Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 11:18:04 -0500 From: "Salikoko S. Mufwene" Subject: Re: discussant At 9:19 AM 3/29/96, M. Lynne Murphy wrote: >i think "discussant" is pretty standard in conferences where there >are papers and reaction papers. so, there are presenters and >discussants. perhaps it's also used in cases like _current >anthropology_ and _brain and behavioral sciences_ where the same >format is put to print, but i'm not sure. (where there would be >authors and discussants, i guess.) it's certainly the noun i'd use to >refer to such people. In the BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES the discussions are identified as "commentaries", I think. So I would expect the authors of such discussion essays to be "commentators", although this term seems to have been used only for audio and visual modes of communication. Sali. ******************************************************************* Salikoko S. Mufwene s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu University of Chicago 312-702-8531; FAX 312-702-9861 Department of Linguistics 1010 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 *******************************************************************