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Sesquipedalian #24
the SESQUIPEDALIAN Volume VII, No. 24
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Nikita Khrushchev born (1894) April 17, 1997
-/-\-/ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM /-\-/-
Friday, Apr. 18, 3:30pm
Margaret Jacks Hall (460), Room 146
Ron Kaplan and Rens Bod
Xerox PARC/Stanford University of Amsterdam
A Probabilistic Approach to Lexical Functional Analysis
A linguistic theory is usually charged with assigning appropriate
linguistic representations to each and every sentence of a language.
It thus gives a formal definition of what constitutes a well-formed
linguistic representation, and it also provides for rules,
derivational mechanisms, and other specifications which determine how
representations are assigned to particular sentences. The descriptive
devices of the theory also carry a burden of scientific explanation,
and they are thus evaluated according to how simple the individual
rules are, how well they express independent linguistic
generalizations, and how freely they interact to provide coverage for
the whole language. They are typically the elements that
probabilities or other scores are attached to in order to model
notions of preference or graded acceptability.
The Data-Oriented approach of Bod, Scha, and Sima'an suggests a
different view of linguistic analysis. On this view, a linguistic
theory offers only a characterization of well-formed representations.
It does not provide for any rules or other descriptive devices, and
such formal mechanisms play no explanatory role. The assignment of
appropriate representations to novel sentences is instead accomplished
by probabilistic generalizations from a given corpus of correctly
annotated sentences. Interestingly, the probabilistically significant
units of analysis may be larger and more complex than conventional
rules and lexical entries, reflecting for example the special
properties of idioms and other collocations. In this talk we will
outline this general approach and show how it can apply to the
representations of Lexical-Functional Grammar. We will also discuss
some of the conceptual issues that this data-oriented approach brings
to light.
------------------
Reception follows.
For directions and a complete list of colloquia, see
http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu/Linguistics/colloq/colloq.html
-/-\-/ PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP /-\-/-
Rm 146, Bldg 460
Thu, 4/17/97, 7:30 pm
Prosodic Divergence in Early Germanic
Paul Kiparsky
Stanford University
In response to the foot structure imposed by the combination of fixed
stress and moraic trochees, early Germanic dialects syllabify medial
clusters so as to avoid LH sequences and three-mora syllables. The
way this happens depends on whether the clusters are permissible
onsets or not (Cr-, Cl- vs. *Cy-). In the latter case, the foot
structure constraints are implemented by glide deletion in
Scandinavian and in Old English, and by Sievers' Law in Gothic and
continental West Germanic, where glide deletion is prevented by
higher-ranked Faithfulness constraints. Upon the resulting two
syllabification patterns, the West Germanic languages superimpose a
new prosodic structure which lengthens the weak branch of a foot,
triggering both West Germanic gemination and high vowel deletion after
bimoraic sequences. The difference in syllable structure arising from
the ranking of the foot structure constraints above Faithfulness in
Old English and below Faithfulness in continental West Germanic
explains why gemination applies just after short vowels in Old English
but independently of syllable weight in continental West Germanic,
while high vowel deletion obeys the identical quantitative
restrictions in both.
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All are welcome for the pre-workshop pizza. If you want to join,
R.S.V.P. Pizza will be delivered at 7:00 pm.
-/-\-/ SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS FORUM /-\-/-
Ethics and The Internet:
Liability, Viabiity, and Reliability
Mehran Sahami
Computer Science Deparment
Stanford University
Thursday, 17 April, 4:15pm
Margaret Jacks Hall 146
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The immense growth of the Internet, especially in the incarnation of
the World Wide Web, has created a tremendous opportunity to expand the
boundaries of computing. With such an expansion, however, also comes
an equally broad array of social issues concerning the use of this
technology. In this talk, we will look briefly at the historical
expansion of the Internet and then set a context for a discussion of
the social and philosophical issues which have arisen as a result.
Most notably, we will discuss who has access to on-line information,
how reliable is the information that is available and the competing
rights of free speech and privacy in Cyberspace.
Bio
---
Mehran Sahami is a doctoral candidate in the Computer Science
Department at Stanford University. He received both his B.S. and
M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
His research interests include machine learning and its applications
to on-line information retrieval and agent technologies. He is also
an instructor at Stanford, teaching classes on programming methodology
and the ethical implications of computing.
-/-\-/ CSLI TALK /-\-/-
Karen Emmorey of the Salk Institute will be giving a talk on recent
research at CSLI, Cordura 100, Thursday, April 24 at 4:15.
The confluence of space and language in American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) uses space itself to encode locational and
geometric information in an isomorphic fashion. For most locative
expressions in ASL, there is a direct correspondence between the location
of the hands in signing space and the position of physical objects in the
real world. I will present several studies which explore the ramifications
of this spatialized encoding. Specifically, I will discuss the mental
rotation processes that signers often require of their addressees and how
such language processing can impact nonlinguistic visual-spatial processes.
I will also discuss differences between English and ASL with respect to how
perspective is chosen for spatial discourse. English speakers and ASL
signers have very different linguistic options available to them for
expressing spatial perspective. These differences arise from the
spatialized nature of ASL, i.e., the fact that signing space itself is used
to directly represent spatial relations.
-/-\-/ UNDERGRADUATE PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE /-\-/-
Stanford Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
Saturday, April 19
Bldg.100, Room 101K
Inner Quad
9:30am Undergraduate papers:
"Are Intentions Reflexive," Alex Daniels, San Francisco State
University
"Against Dennett's Eliminativism: Preserving Qualia as a Coherent
Concept," Eugene Park, Stanford University.
***11:00am "Freedom and Uncertainty," Professor (Emeritus) Patrick Suppes,
Stanford University.
12:30pm Lunch (pizza will be provided).
***1:00pm "The Extended Mind," Professor David Chalmers, University of
California at Santa Cruz.
2:30pm Undergraduate Paper:
"A Materialist Response to David Chalmers' 'The Conscious Mind',"
Paul Raymore, Stanford University.
For more information, please contact me at jeanpaul@leland or
497.3637.
-/-\-/ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS /-\-/-
-- APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR FY97 JACOB K. JAVITS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
NEW AWARDS [Federal Register: March 25, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 57)].
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program; New Awards for FY 1997
Applications Invitation; Notice. [CFDA No. 84.170] Jacob K. Javits
Fellowship Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 1997
Purpose of Program: To award fellowships to eligible students of
superior ability, selected on the basis of demonstrated achievement and
exceptional promise to undertake graduate study leading to a doctoral
degree or the Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) at accredited institutions of
higher education in selected fields of the arts, humanities, or social
sciences.
Eligible Applicants: Eligibility is limited to students who at the
time of application have no more than 30 semester hours or 45 quarter
hours or equivalent of graduate credit applicable to the eligible field
of study. Eligibility for fellowships to pursue a doctoral degree or
the MFA that will not lead to an academic career is limited to U.S.
citizens, permanent residents of the U.S., certain other eligible non-
citizens. Eligibility for fellowships to pursue a doctoral or MFA
degree that will lead to an academic career is limited to U.S.
citizens.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 19, 1997.
Applications Available: April 3, 1997.
Estimated Available Funds: $2,200,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: The Secretary has determined that the
fellowship stipend for academic year 1997-1998 is $14,400, which is
equal to the level of support that the National Science Foundation is
providing for its graduate fellowships, or the fellow's financial need,
as determined by Part F of Title IV of the Higher Education Act,
whichever is less. The institutional payment for academic year 1997-
1998 will be $10,051.
Estimated Average Size of the Awards: $24,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 90 individual fellowships.
Supplementary Information: Sixty percent of new awards will be
available for fellowships to eligible applicants who have earned no
credit hours applicable to a graduate degree. The remaining forty
percent of new awards will be available for fellowships to all
otherwise eligible applicants. In each of these two categories, sixty
percent of these new fellowships will be awarded to applicants in the
humanities, twenty percent to applicants in the social sciences, and
twenty percent in the arts.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 48 months.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR Parts 74, 75 (except as
provided in 34 CFR 650.3(b)), 77, 82, 85 and 86; and (b) The
regulations for this program in 34 CFR Part 650.
For Applications or Information Contact: Uri Z. Monson, Jacob K.
Javits Fellowship Program, U.S. Department of Education, 600
Independence Avenue, SW, Portals Building, Suite 600, Washington, DC
20024-5329. Telephone: (202) 260-3574. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Information about the Department's funding opportunities, including
copies of application notices for discretionary grant competitions, can
be viewed on the Department's electronic bulletin board (ED Board),
telephone (202) 260-9950; on the Internet Gopher Server (at gopher://
gcs.ed.gov); or on the World Wide Web (at http://gcs.ed.gov). However,
the official application notice for a discretionary grant competition
is the notice published in the Federal Register.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1134, 1134h-k-1.
Dated: March 18, 1997.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 97-7499 Filed 3-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
-\-/-\ CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS \-/-\-
-- Central European Summer School in Generative Grammar: Olomouc -
Czech Republic, 28 July - 15 August 1997. A generative grammar summer
school which is: high level (teachers from leading research centres),
intensive (3 weeks of interactive learning and research), very
inexpensive (no fees at all, very low local living costs), charming
(small peaceful medieval city). The summer school offers intensive
discussions of generative linguistics. It will feature syntax,
phonology, psycho-linguistics and semantics; in each case debating the
results of the latest research, current issues and open problems. This
will take the form of about 20 advanced seminars focussing on current
research issues. There will be a core set of introductory overviews
for each subdomain. The school is open to scholars from all over
Europe - East and West alike: it is cheap enough for everybody to
attend, and it also includes discussion of Germanic, Romance and
Slavic languages. Care has been taken to make it particularly suited
to eastern participants. Classes will be taught in English.
Application: deadline 15 May 1997 (see below for application
modalities). There are no fees. The school is entirely free.
University Residences are available 3$/night (99 Czech Koruni). Cheap
meals are easily available in Olomouc. (This school is entirely free
and offers grants, thanks to (i) donations, (ii) it is entirely
self-organised by volunteering linguists. You can contribute to this
organisation through a registration/donation.) To apply, just send:
family name; first name
nationality
email address
regular address
To STARKE@UNI2A.UNIGE.CH or by regular mail to :
Michal Starke
Dept. of Linguistics
Univ. of Geneva
1221 GE 4
Switzerland
PRACTICAL INFORMATION. All relevant information (where is Olomouc, how
do I get there, etc.) will be sent end may. The latest and most
complete news are available on the web at : http://leto.unige.ch/lmc/
-\-/-\ 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.)
-- The Department of Linguistics at Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale seeks applications for a tenure-track position as Assistant
Professor beginning August 16, 1997. Applicants must hold the
Ph.D. in Linguistics or a closely related field by the time of
appointment with a specialization in developmental pragmatics and/or
discourse analysis preferred. Duties include teaching undergraduate
and M.A.level courses, conducting related research, and serving on
student and departmental committees. Applicants should submit letter
of application (include courses taught), current CV, samples of
publications, and three letters of recommendation by April 25,1997 to
Paul J. Angelis,
Chair, Department of Linguistics,
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale,
Carbondale, Illinois 62901-4517.
Telephone: (618)536-3385;
FAX: (618)453-6527;
mailto:ling@siu.edu
Southern Illinois University is an Equal Employment/Affirmative Action
Employer.
(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 \-/-\-
-- IN SINCERITY: What is the etymology of the word 'sincere?'
Solution to PALO ALTO: 'Breakfust.'
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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
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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
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WARNING: Contains a substantial amount of non-tobacco products. It is
a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner
inconsistent with its labelling.
All rights revoked
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