LINGUIST List 4.879

Tue 26 Oct 1993

Qs: Plurals, Esperanto, Latin, Spanish Syntax

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1. "I. Plag", query on variation in English plural marking
2. Adam Elga, Esperanto -- easy to learn?
3. Ricardo Cardenas, how much of English comes from Latin?
4. Ronald Fein, Spanish syntax refs

Query:

Are there any studies available on variation in plural marking in American
and British English (e.g. two buffaloes/two buffalo)? Please send
references to the e-mail address given below.

Many thanks in advance!

Ingo Plag (plagmailer.uni-marburg.de)

In article <soc.culture.esperanto FAQ's>, Michael P Urban,
urbancobra.jpl.nasa.gov writes:
 > Esperanto is also considerably easier to learn than national languages,
 > since its design is far simpler and more regular than such languages.

This is a strong claim. Esperanto seems easy to learn to me, but maybe
that's just because it is similar to English. Is Esperanto really easier to
learn for people whose native languages are very different from English?

In the same article, Michael P Urban writes:
 > Esperanto is not the primary language for its speakers, although
 > there _are_ native speakers (`denaskaj parolantoj') of Esperanto
 > who learned to speak it (along with the local language) from
 > their parents.

Is this possible? Can there be a native speaker of Esperanto?

 - Adam Elga (adamephoenix.princeton.edu)

This may be a novice question but, does anyone know how much (in
percentage terms) of the English language comes from Latin? I've heard
estimates ranging from 10% to 70%. As English derives from Germanic, I
would tend to think it would be rather on the low end of those
estimates. Has any study been made based on either straight # of words,
or on a weighted average of words? Any factual data?

(please reply to me directly as I have not yet joined the list. Thanks)

Ricardo
rcardenapr.oracle.com

Can anyone give me some good references on Spanish syntax (within a generative
framework, ideally but not necessarily GB)?

Ron Fein | Cabot House Box 216, Harvard University
fein2husc.harvard.edu | Cambridge, MA 02138-1560