'impersonal' second person

Tue Oct 30 07:18:03 UTC 2012

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Anthropological Linguistics
 under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald 
within the Language and Culture Research Centre, JCU, Australia‏

Applications are invited for a five-year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship within the Language and Culture Research Centre, James Cook University, to work under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald. The position is available from 1 January 2013.

Applicants should have been awarded their doctorate within the last five years. They should have experience of linguistic fieldwork and will, ideally, have already completed a grammatical description of a language that has not previously been described (not their native language) in terms of basic linguistic theory. The University may consider cases in which the period since the award of the doctorate is in excess of five years due to special circumstances. Applications will be considered from candidates whose thesis is currently under examination. Applicants must hold a doctoral degree or have equivalent qualifications at the date of appointment. A Fellowship will not normally be awarded to an applicant who already holds an appointment within the University. The successful applicant will work within the project Australian Laureate Fellowship Project 'How gender shapes the world: a linguistic perspective' under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, with the participation of Professor R.M.W. Dixon, and other members of the Language and Culture Research Centre. The aim of the Fellowship is produce a comprehensive grammar of a language from the Sepik or an adjacent area of Papua New Guinea, or from the Amazonian region of South America, based on extensive immersion fieldwork, in each case paying special attention to linguistic and social conceptualization of gender, in addition to further studies in the areas of gender conceptualization. The appointee is expected to undertake extensive fieldwork. The choice of language will be made after discussion between the successful applicant and Professor Aikhenvald. 

Closing date: 30 November 2012.

The key duty is to conduct research in anthropological linguistics, with particular attention to language analysis, producing high quality publications in refereed outlets.

Key selection criteria are:

1. Thorough professional training in linguistics, with special reference to language description and linguistic typology;
2. PhD (conferred or pending) in descriptive linguistics, in terms of basic linguistic theory;
3. Demonstrated ability to work, under direction, as a member of a research team;
4. Demonstrated ability to work to a timetable, and produce results on time
5. Demonstrated ability and commitment to disseminate the results of research in high quality publications within agreed timeframes; evidence of high level written, oral and interpersonal communication skills to diverse audiences.

Desirable selection criteria are:

1. Ideally, to have produced a description of a language, preferably (a) a language for which there had previously been no good description; and (b) a language other than that of which they are a native speaker.
2. Some training in anthropology.

It is essential to enter in contact with Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald (Alexandra.Aikhenvald at jcu.edu.au, a.y.aikhenvald at live.com), providing details of their background, qualifications and interests (including a curriculum vitae). Applicants are advised to send samples of their written work in linguistics (at least some of these should be in English). Competitive applicants will then be provided with details concerning the Project and the application process.

Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FAHA
Distinguished Professor and Research Leader (People and Societies of the Tropics)
Australian Laureate Fellow
Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre
The Cairns Institute, James Cook University
PO Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
 http://www.jcu.edu.au/cairnsinstitute/people/JCUTST_057570.html
https://plone.jcu.edu.au/researchatjcu/research/lcrc
 mobile 0400 305315, office 61-7-40421117
fax 61-7-4042 1880  http//www.aikhenvaldlinguistics.com
https://eresearch.jcu.edu.au/spaces/TLA

Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:54:19 +0300
From: eitan.grossman at MAIL.HUJI.AC.IL
Subject: 'impersonal' second person
To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG

Hi everyone, 

I'm interested in uses of second person for 'generic,' 'impersonal,' or 'procedural' functions, e.g., 'you go straight and then left,' 'you never know what you're up against,' etc. Anna Siewierska (Person, p. 212) mentions that it occurs in Germanic, Romance, Slavonic languages, as well as Hungarian, Estonian, Komi, Turkish, Abkhaz, and another dozen or so non-European languages. 

At the moment, I'm interested in the cross-linguistic extent of this phenomenon. I would be grateful if people would be able to tell me in what languages it does (or doesn't) occur. If there are any linguistic discussions of this in particular languages or families, that would be great too.

I will post a summary of the responses, if there are any.

Thanks!

Best wishes,
Eitan Grossman

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