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Sesquipedalian #25
the SESQUIPEDALIAN Volume VI, No. 25
\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/
Czechoslovak National Day May 9, 1996
This Is the Title of This Story, Which Is Also
Found Several Times in the Story Itself
(A story by David Moser...)
This is the first sentence of this story. This is the second
sentence. This is the title of this story, which is also found several
times in the story itself. This sentence is questioning the intrinsic
value of the first two sentences. This sentence is to inform you, in case
you haven't already realized it, that this is a self-referential story,
that is, a story containing sentences that refer to their own structure
and function. This is a sentence that provides an ending to the first
paragraph.
This is the first sentence of a new paragraph in a self-referential
story. This sentence is introducing you to the protagonist of the story, a
young boy named Billy. This sentence is telling you that Billy is blond
and blue-eyed and American and twelve years old and strangling his mother.
This sentence comments on the awkward nature of the self- referential
narrative form while recognizing the strange and playful detachment it
affords the writer. As if illustrating the point made by the last
sentence, this sentence reminds us, with no trace of facetiousness, that
children are a precious gift from God and that the world is a better place
when graced by the unique joys and delights they bring to it.
This sentence describes Billy's mother's bulging eyes and protruding
tongue and makes reference to the unpleasant choking and gagging noises
she's making. This sentence makes the observation that these are
uncertain and difficult times, and that relationships, even seemingly
deep-rooted and permanent ones, do have a tendency to break down.
Introduces, in this paragraph, the device of sentence fragments. A
sentence fragment. Another. Good device. Will be used more later.
This is actually the last sentence of the story but has been placed
here by mistake. This is the title of this story, which is also found
several times in the story itself. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from
uneasy dreams he found himself in his bed transformed into a gigantic
insect. This sentence informs you that the preceding sentence is from
another story entirely (a much better one, it must be noted) and has no
place at all in this particular narrative. Despite claims of the
preceding sentence, this sentence feels compelled to inform you that the
story you are reading is in actuality "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka,
and that the sentence referred to by the preceding sentence is the only
sentence which does indeed belong in this story. This sentence overrides
the preceding sentence by informing the reader (poor, confused wretch)
that this piece of literature is actually the Declaration of Independence,
but that the author, in a show of extreme negligence (if not malicious
sabotage), has so far failed to include even one single sentence from that
stirring document, although he has condescended to use a small sentence
fragment, namely, "When in the course of human events," embedded in
quotation marks near the end of a sentence. Showing a keen awareness of
the boredom and downright hostility of the average reader with regard to
the pointless conceptual games indulged in by the preceding sentences,
this sentence returns us at last to the scenario of the story by asking
the question, "Why is Billy strangling his mother?" This sentence
attempts to shed some light on the question posed by the preceding
sentence but fails. This sentence, however, succeeds, in that it suggests
a possible incestuous relationship between Billy and his mother and
alludes to the concomitant Freudian complications any astute reader will
immediately envision. Incest. The unspeakable taboo. The universal
prohibition. Incest. And notice the sentence fragments? Good literary
device. Will be used more later.
This is the first sentence in a new paragraph. This is the last
sentence in a new paragraph.
This sentence can serve as either the beginning of the paragraph or
end, depending on its placement. This is the title of this story, which
is also found several times in the story itself. This sentence raises a
serious objection to the entire class of self-referential sentences that
merely comment on their own function or placement within the story (e.g.,
the preceding four sentences), on the grounds that they are monotonously
predictable, unforgivably self-indulgent, and merely serve to distract the
reader from the real subject of this story, which at this point seems to
concern strangulation and incest and who knows what other delightful
topics. The purpose of this sentence is to point out that the preceding
sentence, while not itself a member of the class of self-referential
sentences it objects to, nevertheless also serves merely to distract the
reader from the real subject of this story, which actually concerns Gregor
Samsa's inexplicable transformation into a gigantic insect (despite the
vociferous counterclaims of other well-meaning although misinformed
sentences). This sentence can serve as either the beginning of the
paragraph or end, depending on its placement.
This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in
the story itself. This is almost the title of the story, which is found
only once in the story itself. This sentence regretfully states that up
to this point the self-referential mode of narrative has had a paralyzing
effect on the actual progress of the story itself --- that is, these
sentences have been so concerned with analyzing themselves and their role
in the story that they have failed by and large to perform their function
as communicators of events and ideas that one hopes coalesce into a plot,
character development, etc. --- in short, the very raisons d'etre of any
respectable, hardworking sentence in the midst of a piece of compelling
prose fiction. This sentence in addition points out the obvious analogy
between the plight of these agonizingly self-aware sentences and similarly
afflicted human beings, and it points out the analogous paralyzing effects
wrought by excessive and tortured self-examination.
The purpose of this sentence (which can also serve as a paragraph) is
to speculate that if the Declaration of Independence had been worded and
structured as lackadaisically and incoherently as this story has been so
far, there's no telling what kind of warped libertine society we'd be
living in now or to what depths of decadence the inhabitants of this
country might have sunk, even to the point of deranged and debased writers
constructing irritatingly cumbersome and needlessly prolix sentences that
sometimes possess the questionable if not downright undesirable quality of
referring to themselves and they sometimes even become run-on sentences or
exhibit other signs of inexcusably sloppy grammar like unneeded
superfluous redundancies that almost certainly would have insidious
effects on the lifestyle and morals of our impressionable youth, leading
them to commit murder and maybe that's why Billy is strangling his
mother, because of sentences just like this one, which have no
discernible goals or perspicuous purpose and just end up anywhere,
even in mid
Bizarre. A sentence fragment. Another fragment. Twelve years old.
This is a sentence that. Fragmented. And strangling his mother. Sorry,
sorry. Bizarre. This. More fragments. This is it. Fragments. The
title of this story, which. Blond. Sorry, sorry. Fragment after
fragment. Harder. This is a sentence that. Fragments. Damn good
device.
The purpose of this sentence is threefold: (1) to apologize for the
unfortunate and inexplicable lapse exhibited by the preceding paragraph;
(2) to assure you, the reader, that it will not happen again; and (3) to
reiterate the point that these are uncertain and difficult times and that
aspects of language, even seemingly stable and deeply rooted ones such as
syntax and meaning, do break down. This sentence adds nothing substantial
to the sentiments of the preceding sentence but merely provides a
concluding sentence to this paragraph, which otherwise might not have one.
This sentence, in a sudden and courageous burst of altruism, tries to
abandon the self-referential mode but fails. This sentence tries again,
but the attempt is doomed from the start.
This sentence, in a last-ditch attempt to infuse some iota of story
line into this paralyzed prose piece, quickly alludes to Billy's frantic
cover-up attempts, followed by a lyrical, touching, and beautifully
written passage wherein Billy is reconciled with his father (thus
resolving the subliminal Freudian conflicts obvious to any astute reader)
and a final exciting police chase scene during which Billy is accidentally
shot and killed by a panicky rookie policeman who is coincidentally named
Billy. This sentence, although basically in complete sympathy with the
laudable efforts of the preceding action-packed sentence, reminds the
reader that such allusions to a story that doesn't, in fact, yet exist are
no substitute for the real thing and therefore will not get the author
(indolent goof-off that he is) off the proverbial hook.
Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph.
Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraphh.
Paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph.
The purpose. Of this paragraph. Is to apologize. For its
gratuitous use. Of. Sentence fragments. Sorry.
The purpose of this sentence is to apologize for the pointless and
silly adolescent games indulged in by the preceding two paragraphs, and to
express regret on the part of us, the more mature sentences, that the
entire tone of this story is such that it can't seem to communicate a
simple, albeit sordid, scenario.
This sentence wishes to apologize for all the needless apologies
found in this story (this one included), which, although placed here
ostensibly for the benefit of the more vexed readers, merely delay in a
maddeningly recursive way the continuation of the by-now nearly forgotten
story line.
This sentence is bursting at the punctuation marks with news of the
dire import of self-reference as applied to sentences, a practice that
could prove to be a veritable Pandora's box of potential havoc, for if a
sentence can refer or allude to itself, why not a lowly subordinate
clause, perhaps this very clause? Or this sentence fragment? Or three
words? Two words? One?
Perhaps it is appropriate that this sentence gently and with no trace
of condescension reminds us that these are indeed difficult and uncertain
times and that in general people just aren't nice enough to each other,
and perhaps we, whether sentient human beings or sentient sentences,
should just try harder. I mean, there is such a thing as free will, there
has to be, and this sentence is proof of it! Neither this sentence nor
you, the reader, is completely helpless in the face of all the pitiless
forces at work in the universe. We should stand our ground, face facts,
take Mother Nature by the throat and just try harder. By the throat.
Harder. Harder, harder.
Sorry.
This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in
the story itself.
This is the last sentence of the story. This is the last sentence of
the story. This is the last sentence of the story. This is.
Sorry.
-\-/-\ LOOK WHO'S TALKING \-/-\-
-- Edward Flemming will be speaking at the UC-Davis May Linguistics
Colloquium this Friday, May 10th (3:30-5:00pm). Topic: 'Evidence for
constraints on phonological contrasts.'
-- Look who's directing: The Stanford Gospel Choir, directed by the
Linguistics Department's own Jabari Anderson, will be performing this
Sunday, May 12 at 8pm in Dinklespiel Auditorium. Admission is free.
-\-/-\ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM \-/-\-
*NOTE DAY!* THURSDAY, May 9, 3:30 pm.
Margaret Jacks Hall (460), Rm 146
Janet Pierrehumbert
Northwestern University
Similarity and phonotactics
OCP-Place in Arabic provides a classic example of a soft phonotactic
constraint. The strength of the effect depends on the similarity and
proximity of the target consonants. This talk will present a
quantitative model of this interaction, and explore the ramifications
of the model for phonological theory. The model applies and extends
work on modeling similarity in cognitive psychology, suggesting that
phonological knowledge is embedded in more general cognitive
functions. It eliminates underspecification while still providing for
the differential importance of redundant and nonredundant information.
Lastly, it has implications for architectures (such as Optimality
Theory) by which constraints are combined to predict outcomes.
--------------
Reception follows.
For directions and a complete list of colloquia, see
http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/~kessler/colloq/
-\-/-\ TREND-VI \-/-\-
TREND VI (Tri-lateral Phonology Weekend)
When: Saturday May 11th.
Where: Stanford Linguistics Dept, room 460-146.
9:30 Young-mee Yu-Cho and Tracy Holloway King
'Semi-syllables and Georgian clusters'
10 Jaye Padgett and Maire Ni Chiosain
'Implications of strict locality'
10:30 Andrew Dolbey and Ronald Sprouse
'A unified approach to consonant gradation in Finnish'
11 break
11:15 Sharon Rose
'Conditions on epenthesis in Ethio-Semitic'
11:45 Geoff Pullum & Rachel Walker
'Glottal nasals'
12:15 lunch
1:15 Andrew Dolbey and Orhan Orgun
'Cyclicity vs. output-output correspondence'
1:45 Will Leben
'Disyllabic feet in Djula'
2:15 Junko Ito and Armin Mester
'Correspondence, compositionality, and free ranking'
2:45 break
3:00 Juliette Blevins and Andrew Garrett
'The origins of C/V metathesis
3:30 Orhan Orgun and Ronald Sprouse
'Beyond MParse'
4:00 social hour
-\-/-\ LLC-V \-/-\-
-- The 5th Annual CSLI conference on Logic, Language, and Computation
takes place May 31-June 2 at CSLI. For schedule and abstracts, see
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/users/kyle/llc5.html
-\-/-\ CALL FOR PAPERS \-/-\-
-- MALC: The Mid-America Linguistics Conference (November 1-2, 1996,
Kansas Union, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS). The 1996 MALC will
continue its 31-year tradition of accepting papers on all linguistic
topics. Linguists in all areas of specialization are encouraged to
submit abstracts. This year's meeting will feature a special interest
section on endangered languages. Contributed papers will be allowed a
maximum of 20 minutes for presentation. Papers at the conference will
be published in the conference proceedings. Instructions for the
preparation of manuscripts ill be sent along with notification of
acceptance. Abstracts are to be submitted in both a short and long
version; the longer abstract is for use by the Program Committee and
must be typed, double spaced, and no longer than one page. It should
have a title but not be identified with the author's name. The short
abstract is to be prepared for photocopy reproduction in the meeting
handbook. It must fit within a space 6.5" wide and 3" high. If you
use proportional spacing, the font must be no smaller than 12 pt. If
you used fixed spacing, there should be no more than 12 characters per
inch. On the same page, give your name and affiliation as you wish it
to appear in the program. Also include your mailing address,
telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address where applicable. If
you need audio-visual equipment, please request it when you submit
your abstract. The deadline for submission of abstracts is Monday,
August 26, 1996. If you need earlier notification of acceptance in
order to apply for travel funds, please indicate that at the time you
submit your abstract. E-mail submissions will not be accepted. Faxed
submissions to meet the deadline must be followed immediately by
mailed abstracts on regular paper. Mail abstracts to
Clifton Pye
University of Kansas
Linguistics Department
Lawrence KS 66045
phone: 913/864-3450
fax: 913/864-5208
email: pyersqr@ukans.edu
-- NELS-XXVII: Conference of the North Eastern Linguistic Society
(October 18-20 1996). Abstracts are invited for twenty-minute papers
on any aspect of theoretical linguistics. Abstracts should be
anonymous and typed single-spaced in 12-point font on no more than one
8 1/2" by 11" page with one-inch margins. References, but no examples,
may be included on a second page. For the sake of the reviewers, the
guidelines will be strictly enforced. At most one individual and one
joint abstract per person will be considered. Abstract Deadline: July
8, 1996. Submissions should include: 10 anonymous copies of an
abstract; 1 copy stating the name of the author(s) and affiliation(s),
for inclusion in the NELS booklet, if accepted; a typed 3" x 5" index
card bearing the title of the paper and the authors'
names. affiliations, phone numbers, snail-mail and e-mail addresses.
Please indicate whether you would like e-mail acknowledgement of
receipt. Abstracts received after the deadline will not be
considered. We will accept no fax or e-mail submissions. Accepted
presenters will be notified in mid September. Please send abstracts
to
Abstract Committee/NELS 27
Department of Lingusitics
McGill University
1001 Sherbrooke St. W.
Montreal, PQ H3A 1G5
CANADA
Preregistration fees are $30 (US$23) for students, $45 (US$35) for
others. The deadline for preregistration is September 16,
1996. On-site registration fees will be $40 (US$30) for students and
$60 (US$45) for others. For more information, write to
"nels@mcgill.ca".
-\-/-\ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS \-/-\-
-- UNIVERSITY OF YORK: The Intelligent Systems Group in the Department
of Computer Science at the University of York would like to hear from
exceptional candidates interested in pursuing a postgraduate research
degree (MSc, MPhil, PhD) in areas related to the Group's research
interests.
The Department has a number of EPSRC-funded fellowships for doctoral
candidates and another fellowship that, unlike EPSRC fellowships,
provides a stipend to nationals of any EC country.
The Department of Computer Science at the University of York provides
an outstanding environment for research and postgraduate study. The
Department is one of the few computer science departments in the UK
whose research has been awarded the top rating of "5" in the most
recent Research Assessment Exercise and whose teaching has been
awarded the top rating of "excellent" in the HEFCE Teaching Quality
Assessment. Based on its evaluation of the Department's research
programme, the EPSRC has increased the Department's allocation of
research studentships over the past few years, while nationally the
total number of studentships has declined. The Department's doctoral
program has maintained an extremely high graduation rate: in recent
years almost all EPSRC-supported students have submitted a thesis
within four years and earned a doctoral degree.
Further information on the Group, as well as the Department, can be be
accessed on the World Wide Web via URL
http://dcpu1.cs.york.ac.uk:9876/isg/home.html
Those wishing to discuss opportunities for postgraduate studies within
the Intelligent Systems Group should contact either Alan Frisch
(frisch@minster.york.ac.uk, +44 1904 432745), Derek Bridge
(dgb@minster.york.ac.uk) or Suresh Manandhar
(suresh@minster.york.ac.uk) by email or at the Department of Computer
Science, University of York, York YO1 5DD, UK.
General enquiries about the postgraduate programmes of the Department
of Computer Science should be made to Maggie Burton
(maggie@minster.york.ac.uk) by email or at the above postal address.
-\-/-\ TRUE LINGUISTICS \-/-\-
LITERARY AWARDS WE'D LIKE TO SEE:
-- The Phewlitzer Prize: For the work that causes the most readers to
exclaim breathlessly while reading it
-- The Wholitzer Prize: For the best book written by an anonymous
author
-- The Rouxlitzer Prize: Best cookbook, sauces division
-- The Stewlitzer Prize: Best cookbook, leftovers division
-- The Wurlitzer Prize: Best recorded book
-- The Huelitzer Prize: Best work printed in color
-- The Gluelitzer Prize: For the best endpapers
-- The Woolitzer Prize: Best romance fiction
-- The Cluelitzer Prize: Best mystery
-- The Kewlitzer Prize: Best garden book in England
-- The Pewlizter Prize: Best book on religion
-- The Flulitzer Prize: Best sickbed reading
-- The Cuelitzer Prize: Best book on billiards
-- The Loolitzer Prize: Best bathroom read
[Chronicle of Higher Education]
-\-/-\ 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.)
-- CORNELL UNIVERSITY: The Department of Linguistics at Cornell
University anticipates having a ONE-YEAR visiting position (at the
assistant professor level) in Fommal Semantics available for the 1996-
1997 academic year. Duties will include teaching four courses (two per
semester), one of which will be a graduate seminar. Ph.D. must be
completed by August 1996. A letter of application, curriculum vitae,
sample publications (max. 3) and three letters of recommendation
should be sent to
Semantics Search Committee
Department of Linguistics
Morrill Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4701
To be assured fullest consideration, applications should be received
by MAY 24, 1996. Include self-addressed postcard for acknowledgement
of receipt. For more information, contact Sally McConnell-Ginet at
smg9@cornell.edu AA/EOE
-- CORNELL UNIVERSITY: The Department of Linguistics at Cornell
University anticipates having a ONE-SEMESTER (possible one-year)
visiting position (at the assistant professor level) in Phonology
available for the 1996-1997 academic year. Duties will include
teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses, including an
undergraduate phonetics/phonology course. Ph.D. must be completed by
August 1996. A letter of application, curriculum vitae, one
publication, and three letters of recommendation should be sent to:
Phonology Search Committee
Department of Linguistics
Morrill Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4701
To be assured fullest consideration, applications should be received
by MAY 24, 1996. Include self-addressed postcard for acknowledgement
of receipt. For more information, contact Abby Cohn at
acc4@cornell.edu AA/EOE
-- UCLA: Temporary Positions in Linguistics at UCLA (1996-97). The
UCLA Dept of Linguistics expects to have several short-term jobs
available teaching various courses next year. These are all
replacement positions, for faculty who are on leave. The courses are
at a variety of levels, ranging from the most basic undergraduate
courses to the most advanced graduate seminars. For the advanced
graduate courses, we are primarily interested in hiring relatively
senior scholars with established reputations (e.g. people who are on
leave and who are interested in visiting UCLA), though more junior
applicants will also be considered. Because we have an unusually
large number of courses available for visitors to teach next year (8
or 9), we are at present quite flexible in terms of the type and level
of appointments. In particular, we may be interested in hiring some
people for senior lectureships (paying in the neighborhood of $6,700
to $10,000 per course, depending on seniority); we may also be
interested in making full-time appointments for periods of one or two
terms, with a courseload of 2 courses per term, and pay levels per
course comparable to those mentioned above. We may also consider
making term appointments with less than full-time teaching loads
(e.g. teaching one course and co-teaching another). These visiting
positions are not restricted as to rank. We are especially interested
in hiring faculty from other universities who plan to be on leave
during (part of) the coming academic year and who may be interested in
visiting our department for part of the year and teaching a course (or
two) while they are here. Scholars who have recently completed their
Ph.D.'s (or who will have done so prior to coming to UCLA) are also
welcome to apply. The coures that NEED to be taught in particular
quarters include the following (all 1996):
-- late September to mid-December)
Ling 103: Undergrad Introduction to Phonetics Ling
216: Advanced Graduate Syntax- Binding and Logical Form
Winter 1997 (January-March):
Ling 127: Undergrad Syntactic Typology
Spring 1997 (April-June)
Ling 2: Language in the United States (Survey of Languages Spoken in
the USA)
Ling 165B: Advanced Undergrad Syntactic Theory
Courses that might be taught in any quarter:
Ling M115: Survey of African Languages
Ling 120B: Undergrad Intro to Syntactic Analysis
Ling 225: Linguistic Structures (Phonology &/or Grammar of a
Particular Language or Language Family
Ling 251: Graduate Proseminar in Phonetics and Phonology (Current Research)
Ling 252: Grad Proseminar in Syntax and Semantics (Current Research)
Each course runs for ten weeks (with two 2-hour lectures per week)
followed by an exam week. Applicants should send a letter of
application, including a CV, a statement of previous teaching
experience, as well as the names, addresses, and phone numbers of
three recommenders to
Tim Stowell (Chair)
UCLA Department of Linguistics
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543
Actual letters of recommendation should NOT be sent at this time;
likewise candidates should not send voluminous dossiers of
publications, etc. Applications for fall quarter courses should be
received by May 22, 1996, and applications for winter and spring
courses should be received by June 3, 1996, though late applications
will also be considered as long as the positions remain
unfilled. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to inform us by
e-mail as soon as possible of their intention to apply for these
positions. Initial enquiries by email may be directed to Tim Stowell
(stowell@ucla.edu) or to Anna Meyer (meyer@humnet.ucla.edu).
UCLA Is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
-- CSU-HAYWARD: Department of Human Development. Part-Time Lecturer,
Position No. 96-97 HDEV PT/PL. One or more part-time, temporary,
lectureships are expected to be available for the 1996-97 academic
year in an interdisciplinary program offered by the Department of
Human Development. Fall quarter begins September 26, 1996. Winter
quarter begins January 7, 1997. Spring quarter begins March 31,
1997. Duties consist of teaching specialized courses on varied aspects
of human development. Evidence of strong interest in student
developments as well as teaching and professional growth is
required. Applicants should be able to teach courses in one or more of
the following areas: language development, development of the human
nervous system (conception through old age), quantitative/qualitative
research methodologies, neuroscience, history, philosophy, political
science, sociology, ecology, cognitive science, adulthood, aging, and
group dynamics. Candidates holding appropriate M.D., Ph.D., or
Ed.D. degree are preferred. Please submit a letter of application; a
complete and current vita; graduate transcripts; copies of major
publications; and three letters of recommendation to the following
address by June 2, 1996:
Professor Ann J. Meyer, Chair
Department of Human Development
California State University, Hayward
Hayward, CA 94542
Office: (510) 885-3076
FAX: (510) 885-3071
email: ameyer@csuhayward.edu
CSUH is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the
basis of age, race, color, national origins sex, sexual orientation or
disability. The University is committed to the principles of diversity
in employment and to creating a stimulating learning environment for
its diverse student body.
-- UCSD: The Department of Linguistics at the University of
California, San Diego is seeking one or more temporary Lecturers for
the 1996/97 academic year. Appointments will probably be full-time,
but may be part-time. Initial appointments will be for one or two
quarters, and may be renewable. Salary is based on University of
California pay scales. A Ph.D. is preferred, but ABD's will be
considered. The successful candidate will demonstrate a potential for
excellence in teaching and scholarship. We especially encourage
applications from candidates qualified and available to teach one or
more of the following in Winter Quarter 1997 (January - March) or
Spring Quarter 1997 (April - June): a lower division introduction to
Linguistics upper division courses in language typology,
psycholinguistics, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics,
and/or syntax graduate courses in psycholinguistics and/or second
language acquisition. Letter of application, a curriculum vitae, the
names and addresses (including email addresses) of 3 referees, and
brief descriptions of proposed courses should be sent to
University of California, San Diego
Search Committee TL
Department of Linguistics, 0108
9500 Oilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0108
Review of applications will begin May 15, 1996, and will continue
until all positions are filled. The University of California is an
equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.
-- CSLCS-III: The Third Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics,
organized by the CNRS Laboratoire Langues, Langage et Cognition,
Universite de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, is to be held at Sophia
Antipolis, France, June 27-29, 1996 (co-organizers: Ur Shlonsky,
Universite de Geneve; Jean Lowenstamm, Universite de Paris 7 et
2LC). The aim of the Conference is to promote research in theoretical
linguistics in relation to Afroasiatic languages. The editorial
committee hopes to undertake the publication of a collection of papers
based on the presentations at the colloquium, a sequel to the volume
entitled 'Studies in Afro-Asiatic Grammar,' currently in preparation.
Abstracts are invited for thirty minute talks in all areas of syntax,
morphology and phonology. Abstracts should be no less than one page
and may not exceed two pages. Send three anonymous copies of the
abstracts and one copy with the name of author(s) and
institution(s). Include a card containing the following information:
name of author(s), title of the paper, address and affiliation, phone
number, fax and e-mail address (if available). Abstracts must be
received by February 1, 1996. Email or Fax submissions are
accepted. Send only one anonymous abstract in this case. All abstracts
will be anonymously reviewed. Send all material to
3eme Colloque sur les Langues Chamito-semitiques
Comite de Selection
c/o Jacqueline Lecarme
CNRS-2LC
1361,route des Lucioles
06560 Sophia Antipolis
FRANCE
Tel: +(33) 92 96 73 95
Fax: +(33) 93 65 29 27
E-mail: jl@llaor.unice.fr
-- SPARKLE: We are looking for one - preferably postdoctoral -
research assistant to work on the CEC-funded LRE project SPARKLE in
collaboration with groups in Pisa, Stuttgart, Sharp (UK), Xerox
(France), and Daimler (Germany) on `Shallow parsing and (lexical)
knowledge extraction for language engineering'. Applicants should be
able to program in Lisp and/or C and have knowledge of research in
statistical and/or unification/constraint-based computational
linguistics. Our component of the research involves further
development of a robust statistical parsing system and of a system for
acquiring lexical information about the argument structure of
predicates from textual corpora utilising the robust parser. The post
will be based at Cambridge and the research will involve close
collaboration with a second RA at Sussex University. The grant
includes provision for project and conference travel. Further details
can be obtained by email from the first grant-holder,
below. Applications should be submitted via email and should include a
latex source/postscript CV and the names and email addresses of three
referees.
Dr. E.J. Briscoe (Ted.Briscoe@cl.cam.ac.uk)
Computer Laboratory,
University of Cambridge, UK
Dr. J. Carroll (John.Carroll@cogs.susx.ac.uk)
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences,
University of Sussex, UK
-- LEXICOGRAPHERS WANTED: Use corpus-based techniques to define
subsets of English (vocabulary and syntax) for use in technical
documentation. These subsets will be used to create simple,
consistent English documents that can also be translated into other
languages with minimum effort. The work will involve coordination
with authoring groups and external translation agencies. It may also
involve author training. REQUIRED SKILLS
- Background in lexicography or lexically-oriented linguistics.
- Experience in coordinating requirements from multiple diverse groups.
- Experience in corpus-based linguistic analysis for English.
- High-level of comfort with interactive computing environment.
- Simple C programming.
- High personal productivity.
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- Good customer interaction
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE
- M.S. in linguistics or language-related field
- 2-3 years relevant experience, including some with lexical
orientation.
OR
- B.S., or preferably M.S., in Computer Science or related field
- some substantial experience or training in language-related
activities
CONTACT: Linda Schmandt
Carnegie Group, Inc.
5 PPG Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 642-6900
schmandt@cgi.com
-- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: The Department of Linguistics of the
University of Pittsburgh announces a one-year position at the rank of
Visiting Assitant Professor (for candidates who will have earned the
Ph.D. by Fall 1996) or Visiting Instructor (for those who do not have
the Ph.D. in hand by date of hire) for the 1996-1997 academic year.
The candidate will be expected to teach two introductory courses in
the Fall term and three courses (one of these may be an advanced
seminar in the candidate's area of specialty) in the Spring term. If
administrative duties are assigned, there will be a compensatory
course reduction, depending on the scope of the duties. The candidate
will be expected to participate fully in the intellectual and academic
life of the Department. The preferred area of specialization is
phonology. Field experience with American Indian languages (South,
North, or Meso) would also count in a candidate's favor. Ability to
teach introductory-level courses in more than one major area of
linguistics is also desirable. It is hoped that this position will be
filled by June 04, 1996. Complete CVs with three letters of
recommendation should be sent to Daniel L. Everett, Chair, Department
of Linguistics, 2816 CL, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
15260. Evidence of superior teaching ability will be an important
factor in the hiring decision. Please include phone numbers and email
addresses in the application. The deadline for applications is May
25, 1996. Salary will be competitive. The position is subject to
budgetary approval.
(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 \-/-\-
-- HOW MANY GUESTS: 'How many guests were there?' asked the host.
'I don't know,' said the cook. 'But every two used a dish for
rice between them, every three used a dish for soup between them, and
every four used a dish for meat between them.'
There were 65 dishes in all. How many guests were there?
Solution to SQUARES: I disqualified solutions involving irrational
numbers, since of course Fibonacci didn't know about square roots of
negatives. His solution was the fraction 1681/144:
1681/144 = (41/12)^2
-5 961/144 = (31/12)^2
+5 2401/144 = (49/12)^2
/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\
-\-/-\ CONSERVE DISK SPACE \-/-\-
So you may delete your copy after you've read it (or better yet,
before you've read it), the Sesquipedalian Weekly Herald is stored
online at Stanford (in directory /user/linguistics/Sesquip/), and at
Berkeley (in the directory /usr/pub.), or on the Linguistics
Department home page (http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/). The most
current issue of the Herald can be found by typing 'help quip'.
Neither Stanford University nor the Linguistics Department, nor any of
their employees, makes any warranty, whatsoever, implied, or assumes
any legal liability or responsibility regarding any information,
disclosed, in this publication, or represents that its use would not
infringe privately owned rights. No specific reference constitutes or
implies endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Stanford
University or the Linguistics Department, or their employees. Any
similarity to actual linguists, living or dead, is purely
coincidental. The views and opinions expressed herein do not
necessarily reflect those of Stanford University or the Linguistics
Department, or their employees, and shall not be used for advertising
or product endorsement purposes. It is a violation of federal law to
use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labelling.
Penalty for improper use #5
\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/