LINGUIST List 2.809

Thu 21 Nov 1991

Qs: Brown Corpus, Circassian, Croat, Socio

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  • Mark Sanderson, Brown and LOB
  • David Gil, Circassian
  • Allan C. Wechsler, Croatian query
  • Martin Wynne, Serb and Croat

    Message 1: Brown and LOB

     Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1991 22:00:41 +0000
    From: Mark Sanderson <sandersodcs.glasgow.ac.uk>
    Subject: Brown and LOB
    I was reading about a version of the Brown corpus where all the words had been grammatically tagged, also a corpus built at Lancaster University called LOB that had been similarly tagged. Are these corpuses generally available, if so where, if not does anyone have an address of the custodians of these corpuses that I could contact. Thanks very much.

    Message 2: Circassian

     Date: Wed, 20 Nov 91 19:03:41 IST
    From: David Gil <RHLE813HAIFAUVM.bitnet>
    Subject: Circassian
    I would be grateful for any information whatsoever (references, fleeting mentions, even anecdotes) on the dialect of Circassian spoken in Israel (or neighboring ME countries), and how it differs from those varieties of Circassian (aka Kabardian, Adygh, etc.) spoken in the Caucasus. Thanks, David Gil University of Haifa Haifa, 31999, Israel rhle813haifauvm.bitnet

    Message 3: Croatian query

     Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1991 16:00-0500
    From: Allan C. Wechsler <ACWYUKON.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
    Subject: Croatian query
    A friend would like to know how to say "Madonna" or "Blessed Virgin" or any other equivalents in Croatian. Thanks in advance.

    Message 4: Serb and Croat

     Date: Mon, 18 Nov 91 12:10:20 GMT
    From: Martin Wynne <LNP5MWcms1.leeds.ac.uk>
    Subject: Serb and Croat
    A friend of mine, a journalist (and not a linguist), reports an interesting sociolinguistic phenomenon from Yugoslavia. It seems that the current conflict has encouraged many, especially the Croats, to 'invent' ethnic and cultural differences between themselves and the Serbs. So, for example the Serbs are Eastern, Orthodox (in religious terms), Slavic, dark-haired and -skinned etc, while the Croats are Western, Christian, European, blonde-haired and blue-eyed. In its more extreme forms, this demonology portrays the Serbs as uncivilized bearded barbarians threatening the Western way of life (e.g. bombing "the jewel of the Adriatic", a symbol of 'Western civilization'). This racist stereotyping seems to have become accepted as the standard terms of the debate in the West. I think that it is quite important as it is being used to rewrite the history of the region and to rehabilitate Croatia's fascist past, as well as encouraging a xenophobic and exclusive reinterpretation of the concept of Europe. The facet of this new scenario that should be of interest to linguists is the sudden discovery of the separarate 'languages' Serbian and Croatian. I am told that regional dialect differences have been exaggerated, and in many cases invented, in order to assert the differences between the language of Serbs and Croats. A colleague from Slavonic Studies tells me that when she went to Zagreb a few months ago, many people pretended not to understand her when she spoke standard Serbo-Croat. Does anyone have any concrete examples of this sort of thing, or perhaps disagreements with the way I have things?