bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Explanation in variable phonology: An exponential model of morphological constraints
Authors: Guy Gregory R. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTVariationist treatments of phonological processes typically provide precise quantitative accounts of the effects of conditioning environmental factors on the occurrence of the process, and these effects have been shown to be robust for several well-studied processes. But comparable precision in theoretical explanation is usually elusive, at the current state of the discipline. That is, the analyst is usually unable to say why the parameters should have the particular values that they do, although one can often explain relative ordering of environments. This article attempts to give a precise explanation — in the form of a quantitative theoretical prediction — of one robust quantitative observation about English phonology. The reduction of final consonant clusters (often called -t,d deletion) is well-known to be conditioned by the morphological structure of a target word. Deletion applies more in monomorphemic words (e.g., mist) than in inflected words (e.g., missed). In the theory of lexical phonology, these classes of words are differentiated by derivational history, acquiring their final clusters at different levels of the morphology. The theory further postulates that rules may apply at more than one level of the derivation. If -t,d deletion is treated as a variable rule with a fixed rate of application (p0) in a phonology with this architecture, then higher rates of application in underived forms (where the final cluster is present underlyingly and throughout the derivation) are a consequence of multiple exposures to the deletion rule, whereas inflected forms (which only meet the structural description of the rule late in the derivation) have fewer exposures and lower cumulative deletion. This further allows a precise quantitative prediction concerning surface deletion rates in the different morphological categories. They should be related as an exponential function of p0, depending on the number of exposures to the rule. The prediction is empirically verified in a study of -t,d deletion in seven English speakers.
Marking in discourse: “Birds of a feather”
Authors: Scherre Maria Marta Pereira , Naro Anthony J. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTSubject/verb agreement and subject/predicate adjective agreement in spoken Brazilian Portuguese are subject to a parallel processing effect, such that marking leads to further marking and lack of marking leads to further lack of marking. For example, semantically plural verb tokens preceded by marked plural subjects in the same clause or other marked verb tokens with the same subject in the preceding discourse are more likely to be explicitly marked for plural than similar tokens preceded by unmarked subjects or verbs. This phenomenon is in direct contradiction to the principle of linguistic economy, since marking tends to occur precisely in those contexts in which it is most highly redundant and could therefore be discarded with no loss of information. Furthermore, the marking of successive plural tokens cannot be considered statistically independent events, since the outcome of previous marking decisions effects future marking. We propose that the parallel processing principle is a universal of language use.
Variation as a feature of language acquisition in the Trinidad context
Authors: Youssef Valerie 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn a longitudinal acquisition study of the development of the verb phrase (VP), a Trinidadian child who was exposed to both Standard English (SE) and Trinidadian English-lexicon Creole (TC) was found to use the verb forms of each system differentially according to addressee, discourse mode, semantic intent, and grammatical factors. Systematic variation was first recorded at age 2;7 and continued to develop through to the end of the study at age 4;9. School exposure to demands for SE production resulted in a decline in the child's productive TC competence overall and his movement into mid-range usage of SE and TC. The systems in contact appeared linked for the child in that he produced alternant forms from each one variably in apparent relation to his perception of the appropriate extent and range of their use. The weightings for variable constraints in each area modified over time.
Creoles at the intersection of variable processes: -t,d deletion and past-marking in the Jamaican mesolect
Authors: Patrick Peter L. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACT-t,d deletion is a well-known variable phonological process subject to the influence of both external social factors and internal structural constraints, including phonetic environmental and morphosyntactic effects. Its profile of variation has been widely investigated in American English dialects. However, it interacts with another grammatical process – the regular affixation of final /-t, -d/ as a past-tense marker – that strongly distinguishes these dialects from English-related creoles, where past-marking by this mechanism is infrequent or non-occurrent. Investigation of -t,d deletion in mesolectal Jamaican Creole (JC) thus raises important questions about the intersection of variable processes, the generality of phonetic environmental constraints, and the degree of difference between English-related creoles and metropolitan standard and non-standard Englishes.
Semantic overlaps of French modal expressions
Authors: Thibault Pierrette 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTAlthough there is no consensus on whether French has any true modal auxiliary, devoir ‘must’ is one of the very few possible candidates. Most studies of devoir concentrate on criteria for distinguishing its epistemic and root semantic values, but some also explore the subtle semantic nuances it conveys depending on context. Here, we identify discrete meanings through the analysis of semantic overlaps between devoir and other French modal expressions, such as probablement ‘probably’, être supposé ‘to be supposed to’, or falloir ‘ought to’. The analysis of data from two corpora on Montreal French, collected in 1971 and 1984, shows that:1. There is only one root semantic value exclusively associated with devoir, namely, the notion of desirability (as in the English ‘should’).2. There are different patterns of use of the competing modal expressions within each semantic field analyzed, according to the social class of the speaker. Moreover, some patterns characterizing a specific social group are acquired relatively late.
Contextual conditioning in variable lexical phonology
Authors: Guy Gregory R. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe variable lexical phonology proposed in Guy (1991) predicts an exponential relationship among rates of retention in word classes of different derivational histories. A class of words that satisfies the structural description of a variable rule at an early lexical level of derivation will undergo multiple operations of the rule and, therefore, exponentially reduced rates of retention, compared to a class of forms that only satisfies the structural description of the rule at the end of the derivation and thus is subject to its operation only once. For the case of English -t,d deletion, it is postulated that monomorphemic words (e.g., mist) are exposed to the deletion rule three times in a derivation, whereas semiweak past tense forms (e.g., left) are exposed twice, and regular past tense forms (e.g., missed) undergo the rule but once.The present article explores the consequences of this model for other variable constraints on a rule, such as the preceding and following segment constraints on -t,d deletion. Word-internal constraints, because they are present throughout the derivation, are shown to have quantitatively different patterns than external constraints, as the latter affect the rule only in its final, post-lexical operation. Four specific quantitative predictions are derived from the model to elucidate this distinction between internal and external constraints, and empirical data are presented to confirm the predictions.
Conséquences de la sous-spécification des traits de Agr dans l'identification de Pro
Authors: Dupuis Fernande , Lemieux Monique , Gosselin Daniel 
Published: November 2008

RÉSUMÉDans le cadre de la théorie du gouvernement et du liage, cet article présente une explication du changement survenu dans la distribution du sujet pronominal et du sujet nul Pro en moyen français. Après avoir montré que cette langue de type V2 ne manifeste pas l'asymétrie principales/subordonnées caractéristique des langues germaniques, nous proposons d'identifier la position de Pro selon le principe de m-command. Pour remplacer le paramètre d'uniformité morphologique de Jaeggli et Safir (1989), qui n'a pas rendu compte des propriétés de la flexion verbale dans la langue étudiée, nous recourons à la sousspécification du trait de nombre comme procédure d'identification du contenu de Pro. Dans un modèle où le contenu de Pro est identifie selon une hiérarchie des traits de personne et de nombre, nous attribuons la perte de Pro-drop à la fin du moyen français au fait que le trait nombre est devenu inerte dans la syntaxe.
Socially determined variation in ancient Rome
Authors: Joseph Brian D. , Wallace Rex E. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTPhonological and morphological variation in Classical Latin (e.g., diphthongs ae/au vs. monophthongs e/o, retention vs. loss of final consonants and initial h-, GEN SG -is vs. -us/-os, DAT SG in -ae vs. -a, etc.) has typically been treated as regional in nature. However, these seemingly “rural” features cannot be considered instances of purely geographically based variation, for they also occur both on inscriptions from within Rome and in Roman literary usage. Coleman (1990:14) hinted at “a social dimension” to this variation, but only for au versus o variation. We argue, however, that a distinctly social dimension must be recognized for much of this variation, based on: (a) instances of hypercorrection; (b) the observation that datives in -a occur only in private, primarily domestic, inscriptions and never in public or official inscriptions; (c) Augustus's use of “rural” domos for domus, in keeping with the populist image he cultivated upon his return to Rome. This dialectal/sociolectal situation can be best understood, we argue, in terms of the model of urbanization of Milroy (1980) and Bortoni-Ricardo (1985). The transformation of originally geographic variation into socially determined variation in an urban setting resulted from migrations into Rome and the expansion of Rome after the 4th century b.c.
L'influence de la loquacité de l'informateur sur la production de signaux backchannel par l'intervieweur en situation d'entrevue sociolinguistique
Authors: Laforest Marty 
Published: November 2008

RÉSUMÉLes signaux backchannel sont des signaux gestuels et voco-verbaux qui constituent en quelque sorte la verbalisation de l'écoute par l'allocutaire d'une conversation. Si la fonction métacommunicative de ces signaux dans la gestion de l'interaction est connue, les facteurs de leur production ont été jusqu'à maintenant peu étudiés. L'observation de 11 entrevues sociolinguistiques réalisées dans des conditions comparables par un même intervieweur montre que celuici n'intervient pas de la même façon avec chaque informateur. La loquacité de l'informateur semble exercer une influence importante sur la production quantitative et qualitative de signaux backchannel par l'allocutaire-intervieweur.
Female and male usage of pragmatic expressions in same-sex and mixed-sex interaction
Authors: Erman Britt 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThe present study focuses on the use of the three pragmatic expressions (you know, you see, and I mean) by female and male British English speakers. The aim of the study is two-fold: first, to establish actual differences in usage between men and women over a number of functions of the three pragmatic expressions; second, to find out whether such differences could be correlated to same-sex as opposed to mixed-sex interaction. The results of my investigation show that there are gender-specific differences in the use of pragmatic expressions. Some of the more salient differences were that the women tended to use pragmatic expressions between complete propositions to connect consecutive arguments, whereas the men preferred to use them either as attention-drawing devices or to signal repair work. The two groups also showed differences from the point of view of absolute frequencies, so that, generally speaking, the men used the expressions about 25% more often than the women and in some contexts up to twice as much. The results also point to the use of pragmatic expressions being largely dependent on whether the conversation takes place in a same-sex or in a mixed-sex environment, so that they tend to be used more sparingly in mixed-sex as compared to same-sex interaction.
Discourse markers in the spoken Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro
Authors: de Oliveira e Silva Giselle M. , de Macedo Alzira Tavares 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTWe analyze four major classes of discourse marker used in Brazilian Portuguese: né and other requests for feedback; aí, a sequential connector; ah, bom, and other turn initiators; and assim, a marker of explanation. The distribution of these forms is compared in argumentation, description, narration, and other genres and explained in terms of discourse function. Sociodemographic conditioning is also analyzed. An innovative component of the data analysis is an accounting for rates of occurrence per number of clauses in the speech samples studied. The results were elaborated through a series of other studies confirming the discourse function of the various markers. A comparison of the results with previous work on English and French discourse markers reveals striking parallels and raises questions about the grammaticalization of these forms.
On shear markets and sharing sheep: The merger of EAR and AIR diphthongs in New Zealand English
Authors: Holmes Janet , Bell Allan 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTA social dialect survey of a New Zealand community documented a change in progress in the pronunciation of the vowels in words such as air and ear. The data support a tentative interpretation that a shift to the variant with the closer onset for AIR words was initiated by middle-aged Pakeha women. This was not followed in any strength by other social groups. More recently there has been a change in the opposite direction, with EAR words being realized by a variant with a more open onset. This is being led by young, working class Pakeha speakers, possibly the women. For some speakers, merger of the two diphthongs is close to completion. The change thus seems to have begun in the past 40 years, but its direction has been reversed in the past 20 years. With the strong following among young speakers for the downward shift toward [eə], this seems the likely direction in which change will continue.
Back to the past: The BEV/creole connection revisited
Authors: Winford Donald 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article compares the marking of past temporal reference in Black English Vernacular (BEV) and Trinidadian English (TE), with particular attention to the alternation of Ø and {ed}. The comparison reveals similarities in the patterns of variation according to verb type and phonological conditioning which suggest that past marking in contemporary BEV preserves traces of an earlier process of shift from a creole pattern to one approximating the Standard English pattern. Further examination of the TE data reveals that the use of {ed} is highly constrained in cases where habitual or characteristic past meaning is conveyed; in such cases, the use of Ø is near categorical. These findings may have implications for BEV which future research can clarify. The article also considers the case of stressed remoteBINin BEV and argues that it may have arisen as the result of reanalysis of an earlier creole anteriorbinunder the influence of unstressed (continuative perfect)bin, derived from Englishhave+been. This provides further support for the view that, though early BEV may not have been a fully fledged creole, it arose through a process of restructuring in which a creole substrate played a significant role. Finally, the article notes that past marking is only one aspect of the overall organization of the BEV tense/mood/aspect system, which shares other features in common with creole varieties, including resultativedoneand combinatory possibilities among auxiliaries. Future research on these aspects of the BEV verb complex can shed more light on the BEV/creole connection.
The discriminability of nearly merged sounds
Authors: Faber Alice , Di Paolo Marianna 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTIn a near-merger, speakers produce two contrasting words differently, without reliably being able to discern the contrast in their own speech or in the speech of others. Acoustic measurements typically reveal small differences between the elements of near-merged minimal pairs along several acoustic dimensions. We argue that statistical evaluation of the potential distinctiveness of these near-merged elements must simultaneously take into account all of these dimensions. For this reason, discriminant analysis is used to assess the differences between near-merged/il–Il/, /el–εl/, and /ul–υl/ for five Utah speakers. In contrast with independent univatiate analyses of variance of F1, F2,f0, and spectral slope, the multivariate discriminant analyses suggest that all three contrasts are preserved by all five speakers. However, hompohones likeheelandhealare not distinguished by the discriminant analyses. Discriminant analysis is thus a powerful technique for assessing whether a reliable basis exists for the claim that two potentially contrastive items are in fact distinctive.
Neutralization of gender distinctions in Modern Hebrew numerals
Authors: Ravid Dorit 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTGender distinctions constitute one of the central grammatical categories in Hebrew grammar and are closely related to number distinctions. Both are acquired early on, since they apply to almost every morphological category: three major classes of content words, as well as two classes of function words. Feminine words are marked by Suffixal -αand -t, while masculine words carry either a zero or -esuffix. A small class of what might be termed “numeral nounclassifiers” are supposed to agree in gender with their head nouns, but carry a mirror-image gender marking, resulting in rule opacity. The subjects, 40 children (20 fourth graders, 20 seventh graders) from a lower middle-class background, were tested on gender markings of numerals in two situations involving monitored and unmonitored situations. The results indicate the disappearance of gender agreement in Modern Hebrew numerals and a reanalysis of numeral suffixes by speakers.
Structural processes in enumeration
Authors: Dubois Sylvie 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTEnumeration is a figure of speech which evokes a thematic set through the concatenation of several of its elements. Its linguistic structure is variable with respect to the number of components, their syntactic nature, the use of coordinating markers and of the processes of repetition, reduction, and expansion. In studying the variation among 3,464 tokens of enumeration in Montreal French, we explain how the constitutive processes interact in terms of Slobin's (1977) charges to language: be clear, processible in real time, quick and easy, and expressive. We suggest how the six structural factors or processes contribute to the fulfillment of these charges. The data analysis evaluates the interaction of the processes and, indirectly, the pertinence of each of Slobin's four functional criteria. This analysis is a new method for attributing a pattern of process co-occurrences to a number of functions, focusing on how these processes compensate for, or cooperate with, each other.
On boundaries in linguistic continua
Authors: Jørgensen J. Normann , Kristensen Kjeld 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the notion of regional standards of a language with regard to modern Danish. A regional standard is defined relative to a spectrum of varieties ranging from the national standard to the classical local dialects. We define the national standard, in accordance with Brink (1988), as the variety which has no localizable features. A local dialect is defined, in accordance with Danish dialectological tradition, as a combination of features which are inherent and not derived from the national standard. With evidence from studies of Danish regional variation we show that, for a geographical entity, a statistically determined boundary can be established in the range between these two extremes. On the scale of varieties between the two, the regional standard is posited as the range closest to the national standard. Local varieties that are not strictly classical dialects may no longer be active in some areas — a phenomenon illustrated by the variation in an area relatively close to Copenhagen, the center of gravity of new national standard developments. The development of features is described in terms of Bailey's wave model (1973).
Orphan categories in bilingual discourse: Adjectivization strategies in Wolof-French and Fongbe-French
Authors: Meechan Marjory , Poplack Shana 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTWhen one language has a grammatical category that is rare or lacking in another, this “orphan” category may constrain the types of structures employed when the two languages are combined in bilingual discourse. We systematically examine the effect of categorial nonequivalence on language mixture in two corpora of spontaneous bilingual speech—Wolof—French and Fongbe—French—exhibiting different typological contrasts in adjectival modification structures. Focusing on lone French-origin items in otherwise Wolof or Fongbe discourse, the most frequent, if the most contentious, type of intrasentential language mixture, our method reveals that superficially identical items pattern in markedly different ways in each corpus. In Wolof, their patterns are consistent with Wolof adjectival elements (i.e., verbs), revealing them to be loanwords, while in Fongbe, they pattern with code-switches. We show that this difference is linked to the degree of categorial mismatch in the languages involved. Where categorial equivalence exists (Fongbe-French), code-switches involving French adjectives may occur, as long as structural equivalence between the two languages is maintained at the switch site. Where categorial equivalence is lacking (Wolof–French), code-switching is inhibited, and language mixture is effected via borrowing. This illustrates how, at code-switch sites, both structural and categorial equivalence are maintained.
The third dialect of English: Some Canadian evidence
Authors: Clarke Sandra , Elms Ford , Youssef Amani 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTWhereas Labov (1991) made a case for the existence of three major dialects of English, this article offers Canadian evience that runs counter to the idea of a relatively homogeneous North American third dialect area in which vowel systems remain fairly stable. It shows that the lax vowels of Canadian English are undergoing a substantial shift, the pivot for which is suggested to be vowel merger in theCot/Caughtsets. This shift is to some degree conditioned by the voicing properties and the manner of articulation of a following consonant; gender differences prove significant as well. The article also examines back vowel fronting in Candian English and its relationship to the shift affecting the front lax vowels, as well as to the general principles of vowel chain shifting articulated by Labov (1994). The Canadian Shift raises the issue of internal versus external motivation of vowel change; in addition, it brings, macrosociolinguistic evidence to bear on the purely microsociolinguistic interpretation of similar patterns of vowel shifting as symbols of local group identity (Eckert, 1991b).