LINGUIST List 6.769

Sun 04 Jun 1995

Qs: GB theory, Portuguese, Texas, Time phrases, Phonetic shifts

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1. "B.Bruening", Query: NegP & alternatives
2. Rafael Humberto Scapin, Portuguese Language
3. ofla, rice university - texas dialects
4. B R Maylor, half a year/six months
5. "Xulio C. Sousa Fernandez", Universals Phonetics Shifts

I am in search of information regarding the analysis of sentential
negation in current GB theory. Most of the references I can find assume a
split Inflection, where things like Tense, Agreement, Aspect, etc. each
head their own phrase; Negation is assumed to also head a phrase. I am
looking for alternative analyses, if any exist, which seek to account for
the facts of negation by other means, or which provide data that might be
problematic for a phrasal analysis. Any references or other help will be
greatly appreciated, and I will post a summary.

benjamin.brueningm.cc.utah.edu

Dear friends,

 My name is Rafael Humberto Scapin, I'm 22 years old and study
Computational Physics at University of Sao Paulo.
 I'd like to get in contact with people who are studying
Portuguese language around the world. Every e-mail messages will
be replyed.
 Thanks in advance for your attention. I'll be looking forward
your reply.

 Best wishes from Brazil,

 Rafael Humberto Scapin
 RAFAELIFQSC.SC.USP.BR

dear linguist -- alas, I am not giving but asking for help. I have read
of a project at Rice University concerned with Texas dialects, but can't
seem to find anything on it other then one reference. I am not a
professional lignuist but a hard-pressed writer on a deadline with a need
for some reliable texas dialect material. Can you help with an e-mail to
the above address? I would be most grateful! Best, Dennis O'Flaherty

Dear Readers,
Can I test your native-speaker judgments on some time phrases. The
English 'six months' as in 'We spent six months on a cruise' is usually
rendered in German as 'ein halbes Jahr', with the predictable result
that Germans learning/speaking English have to unlearn 'a half-year' or
'half a year'. Am I right, or hopelessly parochial in my judgments?
Could you indicate yes/no or good/bad for the following:

1 The family spent........in Ipswich. a. a day and a half
 b. one and a half days
 c. thirty-six hours

2 I took me ........ to write the book a. six months
 b. a half-year
 c. half a year

3 We'll be leaving in ........... a. half an hour
 b. a half-hour

4 Tom worked for........... in a lab. a. a year and a half
 b. one and a half years
 c. eighteen months

Thanks for your help.

Roger Maylor
Dept of Linguistics
University of Durham, UK

Dear colleagues:

I need to know some bibliography about universals in phonetic shifts. I
don't need theory, only exemples, or theory with a lot of exemples.

v.g.

In X languages /K+j/ [velar + approximant palatal]) /k'/ [velar
palatalized]) /tS/ [affricate palatal voiceless], like Latin
In X languages /h/ [fricative glottal voiceless]) /0/ [zero phonetic],
like Old Spanish

I need information about vocalic hiatus like /ae/, /oe/:
/'ae/) ['ae] > ['aj] > ['ej] > ['e]
 ) ['ee] > ['e]
 or ['ae]) ['aa] (?)
and about lengthening of one of this vowels when the other falls
/ei/) /e:/

thanks in advance

Prof. Francisco Dubert
Departamento de Filoloxia Galega
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Galicia
(Spain)