LINGUIST List 11.2435

Fri Nov 10 2000

Qs: Non-resultative/Non-Eng, Khmer Vowels

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

Directory

1. Jose-Luis Mendivil, Non English and non resultative
2. Robert R. Ratcliffe, Khmer vowels

Dear Editors and Linguist listers:

Some weeks ago I posted a query asking for examples from languages 
that allow constructions such as:

John kicked the door open (transitive non causative verb)
Mary ran her trainers threadbare (intransitive verb)

I got very good examples -and a summary has been sent to the list.

My new query is complementary: Does the language you know/study/speak 
disallow such constructions?

Spanish is a clear example:

*John pate� la puerta abierta
*Mary corri� sus zapatillas gastadas
(lit. translations of the english examples above)

Although resultative secondary predicates are allowed with 'causative' verbs:

La comida puso a Luis enfermo
lit. food made Luis sick


Thank you very much in advance. Of course, I will post a summary.

Best regards,
Jose-Luis.
- 
*****************************************
Prof. Dr. Jose-Luis Mendivil Giro
Dept. of General and Hispanic Linguistics

Universidad de Zaragoza
C/ Pedro Cerbuna, 12
50009 Zaragoza (Spain)

Phone: (+34) 976 761 000
Fax: (+34) 976 761 541
E-mail: jlmendiposta.unizar.es

If you send an attachment, please use RTF format
************************************************

I just heard a talk by our Khmer (Cambodian) professor here, in which
she described a set of "constricted" or "narrow" vowels. She couldn't
tell me what these were phonetically, and I couldn't find any reference
to them (or to Khmer at all) in standard sources like Ladefoged &
Maddieson or Laver. The description made them sound like ATR vowels, but
when she pronounced them for me I heard something like creaky or breathy
voiced vowels. Does anyone know what they are, or can anyone refer me to
phonetic research on Khmer?

- -----------------------------------------------------------
Robert R. Ratcliffe
Associate Professor, Arabic and Linguistics,
Dept. of Linguistics and Information Science
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Asahi-machi 3-11-1,
Fuchu-shi, Tokyo
183-8534 Japan