LINGUIST List 11.2392

Sun Nov 5 2000

Qs: Icelandic Construction, Arabic as Mother Tongue

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. YukaMakita, Icelandic existential constructions
2. Amr IBRAHIM, Acquisition of Arabic as mother tongue

Dear Linguists,

I'm Yuka Makita, a graduate student at Nagoya University, Japan.
I'm interested in a comparative and a diachronic study of existential 
constructions. 
And, now, I'd like some native speakers of Icelandic to 
make grammatical judgement of the sentences below.

- ---
[Q1]
I want to ask you whether the following word order is 
possible or not in Icelandic. (never = 'aldrei' in Icelandic, 
(1) and (2) are English translation.) And, (1) includes the adverb 
'never' (=aldrei). Can it be replaced by some other VP adverbs?

(1) a. there put the butter never any students in the pocket
 b. there put never any students the butter in the pocket
 c. there put any students never the butter in the pocket
 d. there put any students the butter never in the pocket

(2) a there have any students never put the butter in the pocket 
 b. there have never any students put the butter in the pocket
 
- ---
[Q2] Are the following examples acceptable in Icelandic?

(3) There stepped an old man into the bus cautiously.
(4) An old man stepped into the bus cautiously. 

- ---

Thanks in advance,

*****
Yuka Makita
E-mail: YukaMakitaaol.com

Supervising a graduate work on the acquisition of Arabic as a mother
tongue from a strictly linguistical point of view I noticed there were
nearly nothing writtten on the subject in English, French or Arabic. Is
there anybody working in the field? Is anyone familiar with serious
litterature about this question ?
With some of my colleagues I am planning to organise a meeting in Paris
at the end of 2001 to gather those who have something done in this
direction and wish to share their experience or look for new insights.
Therefore we would appreciate any kind of information related to the
acquisition of arabic as a mother thongue. We are also looking for
people interested by the meeting.
I shall post a summary as soon as the information received will deserve
it. Please feel free to answer in the language in which you feel more at
ease.

Amr Helmy IBRAHIM
amr.ibrahim1libertysurf.fr
Fax 33 1 48 00 09 42
- 
Amr Helmy IBRAHIM
Professeur de Linguistique � l'Universit� de Franche-Comt�

Responsable de la C.R.F.L.F.C.
Cellule de Recherche Fondamentale en Linguistique Fran�aise et Compar�e
Centre Lucien Tesni�res - �quipe d'accueil n� 2283

5, rue Louis L�on Lepoutre 94130 Nogent-sur-Marne (FRANCE)
Tel. 33 1 48 76 09 57 ou 33 6 62 00 09 57
Fax 33 1 48 00 09 42 ou (sur portable) 33 6 62 20 09 57
Courriel / e-mail amr.ibrahim1libertysurf.fr