7.121, Qs: Serbo-Croatian, 'Swarm', Judgments, Transcribe

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-121. Fri Jan 26 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  206
 
Subject: 7.121, Qs: Serbo-Croatian, 'Swarm', Judgments, Transcribe
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
            T. Daniel Seely: Eastern Michigan U. <dseely at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Associate Editor:  Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
Assistant Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
                   Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
                   Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Editor for this issue: dseely at emunix.emich.edu (T. Daniel Seely)
 
We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
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then  strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list.   This policy was
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Thu, 25 Jan 1996 14:21:17 MST
From:  nourusof at crl.nmsu.edu (Nick Ourusoff)
Subject:  Serbo-Croatian corpora and dictionary sought
 
2)
Date:  Thu, 25 Jan 1996 20:20:07 EST
From:  vasina at ling.ohio-state.edu (Svetlana Vasina)
Subject:   'Swarm' alternation
 
3)
Date:  Sat, 27 Jan 1996 00:04:14 +0900
From:  wescoat at lisa.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp (Michael Wescoat)
Subject:  English judgments solicited
 
4)
Date:  Fri, 26 Jan 1996 08:28:58 -0400
From:  wardmw at conrad.appstate.edu (Marrion Ward)
Subject:  Transcription
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Thu, 25 Jan 1996 14:21:17 MST
From:  nourusof at crl.nmsu.edu (Nick Ourusoff)
Subject:  Serbo-Croatian corpora and dictionary sought
 
The Computing Research Laboratory (CRL) at New Mexico State University is
trying to obtain in machine-readable form both a large (several million
words), non-fiction Serbo-croation corpus and a Serbo_croation/English
dictionary, preferably with the part of speech designated for each entry
to support projects in machine translation of languages.
 
    CRl is a non-profit, research organization with a focus on machine
language translation.  Further information about CRL can be found on our
web page:
 
   http://crl.nmsu.edu/index.html
 
     We will greatly apprecite any information.
 
	Sincerely,
 
	Nicholas Ourusoff (CRL)
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2)
Date:  Thu, 25 Jan 1996 20:20:07 EST
From:  vasina at ling.ohio-state.edu (Svetlana Vasina)
Subject:   'Swarm' alternation
 
 
   I am collecting data on the 'swarm' alternation in different
   languages.  I am trying to test a couple of hypothesis: (i) the
   alternation occurs only in a set of closely related (syntactically,
   morphologicaly, historically) languages, (ii) the alternation is
   semantically motivated. So, I am asking for help from people
   familiar with different languages to supply examples.  The kind of
   examples that I am interested in are exemplified in English by the
   following:
 
   (1) a.   Bees are swarming in the garden.
       b.   The garden is swarming with bees.
   (2) a.   Stars are glittering in the sky.
       b.   The sky is glittering with stars.
   (3) a.   The sound echoed in the hall.
       b.   The hall echoed with sound.
   (4) a.   Garlic reeked on his breath.
       b.   His breath reeked with garlic.
   (5) a.   Fish aboud in the pond.
       b.   The pond abounds with fish.
 
   This kind of alternation has been discussed extensively by Salkhof
   (1983), "Bees are Swarming in the Garden", Language Vol59.2, Dowty
   (1995) "The _Swarm_ and Middle Alternations, Predicate Semantic
   Transfer, and Thematic Role Alignment", talk given at Paris Syntax
   and Semantics conference, among others. Dowty (1995) has classified
   the predicates of this class into 5 semantic groups, corresponding
   to the five examples above.
 
   They are:
 
     I. Simple movements: crawl, drip, bubble, dance, drible, erupt, foam,
        froth, jump, shake, swarm, pulsate, etc.
    II. Simple sounds: hum, buzz, twitter, chirp, creak, fizz, rustle,
        echo, resonate, etc.
   III. Light emission: beam, blaze, brighten, glow, flicker, flash,
        glisten, glitter, light up, etc.
    IV. Smells and Tastes:  reek, smell, taste, be fragrant, etc.
     V. Degree of abundance: abound, be rich, rife, etc.
 
   This type of alternation is found in English, French and possibly
   other Romance languages, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, possibly other
   Slavic languages.
 
   I would very much appreciate well-glossed examples from other
   languages than the ones mentioned.  I need pairs of examples, just
   like (1-5), showing that what is a location adverb in a) examples can
   be a subject in b) examples; and what is a subject in a) examples is
   expressed in PP (with) phrase (instrumental case) in b) examples. The
   verb has to be intransiive  without a transitive counterpart like in
   the case of 'flood' in English. The form of the verb has to stay the
   same with respect to valence changing morphemes such as passive,
   applicative suffixes, middle suffixes (like the reflexive morpheme
   _se_ in Slavic) etc. Agreement morphemes are different of course for
   languages that have them.
 
   As usual, I will post a summary if there is enough interest. Please,
   send responses directly to me at the following address:
   vasina at ling.ohio-state.edu
 
 
   Thanks,
   Svetlana Vasina
   The Ohio State University, Linguistics Department
 
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3)
Date:  Sat, 27 Jan 1996 00:04:14 +0900
From:  wescoat at lisa.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp (Michael Wescoat)
Subject:  English judgments solicited
 
 
I am interested in seeing what a cross-section of English speakers
feel about the acceptability of the following sentences.  If you
have the time and inclination, would you kindly rate them on a
four-point scale?  If the sentence seems perfect, please give it
a 4.  If it is unacceptable, it should get a 1.  Intermediate
levels of acceptability can be indicated with a 2 or 3.  Please,
no decimal points!
 
1. We weren$BUt(J aware of the fact that anyone had left.
   YOUR RESPONSE [4 (=good), 3, 2, or 1 (=bad)]:
 
2. Students in any danger of failing will be warned in advance.
   YOUR RESPONSE [4, 3, 2, or 1]:
 
3. Every student with any hope of passing has already finished
   that assignment.
   YOUR RESPONSE [4, 3, 2, or 1]:
 
4. All the candidates with any chance of being elected will be
   participating in the debate.
   YOUR RESPONSE [4, 3, 2, or 1]:
 
5. Any person with a penny to his or her name should be concerned
   about the new tax provisions.
   YOUR RESPONSE [4, 3, 2, or 1]:
 
I will happily report the results of this little survey after
getting the responses, and I will reveal the issue that motivates
my seeking these data at that time.  Until then I would prefer
not to prejudice your judgments.
 
Many thanks,
Michael T. Wescoat
wescoat at lisa.lang.osaka-u.ac.jp
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4)
Date:  Fri, 26 Jan 1996 08:28:58 -0400
From:  wardmw at conrad.appstate.edu (Marrion Ward)
Subject:  Transcription
 
I would appreciate some advice on dealing with data for my dissertation.
I have taped conversations between 16 dyads of paired expert-novice
children playing a computer game to my criterion.  I want to show how they
co-construct meaning, as exemplified by their discourse, to accomplish the
goal of reaching my criterion.  I have between 4 and 5 hours of tape for
each dyad.  My question is this:  I am buried under transcriptions of
varying degrees of reliability!  Is there a way to deal with the mountains
of data without having to transcribe verbatum each tape?  Is there a
precedent set for transcribing a certain percentage of tapes, do coding,
and then only transcribe discourse that matches my coding for the
remainder of the tapes?  I would greatly appreciate any guidance you can
offer.  Marrion Ward
 
* Marrion W. Ward                          Work: (704) 262-2995 *
* Public School Partnership                                     *
* Edwin Duncan Hall, Room 303G             Home: (704) 963-7709 *
* Appalachian State University                                  *
* Boone, NC 28608                          E-Mail: WARDMW       *
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