FAQ

Here I answer questions which are often asked of me. This saves me time having to rewrite answers. This is Jonathan North Washington's wiki, btw.

Linguistics

"What do you do?"

See my home page for a description of what I do.

"What is linguistics?"

See wikipedia's article on linguistics.

"What is phonology?"

See wikipedia's article on phonology.

"What camp of phonology do you subscribe to?"

I like phonetically grounded Optimality Theory, and at this point it's probably what I'm most familiar with. I'm willing to work with other frameworks, though, and take issue with the way some things are done in OT.

"What camp of syntax to you subscribe to?"

This is hard, since I'm not familiar enough with much beyond GB. Really, everything's looked about as good to me so far. Minimalism shows some promise, but I don't know enough about it (does anyone? Just kidding..). The one theory that stands out as making a lot of sense to me is Jackendoff's so called "simpler syntax". I can't say I'll join that camp just yet, though, as I have some reading to do first.

Also, HPSG seems much more predictive than other frameworks, so I like it for that. It seems far separated from the cognitive aspect, though, which I'm never fond of in a linguistic theory.

Kazakhstan

"Why have you gone to Kazakhstan / Central Asia?"

This question is often asked by both my American and Kazakh friends.

Сен қазақ болсаң, Қазақстан неге қызық жер екенін білмесең, нағыз қазақ емессің ғой! Қазақ тілі неге қызық екенін білмесең, лингвистика түсінбейсің - ал мына мәселе емес ;) Жоғары оқы.

As a linguist, all languages interest me. In particular, I've become fascinated by Turkic languages (and more generally in Altaic languages). After this interested originally developed, I was invited to spend the summer in Almaty, so I did, with the idea in mind to learn as much Kazakh as I could. It began to sink in that Kazakh is a really neat language from a linguistic point of view, with lots and lots of material which has yet to be studied in the framework of theoretical linguistics (see above). So I go back to Kazakhstan (and Kyrgyzstan) when I can, to better learn Kazakh (and Kyrgyz) and conduct research. I also like to spend time with the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz in general (the local Russians and other peoples aren't bad either;), and have lots of friends in Central Asia now.

"Where's Kazakhstan?"

This question is often asked by my American friends. Lots of information can be found in wikipedia's article on Kazakhstan.

"Қазақша білесің бе не?"

Жаңа қазақ таныстарым менен бұл сұрақ әдетте сұрады.

Неге? Жауап аздап жоғарырақ.

Қайдан? Әбден, Алматыдағы Дарын Институтындан, Атырау Мемликеттік Университеттен, және Индиана Университетінде үйрендім. Әрінде бір жаз оқыдым.

Не үшін? Көрейік!

Views

"What do you think about Borat?" / "Борат жек көреміз, сенші?"

Everyone has different views about the "Borat" craze. Since I study Kazakhstan, and am one of few Americans to have some understanding of Kazakhstan from within Kazakh society, I feel that I should comment on this for my American friends. Қазақша сөйлейтін қазақ әлеуметі және дәстүрлері түсінетін америкалықтай, қазақ достарым үшін ойларымды беруім қажет екен.

What Borat teaches

• "How racism [can feed as much] on dumb conformity [as] rabid bigotry." It's obvious that the racist views expressed by Borat are not those of Sascha Cohen. This is satire--satire of not just people who are overtly racist, but of those who are are willing to blindly follow. Borat teaches us to be cautious and to think about what we do so that we do not blindly conform.
• What Kazakhstan is not. Borat's image is so over the top that viewers understand that his character is not actually indended to depict people from Kazakhstan. For many viewers, this will spark a curiosity to learn more about Kazakhstan.
• That people are accepting of foreigners, as outrageous as their views may be. It's humourous when one of Borat's "subjects" tries to explain why a view he expresses isn't considered appropriate in our society. This makes Western viewers really consider the "why" of their culture, which is the first step towards accepting others.
• That even the most prim among us are human beings. We're all human, even Borat's character, and while people don't always get along with him or understand or even accept his "views", they are usually willing to humour him. We're all human, despite tremendous differences not just in background, but in belief.
• Borat's crude mannerisms but willingness to deal with polite society shows people in polite socity that they are also capable of crude manerisms. This shows much of the world--who balance their lives between revelling in some crudeness and being polite--that neither is inherently bad or good. Each aspect of a person's character has its place and time, and part of the humour of Borat is mixing this up.

What Borat does not teach

• That Kazakhs are crude, or that Kazakh society is misogynous and anti-Semitic. If people don't get that Borat's not an accurate reflection of Kazakhs, the joke's on them. In more ways than one.
• Anti-semitism. Borat does not teach people to be anti-semitic, nor should people be offended by his anti-semitism. The point of his effected anti-semitism is to show how generally racist society can be, especially when trying to play along. It also shows how much some people expect to anti-semitism--whether they're anti-semitic or not--from outside their own society. This form of anti-semitism is--once again--satire.

Main Argument

My main argument relies on the understanding that Borat is not humour in that it makes fun of Kazakhstan and Kazakhs, but is humour in that it makes fun of people who don't know anything about Kazakhstan. When people accept Borat as a Kazakh, and don't know that this isn't how Kazakhs act or what they believe, the joke is on them. The way they act after this makes them (and not Borat) look like an ignorant fool. Sascha Baron Cohen's Borat act is designed to get this response from people, and not designed to spread lies about Kazakhstan.

As the NY Times puts it (source needed!):

...it seems as if comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is mocking Kazakhstan. He is not. He's mocking you. After all, you're the idiot who doesn't know where Kazakhstan is or if it's the kind of place where, as Borat claims, there's a "Running of the Jews". And more important, you're the idiot who believes so much in cultural relativism that you'll nod politely when a guy tells you that in his country they keep developmentally disabled people in cages. Or, worse yet, you're the person who tells him it's not a bad idea...

Banning

Kazakhstan threatened to sue Sascha Cohen, and now Russia's banned the movie. This, in my opinion, is a very old-fashioned paranoid Soviet attitude towards everything. How can people in Russia know if they're offended by the movie or not unless they see it? Or at least know some people who have seen it. If only the three people who decided to ban it have seen it, people will just have to believe them that it was offensive, and they won't be able to make their own opinion. (And okay, I even feel it was slightly offensive--just not to Kazakhs as much as some other groups). And Kazakhstan is continuing its advertising campaign to show how progressive a country it's becoming. This is fair, though I can't imagine very many people watching the movie are going to believe that he's actually from Kazakhstan--it's so obviously one big joke, and a lot of it even seems staged. If people can't see that, I worry about how shallow they are. The governments of Russia and Kazakhstan are being quite shallow themselves. If any country should ban Borat, it's the US. I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and heard that Alabama had banned it.

Vegetarianism

I'm a vegetarian. However, I occasionally eat meat, especially when overseas. Why? I like meat. Then why are you a vegetarian? Because I don't like factory farming. I don't mind eating meat in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, because factory farming is almost unheard of; farm animals there live free lives. Why do I eat meat in America then? I like it, and if it's what's for dinner, I won't pressure anyone into changing the menu, since I'll probably like it. Also, if there's a choice, and I think the meat will be exceptionally good, I might eat it.

But I'm still a vegetarian. But how can I be a vegetarian if I eat meat? Well, I'm not right now, right? ..So I don't eat it very often, and it's my beliefs, not my actions, I think, that count if you have to put labels on me. :-P