Sluicing and Multiple Wh-fronting.

This paper explores multiple wh-fronting under Sluicing. Contrary to previous proposals that an interrogative +wh complementizer licenses TP-ellipsis, I propose that +focus feature licenses this ellipsis operation. Assuming the deletion analysis of sluicing, following Ross (1969), I argue for focus-licensed sluicing based on data from Slavic languages like Russian and Polish, where it is possible to have focused R-expressions as remnants of sluicing. I demonstrate how semantic restrictions in multiple interrogatives are maintained under sluicing, presenting a new argument for the clausal structure of the sluice. Finally, I explore Superiority effects under sluicing, deriving those from parallelism in variable binding

The Art of the Non-Royal Classic Maya: An Analysis of SAMA Object #72.42.109(19)

Imagine something as simple as your favorite coffee cup, that unassuming object can tell a story about who you. An old, small bowl can also tell a story but about the artists and people of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya often placed offerings in the tombs of the dead as a way of providing for the deceased in the afterlife. One of the most common offerings was a ceramic vessel that contained special food or drinks. To better understand Classic period non-royal Maya ceramic vessels, this paper addresses a small clay-bowl (Vessel 19) in the off exhibit collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) Pre-Columbian Collection acquired in 1972 as part of a 19-piece assemblage (Accession #72.42.109[19]) (Fig. 1). The accession sheet provided by the museum states that the piece is a hand-built, black ceramic bowl that stands five inches tall with a diameter of 6 inches, and dates to between A.D. 600 to 700 (2015 File). Although, the piece was acquired without official provenience, SAMA suggests that the piece could be from anywhere in the Maya Region of Alta Verapaz to the Guatemalan Valley, which I do not dispute. Vessel 19 is an example of a Classic Maya vessel from the Guatemalan highlands, but it does not correspond to most examples of Maya ritual vessels from this region. As a monochrome slipped vessel, it can offer more insight into an area of Maya ceramics overlooked in favor of more elite objects

Palatial soundscapes : music in Maya court societies

textMusic is a powerful force. It highlights social hierarchies and relationships. It is a means by which the ordinary everyday can be transformed into the sacred. It has the ability to change our daily routine. How though, was music used, and in what ways did it function in the courtly society of the ancient Maya? In Classic Maya iconography we frequently find scenes of dance performance, ritual, or palace scenes depicted with musicians. Rarely however, are musicians the central focus of the action taking place. Were Maya musicians simply a background ‘soundtrack’ to the primary action unfolding or were they an integral part of Maya courtly life?This thesis conducts an iconographical analysis of the representations of music, musical instruments, and musicians among the Maya along with the consideration of archaeological evidence. The evidence considered comes primarily from the iconography of musicians and musical instruments depicted on several painted ceramic vessels but also takes into consideration iconography found in the murals of Bonampak and the paintings at Naj Tunich Cave, as well as archaeological evidence that appears in the form of preserved instruments at sites such as Pacbitun and the Copan Valley. For the ancient Maya, music was segmented. This is seen in the types of instruments and their groupings as portrayed in Maya iconography. These groupings denote differing categories of musical forms and functions which pertain to particular settings, such as interior palace settings as compared to exterior public settings.In exploring these images, many characteristics common to the depiction of musicians in interior palace settings become apparent that are not see in depictions of musicians in exterior public settings. First, the musicians are depicted kneeling, seated, or standing still. Second, they are located furthest from the most prominent figure. Third, acoustics do not affect instrument choice. Fourth, the form of attire varies more greatly in interior settings than in exterior settings. Finally, the order of instruments remains as standard as those in exterior settings. These scenes provide further evidence of instrument specialization and musical segmentation in Maya music and emphasize the significance music held in Ancient Maya Culture.Art Histor

Value Gaps in the Planetary Matrix of the World Community as a Limitrophe of War and Peace

The article describes the problem of spontaneous transformation of the planetary matrix of the social world, moving from the cell to the network structure, resulting not only in the changes of the world system of the planetary community, the shapes of national states are melting out gradually, the need for cosmopolitan world perception and thinking of the political elite arises, the managing processes come into the picture, hybrid planetary policy is formed, and finally, qualitatively new conflict forms and even hybrid wars appear. With the change in the planetary matrix structure, there are several fundamental changes in the life-plan of a planetary human being, since the fundamentally different segments of archetypes are activated in the world community's subconsciousness, the values-semantic substrates are mixed in the consciousness, and completely different logical schemes and algorithms of influence on a person are activated in the noosphere. At the same time, this means that in the sphere of national powers the emphasis of state policy, state regulation and public administration tends to shift from the territorial horizon into the plane of regulation of world planetary processes. This tendency also transfers the focus of their organizational efforts from the national and state levels to the political space of interstate and supra-state entities. The most intense points of relations between the actors of the modern integral process are the so-called limitrophes and frontiers

Regional Governors, Moscow, and the War

The model of center-regional relations fully developed in Russia before the war has worked practically flawlessly to date. Current regional elites are just as interested in maintaining the stability of Putin's personal rule as the Kremlin itself. Neither unprecedented sanctions nor the transfer of additional responsibilities to the regions has produced a demand for institutional changes on the part of governors. The war against Ukraine has been publicly supported by regional authorities in all Russian regions without exception, even if the degree and specific forms of support by regional executives have varied across Russia. Moreover, the war has served to increase the cohesion of the country's population across regional borders. As any scenario of future change carries threats and risks for regional incumbents personally, it is unlikely that the governors will break away from Putin and inaugurate the transformation of the system

Dynamics of Change in the Public Service Sector : a comparison of working conditions in french and german hospitals

The paper is a very preliminary step to analyse and discuss theses questions in the specific field of the health care sector, in a comparative perspective between Germany and France. It is based on data and preliminary case studies gathered in the framework of the “Future of Low Wage Work in Europe” research, done in European countries for the Russell Sage Foundation. Focusing on the Hospital sector, and on low wage/low skilled occupations within the sector has advantages and difficulties. On the one hand, one can argue that the specificities of the sector (public activity, public regulations) are too high to arrive at conclusions on the process of change in the whole economy. But on the other hand, the health financing system and other recent developments exert similar pressures as in other industries and lead to similar reactions and changes in the competitive structures (section 1). And focusing on low level occupations allows us to escape (or to be at the margin) of the occupational and medical rules governing other occupations in the sector (such as doctors and nurses): it is the lowest segment of the hospitals labour force where hospitals compete on the labour market with other activities (cleaning, home personal care for example). A study of the low skill/low wage sector of the labour market also profits from the fact that this segment is often said to be more exposed to the change. Another advantage is that the high level of female employment in this industry is representative of one of the main changes within the employment structure, and of what is often regarded as the main deregulated (or at risk of deregulation) segment of the labour force. Section 2 will investigate the various institutional rules, which characterized the previous employment system within hospitals. Section 3 will present and discuss the main changes affecting the employment relationship and the way by which, in the two countries, institutional frameworks are transformed, bypassed and/or unchanging. We will particularly compare wage levels and structures and the proliferation of ‘atypical' employment.Hôpital; Secteur public; Emploi; Condition de travail; Bas salaire; Relation professionnelle; Comparaison; France; Allemagne

Aspect and Meaning in the Russian Future Tense: Corpus and Experimental Investigations

This dissertation is a study of the Russian future tense within the framework of cognitive linguistics. In this dissertation I focus on the distribution of the perfective and imperfective future forms, their future and non-future meanings, and the use of the future tense verb forms by both native and non-native speakers. In the Russian tense-aspect system, it is reasonable to operate with markedness on a local level of tense, rather than the level of the verb. Via local markedness it is possible to see that the perfective future is the unmarked member of the opposition, and the imperfective future is the marked one. The perfective future tense forms are approximately fourteen times more frequent than imperfective future tense forms in the Russian National Corpus. Both perfective and imperfective future tense forms express not only future meanings but also gnomic, directive etc. The (non-)future meanings form a radial category with the future meaning as a prototype and other meanings as extensions. Native speakers operate with frequency when they use future tense forms. Non-native speakers are not sensitive to frequency, and instruction in the use of the future tense forms in Russian could be improved