LINGUIST List 2.814

Sat 23 Nov 1991

Disc: Clicks, French Terms, Hiatus, Do What

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. , Query on clicks
2. Juhani H{rm{, CEFO, Univ. de Paris III, Re: 2.802 French Terms
3. Richard Coates, Re: 2.807 Hiatus
4. John Cowan, Re: 2.808 Do What
5. Ron Smyth, Re: 2.808 Responses: Focus, Grammar Checkers, Do What
6. Monica Macaulay, do/say what?

There is a paper in Phonetica a few years back claiming that
in French the way that stops are released when appearing in
clusters is the same thing as clicks. There is also a recent
claim in a book by T. F. Mitchell called "Pronouncing Arabic I"
that a certain Upper Egyptian dialect "seems to" have a click
where Standard Arabic has a so-called "emphatic" t, but I
think he may have gotten glottalization confused with clicks.
For, glottalized t is well attested in this situation.

Message 2: Re: 2.802 French Terms

> Does anyone out there, especially the French native speakers, know the
> French terms for "code switching" and "tag question"? More generally,
> is there an UP TO DATE lexicon or glossary of linguistic terminology in
> French?
> --Suzanne Fleischman (suzanneucbgarne.berkeley.edu)
One of the most recent lexicons is "La grammaire d'aujourd'hui - guide
analytique de linguistique francaise", by Arrive', Godet & Galmiche (1986),
which you might of course know. If there are more recent ones, it would be
interesting indeed to know about them. Since I'm in Paris (rather than e.g.
Helsinki), I haven't been able to check if "code switching" and "tag
question" can be found there; presumably not.
Juhani H{rm{
harmacc.helsinki.fi
HARMAFINUH.BITNET
Helsingin yliopisto, Hallituskatu 11, SF-00100 Helsinki

Message 3: Re: 2.807 Hiatus

Re hiatus with articles in English: my daughter certainly went through
a brief phase of inserting sandhi - [r] in expressions like _a_ followe
by _apple_. I'm no longer sure of the exact age she was at.
Richard Coates

Message 4: Re: 2.808 Do What

Alex Monaghan <amcstr.edinburgh.ac.uk> writes:
> The use of "Do what?" as an alternative to "What?" or "I beg your pardon?" is
> certainly well-known in British English, particularly South London speech,
> and was made famous by that catchy Monty Python song, "Do What, John?":
I would like to add to this list (so far: "What?", "Say what?", "Do what?",
"[I beg your] pardon?") the form I use in non-intimate situations, which is
	Excuse me? (with rising contour)
When I was traveling in Ireland a few years ago, I noticed that this form
frequently didn't get the desired response. I also use
	Excuse me. (with falling contour)
to mean "Please let me pass by" or "Pardon me for bumping you", and I
conjecture that Irish people tended to confuse one form with the other.
ObDemographics: white American middle-class Northeasterner.
--
cowansnark.thyrsus.com		...!uunet!cbmvax!snark!cowan
		e'osai ko sarji la lojban

Message 5: Re: 2.808 Responses: Focus, Grammar Checkers, Do What

I've never heard 'do what' before. Does it exist anywhere in Canada?

At least for me, "say what?" is not only a request for repetition.
It also expresses incredulity. My "do what?" informants say that
"do what?" doesn't have this - that it's much more neutral.
Monica