LINGUIST List 9.116

Sat Jan 24 1998

Qs: Sign Lang, Lexicography, Phrases, Pronunciation

Editor for this issue: Martin Jacobsen <martylinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Paul Rowlett, Nicaraguan Sign Language
2. Hiroaki Tanaka, Enjoy Oneself (by) Doing?
3. Udo Lakemper, Phrases and Idioms in Mental Lexicon
4. Bente Henrikka Moxness, Madrigal Pronunciation

Dear all,

One of my research students is about to undertake some work on
Nicaraguan Sign Language. Given the topic is relatively new, she
would appreciate references to relevant source material. Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

Please send replies direct to:
H.J.Wrigglesworthmod-lang.salford.ac.uk

Many thanks,
Paul

Dr Paul Rowlett
Head of French
Department of Modern Languages
University of Salford
Salford M5 4WT
Greater Manchester
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 161 295 4131
Fax: +44 (0) 161 295 5335

Dear Linguists,

 My former teacher in the university I graduated, a famous
lexcographer here in Japan, who is compiling many English-Japanese
dictionaries, wants to know whether the following "enjoy + oneself
+(by) + doing" is currently used in America, Britain and other English
speaking countries. Logically, "enjoy + oneslef + doing" consturction
in (3) below is impossible, because "enjoy" does not take double
object construction. But he arugues against this, saying that the
developmental strategy of "enjoy" is from (1a) to (1d). The questions
are: (i)Which type in (2a)-(2e) do you think is the most appropriate,
acceptable structure of "enjoy"? (ii)Which do you think is the most
old-fashioned, out of use, type in (2a)-(2e)? (iii) Do you think are
there any regional differences among these sentences?

 (1) a. enjoy oneself by doing
 -->b. enjoy oneself (by) doing
 -->c. enjoy oneself doing
 -->d. enjoy doing

 (2) a. I had a good time playing golf.
 b. I enjoyed myself playing golf.
 c. I enjoyed myself while playing golf.
 d. I enjoyed myself playing golf.
 e. I enjoyed playing golf.

 For your information, I refer to the curious omission of "enjoiy
oneself" in the 5th edition of Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary(OUP), although there is one in the 4th edition of the
dictionary(The children enjoyed themsleves playing in the water).

 I will post a summary. I'm looking forward to your replies. Please
e-mail me directly to the following address. Enjoy yourself answering
my question!

Thanks a lot in advance.

Best wishes,

Hiroaki Tanaka

Associate Professor
Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences
Tokushima University, Japan
 
1-1, Minamijousanjioma,
Tokushima, 770-8052,
Japan

phone & fax: +81 886 56 7125
e-mail: hiro-tias.tokushima-u.ac.jp

Dear linguists,

I have lately been working on a project on phrases (German: 
"Phraseologismen") and idioms and their representation in the mental
lexicon. Unfortunately only little scientific research has been carried 
out in this field yet. I would therefore like to inquire whether you 
have any information on publications, research projects etc. concernig 
the above mentioned subject, especially on the question how to access 
and generate idioms and phrases.

I would be very glad to hear from you.
Best wishes
Udo Lakemper

- ---------------------------------------------------------
Udo Lakemper
Germanistisches Institut
Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum
Udo.Lakemperruhr-uni-bochum.de
http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/www-public/lakemubz/welcome.htm

I'm posting this question on behalf of a friend who studies music.
Can anyone direct her as to the proper pronunciation of the following
two phrases of the madrigal "Come Again" by John Dowland (1563-1626):

1.
To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die
with thee again in sweetest sympathy.
2.
I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die
in deadly pain and endless misery.

My friend has been instructed to make "sympathy" and "misery" rhyme
with "die" in her singing. Was "die" pronunced as we would say it
today? Should "sympathy" and "misery" rhyme with "die" according to
the English pronunciation in the 16.th century? I realize that this
is not the spelling used in the original, and I don't have the
original orthography. I seem to recall vaguely from somewhere that
during the Renaissance period, words ending with an [I] (sympathy,
misery) had an -ie sequence for the final vowel. Could it be that the
words were orthographical look-alikes but not sound-alikes?

Please answer to my e-mail address:
bente.moxnesshf.ntnu.no

Regards,
Bente