LINGUIST List 7.244

Wed Feb 14 1996

Qs: Locating papers, Women & expletives, Regional Eng

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

Directory

1. "Paul de Lacy", Locating papers:Kager & Zec
2. LETTICIA GALINDO, Women & Expletives
3. Susan Meredith Burt, Q: warsh, Warshington

Can someone please tell me where I can get copies of (i) Rene Kager's paper
'Stress in Windows' (ms. University of Utrecht) and (ii) Draga Zec's 'Coda
Constraints and Conditions on syllable Weight' (ms. Cornell)?

Many thanks,
Paul de Lacy
University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Recently in the STATE PRESS, a campus newspaper at Arizona State
University, a female reporter (urban, East Coast, Italian-American)
wrote of her experience s of being chastised for using expletives in a
bar setting and also for using an expletive in print. As a
sociolinguist who has done some research among Chicanas and their use
of expletives (both in English and Spanish), I wrote a letter to the
editor making some observations about the double-standardness that
applies to expletive use and how many of my own students (both male/
female) still consider women who use these forms of expression as
being uneducated, low-class, and vulgar. Since this incident, I have
been called to provide information on this topic with such questions
being raised as:

1. Are there empirical studies that have polled both males/females on
their attitudes towards expletive use in contemporary, American
society?

2. To what extent is there empirical scholarship that has examined
this topic on expletive use among females in the U.S.? other cultures?
in intra- group settings? in inter-group settings? as part of verbal
art/performance (e.g., joketellings, gossiping, bragging)?

I readily admit I don't have answers to these questions and therefore
would like to solicit input/citations as they pertain to this topic
and related issues. Gracias....LETTICIA GALINDO/ARIZONA STATE
UNIVERSITY.

Dear Linguists,

My students have asked me the origin of regional pronunciations of
'wash' as 'warsh.' Does anyone know when, where, how these regional
(?) variants developed? Is there any literature on this? Please
respond to me directly, and I will post a summary to the list if there
is sufficient interest.

Many thanks,

Susan

Susan Meredith Burt
During the academic year:
Department of English
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
800 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh WI 54901 USA
internet: Burtvaxa.cis.uwosh.edu

During January, June, July and August:
602 Normal Avenue
Normal, IL 61761
Internet: smburtheartland.bradley.edu