On the processing of agreement morphology

The paper deals with the role played by morphology in core syntax within a generative minimalist framework: more specifically it deals with the theory of valuation of agreement or phi-features (that is, person and number features) and the valuation of tense or t-features (that is, features like [+/-present]), and there is a second part where I focus on the computation of both kinds of features according to the neuroimaging literature. The core idea that I aim to defend is that agreement features and tense features are each valued by a distinct head, namely 'v' and T. I argue that the number of steps in the 'real' processing or computation of agreement features and of tense feaures must be the same, irrespective of whether the morphological realization is 'zero' (as is frequently the case in a language like English) or not (as is typically the case in a Romance language like Spanish).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Lower bounds for posterior rates with Gaussian process priors

Upper bounds for rates of convergence of posterior distributions associated to Gaussian process priors are obtained by van der Vaart and van Zanten in [14] and expressed in terms of a concentration function involving the Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space of the Gaussian prior. Here lower-bound counterparts are obtained. As a corollary, we obtain the precise rate of convergence of posteriors for Gaussian priors in various settings. Additionally, we extend the upper-bound results of [14] about Riemann-Liouville priors to a continuous family of parameters.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-EJS273 the Electronic Journal of Statistics (http://www.i-journals.org/ejs/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

On the development of relativization in the English language

The discussion is about relative clauses in Old English and the transition to the Middle English period. More specifically, it deals with the phenomenon of preposition stranding in one type of relative clauses but not in the two other types. An explanation is provided within the framework of generative grammar.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

5 x 5: Conceptual and Technical Challenge

Goals for the Week to Week Project As an undergraduate student pursuing a BFA, the apotheosis of my education is to find and develop the content for my art and convey it in the form of my capstone BFA exhibition. My creative research for this project consisted of building a finished work of art each week during a five-week time period. The intent of the project was to expedite concept development and increase my personal technical speed while focusing on craftsmanship and design. Having seven days to respond to a content prompt, I was challenged to focus on creating without overthinking design or the technical aspects of making. This allowed me to explore various techniques, as well as learn from my successes and failures. As Bayles and Orland describe in Art & Fear “you learn how to make your work by making your work”. The culmination of my project revealed a pattern and a core concept that is prevalent in the body of work I have produced and can help me design future series

The distribution of expenditure in Spain, 1973-74 to 1980-81

This paper examines how far we can go in establishing normative conclusions with regard to the evolution of inequality over time, making use of statistical methods which do not need either too specific assumptions about individual preferences, or their recovery by means of complex and expensive econometric methods. The decomposition of the change in money inequality into a real and a price effect occupies the center of the analysis. We have used statistical Laspeyres type price indices which are household specific, and a parametrization which captures the weight one is prepared to give to household size in the definition of equivalent expenditure per person. The central finding is that the improvement in real inequality in Spain from 1973-74 to 1980-81 is always greater than the improvement in money inequality. Changes in relative prices have been less damaging to the poor than to the rich, and have had a uniform impact across groups from different partitions. The explanatory power of overall inequality provided by different characteristics is studied by means of statistical constructs independent of the equivalence scale used