7.108, Qs: Hostility Marker, Human Lang. Text, Relative Clause

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-108. Wed Jan 24 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  156
 
Subject: 7.108, Qs: Hostility Marker, Human Lang. Text, Relative Clause
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu>
            T. Daniel Seely: Eastern Michigan U. <dseely at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Associate Editor:  Ljuba Veselinova <lveselin at emunix.emich.edu>
Assistant Editors: Ron Reck <rreck at emunix.emich.edu>
                   Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
                   Annemarie Valdez <avaldez at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
 
Editor for this issue: avaldez at emunix.emich.edu (Annemarie Valdez)
 
We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then  strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list.   This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.
 
---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 23 Jan 1996 13:33:14 +0600
From:  ocls at sibylline.com (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin)
Subject:  measuring intensity of  hostility in English
 
2)
Date:  Tue, 23 Jan 1996 20:30:25 EST
From:  gchilds at epas.utoronto.ca ("G. Tucker Childs")
Subject:  Query
 
3)
Date:  Wed, 24 Jan 1996 15:51:40 +0300
From:  solovyev at open.ksu.ras.ru ("Valery D. Solovyev")
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 23 Jan 1996 13:33:14 +0600
From:  ocls at sibylline.com (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin)
Subject:  measuring intensity of  hostility in English
 
January 23, 1996
 
Last night, in a talk on the link between violent speech and violent acts,
I answered a question from the audience. Then it haunted me all night,
because although I would lay large odds that I am right, I'm so far out of
the Linguistness Loop that it may have been the wrong answer for decades.
To keep me from spreading false information in the future, would you help,
please?
 
We were discussing the fact that the primary marker for hostility in spoken
English is phonetic stress, as in "If you really CARED about your grades,
YOU'D turn your work in on TIME once in a while!"  The questioner wanted to
know what *unit* is used by phonologists et al. to measure hostile stresses
(a unit like a calorie or an erg.) I told him that no such unit exists and
that, furthermore, no *mechanism* exists for measuring hostile stress in
any reliable fashion.
 
I may be quite wrong; it wouldn't be the first time. If in fact this was
settled long ago, and if there is a "intensity of  hostility measurement
unit" and a gizmo that applied it to actual spoken English,  etc., I'd be
grateful to be set right.
 
I will of course post a summary if there are responses.
 
Suzette Haden Elgin
 
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2)
Date:  Tue, 23 Jan 1996 20:30:25 EST
From:  gchilds at epas.utoronto.ca ("G. Tucker Childs")
Subject:  Query
 
 
A student has asked me if anyone knows of a study guide for the following
book.  Please reply directly to: nick.kolozetti at utoronto.ca
 
	"AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN LANGUAGE - FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS
		IN LINGUISTICS"
					By: James Paul Gee
 
Thanks. - Tucker Childs	
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3)
Date:  Wed, 24 Jan 1996 15:51:40 +0300
From:  solovyev at open.ksu.ras.ru ("Valery D. Solovyev")
 
Query: relative clause.
 
Dear Linguists,
I study relativization of noun groups.  In the work of Keenan
and Comrie possibility of relativization of the six syntactic positions,
namely - subject, direct object, indirect object, oblique, genitive and
comparision - using two strategies was characterized in 49 languages.
I would be grateful if you could send me any information on other languages.
 
      I'm also interested in the following questions:
 
1. If  in  a  language  some  relitivization  strategy  is  not  always
applicable to some position, in  what  terms  the  cases allowing such
application can be described?
 
For example,  in the Tatar application of the case-free  strategy is not
always possible. In the sentence
 
          John kibet-tan         kitap   aldi
          John a shop (ablative) a book  bought
         "John bought a book in a shop"
 
the noun kibet  "a shop"  can be relativized:
 
           John kitap  algan              kibet
           John a book bought(participle) a shop
           "The shop, (in which) John bought a book"
 
On the other hand, in the sentence
 
            John Mary-dan       kitap  aldi
            John Mary(ablative) a book took
           "John took a book from Mary"
 
the noun "Mary" can't be relativized:
           * John kitap algan Mary,
which depends from agentive capabilities of an oblique.
 
2. Let's  consider  the case,  when in a language some relativization
strategy is case-free,  i.e. in the relative clause there exists no
element (usually a pronoun or pre- or postposition), pointing directly
on the syntactic position to be relativized. Then,  what grammatical
means are used to determine, which position was relativized?
 
For instance,  in the Turkish this goal is partly achieved by using  a
participle  form,  together with posessive, in the relative clause -
the affix -yan is used, if a subject is relativized, and the affix -dig
is used otherwise.
 
Let's compare:
 
        kopek kovala-yan          kiz
        a dog follow(participle1) a girl
        "the girl following a dog"
 
and
        kopek-un        kovala-dig-i                   kiz
        a dog(genitive) follow(participle2, posessive) a girl
        "the girl followed by a dog".
 
                                              Valery Solovyev
                                     E-mail: solovyev at open.ksu.ras.ru
 
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LINGUIST List: Vol-7-108.