LINGUIST List 17.582

Wed Feb 22 2006

Qs: Intonation in Creoles; French Verb Frequency

Editor for this issue: James Rider <riderlinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Sam Callanan, Intonation in Creoles
         2.    Fiona Mc Laughlin, Database on French Verb Frequency
Message 1: Intonation in Creoles
Date: 21-Feb-2006
From: Sam Callanan <sam.callanansheffield.ac.uk>
Subject: Intonation in Creoles


Dear All,

I have recently been trying to find out about the use of intonation inpidgins and creoles, however this appears to be a much under-researchedarea. Although I have found work on tones and tonal languages in relationto creoles, I have found it hard to find much information specificallydiscussing intonation. Therefore I am making an appeal for pointers in theright direction to the collected knowledge of the Linguist List.

I’m interested in all aspects of the use of intonation and pitch:interactional, affective, grammatical and pragmatic uses, and particularlythe occurrence of certain contours with certain utterance types, e.g. theassociation of rises with questions and any counter examples.

However, the dearth of information in this area means that any mention ofintonation systems of creoles and pidgins that readers are aware of wouldbe much appreciated.

I would be particularly grateful to hear from people who have worked on, orspeak any, creoles. Even a fleeting impression would be much appreciated.

Please reply to me directly and I will post a summary of the responses Ireceive to the List.

Many thanks,

Sam

sam.callananshef.ac.uk

Linguistic Field(s): Phonology
Message 2: Database on French Verb Frequency
Date: 22-Feb-2006
From: Fiona Mc Laughlin <fmclufl.edu>
Subject: Database on French Verb Frequency


Does anyone know of a database that can supply the following information?

1. The ratio of class 1 (so called -er) verbs to those of other verbclasses in the French lexicon.

2. Verb frequency in spoken French discourse.

Many thanks.

Fiona Mc Laughlin

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax                             Text/Corpus Linguistics
Subject Language(s): French (fra)