LINGUIST List 23.1018: Enter the Hall of Heroes to Meet Our First Linguist of the Day!

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LINGUIST List 23.1018
Wed Feb 29 2012 Enter the Hall of Heroes to Meet Our First Linguist of the Day! Editor for this issue: Elyssa Winzeler <elyssalinguistlist.org>
Date: 29-Feb-2012 From: LINGUIST List <linguistlinguistlist.org> Subject: François Grosjean on Becoming a Linguist E-mail this message to a friend We are proud to announce our first Linguist of the Day: François Grosjean! Below is an excerpt from his story of becoming a linguist: When I think about my first linguistics course, my mind wanders back to a large lecture hall in the mid-sixties at the University of Paris. Around 300 of us were attending a lecture on English Linguistics taught by Antoine Culioli. Suddenly, in his quiet voice, Culioli asked, "Is François Grosjean there?". I raised my hand and he continued, "Tell me, in British English, would you say ...(X)... or would you say ...(Y)...?". Because of my secondary schooling in England, I was one of the (quasi) native speakers that lecturers would call upon as linguistic informants. I don't remember the two alternatives Culioli gave me but I believe they concerned some very subtle difference in the use of a preposition. With 299 pairs of eyes looking at me, and not really seeing how the two alternatives diverged, I ventured, "The former, I think!". Culioli nodded his head and replied, "Yes, that's what I thought". He continued his lecture and I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. Since then, I have the greatest respect for people who are informants! To read the rest of his story, please visit: http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2012/hero-grosjean.cfm This Year the LINGUIST List hopes to raise $67,000. This money will go to help keep the List running by supporting all of our Student Editors for the coming year. See below for donation instructions, and don't forget to check out Fund Drive 2012 site! http://linguistlist.org/fund-drive/2012/ There are many ways to donate to LINGUIST! You can donate right now using our secure credit card form at https://linguistlist.org/donation/donate/donate1.cfm Alternatively you can also pledge right now and pay later. To do so, go to: https://linguistlist.org/donation/pledge/pledge1.cfm For all information on donating and pledging, including information on how to donate by check, money order, or wire transfer, please visit: http://linguistlist.org/donation/ The LINGUIST List is under the umbrella of Eastern Michigan University and as such can receive donations through the EMU Foundation, which is a registered 501(c) Non Profit organization. Our Federal Tax number is 38-6005986. These donations can be offset against your federal and sometimes your state tax return (U.S. tax payers only). For more information visit the IRS Web-Site, or contact your financial advisor. Many companies also offer a gift matching program, such that they will match any gift you make to a non-profit organization. Normally this entails your contacting your human resources department and sending us a form that the EMU Foundation fills in and returns to your employer. This is generally a simple administrative procedure that doubles the value of your gift to LINGUIST, without costing you an extra penny. Please take a moment to check if your company operates such a program. Thank you very much for your support of LINGUIST! Read more issues\|LINGUIST home page\|Top of issue

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