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Sesquipedalian Vol. IV, No. 21 - March 10, 1994


The SESQUIPEDALIAN WEEKLY HERALD		       Volume IV, Number 21
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						       March 10, 1994

NOTE:   The Sesquip is taking a 'Spring Break' vacation. Next issue will be
        March 31.


                   -\-\-\ NEW SPRING QUARTER COURSE /-/-/-


                        Linguistics 225: Ellipsis
                   Time/place: 60-62M; TTH 1:15 - 3:45
                  Instructor: Mary Dalrymple, Xerox PARC

We will concentrate primarily on verb phrase ellipsis in this course,
although other kinds of ellipsis (gapping, sluicing, stripping, etc.)
will also be discussed. 

Major topics and primary references:

Ellipsis and transformational grammar:  Transformational approaches to
ellipsis.  Sag 1976, Williams 1977, Rooth 1981.

Ellipsis and ambiguity: Strict and sloppy readings.  Dahl 1972, Dahl
1974, Reinhart 1983, Wescoat 1989, Hirschberg and Ward 1991.

Ellipsis representation: Is ellipsis syntactic, semantic, both,
neither?  Hankamer and Sag 1976, Webber 1978, Gawron and Peters 1990,
Dalrymple, Shieber, and Pereira 1991, Kitagawa 1991, Dalrymple 1991,
Lappin 1992, Hestvik 1992, Fiengo and May 1993, Hardt 1993, Kehler
1993.

Ellipsis and quantification: VP ellipsis and scope of (nonsubject)
quantifiers. Hirschbuhler 1982, Kempson and Cormack 1983, Shieber,
Pereira, and Dalrymple 1994.

Antecedent-contained ellipsis.  Haik 1987 and references cited above.

Comparative ellipsis:  Gawron 1992, Pulman 1991.


		  -\-\-\ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM /-/-/-

                          on Friday, 11 March
         3:30 p.m., Ventura Hall, Room 17 (note the room change)
            Word Order Change and the Historical Semantics and
                   Syntax of Anatolian Relative Clauses
                              Andrew Garrett
                     University of Texas Linguistics
                        garrett@emx.cc.utexas.edu

This paper will consider the relation between meaning and (syntactic) form.
In the area of language change, three prominent models of this relation can be
stereotyped as follows:

   (1) Semantics only.  There is no syntactic change.
   (2) Independence.  Syntactic change is an independent kind of change
       best understood in syntactic terms alone.
   (3) Semantics drives syntax.  Syntactic change is in some cases an
       automatic by-product of semantic changes that are motivated by
       familiar mechanisms of change in meaning; in other cases it is
       a species of analogy (extension or levelling).

Model (2) has been prevalent in the generative tradition of diachronic
syntactic work, e.g., under the rubric "(radical) reanalysis".  I will argue
for model (3).  In particular, I will discuss the change from an adjoined
(correlative) relative clause system to an embedded relative clause system and
its connection with the change from verb-final to verb-initial or verb-medial
word order.  Both changes are characteristic of various branches of
Indo-European -- in most cases at least partly during unattested prehistory --
but are sort of directly observable in the attested history of Anatolian
(Hittite, Hieroglyphic Luvian, Lycian, etc.).  Based on this history I will
suggest that independent changes in relative clause semantics/pragmatics more
or less directly caused syntactic changes that were part of the overall
restructuring of the syntax as indicated.  The model suggested is one along
the very general lines of, e.g., Paul (1880, 1920), where changes in meaning
and phonetic implementation are the primary forces behind language change, and
are repaired by morphological and syntactic change such as levelling and
generalization (suitably analyzed).


 	        -\-\-\ FELLOWSHIPS/ASSISTANTSHIPS /-/-/-

The Center for Sciences of Language at the University of Rochester
anticipates having one and possibly two NIH-funded post-doctoral
fellowships available for the 1994-95 academic year.  If two positions
are available, preference for one of the positions will be given to
candidates who already have the Ph.D. and can begin before July 1,
1994.  The appointment will be for one year with the possibility of
renewal for a second year.  The Center brings together faculty and
students with interests in spoken and signed languages from the
departments of Linguistics, Computer Science, Psychology, and
Philosophy; and the interdisciplinary programs in Cognitive Science
and Neuroscience.  We encourage applicants from any of these
disciplines who have expertise in any area of natural language. We
are particularly interested in post-doctoral fellows who want to
contribute to an interdisciplinary community.  Applications should be
sent to Michael K. Tanenhaus, University of Rochester, Department of
Psychology, Meliora Hall, Rochester, NY 14627.  Include a vita, sample
reprints and/or pre-prints, a statement of research and training
interests, and arrange for letters of reference from at least three
referees.  In order to guarantee full consideration, applications
should be received by April 1.  The University of Rochester is an
equal opportunity employer.  We encourage applications from women and
>From minorities.


              -\-\-\ CALL FOR PAPERS /-/-/-


                     E S C O L   94

           at the University of South Carolina
             September 30 - October 2, 1994

Deadline for submitting abstracts:   June 1, 1994

Invited speakers:   Eve Clark, Stanford U
                    William Davies, U of Iowa
                    David Dowty, Ohio State U
                    Margaret Speas, U of Massachusetts

With a special session on:
"Thematic and Semantic Properties in Language Acquisition".

Abstracts of 20 minute papers in all areas of formal linguistics from
any theoretical perspective are solicited. Submit 10 copies of an
anonymous 500 word abstract (one page, one inch margins, unreduced
type) along with a 3X5 card (an additional page may contain examples
and references).

The card should contain the following information:

     title of the paper
     name of the author
     address/affiliation
     phone number
     email address (if applicable)

Copies of abstracts should be sent to:

     ESCOL '94
     Linguistics Program
     University of South Carolina
     Columbia, SC 29208

Information on registration and housing will be available in August.
For information, contact ESCOL94@univscvm.binet, Phone 803-777-2063,
Fax 803-777-9064 or Stan Dubinsky (Dubinsk@univscvm.binet)

Sponsored by the Linguistics Program and the College of Humanities and
Social Sciences at the University of South Carolina in conjunction
with the following departments: Anthropology, English, French and
Classics, German, Slavic and Oriental Languages, Philosophy, Psychology, 
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and Speech Pathology and Audiology.

Proceedings will be published by Cornell University Working Papers in
Linguistics.



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