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Sesquipedalian, Volume III, Number 19
The SESQUIPEDALIAN WEEKLY HERALD Volume III, Number 19
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February 25, 1993
(EDITOR'S NOTE: No doubt some of you noticed that the Sesquipedalian
did not arrive at the scheduled time this week. For all those who
were -not- hoping this trend would continue, we offer all apologies.
The discovery of rare tiger salamanders at CSLI caused the delay.)
SIRLOIN STATE OF MIND
by Andy Aaron
Russians call any handy, self-service establishment an 'amerikanka,'
but when did you ever hear anyone call a line at the token booth a
russki? In language, unlike in arithmetic, there is not necessarily
commutativity.
We can slap a foreign country's name on anything we want,
thereby absolving ourselves of blame for, say, German measles. But
you can bet that those in the eponymous country will have their own
very different word for it. (Inexplicably, we didn't try to evade
culpability for American cheese. Even more surprising, though, is the
discovery that in Canada, American cheese is known as Canadian cheese.
It might be considered a defining trait of the Canadian character that
they wish to take credit for this.) Some expressions get bounced
around the globe like verbal garbage barges, rejected and renamed at
every stop. A few examples:
In the US, it's called 'Canadian In Canada, it's 'Australian
Doubles' (2 vs. 1 in tennis): Doubles'; in Australia, it's
'American Doubles'
In the US, it's 'English' (spin on a billiard ball): in England, 'side'
'Roman Candle' (incendiary device): In Rome, 'fuoco di Bengala' or
'Bengalese Fire'
'turkey': In Turkey, 'hindi'
'New York steak': In NY, 'shell steak' or 'sirloin steak'
'Canadian Bacon': In Canada, 'Back Bacon'
'Danish Pastry': In Denmark, 'Wiener broed,' or 'Vienna Bread'; in Vienna,
it's 'Golatsche'
'Brazil Nut': In Brazil, 'castanha do Para,' or 'Para Nut' (after Brazillian
state of Para)
'French Toast': In French, 'pain perdu,' or 'lost bread' (in Delhi,
incidentally, it's 'Bombay toast')
'French Horn': In France, 'cor d'harmonie' or 'harmony horn'
'French Letter' (old British colloquialism for condom): In French, 'capote
anglaise' or 'English hood'
'French leave' (old British colloquialism for slipping away without
saying goodbye): In French, 'filer a l'anglaise,' or 'English leave'
'montagnes russes' (French for 'roller coaster,' literally 'Russian
Mountains'): In Russian, 'Amerikanskiye gorki,' or 'American mountains'
'bohemian': In Bohemia, artists and nonconformists are referred to as
'Bohemskys,' or 'Bohemians'
'German measles': in Germany, 'Roeteln' or 'many red spots'
'It's Greek to me': In Greece, the expression is 'It's Chinese to me'
(Reprinted from SPY 5:9 (August 1991))
-/-/-/ LOOK WHO'S TALKING /-/-/-
-- John McWhorter presents 'The copula in Sarammaccan Creole:
Simplification, diachrony, and the development of a contact language'
this Tuesday, March 2, 12.30-2 at Berkeley in 182 Dwinelle.
-/-/-/ CALL FOR PAPERS /-/-/-
-- CONFERENCE ON LOGIC AND LINGUISTICS (Ohio State University, July
31-August 1, 1993 in conjunction with the 1993 LSA Linguistic
Institute) Abstracts are solicited for contributions addressing
logical issues in linguistic theory or linguistic applications of
logical theory. Topics include, but are not limited to, the logical
structure of natural languages, formal languages and linguistic
representations; the applications of model-theoretic and
proof-theoretic techniques to linguistic phenomena; foundational
studies of logical concepts and cognitive processes motivated by
empirical research on language. Papers will be allotted 30 minutes
for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion. The Program Committee
consists of David Dowty, Alice ter Meulen, Larry Moss, Richard Oehrle,
William Rounds and Richmond Thomason. Abstracts should be not more
than four pages in length and should indicate the paper's title; its
author's name, affiliation, and e-mail and postal addresses. Abstracts
should be submitted by March 1, 1993 either via e-mail (as an ASCII or
LaTeX file) or in hardcopy (7 copies) to
Richard Oehrle
Department of Linguistics
Douglass 200E
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
email: oehrle@convx1.ccit.arizona.edu
Submission via e-mail is strongly encouraged. Notification of
acceptance will be mailed May 1, 1993.
-- SALA XV (Fifteenth South Asian Languages Analysis Roundtable) 21-23
May, 1993, University of Iowa. Proposals are being invited on any
topic related to subordination and clause connection, including: the
morphology/syntax interface, relative clause constructions,
coordination/subordination structures, case marking and grammatical
roles, discourse structure. In addition, proposals for panels and
papers will be accepted in other areas of language and linguistics,
including syntax, semantics, phonology, teaching South Asian
languages, language acquisition, sociolinguistics, translation theory,
poetic theory, and diachronic linguistics. Abstracts will be
considered for acceptance immediately. Final deadline for submission
of abstracts is 15th March 1993. Abstracts (one page plus data and
references) and panel proposals (including one page abstracts for each
paper and a cover letter) should be sent to the Organizing Committee.
A few papers will be selected for reading in absentia from scholars in
countries with currency restrictions.
Alice Davison and Frederick Smith
Organizing Committee, SALA-XV
South Asia Studies Program
226 International Center, University of Iowa
Iowa City IA 52242
email: BLAALDWY@uiamvs.bitnet
-/-/-/ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM /-/-/-
This Friday, 2/26, Miriam Butt will present her Dissertation
Proposal on "The Structure of Complex Predicates".
The talk will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Cordura Conference Room.
The Structure of Complex Predicates
Miriam Butt
Dissertation Proposal
Data from Urdu provides evidence against a straightforward structural
account of complex predicate formation. I examine two differing types
of complex predicates, neither of which can be analyzed as being
formed in the lexicon; and yet, any account which seeks to
characterize complex predicates in terms of phrase structure alone
encounters much difficulty. This applies to the framework of LFG
(Lexical Functional Grammar) as much as to the framework of GB
(Government Binding) because f(unctional)-structure is in a sense
dependent on c(onstituent)-structure in LFG. I formulate a working
definition of complex predicatehood, and concentrate on providing an
account of complex predicate formation within LFG by elaborating the
level of a(rgument)-structure and reformulating the linking principles
which must hold between c-structure, f-structure and a-structure. In
comparison to a non-complex predicate construction with "tell", the
complex predicate that I call the "permissive" shows that its
representation at phrase structure is completely orthogonal to its
status as a complex predicate. Following Alsina (1992) and Rosen
(1989), I therefore propose that complex predicate formation must take
place at a-structure. Furthermore, there are Aspectual complex
predicates in Urdu which provide evidence for the inclusion of more
detailed information than just theta-roles at a-structure, so I
further propose an elaborated a-structure based on Jackendoff's (1990)
theory of Conceptual Semantics. The information in this elaborated
argument structure, in conjunction with a theory of case assignment
allows a reformulation of the relationship between c-structure,
f-structure, and a-structure so that the c-structure is not absolutely
primary, while the other levels are secondary. The formulation of the
linking principles which hold between the three independent levels of
representation along with a process of complex predication formation
at a-structure allows a simple account of complex predicates not only
in Urdu, but also crosslinguistically.
-/-/-/ PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP /-/-/-
This is a reminder that there will be a Phonology Workshop this
Thursday, 2/25. We're back at the regular time and place: 7:30 p.m.,
Ventura 17. Our speaker this week is Eunjoo Han, speaking on:
Prosodic Compounding in Japanese and Korean
Prosodic compounding in Japanese and Korean provides an argument for
the theory that lexical prosodic constituents are formed on the basis
of morphological structures (Cohn 1989, Inkelas 1989, Zsiga 1992). In
this paper, it is proposed that two lexical prosodic categories -- the
prosodic root and the prosodic word -- must be recognized to account
for two distinct types of compounds in both languages. It is argued
that such a distinction makes it possible to give a proper
characterization for various phonological phenomena -- the p/h
alternation and the V/0 alternation in Japanese, and n-Insertion in
Korean. It also provides a straightforward analysis on the difference
between the Seoul dialect and the Kyengsang dialect of Korean with
regard to n-Insertion; the dialectal difference is derivable from the
choice of prosodic domains. Apparent counterexamples -- compounds
that appear to consist of prosodic constituents of different types --
turn out to belong to either of the two types. In Korean, these
compounds are split into two classes depending on the prosodic type of
the left constituent while in Japanese, all these compounds pattern
with the prosodic word compounds. This divergence between Japanese and
Korean is attributed to the parametric difference in the recursiveness
of the prosodic root; the prosodic root is recursive in Korean but not
in Japanese.
-/-/-/ SYNTAX WORKSHOP /-/-/-
The next meeting of the Syntax Workshop will be Tuesday March 2nd at
7.30 pm, in the Cordura Conference Room. Kees van Deemter, visiting
at CSLI, will be the speaker.
SEMANTIC DEFENITIONS OF 'NEW INFORMATION' FOR INTONATIONAL FOCUSING
There exist several interesting and well-known relations
between the semantic and prosodic properties of an utterance. This
talk deals with how *sentence accent* functions to mark the parts of
an utterance that contains 'new information.' I will show how a
suitably extended version of Hans Kamp's Discourse Representation
Theory can be used to define the required notion of 'new information,'
and I will indicate how this definition might be combined with a
version of Focus-Accent Theory to improve accent assignment algorithms
in automatic speech synthesis.
-/-/-/ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS /-/-/-
-- CAL: The Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC invites
applications for the G. Richard Tucker Summer Fellowship. Doctoral
candidates in any field concerned with language issues are eligible.
Applicants must have completed at least one year of full-time study
toward the doctorate. One Fellow will be selected to work with a CAL
senior staff member on one of CAL's existing research projects or on a
suitable project suggested by the applicant. The Fellow will have
access to all of CAL's staff, databases, and resource collections, as
well as the library at Georgetown University. The Fellowship will pay
rount trip travel expenses from the Fellow's university plus $2000 for
the eight-week period. Free living accomodation in Washington will
also be available. Applications must be received on or before April
30, 1993. All applicants will be notified of CAL's decision by May
17, 1993. Submit application materials to
Center for Applied Linguistics
1118 22nd Street NW
Washington DC 20037
phone: 202/429-9292
-/-/-/ JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS /-/-/-
(NOTE ON REDUNDANCY: For fuller listings of these and other jobs,
don't forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the
file 'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
-- UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Applications are invited for a lectureship in
Swahili in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa.
The Department has a preference for a specialist in Swahili
literature. The appointed lecturer will be expected to contribute to
language teaching and to the African cultural studies programme, and
to undertake research and publication. Candidates should have (or be
close to completing) a Ph.D. and relevant teaching experience. The
appointment will be effective from 1 October 1993. Application forms
and further particulars can be obtained from
Personnel Office
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG, ENGLAND
phone: 071.637 2388 ext. 2234
Please telephone between 2 and 5 pm. Overseas candidates may apply
directly by letter supported by a full CV and the names and addresses
of three referees. Closing date: 30 April 1993 (EOE)
-- The CENTER for LANGUAGE STUDIES has vacancies for research trainees (M/F)
for research in the field of language and language behavior. The
Center for Language Studies (CLS) is a joint research school of
Nijmegen University, Tilburg University and the Max Planck Institut
fuer Psycholinguistik. The CLS offers a training program in the field
of linguistics in a broad sense. Besides individual supervision of
doctoral research, the Center organizes basic courses and specialized
seminars in the following main fields of research: psycholinguistics,
sociolinguistics, language- and speech technology and grammatical
theory. The research programs have a strong international orientation
and the CLS accomodates guest researchers from home and abroad.
As from September 1, 1993, positions for Research Trainees (AIOs) are
available for the seven research themes described below. In view of
the multidisciplinary character of the CLS, candidates from various
backgrounds are eligible. Depending on the research theme, candidates
must be in possession of a doctoral degree either in linguistics or in
sociology, psychology, logic or information technology.
(1) Domain: Psycholinguistics
Topic: Representations and processes of integration during
the processing of language
vac.nr. 810.024
Location: Nijmegen
Within this topic, experimental and hypothesis-testing research is
done into the following aspects of language processing: (1) the
integration of information from various linguistic levels during the
processing of text; (2) the integration of lexico-semantic
information during the processing of (new) nominal compounds.
(2) Domain: Discourse studies
Topic: Textual ordering, perspective and world knowledge
vac.nr. 810.025
Location: Tilburg
Abandoning the iconic ordering of events endows a text with added
value in terms of perspective. In the project the scope of this
phenomenon will be delineated. It is the project's aim to come to a
formal description, the adequacy of which will be tested by means of
text- analytic and psycholinguistic research methods.
(3) Domain: Sociolinguistics
Topic: Home language use as an indicator of ethnicity
vac.nr. 810.026
Location: Tilburg
On the basis of data (currently coming available) on home language use
by allochtonous elementory school children, supplemented by data, to
be collected by the researcher, on the language use of these pupils
and of their parents, research will be carried out on the nature and
extent of bilingualism, and on intergenerational determinants of
linguistic preference and language shift in one or more ethnic groups.
(4) Domain: Language- and speech technology
Topic: Prosody
vac.nr. 810.027
Location: Nijmegen
The research in this topic is directed at the relationship between
syntactic, prosodic and intonational structures. The aim is to arrive
at formal descriptions on each of these levels which can reflect each
other in an alogrithm. By means of integration in a rule-based
automatical speech synthesis system it is possible to test the
descriptions. Perceptive evaluation of generated speech utterances is
part of the research.
(5) Domain: Language technology
Topic: Computational semantics and pragmatics
vac.nr. 810.028
Location: Tilburg
The research in this topic is directed at the semantic and pragmatic
aspects of language analysis, especially in the context of a dialogue
between people and computers. The computational representation of
information transferred in a dialogue, including dynamic knowledge
representation and automatic knowledge acquisition, also belongs to
this theme.
(6) Domain: Grammatical Theory
Topic: Syntactic Positions in a Typological Perspective
vac.nr. 810.029
Location: Tilburg
Modern syntactic research has led to the necessity of redefining the
existing differentiations between syntactic positions (A-positions and
A-bar-positions) and between movement chains (A-chains and A-bar-
chains). The central question is which empirical and conceptual
considerations justify such a redefinition. The research takes into
account cross-linguistic variation and is carried out in the
"principles and parameters" model.
(7) Domain: Grammatical Theory
Topic: Standardization
vac.nr. 810.030
Location: Nijmegen
The topic encompasses two lines of research. On the one hand, there is
a large existing research program that aims at the description of
Standard Dutch. On the other hand, research is envisaged into the
standardization of that description. Concrete subtopics include the
pronunciation of Standard Dutch, the relationship between
pronunciation and spelling as well as syntactic and morphological
variation. Researchers will be appointed either on a full-time basis
for a period of four years, or on a parttime (0,8 fte) basis for a
period of five, at a starting salary of Dfl. 1,962.- per month, rising
to (full-time) Dfl. 3,499.- in the fourth year. Further information
about the CLS and the above vacancies can be obtained from Mr. L.
Hilgers, secretariat CLS, P.O.Box 90153, tel. 013 - 663357, 5000 LE
Tilburg, e-mail: LHILGERS@KUB.NL. The managing directors of the CLS,
Prof.dr. L. Boves (Nijmegen, 080 - 612902/612900) and Dr. R. van Hout
(Tilburg, 013 - 662572/662668) are also willing to provide further
information. Your application, stating vacancy number on the
envelope, must be sent before March 19, 1993 to CLS Management, attn.
Drs. Chr. Thoolen, P.O.Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg.
(NOTE ON REDUNDANCY: For fuller listings of these and other jobs,
don't forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the
file 'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
-/-/-/ INSTA-PRIZE /-/-/-
Speed and time are great concerns for everyone these days, so here are
two simple puzzles involving speed and time. Answer them both for an
insta-prize.
(1) A boy and a girl ran a 100-meter race. The girl crossed the
finish line when the boy had gone 95 meters, so she won the race by 5
meters. They raced a second time because the girl wanted to make the
contest more even, so she hadicapped herself by starting 5 meters
behind the start line. If the two ran at the same speed as before,
who won the second race?
(2) A drunken ladybug is at one end of a meter-stick. She wants
to crawl to the other end. Every second she goes 3 centimeters
forward and 2 centimeters backwards. How long does it take the
intoxicated insect to reach the end of the stick?
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-/-/-/ CONSERVE DISK SPACE /-/-/-
So you may delete your copy after you've read it (or better yet,
before you've read it), the Sesquipedalian Weekly Herald is stored
online both at Stanford (in directory /user/linguistics/Sesquip), and
at Berkeley (in the directory /usr/pub.) The most current issue of
the Herald can be found by typing 'help quip'.
Neither Stanford University nor the Linguistics Department, nor any of
their employees, makes any warranty, whatsoever, implied, or assumes
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Void where prohibited
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