LINGUIST List 7.271

Wed Feb 21 1996

Qs: G.K. Zipf, Transcription rates, Prepositions

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

Directory

1. Claudia Pruen, Help needed on G.K. Zipf
2. Barbara Ullmann, transcription rates
3. hiro-t, Query: You'd be so nice to come home to./Window {to / on} the world.

I am planning to publish a monograph on G.K.Zipf (1902-1950, famous
for his rank-frequency distributions, founder of a quantitative
scientific approach to linguistic theory) and in order to make it look
a little prettier, I want to ask if anyone can help me with getting
hold of 'devotionalia' like a portrait, pictures of birthplace, home
or tombstone, newspaper cuttings, contact to veteran philologists who
might be able to tell anecdotes, family contact (manuscripts?) or
anything else that might add to a picture of Zipf's person.

Here are the biographical data:
born Jan 7 1902, Freeport, Ill.
1924 grad. (Harvard, summa cum laude)
1925 German studies in Bonn
1929 publication of dissertation (Relative Frequency as a determinant of
	phonetic change)
1930 Ph.D. (Harvard, comparative philology)
	Teacher of german language
1936 Assistant professor of German (Harvard)
1939 University lecturer (Harvard)
died Sep 25 1950

The bibliography is not included here, it contains about 37 Titles by Zipf.

Because he seems to have been at Harvard most of his life, I suppose
that Harvard yearbooks can be a source of a picture of some sort
(portrait, class picture, staff pictures?). Can anyone tell me where I
might be able to get hold of Harvard yearbooks in Germany (rsp. nearer
Middle Europe)? Or is there a possibility of sending a copy here
(digitally or hardcopy/photo)? Any effort on your side is highly
appreciated and your expenses (at least!) can be met.

If you can make helpful suggestions or send something as described above,
please contact:
	Claudia Pruen e-mail pruenldv01.uni-trier.de
	FB II, Liguistische DV
	Universitaet Trier
 D-54286 Trier

Please feel free to forward this message.

Claudia

I'm doing research on code-switching. Does anyone know the rates for
transcribing everyday bilingual (Hebrew/English) conversation?

Dear Linguists,

 I was asked by my colleague about the two sentences below. One
query is about the meaning of the sentence including a final _to_, and
the other is about the meaning difference of _to_ and _on_. Both are
about the problem of prepositions.

 (i) You'd be so nice to come home to.
 Q: What is the meaning of this sentence? Can you paraphrase it
 into something easier? I heard this is a phrase of an old popular
 song. Why is the final _to_ necessary?

 (ii) Window {to / on} the world.
 Q: What is the difference between _to_ and _on_? Are both aceptable?
 And which is more frequently used?

 I will appreciate any comments on these matters. Please e-mail me
directly. I will post a summary soon. Thanks a lot in advance.

Hiroaki Tanaka, Associate Professor, Tokushima University, Japan.
E-mail: hiro-tias.tokushima-u.ac.jp