From: Aidan Coveney Date: Wed Apr 7, 2004 10:42:01 Europe/London

Dear colleagues

'Sciences du Langage' (i.e Linguistics) departments are under threat in France. Please consider signing the petition mentioned below. (The petition has been launched by Grenoble University and Paris X-Nanterre, notably the phonologist Bernard Laks, a close collaborator of Jacques Durand, who is known to many of us in this country.) The French government's current political difficulties (severe defeats 2 weeks ago in regional elections) mean that they are more likely to respond to pressure from public opinion than at other times.

Yours Aidan Coveney French Department, Exeter

—- Begin Forwarded Message —- Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 21:19:33 +0200 From: MS Subject: Sauvons les Sciences du Langage en France / Save Language Sciences in France

Dear colleagues, Marges Linguistiques expresses solidarity with a petition initiated by Universite Stendhal - Grenoble III (France) calling for support in defence of the teaching of graduate courses in Linguistics in French Universities.

We invite you to sign this petition online through the following link:

http://infolang.u-paris10.fr/sauvons-sdl

where you may read and complete the petition.

The text may also be read on the homepage of the website of Marges Linguistiques:

http://www.marges-linguistiques.com

(click on 'accueil' or 'welcome')

Thank you for your interest and for your participation in the defence of Linguistics

M. Santacroce Director, Marges Linguistiques In partnership with the French Association of Language Sciences

—- End Forwarded Message —-

——————————— Aidan Coveney University of Exeter