Predicting Mergers in New Dialect Formation

This paper considers the application of Yang’s (2000, 2002, 2009) model of phonological change and population dynamics to the case of competing mergers in the formation of New Zealand English, as described by Peter Trudgill and colleagues. Trudgill (1986 et seq) argues for the deterministic nature of change in the specific case of contactinduced change referred to as New Dialect Formation, such that given sufficient knowledge about the linguistic features represented among the speakers of the different contact-varieties, it is possible to predict with a high degree of certainty the features which will survive into the new dialect. Specifically, Trudgill argues that the features that are in a majority in the input mixture will survive at the expense of its competitors. He accounts for exceptions to this generalization, the focus of this paper, in terms of linguistic pressures such as markedness. The aim of the current paper is twofold. First, Yang’s model predicts exactly the proportion of merged speakers necessary for a given merger to be successful in a competing grammar situation. Thus, we use the case of phonological mergers in the formation of New Zealand English as a case study to test Yang’s model. Second, the model can help us better understand the complexity of the dynamics of New Dialect Formation. Here, we test the hypothesis that New Dialect Formation is in principle no different from other types of language change, in the sense that the acquisition-based mechanisms driving language change are the same across all learners. Specific to New Dialect Formation, we argue, is the unique demographic situation through which the variation is introduced that forms the child’s primary linguistic data, the basis for his or her first language

The Syntax of Assertion and Presupposition

This paper addresses the question of how assertion and presupposition are reflected in the grammar. Since Kiparsky & Kiparsky (1970) and Hooper & Thompson (1973), it's often been suggested that these notions provide the semantic-pragmatic underpinning for a range of complementation patterns, including the licensing of so-called Main Clause Phenomena [MCP]. This paper presents a new large-scale experimental study, investigating the lexical and semantic-pragmatic licensing conditions of four types of MCP (Verb Second [V2], topicalization, speech act adverbs, and scene setting adverbs) in English, Swedish, and German. The central contribution of this paper is demonstrating what precise dimensions of assertion and presupposition are reflected in the grammar: for embedded V2, what matters is the discourse status of the embedded proposition as new vs. Given (in the sense of Schwarzschild 1999); a dimension which cross-cuts both factive and non-factive verbs. The other MCP investigated show no sensitivity to either of the lexical or pragmatic factors investigated. We further show that Givenness is not reflected in a (null) DP-layer, contrary to previous claims

Presence of symptom clusters in surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer

BACKGROUND: It is not known whether symptoms cluster together after esophageal cancer surgery or whether such symptom clusters are associated with survival in patients with esophageal cancer who are treated surgically. METHODS: Data from a prospective Swedish nationwide cohort study of surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer recruited between 2001 and 2005 were used. General and esophageal cancer-specific symptoms were assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 quality of life questionnaire and the QLQ-OES18 module at 6 months after surgery. Associations between symptom clusters and survival were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, providing hazards ratios with 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for other known prognostic factors. RESULTS: Among 402 patients reporting symptoms 6 months after surgery, 3 symptom clusters were identified. The first symptom cluster (“fatigue/pain”) was characterized by symptoms of pain, fatigue, insomnia, and dyspnea and was present in 30% of patients. The second symptom cluster (“reflux/cough”) was characterized by symptoms of dry mouth, problems with taste, coughing, and reflux and was present in 27% of patients. The third symptom cluster (“eating difficulties”) was characterized by appetite loss, dysphagia, eating difficulties, and nausea/vomiting and was present in 28% of patients. The presence of the reflux/cough and eating difficulties symptom clusters was associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of mortality (adjusted hazards ratio, 1.43 [95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.89] and adjusted HR, 1.41 [95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.87], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms experienced by surgically treated patients with esophageal cancer appear to cluster together, and the presence of these symptom clusters appears to have strong prognostic value.Vetenskapsrådet, Cancerfonden, Radiumhemmets forskningsfonderPublishe

(Non-)factive (non-)islands and meaning-based approaches

A key question in the literature on factive Weak Islands has been whether the effect is syntactic or semantic. Since Szabolcsi & Zwarts (1993), a key argument for the semantic nature of Weak Islands is the observation that the effect requires not just factivity, but also that the property described by the embedded clause is non-iterable with respect to the extracted argument (uniqueness). We present twocaveats concerning the notion of factivity needed in meaning-based approaches. First, we present novel data on factive non-islands showing that certain lexically factive verbs do not (always) lead to islandhood when combined with uniqueness. Second, recalling data from Cattell (1978), we argue that certain non-factive islands can be captured by the same meaning-based explanation. The emerging picture is that lexical factivity of the embedding verb is neither necessary nor sufficient to induce weak islands in combination with uniqueness; rather, what matters is whether or not there is a contextual entailment, pragmatic or lexical, that the complement proposition is true

Lemma(re)konstruktion i K.F. Söderwalls Ordbok öfver svenska medeltids-språket

My ongoing study of K.F. Söderwalls period dictionary Ordbok öfver svenska medeltids-språket (Sdw) (1884–1918, 1925–1973) concerns, among other things, thereconstruction of the lexicographers principles for constructing lemmas from the OldSwedish material, which is rich in variation. It has been claimed that the lemmas inSdw are constructed to represent an Early Old Swedish form. My observations, presentedhere, of the lexicographers handling of vowel balance and consonant epenthesisindicate that the constructed lemmas are normalized towards a somewhat youngerLate Old Swedish form. However, other details in the lemmas suggest otherwise, andthis inconsistent lexicographical adoption of neogrammarian soundlaws can causedifficulties in using Sdw. The article also touches upon the possibilities of using frequencyand sociolinguistically motivated prestige forms as principles for constructinglemmas in historical dictionaries

Health-related quality of life after oesophageal cancer surgery for prediction of morbidity and mortality

This thesis investigates the health-related quality of life (HRQL) among surgically treated oesophageal cancer patients. The established curative treatment for oesophageal cancer is extensive surgery with a high risk of morbidity and a limited chance of long-term survival. Only every third patient is suitable for surgery. Subjective outcomes such as HRQL are therefore of particular importance among this group of patients. In three of the four studies (I, II, IV) included in this thesis, a nationwide Swedish cohort of oesophageal cancer patients, operated in 2001-2005, was used, while in study III a British cohort of operated patients was used. In all studies, HRQL was assessed with an international validated core questionnaire on the symptoms and functions of cancer (EORTC QLQ-C30). Studies I, II and IV also included an oesophageal cancer specific module (EORTC QLQ-OES18). In Studies I and III a difference in transformed mean scores of at least 10 points on a scale of 0-100 was used as a cut-off for clinical relevance. In Studies II and IV raw scores were categorised into good or poor HRQL. In Study I, the long term HRQL after oesophageal cancer surgery was investigated. HRQL was shown to be similar both six months and three years postoperatively, which suggests that the long-standing HRQL level is already established at six months. The HRQL was poorer than that of the general population. Study II assessed if patient and tumour characteristics affect HRQL six months postoperatively. Sex, age and BMI showed no associations while co-morbidity and tumour characteristics such as histology and tumour stage affected HRQL. The findings may be useful for clinical decision making. Study III explored if both baseline HRQL and changes in HRQL from baseline to six months followup was associated with survival. Dyspnoea at baseline was associated with an increased risk of mortality. Not recovering physical function and worsening of pain and fatigue were linked with a higher risk of mortality. Therefore, changes in HRQL might be prognostic and of importance when planning follow-up and supportive care. Study IV analysed whether postoperative HRQL was associated with survival. Poor HRQL measures were associated with increased risk of mortality. This knowledge could be used for prognostic discussions and intensity of the clinical follow-up. In conclusion, this thesis shows that measures of HRQL could aid decision-making prior to treatment and in planning the follow-up of osesophageal cancer patients

Språkstadieordböcker nu och då

Period dictionaries past and present. This paper deals with the typological distinction ofsynchrony and diachrony in period dictionaries, particularly K.F. Söderwall's Ordbok öfversvenska medeltidsspråket (Sdw) (1884-1918). First of all the established definitions of thelexicographic terms synchronic and diachronic are given. Then follows an argument for a differentset of concepts regarding the descriptive methods in period dictionaries: either describing thelanguage as a system or focusing on the changes it undergoes (essentially regardless of the lengthof the period). These concepts are also – with some hesitation – labelled as synchrony anddiachrony respectively. In order to concretise these concepts, different synchronic and diachronicdescriptive methods applicable to different information categories in period dictionaries arepresented. Finally, an article in Sdw is briefly discussed. This article does not stronglydemonstrate the use of either a synchronic or a diachronic descriptive method

Emergence of nuclear saturation within Δ\Delta--full chiral effective field theory

Nuclear saturation is a key property of low-energy nuclear physics that depends on fine details of the nuclear interaction. Here we develop a unified statistical framework that uses realistic nuclear forces to link the theoretical modeling of finite nuclei and infinite nuclear matter. We construct fast and accurate emulators for nuclear-matter observables and employ an iterative history-matching approach to explore and reduce the enormous parameter domain of $\Delta$-full chiral interactions. We find that model calibration including \nuc{16}{O} observables gives saturation predictions that are more accurate and have a smaller variance than those that only use few-body data.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Supplemental Material provided as ancillary materia

Emulating \emph{ab initio} computations of infinite nucleonic matter

We construct efficient emulators for the \emph{ab initio} computation of the infinite nuclear matter equation of state. These emulators are based on the subspace-projected coupled-cluster method for which we here develop a new algorithm called small-batch voting to eliminate spurious states that might appear when emulating quantum many-body methods based on a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The efficiency and accuracy of these emulators facilitate a rigorous statistical analysis within which we explore nuclear matter predictions for $> 10^6$ different parametrizations of a chiral interaction model with explicit $\Delta$-isobars at next-to-next-to leading order. Constrained by nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts and bound-state observables of light nuclei up to \nuc{4}{He}, we use history matching to identify non-implausible domains for the low-energy coupling constants of the chiral interaction. Within these domains we perform a Bayesian analysis using sampling/importance resampling with different likelihood calibrations and study correlations between interaction parameters, calibration observables in light nuclei, and nuclear matter saturation properties.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, Supplemental Material provided as ancillary materia

A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law

"This volume is an indispensable resource for scholars and students of medieval Scandinavia. This polyglot dictionary draws on the vast and vibrant range of vernacular legal terminology found in medieval Scandinavian texts – terminology which yields valuable insights into the quotidian realities of crime and retribution; the processes, application and execution of laws; and the cultural and societal concerns underlying the development and promulgation of such laws. Legal texts constitute an unparalleled – and often untapped – source of information for those studying the literature, languages and history of medieval and Viking Age Scandinavia. The Lexicon is a welcome contribution to the study of medieval Scandinavia on two counts: firstly, it makes accessible a wealth of vernacular historical documents for an English-speaking audience. Secondly, it presents legal terminologies that span the languages and geographies of medieval Scandinavia, drawing on twenty-five legal texts composed in Old Swedish, Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Old Danish, Old Gutnish and Old Faroese. By collating and juxtaposing legal terms, the Lexicon thus offers its readers a fascinating, comprehensive window into the legal milieu of medieval Scandinavia as a unified whole. It is in this respect that A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law differs from the other major lexica that came before it: where relevant, it gathers closely related terms from multiple Nordic languages beneath single headwords within single entries. This approach illuminates the differences (and similarities) in usage of specific lexical items and legal concepts across geographic areas and through time. This dictionary contains over 6000 Nordic headwords, and is laid out as a standard reference work. It is easily navigable, with a clear structure to each entry, providing English equivalents; textual references; phrases in which headwords frequently appear; cross-references to aid readers in locating synonyms or cognate terms within the lexicon; and references to published works. Roughly one quarter of the headwords supply semantic analysis and detailed information on the textual and historical contexts within which a term might appear, which help the reader to engage with the broader legal concepts underlying specific terms. The Lexicon is thus designed to provide its readers not only with succinct single definitions of Norse legal terms, but with a sense of the wider Scandinavian legal landscape and worldview within which these concepts were developed.