LINGUIST List 10.1415

Wed Sep 29 1999

Qs: Ling as Soc Sci Course,Switch Reference Markers

Editor for this issue: James Yuells <jameslinguistlist.org>



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  • Franz Muller-Gotama, linguistics as a social science course
  • San Martin Itziar, Switch Reference Markers

    Message 1: linguistics as a social science course

     Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 12:23:46 -0700
    From: Franz Muller-Gotama <fmuller-gotamafullerton.edu>
    Subject: linguistics as a social science course


    Our linguistics program here at California State University, Fullerton is about to create a freshman-level course which is intended to satisfy a general education requirement in the social sciences, competing with courses like Psych 101 and Sociology 101. We would like to hear from anyone out there who has taught, created, or otherwise thought about such a course. Some specific questions we have include the following:

    1. What should be covered in such a course to make it truly an intro to social sciences, and not just to linguistics? 2. What textbooks exist which highlight this kind of linguistics at an introductory level? 3. How can we overcome reservations from the psychologists, etc. that we are not a true social science (a reservation which we similarly hear from the humanities people) and so should not be participating in this general education category?

    Feel free to respond to the list or to e-mail me at fmuller-gotamafullerton.edu. I will post a summary of responses to the list then.

    Franz Muller-Gotama Coordinator, Linguistics Program California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA 92834-6848

    e-mail: fmuller-gotamafullerton.edu phone: (714) 278-7004

    Message 2: Switch Reference Markers

     Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 19:52:22 -0400 (EDT)
    From: San Martin Itziar <itziarsmwam.umd.edu>
    Subject: Switch Reference Markers


    Finer (84) in his book on Switch Reference mentions an interesting fact in the end (page 198): in some languages , for instance in Diegueno and Chickasaw, Switch Reference markers converge phonetically with case markers. Specifically, the 'Same subject' marker is homophonous to a morpheme that marks subjects, and the 'Different subject' marker coincides with Oblique case markings. I would have expected the opposite, so I am looking for more information regarding this issue. ( Also about the case system of the two languages mentioned above). Thanks a lot in advance, Itziar San Martin