7.1062, Qs: AAVE, Child's ergativity, Contextual grammars

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-1062. Tue Jul 23 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  127
 
Subject: 7.1062, Qs: AAVE, Child's ergativity, Contextual grammars
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu> (On Leave)
            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: dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu (Ann Dizdar)
 
We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then  strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list.   This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.
 
---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 14:28:07 BST
From:  lagunoff at ucla.edu (Rachel Lagunoff)
Subject:  Query: AAVE pronunciation
 
2)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 11:34:04 EDT
From:  decaen at chass.utoronto.ca (Vincent DeCaen)
Subject:  Q? child's ergativity?
 
3)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 16:04:53 +0700
From:  kappes at psc.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Subject:  Contextual Grammars
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 14:28:07 BST
From:  lagunoff at ucla.edu (Rachel Lagunoff)
Subject:  Query: AAVE pronunciation
 
 
How is the acronym AAVE (African American Vernacular English)
pronounced?
 
 
Rachel Lagunoff
lagunoff at ucla.edu
 
"In those days, I was trying to write my dissertation.  Before you
become a professor, you have to write a book which is boring enough so
that even you cannot bear to read it over.  Once you have done this,
you are free to write as you please, but can't."
 
-  Mark Helprin, A Vermont Tale
 
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2)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 11:34:04 EDT
From:  decaen at chass.utoronto.ca (Vincent DeCaen)
Subject:  Q? child's ergativity?
 
 
As my 4-yr old daughter gets ready for junior kindergarten, she's
finally making the switch to the English case system.  previously, she
insisted on an ergative system--which still puzzles me, because I
can't see a source for it.
 
only if the event were bounded and strongly transitive would she use
"she".  otherwise, the pronoun was "her" (and of course, trying to
correct this was useless). "her's sick" "her's going to the store".
similarly "him's sick" etc.
 
I wish I had kept a record of this with some hard data, but alas.  my
question is this: I make the simple assumption that her ergative
hypothesis has a basis in UG, not English.  so what do we know about
case acquisition, ergativity and UG principles and parameters that
might account for this?
 
just very curious.
 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Vincent DeCaen			 	 	     <decaen at chass.utoronto.ca>
Hebrew Syntax Encoding Initiative
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~decaen/hsei/intro.html
 
c/o Deparment of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
4 Bancroft Ave., 3d floor, University of Toronto
Toronto ON,   M5S 1A1    CANADA
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
 
We must bridge over the gap between producers and consumers with
brotherly love. Otherwise, society will never be saved; but
depression, panic and unemployment will go on forever.
		--Toyohiko Kagawa, Brotherhood Economics (1936)
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3)
Date:  Mon, 22 Jul 1996 16:04:53 +0700
From:  kappes at psc.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Subject:  Contextual Grammars
 
Contextual Grammars
 
We are interested in names of people who have investigated contextual
grammars, be it from a linguistical or from a mathematical viewpoint.
 
Any other information about contextual grammars will also be
appreciated.
 
- ---------------------------------
 
Kai Differt and Martin Kappes
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet
Fachbereich Informatik (20)
Postfach 11 19 32
D - 60054 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
 
eMail: differt at psc.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
        kappes at psc.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
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