LINGUIST List 9.84

Mon Jan 19 1998

Qs: Extraversion, Lexicon vs encyclopedia, O-Words

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. j.dewaele, Query: extraversion and applied linguistics
2. Bert Peeters, Lexicon vs encyclopedia - book proposal
3. Mikael Parkvall, o-words

Dear colleagues

I'm currently working on a review paper for a major journal
on studies that combine extraversion scores with quantitative
linguistic variables in oral speech. 
Could send me references of (recent) studies you know, or about 
work in progress, or unpublished material that covers this
area of research in applied linguistics ?

Thanks in advance !

Dr. Jean-Marc Dewaele
French Deptm, Birkbeck College, University of London
London WC1H 0PD G.B.
j.dewaeleUK.AC.BBK.FRENCH

I am toying with the idea - just toying - of editing a book dealing with
various approaches to the distinction between lexicon and encyclopedia.
Before I approach any publishers, I would like to gauge the interest
of the linguistic community. If anyone out there would be interested or
knows of other potential contributors, would you please drop me a line.

Thanks!

Bert Peeters
(On study leave in Europe until mid-June, 1998)

Dr Bert Peeters - School of English and European Languages and Literatures
University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-82, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia
Tel.: 	+61 (0)3 6226 2344		Fax.: +61 (0)3 6226 7631
E-mail: Bert.Peetersutas.edu.au
World-wide web:
 http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/peeters/peeters.htm
 http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/modern_languages/french/welcome.htm

Regarding American English words ending in <-o>, such as "weirdo", "wacko",
"wino", "psycho", "fatso" etc:

* What other words are there that could be considerd members of this class
(if it is indeed perceived as a class by Americans)?
* Has anybody suggested an origin of the <-o>?
* In colloquial Swedish, there is something somewhat similar, in that an
<-o> can be affixed to an adjective (or a noun) to form a noun denoting a
person having a certain quality (as in "weird" > "weirdo"). This could
possibly be influenced by American usage. Are there similar derivations in
other languages as well? If it is the case that we have got it from American
English, it would be an interesting case of loan morphology.

Examples from Swedish: "fetto" 'fat person' (< "fet" 'fat'), "neggo"
'negative person' (< "negative" 'negative'), "dummo" 'stupid person' (<
"dum" 'stupid'), "no<umlaut>rdo" 'neird' (< "no<umlaut>rd" 'neird')

Mikael Parkvall
Stockholm