19.3657, Qs: Comparison Of Structures in Age-Questions

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LINGUIST List: Vol-19-3657. Sat Nov 29 2008. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 19.3657, Qs: Comparison Of Structures in Age-Questions

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1)
Date: 28-Nov-2008
From: Malgorzata Gaudnik < malgorzata.gaudnik at britam.edu.pl >
Subject: Comparison Of Structures in Age-Questions

 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:37:23
From: Malgorzata Gaudnik [malgorzata.gaudnik at britam.edu.pl]
Subject: Comparison Of Structures in Age-Questions

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Dear Colleagues,

I am working on a comparison of structures employed in descriptions of age.
The two most common patterns found in Indo-European languages, involving
the verbs BE (as in ''be 20 years old'') and HAVE (''have 20 years''),
occur in languages from other unrelated families. The interesting question
to investigate is whether alternative structures share a common denominator
(be it conceptual metaphor or whatever other motivation). 

I am in the process of collecting examples of sentences like ''how old are
you?'' and ''I am 20 years old'' from as many languages as possible and I
would be grateful for their translational equivalents from various,
especially non-European, languages.

I will post a summary,

Thank you,

Malgorzata Gaudnik
Silesian University 

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax
                     Typology






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LINGUIST List: Vol-19-3657