influence of russian on AE

[Walter Tuman]

Wow!!
Influence of Russian on American dialects - about the only connection I can think of is the common Alaskan American (as in Eskimo) word for canoe, "baydarka."
How did the sabbaticals mtg. go?
At Barrow the doc was happy to clearly diagnose my malady as "positional vertigo." With individuls blessed with this condition the spinning can often be triggered by severe cold/allergy.
He laid me on the examining table and INDUCED vertigo by rapidly having me sit up and then recline with my head dangling off the table.
This was not pretty. All kinds of head manipulations which indicated which ear and which canal was the culprit. Last nite I was instructed to sleep at an angle of no more than 45 degrees. I'm still fuzzy, but thank God, no violent spinning thru the night.
Keep your fingers crossed.
wvt


>>> sllauns at CWIS.ISU.EDU 02/08 11:32 AM >>>
I have a student in my introductory language studies class who is claiming
that Russian is an important language which has influenced the dialects of
the West coast--Pacific northwest and Alaska. My sense is that its
influence would be limited--but I don't know for sure. Can anyone give me
some idea, so I can respond to this student who is phrasing this lack as a
serious flaw in the reading. For him the ommision of Russian calls into
question the validity of the entire chapter on history of dialects--the
reading is from Walt and Natalie's book on American English

Thanks
Sonja Launspach
_______________________________________________________________________
Sonja Launspach
Assistant Professor Linguistics
Dept.of English & Philosophy
Idaho State University
Pocatello, ID 83209
208-236-2478
fax:208-236-4472
email: sllauns at isu.edu