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Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>
BABEL.ling.upenn.edu>Since there's been a few postings on the subject of linguistics humor lately, including one mentioning the classic "embiggens" from the Simpsons, I thought I'd point out that the Simpsons is full of linguistically amusing wordplay in general. My suspicion is that Groening (the creator) is a _linguiste manque'_ and peppers the series with jokes that are all the funnier if you're familiar with lingusitic theory. Here are some of my favorite examples: EMBIGGENS class 1999 valentine's day episode: Kent Brockman (the news anchor) is narrating a story about how Abu is giving his wife many extravagant presents for Valentine's day, and the rest of the town's wives are annoyed at their husbands for their comparative romantic lameness. He says something like: "One Springfield man is treating his wife to an extra-special valentine's day this year, (sotto voce) and introubulating the rest of us." (where "introubulate" of course means "get into trouble"). ISLAND violation: 1998 Christmas episode: The Simpsons' house has been broken into on Christmas eve, and all their christmas presents and decorations stolen. Homer is telling his woes to Moe, the barman, and Moe sympathises. He says, "You know what I blame this on the breakdown of? Society!" CONSTITUENCY in verb-particle constructions: 1998 Christmas episode, same one. Kent Brockman is narrating a news story about the Simpsons' misfortune. The story starts something like: "Something WAS stirring in one Springfield house this Christmas eve, and what it was stirring was up trouble!" DEIXIS in personal pronouns: I just noticed this one in a rerun from a couple of years ago. Homer has brought his family along on a business team-building exercise in the woods, and Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are stuck in the National Park Service building while all the employees are off team-building (Homer and Burns eventually get trapped in a cabin by an avalanche). Bart is standing in front of a Smokey the Bear statue, who has an electronic voice and a little 'quiz' to administer. Bart and Smokey have the following exchange: Smokey: (electronic intonation) "Who is the only one who can stop forest fires? Bart: (examines response panel, which has two buttons, marked "you" and "me". He presses "you"). Smokey: (electronic intonation) "You pressed YOU, meaning me. This is incorrect. You should have pressed ME, meaning you." As I've become more aware of these tendencies of Groening's, I notice more and more. I'm beginning to think that someone should keep track of such examples and write Groening to let him know the relevant linguistic theory, and persuade him to pursue what is clearly his calling. Who knows, maybe he'd donate some money to deserving linguistic charities. Amusedly, Heidi HarleyMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
ufal.ms.mff.cuni.cz>Second announcement The European Association for Machine Translation in the collaboration with the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, are pleased to announce that the 1999 EAMT Workshop will be held at the Krystal hotel, Jose Marti Str., Prague 6, Czech Republic on April 22 - 23, 1999. The welcome reception is scheduled for Wednesday 21, April 21st. The theme of the workshop is: EU and the new languages Translation - possibilities, policies and practicalities All who are interested in Machine Translation or in any related area are very welcome to attend! Please find programme and registration information at http://ufal.mff.cuni.cz/eamt.html or refer to Martin Cmejrek: cmejrekMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
hum.au.dk>WORKSHOP ON MIXED LANGUAGES IN AARHUS, DENMARK May 6,7, 8. This workshop will bring together a number of people who have been working on the genesis of mixed languages from a variety of perspectives. We consider as mixed languages not Pidgins and Creoles, but rather those languages which cannot be classified in a genetic tree model, because they inherit one component (e.g. the lexicon) from one language and another component (e.g. the grammatical system) from different language. Prime examples are languages like Ma'a, Media Lengua, Michif, Mednyj Aleut and Para-Romani verieties such as Angloromani. At the Leiden workshop on mixed languages in 1994 (1), the participants spoke about particular languages that they had been working on. Few people at that time were aware of the existence of class (or classes) of mixed languages. In the meantime, more and more linguists have become aware of the fact that they do constitute a special type, be it not necessarily homogenous in structure or function. A handful of books and a number of articles on the subject have been published in the last five years, and a few others are in preparation. These mixed languages pose special challenges, not only as to the question of their genesis and their structural similarities and differences, but also for linguistic theories and psycholinguistic models. At this workshop, the focus will not be on the individual languages, but on the general properties and issues. Participants are asked to give informal presentations about special subjects. We hope to have speakers on the following subjects: - codeswitching and the genesis of mixed languages - Creoles and mixed languages - types of mixed languages - functions of mixed languages - phonology of mixed languages - registers and mixed languages - use of historical data in mixed language research - language death and mixed languages - bilingual acquisition and mixed languages - intergenerational competence differences and the genesis of mixed languages - relexification and mixed languages - lexically mixed pidgins, Creoles and other languages - bilingual production/processing and mixed languages - distortion of form in mixed languages - how many structurally different types of mixed languages are there - mixed languages and historical linguistics - mixed languages without systematic mixture - diachronic evolution of mixed languages - alternatives to the genetic tree model - mixed languages, predictability and retrospection - convergence and mixed languages - language contact phenomena in the Chinese-Mongolian-Turkic-Tibetan area - field report on Danish Romani - mixed languages and typology - extreme borrowing and mixed languages - secret languages and mixed languages Hopefully, there will not only be linguists, but also some people from other disciplines, notably biology and psychology, who will be able to give their view on some of the matter. The workshop will take place on the University Campus, Conference Centre, Nordre Ringgade 1, Richard Mortensen Stue, on Thursday May 6 (afternoon), May 7 (whole day) and May 8 (morning only?). Aarhus is the second city of Denmark, and the capital of Jutland. The University has some 20.000 students. The linguistic department has a small, but growing staff, and the number of students increases each year. Visit the institute's websites on http://www.au.dk/uk/hum/lingvist/index.html and http://ling.hum.aau.dk The campus of Aarhus university is found on the fringe of the city centre. Aarhus can be reached by car, train, bicycle, boat and aeroplane. The bus to and between Aarhus Tirstrup Airport takes 50 minutes and the bus trip between Billund Airport and Aarhus 80 minutes. There is still room for more people, both as participants and speakers. Please contact Peter Bakker as soon as possible if you want to come. (1) The book which resulted from this workshop (Bakker & Mous eds., 1994) is still available. Its new distributor is HAG (Holland Academic Graphics) in The Hague. Address: P.O. Box 53292, 2505 AG The Hague, Netherlands. E-mail: mailMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue