7.701, Qs: Comparison, Cree, London Jewish Speech, Spanish

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-701. Thu May 16 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  131
 
Subject: 7.701, Qs: Comparison, Cree, London Jewish Speech, Spanish
 
Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at emunix.emich.edu> (On Leave)
            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: aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu (Anthony Rodrigues Aristar)
 
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 14 May 1996 13:47:46
From:  mariam at mpce.mq.edu.au (Maria Milosavljevic)
Subject:  Linguistic Analysis of Comparisons
 
2)
Date:  Tue, 14 May 1996 18:21:19 CDT
From:  umbarri0 at cc.UManitoba.CA (Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie)
Subject:  Re: modals in Plains Cree
 
3)
Date:  Thu, 16 May 1996 09:19:39 CDT
From:  JACJEM16 at delphi.com
Subject:  Jewish Accent
 
4)
Date:  Thu, 16 May 1996 10:30:33 EDT
From:  jharris at MIT.EDU
Subject:  por favor ayude-me-n
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Tue, 14 May 1996 13:47:46
From:  mariam at mpce.mq.edu.au (Maria Milosavljevic)
Subject:  Linguistic Analysis of Comparisons
 
Hi.
 
For my PhD research, I'm building a computational mechanism for the
generation of descriptions of entities, where those descriptions make
use of comparison.  In order to do this, I need to build a theory
of how comparisons work and are realised in text.  I'm aware of
Tversky's work on similarity, and I know what's been done in the area
of natural language processing, but I'm wondering what work there has
been in the analysis of the various forms of comparison from a purely
linguistic perspective.  Some examples of the different kinds of
comparisons I'm interested in are:
 
(1)	Sheep, are hollow-horned ruminants belonging to the genus
	Ovis, suborder Ruminata, family Bovidae.  Similar to goats,
	sheep differ in their stockier bodies, the presence of scent
	glands in face and hind feet, and the absence of beards in the
	males.  Domesticated sheep are also more timid and prefer to
	flock and follow a leader.
 
(2)	They (Aye-aye) are about the size of a large cat and have
	long, bushy tails, a shaggy brown coat, and large ears.
 
(3)	Dolphins, like whales, breathe through a blowhole at the top
	of the head.
 
Any pointers to relevant literature would be most gratefully received.
 
Maria Milosavljevic
- -
Research Fellow, MRI Language Technology Group
Department of Computing, Macquarie University
Sydney  NSW  2109  Australia
mariam at mpce.mq.edu.au   http://www-comp.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mariam
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2)
Date:  Tue, 14 May 1996 18:21:19 CDT
From:  umbarri0 at cc.UManitoba.CA (Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie)
Subject:  Re: modals in Plains Cree
 
Someone had asked me for some information regarding modals in Plains
Cree.  I have the info. but I accidentally deleted all my email files, so
I don't have the persons email address anymore.  If the person is out
there could they email me at the address below.  Thanks.
 
Michael Jonathan Mathew Barrie
umbarri0 at cc.umanitoba.ca
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~umbarri0/
(204) 253-6138
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3)
Date:  Thu, 16 May 1996 09:19:39 CDT
From:  JACJEM16 at delphi.com
Subject:  Jewish Accent
 
Dear Linguists
 I am just starting a project entitled 'Is there a Jewish accent in London'.
Has anyone done any research on this topic or is there any  essential
reading that you can recommend. Looking forward to hearing from you, and
thanks.
Jacqui Barnett
University College London
Reply to JacJem16 at Delphi.com.uk
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4)
Date:  Thu, 16 May 1996 10:30:33 EDT
From:  jharris at MIT.EDU
Subject:  por favor ayude-me-n
 
In examples like the following:  vaya-se-n (ustedes)
                                 de-me-n agua
the clitic pronouns se, me appear between the verb stem and the inflectional
suffix -n (cf. normative vaya-n+se, de-n+me). This is a widespread phenomenon
in Spanish.
    Are there native Spanish speakers out there for whom the phenomenon is
familiar and/or natural who can answer several questions of detail for me
(e.g. with clitic clusters, which is better in your dialect: de-me-n-lo or
de-me-lo-n?)? Please respond directly to jharris at mit.edu.
Thanks, Jim Harris
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