LINGUIST List 7.441

Sat Mar 23 1996

Qs: Product text, English/French, Clitics, Anthropology

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Jorg Roellinghoff, product-accompagnying texts
2. Bill Holowacz, [u]/[y] substitution in English/French bilinguals
3. "Lizanne Kaiser (GD 1999)", CLLD and CLRD in Complex Sentences
4. Frances Karttunen, Mexican anthropology

I am interested in product-accompagnying texts (not only instructions
for use, but also descriptions on the packaging, promotional
information leaflets and catalogues) from a linguistic as well as from
a practical point of view (marketing). I should like to know about
current research in this field. Does anybody know about collections of
these kinds of texts in German, English, French or other languages? Or
research projects investigating the influence of badly translated /
written texts on consumer attitude? Or projects aiming at their
optimization?

There must have been an exhibition on the subject about two years ago
in Darmstadt, but I have not yet been able to find out by which
institution it was organized. Perhaps one of the German subscribers to
the LinguistList knows something about it?

I would appreciate your help! Please send mail to the above address (my
husband's). Thank you in advance.

Barbara Gutermann

J=F6rg Roellinghoff Jorg.Roellinghoffping.be
 	 Rue L. Titeca 13
 1150 Brussels
 Telefon: (0032) 02 772.67.51
 Telefax: (0032) 02 772.67.51
call first

 I am looking for information on why english speakers systematically
substiute [u] for [y] in french. Apparently, there is no reason to prefer
[u] to [i]. Some African creoles substitute [i] for [y], and Chomsky and
Halle state that the place of ariculation should be the most salient feature.

This brings me to my two questions:

1) Do english english speakers perceive the french [y] as [y] or [u]? And
when they speak, do they think they're producing [y] or [u]?

2) One of the possible reasons for this substitution is the fact that the
grapheme <<y>> which represents [y] in french represents the sound [u]in
English. Thus, spelling would bias the speakers who have associated <<y>>
with /u/ as in English, resulting in an interference in the morphology. Do
bilingual english-speaking children who are "naturally" bilingual (i.e. who
have not learned French in an academic setting) make the same pronunciation
errors as adult learners of french?

I will post a summary if there is a sufficient response. Thank you in advance,

Bill Holowacz
billsoftdom.com

I'm interested in Clitic Left-Dislocation and Clitic Right-Dislocation
constructions in complex sentences for languages such as Catalan, Greek,
or Italian. In cases where the CLLD-ed/CLRD-ed element corresponds to an
argument of the embedded predicate, can the CLLD-ed/CLRD-ed element attach
to either the matrix clause or the embedded clause? For example, are
sentences like the following possible?

(i)	CLLD:

	a. [CP1 John, [CP1 I said [CP2 that Mary him-loves __ ]]].

	b. [CP1 I said [CP2 John, [CP2 that Mary him-loves __ ]]].

(ii)	CLRD:

	a. [[I said [that Mary him-loves __ CP2] CP1] (man!/right?) John CP1].

	b. [I said [[ that Mary him-loves __ CP2] John CP2] (man!/right?) CP1].

In the case of CLRD, perhaps a matrix-clause-final expression such as
"man!" or "right?" could be added to determine whether the CLRD-ed
element is attached to the matrix or embedded clause. (Or is there
another way to distinguish this in these languages?)

Any relevant examples from these languages would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Lizanne Kaiser
lkaiserminerva.cis.yale.edu

I have a query about anthropology/linguistics in Mexico in the period
1910-1920 that some fellow linguist could perhaps help me with. The
International School of American Archaeology and Ethnology was founded in
1910, a cooperative venture of the German and Mexican governments, the
Hispanic Society of America, and several universities, including Columbia.
The International Congress of Americanists held a special session in Mexico
City that year to help celebrate Mexico's centennial, although its regular
scheduled meeting was two years off and in London. By then the Mexican
Revolution had broken upon the nation. In spite of the great dangers, Boas
went to Mexico in 1912, and the International school kept operating
straight through. Oddly, it went out of existence in 1920 just when the
shooting came to an end.

During this wild time, in an institution otherwise male, there was a woman
fellow of the International School, a woman nominated by the Mexican
government. Her name was Isabel Ramirez Castaneda, and according to Boas,
she was a native of the Indian community of Milpa Alta and a "maestra."
She presented a paper on the folklore of Milpa Alta at the London meeting
of the Americanists, and it is published in the proceedings. It contains
excellent Nahuatl texts. She also wrote down Nahuatl texts for Boas, which
he published in the 1920s. From Alfred Tozzer's report on the 1916
activities of the International School, one learns more of Maestra Isabel's
activities. Among other things, she did a dig in the southern Federal
District and collected Nahuatl texts. Besides her Americanists paper, I
have located two other publications of hers.

I want to find out more about her, but I am currrently stuck. Baptismal
records of Milpa Alta were destroyed in the Revolution, and in fact the
town was completely depopulated in 1916 and repeopled four years later.
People who live there today can't say whether families named Ramirez and
Castaneda lived there before 1910. I haven't found any family monuments.

When the International School closed, the records were turned over to the
National Museum. The director of the library of the National Museum of
Anthropology tried to help me in every way, but he couldn't locate any
records.

Are there any Boas scholars who could give me a tip on where to look next?

Frances Karttunen