http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/ Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:46:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-221 Jangari Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:43:27 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-221 This is quite reminiscent of the field methods class that I took a couple of years ago, and which turned out to be an invaluable resource when I undertook my own fieldwork. We were doing a language from an island of Indonesia called Muna and it was one of the best classes I've taken. We concentrated heavily on 'hit' as well; there aren't many better examples of transitive verbs, and <i>kill</i> runs into problems when you want to elicit <i>We two will be repeatedly and regularly killing you for a long time in the future</i>. Naturally we used <i>hit</i> to construct the entire free and bound pronoun paradigm for transitive verbs, including reciprocals and reflexives. <i>We three young men are each hitting ourselves (but not each other)</i>. This is quite reminiscent of the field methods class that I took a couple of years ago, and which turned out to be an invaluable resource when I undertook my own fieldwork. We were doing a language from an island of Indonesia called Muna and it was one of the best classes I’ve taken.
We concentrated heavily on ‘hit’ as well; there aren’t many better examples of transitive verbs, and kill runs into problems when you want to elicit We two will be repeatedly and regularly killing you for a long time in the future. Naturally we used hit to construct the entire free and bound pronoun paradigm for transitive verbs, including reciprocals and reflexives. We three young men are each hitting ourselves (but not each other).

]]> http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-220 Tulugaq Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:17:51 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-220 Ah, yes, field methods class. That's where I learned to say highly useful phrases like, "The hedgehog is rotating itself" in (Eastern) Armenian. Comes up in conversation all the time, right? Ah, yes, field methods class. That’s where I learned to say highly useful phrases like, “The hedgehog is rotating itself” in (Eastern) Armenian. Comes up in conversation all the time, right?

]]> http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-217 Igner Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:11:48 +0000 http://linguisticmystic.com/2007/04/10/i-will-be-hitting-you-regularly-the-joy-of-elicited-phrases/#comment-217 My father was a military brat, and was living in (I believe it was Thailand) where his father was stationed. It was New Years, so he had someone teach him how to say "Happy New Year" which he proceeded to happily shout to everyone he passed. But rather than the happy responses he was expecting, he got at best blank stares, and at worst, people moving away quickly. It wasn't until he got back home and their housekeeper explained that because of a change of inflection, he wasn't actually saying "Happy New Year", but rather, "Hello, the ghosts are coming." My father was a military brat, and was living in (I believe it was Thailand) where his father was stationed. It was New Years, so he had someone teach him how to say “Happy New Year” which he proceeded to happily shout to everyone he passed. But rather than the happy responses he was expecting, he got at best blank stares, and at worst, people moving away quickly. It wasn’t until he got back home and their housekeeper explained that because of a change of inflection, he wasn’t actually saying “Happy New Year”, but rather, “Hello, the ghosts are coming.”

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