LINGUIST List 4.604

Sat 14 Aug 1993

Qs: Phonetic symbolism, GB, French, Inscription

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Directory

1. Tecumseh Fitch, Phonetic symbolism in Diminutives?
2. Chatchawadee Saralamba, GB references on" recoverability"
3. Karen Eck, French word frequencies
4. Evan S. Smith, inscription

Dear List,

I write to ask if anyone knows of cross-linguistic similarities in
sound symbolism associated with size, in particular for diminutives.
A tendency for /i/ to be associated with words for small things and
diminutive suffixes, and /u/ or /o/ to be associated with large things
and augmentatives has been recognized as early as the 20's, by
Jespersen. Unfortunately his review was only for Indo-European
languages, and I'm interested in whether the pattern holds for more of
the world's languages.

If anyone knows of published work related to this issue, I'd love to
hear about it. Furthermore, any specific examples from non-IE languages
would be of interest to me.

Please send any replies directly to me, since I'm not on the LINGUIST
list. Thank you,

Tecumseh Fitch: teccog.brown.edu
Dept. of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences
Brown University, Providence RI 02912

Could any one provide me with references for Zero anaphora or the so
-called "recoverability" by GB? One of my friends would like to look at
the literature on this. We would be very grateful for any references.
Thanks in advance.

Chatchawadee Saralamba
e-mail address : waenipied.tu.ac.th ( internet)

Does anyone know of any books on word frequencies in French? Please
respond to keckkentvm. Thanks.
 Karen Eck

 Can anyone identify the language and/or translate the following, an
 inscription found by a friend on a tombstone in Oklahoma. Because of
 its origin, I suspected it was Cherokee, but I have been unable to
 find similar words in grammars, dictionaries, etc., of that language.

 ...ESTE HETHAKU...

 Thank you.

 Evan S. Smith
 smitheext.missouri.edu
 or MU-ETCS-PO6