3)
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 11:55:00 +0200 (DFT)
From: fs3a505 at rrz.uni-hamburg.de (A. Stenzel)
Subject: Official lg/USA
 
Hi out there,
 
recently, I had an argument with an acquaintance. I am quite sure
that he was wrong, but I do not have the time to go into the matter
in detail, so I am soliciting the help of the net.
 
The subject matter was an alledged poll or ballot in the USA by the
end of the last century. This person claims that there has been
a poll concerning the official lg of the USA, and that in this poll
(or Congress vote, he wasn't sure), English won over German by
a few votes. My merory, though dim, tells me that this is a rumour
created by Nazi propaganda in the Third Reich which has no
relation to reality whatsoever, and that the US does not have an
official lg (although there are attempts in some states to lodge
such legislation). Am I right, and if so, are there books or
articles available that document this Nazi propaganda trick?
 
I may note that this story keeps recurring in Germany, it appears to
have found its way into people's heads sixty years ago.
 
Please reply to me directly (fs3a505 at rrz.uni-hamburg.de), I will
post a summary of sorts if I find enough material.
 
Thanks
Achim Stenzel
Universitaet Hamburg
 
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4)
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 14:39:27 +0100
From: Jan.Rijkhoff at uni-konstanz.de
Subject: Tati & Talysh
 
I would be very grateful if someone could provide me with
some information (mostly: word order in the NP) about two
Indo-Iranian languages that are also spoken in the Caucasus
region (i.e. in geographical Europe): Tati and Talysh.
 
Many thanks in advance.
 
 
Jan Rijkhoff, Fachgruppe Sprachwissenschaft, Universitaet Konstanz
              Postfach 5560, D-78434 Konstanz, Germany
              phone:  +49.7531.882680
              e-mail: Jan.Rijkhoff at uni-konstanz.de
 
 
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