Volume 08, Fall 1982

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Browsing Volume 08, Fall 1982 by Department "Linguistics"

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    Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 8, Fall 1982
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Jehn, Richard Douglas
    With sincere apologies for further unforeseen delays, we belatedly present the eighth in the series of working papers published by LOGOS, the Student Linguistics Society at the University of Calgary. These papers represent the current research in progress of students and Faculty members and as such should not be considered in any way final or definitive. Appearance of papers in this volume does not preclude their publication in another form elsewhere.
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    The focus constituent as subject of identificational sentences*
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) De Guzman, Videa P
    Identificational or cleft sentences in Tagalog, as in other Philippine languages, have the structure of an equational sentence in which the two NP constituents are both marked with the particle ang. This structure has been described in at least two different contradictory ways: (a) where the first ang-NP is the subject (or in the literature called topic/focus) and the second ang-NP is the predicate/comment, or (b) the exact opposite sequence in (a), predicate+ subject, which is the typical sentence structure characteristic of Philippine languages. The predicate with the particle ang is identified as definite or definitized. Semantically, the relation between the two structurally identical constituents means that a particular person or thing is identified or singled out as the one possessing a particular attribute or the one performing a specific role. In this paper, I will show that the first ang-NP of this kind of construction is the surface subject and at the same time the focus constituent. I will attempt to show some syntactic grounds for such an analysis and propose that identificational sentences in Tagalog follow in effect the more general process of topicalization, where the focused entity appears in initial position.
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    Hispano-Celtic languages
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Anderson, James M
    Celtic documentation from Spain dates back to the second century B.C., predating the Ogham funerary inscriptions of Ireland by about four hundred years. They were inscribed sometimes in the Roman alphabet, sometimes in that curious semi-syllabic writing system employed by the ancient Iberians. Both Roman and Iberian cultures were in immediate contact with the Celtic tribes of the eastern portion of the Peninsula. The significance of these early inscriptions lies not only in their philological importance but also in their linguistic characteristics which are helpful in piecing together the even earlier common Celtic of Europe, and the relationship of Celtic to Italic languages and to Proto-Indo-European.
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    Manichaean elements in the Turkic Brâhmî
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Hitch, Douglas A
    When a script suited to one language is used to write a second, there are often new linguistic features which require some orthographic innovation to be adequately rendered. New signs or devices may be invented outright, old characters and principles may be modified, or features may be borrowed from another already existing orthography. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries numerous manuscripts were brought to light in Chinese Turkestan (modern Xinjiang) in a script which has been labelled the Slanting Gupta. This is a form of Brâhmî writing which contains a number of unusual features which could not have been derived from Indian practice. It has been generally assumed that these features are all either new inventions or modifications of original Brâhmî elements. In contrast to this view, it will be argued here that some characters and principles in the Slanting Gupta were borrowed from the Manicheaean (Syriac Estrangelo) script.
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    Mauritian Creole revisited: some inferences drawn from the study of a sample of Mauritian Creole data*
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Sayers, Coral
    "Possibly all change processes partake of the characteristics of creolization, with the particular historical circumstances making the crucial, but essentially quantitative, difference." (Hoenigswald 1971:479). If Hoenigswald's hypothesis proves to be correct, the implication is that the study of Creole languages has much to offer the theorist of language change. Morris Goodman's comprehensive study of French Creoles was published in 1964. In 1981 I collected a small sample of Mauritian Creole data in Calgary. In the hope that the time lapse would reveal some points of difference which could suggest appropriate questions or even directions for research in the field of language change, I examined the Calgary data in relation to Goodman's data and in relation to other references to French Creoles in the literature.
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    A predicational approach to topicalization and clefting
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Moir, Marilyn
    In this study I shall deal with topicalized and cleft constructions. Topicalized and cleft sentences are very similar in form and serve a similar function--to focus attention on some item. The main purpose in analysing these constructions is to account for the fact that structures exhibiting the same apparent form do not necessarily behave in the same way with regard to topicalization and clefting.
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    Saussure's "Cours de Linguistique Générale"
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Allen, Derek
    The "Cours de linguistique générale" was my first introduction to linguistics. It struck me then as a peculiar mixture of obvious truisms and obscure jargons. So I put it on an inaccessible shelf, and, fifteen years later, having scattered most of my readable books across Europe and Canada, found it again. Having recently stumbled into the linguistic jungle, been bitten by Bopp and Rask, and stung by Chomsky and Postal, I can now see the "Cours" for what it really is. No, not the proverbial elephant, but an elementary trekkers' guide for lost linguists.
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    Use of argot among Calgary punk rockers
    (University of Calgary, 1982-09) Warne, Janis
    The use of argot by a specific group helps to keep them separate from society as a whole. Because only specific words are different or used differently, it is possible to see, through the use of argot, how language changes through time. Some words remain in fashion for a short time, others change meaning or form and new words keep cropping up. I am interested here in the use of argot by a small group of Calgarians who, for lack of a better term, I'll call punks or punk rockers.