Syntax Tutorial in the Undergrad Linguistics Club
The DARLings meet next on Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30 pm, in South College 301 (the Partee Room). They will be holding a syntax tutorial for 201 students (or anyone who needs a refresher!). Organizer David Fiske writes, "Anyone who is a little confused or has any questions is encouraged to come. As usual there will be food and drink. Come one, come all!"
Next week (on Halloween!), the group plans to hold a (spooky) OT tutorial.
[Thanks David, Ryan, and Lisa!]
WebExp2 on the Department Server
The department server is now running WebExp2, the Web-based experiment software developed at the University of Edinburgh. At present, we just have some demos up. Contact Florian if you'd like to set up an experiment. Here are links to two of the demos. The first shows off the WebExp2 interface. The second is like Hot or Not, but it's science.
Demotest
Attractiveness
Phonology Group
PhG will meet on Tuesday, October 24, 3:30-5:00, in the Partee Room. Shigeto Kawahara will be practicing for an invited talk he'll be giving in Toronto soon. Here's the abstract.
Here is a look at what's coming up in PhG:
| Halloween |
Spooky group discussion of some papers by Paul De Lacy, in preparation for his November 3 colloq. |
| November 7 |
John Kingston will lead a discussion of the work he reported on recently in Toronto. |
| November 21 |
Michael Becker will present some of his recent work on Turkish. |
[Thanks Kathryn P!]
Semantics Reading Group
SRG meets today (October 19) at Jan and Aynat's house, starting at 8:00 pm. The group will discuss Philippe Schlenker's paper Be articulate.
Partee--Borschev Grant Meeting
The Partee-Borschev Grant Group will have an open meeting on October 25, 5:30 pm, in South College 301. Here's a brief version of the agenda:
- Keir Moulton: Exploring reflexive verb meanings
- Vladimir Borschev and Barbara Partee: Sentential and constituent negation in Russian BE-sentences revisited
Check out a fuller version of the agenda, with abstracts.
Here's a brief rundown on future meetings:
A Dispatch from the Candy Monster
PIG BLAMES CANDYLESS, CITES "EMPTY FEELING INSIDE"
by Andrew McKenzie
Amherst, MA (CM) -- In recent weeks, candy eaten-ness has
far outstripped candy-pig full-icity. As a result, the
candy pig has taken out its hunger on us, transforming our
chocolate into dubble-bubble.
The candy-pig was quoted as saying "The gum's flavor fades
instantly, even though the chewing sensation lasts longer.
What's more, it stimulates demand for more chocolate, which
I regret to say is not there."
The gum, known as Dubble-Bubble, is notorious for its
one-off note of flavor. Afficionados decry its lack of
complexity.
"The flavor explodes in your mouth," says one candy-lover
who wished to remain anonymous, "then it fizzles out. It's
nothing like the rich cocoa symphony that comes from the
real deal."
"It's more like a sonata than a symphony," added one
chocoholic, "You know, this ain't like Belgian chocolate."
This remark highlights the ongoing debate about the richness
of the chocolat-y goodness. Still, experts agree that it
beats any chewing gum. To quote the candy-pig: "Ha ha ha
ha!"
The candy-pig has stated interest in replacing the gum with
chocolate, and even other candies, if it "get[s] its own," a
reference to coins and bills. "But only American ones; I
don't digest Canadian coins very well."
In the face of the candy-pig's wrath, despair is starting to
sink in among some candy-lovers, especially those with a
flair for the dramatic: "Are we to stand idly by and allow
the dastardly candy pig to replace our scrumptious chocolate
with leathery bubble-gum? To transform the fruit of the
gods' favorite bean into the artificially-flavored
bark-scrape designed for the palates of mere children? We
must rise up and meet the candy-pig's challenge! Onward to
chocolatic victory!"
Those who would like to contribute to the cause are invited
to make monetary contributions to the blue candy-pig, on the
desk in the main office.
LSA Summer Institute Website
Stanford is hosting the 2007 LSA Summer Institute. The Institute's website is now up. UMass Amherst linguists Joe Pater and Christopher Potts are teaching courses.
Hartford to Amsterdam Direct
Direct from "Springfield" to the land of bisimulations: Beginning July 1, Northwest Airlines will have daily nonstop service from Hartford-Springfield (Bradley Airport) to Amsterdam.
[Thanks John!]
Conference Calls
WCCFL 26, UC Berkeley, April 27-29, 2007 (abstracts due December 15)
SALT 17, UConn, May 11-13, 2007 (abstracts due January 2)
