Seeing Earth's Orbit in the Stars: Parallax and Aberration

During the 17th century the idea of an orbiting and rotating Earth became increasingly popular, but opponents of this view continued to point out that the theory had observable consequences that had never, in fact, been observed. Why, for instance, had astronomers failed to detect the annual parallax of the stars that must occur if Earth orbits the Sun? To address this problem, astronomers of the 17th and18th centuries sought to measure the annual parallax of stars using telescopes. None of them succeeded. Annual stellar parallax was not successfully measured until 1838, when Friedrich Bessel detected the parallax of the star 61 Cygni. But the early failures to detect annual stellar parallax led to the discovery of a new (and entirely unexpected) phenomenon: the aberration of starlight. This paper recounts the story of the discovery of stellar aberration. It is accompanied by a set of activities and computer simulations that allow students to explore this fascinating historical episode and learn important lessons about the nature of science.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to The Physics Teache

Saussure's Dilemma: Parole and its potential

Saussure's account of the transformation of Latin to French stress leads to the unintended conclusion that parole has a life of its own: parole persists even after it is no longer dictated by langue; parole can prevent change or, conversely, presage potential change. Saussure's example is paralleled by intrusive r (Cuba[r]against your friends, not *day[r]and) and the competition of napron and its near twin, and eventual successor, apron. Parole lives

The Impersonal Passive in Lithuanian

Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1982

Valency Affecting Rules in Extended Categorial Grammar

An extension of categorial grammar is formally defined in which (C1,…Cn)/(D1…Dn) is a category whenever the C. and D. occur. Expressions in such categories combine with those of category D. to form those of category C .. all i I<=i<=n. Within this framework we show how to formulate Valency Affecting Rules (VAR's) such as Passive. Causative. Raising to Object. etc. E.g. Passive is defined as a way of deriving P:s (n place predicates) from Pn+ls. So it has an n-tuple category as above in which for each i. D. is an n+I place predicate category and C. is the appropriate n-place predicate category. (n place predicates. P :s. are expressions which combine with those of an appropriate argument category An to form Pn-I's. Pn is identified with S)

Subject, Topic, and Control in Russian

Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1980), pp. 372-38

Russian Noun Stress and Network Morphology

We present a network morphology analysis of Russian noun stress. Nouns have a default fixed stem stress, but some nouns have nondefault stress that may deviate in a way that is determined by the form’s position within the paradigm: different declensions prefer particular patterns as their nondefault choices. Membership of a particular declension, it is argued, constrains the rang eof possible stress patterns. Stress is represented as a hierarchy with limited deviation in terms of number and, less often, case. Indices in the declension hierarchy are addressed to nodes in the stress hierarchy. These indices correspond to rank orderings that declensions have for stress patterns. Lexical items inherit a default value for index rank but may override this. It is not possible for any override value to be given at the lexical entry, as this has to be evaluated in the declension hierarchy. The use of cyclicity in metrical approaches is considered, and it is concluded that lexical marking is still required. In addition, it is predicted that accusative forms that are syncretic with the nominative or genitive on the basis of animacy must have the same stress as the form with which they are syncretic

Russian Noun Stress and Network Morphology

We present a network morphology analysis of Russian noun stress. Nouns have a default fixed stem stress, but some nouns have nondefault stress that may deviate in a way that is determined by the form’s position within the paradigm: different declensions prefer particular patterns as their nondefault choices. Membership of a particular declension, it is argued, constrains the rang eof possible stress patterns. Stress is represented as a hierarchy with limited deviation in terms of number and, less often, case. Indices in the declension hierarchy are addressed to nodes in the stress hierarchy. These indices correspond to rank orderings that declensions have for stress patterns. Lexical items inherit a default value for index rank but may override this. It is not possible for any override value to be given at the lexical entry, as this has to be evaluated in the declension hierarchy. The use of cyclicity in metrical approaches is considered, and it is concluded that lexical marking is still required. In addition, it is predicted that accusative forms that are syncretic with the nominative or genitive on the basis of animacy must have the same stress as the form with which they are syncretic

On looking into words (and beyond): Structures, Relations, Analyses

On Looking into Words is a wide-ranging volume spanning current research into word structure and morphology, with a focus on historical linguistics and linguistic theory. The papers are offered as a tribute to Stephen R. Anderson, the Dorothy R. Diebold Professor of Linguistics at Yale, who is retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The contributors are friends, colleagues, and former students of Professor Anderson, all important contributors to linguistics in their own right. As is typical for such volumes, the contributions span a variety of topics relating to the interests of the honorand. In this case, the central contributions that Anderson has made to so many areas of linguistics and cognitive science, drawing on synchronic and diachronic phenomena in diverse linguistic systems, are represented through the papers in the volume. The 26 papers that constitute this volume are unified by their discussion of the interplay between synchrony and diachrony, theory and empirical results, and the role of diachronic evidence in understanding the nature of language. Central concerns of the volume include morphological gaps, learnability, increases and declines in productivity, and the interaction of different components of the grammar. The papers deal with a range of linked synchronic and diachronic topics in phonology, morphology, and syntax (in particular, cliticization), and their implications for linguistic theory

On looking into words (and beyond): Structures, Relations, Analyses

On Looking into Words is a wide-ranging volume spanning current research into word structure and morphology, with a focus on historical linguistics and linguistic theory. The papers are offered as a tribute to Stephen R. Anderson, the Dorothy R. Diebold Professor of Linguistics at Yale, who is retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year. The contributors are friends, colleagues, and former students of Professor Anderson, all important contributors to linguistics in their own right. As is typical for such volumes, the contributions span a variety of topics relating to the interests of the honorand. In this case, the central contributions that Anderson has made to so many areas of linguistics and cognitive science, drawing on synchronic and diachronic phenomena in diverse linguistic systems, are represented through the papers in the volume. The 26 papers that constitute this volume are unified by their discussion of the interplay between synchrony and diachrony, theory and empirical results, and the role of diachronic evidence in understanding the nature of language. Central concerns of the volume include morphological gaps, learnability, increases and declines in productivity, and the interaction of different components of the grammar. The papers deal with a range of linked synchronic and diachronic topics in phonology, morphology, and syntax (in particular, cliticization), and their implications for linguistic theory