LINGUIST List 10.557

Sun Apr 18 1999

Qs: Humor, African Names, Reviews, Readability Code

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>



We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

Directory

  • Anne Menis, Translation of humour
  • Wilma Pendleton, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo
  • Mathias Maul, Review articles wanted
  • Pierre Asselin, Readability formulae

    Message 1: Translation of humour

     Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 21:58:00 +1000
    From: Anne Menis <anne.menisarts.monash.edu.au>
    Subject: Translation of humour


    I am writing my Honours thesis on the topic "pragmatic implications of the translation of humour". In other words the problems in inter-cultural communication in the discourse of translation, concentrating on humour and its effects in this area. If anyone has any information or tips, I'd be grateful.

    Thanks Anne Menis

    Message 2: Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo

     Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 09:01:36 -0400
    From: Wilma Pendleton <phpendwph.cc.va.us>
    Subject: Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo


    I am working with the fiction of Alice Walker and would like to find out if her use of African names is satirical. One of her characters, enamored of African culture, renames herself "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo". Is this wholly a fabrication on Walker's part -- or is it a legitimate African name? In what language? Might Walker intend some joke, as for example that the name, translated, would mean "I am a goose", or some such.

    The character's original name is Dee, short for Dicie. Any chance that either of these, ironically, is in fact African?

    Wilma Pendleton phpendwph.cc.va.us

    Message 3: Review articles wanted

     Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 21:28:37 +0200
    From: Mathias Maul <maulm001mail.uni-mainz.de>
    Subject: Review articles wanted


    Dear listmembers,

    Up to now, I have been unable to locate review articles on the following publications:

    Carson-Berndsen, Julie. 1998. Time Map Phonology. Kluwer. Kornai, Andras. 1991. Formal Phonology. PhD Thesis, Stanford. Williams, Geoffrey. 1998. The Phonological Basis of Speech Recognition. PhD Thesis, SOAS.

    Should anyone of you be aware of any publications, drafts, working papers, opinions, thoughts or ideas relating to one of the above mentioned works, please send mail.

    Please also send mail if you know the email address of Geoffrey Williams. His subscribing address of this list is invalid, and contacting him via SOAS has not worked.

    Thanks, Mathias.

    - linguistics speech recognition computer science english origami INFOCOM stuttering nlp NLP lewis carroll douglas adams tori amos peter greenaway unix NeXTStep macintosh atari c++ java tex gc3.12:a--s:-U(VHS)X++$t+e*y? * Unfortunately, there's a radio connected to my brain. Zorkers unite! *

    Message 4: Readability formulae

     Date: Sun, 18 Apr 1999 09:29:19 -0400
    From: Pierre Asselin <zycormagi.com>
    Subject: Readability formulae


    Dear Linguist,

    Years ago, I wrote MSDOS text analysis software. The resulting program used a formula that indicated what grade school level the reader should have reached to comprehend readily the text analysed by the software. I have lost my 'C' source code, the resulting compiled program, and cannot find my original source of the formula used at the time. So far, Internet searches have proved fruitless. I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

    Thank you.

    Yours sincerely,

    Pierre Asselin.