Congenital Central Overinflation with Mainstem Bronchial Stenosis: Pre- and Postnatal Imaging and Outcome—Case Report and Brief Review of Literature

Congenital overinflation of lung is underdiagnosed prenatally as the imaging features of the same are not well described. We describe a very rare case of central variety of congenital overinflation, secondary to right mainstem bronchial stenosis, not previously described in our knowledge, which presented as an enlarged homogenous echogenic/hyperintense lung with cardio-mediastinal shift and was misdiagnosed as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM). We reviewed imaging features helpful in prenatal diagnosis of this condition on ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging and discussed an approach for differential diagnosis. The congenital central overinflation may be considered in prenatal detected echogenic lung lesions with the absence of cysts or systemic arterial supply and presence of hypervascularity or dilated bronchi within the lesion.

A comparative study of possessive construction in Kurdish and Hungarian from a cognitive perspective

The present paper seeks to investigate the characteristics of possessive constructions in Kurdish (the Central variety also known as Sorani) and Hungarian from a cognitive viewpoint. Starting with nominal possessive constructions, which include attenuated possessors and nominal possessees, we will argue that both Kurdish and Hungarian make use of essentially similar typological strategies to encode the possessive relationship. Moreover, the defining characteristics of nominal possessive constructions in both languages will be justifiably accounted for through the same lines of cognitive argumentation in terms of Langacker's reference-point model (2008, 2009). However, a different cognitive treatment is proposed for cases in which the possessor and the possessee are nominal and linked to each other via an Ezafe. We will argue that Ezafe, which links the nominal head to its dependents in a Noun Phrase (Qharib et al. 1971; Moiin 1984; Ghomeshi 1997; Lotfi 2014), evokes an intrinsic asymmetric relationship between the possessor as the landmark and the possessee as the trajector. As the second major type of possessive constructions elaborated on in this paper, the predicative possessive is first classified into topic-possessive and be-possessive categories. Despite their subtle structural differences, it is again shown that both Kurdish and Hungarian employ almost similar clausal patterns to form both categories of predicative possessives, and the same cognitive models can be brought into play to account for their underlying characteristics. The final section of the present paper is devoted to the so-called ergative constructions in Kurdish. Seeking to propose a new cognitive approach to account for the peculiarities of the non-accusative alignment, we will argue that the so-called ergative constructions in Kurdish are conceptually linked to predicative possessive constructions.

Alternations in contact and non-contact varieties

The Multifactorial Prediction and Deviation Analysis (MuPDAR) method (Gries & Deshors 2014) represents an influential methodological advance in studying variation in contexts where linguistic choices in a “peripheral” variety (learner language, New Englishes) are studied in relation to the “central” variety. In this article we demonstrate how the method may be extended to study how varieties produced in settings of language contact (including translation) differ from non-contact varieties, particularly with respect to the degree of lexicogrammatical explicitness. We use the method to determine how (dis)similar the factors governing that-omission are in two different types of contact varieties, namely South African translated (trans-SAE) and South African non-translated English (SAE), in relation to British (GBE) English. The results show that the choices made in the contact varieties can be predicted to a reasonable extent, although South African translators and South African non-translators have a higher and lower inclination respectively to use explicit that compared to GBE non-translators. Based on the findings, we re-evaluate the explanations proposed for the increased explicitness of translated language through the frame of language contact, outlining the advantages of multifactorial methods over the frequency-based methods favoured in earlier studies.

Reconstructing phylogeny from linkage diffusion

Linkage models of language diversification (Ross 1988, François 2014) represent the slow differentiation of closely related sister languages via dialect continua. Such historical relationships are said to prevent the reconstruction of branchinternal phylogeny. A newly defined mode of linkage variation challenges this restriction. In cladistic hinge diversification, speakers of a geographically central variety mediate innovations between isolated extremes of a sub-branch, while all three daughter branches maintain evidence of their own exclusive innovations. The resulting pattern blends linkage relations with family relations. Following a contextual review, the paper presents supporting evidence for the distinction from the Phowa languages of southwest China (Ngwi < Burmic < Tibeto-Burman). Data analysis includes sociohistory, dialectometry and genetic linguistic components. The argument affirms both wave and tree models of language change, enabling an enriched understanding of focal, relic and transition areas and their influence on the leveling, development and diffusion of linguistic innovations.