Come and see what our Linguistics students have been doing this semester! We'll have posters, presentations, a short film, Ongwehonwe and Inuit foods and other nibblies. Bring along the longest word you know in any language and enter it in our 'longest word' contest.
What: End-of-term class fair
When: Friday, December 4
Where: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Room SN 3058
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Brown bag talk on Tuesday, Dec 1 @ 12pm
Dr. Phil Branigan will be giving a brown bag talk on Tuesday, Dec 1 from 12:00 - 1:00 in the seminar room (SN 3036).
Title: Why is there syntactic movement?
Abstract: This talk is concerned with one foundational issue in syntactic theory. For over 20 years, the standard explanation for why syntactic movement occurs has been circular--in
fact, uncontroversially so. In this talk, I discuss the basis for this circularity: the EPP ("Extended Projection Principle"), introduced by Stowell and Chomsky in the early 80s. An alternative,
non-circular model of movement is presented--the *provocation* model--and a few case studies are examined to illustrate how this model deals better with known data.
Title: Why is there syntactic movement?
Abstract: This talk is concerned with one foundational issue in syntactic theory. For over 20 years, the standard explanation for why syntactic movement occurs has been circular--in
fact, uncontroversially so. In this talk, I discuss the basis for this circularity: the EPP ("Extended Projection Principle"), introduced by Stowell and Chomsky in the early 80s. An alternative,
non-circular model of movement is presented--the *provocation* model--and a few case studies are examined to illustrate how this model deals better with known data.
Monday, November 9, 2009
DATE CHANGE: Seminar Series talk on Friday, November 27th
Dr. Yvan Rose will present his current research in the area of child language development on November 20th November 27th at 4:00pm. Location: SN3058. A reception will follow the talk.
Exploring the relations between speech perception by infants and the early development of phonology
To learn how to speak, children must crack the code of their mother tongue. One of the big mysteries in the face of the obvious complexity of this challenge is that infants manage it with apparent ease, at an astonishing rate. Studies of early phonological development typically look at infant speech perception or early phonological productions, but do not address the relationships between the two. During this presentation, I will draw on recent experimental research results to discuss such potential relationships.
Exploring the relations between speech perception by infants and the early development of phonology
To learn how to speak, children must crack the code of their mother tongue. One of the big mysteries in the face of the obvious complexity of this challenge is that infants manage it with apparent ease, at an astonishing rate. Studies of early phonological development typically look at infant speech perception or early phonological productions, but do not address the relationships between the two. During this presentation, I will draw on recent experimental research results to discuss such potential relationships.
Brown bag talk on Tuesday, Dec 1
Dr. Phil Branigan will be giving a brown bag talk on Tuesday, Dec 1 from 12:00 - 1:00 in the seminar room (SN 3036). Title and abstract forthcoming.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
MUN Linguistics hosts 33rd annual APLA conference
On November 6-7, 2009, Memorial's Linguistics department will host the 33rd Annual Conference of the Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association/l’Association de linguistique des provinces de l’Atlantique (APLA/ALPA). This year, the theme is ‘The Effects of Globalization on Local Languages and Dialects.’ The keynote address is free and open to the general public, and attendance at the conference is free for Memorial students.
The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Sylvie Dubois (Louisiana State University) in the Arts and Administration Building (AA-1043) on Friday, November 6 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Dr. Dubois' talk title is: Distinctive Paths of Linguistic Resistance: The Case of Cajun Vernacular English and Creole African-American Vernacular. A reception and cash bar will follow the talk.
Further information about the conference can be found at http://www.mun.ca/linguistics/APLA2009/, via e-mail apla33 [ at ] mun.ca or by calling the Linguistics Department at 737-8134.
The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Sylvie Dubois (Louisiana State University) in the Arts and Administration Building (AA-1043) on Friday, November 6 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Dr. Dubois' talk title is: Distinctive Paths of Linguistic Resistance: The Case of Cajun Vernacular English and Creole African-American Vernacular. A reception and cash bar will follow the talk.
Further information about the conference can be found at http://www.mun.ca/linguistics/APLA2009/, via e-mail apla33 [ at ] mun.ca or by calling the Linguistics Department at 737-8134.
Keynote Speech by Sylvie Dubois (Louisiana State University)
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Arts and Administration Building (AA-1043)
Reception and cash bar to follow.
Distinctive Paths of Linguistic Resistance:
The Case of Cajun Vernacular English and Creole African-American Vernacular English
Language and social variation in Louisiana has a long and complex history. Any account of the present day varieties of English must begin with an historical overview of the ways in which language, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic structure have been interwoven to form the intricate tapestry that is Louisiana. The focus of our talk is on the vernacular English currently spoken by Creole African-Americans of French ancestry (CAAVE) and Cajuns (CVE) living in South Louisiana. Language change and linguistic persistence characterize both black and white French-speaking populations. The most important change is the decline in the number of bilinguals. One aspect of persistence is the development of CAAVE and CVE dialects that distinguish THESE speakers from their fellow Southerners. Another one is the maintenance of these divergent dialects while others are disappearing elsewhere in Southern American English (Bailey 2001). When we compare the oldest speakers of both varieties, phonological and morphological variables show no difference. The only reason to speak of two vernaculars is social. For the next generations, persistence of the dialect takes quite a different form. In CAAVE, a high rate of glide absence is maintained across all generations. In CVE, the middle-aged generation uses this feature dramatically less, but the younger generation increases its use so that their frequency approaches the proportion found in the speech of the older generation. We argue against the fact that the similarities between CAAVE and CVE as spoken by older speakers are the result of interference from French. We suggest that they speak comparable dialects because they learned English from people who spoke English in and around their communities, not only as adults but as children as well, and that these English speakers had all these features in their speech. We will also show that linguistic persistence in CAAVE has more to do with the patterns of social intercourse, whereas persistence in CVE is better explained by the social changes that took place throughout the 20th century.
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Arts and Administration Building (AA-1043)
Reception and cash bar to follow.
Distinctive Paths of Linguistic Resistance:
The Case of Cajun Vernacular English and Creole African-American Vernacular English
Language and social variation in Louisiana has a long and complex history. Any account of the present day varieties of English must begin with an historical overview of the ways in which language, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic structure have been interwoven to form the intricate tapestry that is Louisiana. The focus of our talk is on the vernacular English currently spoken by Creole African-Americans of French ancestry (CAAVE) and Cajuns (CVE) living in South Louisiana. Language change and linguistic persistence characterize both black and white French-speaking populations. The most important change is the decline in the number of bilinguals. One aspect of persistence is the development of CAAVE and CVE dialects that distinguish THESE speakers from their fellow Southerners. Another one is the maintenance of these divergent dialects while others are disappearing elsewhere in Southern American English (Bailey 2001). When we compare the oldest speakers of both varieties, phonological and morphological variables show no difference. The only reason to speak of two vernaculars is social. For the next generations, persistence of the dialect takes quite a different form. In CAAVE, a high rate of glide absence is maintained across all generations. In CVE, the middle-aged generation uses this feature dramatically less, but the younger generation increases its use so that their frequency approaches the proportion found in the speech of the older generation. We argue against the fact that the similarities between CAAVE and CVE as spoken by older speakers are the result of interference from French. We suggest that they speak comparable dialects because they learned English from people who spoke English in and around their communities, not only as adults but as children as well, and that these English speakers had all these features in their speech. We will also show that linguistic persistence in CAAVE has more to do with the patterns of social intercourse, whereas persistence in CVE is better explained by the social changes that took place throughout the 20th century.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Brown bag talk on Tuesday, October 6
Paul Pigott will be giving a brown bag talk on Tuesday, October 6 from 12:00 - 1:00 in the seminar room (SN 3036).
Sea ice knowledge in Labrador Inuttut: overwhelmed by English
Inuit on the Labrador coast are shown to have a comparatively complex system of classifying and describing sea ice: knowledge now held by Inuttut speakers over 40 years of age or older. Inuit Elders use up to 60 specialized concepts in their own words: Inuttut concepts like ‘ajugak’ a lead or crack used for hunting, fishing and travel. Interviews involving 24 speakers aged 37-79 show a decline in linguistic competence such that the youngest participants knew fewer than a dozen words. The extinction of at least 200 other North American speech communities since contact should be a warning about how quickly they can vanish and permanently alter the ability of future generations to experience the oral history of their ancestors. That is still not the situation in Labrador today. But inspired efforts to teach younger speakers must be made if Inuttut, a fundamental element of Canada’s linguistic history, is to survive into the next generation. The positive result of this study for Labrador Inuit is its documentation of an oral tradition that persists in its eloquent description of ice conditions along the Labrador Coast.
Sea ice knowledge in Labrador Inuttut: overwhelmed by English
Inuit on the Labrador coast are shown to have a comparatively complex system of classifying and describing sea ice: knowledge now held by Inuttut speakers over 40 years of age or older. Inuit Elders use up to 60 specialized concepts in their own words: Inuttut concepts like ‘ajugak’ a lead or crack used for hunting, fishing and travel. Interviews involving 24 speakers aged 37-79 show a decline in linguistic competence such that the youngest participants knew fewer than a dozen words. The extinction of at least 200 other North American speech communities since contact should be a warning about how quickly they can vanish and permanently alter the ability of future generations to experience the oral history of their ancestors. That is still not the situation in Labrador today. But inspired efforts to teach younger speakers must be made if Inuttut, a fundamental element of Canada’s linguistic history, is to survive into the next generation. The positive result of this study for Labrador Inuit is its documentation of an oral tradition that persists in its eloquent description of ice conditions along the Labrador Coast.
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