Norwescon 34 Links

John Lawler

1. Who I am.
   I am a recently retired linguistics professor from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a lifelong interest in F/SF.
   I live now in Bellingham, WA. My regular Web site is linked to my name above, and I'm on Facebook, too, as "John Lawler ... Michigan".
   Here's some credentials:
   • My business card
   • My Short Bio and Resumé
   • The Chomskybot
     (for my role in creating which, according to my Wikipedia listing,
     I am "perhaps best known to the wider public")

     A list of things I said in a Semantics class one term, posted by a student

     The paper this was part of, on codeswitching and context.

     My Publications, on various topics (all available online)

     An article from my grammar column for a newsletter for professional editors, about "Singular they".

     My Grammar pages, postings about English Grammar, etc.

     A 24-page list from Haj Ross of The Major Rules of English Syntax.

     Two Introductions for college grammar classes.

     1. A 14-page list of what everybody needs to know about logic and why
        (remedial pre-grammar, to be followed by)

        A 15-page introduction to the English Verb Phrase.

2. What I'm doing at the con.
   Now that I'm retired, I'm trying to pick up my fanac where I originally left it at Torcon II in 1973.
   I did a couple panels on linguistics (as I like to say, the best-kept secret in America) at Norwescon 33 last year. This year the con committee want me to do it again in a bigger room, during Prime Time.
   So, I gave two talks at Norwescon 34; clicking on the link below gives you a (6-page) handout.
   1. Fictional Linguistics Friday 4/22 9 pm Cascade 10
      About weird language phenomena suitable for aliens

      Language Fossils Saturday 4/23 3 pm Cascase 10

      About language change and Proto-Indo-European

   [In the event, we talked about quite a few topics on and off the handouts. After I got home, I realized that in the talks I was telling many of the stories summarized in this ( 6-page, oddly enough) handout, from a talk based on this paper, "Style Stands Still". If you still want to see how those stories all fit together, try the paper, which is an essay produced for a special issue on metaphor of an scademic literary journal (Style).

   I should also point out especially some links relevant to various questions from people:

   • the Phonetic Alphaber that's so simple only a child can understand it;
   • The short course on how to read Greek
   • How to Figure out a Sentence, a manual for readers
   • Grimm's Law in action
   • Mouseover the xkcd cartoon (after reading it, of course)
     
   ]

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   Last change 4/19/11
   Permanent address
   Last year's page