11.465, Qs: Chinese/English Taboo,North American dialects

[The LINGUIST Network]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-11-465. Sat Mar 4 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 11.465, Qs: Chinese/English Taboo,North American dialects

Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Wayne State U.<aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at linguistlist.org>
            Andrew Carnie: U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Andrew Carnie: U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Associate Editors:  Martin Jacobsen <marty at linguistlist.org>
                    Ljuba Veselinova <ljuba at linguistlist.org>
		    Scott Fults <scott at linguistlist.org>
		    Jody Huellmantel <jody at linguistlist.org>
		    Karen Milligan <karen at linguistlist.org>

Assistant Editors:  Lydia Grebenyova <lydia at linguistlist.org>
		    Naomi Ogasawara <naomi at linguistlist.org>
		    James Yuells <james at linguistlist.org>

Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
                      Sudheendra Adiga <sudhi at linguistlist.org>
                      Qian Liao <qian at linguistlist.org>

Home Page:  http://linguistlist.org/


Editor for this issue: James Yuells <james at linguistlist.org>
 ==========================================================================

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:  Fri, 3 Mar 2000 11:43:07 -0800 (PST)
From:  Jr Christopher Smith <smith15 at cc.wwu.edu>
Subject:  Chinese and English Taboo Language

2)
Date:  Sat, 04 Mar 2000 15:11:58 -0800
From:  Robin Belvin <rsbelvin at hrl.com>
Subject:  North American dialect regions

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

Date:  Fri, 3 Mar 2000 11:43:07 -0800 (PST)
From:  Jr Christopher Smith <smith15 at cc.wwu.edu>
Subject:  Chinese and English Taboo Language

I'm an undergrad doing a paper on the comparison of English taboo and
swearing to that of Chinese. I'm having a great deal of difficulty finding
any resources. I was just wondering if anyone had information concerning
this topic. I'm especially interested in the function of homophones in
taboo language. Anything would be great.

Thank you,
Chris Smith


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

Date:  Sat, 04 Mar 2000 15:11:58 -0800
From:  Robin Belvin <rsbelvin at hrl.com>
Subject:  North American dialect regions

This query really consists of three specific questions, and I would welcome
either
direct answers or references to relevant literature:

First, is there a consensus among dialectologists on what the major dialect
areas
are for North American English?  I have a NIST spoken language corpus which
identifies eight (New England, Northern, North Midland, South Midland,
Southern, NYC,
Western and 'Army Brat' (i.e. transient)), and I would be interested in
knowing how
widely held this rough division of areas is.

Second, which if any of the Canadian (English) dialect regions can be
lumped into
one of  the US regions?

Third, is Canadian French relatively uniform, or are there distinct dialect
regions
comparable to those which exist among North American English speakers?

Thanks in advance for your help.  I'll post a summary later.

Robert Belvin

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-11-465