7.1298, Qs: Letters as numbers, _had to_, Kazak and African ling

[The Linguist List]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-1298. Tue Sep 17 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  120
 
Subject: 7.1298, Qs: Letters as numbers, _had to_, Kazak and African ling
 
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: dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu (Ann Dizdar)
 
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:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 13:11:59 CDT
From:  dberkley at babel.ling.nwu.edu (Deborah Milam Berkley)
Subject:  letters as numbers
 
2)
Date:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 13:11:59 CDT
From:  hiro-t at IAS.TOKUSHIMA-U.AC.JP
Subject:  _had to_
 
3)
Date:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 22:26:08 -0000
From:  George_Huttar at SIL.ORG (George Huttar 709 2400)
Subject:  books wanted on Kazak, African linguistics
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 13:11:59 CDT
From:  dberkley at babel.ling.nwu.edu (Deborah Milam Berkley)
Subject:  letters as numbers
 
 
It was claimed recently in my presence that the three languages of the
Christian Bible, Hebrew, Aramaean, and Greek, use letters to represent
numbers (instead of or in addition to special numeral characters), and
that they are the only three languages in the world to do this.
 
I felt somewhat skeptical of this claim in its entirety.  Can anyone
tell me if it is true or false?
 
Thank you very much.
 
Deborah Milam Berkley
Northwestern University
d-m-berkley at nwu.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2)
Date:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 13:11:59 CDT
From:  hiro-t at IAS.TOKUSHIMA-U.AC.JP
Subject:  _had to_
 
Dear colleagues,
   One of my colleagues in Osaka asked me about the following
sentence including an epistemic _had to_. He cites it from modern
American novels. He said that he didn't understand the meaning.
Are these _had to be/ had to have been_ the same as _must have been_?
The below is his query,
 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
   I would like to ask you just one question about the English modal
_had to_. I have two examples where _had to_ is used in an epistemic
sense.
 
  (1) "When did you last see her?" "I don't know," Newcastle said.
      "It _had to_ be sometime around midnight."
 
  (2) "What time did you go to bed?" "It must have been two-thirty.
      I took a bottle of Scotch and went up to my rooms. That _had to_
      have been about two."
 
I do not know the meaning of "It had to be..." in (1) or that of "That
 had to have been..." in (2). Could you please put these in another
 English?
   I would be very grateful if you would answer this question.
 
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
   Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Please e-mail me directly.
 
Best Wishes,
Hiroaki Tanaka
Tokushima University, Japan
E-mail: hiro-t at ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3)
Date:  Mon, 16 Sep 1996 22:26:08 -0000
From:  George_Huttar at SIL.ORG (George Huttar 709 2400)
Subject:  books wanted on Kazak, African linguistics
 
 
    If anyone has info on how I can obtain a copy of any of the
following, please send me an email direct at george_huttar at sil.org --
thanks!
 
    	   1. Shinitnikov, Boris N.  1966.  Kazakh-English dictionary.
    Indiana U. Publications, Uralic & Altaic Series, Vol. 28.  Also
    published by Mouton & Co.
 
    	   2. Krueger, John R.  1980.  Introduction to Kazak.  Indiana
    U.  Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, No. 9.
 
    	   3. Welmers, William E.  1973.  African language structures.
    Berkeley:  U. of California.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-7-1298.