LINGUIST List 9.380

Sat Mar 14 1998

FYI: Korean List,Left/Right Asym,Richard Mather Lect

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

Directory

1. David J. Silva, Korean Linguistics Mailing List
2. bingfu, An Anecdote of Left-Right Asymmetries
3. David Prager Branner, Dante & the Vernaculars: Chinese & Western (Mpls)

The International Circle of Korean Linguists (ICKL) is currently in
the process of reorganizing its mailing lists and developing
internet-based means of disseminating information about itself and
other topics related to Korean Linguistics. If you would like to be
included on ICKL's preliminary mailing lists (electronic and
snail-mail), please contact me at davidling.uta.edu.

In the subject line please type "send ICKL info". I will then forward
an ICKL "E-Update", which includes additional information.

NOTE: Past/Current members of ICKL should request an "E-Update" so
that they may UPDATE their current membership information.

- David J. Silva (davidling.uta.edu)
 Asst. Professor of Linguistics
 The University of Texas at Arlington

	Here is an anecdote about left-right asymmetries. 

Recently, in the net list of Chinese linguistic/teaching discussion
chinesekenyon.edu, there have been a discussion about the relation
between 'left' and 'sinister', and 'right' and 'correct'. It reminds
me of something. Many years ago, I read a book by an anthropologist,
telling that in a certain language the verb infection partly depends
on whether the action is carried out by the left or right hands. Did
anybody in this net list read the same story?

Then, how about when the speaker is not sure about which hand performs
the action? He has to use some marked, cumbersome substitute forms,
like 'I was hit (by a unknown hand)' or 'I suffered/received a
hit'. It is not totally surprising, since in many languages the verb
inflection relates to the gender, or social status of the actor.

Speakers of some languages like Chinese may feel lucky in this
respect, since they don't need to care about the sex, status etc. of
the actor (which are irrelevant to the communicational purpose in most
of cases) whenever they use a finite verb.
						Bingfu Lu
						USC

East Asian Languages, Literatures & Linguistics 
of the Institute of Linguistics and Asian
and Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Minnesota

presents

	*** The Fourth Richard B. Mather Lecture ***

Prof. Glen Dudbridge (Oxford University) speaking on

Dante & the Vernaculars: 
	Chinese & Western

Thursday, 16 April, 1998
	3:30-5:00 pm
	Coffman Union (Theatre)
	University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (East Bank)

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact our Department secretary at
	(612)-624-3331