15.418, Qs: Latin Word Order; Infant Phonemes

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-15-418. Mon Feb 2 2004. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 15.418, Qs: Latin Word Order; Infant Phonemes

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1)
Date:  Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:28:05 +0300
From:  "George Huttar" <george_huttar at sil.org>
Subject:  Query: Latin word order:  conjunctions and prepositions

2)
Date:  Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:57:49 -0500 (EST)
From:  Christine Virion <cvirion at udel.edu>
Subject:  UG or the innateness hypothesis

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

Date:  Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:28:05 +0300
From:  "George Huttar" <george_huttar at sil.org>
Subject:  Query: Latin word order:  conjunctions and prepositions

In looking at some 4th century Latin poetry, my colleagues and I have
been wondering about the freedom with which prepositions and clausal
conjunctions both appear far from their "normal" prose positions.  For
example:

"Corde natus ex parentis" instead of the expected "ex corde...", where
the order of NP and P within the PP "ex corde" is reversed, and the
two are separated by "natus", which is not part of the PP.

For a conjunction example (from the same hymn, by Prudentius):

"virgo cum puerpera edidit nostram salutem" for "cum virgo
puerpera..."  with usually clause-initial subordinating conjunction
"cum" postposed to "virgo".

My questions are whether such "movement" is limited to poetry and can
be attributed to writers' adjusting to fit the meter; and whether it
is attested in Classical Latin, or is only a later development.

I'll post a summary of responses if warranted.

George Huttar


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

Date:  Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:57:49 -0500 (EST)
From:  Christine Virion <cvirion at udel.edu>
Subject:  UG or the innateness hypothesis

Dear Linguists,

I am currently writing a paper dealing with the prosodical aspects of
infant-directed speech, specifically the effects of pitch on IDS.  In
the background of my review I am including information about the
principle which details infants' abilities to discriminate between all
phonemes in the world's languages for up to 6-8 months.  I originally
thought this was described in the UG theory, but I have been looking
over the innateness hypothesis for references to this as well.  If
anyone is familiar with the exact source of this concept I would
really appreciate the clarification!

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