LINGUIST List 6.750

Thu 01 Jun 1995

Qs: UNIX fonts, V2 and discourse, Intro to Lang, Metathesis

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1. Beatrix Kress, UNIX-Fonts??
2. Vincent DeCaen, Q: V2 and discourse
3. Vicki Fromkin, request
4. , Metathesis

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Hello to all machine-bound linguists out there!

May sound funny, but circumstances force me to ask if
there exists some utility (-ies) of any kind to use
cyrillic or IPA fonts NOT on Macs or (the smaller) IBMs,
but with UNIX, i.e. under AIX (graphic). Has anyone
ever heard of such a possibility ?? (to be honest,
right until now I have never spent any thought upon
it).

Anyway being grateful for you reading this mail,
Berthold Kress, Frankfurt/M., Germany

one unintended bonus of my work on Biblical Hebrew syntax (V2 vs VSO)
is that there is a clear basis for topic-comment structure
(spec-I''=topic, I'=comment). now, in the field, all the rage is the
discourse-structuring properties of the formal grammar. it seems to
me that it is worth the trouble to track topicalization through a text
on the assumption of my analysis.

the topicalization appears to virtually match the numbers obtained in
Germanic V2 systems, e.g., in % of fronting Subject, etc, etc. it
then appears that a good place to start is the lit on the
pragmatico-discourse effect of fronting in matrix structures in
German, Dutch, etc.

can someone please provide recent bibliography, preferably a concise
article or two with good bibliography, on the effect of fronting in
Germanic systems as a heuristic for work on the Semitic systems.

thankyou in advance.

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Bob Rodman and I are about to start on the revisions of our Introduction
to Language -- 6th edition and we need all the input, suggestions, proposed
changes, corrections, critiques , i.e. help, we can get from any one
who has used the text and particularly from those who haven't (as to why
not).

As always, we will be eternally grateful -- and will be sure anyone sending
in suggestions will not only be acknowledged but will get a complimentary
copy of the book should you want one.

wish I could promise a round trip flight for two to the place of your
choice but alas --

Grateflly (in advance) Vicki Fromkin

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I would like to get references to any work done on metathesis using recent
phonological theory (metrical theory etc).

I'm working with a speaker of Dawan (West Timor) which has a great deal of
synchronic (and probably grammatically conditioned) metathesis of the VCV)
VVC type e.g. mepu)meup. I have a copy of a conference paper by Steinhauer
discussing this phenomenon in Dawan, and giving references to other work
before 1991 on Austronesian languages with metatheis (Rotuman, Letinese)
and earlier works from the 1960'-70's on metathesis in general. I am looking
for more recent work, primarily theoretical, but also language descriptions
(not necessarily Austronesian)

Patrick McConvell
Anthropology
Northern Territory University
Darwin, NT Australia
fax: 089-466977