me: posts about IPA
me: pity there aren’t any consonant or vowel emoji
me:
me: um
me:
me to self, sternly: those are called letters
me:
me:
me, in linguist voice: The interesting meta-point here, of course, is that emoji carry an emotional valence beyond simply their semantic/symbolic value.
Tag: Scumbag linguists strike again
learning IPA like
/ændaːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːiaːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːiaːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːjwɪlɑ:lwejzlɐːːvjuːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːː/
/həːˈləʊ frəm ðiː ˈʌːðə sʌɪːːːːːd/
/aːːːːːːːːjm
ˈgʌna swiːːːːːːːːːːəŋ
frʌm ðə ʃændəˈliɪːːːːːːːːːː frʌm ðə ʃændəˈliɪ:ːːːːːːːːː/
/doʊnt stɑp biːːliːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːvɪn hoʊld ɑn toʊ ðæt fiːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːlɪːːːːːːːːːjaːːːːːːːːːn stɹiːːːːːːːːːlaɪt piːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːpl̩ oːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːɑːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːːː/
(Beautiful, but gone.)
Even A Softer World knows that people shouldn’t be prescriptivists!
well the author is a linguist
Ooh, I didn’t realize that, awesome! I should really add “write webcomics” to the linguistics jobs series, since it’s a thing that people with linguistics backgrounds often seem to go on to do. (I’ve seen legit linguistics in Dinosaur comics, SMBC, and xkcd, to name a few.)
Education: I have made a Standard.
Linguists: you fucked up a perfectly good vernacular is what you did. look at it. it’s got elitism.
#440
A language where it is obligatory for the speaker to omit as many verbs as they the listener won’t notice.
Linguistics Christmas Jokes
How does a linguist wish someone a joyful Dec 25th?
Merry/Mary/marry Christmas!What are Father Christmas’s linguist sisters and daughters called?
Relative ClausesWhat does a linguist say when Santa just won’t leave you alone?
He’s lost the stalking/stocking distinctionWhat is a distinctive feature of the Christmas phonology of non-native English speakers?
No-dark-elWhat presents did the three wise linguists bring?
Goal, epenthesis, and mergeWhat do linguists do under mistletoe?
Make quadrilabial clicksWhat is a minty treat that linguists consume around Christmastime?
Chomsky canesWhich carrot-nosed entity came to life in a particularly strident fashion?
Fricative the snowmanWho is a grammatical but unattested candidate for pulling a linguist’s sleigh?
Rudolph the colourless-green-nosed reindeerWhat nutmeg-sprinkled beverage does one drink around Linguistmas?
WugnogWhat do you put on top of an ungrammatical Linguistmas tree?
*
The New Shortest Science Paper
Real Clear Science has pointed out a clever example of the shortest possible academic article. It’s called “On nonrecoverable deletion in syntax,” and was published in 1972 in Linguistic Inquiry. They quote University of Texas associate professor John T. Beavers, who sent in the image above with an explanation:
The 1960s and 1970s saw a growth of work on the syntax of natural languages due to the groundbreaking work of Noam Chomsky, who began a research program known as Generative Grammar that sought to describe and explain the knowledge speakers have of their native languages through explicit formalization and hypothesis testing. One phenomenon that has received attention is ellipsis, i.e. when words are left out of a sentence but the information that is unexpressed is still inferred semantically. An example is “verb phrase ellipsis” where the main verb phrase of a clause is left out, as in the second clause in “John will be here tomorrow but Mary won’t.” In the given context it’s clear that there’s an implicit “be here tomorrow” after “won’t”.
One way of analyzing this is to assume that in some underlying mental representation of the sentence the verb phrase “be here tomorrow” is actually present after “won’t” (accounting for the fact that that’s how we interpret it), but its overt phonetic form is deleted when uttered because the information is recoverable from earlier in the same sentence (the previous mention of the verb phrase “will be here tomorrow”, the antecedent of the ellipsis). It had furthermore been hypothesized that deletion in syntax of this sort could only ever happen if there was an explicit antecedent, a rule of grammar called the Recoverability Condition on Deletion, first proposed by Jerrold J. Katz and Paul M. Postal in 1964 and developed by others later. It had a lot of intuitive appeal — what would it mean to leave out something while giving no clue as to what you left out?
Then, in 1972, Linguistic Inquiry published the Fall issue of its 3rd volume, and on page 528 was a paper called “On nonrecoverable deletion in syntax” by Robert Fiengo and Howard Lasnik on exactly this topic. Indeed, some people who saw the title might have thought, “Ah! Somebody found an instance of nonrecoverable deletion! Unexpressed material without an antecedent! A violation of the Recoverability Condition! I wonder how that works.” In fact, that’s exactly what I thought in 2002 as a grad student when I stumbled across the title. I quickly ran to the library to get the journal out, and I flipped it to page 528 to begin reading.
It was instead a clever joke, and a striking argument in FAVOR of the Recoverability Condition.
The point of the article was to argue for the recoverability condition by violating it in a rather spectacular (and cheeky) way, thus demonstrating the effect.
12 Days of Ling-mas
takemedownandwewillrunforever:
The amazing set of notes associated with the collaborative songwriting in this post ended up getting forked in several directions, so I’m going to try to merge as many contributions as possible to date, and suggest that future contributors make sure to check the notes before posting 🙂 Making this a new post instead of a reblog so that it shows up in #linguistics.
On the first day of ling-mas, professor gave to me a chart of the IPA! (glottalplosive)
On the second day of ling-mas, professor gave to me binary branching (sointerrobanging)
And a chart of the IPA!On the third day of ling-mas, professor gave to me three loanwords calquing (balalaikaboss)
Binary branching
And a chart of the IPA!On the fourth day of ling-mas, professor gave to me four stuffed wugs (maggietenobar)
Three loanwords calquing
Binary branching
And a chart of the IPA!On the fifth day of ling-mas, professor gave to me FIVE SYNTAX TREES (sailorsoldierlove)
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Binary branching
And a chart of the IPA!On the sixth day of ling-mas, professor gave to me six heads a-raising
FIVE SYNTAX TREES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Binary branching
And a chart of the IPA!On the seventh day of ling-mas, professor gave to me seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIVE SYNTAX TREES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPAOn the eighth day of ling-mass, professor gave to me eight deleted codas
Seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIVE SYNTAX TREES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPAOn the ninth day of ling-mas, professor gave to me… nine old aphasics,
Eight deleted codas
Seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIIIIIIIVE SYNTAX TREEEEEES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPAOnly three more days left to be added! And then we can start talking about making a recording.
On the tenth day of ling-mas,
professor gave to me… ten unbound morphemes,
Nine old aphasiacs
Eight deleted codas
Seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIIIIIIIVE SYNTAX TREEEEEES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPALooks like we have a complete song! High-fives all ‘round!
And in the spirit of collaboration, I’d like to encourage anyone who wants to make this into audio, video, gifs, multilingual, children’s picture book, snow sculptures, or any other version/mashup you can think of. Seriously. Go for it.
On the eleventh day of ling-mas,
professor gave to me eleven cleft constructionsTen unbound morphemes,
Nine old aphasiacs
Eight deleted codas
Seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIIIIIIIVE SYNTAX TREEEEEES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPAOn the twelfth day of ling-mas,
professor gave to me twelve phrasal verbsEleven cleft constructions
Ten unbound morphemes,
Nine old aphasiacs
Eight deleted codas
Seven stops (or plosives)
Six heads-a-raising
FIIIIIIIVE SYNTAX TREEEEEES
Four stuffed wugs
Three loanwords calquing
Two binary branches
And a chart of the IPA(from J Paul Sank in the Disqus comments)
Just a reminder that the 12 Days of Ling-mas is a thing that we made a few years ago.
Kimchi and Justice 