<Phonology> Notes on the Phonological Development of Menglun Akeu

This paper attempts to investigate the phonological development of Menglun Akeu, a lesser-known Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Mengla County of Yunnan Province of China. Using the author's firsthand data of Menglun Akeu and two related languages (Akha Buli and Youle Jino), both segments and suprasegments of the language are compared with those of written Burmese and the proto languages reconstructed by David Bradley and James A. Matisoff. The stop and affricate onsets in Menglun Akeu mostly preserve the VOT system of the Proto-Loloish or the Proto-Lolo-Burmese, whereas the fricative in Menglun Akeu corresponds to Lolo-Burmese languages in a complicated manner. The medial /-j-/ can be preceded by the velar onsets (/k-, g-/) in Menglun Akeu, which in some cases (‘to steal' and ‘nine') corresponds only to Youle Jino in the dataset of this paper. Syllabic nasal /n/ can be found in Menglun Akeu, which is the outcome of deleting the rime. The rime correspondence between Menglun Akeu and other Lolo-Burmese is complex, although there are a few corresponding rules [Menglun Akeu: Proto-Loloish = -i: *-ey/ *-i, -ɛ: -*am, -a: *-a, -u: *-u, etc.]. As a result of the tonal comparison between Menglun Akeu and Lolo-Burmese languages, it is arguable that the tonal correspondence between Menglun Akeu and Akha Buli is quite clear, which follows the general principles of tonal merge proposed by Bradley (1977) [Proto-Loloish > Menglun Akeu/ Akha Buli = *1> 55, *2/*L > 21, *3/*H >33]

Negation in the Sino-Tibetan Context --A Brief Introduction--

This paper is a brief overview of the typological features of negation in the Sino-Tibetan (ST) languages (with two branches, Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages), utilizing the data of many previous descriptive works and data I gathered by myself. This paper discusses the features of phonology, word order, tense/aspect, morphology, syntax/semantics, and illocutionary acts. Phonologically, Sinitic languages usually have plosive and nasal onsets for negative morphemes, while Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages mostly have negative forms derived from Proto-Tibeto-Burman (PTB) *ma-. Most Sinitic and TB languages are of the preverbal negation type, whereas postverbal negation type can be found in Northeast India and Bangladesh, the double type (cooccurring preverbal and postverbal negatives) can be found in Nepal and in Karenic languages. Some Sinitic and TB languages employ different forms for tense/aspect distinctions that show suppletion or vowel alternation, whereas Burmese “tense” distinctions are neutralized in negation. Many TB negative morphemes are morphologically clitics or affixes. The negative markers in some ST languages are fused with the copula, auxiliary verbs, or aspectual markers. As for semantic features, some languages with negative-polarity items, such as Mandarin and Duhumbi, have a structural “double negative, ” which is construed as single negation. Many ST languages mostly have prohibitive forms derived from PTB *ta ⪤ *da, while some languages, such as Burmese, utilize concordance with a sentence-final marker to represent the prohibitive

Optical Heterodyne Measurement of Terahertz Wave

One of the most notable frequency regions in terms of research currently lies in the ‘frequency gap’ region between microwaves and infrared: terahertz wave. Although new methods for generating and detecting terahertz wave have been developed, few detectors operating at room temperature are able to capture low-energy terahertz beams. Here we introduce the optical heterodyne measurement (nonlinear frequency up-conversion detection) of terahertz wave using parametric wavelength conversion in a nonlinear crystal; this has better sensitivity than many commonly used thermal detectors such as pyroelectric detectors. Additionally, optical heterodyne techniques allow the beams of terahertz wave to be visualized and their frequency and intensity determined directly as visible light. These are very promising for extending applied researches into the terahertz region, and we expect that these will open new research fields such as wireless information communications or non-destructive inspection in the terahertz region

Bilateral herpes simplex keratitis in a patient with chronic graft-versus-host disease

Takahiko Hayashi1, Misaki Ishioka2, Norihiko Ito1, Yoko Kato1, Hisashi Nakagawa3, Hiroshi Hatano4, Nobuhisa Mizuki11Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan; 2Ryogoku Eye Clinic, Tokyo, Japan; 3Tokushima Eye Clinic, Higashimurayama-shi, Tokyo, Japan; 4Lumine Hatano Eye Clinic, Fujisawa, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa, JapanPurpose: To describe a case of bilateral herpes simplex keratitis accompanying chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).Design: Observational case report.Case report: An 11-year-old boy with myelocytic leukemia underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. He developed symptoms of the skin, eyes, and mouth, and lip biopsy indicated chronic GVHD. Persistent keratitis with corneal filaments and neovascularization was noted in both eyes. Sodium hyaluronate, autoserum, and 0.1% fluorometholone eyedrops were instilled for approximately 2 years to treat this keratitis, and there were no other ocular changes. Bilateral herpes simplex keratitis developed with geographic ulcers after topical betamethasone therapy, but responded to acyclovir ointment.Conclusions: Herpes keratitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of bilateral keratitis in patients with reduced immunocompetence. During the course of chronic GVHD, corneal herpes may occur, so ocular treatment with topical corticosteroids should be managed by an ophthalmologist to monitor sight-threatening conditions such as corneal herpes.Keywords: chronic graft-versus-host disease, bone marrow transplant, corneal herpes, bilateral herpes simplex keratitis, dry eye