The Cyprus Linguistics Society invites you to a working session on modelling sociopragmatics using experimental phonetics

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 at 16:30​,
at Simeio Afetirias, Irakleous 35, Famagusta Gate​.

From thank you to ˈ(θ)ecʰːu: modelling Cypriot Greek sociopragmatics phonetically

Marina Terkourafi & Spyros Armostis

Terkourafi (2011) presented a corpus analysis of three politeness markers in Cypriot Greek —thank you, please, and sorry— coming to the conclusion that the inherited Greek forms of these politeness markers, namely efxaɾiˈsto, paɾakaˈlo, and siˈɣnomi— indeed served politeness functions in those data; however their borrowed English counterparts were largely devoid of politeness import, serving mainly discourse structuring, turn-taking, and repair functions.

Our current work looks more closely at the forms for English ‘thank you’ borrowed into Cypriot Greek. We identify two phonological variants: an ‘unassimilated’ one that preserves to some extent the original English phonology, and a ‘nativized’ one that follows Cypriot phonological rules (ˈθecʰːu) and is often accompanied by vocative expressions such as [ˈfile mu] (‘my friend’) etc. The two variants seem to encode different meanings for speakers of Cypriot Greek. We explore two hypotheses in this respect: (1) that the greater the degree of assimilation of English thank you phonetically toward ˈ(θ)ecʰːu, the more it is meant as sincere thanks; and (2) that ‘ˈθecʰːu + vocative’ has developed into an informal variant of Standard Greek efxaɾiˈsto, and is used complementarily with it to do thanking. We predict that, on closer inspection, the landscape of thanking items in Cypriot Greek is composed of three forms: efxaɾiˈsto, ˈ(θ)ecʰːu (+ vocative), and thank you; of these, the first two do thanking while the third one is a discourse marker serving turn-taking functions. In this working session, we will discuss the experimental design that we will use to test these hypotheses. The aim of the session is to invite suggestions and feedback, which will be very welcome at this point of our research.

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Invitation to a working session.ppt

School of Business & Management

Division of Education and Linguistics Seminar Series

"A Glimpse into the Study of Language Development "

Tuesday, 27th of January 2015, 15:00 – 16:00 in Room CY108

Dr. Christiana Christodoulou

Abstract:

How do children acquire language? How does the language of children who are diagnosed with a genetic disorder differ from that of children with typical language development? What experimental methods are used to study linguistic development? In this talk we’ll explore what facilitates the production and comprehension of language, how children start learning language and what stages they undergo until they have fully acquired their native language. Additionally, we will get a glimpse of how language between children with typical and atypical language development differs, and how the brain can be studied to record those differences.

Biography:

Dr. Christiana Christodoulou is the principal researcher of a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant project, funded by the European Commission, awarded to her and coordinated by Dr. Kleanthes K. Grohmann. The project examines the linguistic development of Greek Cypriot children diagnosed with Down Syndrome and typically developing children. Additionally, she teaches at the Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus. She also holds a post-doctoral research affiliate position at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2011.

She holds a Master’s in Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics, and a Doctorate in Linguistics, specializing in Neurolinguistics and Morphosyntax.

For her doctorate studies she was awarded a full 5-year scholarship by the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Dr. Christodoulou has also been awarded a considerable number of scholarships, awards, and distinctions, including the award of Outstanding Academic Achievement and Community Service by the Canadian Order of American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), District #26, a number of smaller awards, including a Research Award, by the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, four Tuition Fee Awards by the University of British Columbia, etc. Finally, she has published in international journals and frequently presents her work at international conferences.

Please register your participation with Sonia Mita at: info<a href="mailto:infouclancyprus.ac.cy

Guest Lecture_ Dr Christina Christodou A Glimpse into the Study of Language Development_27JAN.pdf

Guest Lecture_ Dr Christina Christodou A Glimpse into the Study of Language Development_27JAN.pptx

Β κύκλος Διαλέξεων_3η Διάλεξη_Δελτίο Τύπου.pdf

Πρόσκληση_Β κύκλος_3η Διάλεξη_2014-15.pdf

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Call for papers-NDV-Conf-4-2015-FINAL.pdf