8.239, Qs: Multilingualism, Loan words, Paucal

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Wed Feb 19 23:39:55 UTC 1997


LINGUIST List:  Vol-8-239. Wed Feb 19 1997. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 8.239, Qs: Multilingualism, Loan words, Paucal

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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, 13 Feb 97 03:14:29 EST
From:  V2188G at VM.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject:       Multilingualism question

2)
Date:           Thu, 13 Feb 1997 10:55:33 GMT-5
From:  "Rusbasan, Gayle" <RUSBASAG at coral.indstate.edu>
Subject:  Spanish loan words in American English

3)
Date:  Mon, 17 Feb 1997 16:46:52 +0000
From:  Greville Corbett <G.Corbett at surrey.ac.uk>
Subject:  Query: paucal number

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:          Thu, 13 Feb 97 03:14:29 EST
From:  V2188G at VM.TEMPLE.EDU
Subject:       Multilingualism question

First, please forgive the cross-posting.  I am very interested in
getting as much feedback as possible from as many people as possible.

I am interested in the dynamics of a situation where a person is not a
native speaker of any language, but learned three from an early age
and now speaks several more.  This person, as a result of this
multilingualism, feels a lack of a solid grasp of verbal concepts and
finds that oral communication is actually hampered by what might
otherwise be considered a great gift in communication.  Is this a
very common experience?  Can you point me to any published literature
on the topic?

Thank you.

Cheers,
Dorine

    DORINE HOUSTON      V2188G at VM.TEMPLE.EDU   FAX:  (215) 735-9718
    Institute for Global Communication at Nationalities Service Center
    1300 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA  19102 USA (215) 893-8400
    home: 1420 Locust St., 17-R Philadelphia, PA  19102  USA


-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:           Thu, 13 Feb 1997 10:55:33 GMT-5
From:  "Rusbasan, Gayle" <RUSBASAG at coral.indstate.edu>
Subject:  Spanish loan words in American English

Hello. I am Gayle Rusbasan, a graduate student in linguistics.  I am
doing my Master's paper on Spanish loan words in American English.  I
am interested in discovering why certain words were assimilated and
others were not.  In researching this topic I have found several
works including _American English_ by Albert Marckwardt which gives a
general overview.  I am looking for more specific research, and I
have not found anything specifically on my topic by searching the MLA
Bib. and language databases.  If anyone knows of a different database
to search or similar work done on loan words from other languages, I
would appreciate the assistance.

Since this may not be of general interest to the list, you can
respond to me directly at Rusbasag at coral.indstate.edu.  Thank you for
your help.
                             Gayle


-------------------------------- Message 3 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 17 Feb 1997 16:46:52 +0000
From:  Greville Corbett <G.Corbett at surrey.ac.uk>
Subject:  Query: paucal number


The paucal is a grammatical number value used to refer to a small
number of distinct real world entities (roughly 'a few').  It is
found relatively frequently, for instance in Fijian, Paamese, Yimas
and Meryam Mir, in the following configuration:

        SINGULAR    DUAL    PAUCAL    PLURAL

However, it also occurs in this configuration:

        SINGULAR    PAUCAL    PLURAL


This latter system is found in the Cushitic language Bayso, where the
paucal is used for reference to 'a small discrete number (from two to
six) of individuals' (Hayward 1979:102).  Bayso has this system in
nouns, while Kayap=F3, a J=EA language of Brazil, has it in its
pronoun system (Wiesemann 1986:361, 368).  It is also found in Avar,
but relatively few nouns are involved (Sulejmanov 1985)

So my question is: Does anyone know of more languages like Bayso,
Kayap=F3 and Avar, with singular, paucal and plural (but no dual) ?

One false trail to avoid: sometimes the term 'paucal' is used for
forms that are required in constructions with lower numerals.  For
instance, with the numerals '2', '3' and '4' in Russian, when they
are in a direct case form, a special form of the noun is required,
almost always the same as the genitive singular, but unique at least
in terms of stress for a few nouns , for example dva chas=E1 'two
hours, two o'clock'.  However, this form depends entirely on the
presence of the quantifier, it is not part of the number system.  This
is shown by that fact that it is not possible to say chas=E1 meaning
'a small number (2-4) hours'.  Hence the use of 'paucal' is in my view
inappropriate here and these are not the cases I am looking for.

Depending on the response I will reply to everyone individually or
post a summary to the list.

References:

Hayward, Richard J. 1979.  Bayso revisited: some preliminary
 linguistic observations - II.  Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
 Africa= n Studies, University of London 42.101-32.

Sulejmanov, Ja. G. 1985.  O formax ogranich)ennogo i neogranichennogo
 mnozhestvennogo chisla imen sushchestvitel=B4nyx v avarskom jazyk= e.
 In: K. Sh. Mikailov (ed.) Kategorija chisla v dagestanskix jazykax: s=
 bornik statej, 114-19.  Maxachkala: Dagestanskij filial AN SSSR.

Wiesemann, Ursula 1986.  The pronoun system of some J=EA and
 Macro-J=EA languages. In: Ursula Wiesemann (ed.) Pronominal Systems
 (Continuum 5), 359-= 80.  T=FCbingen: Narr.

Thanks


Greville G. Corbett
Department of Linguistic and International Studies
University of Surrey
Guildford                             email: g.corbett at surrey.ac.uk
Surrey, GU2 5XH                       FAX:   +44 1483 302605
Great Britain                         phone:  +44 1483 300800 ext 2849

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