LINGUIST List 3.934

Wed 25 Nov 1992

Qs: Causative/Passive, Rap

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Directory

1. michael toolan, whole nine yards
2. , causative/passive
3. , rap music
4. , Looking for a book in the UK
5. Randy Allen Harris, Query: linguistics by correspondence

Can anyone explain to me where 'the whole nine yards' comes from?

In some Chinese dialects and other languages in South-east China, it
seems the word for 'give' has grammaticalized not only
into a benefactive marker, but a "passive" and causative marker as well.
Can anyone give me references to specific articles that talk about other
languages where the causative and the passive constructions use the
same morpheme? Thanks!

Randy LaPolla
Institute of History & Philology
Academia Sinica

If you know of anybody who has written about or anything written about the
language of rapping, please let me know.

A-B Stenstrom
stenstroemhf.uib.no

Calling UK subscribers only
I'm trying to get hold of a copy of the following book:
Halle, M., H.G. Lunt & H. McLean (eds). For Roman
Jakobson. The Hague: Mouton.

The British Library doesn't appear to have a copy. Does
anyone know of a library which does? Please let me know.
Thanks,
Wiebke Brockhaus <wiebkeuk.ac.hud>

I have been drafted to teach a generative-based
introduction to linguistics by correspondence, and
would very much appreciate suggestions as to sources
and advice on how to proceed. I have never taught
(or whatever the appropriate verb is) any such course
in the past, but I understand that my institution
usually does so by way of tape-recorded lectures. There
may also be some chance of incorporating videotape.
Please contact me privately, and if anything of general
interest turns up, I will post a summary to the bboard.
Thanks very much. --Randy Harris, U of Waterloo