LINGUIST List 7.673

Wed May 8 1996

Qs: Discourse, "-y", English, HPSG, Communication

Editor for this issue: Annemarie Valdez <avaldezemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Julie Reid, Relative clauses in spoken discourse
2. P85013VM.BIU.AC.IL, "-y" pronunciation in British English
3. shimizulet.kumamoto-u.ac.jp, Formal and informal English
4. Pius ten Hacken, questions on HPSG
5. Stefan Goes, lit. on answering machines

Dear Linguists,

I'm chasing recent references on relative clauses in spoken English,
and would really appreciate any suggestions that you may have,
particularly if the data has been analysed in terms of intonation
units. I will post a summary if there are sufficient replies.

Thanks,

Julie

Julie Reid
School of Linguistics
La Trobe University
BUNDOORA VIC 3089
AUSTRALIA

Phone: +61 3 9438 3629
Fax: +61 3 9438 4807

I have noticed that "-y" is transcribed as /i/ in American dictionaries
and as /I/ in British dictionaries. Yet, the British English speakers I know
find such pronunciation odd. I would like to ask:
- in what dialects is "-y" indeed /I/ (e.g., "happy", "nicely") ?
- in those dialects, can /I/ turn into /i/ in certain circumstances, for
 instance when followed by a vowel (e.g. "the angry American") ?
I would appreciate your answers. Please reply to p85013vm.biu.ac.il .

 Dear Linguists,

 I am writing this on behalf of my colleague , who has a student
 interested in the difference between formal and informal English.
 Can anybody help the student to start off the enquiries into this
 subject by telling him what literature there is in this particular
 field, or who he should get in contact with, or by giving him any
 advice?

 Kiyoshi Shimizu: shimizulet.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
 Department of Linguistics
 Kumamoto University
 Kumamoto city, Japan

Dear colleagues,

Is there anybody out there who could answer me some fairly basic
questions on HPSG ?

I would like to include a short introduction to HPSG in a course
on grammar formalisms for computational linguistics. After reading
(parts of) Pollard & Sag's 1994 book I feel I cannot answer some
questions that arise straightforwardly in the preparation of the
course material, but I know no one around here who can answer
them.

Please contact me at
tenhackenubaclu.unibas.ch

Thanks,
Pius ten Hacken

Dear listers,

I'm still working on my master's thesis on communication with
answering machines. I recently found two titles which I would like to
read, but can't get in Germany. Who can help?

Sullivan, L.L.: "Are you there? ... Please pick up ...": The telphone
answering machine and social interaction, IN: The SECOL Review -
Southeastern Conference on Linguistics, Memphis, TN, 18:2, fall 1994,
pp. 139-163.

Wojcik, Daniel: "At the sound of the beep": An analysis of the
structure and traditional forms of answering machine greetings, IN:
Folklore and Mythological Studies, University of California
Publications, 1987-1988, pp. 11-12, 80-103.

I'd very much appreciate any hints to where I might find these
articles. If anyone should be willing to send them to me, I'd be
willing to pay up to U.S. $ 20 per article (incl. shipping and
handling).
I myself am only too willing to help anyone working on the same
subject.

Rainer Knirsch.

(please send messages to sgoesgwdg.de)
Stefan Goes
Seminar fuer deutsche Philologie
Humboldtallee 13
D - 37073 Goettingen