LINGUIST List 5.1033

Fri 23 Sep 1994

Qs: Gomes de Matos, Vietnamese, Historical ling, LANGUAGE

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1. , Attention Brazilian Linguists
2. MIMI BARKER, Vietnamese syllables
3. Steven Schaufele, Q: controversies in historical linguistics
4. , Back issues of Language -- where to donate?

Dear Brazilian Linguists:

I'm a Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. I'm
interested in contacting Francisco Gomes de Matos of the UFPE, but don't have
the necessary information. If any of you know how I could get in touch with
him (e-mail, snail-mail, or phone), I would appreciate your assistance.

Thanks,

Brad Butler

I am looking for information on Vietnamese syllable structure. Does anyone
know of any work done in this area? I would appreciate any recommendations
or references. I already have Thompson's Reference Grammar, but would be
glad to know of others. Please reply to me directly by e-mail. If there is
enough interest I will post a summary. Thanks in advance.

Mimi Barker
MAB3337utarlg.uta.edu

The recent discussion of the Altaic Hypothesis got me thinking about the
possibility of putting together a seminar on controversies in historical
linguistics. Judging from the extent the discussion in LINGUIST clari-
fied some of my own ideas and understandings of comparative and recon-
structive methodology, it occured to me that one could learn a lot about
how to 'do' historical linguistics by studying discussions of controver-
sial hypotheses, both the arguments brought forward by their (responsible
or reputable) proponents and the counterarguments presented by the
critics. So I'm going to try to develop such a seminar, and am solici-
ting suggestions. I'm looking for the following:

(1) Suggestions of actual controversies that have been heavily discussed
in historical-linguistic literature. I'm interested in controversies
that are 'raging' now (e.g., the Nostratic Hypothesis) and ones that have
been pretty much settled (e.g., the Laryngeal Hypothesis in IE), as well
as anything in between, as long as there's a fair amount of good, solid
scholarly discussion of it in print.

(2) Bibliographical references on the above.

If there's interest I'll post a summary.

Sincerely,
Steven Schaufele
^---------------------
Dr. Steven Schaufele
712 West Washington
Urbana, IL 61801
217-344-8240
fcoswsprairienet.org

**** O syntagmata linguarum liberemini humanarum! ***
*** Nihil vestris privari nisi obicibus potestis! ***

 The recent posting about Books for Cuba reminds me to ask
Who Out There knows of libraries that would appreciate receiving
back issues of _Language_?
 You can send the information directly to me, and I will summarize
for the list. (At that point, it seems that I should caution potential
donors to contact the respective library before sending anything,
so the library doesn't receive several dozen copies of the same item!)
^-----------------------------------
Lee Hartman
Department of Foreign Languages ga5123siucvmb.siu.edu
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4521 U.S.A.