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Sesquipedalian #29
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To: ling-local, ling-others
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Subject: Sesquipedalian #29
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From: Alistair Murray <alistair@csli.stanford.edu>
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Date: Thu, 19 May 94 16:24:45 PDT
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Cc: gopher-quip
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Flags: 000000000000
The SESQUIPEDALIAN WEEKLY HERALD Volume IV, Number 29
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May 19, 1994
-\-\-\ LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM /-/-/-
The next Linguistics Colloquium will be held on Friday, May 20th at
3:30 pm in Cordura 100 (CSLI). The speaker will be Rainer Enrique
Hamel of the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico City.
The usual Happy Hour will follow.
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Language Maintenance and Shift in Indigenous Mexico:
Discourse Analysis as a Tool to Describe Sociolinguistic Change
Rainer Enrique Hamel
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico City
Visiting Scholar in the
Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford
Since the beginning of colonization in the early 16th century,
approximately half of Mexico's Indian languages have disappeared. Many
of the remaining 56 vernaculars are at present undergoing a process of
language loss, and some of the smaller languages are menaced with
language death (Suarez 1983, Garza/Lastra 1986). As in many other
ethnic minority contexts, this situation was brought about by an
ethnic and language policy that considered the assimilation of Indian
peoples and the suppression of their languages to be a precondition
for the construction of a unified national state. Not so much through
straightforward prohibition, but as the result of socio-economic
inequality, covert pressure, discrimination and educational
subordination, the indigenous cultures and languages were by and by
displaced in their geographic extension and functional use. On the
other hand, a significant potential of cultural and linguistic
resistance is located in the close network structures of traditional
kinship and farming, everyday communication, and in part in the
traditional cargo system of local organization. And there are
indigenous groups in Mexico (Zapotecs, Mayas) that show a remarkable
ethnolinguistic vitality.
Based on the results of two subsequent research projects (early 80s
and early 90s), the process of language shift will be analyzed in the
Mezquital Valley, the home of aprox. 80,000 members of the Hnahnu
(Otomi) group located in Mexico's central highlands. The language
situation in the area can be characterized by the concept of
substitutive diglossia (in the sense of Catalan sociolinguistics, cf.
Vallverdy 1973, etc.), i.e. a conflicting, non-stable relationship
between Spanish as the dominant and Hqdhqz as the subordinate
language.
Different from classical macro-sociological models (Fishman) which
generally study the outcome of processes of language shift in large
populations over extended periods of time, I focus on the process
itself, i.e. the everyday operating of language changes in the
bilingual repertoire of an indigenous group as it can be observed in
verbal interaction. This analysis starts with an ethnographic
description of the speech community which yields as a result a general
scheme of language use and distribution in key speech events, and sets
the ground for generating hypotheses about specific fields of language
conflict and change. In a second step, a multi-layered discourse
analysis of selected speech events reveals how different components of
discourse structure, including language distribution, make up specific
discourse strategies. Thus attention is paid not only to language
surface phenomena, but also to the underlying discourse strategies and
structures, as well as cultural models and patterns. In a third step,
different discourse strategies, speech events, and types of speech
events are compared to identify indicators of language maintenance and
loss processes.
In this presentation I will briefly exemplify this procedure to show
how language change can be observed in situ and in actu, i.e. in the
instances of interaction themselves. Finally, a framework will be
sketched to distinguish two basic modalities of language shift in
process which differ in the sequencing and speed of shift of speech
components. This framework takes into account the pragmatic and
cultural dimensions of discourse as fundamental aspects of socially
motivated language change that have been traditionally neglected in
models stemming from the sociology of language (Fishman), variationist
sociolinguistics (Labov), or social psychology (Giles).
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-\-\-\ LINGUISTICS WORKSHOP /-/-/-
There will be a special linguistics workshop on Tuesday,
May 31st, at 7:30pm in Ventura 17. The speaker will be
Hinrich Schuetze from Stanford University. The title and
abstract for his talk are as follows.
Ambiguity and Gradedness
Topics in Corpus-Based Learning
** A Dissertation Proposal **
** Hinrich Schuetze **
This talk introduces a new methodology for corpus-based learning.
Both words and particular occurrences of words in context are
represented in a multi-dimensional real-valued vector space. A word's
vector is formed from its near neighbors in the text corpus. The
correlation coefficient between vectors can then be used to measure
the overlap between neighbors of words and hence similarity of
behavior in the corpus.
The vector space provides a natural representation for ambiguity and
gradedness, two properties that have been neglected in previous work
on corpus-based learning. Ambiguity is reflected in the distribution
of occurrence vectors of a word. Each different use corresponds to a
different cluster of vectors in the space. Gradedness is modeled in
smooth transitions between points in the space that correspond to
different categories.
The talk presents two novel learning algorithms, for part of speech
and for word sense, that exploit these characteristics of the vector
space. They are based on grouping occurrence vectors according to
vector similarity. In two experiments, the algorithms identify and
disambiguate different parts of speech and senses with a high degree
of accuracy. A similar disambiguation algorithm is applied to a
text retrieval system. In information retrieval, documents and queries
are usually represented as a collection of words. The proportion of
retrieved documents that are relevant to the query is shown to
increase considerably when documents are instead represented by
algorithmically disambiguated words.
On the basis of the computational experiments, it is argued that,
contra claims in the literature (e.g. Pinker 1984), distributional
data (and association in context in general) provide powerful
information to the language learner that should be taken into account
when arguing for or against the innateness of a universal.
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-\-\-\ LINGUISTICS CONFERENCES /-/-/-
FIRST INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE:
Multidisciplinary Foundations of Cognitive Science
to be held at the Amherst Campus of SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
JULY 5-30, 1994
The Center for Cognitive Science of the State University of New York
at Buffalo will present a four-week summer institute, July 5-30, 1994.
The first three weeks of the Institute will be comprised of courses at
basic and advanced levels in constituent disciplines of Cognitive
Science. The fourth week will be devoted to workshops and special
conferences with a two-day trade and book exhibit. Throughout the four
weeks, there will be a special speaker series of prominent invited
scholars. Participants will include undergraduate and graduate
students, faculty associates, and researchers from industry and
government. Participants may enroll in cousres for academic credit, if
desired. Each course will meet for a total of fifteen hours over the
three weeks and will carry one unit of credit.
The Linguistics Department's sole faculty representative teaching at
the institute will be none other than our very own chairperson, Eve
Clark. Other Stanford faculty teaching at the Institute are
Psychology's Herbert Clark and David Rumelhart. Barbara Tversky, also
of Psychology, will present a workshop.
Detailed information on the Institute wil be made available by contacting:
FISI-CS
Office of Conferences and Special Events
Room 120, Center for Tomorrow
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260-1602
Tel: (716) 645-2018
Fax: (716) 645-3869
Email: cogsci94@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
The Registration Brochure, with full details of the Institute, is
available in the Greenberg Room, Building 100, Department of
Linguistics, Stanford University.
===========================================================================
HPSG-94
1994 CONFERENCE ON HEAD-DRIVEN PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR:
EXPLANATORY MECHANISMS AND EMPIRICAL CONSEQUENCES.
August, 6-7, 1994
University of Copenhagen
===========================================================================
This conference includes talks given by the following well-known
colleagues of Stanford University.
SATURDAY
--------
12.00 Jong-Bok Kim: The interface between morphology and syntax: a
constraint based and lexical approach.
3.30 Robert P. Malouf: Some theoretical consequences of Potawatomi
verb inflection.
5.30 Anthony Davis: The content of thematic roles in the hierarchical
lexicon.
SUNDAY
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9.30 Ivan A. Sag: Relative clauses: A multiple inheritance analysis.
=========================================================================
HPSG94 will take place immediately preceding ESSLLI-6 (The 6th
European Summer School in Language, Logic and Information) at the
University of Copenhagen. The main topic is the employment of HPSG as
a framework for linguistic research focussing on how the explanatory
potential of HPSG illuminates analytical problems of empirical
phenomena cross-linguistically and for particular languages.
The conference is limited to max. 90 participants. Further
information, including registration procedures can be obtained from
the local organizer committee.
Participants attending both HPSG-94 and ESSLLI-6 should indicate this
when they register for ESSLLI-6. Accommodation for the extra days will
be arranged.
Conference fee is DKK 100,- (app. US $ 20).
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS, please contact:
Bjarne Oersnes
IAAS
University of Copenhagen
Njalsgade 80
DK-2300 Copenhagen S
fax: (+45) 35 32 86 35
e-mail: bjarne@cphling.dk
===========================================================================
*** WECOL CONFERENCE ***
UCLA will host the next WECOL conference (Oct. 21-23), with two
workshops attached:
1. Theoretical Perspectives on the Acquisition of Phonology
2. Formal Issues in the Study of Negation.
The deadline for abstracts is June 1.
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-\-\-\ PROGRAM IN LINGUISTICS /-/-/-
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics
MSc IN SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES
Enquiries about the program may be addressed to the Course Director:
Dr. Mark Huckvale
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 71 380 7402
Fax: + 44 71383 0752
Email: M.Huckvale@ucl.ac.uk
Application forms and details about course fees may be obtained from:
The Registrar,
University College London,
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT,
United Kingdom
Further details available in leaflet in the Greenberg Room, Bldg. 100,
Department of Linguistics, Stanford University.
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-\-\-\ JOB OPENINGS /-/-/-
LINGUISTICS PROGRAM
UC DAVIS
One-year replacement position in phonetics and phonology
Pending final approval of funds, the Linguistics Program at University
of California, Davis, has been authorized to advertise for a one-year
replacement position in phonetics and phonology. Candidates must have
completed or be near the completion of their Ph.D. and must
demonstrate effective teaching in the above areas. Courses to be
taught will include: Phonetics, Advanced Phonetics, Phonological
Analysis, and Phonological Theory.
The service periods for this position are as follows - Fall Quarter
1994: September 26 - December 17; Winter Quarter 1995: January 3 -
March 24; Spring 1995: March 30 - June 16. The anticipated salary
range runs from $17,102 - #25,000, depending on candidate's training,
experience, and number of courses taught. Interested parties should
send a letter of application, a current C.V., evidence of teaching
experience, and the names, addreses, and phone numbers of three
references to:
Linguistics Search Committee
Linguistics Program
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Application deadline: June 15, 1994 or until the position is filled.
The Linguistics Department at UC Davis is committed to building a more
diverse faculty, staff and student body as it responds to the changing
population and educational needs of California and the nation. As a
consequence, we are especially interested in attracting persons from
groups currently underrepresented on the campus. As an affirmative
action/equal opportunity employer, we will pay special attention to
applications from women, persons of color, persons with disabilities,
Vietnam era veterans, and special disabled veterans.
===========================================================================
LINGUISTICS PROGRAM
MACALESTER COLLEGE
1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55105
One-and-a-half Year Leave Replacement Position
The Linguistics Program at Macalester College will have an opening for
a one-and-half year leave replacement beginning in January 1995,
through the academic year 1995-96. Since this is a small program, the
candidate will be expected to teach the core curriculum, and the field
of specialization is therefore open. Particular attention will be
paid, however, to candidates with a demonstrated flair for teaching,
and an ability to transcend disciplinary boundaries. Please send
letter, references, vita, and (if possible) syllabi, by August 1 to:
John Haiman
Director, Linguistics
Macalester College
St. Paul, MN 55105
Macalester College is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer with a
specail commitment to multiculturalism and internationalism.
===========================================================================
UNIVERSITY OF THE RYUKYUS
Okinawa 903-01 Japan
Visiting Foreign Teacher of English
The English Department, College of Education of the University of the
Ryukyus, is now accepting applications for a position as Visiting
Foreign Teacher of English. All interested people, preferably holders
of a doctoral degree with emphasis on TEFL/TESL or English
linguistics, are invited to apply. The Visiting Foreign Teacher of
English must be qualified to teach general courses aimed at
acquisition of basic language skills, conversation and composition
courses, and advanced courses in English. The native language of the
students taking these courses is Japanese. A two-year term of
appointment will be secured for the position, starting on October 1,
1994. The monthly salary will be roughly between 332,000 yen and
428,000 yen, the exact figure to be determined by the Ministry of
Education on the basis of the appointee's academic qualifications and
professional experience. In addition to the basic salary, bonuses
equivalent to about fiYe months' pay per annum, a housing allowance
and traveling expenses to Okinawa--and back when and if the two-year
term of office is completed--including those for legal dependents,
will be proYided.
Documents to be submitted are as follows:
1. A personal history statement, giving exact dates for admission to
and graduation from elementary schools up to universities as well as
exact dates for all other entries, including academic degrees. Entries
in a personal history statement constitute the basis on which the
appointee's pay is computed.
2. Transcripts of final school work.
3. Certificate(s) of current or latest employment.
4. Two letters of reference.
5. A health certificate.
6. A recent photograph.
7. Current telephone numbers: (Office and/or Home).
The above documents must be received no later than June 20, 1994 by:
The Dean
College of Education
University of the Ryukyus
1 Senbaru, Nishihara-cho
Okinawa 903-01 Japan
For further information, please contact:
Zenko Shimabukuro (Chair, English Dept.)
College of Education
Tel. Office: 098-895-2221 (Ext. 2527)
Home: 098-886-2726
Haruo Nakazato CJ
Dean
College of Education
University of the Ryukyus
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-\-\-\ CALL FOR PAPERS /-/-/-
The 25th Annual meeting of the
North East Linguistic Society
October 14-16, 1994
University of Pennsylvania
Deadline for submission of abstracts: July 26, 1994
Abstracts should be anonymous, two pages (8-1/2" by 11"), single-spaced, in
12 point type with 1" margins. The second page need not be limited to data
and/or references. Send ten copies of the bastract together with a 3" by 5"
card showing the title of the paper, the author's address and affiliation,
phone number, and e-mail address to:
NELS 25
Linguistics Department
619 Williams Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
Questions can be directed to Gene Buckley and Sabine Iatridou at:
nels25@babel.ling.upenn.edu
Preregistration fees are $20 for students, $30 for all others. The
preregistration deadline is September 19, 1994. After this date the
registration fees will be $30 and $40.
===========================================================================
The Institute for Research on Cognitive Science
will sponsor two workshops on
October 13th, 1994
the day preceding the start of NELS
Workshop I: Language Change (historical linguistics and change in process)
Workshop II: Language Acquisition
We invite anonymous 1-page abstracts for 20-minute papers on either of
these topics. Send 5 copies to "Language Change Workshop" or "Language
Acquisition Workshop" at the above address, accompanied by a card
stating name, title, affiliation and notification (email address).
Deadline for submission of abstracts for the workshop is August 9.
(Note: papers on these topics are also welcomed for the main session).
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-\-\-\ CONSERVE DISK SPACE /-/-/-
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