LINGUIST List 14.874

Wed Mar 26 2003

Qs: English 'Some', Texas Dialects

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Directory

  1. Erich Round, meanings of 'some'
  2. Melissa Pitts, Texas Dialects

Message 1: meanings of 'some'

 Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 11:50:22 +0000
From: Erich Round <erichunimelb.edu.au>
Subject: meanings of 'some'

Dear all,

The meaning of 'some' has of course been an object of study for a very
long time, but with a certain bias towards only some of its meanings.

I am currently researching the meanings of English 'some' which are
found in spontaneous conversation, in phrases like 'some party', 'some
people' I would greatly appreciate it you could alert me to any
sources which cover any of the following meanings (whether as their
main topic or in passing).

Please bear with me and tolerate the short examples I give here of
each 'meaning' 'I'm aware' they fail to rule out alternate
interpretations, and that indications of prosodic realisation are
given haphazardly, but hopefully they serve their purpose:

a. The 'not-sure-which' meaning (can be strengthened by or other):
 e.g. He's gone out with some friend (or other).

b. The 'not-sure-what' meaning (can be strengthened by or
	something/some+WH-):
 e.g. He's gone to some party (or something/somewhere).

c. The 'not-sure-if-this-word's-right' meaning (again, with 'or something')
 e.g. They were talking about some nuclear fishin' (or something).

d. The 'you-probably-know-this-person-better-than-me':
 e.g. There was some John Jensen here looking for you.

e. The 'I-don't-know-much-about-the-referent' meaning:
 e.g. I was waiting and then some guy came in and started yelling.
 e.g. Yeah, I got to talk to some manager there about it.

f. The disparaging/dismissive meaning:

 e.g. Oh there's some pizza restaurant on the corner, but we don't
	want to go there.
 e.g. Are we going sit here and be dictated to by some bureaucrat?

g. Where some, usually accented, can be paraphrased as certain:
 e.g. ...with a certain bias towards only _some_ of its meanings

h. The 'remarkable' meaning, either positive or negative:
 e.g. That was _some_ party you had last night!
 e.g. That was _some_ stupid question you asked there!
 also, in the plural (the singular uses 'one':
 e.g. Those are some _crazy_ cousins you have!

i. The vague-number meaning
 e.g. It was some 16 years ago that...

plus any more you might think of or know of, or any comments you may
have.

Many thanks,
Erich Round (University of Melbourne, Australia),
erichunimelb.edu.au 

Subject-Language: English; Code: ENG
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Message 2: Texas Dialects

 Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 16:50:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Melissa Pitts <m_r_p_3yahoo.com>
Subject: Texas Dialects

Hello! I am a junior at Harding University and am doing a research
paper for my phonetics class. I want to do it over Texas Dialects,
but am having trouble finding good resources. I was wondering if you
could help me. Thanks! -Melissa Pitts-
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