Voice onset time in Spanish-English spontaneous code-switching

Research on the phonetics of code-switching has focused on voice onset time (VOT) and has yielded mixed results regarding cross-language interaction, possibly due to differences in data used (scripted vs. spontaneous speech) and populations examined (L1 vs. L2 dominant, early vs. late bilinguals). Here VOT was measured in a corpus of spontaneous code-switching speech elicited from a homogeneous group of early bilinguals in conversation with and without distraction (completion of jigsaw puzzles). The distraction meant to increase cognitive load, a manipulation that could affect phonetic realization. Both English and Spanish VOT were shorter at codeswitching points than in comparable monolingual utterances. English VOT lengthened overall under increased cognitive load (but remained shorter in code-switching as compared to the monolingual context). These results support previous findings of VOT shortening in code-switching for both English and Spanish, and confirm that the effect applies in the natural speech of early bilinguals

Challenges in the Design of Microwave Imaging Systems for Breast Cancer Detection

Among the various breast imaging modalities for breast cancer detection, microwave imaging is attractive due to the high contrast in dielectric properties between the cancerous and normal tissue. Due to this reason, this modality has received a significant interest and attention from the microwave community. This paper presents the survey of the ongoing research in the field of microwave imaging of biological tissues, with major focus on the breast tumor detection application. The existing microwave imaging systems are categorized on the basis of the employed measurement concepts. The advantages and disadvantages of the implemented imaging techniques are discussed. The fundamental tradeoffs between the various system requirements are indicated. Some strategies to overcome these limitations are outlined

The (North) American English Mandative Subjunctive in the 21st Century: Revival or Remnant?

The English mandative subjunctive has had a checkered history, ranging from extensive use in Old English to near extinction by Late Modern English. Then, in a dramatic (if still unexplained) reversal, it was reported to have revived, notably in American English, a scenario which is now widely endorsed. Observing that most references to this revival are based on the written language, we sought to replicate this result in contemporary North American English speech. Finding little evidence of the mandative subjunctive in contexts where revivalist claims would predict it, we next attempted to contextualize the current situation by tracing the trajectory of the mandative subjunctive back to the 16th century via the speech-like portions of two major corpora of English. Adopting a variationist perspective, we carried out systematic quantitative analyses of the morphological form of verbs embedded under large numbers of mandative subjunctive triggers. Results show that selection of the subjunctive was already both sparse in terms of rate and sporadic in terms of triggers as far back as the Early Modern English speech surrogates investigated, and far from reviving over the course of the 20th century, has remained that way ever since. We implicate methodological inconsistencies, in particular violations of the principle of accountability, in the disparities between the findings reported here and the consensus in the literature with respect to the evolution and current status of the mandative subjunctive in North American English

In Support of the Matrix Language Frame Model: Evidence from Igbo-English Intrasentential Codeswitching

This paper explores the morphosyntactic features of mixed nominal expressions in a sample of empirical Igbo-English intrasentential codeswitching data (i.e. codeswitching within a bilingual clause) in terms of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model. Since both Igbo and English differ in the relative order of head and complement within the nominal argument phrase, the analysed data seem appropriate for testing the veracity of the principal assumption underpinning the MLF model: the notion that the two languages (in our case Igbo and English) participating in codeswitching do not both contribute equally to the morphosyntactic frame of a mixed constituent. As it turns out, the findings provide both empirical and quantitative support for the basic theoretical view that there is a Matrix Language (ML) versus Embedded Language (EL) hierarchy in classic codeswitching as predicted by the MLF model because both Igbo and English do not simultaneously satisfy the roles of the ML in Igbo-English codeswitching

Competing modal periphrases in Spanish between the 16th and the 18th centuries: A diachronic variationist approach

The history of Spanish modal constructions has been widely discussed in the literature, focusing primarily on the semantic differences between the available alternatives. This paper offers an innovative analysis of the evolution of these constructions by adopting a diachronic variationist approach that takes into account a wider range of semantic, syntactic, morphological and stylistic factors that influence the choice between the competing modal periphrases during two key stages in the evolution of Spanish. The data is drawn from a diachronic corpus of personal correspondence, reflecting actual language usage during the respective periods as closely as possible. Particular attention is paid to the question of whether the influence of different factor groups remains stable over time or not, and it is shown that the most frequent form–context pairings are particularly resistant to innovation, which can be explained by cognitive entrenchment of the respective variant in specific linguistic environments.On a examiné en profondeur l'histoire des constructions modales en espagnol, en se concentrant essentiellement sur les différences sémantiques entre les alternatives disponibles. Cette communication propose une analyse innovatrice de l'évolution de ces constructions en adoptant une approche diachronique centrée sur la variation, qui prend en considération un ensemble élargi de facteurs sémantiques, syntaxiques, morphologiques et stylistiques ayant influencé le choix entre les périphrases modales en compétition lors des deux étapes-clés de l'évolution de l'espagnol. Les données de l'analyse sont tirées d'un corpus diachronique de correspondance privée, reflétant aussi précisément que possible l’usage réel et courant de la langue pendant les deux périodes données. On porte une attention particulière à la question de la stabilité de l'influence de ces groupes de facteurs différents, et on démontre que les paires forme-contexte les plus fréquentes sont particulièrement résistantes à toute innovation. Ceci pourrait s’expliquer par la stabilité cognitive de chaque variante dans des environnements linguistiques spécifiques.Die Geschichte der spanischen Modalkonstruktionen ist in der Fachliteratur eingehend beschrieben worden, wobei sich gewöhnlich das Augenmerk besonders auf die semantischen Unterschiede zwischen den verfügbaren Alternativen richtet. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die historische Entwicklung dieser Konstruktionen in einer variationslinguistischen Analyse, in der verschiedene semantische, syntaktische, morphologische und stilistische Faktoren identifiziert werden, welche die Wahl zwischen den konkurrierenden Modalperiphrasen während zweier wichtiger Etappen der spanischen Sprachgeschichte beeinflussen. Die Daten der Studie stammen aus einem diachronischen Korpus aus privaten Briefen und ähnlich persönlichen Dokumenten, die den tatsächlichen, alltäglichen Sprachgebrauch so genau wie möglich widerspiegeln. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt der Frage, ob der Einfluss verschiedener Faktorengruppen zeitlich stabil ist. Es zeigt sich, dass die am häufigsten vorkommenden Form-Kontext-Paare besonders veränderungsresistent sind, was sich auf kognitives entrenchment der betreffenden Variante in bestimmten sprachlichen Kontexten zurückführen lässt.This study is part of the project “Linguistic variation and change through texts of communicative proximity: a historical sociolinguistic research project” (2014-2016), funded by the University Jaume I (ref. P1·1B2013-01) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ref. FFI2013-44614-P)

An Exception to the Rule? Lone French Nouns in Tunisian Arabic

Reports on language mixing involving Arabic often qualify that language as resistant to constraints operating on other language pairs. But many fail to situate the purported violations with respect to recipient and donor languages, making it impossible to ascertain whether these are exceptional code-switches or (nonce) borrowings; isolated cases or robust patterns. We address these issues through variationist analysis of Tunisian Arabic/French bilingual discourse. Focusing on conflict sites that reveal which grammar is operative when the other language is accessed, we compare quantitatively the behavior of lone French-origin nouns in Arabic with their counterparts in both donor and recipient languages. Despite a higher order community resistance to morphological inflection of other-language items, results show treatment of French nouns to be consistent with the (variable) grammar of Arabic and different from that of French. Applying the same accountable methodology to the contentious French det+n sequences (“constituent insertions”) shows that most are integrated in the same way as their lone counterparts. These too are treated as (compound) borrowings, largely motivated by the semantic imperative of expressing plurality while eschewing inflection. As borrowings, they do not constitute exceptions to code-switching constraints, confirming that the status of mixed items cannot be determined in isolation; they must be contextualized with respect to the remainder of the bilingual system, including donor, recipient, and other mixed-language elements