Análisis de la variación interhablante en maay

This paper advocates an approach to interspeaker linguistic variation that aligns with the ‘I-language’ view (Chomsky, 1986). On this view, the object of study in linguistics is mental grammar; language is understood as being internal to the individual, in contrast to the ‘E-language’ approach, where language is external to individual speakers. This paper considers a case study from Maay (a Cushitic language spoken in southern Somalia) in which interspeaker variation in a refugee community defies analysis in E-language terms. An I-language approach allows for a straightforward analysis of the observed variation, specifically in the domains of plural noun formation and vowel length alternations.El presente estudio propugna un enfoque de la variación lingüística inter-hablante acorde con la perspectiva de la ‘lengua-I’ (Chomsky, 1986). Según esta última, el objeto de estudio de la lingüística es la gramática mental; se considera que el individuo tiene interiorizado el lenguaje, al contrario de lo que defiende el enfoque de la ‘lengua-E’, en el que el lenguaje es externo a los hablantes individuales. En este artículo se estudia el caso del maay (lengua cusita hablada en el sur de Somalia) y se observa que la variación inter-hablante que se da en una comunidad de refugiados supone un desafío para los análisis en términos de lengua-E. Un planteamiento basado en el enfoque de la lengua-I permite un análisis más simple de la variación observada, concretamente en los ámbitos de la formación del plural en los nombres y de las alternancias en la duración vocálica

FLOATING TONES IN GA *

This paper provides robust empirical evidence for floating tones in Ga, a Kwa language of Ghana. As will be shown, floating tones are crucial to an analysis of verbal tense/aspect/mood distinctions. I begin by describing two tonal processes, the HL rule and Plateauing. While these are regular processes of the language, both are blocked in the perfective. I show that the blockage is the result of a floating low tone that marks the perfective, and that the floating tone marker explains other anomalous tonal effects in the perfective. I then give an analysis of floating tone prefixes that mark certain tenses/aspects/moods by associating to the subject prefix, thus overwriting the lexical tone of the subject prefix. Finally, I give examples of suffixed floating tones that mark tense/aspect/mood by associating to verb stems, causing the underlying stem tones to delink. In these tenses/aspects/moods, we find evidence for an underlying L vs. toneless contrast, constituting another phenomenon where, as with floating tones, there is a mismatch between the number of tones and tonebearing units. Thus, a major prediction of Autosegmental Phonology (Goldsmith 1976, Clements an

Downstep in Tiriki

In this paper, we present an analysis of the tone system of Tiriki, a Bantu language spoken in Kenya and previously undescribed in the linguistic literature. We focus on downstep, a complex phenomenon that arises in a number of different and interesting ways in this language. We claim that tone in Tiriki is best analyzed in a model where downstep is represented phonologically by a floating low (L) tone between two high (H) tones. This constitutes a divergence from many previous analyses of tone in Bantu languages, where there is often no phonological L tone at all, and where downstep is commonly analyzed as the phonetic interpretation of two adjacent H tones. Crucial to our analysis is the observation that downstepped H tones in Tiriki alternate not only with underlyingly specified L tones, but also with default L tones assigned to syllables that are underlyingly toneless. The data provide evidence that insertion of default tones is not, as usually assumed in the literature, universally limited to being an intrinsically late phonological rule or a matter of phonetic implementation. Rather, default tone insertion in Tiriki is a full-fledged phonological process that can and does interact with other phonological processes

Leggbo Verb Inflection: A Semantic and Phonological Particle Analysis

The goals of this paper are to present, first, a featural analysis of the inflectional system of oppositions which are explicitly marked on Leggbo verbs, specifically, aspect, mood, polarity and clause type; and second, an account of how this system of oppositions is realized in morphological terms. It will be seen that the inflectionally marked categories are organized in terms of a fixed hierarchy of privative features or "particles" which compete for expression within the Leggbo verb paradigm

Use of 16S ribosomal RNA gene analyses to characterize the bacterial signature associated with poor oral health in West Virginia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>West Virginia has the worst oral health in the United States, but the reasons for this are unclear. This pilot study explored the etiology of this disparity using culture-independent analyses to identify bacterial species associated with oral disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Bacteria in subgingival plaque samples from twelve participants in two independent West Virginia dental-related studies were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray (HOMIM) analysis. Unifrac analysis was used to characterize phylogenetic differences between bacterial communities obtained from plaque of participants with low or high oral disease, which was further evaluated using clustering and Principal Coordinate Analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Statistically different bacterial signatures (<it>P </it>< 0.001) were identified in subgingival plaque of individuals with low or high oral disease in West Virginia based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Low disease contained a high frequency of <it>Veillonella </it>and <it>Streptococcus</it>, with a moderate number of <it>Capnocytophaga</it>. High disease exhibited substantially increased bacterial diversity and included a large proportion of Clostridiales cluster bacteria (<it>Selenomonas</it>, <it>Eubacterium, Dialister</it>). Phylogenetic trees constructed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that Clostridiales were repeated colonizers in plaque associated with high oral disease, providing evidence that the oral environment is somehow influencing the bacterial signature linked to disease.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Culture-independent analyses identified an atypical bacterial signature associated with high oral disease in West Virginians and provided evidence that the oral environment influenced this signature. Both findings provide insight into the etiology of the oral disparity in West Virginia.</p

Wasting Breath in Hamlet

This is the final version. Available on open access from Palgrave via the DOI in this recordThis chapter draws on instances of disordered breathing in Hamlet in order to examine the cultural signifcance of sighs in the early modern period, as well as in the context of current work in the feld of medical humanities. Tracing the medical history of sighing in ancient and early modern treatises of the passions, the chapter argues that sighs, in the text and the performance of the tragedy, exceed their conventional interpretation as symptoms of pain and disrupt meaning on the page and on stage. In the light of New Materialist theory, the air circulating in Hamlet is shown to dismantle narratives of representation, posing new questions for the future of medical humanities

African linguistics on the prairie: Selected papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

African Linguistics on the Prairie&nbsp;features select revised peer-reviewed papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Kansas. The articles in this volume reflect the enormous diversity of African languages, as they focus on languages from all of the major African language phyla.&nbsp; The articles here also reflect the many different research perspectives that frame the work of linguists in the Association for Contemporary African Linguistics. The diversity of views presented in this volume are thus indicative of the vitality of current African linguistics research. The work presented in this volume represents both descriptive and theoretical methodologies and covers fields ranging from phonetics, phonology, morphology, typology, syntax, and semantics to sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, language acquisition, computational linguistics and beyond.&nbsp; This broad scope and the quality of the articles contained within holds out the promise of continued advancement in linguistic research on African languages

African linguistics on the prairie: Selected papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

African Linguistics on the Prairie&nbsp;features select revised peer-reviewed papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Kansas. The articles in this volume reflect the enormous diversity of African languages, as they focus on languages from all of the major African language phyla.&nbsp; The articles here also reflect the many different research perspectives that frame the work of linguists in the Association for Contemporary African Linguistics. The diversity of views presented in this volume are thus indicative of the vitality of current African linguistics research. The work presented in this volume represents both descriptive and theoretical methodologies and covers fields ranging from phonetics, phonology, morphology, typology, syntax, and semantics to sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, language acquisition, computational linguistics and beyond.&nbsp; This broad scope and the quality of the articles contained within holds out the promise of continued advancement in linguistic research on African languages

African linguistics on the prairie: Selected papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

African Linguistics on the Prairie&nbsp;features select revised peer-reviewed papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Kansas. The articles in this volume reflect the enormous diversity of African languages, as they focus on languages from all of the major African language phyla.&nbsp; The articles here also reflect the many different research perspectives that frame the work of linguists in the Association for Contemporary African Linguistics. The diversity of views presented in this volume are thus indicative of the vitality of current African linguistics research. The work presented in this volume represents both descriptive and theoretical methodologies and covers fields ranging from phonetics, phonology, morphology, typology, syntax, and semantics to sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, language acquisition, computational linguistics and beyond.&nbsp; This broad scope and the quality of the articles contained within holds out the promise of continued advancement in linguistic research on African languages

African linguistics on the prairie: Selected papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

African Linguistics on the Prairie&nbsp;features select revised peer-reviewed papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Kansas. The articles in this volume reflect the enormous diversity of African languages, as they focus on languages from all of the major African language phyla.&nbsp; The articles here also reflect the many different research perspectives that frame the work of linguists in the Association for Contemporary African Linguistics. The diversity of views presented in this volume are thus indicative of the vitality of current African linguistics research. The work presented in this volume represents both descriptive and theoretical methodologies and covers fields ranging from phonetics, phonology, morphology, typology, syntax, and semantics to sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, language acquisition, computational linguistics and beyond.&nbsp; This broad scope and the quality of the articles contained within holds out the promise of continued advancement in linguistic research on African languages