[Lingtyp] To write or not to write the examples

Sun Feb 28 16:14:42 UTC 2021

Dear Ian,

I think it depends on whether the data is original to your research or not. You are talking about data that you quote from other works. In that case, I am not sure if a single sentence is of any great help. If the reader really wants to know how word order works in a language, they had better consult the sources anyway. (Notice that the WALS chapters on word order do not provide examples, only references to sources.) If it is your own data, it’s different of course. But then you might want to give more than one example.
Best,
Östen

Från: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> För William Croft
Skickat: den 28 februari 2021 16:50
Till: Luigi Talamo <luigi.talamo at uni-saarland.de>; JOO, Ian [Student] <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>
Kopia: Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
Ämne: Re: [Lingtyp] To write or not to write the examples

Dear Ian,

My impression of the discussion, and my belief, is that you should include a comprehensive list of examples in your dissertation. The data is valuable both to corroborate the generalizations made in the research, and in some cases to notice interesting things that are not discussed in the research. In the US at least, there is more insistence on publishing the data behind research, not less. But it is better to have the comprehensive list as an appendix, with representative examples from the appendix in the text.

Best wishes,
Bill
________________________________
From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org>> on behalf of Luigi Talamo <luigi.talamo at uni-saarland.de<mailto:luigi.talamo at uni-saarland.de>>
Sent: Sunday, February 28, 2021 7:29 AM
To: JOO, Ian [Student] <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk<mailto:ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>>
Cc: Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto:lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] To write or not to write the examples

  [EXTERNAL]

Dear Ian,
yes, go for an appendix in a digital format. The data you have gathered may be helpful for other scholars!

All the best,
Luigi

> On 28 Feb 2021, at 15:20, JOO, Ian [Student] <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk<mailto:ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> thank you for your helpful comments regarding my dilemma between including or not including a comprehensive list of examples in my thesis. The majority’s opinion seems to be not including it, at least not in the thesis itself (but rather as a digital format). I will take that into consideration and tilt towards that direction.
>
> Regards,
> Ian
> On 27 Feb 2021, 3:31 PM +0800, Reggie Duah <reggieduah at gmail.com<mailto:reggieduah at gmail.com>>, wrote:
>> Dear Ian,
>>
>> I don't know if you need to cite each language that has a particular feature you discuss. In most cases, it should be possible to cite some  languages as representative of the feature you are discussing and provide a comprehensive list of languages in the sample with references (in a table?).
>>
>> In terms of page and/or word  limit, this would depend on your university's requirements. In the case where you're limited by number of words or pages, you may consider using an appendix to include the relevant data and references which do not make it into the text, as some have suggested.
>>
>> Although your priority must include presenting data within your text rather than referring the reader to another source, if it is important not to overwhelm the reader with so much examples within the text.
>>
>> It's a balancing act between providing helpful information, flow of text, University's requirements and the art of writing itself.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Reggie.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 25 Feb 2021, 3:05 pm JOO, Ian [Student], <ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk<mailto:ian.joo at connect.polyu.hk>> wrote:
>> Dear typologists,
>>
>> For my doctoral thesis, I am planning to investigate 50+ linguistic features in 50+ East Asian languages.
>> Approximately a third of the features are morphosyntactic features (others being phonological or semantic).
>> For the morphosyntactic features, I am wondering whether it would be desirable to write the example that illustrates the feature of each language.
>> Suppose that I want to illustrate the basic word order feature of the sample East Asian languages.
>> There are two options:
>>
>> Option 1. Write the examples and the citation information.
>> Mandarin: SVO.
>> (1) Example sentence. (Wang 2001:100)
>> Korean: SOV.
>> (2) Example sentence. (Kim 2002:200)
>>
>> Option 2. Only write the citation information.
>> Mandarin: SVO. (Wang 2001:100)
>> Korean: SOV. (Kim 2002:200)
>>
>> The advantage of Option 1 would be that the reader has a clearer view into the feature of each language. The disadvantage is that my thesis will be very long, likely more than 100,000 words, since there are 50+ sample languages, thus hundreds of example sentences.
>> The advantage of Option 2 will be that my thesis will be more concise, foregoing a long list of examples. The disadvantage is that the reader will have to consult the cited literature in order to actually see how that feature is realized in each language.
>> As a reader, which of the two options would you find most helpful? I would like to hear your opinion.
>>
>> From Hong Kong,
>> Ian
>>
>>
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>>
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> Disclaimer:
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>
> This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and notify the sender and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (the University) immediately. Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
>
> The University specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through University E-mail Facilities. Any views and opinions expressed are only those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the University and the University accepts no liability whatsoever for any losses or damages incurred or caused to any party as a result of the use of such information.
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