380 research outputs found
/u/ fronting and /t/ aspiration in MÄori and New Zealand English
This article examines the relationship between the frontness of /u/ and the aspiration of /t/ in both MÄori and New Zealand English (NZE). In both languages, these processes can be observed since the earliest recordings dating from the latter part of the nineteenth century. We report analyses of these developments for three groups of male speakers of MÄori spanning the twentieth century. We compare the MÄori analyses with analyses of related features of the speakers' English and of the English of monolingual contemporaries. The occurrence of these processes in MÄori cannot be seen simply as interference from NZE as the MÄori-speaking population became increasingly bilingual. We conclude that it was the arrival of English with its contrast between aspirated and unaspirated plosives, rather than direct borrowing, that was the trigger for the fronting of the hitherto stable back MÄori /u/ vowel together with increased aspiration of /t/ before both /i/ and /u/
Changes in the pronunciation of MÄori and implications for teachers and learners of MÄori
This paper discusses changes in the pronunciation of MÄori and implications for teachers and learners of MÄori. Data on changes in the pronunciation of MÄori derives from the MAONZE project (MÄori and New Zealand English with support from the Marsden fund). The project uses recordings from three sets of speakers to track changes in the pronunciation of MÄori and evaluate influence from English. Results from the project show changes in both vowel quality and vowel duration and some evidence of diphthong mergers in pairs such as ai/ae and ou/au, especially amongst the younger speakers. In terms of duration the younger speakers are producing smaller length distinctions between long/short vowel pairs other than /Ä, a/. We discuss the implications of such changes for those teaching MÄori and for students learning MÄori as a subject. These changes raise interesting questions concerning the pronunciation of MÄori by future generations
Euler characteristic of coherent sheaves on simplicial torics via the Stanley-Reisner ring
We combine work of Cox on the total coordinate ring of a toric variety and
results of Eisenbud-Mustata-Stillman and Mustata on cohomology of toric and
monomial ideals to obtain a formula for computing the Euler characteristic of a
Weil divisor D on a complete simplicial toric variety in terms of graded pieces
of the Cox ring and Stanley-Reisner ring. The main point is to use Alexander
duality to pass from the toric irrelevant ideal, which appears in the
computation of the Euler characteristic of D, to the Stanley-Reisner ideal of
the fan, which is used in defining the Chow ring. The formula also follows from
work of Maclagan-Smith.Comment: 9 pages 1 figur
Multigraded Castelnuovo-Mumford Regularity
We develop a multigraded variant of Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity. Motivated
by toric geometry, we work with modules over a polynomial ring graded by a
finitely generated abelian group. As in the standard graded case, our
definition of multigraded regularity involves the vanishing of graded
components of local cohomology. We establish the key properties of regularity:
its connection with the minimal generators of a module and its behavior in
exact sequences. For an ideal sheaf on a simplicial toric variety X, we prove
that its multigraded regularity bounds the equations that cut out the
associated subvariety. We also provide a criterion for testing if an ample line
bundle on X gives a projectively normal embedding.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure
Pruning Algorithms for Pretropisms of Newton Polytopes
Pretropisms are candidates for the leading exponents of Puiseux series that
represent solutions of polynomial systems. To find pretropisms, we propose an
exact gift wrapping algorithm to prune the tree of edges of a tuple of Newton
polytopes. We prefer exact arithmetic not only because of the exact input and
the degrees of the output, but because of the often unpredictable growth of the
coordinates in the face normals, even for polytopes in generic position. We
provide experimental results with our preliminary implementation in Sage that
compare favorably with the pruning method that relies only on cone
intersections.Comment: exact, gift wrapping, Newton polytope, pretropism, tree pruning,
accepted for presentation at Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing, CASC
201
Determinants of impact : towards a better understanding of encounters with the arts
The article argues that current methods for assessing the impact of the arts are largely based on a fragmented and incomplete understanding of the cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural dynamics that govern the aesthetic experience. It postulates that a better grasp of the interaction between the individual and the work of art is the necessary foundation for a genuine understanding of how the arts can affect people. Through a critique of philosophical and empirical attempts to capture the main features of the aesthetic encounter, the article draws attention to the gaps in our current understanding of the responses to art. It proposes a classification and exploration of the factorsâsocial, cultural and psychologicalâthat contribute to shaping the aesthetic experience, thus determining the possibility of impact. The âdeterminants of impactâ identified are distinguished into three groups: those that are inherent to the individual who interacts with the artwork; those that are inherent to the artwork; and âenvironmental factorsâ, which are extrinsic to both the individual and the artwork. The article concludes that any meaningful attempt to assess the impact of the arts would need to take these âdeterminants of impactâ into account, in order to capture the multidimensional and subjective nature of the aesthetic experience
On the Ethics of Trade Credit: Understanding Good Payment Practice in the Supply Chain
In spite of its commercial importance and signs of clear concern in public policy arenas, trade credit has not been subjected to systematic, extended analysis in the business ethics literature, even where suppliers as a stakeholder group have been considered. This paper makes the case for serious consideration of the ethics of trade credit and explores the issues surrounding slow payment of debts. It discusses trade debt as a kind of promise, butâ noting that not all promises are good onesâgoes on to develop an analysis of the ethics of trade credit grounded in an understanding of its fundamental purpose. Making a distinction between ââoperatingââ trade credit and ââfinancialââ trade credit, the paper provides an account of the maximum period for which it is appropriate for one company to delay payment to another from which it has purchased goods or services. The concern of commentators and policy makers that companies should not take too long to pay their debts is affirmed, but the understanding of what timely payment means is significantly finessed, with one conclusion being that, if debts have not already been settled according to acceptable standard terms of trade, cash should pass quickly back along the supply chain once the customer in the final product market has paid. The analysis has implications not only for companies that take credit but also for external parties that seek to rate companies or set regulations according to speed of paymentâan approach that is shown to be misleadingly simplistic, albeit well intentioned. A corresponding important responsibility for
suppliers, not to extend excessive credit (and thus act as a quasi-bank), also follows from the analysis developed. Having provided a novel analysis of an important business problem, the paper then discusses some of the related practical issues and makes suggestions for further research
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