LINGUIST List 5.1363

Mon 28 Nov 1994

Qs: If any/if anything, Ortografy, NC voicing, Mazel tov

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1. (effrey howard allen, Query: if any / if anything
2. , 'Ortografy' ?
3. Joe Pater, Q: NC voicing
4. jeffrey howard allen, Q: mazel tov

Dear Netters,
 I was asked by a graduate student in my English linguistics class whether
there is any difference between _if any_ and _if anything_. She was also asked
by her student at some preparatory school working as a part-time teacher. She
is in trouble. Typical examples are:
 (1) There is little, _if any_, difference between the two.
 (2) He had little, _if anything_, money with him.
I assume that both phrases involve "negative polarity item" like _little_
above. And both means "even if" in (1) and (2).I only think up of this feature
.
Can somebody help us? If any, I would be very grateful and post my summary.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Hiroaki Tanaka
Associate Professor, Tokushima University, Japan
E-mail: GCA01363niftyserve.or.jp

 I do a research about the reform of French spelling.

 I would like to obtain some views concerning a possible reform of
 French spelling.

 Possible questions could be :

 What are the pros and cons of a reform of French spelling.
 Why would it be better to write 'Ortografy' instead of
 'ortography' (or worse) ?

 Regards -- Francois.

 Mail me direct : csyfcascs.leeds.ac.uk

p.s. urgent - thank you.

I am compiling a typology of nasal voicing effects, such as
denasalization before voiceless stops (e.g. Toba Batak), nasal
substitution (e.g. Indonesian), and post-nasal voicing (e.g.
Japanese, Quechua, Zoque).

I am particularly interested in whether nasals usually/always act
alone as the trigger of progressive voicing assimilation. Is
post-nasal voicing sometimes accompanied by post-voiced
obstruent, liquid, or approximant voicing? Or are nasals singled
out in these processes? Thus, what I am looking for are languages
that have post-nasal voicing, and which also have either other
sonorants, and/or voiced obstruents in coda position.

Any other instances of interaction between nasality and voicing
would also be of interest.

Please send any information to me at bgb2musicb.mcgill.ca
I will post a summary of results.

Thanks very much,

Joe Pater.

Does anyone know what "mazel tov" means and what language it is in? A
friend of mine is a T-shirt printer and came across an image with this
expression on it. She has to know the English equivalent before she can
sell it.

Thanks much. Please respond to me directly.

Jeff Allen
Dept of French, Indiana University
jhallenindiana.edu