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- ItemOpen AccessCalgary Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 8, Fall 1982(University of Calgary, 1982-09) Jehn, Richard DouglasWith 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.
- ItemOpen AccessSaussure's "Cours de Linguistique Générale"(University of Calgary, 1982-09) Allen, DerekThe "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.
- ItemOpen AccessHispano-Celtic languages(University of Calgary, 1982-09) Anderson, James MCeltic 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.
- ItemOpen AccessThe focus constituent as subject of identificational sentences*(University of Calgary, 1982-09) De Guzman, Videa PIdentificational 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.
- ItemOpen AccessManichaean elements in the Turkic Brâhmî(University of Calgary, 1982-09) Hitch, Douglas AWhen 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.