Detection of single-threading properties in combinator notations

The detection of a property called single-threading in functional programs or denotational language definitions can be exploited to produce a more efficient implementation of the program or language, by allowing a program variable or semantic domain to be implemented by a global data structure. Earlier work by David A. Schmidt has given sufficient criteria for the detection of the single-threading property in [lambda]-calculus expressions. We extend that work by giving criteria for single-threading detection in combinator notations;Two sets of single-threading criteria are given: one for a particular combinator language, TML, and the other for a generalized combinator notation. In both cases, proofs are given which demonstrate the soundness of the criteria. We also discuss some reasons for the differences in the two sets of criteria;In order to evaluate the usefulness of single-threading detection and the associated globalization transformation in practice, a testbed implementation of the TML criteria is being programmed, using the PSI/DAOS compiler-generation system developed at Aalborg University. Some preliminary results from this work are discussed

Reality in a soft science: the metaphonology of historical reconstruction

All disciplines that deal with (apparent) recovery of objects from the past are faced by a fundamental question: what is the metaphysical status of these objects? Are they realia of some kind, or are they merely epistemic objects with no substance? This could be summed up from a debate still going on in quantum physics: do quantum systems have a real existence, or are they merely devices for calculation? In this paper I sum up the advantages of having an ontology, and the disadvantages of assuming that reconstructed linguistic objects are not real. I also discuss the uniformitarian position that makes this an unproblematic claim. I also deal with the neo-Saussurean claim that reconstructed items have no reality in themselves, but solely in terms of the systems they are in; and I suggest that this position (held by Meillet and Kuryłowicz among others), is fundamentally perverse

On Middle English she, sho: A refurbished narrative

AbstractWe offer a radical reinterpretation of the first step in the development of OE [h] in hēo towards PDE [ʃ] in she. This solves outstanding difficulties in accounting for the vocalism in ME [ʃe:], precursor of PDE [ʃi:]. The background is the etymology of she created for the Corpus of Narrative Etymologies, and its accompanying Corpus of Changes. The database for CoNE is The Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English, with 36 different spellings for she across 71 texts. First, we present the OE etymology of she, tracking the changes that gave rise to all the attested OE variants. Second, using Britton’s (1991) paper as a starting point, we give a new explanation for initial [hj], allowing a straightforward account for all three attested ME vocalisms: [e:], [o:] and [ø:]. Third, we unpack the changes underlying the complex of variants attested in LAEME.</jats:p

Q is for WHAT, WHEN, WHERE?:The ‘q’ spellings for OE hw-

AbstractThere is a wide array of spellings attested in Middle English for initial OEhw- in words such aswhen, where, what, who, which. Those beginning with ‘q’, found mostly in the North (including Scotland) and Northeast Midlands, have long been the subject of scholarly debate. The consensus is that they represented an articulation stronger than [hw], usually assumed to be [xw]. Just a handful of scholars have suggested that the articulation could have been [kw], but there is so far little detailed argument for this position. We propose thatat least a subsetof reflexes of OEhw- words cameat least variablyto be pronounced with initial [kw]. We suggest that this strengthened pronunciation existed alongside [xw], and lenited [hw] and [w], as well as simple [h] with the [w] deleted. We link (as some other scholars have) the history of these spellings with that of northern lenition of original initial [kw] to [xw]/[hw]/[w]. We approach the problem from a strongly variationist perspective, presenting (in accompanying appendices) detailed information on the ‘q’ spellings accessible from LAEME and eLALME. We review all the data, from the earliest attested forms through to modern dialect surveys, including place-name evidence, and we assess previous arguments on the topic.</jats:p