LINGUIST List 6.38

Sun 15 Jan 1995

Qs: Lang and religion, Imperatives, French prefixes, Software

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Directory

1. "Dr. Ahmad Shehu Abdussalam", language and religion
2. , imperatives without YOU subjects
3. Pascale Amozig, French prefixes
4. Phil Bralich, Natural Language Software

I deal with language use in religious construction. My query is on
classification of languages based on religious belief of
the speakers, e.g. Islamic language, Christian language, etc.
Looking forward to receive your views and comments. citation of
references on the role of religion and culture in language classification
is appreciated.
I promise to send summary of your views.
Thank you.

 From: (shehuits.iiu.my)
 Date: 11 Jan. 1995

According to every account of imperatives I know, the subject is
said to be YOU, understood from context, deleted, left null etc.
But there are imperatives like:
 Don't anybody move.
 Don't anybody else get sick please.
These seem perfectly grammatical and they seem also to have
subjects other than YOU. Nor is ANYBODY the only indefinite
expression allowed in imperatives. In appropriate dialects,
you get multiple negatives like:
 Don't nobody touch nothing.
And most people I've asked think the following are fine, too.
 Someboby please help me.
 Please somebody do something.
Maybe even fairly common sentences like those below count as
imperatives with indefinite subjects other than YOU.
 Now everybody sing along.
 All the kids in band please leave now.
 All in favor say "aye."
Has anybody talked about imperatives like these? Does anybody
know how the usual analyses of imperatives can handle such
examples?
Please respond to me and I'll summarize for the list.
Thank you and best wishes,

 Neal Norrick tb0nrn1mvs.cso.niu.edu

I am sending this query for a student of the Tel Aviv University who is not
on the Net.
For her PHd she would like to know if someone has already worked on the French
prefixes and more specifically on the prefixed prepositions, and would be
interested in all kind of informations on that subject (bibliography, articles,
etc.). Thank you in advance for your help.
Pascale Amozig
pascaletovna.co.il

David Stampe informs there is a Natural Language Software Registry at the U
of Chicago. Does anyone know the most recent address for this registry?
Thanks

Phil Bralich