LINGUIST List 6.289

Thu 23 Feb 1995

Qs: Appearance of words, Shanghaihua, Discontinuous Constituency

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1. Danielle Haas, Query on physical appearance of words
2. Ashley Marie Williams, Shanghaihua speakers wanted
3. Stuart Robinson, Discontinuous Constituency

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We are a group of environmental scientists who have been pondering a
question. Has anyone done research on emotional responses to the
*physical appearance* of words or groups of letters? For example,
'toxic', 'dioxin' or the 'oxi' combination. Why do people have a fear of
'dioxin' but not 'furan' (another toxic chemical). Obviously, some
reaction is created by the media, but is there something else involved?
Do certain combinations of letters (e.g. 'oxi') elicit an emotional response?

Has anyone done research on this, or know of anyone involved with
psycholinguistics or semiotics who might be familiar with this topic?

Will summarize for list.

Thanks for any assistance.

Joyce Lundstrom
Epidemiologist
ETI
600 Stewart st, #700
Seattle, WA 98101 etilibhalcyon.com

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I am looking for speakers of Shanghaihua who would be willing to answer a
short questionnaire about the uses of Shanghaihua and Putonghua in Shanghai.

Please contact me at awilliamreed.edu

Thanks for any assistance,
Ashley Williams

I am currently reviewing literature on the subject of discontinuous
constituency and would like to get my hands on work that: 1) discusses
some of the larger theoretical issues at stake, and/or 2) uses the notion
of discontinuous constituency to describe languages other than English
(e.g., Amy Dahlstrom's article on discontinuous constituents in Fox). If
anyone could point me towards some references, I would be greatly
appreciative.
 Sincerely,
 Stuart Robinson
 Reed College