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Sesquipedalian #13
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To: gopher-quip
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Subject: Sesquipedalian #13
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From: Kyle Wohlmut <kyle@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
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Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 10:41:59 PST
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Flags: 000000000000
the SESQUIPEDALIAN Volume V, No. 13
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Wayne Gretzky's Birthday January 26, 1995
GLOSSARY FOR RESEARCH PAPERS: Strictly Speaking
THEY WRITE THEY MEAN
It has long been known that... I haven't bothered to look up
the original reference
...of great theoretical and practical ...interesting to me
importance
While it has not been possible to The experiments didn't work
provide definite answers to these out, but I figured I could at
questions. least get a publication out
of it.
The W-Pb system was chosen as The fellow in the next lab had
especially suitable to show the some already made up
predicted behavior...
High purity... Composition unknown except
Very high purity... for the exaggerated claims of
Extremely high purity... the supplier
Super-purity...
Spectroscopically pure...
A fiducial reference line... A scratch
Three of the samples were The results of the others
chosen for detailed study... didn't make sense and were
ignored..
...handled with extreme care during ...not dropped on the floor
the experiments
Typical results are shown... The best results are shown...
Although some detail has been lost It is impossible to tell from
in reproduction, it is clear from the the micrograph
original micrograph that...
Presumably at longer times... I didn't take the time to find
out
The agreement with the predicted fair
curve is excellent
good poor
satisfactory doubtful
fair imaginary
...as good as could be expected non-existent
These results will be reported at I might get around to this
a later date sometime
The most reliable values are those He was a student of mine
of Jones
It is suggested that...
It is believed that... I think...
It may be that...
It is generally believed that.... I have such a good objection
to this answer that I shall
now raise it.
It is clear that much additional I don't understand it
work will be required before a
complete understanding...
Unfortunately, a quantitative theory Neither does anybody else
to account for these effects has not
been formulated
Correct within an order of magnitude Wrong
It is to be hoped that this work This paper isn't very good but
will stimulate further work in the field neither are any of the others
on this miserable subject
Thanks are due to Joe Glotz for Glotz did the work and Doe
assistance with the experiments and explained what it meant.
to John Doe for valuable discussions.
[Graham, C.D. Jr. 'Mental Progress,' vol. 71 (1957)]
^\^\^\ LOOK WHO'S TALKING /^/^/^
-- SPOT THE LINGUIST: Public Television station KQED (Channel 9) will
be broadcasting Gene Searchinger's three-part series 'The Human
Language.' Keep your eyes peeled for linguists you know-- or maybe
even yourself! The show airs at 10 pm February 16, February 23, and
March 2.
^\^\^\ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM /^/^/^
Friday, January 27, 3:30
Cordura 100
Conditions in conflict
Arnold M. Zwicky
What happens when two different conditions in a grammar impose
incompatible properties on expressions? It seems only common sense
that ungrammaticality would result, but instead it appears that
conflicts are always resolved in favor of one condition, with the
other suppressed. Expressibility holds sway, even at the cost of
surface violations.
In phonology, there are numerous instances of suppression - in
particular, of the general by the more specific, and in counterfeeding
interactions. Indeed, the idea that such conflicts - between
conditions >From universal grammar, but interacting in parochial ways
- are common is a cornerstone of Optimality Theory (and of Natural
Phonology).
In morphology and syntax there is one common class of cases where
conflicts never result in ungrammaticality and one common class where
they always do. The first class (of a sort by definition not possible
in phonology) involves formally incompatible realizations for the same
semantics; here the conflict is resolved in favor of one realization
in some contexts, the other in others, and sometimes both as
alternatives (BEEPED/*BEPT, *SLEEPED/SLEPT, CREEPED/CREPT).
Expressibility is essential here; otherwise, the existence of
alternative expression for the same content would always make that
content inexpressible.
Examples in the second class turn out to involve at least one
condition that merely presupposes (rather than imposes) a particular
property, so that there is no conflict, merely a violation of the
presupposed condition. For instance, the nominal gerunds in (1a) and
(2a) are ungrammatical because each violates a presupposed condition
on this construction - in (1a), the condition that the 'subjectoid' be
licensed in a possessive form; in (2a), the condition that it be
licensed by some rule as a subject for the VP in this construction.
(1) a. *there's being snow on the street
b. There was snow on the street.
(2) a. *under the rug's being snow on the street
b. under the rug's being a bad place to hide a gun
In morphology, conflicts between two imposed properties are not
easy to find, though they are attested (and they involve clearly
parochial conditions). One well-known example is from Georgian
transitive verb conjugation, in which phonological material realizing
two different, but semantically compatible, grammatical categories
neverless fills a single slot; only one affix occurs, but it serves as
an exponent of both categories.
The focus of this paper is such conflicts in syntax. There are at
least three types: (a) two conditions require that some word have
incompatible values for a syntactic feature; (b) two conditions
require incompatible orderings of two expressions; (c) two conditions
require each of two different expressions to be immediately adjacent
to, and on the same side of, some third expression. Examples of each
type from English:
(3) It is flying pigs that I'm afraid of.
[person/number of BE, vis-a-vis these values for the
subject IT and for the predicative FLYING PIGS...
subject agreement wins]
(4) Who will go first?
[ordering of WH subject WHO and auxiliary verb WILL...
front position for WH wins]
(5) Who the hell else did you see?
[adjacency to WH word WHO of both ELSE and emphatic
THE HELL... the emphatic wins the position]
---------
Reception follows.
Future Colloquia:
Feb 3: John Rickford, Sociolinguistic theory and application in the
African American speech community
Feb 10: Bill Ladusaw, Modes of judgement
Feb 24: Paul Postal
Mar 3, 2:30: Joshua Fishman, Post-Imperial English: The Status of
English After Colonization
Mar 10: Eve Clark
Mar 17: Martin Kay
^/^/^/ CALL FOR PAPERS \^\^\^
-- PAL-IV: The Fourth International Symposium on Language and
Linguistics: Pan-Asiatic Linguistics. Hosted by the Institute of
Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University,
Bangkok, Thailand. We invite all who are interested in the
linguistics of Asian languages from Japan to the Middle East, and from
Siberia to Indonesia, to join us in the symposium. This symposium is
convened once every four years in Thailand, so don't miss this
opportunity. January 8-10, 1996, Royal River Hotel, Bangkok. Submit
an abstract in English by January 31, 1995. For further information
or to submit, contact
Dr Suwilai Premsrirat
Pan-Asiatic Linguistics Symposium
Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development
Mahidol University at Salaya
Nakornpathom 73170, THAILAND
phone: 662 441 9541
email: oissj@chulkn.chula.ac.th
fax: 662 441 9517
^/^/^/ PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP \^\^\^
Date: 26 January 1994, 7:30pm. Place: Seminar Room, Linguistics Dept,
Margaret Jacks Hall (460-146)
Foot and Syllable:
Constraint Interaction in Japanese Accentuation
Haruo Kubozono
Osaka U of Foreign Studies/UCSC
In this talk I discuss the prosodic structure of Japanese compound
nouns and its implications for phonological theory. In empirical
terms, I will report the following three findings about the nature of
compound accentuation in Tokyo Japanese. First of all, a foot-based
analysis leads to a significant generalization of the seemingly
complicated accent patterns behind Japanese compounds. Specifically,
by constructing maximally bimoraic foot structure with the degenerate
(monomoraic) feet as a last resort, compound accentuation in Japanese
can be reduced to a highly general rule, a rule that places the accent
on the penultimate foot (Kubozono & Mester 1995). Second, I will
present evidence against Poser's (1990) idea of foot extrametricality
(or invisibility), demonstrating instead that it is the final
syllable, not the final foot, that is invisible to the compound accent
rule. Thirdly, several cases are presented where syllable
extrametricality is violated or 'revocated' (Hayes 1991).
In the second half of the talk, I will discuss the theoretical
implications of these empirical generalizations for the nature of
Japanese accentuation and its foot structure. It will be shown, first
of all, that the generalization based on the notion 'extrametricality'
can be fully expressed by the interaction of several constraints on
the well-formedness of foot/accent structure, notably
Non-Finality(syll) and Non-Finality(foot). Second, the cases of
extrametricality revocation can also be explained as a consequence of
constraint interaction, this time between Non-Finality and
Weight-to-Stress. Lastly, I will show that the above analysis does
not support Poser's argument against 'syllable integrity', suggesting
instead that foot structure can be constructed in harmony with
syllable structure in Japanese.
^/^/^/ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS \^\^\^
-- SUMMER RESIDENCY: At this time of year we distribute information
about a position we have available in the summer residences. The title
of the position this year is Program Director, formerly Resident
Fellow. The person we seek is mature (at least late 20s or 30s) and
has teaching experience with high school students, a strong academic
and athletic background, an enthusiastic or charismatic personality,
and is very comfortable in an authority position. The Program
Director will work closely with me to select a residence staff, plan
and lead staff/ student orientation, and supervise all aspects of the
summer residence program. S/he will develop programs and activities
for students, lead field trips, handle emergencies, set the tone of
the houses, deal with parents, resolve disputes, and lead all house
meetings. The Program Director is the chief point person for all
issues in the Summer College for High School Students. Compensation
is room and board in an RF apartment plus $3300. The term is June 19-
August 26. For further information, candidates may read the high
school and student life sections of the Summer Bulletin (p. 6 and p.
36). In addition, The Summer Session office has an info sheet
candidates may pick up at our counter in Bldg. 590. Deadline for
applicants is February 8, 1995. A cover letter and resume should be in
our office by that date.
-- IRWG: The Gender Research Fund supports projects by Stanford
faculty designed to generate research on women and gender under the
auspices of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. A limited
number of awards will be given as seed money for proposals.
Preference will be given to applications which might result in a grant
proposal to be placed with the institute. Up to two awards not to
exceed $5,000 will be made once a year. Stanford faculty with current
appointments are eligible. Applicants should submit six copies of a
3-5 page proposal with budget to
Nikki Draper
Institute for Research on Women and Gender
Serra House
Stanford, CA 94305-8640
Deadline for submission is March 1, 1995. Notification of awards will
be sent by May 15, 1995.
-- CAL: The Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington DC invites
applications for the G. Richard Tucker Summer Fellowship. Doctoral
candidates in any field concerned with language issues are invited to
apply. Applicants must have completed the equivalent of at least one
year of full-time study towards the doctorate. One Fellow will be
selected to work with CAL senior staff members on one of CAL's
existing research projects or on a suitable project suggested by the
applicant. Proposals for 1995 should focus on language issues related
to minorities. Three days after completion of the residency, the
Fellow will submit a proposal for a paper representing the research
conducted at CAL. The Fellow and his or her mentor will agree on a
date for sumbission of the final paper. The fellowship will pay round
trip travel expenses up to $1,000 plus a $2,000 stipend for the
eight-week period. To apply, write a letter (3-5 pages) of
application describing a topic you would like to research. The letter
should clearly indicate how working with CAL staff and resources would
facilitate your research. Include two letters of recommendation from
professors, one of whom must be from your discipline. Enclose a copy
of your graduate transcript. Submit a writing sample, and send to
Grace S. Burkart
Center for Applied Linguistics
1118 22nd Street NW
Washington DC 20037
phone: 202/429-9292
email: grace@cal.org
Applications must be received on or before April 28, 1995.
^/^/^/ TRUE LINGUISTICS \^\^\^
-- TRUE LETTERS: 'Dear Sesquipeditors,
Why isn't "phonetics" spelled the way it sounds?
-- A worried linguist'
^\^\^\ JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS /^/^/^
(REDUNDANCY NOTICE: For fuller listings of these and other jobs, don't
forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the file
'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
-- STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Stanford University's Department of Computer
Science seeks applicants for a tenure track faculty position at the
Assistant Professor level. Specific areas of interest include natural
language, human-computer interaction, and adaptive and learning
systems. In addition, the department is interested in strengthening
its faculty in foundations (algorithms and formal methods) and in
software systems. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in a relevant field,
and should have a strong interest in both teaching and research. The
successful candidate will be expected to teach courses, both in the
candidate's specialty area and in related subjects, and to build and
lead a team of graduate students in Ph.D. research. Stanford
University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes nominations
of women and minority group members and applications from them.
Applications, including a resume, a publications list, and the names
of five references, should be sent by March 1, 1995 to
Search Committee Chair,
Department of Computer Science
Margaret Jacks Hall, 210
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-2140
-- CUNY: The New York City Technical College of the City University of
New York seeks candidates for TWO full-time, tenure-track positions in
College English as a Second Language at the rank of Assistant
Professor. The requirements are: Ph.D. in TESOL, Language Education,
Functional or Applied Linguistics, or a closely related field;
Competence to teach all areas of college ESL writing, speech, and
reading; At least three years of teaching experience in secondary or
college ESL or related areas; Discourse/text-based orientation to the
teaching of grammar and writing; Experience with a multicultural
student body; knowledge of diverse cultures and of one or more
languages other than English. These positions will begin in September
1995. Screening of candidates will begin immediately and continue
until the positions are filled. Salaries are dependent on experience
and qualifications. Send resume and cover letter to
Dean Thomas M. Carroll
Office of Human Resources
New York City Technical College
300 Jay Street
Namm 321
Brooklyn, New York 11201
EOE/AA/ADA
-- MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND: The linguistics department at
the Memorial University of Newfoundland is seeking to make a 4-month
teaching term appointment at the rank of Lecturer effective 1 May
1995, subject to budgetary approval. Duties to include teaching three
introductory linguistics course (Language & Communication, Phonetics &
Phonology, Morphology & Syntax). Deadline for receipt of
applications: March 31. In accordance with Canadian immigration
requirements, this announcement is directed to Canadian citizens and
permanent residents. Please send CV, letter of application, any
supporting documents, and letters from three references to
Dr J. Black, Head of Department
Linguistics Department
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NF,
A1B 3X9 CANADA
(REDUNDANCY NOTICE: For fuller listings of these and other jobs, don't
forget to check the Jobs binder in the Greenberg Room, and the file
'jobslist.txt' on the CSLI directory /user/linguistics.)
^/^/^/ INSTA-PRIZE \^\^\^
DUTCH TREAT: A dike in Holland is missing a single brick. Water is
pouring through the rectangular hole which is 5 cm by 20 cm. The man
who discovered the hole has with him a saw and a cylindrical wooden
pole with a diameter of 50 mm. How can he make a piece to block the
hole, with only one cut?
Solution to THE LAST WORD: 'Die, my dear doctor? Why, that's the last
thing I'll do!' Anecdotally, the last words of Oscar Wilde.
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^\^\^\ CONSERVE DISK SPACE /^/^/^
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before you've read it), the Sesquipedalian Weekly Herald is stored
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