[RNLD] Linguistics in the pub: Descriptive linguistics and the variety of data types Wednesday 10th September 2014

[Ruth Singer]

Announcement: Linguistics in the pub

*Descriptive linguistics and the variety of data types*
Discussion led by John Mansfield

Descriptive linguistics aims in one way or another to delineate the grammar
of a language: a system of signs and meanings that is reflected in various
data artefacts. However there are diverse types of language data available
– elicited speech, spontaneous speech, written texts, grammaticality
judgments – and these are not always in agreement.
  Chompsky was notoriously dismissive of spontaneous speech “performance”
as a degenerate data source in which the underlying grammar of the language
could be only dimly perceived. Labov argued essentially the opposite, that
self-consciously generated language data (either grammaticality judgments,
or careful speech) is not a reflection of natural language but the
idiosyncratic product of linguistics itself.
  Given the practical limitations of time and resources, how can we most
effectively navigate the variety of data types to arrive at a grammatical
description? Which data deserves the primary role in our analyses? What can
be dismissed as unreliable, speaker error, or signal noise?

*Reading: *Labov, William (1972), “Some principles of linguistic
methodology”. *Language in Society* 1:1, 97-120. (a pdf will be made
available on the RNLD Melbourne LIP webpage http://www.rnld.org/MLIP )

Date:             Wednesday 10th September 2014 !!!! NOTE DIFFERENT DAY OF
THE WEEK TO USUAL !!!!
Time:             6:00 - 8:00 pm
Venue:           Upstairs room, Prince Alfred Hotel

191 Grattan St, Carlton

(corner of Bouverie St)

ph (03) 9347-3033


Food and drinks available at the venue

LIP is coordinated by Ruth Singer (University of Melbourne)
rsinger at unimelb.edu.au

LIP is an occasional gathering of language activists and linguists in
Melbourne. All are welcome. Those in other parts of Australia and the
world who can't make it to the Melbourne LIPs are encouraged to
organise a local gathering to discuss this topic and support language
activities in your area.


Dr Ruth Singer
DECRA Postdoctoral Fellow
Linguistics Program and Research Unit for Indigenous Language
School of Languages and Linguistics
Faculty of Arts
University of Melbourne 3010
Tel. +61 3 90353774
http://languages-linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/academic-staff/ruth-singer
http://indiglang.arts.unimelb.edu.au/
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