7.1309, Qs: Person restriction, Reflexives, Lists of abbreviations

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-1309. Fri Sep 20 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  147
 
Subject: 7.1309, Qs: Person restriction, Reflexives, Lists of abbreviations
 
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
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 11:00:59 +0200
From:  s925043 at ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp (Daniela Caluianu)
Subject:  Qs:person restriction
 
2)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 11:59:37 +0200
From:  iaevi at usc.es (elisa vazquez iglesias)
Subject:  Reflexives
 
3)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 21:41:07 +0200
From:  sipkadan at hum.amu.edu.pl (Danko Sipka)
Subject:  Q: Lists of abbreviations
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 11:00:59 +0200
From:  s925043 at ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp (Daniela Caluianu)
Subject:  Qs:person restriction
 
Dear Linguists,
I'm sorry this has come to be such a long question.
 
It is common, in Japanese linguistic literature to divide adjectives
into two subclasses: descriptive and subjective (though the labels may
differ among authors).  The latter class is said to express the
speaker's internal states: emotions, sensations, etc. Adjectives in
this class have in common the fact that they cannot be used in their
present tense form with a 2nd or 3rd person subject.  That is, the
Japanese counterpart of the English sentence 'John is sad' is not
acceptable.  The restriction is neutralized with past forms or if
certain modals are added.
 
Discussing the problem Teramura comments that this is an interesting
particularity of the Japanese language. However, Wierzbicka(1996) p115
mentions the existance of the same phenomenon in Hua . On the same
lines, Postal (1970) points out the contrast between 'seem' and
'think' with regard to the choice of Experiencer.  I wonder if there
are any other languages displaying this kind of person restriction. If
there are, I would like to know: (1) What are the semantic classes to
which the restriction applies (2) Are there any contexts in which the
restriction is suspended?  (3) The case marking pattern of the items
displaying the restriction.  (4) Is the restriction considered
pragmatic, semantic, syntactic?  Any references on the topic would be
most welcome.
 
Please answer to me directly, I will post a summary.
Thank you in advance.
Daniela Caluianu s925043 at ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp
 
References:
Postal,Paul(1970) On the Surface Verb 'Remind', LI 1:37-120
Teramura, Hideo(1982) Nihongo no Shintakusu to Imi, Kuroshio
	Shuppan, Tokyo
Wierzbicka,Anna(1996) Semantics, Oxford University Press
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2)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 11:59:37 +0200
From:  iaevi at usc.es (elisa vazquez iglesias)
Subject:  Reflexives
 
 
To all native speakers of (British, American, Australian and Canadian)
English
 
I would appreciate it if you could comment on the following sentences:
 
1) Mary sat (herself) down.
2) John learned (himself) to play the piano.
3) John showed (himself) to be successful.
4) John absented himself from class.
5) John remembered (himself) how the accident happened.
6) John reminded (himself) how the accident happened.
7) Mary weakened (herself).
8) Mary dressed (herself).
9) This jacket washes (itself) well.
10) I sang (myself) a song.
11) Paul believes (himself) to be intelligent.
12) Paul pretends (himself) to be intelligent.
13) I imagined (myself) on vacation.
14) I am applying (myself) to the task.
15) I am applying (myself) for the job.
 
I am particularly interested in the distinction between emphatic versus
reflexive self forms in English. Therefore, I would like to know
 
a) In which cases only the reflexive reading is permitted.
b) In which cases only the emphatic reading is permitted.
c) when you would omit the self form without changing the meaning of the
sentence.
 
It would also be very useful if you could give me your personal
information (such as age, profession, country where you were born...).
 
I also welcome any comments on this issue. Thanks a lot. I hope to
hearing from you pretty soon.
 
 
		Elisa Vazquez Iglesias
		Universidad de Santiago, Spain
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3)
Date:  Thu, 19 Sep 1996 21:41:07 +0200
From:  sipkadan at hum.amu.edu.pl (Danko Sipka)
Subject:  Q: Lists of abbreviations
 
 
I am looking for a list of abbreviations, preferably the one which will
discriminate between those which cannot be found at the end of sentence
(such as Dr. Mr.) and those which can (such as Ltd., Inc.).
 
I am interested in free lists available in the Internet for English and
other languages.
 
If somebody knows for such lists, please let me know to my
address: sipkadan at hum.amu.edu.pl, and I will send the summary to the
Linguist.
 
Danko Sipka
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