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Editor for this issue: Michael Appleby <michaellinguistlist.org>
linguistlist.org>- Suzette Haden Elgin works freelance as a linguist. Read how LINGUIST List is essential to her work. Dear Linguists, It's easy for people reading Linguist List to get the impression that all linguists are located in the linguistics departments of fine universities, with abundant access to linguistics journals, the latest linguistics books, and a wide variety of linguistics conferences and institutes. Many linguists do have that sort of luxurious professional environment, thank heavens -- but then there are the rest of us, for whom Linguist List is the only access we have to the linguistics community and its resources. When I'm functioning as a Talking Linguist, my audience isn't a group of students over whom I hold the power of the grade, or of one day serving on their thesis committee. Nor is my audience a group of other linguists, over whom I hold the power of peer review, or of meticulously excluding them from all my bibliographies, or of simply making their lives miserable day by day as a colleague. My audience is ordinarily several hundred emergency medicine physicians, or surgeons, or psychiatrists, over whom I have no power whatsoever. Their consensus reality includes without exception the conviction that all MDs outrank all PH.D's; I begin every presentation knowing that most of those present have every intention of walking out at the end of the first ten minutes when what I have to say turns out to be what they expect -- a waste of their valuable time. And I also know that I'm going to face one or more of the following challenges, every single time: "But I read Pinker's book, and _he_ says...." "But I read Tannen's book, and _she_ says...." "But I read Lakoff's article, and _he_ says.... "But I read an article about Chomsky, and _he_ says...." When I'm functioning as a Writing Linguist, my audience not only isn't linguistics students or other linguists, it isn't professionals of any kind, except by coincidence. It's ordinary people from every walk of life, who -- because of our educational system -- either have no information whatsoever about linguistics and languages, or are passionately devoted to the worst kind of myths and distortions about linguistics and languages. They are prepared in advance to find what I write either incomprehensible or utterly wrong. They write to me in large numbers, and in their letters I get not only the challenges already mentioned, but an assortment of other ones along these lines: "But my _pastor_ says....." "But my _English_ teacher always said..." "But any decent moral human being knows....." "But all decent patriotic Americans know....." When I'm functioning as a Work-Seeking Linguist, I face two kinds of audiences: the editors and publishers I send my book proposals to, and the administrators of hospitals and clinics and HMOs and medical schools and medical organizations that I send my seminar proposals to. They not only know nothing about linguistics, they don't _care_ anything about linguistics. (If I'm lucky, they aren't part of the sizable population convinced that all linguists are mad radicals determined to destroy Western civilization; often I'm not that lucky.) The terms of the contracts these individuals give me will depend on how well I'm able to convince them (a) that linguistics is important for the general reader and the medical professional, and (b) that I know as much about linguistics as some other linguist (usually Pinker or Tannen) whose books sell in huge numbers and appear on the _New York Times_ best seller list, and whom they've seen on CNN or the Today Show. This means that although nobody is going to turn me down for promotion or tenure or the post of department chair, I have to be thoroughly familiar with what's going on in linguistics. I have to know what concept or event or individual in linguistics is getting media buzz -- and I have to know how the media has misunderstood and distorted that information, so that I can explain. I can't rely on a set of lecture notes that I worked up in 1965; I really do have to stay current. I live at the end of a goat trail in the wilds of northwest Arkansas. I have no idea how far it is to the nearest adequate linguistics library; certainly it's at least several hours away. I can't get to linguistics conferences and institutes; even if I could afford them, I couldn't fit them into my schedule and still pay my bills. For me -- and for every freelance linguist like me, as well as for linguists who have academic positions but are located in parts of the world where linguistics resources are sparse or nonexistent -- the survival of Linguist List is literally critical to our own survival. I do everything I can to support Linguist List. I spread the word. I talk about it in my seminars and lectures; I write about it in my books and in my newsletters; I take every possible opportunity to tell people about it: I do my utmost to persuade people to help me support it, and to send money. I urge you to donate to Linguist List too. It is such an important resource for linguists everywhere; please help ensure its survival. Everything I could possibly need in linguistics is either on Linguist List, or at its website, or on a link from its website. I am deeply and truly grateful. Suzette Haden Elgin * We would to thank everyone - every individual, department and institution - who has contributed to this year's fund drive. Together, you have donated over $39,000. However, this still leaves us short of our $48,000 target, the amount we need to support all of our student editors next year. So if you have not donated yet, please go to http://linguistlist.org/donate.html to send us your pledge. From there you have the choice of donating straight away by credit card using our secure form, or you can send us a cheque later. If you do send a cheque, please make it payable in US dollars; we get charged about $50 a time (sic!) to convert currency (no such problems with a credit card). Alternatively, you can hit "Reply" to this message and send us your pledge right now by email, prior to sending your cheque. Then we will be able to list you immediately as one of our donors; and we may be able to reach our goal (and halt these Fund Drive messages) a bit earlier. The address to send cheques is as follows: The LINGUIST Editorial Support Fund c/o Helen Aristar-Dry Dept. of English Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI USA 48197 As a 501(c)3 organization, LINGUIST qualifies for corporate donation-matching programs; and, of course, your donation is tax deductible. Don't forget that in return for a donation of $25 or more, we would like to send you a gift. If you're going to a conference soon, why not get a brand new LINGUIST List T-shirt to wear for it? You have short-sleeved or long-sleeved to choose from, so whatever the temperature will be there, you can be appropriately (as well as sharply) dressed. Take a look at our premiums page to see what we have to offer: http://linguistlist.org/premiums.html. Do let us know in your pledge what you would like and remember to include your mailing address. We at LINGUIST really do appreciate your support. We could not continue without you. With our sincere thanks, The LINGUIST Crew: Anthony, Helen, Andrew, Karen, Naomi, Heather, James, Michael, Zhen-Wei, Richard, Karolina, Dina, Renee, Steve, Marie, Gayathri, John, Ljuba, Terry, Simin, Tomoko. * LINGUIST Contributors ANGELS ($1000 and over) Blackwell Publishers Linguistic Society of America Richard Sproat and Chilin Shih W.V.U. Research Corporation John Benjamins MAINSTAYS ($100 to $1000) Adam Werle, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein Annie Zaenen Arendse Bernth Arnold M. Zwicky Barbara H. Partee Bert Cornillie, Nicole Delbecque (K.U. Leuven) Bruce Fraser Carolyn Green Hartnett Cathy Wissink Danny R. Moates David D. McDonald Dipika Molly Mukherjee Donna Christian Dr Catherine Walter E. Wayles Browne, Cornell University Elaine & Alex Francis Elizabeth D. Liddy Elly van Gelderen Ernest McCarus Frances Trix Hilda Koopman In memoriam Florian Fricke Interdisciplinary Committee on Linguistics/Arizona State University Irmengard Rauch & Gerald F. Carr James J. Jenkins John Kingston John Lawler Julie Auger Karl Heinz Wagner Kathy Jolowicz Kenjiro MATSUDA Keren Rice Kevin R. Gregg Lance Eccles Language Learning Center at Michigan State University Larisa Zlatic Linda Rashidi Linguistic Association of Great Britain Marc Hamann Margaret Lubbers-Quesada Margaret Winters and Geoff Nathan Margit Waas Marianna Pool Mark L. Louden Mary Bucholtz Masahide Ishihara Merrill Garrett Michael Hess Michael Swan Monica Macaulay and Joe Salmons Ms Catherine Fields Ms Denise Boyd Ms. Linda K. Coleman Nobuko Koyama Paul Chapin Paula Fikkert Price Caldwell Rebecca Larche Moreton Robb Watt Robin Thelwall Ronnie B. Wilbur Satoshio Oku School of Language and Linguistics Shanley Allen Sharon Obeidallah Shirley Silver Suzanne Boyce Theo Vennemann Tomoyuki Yoshida - Plus 8 anonymous donors SUPPORTERS ($50 to $100) Akira Ishikawa Andreas Schramm Andrew Carnie Andrew Ira Nevins Andy Barfield, Chuo University, Japan Andy Kehler Anna Szabolcsi Anna-Maria De Cesare Anne Bezuidenhout Antonella Sorace, University of Edinburgh Arthur Chung Bond Baden Hughes Barbara Olson Herrarte Belinda Bicknell Betty J. Birner Billy Clark Brent de Chene Carleton College Linguistics Program Carol W. Pfaff Caroline Heycock Carolyn Sobel Catherine Rudin Chao-Yang Lee Charles T. Scott Christopher Johnson Claudia Soria Cornelia Tschichold Daisy Dinwoodie Dan Slobin David Beck David D. Robertson Diane Massam, Yves Roberge Dick Hudson Donald S. Cooper Dorothy Disterheft Douglas L. Dee Dr. Barbara Frank-Job Dr. MJ Hardman Elena Maslova Elizabeth Cowper Ellen Broselow Eric J. Breck Fabienne H Baider Francisco Dubert Gail Stygall Gerardo Augusto Lorenzino Greg Kochanski Heather McCallum Bayliss Helge Lodrup Ingo Plag Ingo Thonhauser Jennifer S. Cole Jerry McMenamin JIANG-KING PING Joao Andrade Peres josefa J. Mardijono Judy Fuller Julia S. Falk Junji Kawai Karen Davis Kate Remlinger Kathleen Doty Kathleen Ward Katy Carlson Kleanthes K. Grohmann Lachlan Mackenzie Laura Callahan Laura J. Downing Laurel Watkins Laurie Bauer Linda L. Thornburg, Klaus-Uwe Panther Line Mikkelsen Loraine K. Obler, Ph.D. Maite Taboada Margaret Speas Martha Ratliff Mary Grenham Melanie Green Merle W. Mudd Michel DeGraff Mike Cahill Mr Baden Hughes Mr Laurent Proulx Myong-Hi Chai N S Gisborne Patricia Krueger Paul Boersma Peter Sells Philip LeSourd Pius ten Hacken Prof. George Aubin Ray Hudson Rebecca S. Wheeler Regina Oakeshott Robert Englebretson Roderick A. Jacobs Roland Pfau Ruth Kempson Scott McGinnis Scott Petersen Seizi Iwata Sharon Peperkamp Sherri Condon Stefanie Herrmann Stefano Bertolo Susan Fischer Suzanne Wash Syracuse University Thomas L. Cornell Thor Sigurd Nilsen Todd M. Bailey Tom Milligan Tom Wasow Tomoko Yasutake U. of Nijmegen, dept. of English Veronika Koller Vicky Bergvall Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung - Plus 16 anonymous donors DONORS (Up to $50) Abigail Konopasky Adam Przepiorkowski Adi Palm Adrienne Bruyn Alana I. Thorpe, PhD Albert Ortmann Alice S. Horning Amy Isard Anastasia Bonch-Osmolovskaja Andrea Kenesei Andrew Koontz-Garboden Andrew McCrum anja wanner Ann Evans Ans van Kemenade Anthony M. Lewis Antonietta Alonge Antonio Emiliano Aoju Chen Ash Asudeh Barbara Lust Benavides, Carlos Benjamin J. Miller Bernd Moebius Betty Phillips Camilla Wide Caren Brinckmann Carl Mills Carol A. Klee Carol Myers Scotton Chang S. Lee Charles Gribble Chung, Chin Wan Claire Bowern Clare Gallaway Clare Stroud Claudia Bubel Claus D. Pusch Cynthia Edmiston D. Eric Holt D.B. den Ouden Dan Loehr Dave Schneider David Gaatone David M. Barton David Schlangen David Tugwell Deborah Anderson Deborah D.K. Ruuskanen Denis Liakin Dirk Noel Don Rubin Donald F. Reindl Donn Bayard Donna Lardiere Douglas Lightfoot Dr Anne Reboul Dr John te Velde Dr. Sherida Altehenger-Smith Earl Hofer Eiji Nishimoto Elaine Gold Eleanor Olds Batchelder Elena Bashir Elias Friedman Elisa Fernandez Rei Eric Joanis Feride Erku Fernanda Ferreira Francisco Ordonez Frank Domahs Franz Dotter George Senf Gerald B. Mathias Gerhardt Cornelia Glenn Ayres Heather Goad Hilaire Paul Valiquette hirohisa kiguchi Hortensia Curell Ileana M. Paul Isabelle Lemee Istvan Kecskes Ivano Caponigro J. Cesar Felix-Brasdefer & Terri Greenslade-Felix Jacques Lamarche James L. Fidelholtz, Rosa Graciela Montes James M. McCarthy James Sneddon Jan-Olof Svantesson Jean-Marc Dewaele Jeffrey T. Runner Jen Hay Jenifer Larson-Hall Jennifer Smith Jessica Willilams Jette G. Hansen Jila Ghomeshi Jill Titterington Joachim Grabowski Joan Beal Joana Rossell Job M. van Zuijlen John Archibald John Dunnion Jose camacho Jose-Luis Mendivil Josep Quer Joseph Eska Judith M.S. Pine, George A. Pine Julia Huettner Julie Bruch Karl J. Reinhardt Kat Dziwirek Katharine P. Beals Keigo Noda Keira Ballantyne Kenneth Konopka Kent Johnson Kevin Bretonnel Cohen Kurt Gjevnoe Kurt Godden Lan-Hsin Chang Larry LaFond Lecarme Linnea Micciulla Louise McNally Lynn Nichols Lynn Santelmann M Iwashita M.J. Schreuder Madelyn J. Kissock Mami Iwashita Maria L. de Ris Maria Luisa Marti Martinez Marianne Pouplier Marissa Maley Marjolein Groefsema Martha McGinnis Martin Haspelmath Mary C Gruber Mary Jane Hurst Marya Teutsch-Dwyer Matthew Bloomfield, M.A., Ohio University Linguistics/ESL Max Wheeler Mayrene Bentley Meredith Doran Michael Israel Michael Kliffer Michael Newman Mickey Swart Mike Maxwell Miwa Nishimura Nadia S. Castillo Nancy Niedzielski Nancy Wiegand Neil Chalk Niladri Sekhar Dash Nina Sumbatova Nina Wacholder Ora Matushansky Patricia Donaher Paul D. Fallon Peter Ackema Peter Menzel Pierre Larrivee Prof. Lois M. Stanford Rachel Nordlinger Reiko Hayashi Rene J. Valdes Ricardo and Viviane Lima Richard Page Robert Bayley Robert F. Kemp Robert Yates Ron Artstein Ronald Schaefer Roser Morante S.J. Hannahs Sebastian Ross-Hagebaum Sergio Baauw Sharon A. Cote Simone Mueller, Sonia Maruenda Sonja Launspach Stanley Dubinsky Stefan Th. Gries Stella Markantonatou Stenstrom, Anna-Brita Stuart Stewart Susan Burt Susan Fitzgerald Suzanne K. Hilgendorf Svetlana G McCoy Tadashi Nomoto Tadhg O hIfearnain Theodossia-Soula Pavlidou Theresa Biberauer Thorsten Schroter Tim Florian Jaeger Timothy Dunnigan Tobias Thelen Tom Klingler Tor A. Afarli Tracey McHenry Trudi A. Patterson Ulrike Christofori Uri Horesh Uri Strauss Ute Smit V. J. Fedson Vincent A. De Rooij Vinet, Marie-therese Wilhelm Geuder Will Fitzgerald WIM VANDENBUSSCHE, VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL Xose L. Regueira Yi Yuan - Plus 37 anonymous donors MAJOR SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS Academic Press http://www.academicpress.com/ Arnold Publishers http://www.arnoldpublishers.com/ Athelstan Publications http://www.athel.com/ Blackwell Publishers http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/ Cambridge University Press http://www.cup.org Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd http://www.continuumbooks.com Distribution Fides Elsevier Science Ltd. http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/linguistics John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/ http://www.benjamins.nl/ Kluwer Academic Publishers http://www.wkap.nl/ Lincom Europa http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/ MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/ Mouton de Gruyter http://www.degruyter.de/hling.html Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/ Oxford UP http://www.oup-usa.org/ Pearson Education http://www.pearsoneduc.com/catalog.html Rodopi http://www.rodopi.nl/ Routledge http://www.routledge.com/ Springer-Verlag http://www.springer.de/ OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS Anthropological Linguistics http://www.indiana.edu/~anthling/ CSLI Publications http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/ Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/ Finno-Ugrian Society http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/sus/ Graduate Linguistic Students' Assoc., Umass http://server102.hypermart.net/glsa/index.htm International Pragmatics Assoc. http://ipra-www.uia.ac.be/ipra/ Kingston Press Ltd http://www.kingstonpress.com/ Linguistic Assoc. of Finland http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/ MIT Working Papers in Linguistics http://web.mit.edu/mitwpl/ Pacific Linguistics http://pacling.anu.edu.au/ Pacini Editore Spa http://www.pacinieditore.it/index_dinamico.htm St. Jerome Publishers http://www.stjerome.co.uk/ Summer Institute of Linguistics http://www.sil.org/ Utrecht Institute of Linguistics http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/ Virittaja Aikakauslehti http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/kks/virittaja.html INSTITUTIONS Bowne Global Solutions Butler Hill Group Carleton University Cornell University East Carolina University Gallaudet University Georgetown University Georgia State University Hong Kong Applied Science and Tech Indiana University Insight Software, Inc Linguistic Society of America Massachusetts Institute of Technology Memorial University of Newfoundland Monash University National University of Singapore Optimum Providence University Rhetorical Systems Ltd. Salem International University San Diego State University SpeechWorks International The HW Wilson Co. Universita Degli Studi di Trento University College London University of Aberdeen University of Alberta University of British Columbia University of Calgary University of Cambridge University of Canterbury University of Chicago University of Cyprus University of Florida University of Frankfurt University of Hong Kong University of Macau, China University of Manchester University of Maryland Dental School University of Nevada, Las Vegas University of Nijmegen University of Oregon University of Ottawa University of Pittsburgh University of Rochester University of ZurichMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue