16.2347, Qs: Autism & Indirect Speech Acts; Japanese Word Order

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2347. Mon Aug 08 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2347, Qs: Autism & Indirect Speech Acts; Japanese Word Order

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org) 
        Sheila Dooley, U of Arizona  
        Terry Langendoen, U of Arizona  

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Jessica Boynton <jessica 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.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it
is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have
taken the trouble to respond to the query.

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.


===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 08-Aug-2005
From: Mikhail Kissine < mkissine at ulb.ac.be >
Subject: Autism and Indirect Speech Acts 

2)
Date: 08-Aug-2005
From: Bittor Hidalgo < bittorhidalgo at euskalnet.net >
Subject: Japanese Word Order 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2005 14:30:13
From: Mikhail Kissine < mkissine at ulb.ac.be >
Subject: Autism and Indirect Speech Acts 
 

Dear all,

I'm looking for references focusing on the understanding and/or production
of indirect speech acts by children and adults with autism spectrum disorders. 

Many thanks in advance

Mikhail Kissine 

Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science
                     Psycholinguistics



	
-------------------------Message 2 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2005 14:30:17
From: Bittor Hidalgo < bittorhidalgo at euskalnet.net >
Subject: Japanese Word Order 

	

Regarding query: http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-2124.html#1
      
Some 20 days ago I addressed a question about the real or claimed rigidity of
verb-final order of Japanese.   I addressed the same question to LinguistList,
Funknet and Jpling, and will resume the most interesting answers.
       
Tom Givon and Dan I. Slobin remembered that these kinds of discussions were like
"old hats" that "must already be" surmounted (even if they are not). T. Givon
explicitly stated that: "All natural languages with 'rigid' word-order have much
free-er word-order in actual natural (oral) communication, with much
pragmatically-determined variation. Put another way, rigid VO [WO] is relative,
never absolute." And added: "The normal degree of VO [WO] variability in most
'rigid'-VO [WO] languages is 5%-10% of the total sample."
       
Bart Mathias stated in the same way: "Spoken Japanese is not quite a *rigid*
verb-final language, but when the verb (plus suffixes) is followed by anything,
what follows is always a sort of afterthought, or correction--addition of data
that might not be understood after all. The ''afterthoughts'' may be themes,
subjects, objects (direct or indirect), or adverbials".
       
About historical data Bart Mathias clearly states: "Whether it has *always* been
so [rigid verb-final], who can say? We only have data for a millennium and a
quarter. In that data, so far as I have seen, such postposing of pre-verb
elements does not occur in prose, even in dialog. (I suspect cases might be
found in poetry.)" But I didn't find either any reference about word order
historical variation.
      
B. Mathias explicitly cites also the fairly omission of the verb in Japanese,
but he confesses to have not idea where find a study and collection about theses
cases in real discourse.
       
Thanks also to Melanie Siegel and Mark Mitchell for their comments about
post-verbal particles. 

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     Psycholinguistics
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): Japanese (JPN)




 



-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2347