Prosody of Focus and Contrastive Topic in K'iche'

This paper discusses the findings of an experimental study about the prosodic encoding of focus and contrastive topic in K'iche'. The central question being addressed is whether prosody plays a role in distinguishing string-identical sentences where the pre-predicate expression can be interpreted as being focused or contrastively topicalized depending on context. I present a production experiment designed to identify whether such sentences differ in their prosodic properties as has been impressionistically suggested in the literature (Larsen 1988; Aissen 1992; Can Pixabaj & England 2011). The overall strategy of the experiment was to obtain naturally occurring data from native speakers of K'iche' by having them repeat target sentences they heard in conversations. The phonological analysis showed that content words in K'iche' have a rising pitch movement, a finding which is in line with Nielsen (2005). The acoustic analyses of several variables yielded a significant effect of condition only in the range of the F0 rise associated with focused and contrastively topicalized expressions. However, the difference across conditions is only ~6 Hz which may not be perceivable by listeners.The fieldwork for this project is funded by the Department of Linguistics and the College of Arts and Humanities at The Ohio State University

Two kinds of focus constructions in K'iche'

Based on original fieldwork data, I argue for a difference in meaning between two focus constructions in K'iche' (Mayan). In particular, I show that the interpretation of focus constructions with aree 'FOC' gives rise to existence and exhaustivity implications (the latter when they are used as answers), both of which do not necessarily arise from the interpretation of focus constructions without aree. I discuss how to analyze these implications and review previous approaches to similar phenomena. I also develop a dynamic account that captures the empirical generalizations I propose

Türkçe'de denetleme ve tümlemenin yönleri.

This thesis investigates fundamental questions surrounding the phenomenon of control, with an emphasis on control in Turkish, as well as the behaviour of control verbs in non-infinitival environments, which have received little attention previously. I focus solely on the cases of obligatory control (OC) which constitute the only kind of control that is conditioned by the matrix verb alone. This approach is couched in Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) where the control verb projects the necessary syntactic and semantic information. In particular, I argue that the control behaviour is an entailment associated with the verb itself, and that variable, split and partial control are instances of OC. Hence, no special mechanism/structure is needed to account for their interpretation. As to the syntactic and semantic status of the complement, I maintain that the complement is a bare VP in syntax and denotes a property in semantics. Building upon the conclusions reached about OC, I attempt to account for additional complementation patterns of OC verbs. I argue that here too the matrix verb has a crucial role in ruling in and out possible complement types. Finally, I note that control involves much more than just figuring out the reference of the “unexpressed” subject of the complement, and I furthermore propose that the additional frames of an OC verb provide important clues as to its lexical meaningM.S. - Master of Scienc

Variation in the prosody of focus in head- and head/edge-prominence languages

This study explored the prosodic realization of focus in four typologically unrelated languages: American English, Paraguayan Guaraní, Moroccan Arabic, and K’iche’. American English and Paraguayan Guaraní mark prosodic prominence culminatively on the head of the prosodic unit, whereas Moroccan Arabic and K’iche’ mark prosodic prominence demarcatively on the right edge of the prosodic unit. To allow for cross-linguistic comparisons, the same interactive task was used for all four languages in their respective countries. Utterances were elicited in which a color-denoting adjective, a shape-denoting noun, or the noun phrase consisting of the adjective and the noun was focused. Data from each language were annotated phonologically using an autosegmental-metrical approach and analyzed acoustically. The results suggest that the prosodic realization of focus is partially orthogonal to the distinction between head-prominence and head/edge-prominence languages, and may be due to differences in macro-rhythm. American English and Paraguayan Guaraní, the head-prominence languages, share deaccenting as a means for marking non-focused expressions, but only English uses pitch accent type to mark focused elements. Moroccan Arabic, a head/edge-prominence language, uses phrasing and duration cues to focus, but K’iche’, also a head/edge-prominence language, does not. In addition, American English shares phrasing cues, and both American English and Paraguayan Guaraní share duration cues with Moroccan Arabic, despite their structural prosodic differences

Nonrelated living-donor kidney transplantation: Medical and ethical aspects

Several patients with end-stage renal disease went to Bombay for renal transplantation from nonrelated living donors and then returned to Turkey for posttransplantation follow-up. The aims of this study are to evaluate the long-term results of renal transplantation from nonrelated living donors in Turkish patients with end-stage renal disease and to discuss the ethical and social aspects of nonrelated kidney donation. One hundred and twenty-seven patients (89 males, 38 females; mean age 38.1, range 17-63 years) were investigated retrospectively. None of the patients went to Bombay on our advice. All transplantations were performed between 1991 and 1995. The mean follow-up period after transplantation was 34.2 (range 1-68) months. Graft survival rates were 85, 83, and 57% after 3 months and 1 and 5 years, respectively. Patient survival rates were 94, 93, and 92% after 3 months and 1 and 5 years, respectively. Seven patients died within the first 3 months after the transplantation. Surgical problems, infections, acute rejection, ciclosporin nephrotoxicity, and hepatic problems were common complications. We conclude that medical and surgical complications occur frequently in paid kidney transplantation, but most of these complications can be prevented by adequate preoperative management, and precautionary measures should be taken to prevent commercialization of renal transplantation before the spread of emotionally related living kidney donation

Variation in the prosody of focus in head- and head/edge-prominence languages

This study explored the prosodic realization of focus in four typologically unrelated languages: American English, Paraguayan Guaraní, Moroccan Arabic, and K’iche’. American English and Paraguayan Guaraní mark prosodic prominence culminatively on the head of the prosodic unit, whereas Moroccan Arabic and K’iche’ mark prosodic prominence demarcatively on the right edge of the prosodic unit. To allow for cross-linguistic comparisons, the same interactive task was used for all four languages in their respective countries. Utterances were elicited in which a color-denoting adjective, a shape-denoting noun, or the noun phrase consisting of the adjective and the noun was focused. Data from each language were annotated phonologically using an autosegmental-metrical approach and analyzed acoustically. The results suggest that the prosodic realization of focus is partially orthogonal to the distinction between head-prominence and head/edge-prominence languages, and may be due to differences in macro-rhythm. American English and Paraguayan Guaraní, the head-prominence languages, share deaccenting as a means for marking non-focused expressions, but only English uses pitch accent type to mark focused elements. Moroccan Arabic, a head/edge-prominence language, uses phrasing and duration cues to focus, but K’iche’, also a head/edge-prominence language, does not. In addition, American English shares phrasing cues, and both American English and Paraguayan Guaraní share duration cues with Moroccan Arabic, despite their structural prosodic differences

Prosodic Smothering in Macedonian and Kaqchikel

This article deals with a so-far unnoticed phenomenon in prosodic phonology, which we dub prosodic smothering. Prosodic smothering arises when the prosodic status of a clitic or affix varies with the presence or absence of some outer morpheme. We first illustrate prosodic smothering with novel data from two genetically unrelated languages, Macedonian (Slavic) and Kaqchikel (Mayan). We then provide a unified account of prosodic smothering based on a principled extension of the theory of prosodic subcategorization (e.g., Inkelas 1990 , Peperkamp 1997 , Chung 2003 , Yu 2003 , Paster 2006 , Bye 2007 ). Prosodic subcategorization typically involves requirements placed on items to the left or the right of the selecting morpheme. We show that prosodic smothering naturally emerges in a theory that also allows for subcategorization in the vertical dimension, such that morphemes may select for the prosodic category that immediately dominates them in surface prosodic structure. This extension successfully reduces two apparent cases of nonlocal prosodic conditioning to the effects of strictly local prosodic selection