scholarly journals On the Phonetics and Phonology of Focus marking in Boro

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shakuntala Mahanta ◽  
Kalyan Das ◽  
Amalesh Gope
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
The Way

It is discussed widely in the literature on tone and intonation that both these phenomenon make use of changes in the f0. It is often assumed that intonation in tone languages is only slightly more limited than it is in non-tonal ones (Yip 2002). This paper addresses the question of tone assignment in Boro and investigates how it operates as a function of focus. This paper studies both the phonetics and phonology of intonation in Boro and delineates the way in-situ and morphological focus markers influence sentence prosody. The results show that in-situ focus does not result in any change of the f0 value of the target word. The only consistent acoustic correlate for focus marking is found to be post focus compression. The morphological focus marker leads to discrete downstepping of the following High tone and also emerges with an H* by deleting the neighboring H tones. One of the significant results of this experiment is that while H tones were realized at a higher f0 while co-occurring with the H* of the MF marker, L tones did not lead to any changes unless the stem were disyllabic, showing that there are phonological factors constraining sentential prosody.

scholarly journals Adverbial quantification and focus in Hausa

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-467
Author(s):  
Malte Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Focus Particles ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Universal Mechanism ◽  
The Way

The paper investigates the interaction of focus and adverbial quantification in Hausa, a Chadic tone language spoken in West Africa. The discussion focuses on similarities and differences between intonation and tone languages concerning the way in which adverbial quantifiers (AQs) and focus particles (FPs) associate with focus constituents. It is shown that the association of AQs with focused elements does not differ fundamentally in intonation and tone languages such as Hausa, despite the fact that focus marking in Hausa works quite differently. This may hint at the existence of a universal mechanism behind the interpretation of adverbial quantifiers across languages. From a theoretical perspective, the Hausa data can be taken as evidence in favour of pragmatic approaches to the focus-sensitivity of AQs, such as e.g. Beaver & Clark (2003).  

Syntax-Pragmatik-Schnittstelle am Beispiel der Fokussierung im Spanisch-Erwerb deutschsprachiger Lerner

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-350
Author(s):  
Julia Schirnhofer
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Test Results ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Information Focus ◽  
Focus Marking

Abstract As a phenomenon at the syntax-pragmatics interface, focus marking can cause particular difficulties in adult L2 acquisition and may never be fully acquired, whereas native-like competence can be achieved with formal syntactic properties. The present study examines this so-called Interface Hypothesis by analysing the strategies that monolingual German-speaking learners use to mark information focus in Spanish. Analyses of the test results show that around 97 % of the test subjects prefer to maintain the unmarked constituent order and mark focus in situ, irrespective of their proficiency level. In comparison with Spanish natives (Gabriel 2010, Heidinger 2014), the results show a divergence from the behaviour of native speakers, as the latter use various strategies. This indicates that the German-speaking learners do not make use of the variation of focus marking strategies the Spanish language provides, but rather adhere to in situ focalization, which is also the dominant focus-marking strategy in German. Furthermore, the results of the present study highlight that strategies for marking focus are scarcely taken into account in language teaching classes.

Operation Hiram Revisited: A Correction

1999 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-76
Author(s):  
Benny Morris
Keyword(s):  
Archival Material ◽  
The Way

The author revisits the Israeli Defense Forces' October 1948 Galilee operation in the light of newly available archival material and finds that, contrary to earlier findings, orders were in fact issued to clear the Galilee of Arabs. The reasons that most of the population remained in situ are examined, and the pattern of massacres in the region is discussed. The article concludes by emphasizing the cumulative nature of historiography and the way the picture changes in accordance with the available data.

scholarly journals Paving the Way towards an Armenian Data Cube

Data ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shushanik Asmaryan ◽  
Vahagn Muradyan ◽  
Garegin Tepanosyan ◽  
Azatuhi Hovsepyan ◽  
Armen Saghatelyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Data Cube ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Band Ratio ◽  
Earth Observations ◽  
In Situ Data ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Sentinel 2 ◽  
The Way

Environmental issues become an increasing global concern because of the continuous pressure on natural resources. Earth observations (EO), which include both satellite/UAV and in-situ data, can provide robust monitoring for various environmental concerns. The realization of the full information potential of EO data requires innovative tools to minimize the time and scientific knowledge needed to access, prepare and analyze a large volume of data. EO Data Cube (DC) is a new paradigm aiming to realize it. The article presents the Swiss-Armenian joint initiative on the deployment of an Armenian DC, which is anchored on the best practices of the Swiss model. The Armenian DC is a complete and up-to-date archive of EO data (e.g., Landsat 5, 7, 8, Sentinel-2) by benefiting from Switzerland’s expertise in implementing the Swiss DC. The use-case of confirm delineation of Lake Sevan using McFeeters band ratio algorithm is discussed. The validation shows that the results are sufficiently reliable. The transfer of the necessary knowledge from Switzerland to Armenia for developing and implementing the first version of an Armenian DC should be considered as a first step of a permanent collaboration for paving the way towards continuous remote environmental monitoring in Armenia.

scholarly journals Investigating the Dark Side of Stories of “Good” Leadership: A Discursive Approach to Leadership Gurus’ Storytelling

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Ontological Shift ◽  
Empty Signifier ◽  
Discursive Approach ◽  
The Way

Since the quest for locating an agreed upon prediscursive phenomenon behind the word “leadership” has proved fruitless, some researchers have suggested that leadership is an empty signifier to which many meanings can be attached. Taking this ontological shift seriously, rather than trying to locate leadership as a “thing” that is out there somewhere, it is perhaps better to investigate how meanings of leadership are constructed as in situ social practice. Adopting a discursive approach to leadership and using transcripts of a celebrity interview with management gurus Jack and Suzy Welch, this article analyses the stories they tell in which they provide normative accounts of what good leadership should be. Rather than taking these stories at face value, this article investigates both the way in which these stories are told as in situ social practice and the Discourses of leadership that are used as resources for storytelling and which are (re)produced in the storytelling. Findings indicate that while Jack and Suzy Welch do morally accountable identity work that presents leadership as heroic and positive, these stories also hide a darker side of leadership that is revealed in the analyses of wider societal Discourses that are invoked. The article closes with a call for a more critical approach to stories of leadership.

Variation in the tonal space of Yangliu Lalo, an endangered language of Yunnan, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathryn Yang ◽  
James N. Stanford ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Jinjing Jiang ◽  
Liufang Tang
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Young People ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Time Study ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Language Community ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Endangered Language ◽  
Tonal Space ◽  
Tonal System

Abstract Endangered tone languages are not often studied within quantitative variationist approaches, but such approaches can provide valuable insights for language description and documentation in the Tibeto-Burman area. This study examines tone variation within Yangliu Lalo (Central Ngwi), a minority language community in China that is currently shifting to Southwestern Mandarin. Yangliu Lalo’s Tone 4, the rising-falling High tone, is lowering and flattening among young people, especially females, who also tend to use Lalo less frequently. Tonal range in elicited speech is shown to be decreasing as use of Lalo decreases. Concurrently, the standard deviation of the pitch of individual tones also decreases, while at the same time speakers with a narrow tonal range also show greater articulatory precision for each tone. Tonal range and standard deviation of pitch are both parameters of tonal space, the arrangement of, and relationship between, tones within the tonal system. The results from our apparent-time study suggest that tonal space provides a new avenue of sociolinguistic inquiry for tone languages.

scholarly journals New cave-dwelling amphipods (Lysianassidae, Hadziidae) from the Dominican Republic (Hispaniola)

1998 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damià Jaume ◽  
H.P. Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
West Indian ◽  
Swimming Behaviour ◽  
Marine Origin ◽  
Fresh Waters ◽  
Anchialine Caves ◽  
The Way

Two new stygobiont amphipods are described from anchialine caves located in the Jaragua region (Pedernales Prov., Dominican Republic, Hispaniola). Ottenwalderia kymbalion gen. et sp. nov. is the first lysianassoid known to have penetrated into completely fresh waters, and the fourth colonizing hypogean habitats. Bahadzia jaraguensis sp. nov. is the second representative of this West Indian thalasso-stygobiont genus to be reported from fresh waters; it exhibits the most troglomorphic aspect (i.e. elongation of first antennae and sixth pereiopods) recorded for the genus. Its diagnosis is complemented with a key to the species of the genus Bahadzia. The in situ swimming behaviour of both taxa is briefly described. It is postulated that both amphipods share a rather recent, Plio-Pleistocene marine origin, having invaded passively the continental waters in the way described by the so-called Regression model.

The acquisition of Focus in L2 Spanish

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Leal ◽  
Emilie Destruel ◽  
Bradley Hoot
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Interface Hypothesis ◽  
L2 Spanish ◽  
Information Focus ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Discourse Interface ◽  
Recent Experimental Work

This paper examines the strategies used by speakers of Spanish as a second language (L2) for marking Information Focus, a phenomenon found at the syntax–discourse interface. Sorace and colleagues have proposed the Interface Hypothesis, according to which the syntax–discourse interface poses unique challenges for bilinguals (Sorace, 2011). With respect to Spanish, there exists a gap between the theoretical and empirical literatures on Focus realization; the former suggests that Focus must appear in sentence-final position, yet recent experimental work challenges this claim, showing that Focus commonly remains in situ. Using a speeded production task, we compared the response patterns of L2 Spanish speakers to that of natives in order to bring additional evidence to bear on the debate. Results revealed an asymmetry: L2 learners converged with native speakers on Subject Focus but not on Object Focus, where proficiency mediated overall divergences, indicating a change toward more nativelike Focus-marking strategies over time. We discuss our findings in light of the Interface Hypothesis and existing theories of Focus marking in Spanish.

Changing EPP parameters

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Danckaert
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Modal Verbs ◽  
The Core ◽  
History Of ◽  
Parametric Change ◽  
T Domain ◽  
The Way

This chapter starts with a description of the core facts concerning the VPAux/AuxVP alternation in the history of Latin. In the case of modal verbs and infinitives, there is a clear decline of the head-final order VPAux, whereas Late Latin BE-periphrases surprisingly prefer this order. Against the backdrop of these observations, the discussion then turns to the analysis of Classical and Late Latin clause structure. It is proposed that during the transition from Classical to Late Latin, a major parametric change took place related to the way the clausal EPP-requirement is satisfied. In the earlier grammar (‘Grammar A’), the entire VP undergoes A-movement to the high T-domain, resulting in the characteristic VPAux word order. In the later grammar (‘Grammar B’) the EPP-requirement is met by means of verb movement, with the VP staying in situ. In this grammar VPAux-orders are derived through roll-up movement, which is incompatible with the VOAux-pattern.

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