LINGUIST List 6.994

Thu Jul 20 1995

Qs: Citation index, Ling relativity, Voiced sentence, if-clause

Editor for this issue: Ann Dizdar <dizdartam2000.tamu.edu>

Directory

1. Michael Cysouw, Citation Index
2. , Q:Linguistic Relativity
3. "Larry Trask", Query: Fully voiced sentences
4. Larry Rosenwald, A query about a kind of if-clause

Hai,

My name is Michael Cysouw and I just started a PhD-project on the
department of linguistics in Nijmegen (Holland) with Leon Stassen and
Pieter Seuren.

I'm not officially subscribed to the linguist list, but I'm often browsing
through the WWW-server. Now I want to get the following message on the list
(if it is possible):


Query: Linguistic Cross-Referenced Citation Index

Why isn't there any linguistic Citation Index which is cross-referenced,
just like there exists for biology and physics for instance? This index
should allow you to find all the books and articles that are referring to a
book/article of your interest, so you can easily find the follow-up of a
scientific discussion.

I think such an index would be invaluable for linguistic research. Does
anybody know about plans to construct one, or about how to set up such an
index (structurally and financially)?

Michael Cysouw

Algemene Taalwetenschap en Dialectologie
Faculteit Letteren
Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen
Postbus 9103
6500 HD Nijmegen
Netherlands

u248008vm.uci.kun.nl

Hi, everybody!
I have been working on a second thesis devoted to the problem of Linguistic
Relativity in Germany (Leo Weisgerber and his school) and would be very
interested to find out, whether there are linguists elaborating upon this
issue (or on the school of E.Sapir and B.L.Whorf in the USA) and interested
in contacts with Neohumboldtianists in Russia.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Oleg A. Radchenko
Dr. phil. (RUS), Head of the Germanic Philology
Department, Ulyanovsk University
e-mail: radtschuni-muenster.de
(till March 1, 1996 in Germany)

I am posting the following message for a colleague who is not on
Linguist. If you can help, please reply directly to him (Bird) and not
to me (Trask).

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larrytcogs.susx.ac.uk

The request:

I need quite a large number (about 100 would be sufficient) of English
sentences consisting entirely of voiced segments -- that is, containing
no voiceless obstruents at all. Ideally, I would like sentences of
varying length (up to a maximum of 13 or 14 words).

Does anyone know of a corpus of this sort available on line or
elsewhere? I would appreciate any help you could give me in locating a
source. Thanks very much,

Jon Bird
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

jonbacogs.susx.ac.uk

 For some reason I keep being uncomfortable about a
certain kind of if-clause - an example would be, "If I don't
see you before you go, have a good trip." What makes me un-
comfortable, of course, is that on first appearance this would
seem to make my wishing the interlocutor a good trip conditional
on my not seeing him or her before departure, whereas in fact
my good wishes are in this respect unconditional. I suppose
the expanded version of the sentence might be, "If I don't
see you before you go, then let me wish you a good trip now,"
or even, "I hereby wish you a good trip - if it turns out that
I don't see you before you go, then let this particular wishing
you a good trip be the actual-because-final one." But neither
of these extensions feels quite satisfactory.
 So my queries - which I'm permitting myself to make
because it's summertime, and the living is easy - are: 1) anyone
share my curiosity or unease about such sentences? 2) anyone
know of any printed discussion of such sentences? and 3) anyone
know of comparable forms in other languages?
 I'll post a summary if there's interest - thanks, Larry
Rosenwald