LINGUIST List 5.274

Wed 09 Mar 1994

Qs: Nary, Survey, Jakobson quotation, Morph causativization

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Directory

  • Shana Walton, "nary a one" usage
  • , Grammar Survey
  • MARC PICARD, Jakobson quotation
  • , Query: morphological causativization

    Message 1: "nary a one" usage

     Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 13:10:24 +"nary a one" usage
    From: Shana Walton <swaltonwhale.st.usm.edu>
    Subject: "nary a one" usage


    This week I came across a usage that I've heard all my life, but I've never had to spell before. I'm assuming it's a contraction of the longer form "nary a one," and it's pronounced /nErn/ (well, actually there's a retroflex schwa in there after that front mid lax vowel, not an /r/, but I don't have an IPA font on this.) Sample usage:

    "I had been to Camp Shelby and tried to get a job and I didn't get nar'n."

    I didn't know how to look it up, but I did look up "nary" in the OED and it said that "nary" was an American version of "ne'er a," but is now more common outside of the U.S. Does that mean it should be spelled "ne'er'n"?

    The most common way I remember hearing this growing up is: "tweren't nar'n." Another person told me that he had always heard it "nar'n a one."

    What do other people know about this usage? Is it confined to the South in the U.S.? Any spelling ideas?

    Thanks, Shana Walton Mississippi Oral History Program University of Southern Mississippi

    Message 2: Grammar Survey

     Date: Mon, 07 Mar 94 21:45:38 -0Grammar Survey
    From: <pantheraxposf.pa.dec.com>
    Subject: Grammar Survey


    Salutations esteemed language professsionals! I am a MATESOL student in need of your copious knowledge. Please, would you be so kind as to share it by answering the following grammar survey questions. Please respond to pantheraxposf.pa.dec.com or eatkinswsu.bitnet by Wednesday the 9th of March. The results of the grammar survey will be compiled and e-mailed or posted to anyone that wants them and will be made available for archiving.

    1) How is grammar(s) being used today in the ESL/EFL classroom?

    2) Which grammar(s) is being used?

    3) What role does grammar play in the ESL/EFL?

    4) What type of training in grammar is an ESL/EFL teacher getting these days?

    5) What grammar(s) have you personally found to be most effective in the ESL/EFL classroom?

    Expound at will. Eternally grateful, and forever in academic bondage.

    Elizabeth pantheraxposf.pa.dec.com And eatkinswsu.bitnet

    ------- End of Forwarded Message

    Message 3: Jakobson quotation

     Date: Mon, 07 Mar 1994 11:09:26 Jakobson quotation
    From: MARC PICARD <PICARDVax2.Concordia.CA>
    Subject: Jakobson quotation


    I'd like to know a couple of things concerning the following quotation from Roman Jakobson: "To my knowledge,no language adds to the pair /t/-/d/ a voiced aspirate /dh/ without having its voiceless counterpart /th/...; therefore theories operating with the three phonemes /t/-/d/-/dh/ in Proto-Indo-European must reconsider the question of their phonemic essence". Can somebody tell me whether this was originally written in 1957 or 1958 - I've seen references to both - and on what page(s) it appears? Marc Picard picardvax2.concordia.ca

    Message 4: Query: morphological causativization

     Date: Mon, 7 Mar 1994 13:24:46 -Query: morphological causativization
    From: <pmfarrellucdavis.edu>
    Subject: Query: morphological causativization


    In a paper in preparation I want to make the claim that morphological causativization cross-linguistically always yields interpretation (a) and never interpretation (b).

    The boy sings. The girl CAUSE-sings the boy. a. 'The girl acts on the boy in such a way that he sings.' b. *'The girl acts on the boy in such a way that she sings.'

    If anyone knows of counterexamples to this claim or other work in which this claim is discussed, please let me know by email. I will post a summary if the response so warrants.

    Patrick Farrell pmfarrellucdavis.edu