An interview on linguistic variation with

This is an interview on linguistic variation with Giuseppe Longobardi

Grammatical Parameters from a Gene-like Code to Self-Organizing Attractors

Parametric approaches to grammatical diversity range from Chomsky's 1981 classical Principles & Parameters model to minimalist reinterpretations: in some proposals of the latter framework, parameters need not be an extensional list given at the initial state S0 of the mind, but can be constructed through a bio-program in the course of language development. In this contribution we pursue this lead and discuss initial data and ideas relevant for the elaboration of three sets of questions: 1) how can binary parameters be conceivably implemented in cortical and subcortical circuitry in the human brain? 2) how can parameter mutations be taken to occur? 3) given the distribution of parameter values across languages and their implications, can multi-parental models of language phylogenies, departing from ultrametricity, also account for some of the available evidence?Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Contribution submitted to "A Cartesian dream: A geometrical account of syntax. In honor of Andrea Moro". M. Greco and D. Mocci, eds., Rivista di Grammatica Generativa/Research in Generative Grammar. Lingbuzz Press ISSN 2531-593

30 YEARS OF DiGS

The article is an introduction to a special issue of JHS, and presents some important events and trends which have occurred around the DiGS conferences and community, shaping the field of formal historical syntax over the past three decades

Theory and experiment in Parametric Minimalism: the case of Romance Negation

This paper has a double goal: frst, it lays down and refnes the basic hypotheses on the parametric structure of Romance negative systems that were originally introduced in my presentation at the Venice GLOW Workshop on Dialect Variation in 1987 (especially sections 3-9 and 11-13)3; then it further elaborates on them (sections 10 and 14-15), and revisits the conclusions (sections 16-22) in light of a more recent minimalist approach to the possible formats of parametric variation (the Principles &amp; Schemata model, sketched in Longobardi 2005a). More generally, the theoretical focus of the article is on exploring how minimalist research on syntactic diversity could be conducted.In the spirit of Borer (1984), the parameters of negation can be argued to be essentially encoded in the lexical entries of the sentential negation morpheme and of the negative determiners of each language. No space is left in this framework for such generic notions as (strict or non-strict) 'negative concord' vs. 'double negation' languages. In fact, these notions looked at best epiphenomenal and obsolete already in 1987: in spite of their continued use even in recent literature, they turn out to be both insuffcient and unnecessary, and are potentially misleading.Now, a good deal of the negation parametrisation can be shown to have to do with the feature composition of lexical entries and to be actually nearly 'perfect', in three minimalist senses: frst, given Boolean conditions on feature association, the parametric choices exhaust the set of logical possibilities, determining whether the values of such features may, must, or may not co-occur on one and the same (class of) item(s); second, all the parameters needed for crosslinguistic descriptive adequacy ft into independently attested and restrictive schemata; third, they are shaped by, or interact with, natural third-factor conditions (Chomsky 2005); fnally the parametrisation hypothesised is 'complete' in the technical sense that all the typologically possible combinations of values turn out to be attested.With respect to UG principles, I show how objections against the possible universality of conditions on covert long-distance dependencies, as established by Italian negative operators (Rizzi 1982, Longobardi 1991), can be successfully addressed and eventually dismissed. Furthermore, such conditions are argued to be fully structural principles rather than functional preferences.</p

Principles, Parameters, and Schemata : A radically underspecified UG

Parametric models have been the only viable alternative to unsuccess- ful theories of the language faculty based on evaluation metrics for grammars. In this article I show that parametric analyses can attain a high degree of typological and historical adequacy, though they raise serious problems for explanatory and evolutionary adequacy. I propose to replace the Principles&Parameters theory by a simpli- ed model of the language faculty, which eliminates parameters altogether from the initial state of the mind, replacing them with few abstract variation schemata, and, in the absence of positive evidence in the primary corpora, eliminates them even as open questions in the course of acquisition in the absence of positive evidence. In this model, ‘parameters’ only arise as positive answers to yes/no questions of limited form. Attained I-languages can be represented as simple strings of positive and neutralized values of different lengths. The new research program (Principles&Schemata) is capable of retain- ing the advantages warranted by a system of heavily constrained binary choices for language acquisition, variation, and history, while underspecifying UG and simplifying the acquisition path and the representation of the steady state of each I-language: it promises to be able to return to a feasible question-based model of syntax acquisition triggered by positive evidence only, though without the shortcomings emerged from the classical Principles&Parameters theory

Non-linear MRD codes from cones over exterior sets

By using the notion of $d$-embedding $\Gamma$ of a (canonical) subgeometry $\Sigma$ and of exterior set with respect to the $h$-secant variety $\Omega_{h}(\mathcal{A})$ of a subset $\mathcal{A}$, $0 \leq h \leq n-1$, in the finite projective space $\mathrm{PG}(n-1,q^n)$, $n \geq 3$, in this article we construct a class of non-linear $(n,n,q;d)$-MRD codes for any $2 \leq d \leq n-1$. A code $\mathcal{C}_{\sigma,T}$ of this class, where $1\in T \subset \mathbb{F}_q^*$ and $\sigma$ is a generator of $\mathrm{Gal}(\mathbb{F}_{q^n}|\mathbb{F}_q)$, arises from a cone of $\mathrm{PG}(n-1,q^n)$ with vertex an $(n-d-2)$-dimensional subspace over a maximum exterior set $\mathcal{E}$ with respect to $\Omega_{d-2}(\Gamma)$. We prove that the codes introduced in [Cossidente, A., Marino, G., Pavese, F.: Non-linear maximum rank distance codes. Des. Codes Cryptogr. 79, 597--609 (2016); Durante, N., Siciliano, A.: Non-linear maximum rank distance codes in the cyclic model for the field reduction of finite geometries. Electron. J. Comb. (2017); Donati, G., Durante, N.: A generalization of the normal rational curve in $\mathrm{PG}(d,q^n)$ and its associated non-linear MRD codes. Des. Codes Cryptogr. 86, 1175--1184 (2018)] are appropriate punctured ones of $\mathcal{C}_{\sigma,T}$ and solve completely the inequivalence issue for this class showing that $\mathcal{C}_{\sigma,T}$ is neither equivalent nor adjointly equivalent to the non-linear MRD code $\mathcal{C}_{n,k,\sigma,I}$, $I \subseteq \mathbb{F}_q$, obtained in [Otal, K., \"Ozbudak, F.: Some new non-additive maximum rank distance codes. Finite Fields and Their Applications 50, 293--303 (2018).]

An experimental plot for hydrological processes modeling

In this paper we describe the data and some preliminary analysis as the investigations of infiltration process, soil water content profiles dynamic and water movement systems, referring to an experimental plot. The broad aim of the work is to test the usefulness for hydrological modelling of a soil moisture monitoring methodology which is based on capacitance devices and has the benefit to be an easy and low cost system. Collected data are expected to be useful to improve the general understanding at the field scale

Scattered trinomials of Fq6[X]\mathbb{F}_{q^6}[X] in even characteristic

In recent years, several families of scattered polynomials have been investigated in the literature. However, most of them only exist in odd characteristic. In [B. Csajb\'ok, G. Marino and F. Zullo: New maximum scattered linear sets of the projective line, Finite Fields Appl. 54 (2018), 133-150; G. Marino, M. Montanucci and F. Zullo: MRD-codes arising from the trinomial $x^q+x^{q^3}+cx^{q^5}\in\mathbb{F}_{q^6}[x]$, Linear Algebra Appl. 591 (2020), 99-114], the authors proved that the trinomial $f_c(X)=X^{q}+X^{q^{3}}+cX^{q^{5}}$ of $\mathbb{F}_{q^6}[X]$ is scattered under the assumptions that $q$ is odd and $c^2+c=1$. They also explicitly observed that this is false when $q$ is even. In this paper, we provide a different set of conditions on $c$ for which this trinomial is scattered in the case of even $q$. Using tools of algebraic geometry in positive characteristic, we show that when $q$ is even and sufficiently large, there are roughly $q^3$ elements $c \in \mathbb{F}_{q^6}$ such that $f_{c}(X)$ is scattered. Also, we prove that the corresponding MRD-codes and $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^6)$ are not equivalent to the previously known ones

Autophagy up-regulation upon FeHV-1 infection on permissive cells

: FeHV-1 is a member of the Herpesviridae family that is distributed worldwide and causes feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR). Since its relationship with the autophagic process has not yet been elucidated, the aim of this work was to evaluate the autophagy mediated by FeHV-1 and to determine its proviral or antiviral role. Our data showed that autophagy is induced by FeHV-1 in a viral dose and time-dependent manner. Phenotypic changes in LC3/p62 axis (increase of LC3-II and degradation of p62) were detected from 12 h post infection using western blot and immuno-fluorescence assays. In a second step, by using late autophagy inhibitors and inducers, the possible proviral role of autophagy during FeHV-1 infection was investigating by assessing the effects of each chemical in terms of viral yield, cytotoxic effects, and expression of viral glycoproteins. Our findings suggest that late-stage autophagy inhibitors (bafilomycin and chloroquine) have a negative impact on viral replication. Interestingly, we observed an accumulation of gB, a viral protein, when cells were pretreated with bafilomycin, whereas the opposite effect was observed when an autophagy inducer was used. The importance of autophagy during FeHV-1 infection was further supported by the results obtained with ATG5 siRNA. In summary, this study demonstrates FeHV-1-mediated autophagy induction, its proviral role, and the negative impact of late autophagy inhibitors on viral replication