debates on the AN-LANG list

[John Lynch]

Dear Paz (and Malcolm),

While I agree with the broad democratic sentiments you express, I believe
there is a line that can be drawn between maters of general interest (even
if only to a minority of the list membership), and a long series of chats
between basically two people.

My view on the latter is that the two people should go off-list, and conduct
their debate directly, perhaps later posting a summary (a la LinguistList)
if they feel that it has developed into something of more general interest.

John Lynch

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Paz B. Naylor [SMTP:pnaylor at umich.edu]
> Sent:	Friday, July 27, 2001 5:10 AM
> To:	 AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
> Cc:	anthony paul Grant
> Subject:	Fw: debates on the AN-LANG list
>
> Dear Malcolm and Fellow AN-LANGers:
>
> I think that debates on any matters of any AN language should be
> acceptable
> for dissemination to the entire list so long as they do not degenerate
> into
> personal attacks.  I can remember one such incident a few years ago when
> Jeff Marck kicked out a couple of subscribers.
>
> Regarding assumptions as to WHO would be interested in WHAT, there is no
> way
> of knowing.  We can only assume that ALL matters pertaining to AN
> linguistics would be of interest to (1) SOME people some of the time, (2)
> SOME people ALL the time, (3) ALL people some of the time, (4) ALL people
> ALL the time.
>
> I have observed that interest in Tagalog and Philippine languages is very
> much in the minority in AN-LANG - yet I was pleasantly surprised in the
> number of responses I did get.   The overwhelming majority of AN-LANGERs
> are
> into Indonesian and, to a certain extent, Oceanic languages.  Conversely,
> I
> was pleasantly surprised to find interesting and valuable nuggets of
> information in debates on very specific items in these languages that on
> the
> surface seemed irrelevant to my own work.
> I just hope that the numbers are not the reason why debates on
> Indonesian/Oceanic languages are okay for dissemination to the entire list
> while those on Tagalog/Philippine languages are not.
>
> I have not always found all debates on AN-LANG of interest nor
> interesting.
> No one is compelled to read them.  If it's not for you, don't read it,
> delete it.  But others out there, besides the debaters themselves, may be
> interested.  Let us learn to be patient and tolerant - let us keep AN-LANG
> OPEN to all and for all!
>
> All the best, Paz
>
>
> Paz Buenaventura Naylor, Ph.D.
> Emeritus Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures
> Faculty Associate, Center for Southeast Asian Studies
> Program Associate, Linguistics
> The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI  48109
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "potet" <POTETJP at wanadoo.fr>
> To: "Malcolm Ross" <Malcolm.Ross at anu.edu.au>
> Cc: "Roderick Orlina" <rod_orlina at yahoo.com>; "R David Zorc"
> <dzorc at bellatlantic.net>; "Paz B. Naylor" <pnaylor at umich.edu>; "John U.
> Wolff" <juw1 at cornell.edu>; "Guillaume JACQUES" <xiang at free.fr>; "Frédéric
> Plessis" <Frederic.Plessis at inalco.fr>; "Carl Rubino"
> <webmaster at tagalog.org>; "Cena, Resty" <rcena at epcor.ca>
> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 5:55 AM
> Subject: debates on the AN-LANG list
>
>
> > Dear Malcolm,
> >
> > If such is the rule of the list, I shall comply immediately.
> >
> > Yet I am surprised.
> > 1) I received one message of complaint yesterday, so there are several.
> When
> > there is a message I am not interested in, I just erase it. This is no
> big
> > deal. I wouldn't dream of asking the persons in the debate to stop
> > debating..
> > 2) How can the persons who complained be sure only Resty CENA and I are
> > interested?
> > 3) In such a vast field as Austronesian Languages, it is bound to happen
> > that this or that question will only import for a few.
> > 4) I wondered why there was little activity on the AN-LANG list as
> compared
> > to others. Weeks go without any message. Now I realize people are afraid
> of
> > expressing themselves lest they should be criticized.
> >
> > Thanks for the advice anyway. In Rome do as the Romans do.
> >
> > Best
> >
> > Jean-Paul G. POTET
> >
> > P.S. It is certainly not a coincidence that I received two messages with
> > infected attachments. One supposedly from Charles Macdonald, the other
> > completely anonymous. My anti-virus program detected them and I made it
> > destroy them. I noticed that such attacks occur when I intervene on the
> > list. Another member of the list told me in  a  private message he had
> been
> > infected from the list. There is no doubt now that one member of the
> list
> is
> > a hacker.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Malcolm Ross <Malcolm.Ross at anu.edu.au>
> > To: <rcena at epcor.ca>; potet <POTETJP at wanadoo.fr>
> > Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 6:12 AM
> > Subject: RE: 4 operations
> >
> >
> > > Dear Jean-Paul and Resty,
> > >
> > > I have had complaints from some subscribers to the AN-LANG list about
> > > the discussion on "4 operations" that you have been conducting on the
> > > list. They feel that this is essentially a private interchange which
> > > doesn't belong on the list. I have looked at some of the recent
> > > messages, and, frankly, they would be opaque to most subscribers, so
> > > I would ask you to limit your interchange to yourselves and other
> > > interested parties.
> > >
> > > Malcolm Ross
> > > List owner
> > > --
> > > _____________________________________
> > > Dr Malcolm D. Ross
> > > Senior Fellow
> > > Department of Linguistics
> > > Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
> > > Australian National University
> > > CANBERRA ACT 0200
> > >