Alternative semantics—Zac Smith and Trey Jones SpecGram Vol CLXX, No 1 Contents

Word Ladder 一

by Learned Hand and Benighted Foot
O̊ṗṗo̊ṡi̊ṫůṡ Ḁṭṭṛḁc̣ṭi̥c̣u̥ṣ Ūñīṽēr̃s̃īt̃ūs̃, 上海

Sample Word Ladder
1-2Pike’s phonetic vowel.
2-3Far from the speaker.
3-4The voice box.
1 V O
C O
I 2
T S
3 L A
R Y
N 4
VOCOID and LARYNX read left to right, while DISTAL reads right to left.

To complete this first Word Ladder, fill in six-letter words based on the clues provided. Note that some words will run from left to right, while alternating words will run from right to left. Also, the last two letters of each word will overlap with the first two letters of the next wordthough they will be read in the opposite direction.

To illustrate the basic concept, a completed sample Word Ladder is provided.

If you think you’ve solved the puzzle, submit your solution to the editors of SpecGram by May 15, 2014, and you could win a prize.* Solutions and winners will be announced in the June issue.


Word Ladder 一
1-2  post, slash, and because notwith­standing, describes the class of prepo­sitions.
2-3  To engage in lexico­graphy.
3-4  To prag­matically require the truth of another statement.
4-5  Saus­sure’s nature of the signifier.
5-6  /æ/, in the Northern Cities Vowel Shift.
6-7  The function of here, there, me, we, you, now, then, that, this, the former, and the latter.
7-8  Digital ______ process­ing.
8-9 
Of /ɱ/, /ɸ/, /ⱱ/, /ʙ/, or /m̥/.
9-10  The blade of the tongue.
10-11  What you need not do to rhetorical questions.
1  
   
  2
   
3  
   
  4
   
5  
   
  6
   
7  
   
  8
   
9  
   
  10
   
11  






The solution to last month’s Linguistics Acronym Word Search is provided below, along with a list of the acronyms found in the grid (shown in red) and their expansions. Also shown is some additional detritus we found lurking in the puzzle grid (shown in green). Sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused (not really).

The following puzzlemeisters submitted passably accurate solutions and will receive prizes:

Hannah RobertsKevin RoonVince Wilson

Honorable mentions go to Declan Whitford Jones, Mairead Whitford Jones, and Olivia Doherty. They get no prizes, but the glory accrued unto them is immeasurable.



Linguistics Acronym Word Search Solution
Acronyms
APAdjective/Adverb Phrase
ASLAmerican Sign Language
ATRAdvanced Tongue Root
BPS Bare Phrase Structure
CAConversation Analysis
CATCommunication Accommodation Theory
CFGContext-Free Grammar
CHILDESChild Language Data Exchange System
DMDiscourse Marker
DODirect Object
DOMDifferential Object Marking
DPDeterminer Phrase
DS Different Subject
ECGEmbodied Construction Grammar
ECPEmpty Category Principle
EFLEnglish as a Foreign Language
ELDPEndangered Languages Documentation
Programme
ELFEndangered Language Fund
ESLEnglish as a Second Language
ESTExtended Standard Theory
FLFaculty of Language
GBGovernment and Binding
GPGovernment Phonology
GPSGGeneralized Phrase Structure Grammar
GTGeneralized Transformation
HPSG Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar
IDImmediate Dominance
IJALInternational Journal of American
Linguistics
IOIndirect Object
IPInflectional Phrase
IPAInternational Phonetic Alphabet
IUIntonation Unit
LADLanguage Acquisition Device
LDCLinguistic Data Consortium
LFGLexical Functional Grammar
LILinguistic Inquiry
LPLinear Precedence
LSALinguistic Society of America
LTBALinguistics of the
Tibeto-Burman Area
MPMinimalist Program
MPIMax Planck Institute
NLPNatural Language Processing
NPNoun Phrase
NSMNatural Semantic Metalanguage
OCPObligatory Contour Principle
OEDOxford English Dictionary
OTOptimality Theory
OVObject Verb (word order)
PIEProto-Indo-European
POSPart of Speech
PPPrepositional/Postpositional Phrase
QPQuantifier Phrase
RESTRevised Extended Standard Theory
RGRelational Grammar
RRGRole and Reference Grammar
RSTRhetorical Structure Theory
SAISubject-Auxiliary Inversion
SAPSpeech Act Participant
SFGSystemic Functional Grammar
SOASSchool of Oriental and African Studies
SPESound Pattern of English
SSSame Subject
STStandard Theory
STEDTSino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary
and Thesaurus
TAMTense, Aspect, Mood
TESOLTeaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages
TGTransformational Grammar
TGGTransformational Generative Grammar
UGUniversal Grammar
VOVerb Object (word order)
VPVerb Phrase
WALSWorld Atlas of Language Structures

Detritus

analyze, book, case, chomsky, diachrony, discourse, elegant, emic, etic, grammarian, lexicography, mood, morphology, occam, paradigm, parameter, phonology, pragmatics, semantics, speculative, statistics, syllable, synchrony, syntax, voice



* Note that SpecGram Anti-Hoarding Guidelines stipulate that puzzle-related prizes cannot be won by anyone who has won a puzzle-related prize in the last three monthsthough honor, fame, and glory may still be seized on the metaphorical field of puzzle-related battle.

Except where taxed, prohibited by law, or otherwise restricted, constrained, limited, regulated, controlled, hindered, impeded, hampered, obstructed, checked, curbed, shackled, confined, or otherwise subject to thesaural interference.

Alternative semanticsZac Smith and Trey Jones
SpecGram Vol CLXX, No 1 Contents