What's mine is yours: Stable variation and language change in Ancient Egyptian possessive constructions

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 639-660
Author(s):  
Shayna Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Stable Variation ◽  
Over Time

AbstractVariation is described as two or more variants competing for finite resources. In this model, two outcomes are possible: language change or specialization. Specialization can be broken down further: specialization for different functions, and partial specialization – stable variation. In this paper, I analyze the differences between stable variation and language change using the two variables present in Ancient Egyptian possessive constructions. Observing four Egyptian possessive variants, split into two groups with two variants each – clitic possessor variants and full nominal possessor variants – for a total of 2251 tokens, I compare factors affecting variant choice in each possessive group. Results of distributional and multivariate analyses indicate that a) change over time occurs in clitic possession, while stable variation occurs with noun variants; and b) different kinds of factors govern the two sets: the continuous variable phrase complexity affects variant choice in nominal possession, but does not affect the clitic variants.

Language Change and Movement as Seen by Historical Linguistics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Nurse
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Comparative Linguistics ◽  
Language Boundaries ◽  
Over Time

The focus of this chapter is on how languages move and change over time and space. The perceptions of historical linguists have been shaped by what they were observing. During the flowering of comparative linguistics, from the late 19th into the 20th century, the dominant view was that in earlier times when people moved, their languages moved with them, often over long distances, sometimes fast, and that language change was largely internal. That changed in the second half of the 20th century. We now recognize that in recent centuries and millennia, most movements of communities and individuals have been local and shorter. Constant contact between communities resulted in features flowing across language boundaries, especially in crowded and long-settled locations such as most of Central and West Africa. Although communities did mix and people did cross borders, it became clear that language and linguistic features could also move without communities moving.

French negation, the Superset Principle, and Feature Conservation

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-227
Author(s):  
Karen De Clercq
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Natural Consequence ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Double Negation ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Syntactic Movement ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Over Time

This chapter provides a nanosyntactic account of negation in French, modelling the change from le bon usage French (BUF) to colloquial French (CF). It is argued that language change is driven by Feature Conservation: the lexical items involved in the expression of sentential negation may change over time, but the features needed remain stable. Furthermore, it is argued that the change from BUF to CF is economy-driven, resulting in bigger lexically stored trees, less spell-out-driven movements and a maximal operationalization of the Superset Principle. In addition, the account shows how negative concord and double negation can be explained as a natural consequence of the interplay of the internal structure of lexical trees and the Superset Principle. Finally, the chapter adds to theoretical discussions within nanosyntax by presenting how the interaction between syntactic movement and spell-out-driven movement may be conceived of.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Change Over Time in Self-reported Health

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathi Wilson ◽  
Susan J. Elliott ◽  
John D. Eyles ◽  
Susan J. Keller-Olaman
Keyword(s):  
Change Over Time ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Reported Health ◽  
Over Time

Gender and language change in Old Norse sentential negatives

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam Blaxter
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Prose Fiction ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Consistent Finding ◽  
Historical Societies ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
Over Time

AbstractOne consistent finding across sociolinguistic studies is the tendency for female speakers to lead in ongoing change. Different explanations have been proposed for this and a key method of testing these explanations is to identify whether the pattern occurs in the languages of a wider range of societies than have been studied thus far. Historical societies are relatively understudied in this regard, but undertaking variationist research into gender in historical varieties presents many challenges. One way to overcome these is to examine variation internal to fiction data. This paper presents an analysis of the effect of gender on the adverb selected for sentential negation in Old Norse prose fiction. It finds that female characters lead consistently in this change over time. In doing so, it demonstrates the feasibility of using fiction data when examining the effect of gender in historical varieties such as Old Norse.

International purchasing offices in China: roles and resource/capability requirements

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1125-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Sartor ◽  
Guido Orzes ◽  
Guido Nassimbeni ◽  
Fu Jia ◽  
Richard Lamming
Keyword(s):  
Stable Configuration ◽  
Global Sourcing ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Effective Performance ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Over Time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address global sourcing organisational design through the following research questions: how do the roles performed by International Purchasing Offices (IPOs) change over time?; what are the resources/capabilities required by an IPO for an effective performance and how do they change over time?; and what are the contingent factors affecting such changes? Design/methodology/approach – The authors employed an exploratory multiple case study approach and analysed 14 Western IPOs located in China for a period between 2007 and 2012. The data were primarily collected through 34 direct, semi-structured interviews of IPO heads and sourcing managers or senior buyers. Findings – The authors identify and discuss the importance of ten roles played by IPOs and 12 required resources/capabilities. Furthermore, considering the changes that occurred to these IPOs over a five-year period (2007-2012), the authors observe three distinct evolutionary behaviours (i.e. “overall development”, “selective development”, and “stable configuration”) and highlight three contingent factors that jointly affect these behaviours (i.e. the architectural and technological complexity of the sourced items, annual volume sourced abroad, and experience in the foreign context). Originality/value – This paper contributes to the resource-based view of the firm in a global sourcing context by highlighting the resources/capabilities required by IPOs and discussing their characteristics. Furthermore, it proposes a typology of IPO micro-organisational evolutionary behaviours. Finally, it applies contingency theory and identifies three factors that might affect the evolutionary behaviours.

Factors affecting surfacing, respiration, and dive behaviour of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, summering in the Beaufort Sea

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1801-1815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor M. Dorsey ◽  
W. John Richardson ◽  
Bernd Würsig
Keyword(s):  
Human Disturbance ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
The Other ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Bowhead Whales ◽  
Dive Behaviour ◽  
Aerial Surveys ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Over Time

Behaviour of bowhead whales summering in the Canadian Beaufort Sea in 1980–1984 was observed from an aeroplane circling at altitudes high enough to avoid disturbance (≥ 457 m). Factors that might affect surfacing and respiration behaviour were assessed with univariate and multivariate analyses. Calves (age < 1 year) were not considered. The interval between successive blows in a surfacing was more stable over time and over different activities than were the other variables but was significantly longer in surface-feeding whales. Surface feeders also made longer surfacings. The number of blows per surfacing and duration of surfacing were highly correlated, and both variables were more consistently correlated with the duration of the previous dive than with the duration of the subsequent dive. There were considerable interyear variations in respiration and surfacing characteristics that could not be attributed to any measured factor. Effects of water depth on number of blows per surfacing could not be separated from interyear effects, but duration of surfacing appeared to be greater in deeper water. Whales in groups had longer blow intervals, as did mothers with calves and socializing whales. Underwater blows were associated with socializing, at least at times, but their function is uncertain. The results have implications with regard to bowhead energetics, sightability during aerial surveys, and interpretation of behaviour in the presence of human disturbance.

scholarly journals Collocative Integrity and Our Many Varied Subjects: What the Metric of Alignment between Classification Scheme and Indexer Tells Us About Langridge’s Theory of Indexing

NASKO ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph T. Tennis
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Classification Scheme ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Classification Schemes ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Over Time

<p>As the universe of knowledge and subjects change over time, indexing languages like classification schemes, accommodate that change by restructuring. Restructuring indexing languages affects indexer and cataloguer work. Subjects may split or lump together. They may disappear only to reappear later. And new subjects may emerge that were assumed to be already present, but not clearly articulated (Miksa, 1998). In this context we have the complex relationship between the indexing language, the text being described, and the already described collection (Tennis, 2007). It is possible to imagine indexers placing a document into an outdated class, because it is the one they have already used for their collection. However, doing this erases the semantics in the present indexing language. Given this range of choice in the context of indexing language change, the question arises, what does this look like in practice? How often does this occur? Further, what does this phenomenon tell us about subjects in indexing languages? Does the practice we observe in the reaction to indexing language change provide us evidence of conceptual models of subjects and subject creation? If it is incomplete, but gets us close, what evidence do we still require?</p>

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