The Phonology of the Canadian Shift Revisited: Thunder Bay & Cape Breton

Previous accounts of the Canadian Shift, which have interpreted this diachronic process as a purely phonetic consequence of the low back LOT-THOUGHT vowel merger, have not clearly explained the strong connection between phonetic TRAP vowel retraction and the phonological process of the low back merger. This paper addresses this issue in several ways. Relying on the Modified Contrastive Specification theory (Dresher et al. 1994) and the Contrastive Hierarchy approach (Dresher 2009), two phonological frameworks, as well as phonetic insights from Vowel Dispersion theory (Liljencrants and Lindblom 1972) and Dispersion-Focalization theory (Schwartz et al. 1997, Schwartz et al. 2007), we propose that the catalyst of the Canadian Shift is a three-way merger of the PALM, LOT and THOUGHT lexical sets, in combination with a simultaneous change in the underlying feature specifications of the TRAP vowel. This results in a phonology that allows for the TRAP and DRESS vowels, in particular, to undergo the influence of the phonetic principles of dispersion and focalization, which lead to lowering and retraction in the acoustic vowel space. Comparison of data from speakers in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, lends support to this hypothesis because the Cape Breton data reveals evidence of two concurrent phonological systems, despite no evidence of change over apparent time. Some Cape Breton speakers display the Ontario (i.e., inland Canada) Canadian Shifted vowel system, while others display a system that bears much greater resemblance to the Eastern New England non-shift dialect, where PALM merges with TRAP instead of LOT-THOUGHT. The current analysis thus predicts that the Canadian Shift or a similar change to the TRAP, DRESS, and KIT vowels will occur in any North American dialect where the PALM-LOT-THOUGHT merger occurs, unless an intervening phonological change alters the contrasts within the phonological system

Structure of 10N in 9C+p resonance scattering

The structure of exotic nucleus 10N was studied using 9C+p resonance scattering. Two L=0 resonances were found to be the lowest states in 10N. The ground state of 10N is unbound with respect to proton decay by 2.2(2) or 1.9(2) MeV depending on the 2- or 1- spin-parity assignment, and the first excited state is unbound by 2.8(2) MeV.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Nuclear structure beyond the neutron drip line: the lowest energy states in 9^9He via their T=5/2 isobaric analogs in 9^9Li

The level structure of the very neutron rich and unbound $^9$He nucleus has been the subject of significant experimental and theoretical study. Many recent works have claimed that the two lowest energy $^9$He states exist with spins $J^\pi=1/2^+$ and $J^\pi=1/2^-$ and widths on the order of hundreds of keV. These findings cannot be reconciled with our contemporary understanding of nuclear structure. The present work is the first high-resolution study with low statistical uncertainty of the relevant excitation energy range in the $^8$He$+n$ system, performed via a search for the T=5/2 isobaric analog states in $^9$Li populated through $^8$He+p elastic scattering. The present data show no indication of any narrow structures. Instead, we find evidence for a broad $J^{\pi}=1/2^+$ state in $^9$He located approximately 3 MeV above the neutron decay threshold

Combined roles for breeding synchrony, habitat and scale as predictors of extrapair paternity

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Extreme alpha-clustering in the 18O nucleus

The structure of the 18O nucleus at excitation energies above the alpha decay threshold was studied using 14C+alpha resonance elastic scattering. A number of states with large alpha reduced widths have been observed, indicating that the alpha-cluster degree of freedom plays an important role in this N not equal Z nucleus. However, the alpha-cluster structure of this nucleus is very different from the relatively simple pattern of strong alpha-cluster quasi-rotational bands in the neighboring 16O and 20Ne nuclei. A 0+ state with an alpha reduced width exceeding the single particle limit was identified at an excitation energy of 9.9+/-0.3 MeV. We discuss evidence that states of this kind are common in light nuclei and give possible explanations of this feature.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Resubmission with minor changes for clarity, including removal of one figur