On prominence scale interactions in Hayu: a Harmonic Grammar account

This paper investigates prominence scale interactions in verbal agreement in Hayu (Kiranti). The agreement system is very complex in several ways. First, the person and the number scale interact in interesting ways, i.e. they need to be ranked in order to produce the correct output in cases of conflicting preferences; second, the general ranking seems to be reversed in one particular context. This pattern poses a challenge to existing analysis of scale-driven agreement. I propose a Harmonic Grammar-based analysis where an argument’s prominence is quantified. In this way, all interactions are correctly derived. The apparent exceptions fall out automatically as cumulative effects

Case stacking below the surface: On the possessor case alternation in Udmurt

In this paper we investigate the case split on the possessor in Udmurt. Traditionally, the choice between ablative and genitive possessor case is said to be driven by the grammatical function (GF) of the XP containing the possessor. We argue that the case split is not driven by GFs; rather, it is determined by the case value of the XP that contains the possessor. Importantly, there is no evidence which points to a possessor raising analysis in Udmurt. Instead, we present an analysis according to which the possessor always bears genitive but may be assigned another structural case by an external head. Due to a morphological constraint, stacked case features fuse into a single feature set in the postsyntactic morphological component. If accusative and genitive stack on the possessor, only the default semantic case marker, i.e., the ablative marker, can realize the resulting feature set. In any other context the genitive marker is chosen. We thus claim that there is no abstract ablative on the possessor; instead, the morphological ablative marker realizes a combination of two abstract structural cases

On-chip automation of cell-free protein synthesis: new opportunities due to a novel reaction mode

Many pharmaceuticals are proteins or their development is based on proteins. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) is an innovative alternative to conventional cell based systems which enables the production of proteins with complex and even new characteristics. However, the short lifetime, low protein production and expensive reagent costs are still limitations of CFPS. Novel automated microfluidic systems might allow continuous, controllable and resource conserving CFPS. The presented microfluidic TRITT platform (TRITT for Transcription - RNA Immobilization & Transfer - Translation) addresses the individual biochemical requirements of the transcription and the translation step of CFPS in separate compartments, and combines the reaction steps by quasi-continuous transfer of RNA templates to enable automated CFPS. In detail, specific RNA templates with 5' and 3' hairpin structures for stabilization against nucleases were immobilized during in vitro transcription by newly designed and optimized hybridization oligonucleotides coupled to magnetizable particles. Transcription compatibility and reusability for immobilization of these functionalized particles was successfully proven. mRNA transfer was realized on-chip by magnetic actuated particle transfer, RNA elution and fluid flow to the in vitro translation compartment. The applicability of the microfluidic TRITT platform for the production of the cytotoxic protein Pierisin with simultaneous incorporation of a non-canonical amino acid for fluorescence labeling was demonstrated. The new reaction mode (TRITT mode) is a modified linked mode that fulfills the precondition for an automated modular reactor system. By continual transfer of new mRNA, the novel procedure overcomes problems caused by nuclease digestion and hydrolysis of mRNA during TL in standard CFPS reactions.BMBF, 0312039, Nachwuchsgruppe- Biotechnologie 2020+: Chip-basierter Automat für die zellfreie ProteinsyntheseBMBF, 0315942, Zellfreie Bioproduktion - Etablierung einer Bioproduktionsanlage für die zellfreie Proteinsynthese mit integrierter Energieversorgung - Biomoleküle vom Ban

Past participle agreement in French – one or two rules?

Past participle agreement in French has been taken to be conditioned (among other factors) by movement of the internal argument out of the VP, i.e. as a reflex of movement. However, drawing on data that have been neglected so far in the formal literature on the topic (Lahousse 2011), we show that this characterization is in part misguided: past participle agreement is also possible with in-situ internal arguments of unaccusative/passive verbs (that combine with the perfect auxiliary être), and hence cannot generally be considered a reflex of movement. We argue that a unified analysis of all past participle contexts in French is not only difficult - the sole attempt at a uniform analysis of a very similar pattern in Italian by D’Alessandro and Roberts (2008) cannot be extended to French - but also undesirable, because past participle agreement in contexts with the auxiliary avoir differs in a number of properties compared to past participle agreement in contexts that require the auxiliary être. We thus argue that past participle agreement in French is in fact not a homogeneous phenomenon but results from two different mechanisms: agreement between the past participle and the internal argument in its base position (not in a Spec-head configuration as is usually assumed), or from resumption (following a suggestion by Boeckx 2003)

Subject marking in Awing

This study investigates the principles that govern subject marking in Awing (Grassfields Bantu). We observe that the subject marker that doubles the subject is sometimes obligatory, sometimes optional and sometimes prohibited. The data collected with two native speaker of Awing suggest that the referentiality of the subject plays a crucial role. The empirical evidence leads us to conclude that the SM is a pronominal element in Awing and functions as the argument of the verb when it is present. Awing thus qualifies as a pronominal argument language.This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – project number 317633480 – SFB 1287, Project C05 (Georgi)