Nonequilibrium electrical conductivity measurements in argon and helium seeded plasmas

In a previous paper, the authors presented experimental values of electrical conductivity measured in a plasma composed of argon gas seeded with potassium vapor. The measurements were made at atmospheric pressure with a neutral gas temperature of 2000° ± 100°K and with a number of values of seed concentration in the range 0.2 to 0.8 mole %. The effect of nonequilibrium heating of the electron gas-excited potassium system was investigated for a range of current densities between 0.8 and 80 amp/cm^2. These data were in good agreement with values of the conductivity calculated by a scheme, outlined in Ref. 1, which included the effects of energy loss from the system, composed of the electron gas and the electronically excited states of potassium due to radiation from the excited potassium atoms. In addition, the pulsed technique used to measure the conductivity in response to a step function application of the electric field made possible the determination of the relaxation times for the ionization process

Recombination, ionization, and nonequilibrium electrical conductivity in seeded plasmas

New data are presented which provide direct experimental confirmation of the validity of a physical model which has been widely employed to predict the electrical conductivity of dense, two-temperature, seeded plasmas. Experimental measurements of electron temperature, and ionization and recombination rates are presented for partially ionized plasmas of potassium-seeded argon. Experimental conditions were chosen to cover those ranges of interest in connection with proposed magnetohydrodynamic energy conversion devices for which nonequilibrium electrical conductivity measurements have been previously reported, e.g., translational atom temperatures of about 2000°K, total atom densities near 10^(18)/cm^3, potassium densities of about 10^(16)/cm^3, electron densities from 10^(13)/cm^3 to 10^(15)/cm^3, and electron temperatures from 2200 to 3500°K. Measured values of electron-electron-ion recombination coefficients for potassium show good agreement with theoretical values based upon the Gryzinski classical inelastic-collision cross-section expressions. Observed ionization rates and relaxation characteristics appear to be adequately explained by a similar formulation for the ionization process

Linguistic stratigraphy in the central Solomon Islands: Lexical evidence of early Papuan/Austronesian interaction

The extent to which linguistic borrowing can be used to shed light on the existence and nature of early contact between Papuan and Oceanic speakers is examined. The question is addressed by taking one Papuan language, Lavukaleve, spoken in the Russell Islands, central Solomon Islands and examining lexical borrowings between it and nearby Oceanic languages, and with reconstructed forms of Proto Oceanic. Evidence from ethnography, culture history and archaeology, when added to the linguistic evidence provided in this study, indicates long-standing cultural links between other (non-Russell) islands. The composite picture is one of a high degree of cultural contact with little linguistic mixing, i.e., little or no changes affecting the structure of the languages and actually very little borrowed vocabulary

Languages in contact: An exploration of stability and change in the Solomon Islands

The Papuan-Oceanic world has long been considered a hotbed of contact-induced linguistic change, and there have been a number of studies of deep linguistic influence between Papuan and Oceanic languages (like those by Thurston and Ross). This paper assesses the degree and type of contact-induced language change in the Solomon Islands, between the four Papuan languages—Bilua (spoken on Vella Lavella, Western Province), Touo (spoken on southern Rendova, Western Province), Savosavo (spoken on Savo Island, Central Province), and Lavukaleve (spoken in the Russell Islands, Central Province)—and their Oceanic neighbors. First, a claim is made for a degree of cultural homogeneity for Papuan and Oceanic-speaking populations within the Solomons. Second, lexical and grammatical borrowing are considered in turn, in an attempt to identify which elements in each of the four Papuan languages may have an origin in Oceanic languages—and indeed which elements in Oceanic languages may have their origin in Papuan languages. Finally, an assessment is made of the degrees of stability versus change in the Papuan and Oceanic languages of the Solomon Islands

[Review of R. A. Blust The Austronesian languages. 2009. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics]

In lieu of an abstract, here is a preview of the article. This is a marvelous, dense, scholarly, detailed, exhaustive, and ambitious book. In 800-odd pages, it seeks to describe the whole huge majesty of the Austronesian language family, as well as the history of the family, the history of ideas relating to the family, and all the ramifications of such topics. Blust doesn't just describe, he goes into exhaustive detail, and not just over a few topics, but over every topic he covers. This is an incredible achievement, representing a lifetime of experience. This is not a book to be read from cover to cover—it is a book to be dipped into, pondered, and considered, slowly and carefully. The book is not organized by area or subfamily; readers interested in one area or family can consult the authoritative work on Western Austronesian (Adelaar and Himmelmann 2005), or, for the Oceanic languages, Lynch, Ross, and Crowley (2002). Rather, Blust's stated aim "is to provide a comprehensive overview of Austronesian languages which integrates areal interests into a broader perspective" (xxiii). Thus the aim is more ambitious than just discussion of areal features or historical connections, but seeks to describe the interconnections between these. The Austronesian language family is very large, second only in size to Niger-Congo (xxii). It encompasses over 1,000 members, and its protolanguage has been dated back to 6,000 years ago (xxii). The exact groupings of some Austronesian languages are still under discussion, but broadly, the family is divided into ten major subgroups, nine of which are spoken in Taiwan, the homeland of the Austronesian family. The tenth, Malayo-Polynesian, is itself divided into two major groups: Western Malayo-Polynesian, which is spread throughout the Philippines, Indonesia, and mainland Southeast Asia to Madagascar; and Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, spoken from eastern Indonesia throughout the Pacific. The geographic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of the famil

Activation in Lavukaleve pronouns: oia versus foia

The first part of this paper describes an unusual system of anaphoric reference tracking in Lavukaleve, a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands. Lavukaleve has two demonstrative pronouns which can be used to make anaphoric reference in narratives. One of these demonstrative pronouns is used to make anaphoric reference to a semi-activated participant, and the other to an activated participant. The second part of the paper situates Lavukaleve's activation-based system of reference tracking in a general typology of reference tracking. Other languages which have reference tracking systems based on the cognitive status of the referent are discussed, and the close connection between these and obviation systems is pointed out

Body part terms in Lavukaleve, a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands

This paper explores body part terms in Lavukaleve, a Papuan isolate spoken in the Solomon Islands. The full set of body part terms collected so far is presented, and their grammatical properties are explained. It is argued that Lavukaleve body part terms do not enter into partonomic relations with each other, and that a hierarchical structure of body part terms does not apply for Lavukaleve. It is shown too that some universal claims which have been made about the expression of terms relating to limbs are contradicted in Lavukaleve, which has only one general term covering arm, hand, leg and (for some people) foot

The Story of the Little Town of Cardville, Maine

A pamphlet providing the history of Cardville, Maine, including sections on religious life, gifts to the community made by church members, and a list of officers and trustees of the church, circa 1930