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1
Xu, Lei. "Phonological variation and word recognition in continuous speech." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1190048116.
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Italia, Magali. "Variation et variétés morphosyntaxiques du français parlé au Gabon." Phd thesis, Université de Provence - Aix-Marseille I, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00787612.
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La thèse consiste en une comparaison entre deux types de français parlé par des locuteurs gabonais ayant le français comme langue seconde (d'ailleurs unique langue officielle du Gabon) : des locuteurs âgés et peu ou non scolarisés et des jeunes gens entre 17 et 25 ans, avec un niveau scolaire de troisième. La différence du nombre d'années de scolarisation des locuteurs induirait des compétences différentes en langue française. Le niveau sociolinguistique conditionnerait le niveau linguistique des locuteurs, ce qui les classerait dans des catégories clivées et imperméables, aux pôles inférieur et médian, selon la répartition sociolinguistique des locuteurs communément admise. Cette comparaison étudiée à partir de la morphologie du verbe et de l'utilisation du matériau morphologique à travers les concepts de personne, d'époque et d'aspect va permettre de vérifier cette hypothèse. Elle mettra également en avant les différentes variétés de français en présence, rendra compte du degré de la variation du français pour chaque locuteur et tentera d'établir des liens linguistiques entre les locuteurs sur le continuum linguistique.
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Pack, William C. (William Chappell) 1966. "Variation reduction in a continuous web process." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50410.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 71).
by William C. Pack.
S.M.
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Klein, Yolandi. "Syntactic variation in Afrikaans : an empirical study." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3604.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-122).This dissertation presents a variationist analysis of syntactic variation and change in modern spoken Afrikaans. The Afrikaans language community is heterogeneous, and can be divided into different communication communities according to patterns of segregated residential settlement and limited social interaction (linked to South Africa's history of apartheid). The selection of a sample for the study is informed by these realities and the sample is kept deliberately homogenous (following Barbiers, Cornips and Van der Kleij, 2000): participants (N=34) are White middle-class speakers of Afrikaans who are under 36 years of age and have been residing in Cape Town for at least the past seven to ten years. In addition, all participants are bilingual in English (as established through an electronically administered language use survey).In order to combine formal theory (generative linguistics) withΓÇó empirical analysis (sociolinguistics), the methodology follows a bi-modal approach. Both performance and competence are considered, and arguments are based on two types of data: speech data (interviews, narrative picture descriptions) and grammaticality judgements (elicited by means of an oral questionnaire). Grosjean's (2001) language mode model assists in refining the methodology of the study, because it recognises the fact that a bilingual speaker is a unique speaker-hearer (Chomsky, 1965). The empirical data are elicited in near-monolingual Afrikaans language modes. The results are quantified according to token frequencies and analyzed in comparison to other studies; significance tests are carried out using Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. From the literature, the consensus seems to be that the word order in Afrikaans (XV structure) is changing to resemble an English frame (VX structure) because of language contact (cf, inter alia, Conradie, 2004; Donaldson, 1991). Two syntactic variables are studied to investigate variation in word order and verb placement: firstly, changes from XV to VX in subordinate clauses are explored by looking at the use of specific types of subordinate clauses, and the impact of matrix clause bridge verbs on complementizer omission and dependent/independent word order in the speech corpora. Secondly, the study examines the use of direct linking verbs and the role that complex verb initials play in proliferating VX structures. The findings are as follows: with embedded clause word order, the corpus data provides evidence of the frequent use of complementizer-less VX subordinate clauses that were not formally elicited in the questionnaire. These clauses have an important impact on variation in Afrikaans word order, leading to the proliferation of VX embedded clauses. Contributing factors are the weakening of the complementizer's semantic strength, and the role of the bridge verb as quotative marker in the matrix clause. Furthermore, the corpus data shows high frequencies of non-standard complementizer-led VX clauses, especially when compared to their low meta-linguistic acceptance in the questionnaires. The data thus shows significant variation in embedded clause word order and suggests that we are witnessing a change in progress for this variable. With respect to complex verb initials, the study finds a high acceptance rate in the questionnaires, as well as regular use in the spoken language corpus. By comparing the use of complex verb initials to a previous study (Ponelis, 1993) the study establishes a change in real time where an increase in the use of complex verb initials promotes the suspension of the main verb in clause-final position (V-final). The study recommends that that the bi-modal approach of considering both performance and competence data should be applied to similar studies of other groups in the Afrikaans language community.
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Ling, Yong 1973. "Keyword spotting in continuous speech utterances." Thesis, McGill University, 1999. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21595.
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The work in this thesis constructed a word spotting system, which managed to spot an amount of pre-defined keywords out of unconstrained running conversational speech utterances. The development and experiments are based on the Credit Card subset of SWITCHBOARD speech corpus. The techniques are applied in the context of a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based Continuous Speech Recognition (CSR) approach to keyword spotting. The word spotting system uses context-dependent acoustic triphone to model both keyword and non-keyword speech utterances. To enhance the true keyword spotting rate, sophisticated keyword-filler network topology models are defined in two different orthographic ways, individual phonemic filler models and individual syllabic filler models. To introduce more lexical constraints, a bigram language model is used. Better performance is obtained in the system with more lexical constraints. A background acoustic model is paralleled to the system network to account for the acoustic variety. The results of the experiments show that the word spotting rate of the overall performance increased by 84% when more lexical constraints applied, and the merge of the background model helps to increase the spotting rate by 5.73%.
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Fallon, Paul Ryan. "Synchronic variation and historical change in language." Thesis, Bangor University, 1992. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/synchronic-variation-and-historical-change-in-language(003fb6ff-0d9b-45c6-9258-08b0c6ec5b0b).html.
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Variation In the sequence /Cju/ (as In nubile, issue) Is manifested In the phonemic variants, gilded [Cj], ungLided ECI, coalesced ENJ)1. Of the 17 possible C, variation mainly occurs In the set of E+cor]E+antl consonants. The origins of the sequence are traced to OE and Angto French sources. The former created /Cju/,, the tatter began the modification to variants. The primary Linguistic causes of change were stress In borrowed suffixes shifting to native patterns, leading to some categorical variants with ECI In /t ds z/; and phonotactic constraints on word Initial clusters In /r I/ producing ungLLded ECL Lexical diffusion proceeds within the preceding consonant by subenvironments, defined by word Initial position or by suffix, rather than by frequency. Empirical, testing of Linguistic constraints on the distribution and selection of variants, took place In 2 boys schools In Liverpool, with 77 subjects aged 12-13 and 17-18 years. Elicitation was by reading passage and word list (k = 65). Dialects from the urban baslLect Scouse (used Largely In the city centre school), to adopted RP (found In the suburban school) were examined. Results confirmed the variability among coronat consonants but with categorical subenvIronments, mainly In the coatescents /t ds z/. In British English while the continuants /s z/ access aLL variants, stops are restricted to +gLide and C. The complex patterning of variants for /s z/ was resolved. After /1/, Loss was pervasive Lexically and socially. The presence of palatalized variants In 1h n I/ was noted. Glide loss was recorded In the basliect after word initial /n/. Minor areas of loss occurred in some non coronal, consonants, when /u/ reduced to shwa. Generally there was little Idiolectal variation In spread of variants, Of the synchronic Linguistic explanatory variables, (including syllabification and word position), stress was the most useful, sometimes working with the others. For the coalescents, i-stress] operates In conjunction with stress In contiguous syllables.
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Deumert, Andrea. "Variation and standardisation : the case of Afrikaans (1880-1922)." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9700.
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Bibliography: p. 335-366.Following the general model outlined in Weinreich, Labov & Herzog (1968), this study is a contribution to the historiography of Afrikaans from a variationist perspective, investigating the patterns of linguistic variability in the context of the early standardisation of Afrikaans. The work is based on a newly collected historical corpus of private documents which includes letters and diaries from 136 individuals (written between 1880 and 1922), and can be said to represent acrolectal and mesolectal usage. Several morphosyntactic, morpholexical and syntactic variables were investigated: loss of person and number distinctions in the present tense paradigm, loss of the infinitive, regularisation of the past participle, loss of the preterite, loss of gender, the emergence of a new system of adjective inflection and of a new pronoun system, the so-called 'double' negation, infinitive clauses, the use of objective vir, and the periphrastic possessive with se. The quantitative analysis of these variables makes use of a variety of methods: descriptive techniques such as distribution analysis, implicational scaling, cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling and principal components analysis, as well as inferential statistics such as the chi-square test. Variation is furthermore described from a code-switching perspective. As a study in historical sociolinguistics this dissertation is also concerned with the epistemological aspects of socio-historical research, in particular the role of speaker agency in historical explanations, the 'measurement' of the extralinguistic variables in sociolinguistic research, the nature of the relationship between sociolinguistic and social theory, and in general the ontological status of our explanatory and descriptive concepts and taxonomies. While traditionally historiographers of Afrikaans have argued that there existed a sharp linguistic and functional distinction between Afrikaans and Dutch from the mid 18th century, the patterns of variability described for the corpus indicate the existence of a complex dialect continuum (rather than diglossia) until the early 20th century. The results of the quantitative analysis suggest furthermore that the process of linguistic change was slower than hitherto assumed, and variation patterns described for the late 18th century were still found to exist in the corpus. Such continuities challenge the conventional dating of the emergence of Afrikaans as a new language or dialect (characterised by almost complete morphological regularisation and a cluster of innovative syntactic features) to around 1800. As regards the standardisation of Afrikaans the study shows that from the 1850s a relatively uniform model of what constituted the 'vernacular' (or ‘Afrikaans, as it came to be known) existed as a well-defined entity in the popular consciousness, while the actual language use of many speakers remained rather more variable. Increasingly, linguistic practices which were not in line with the propagated model of 'Afrikaans' were identified by the contemporary metalinguistic discourse (which was strongly marked by 19th century cultural nationalism) as unauthentic and thus undesirable. The diffusion of the new standard is shown to have followed the path typical for modern standard languages, i.e. via the socially (and geographically) mobile professional class or intelligentsia. After about 1914 the new standard was widely diffused, and had replaced other Netherlandic varieties in many private documents.
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Khan, Farhat. "Linguistic variation in Indian English : a sociolinguistic study." Thesis, University of Reading, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.328649.
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The present study responds to the longstanding need within the field of applied sociolinguistics for a better understanding of L2 variability. The study is concerned with the nature of phonological variation in the use of English by Indians. It is an attempt to use sociolinguistic methodology In examInIng a second language situation and to investigate: 1. Whether L2 variability is conditioned by linguistic constraints, and 2. Whether there is any social significance associated with L2 variability. The study is based on the data collected from 44 educated speakers of English in Aligarh (North India). The data was analysed by means of a variety of statistical and computer based programmes. Forty five minutes long interview was conducted by means of a questionnaire. The tasks, ranging from the informal to the most formal, were: (i) casual speech, (ii) short responses or interview style, (iii) reading passage and sentences, and (iv) reading minimal paIrs. There was, of course, no way to eliminate completely the influence of the interview situation, which generally causes speech to be more formal than casual. However, a number of techniques were used to enable the informants to relax and speak more casually. The first chapter deals with the socio-cultural and historical aspect of English in India. The second chapter looks at various theoretical approaches to the study of linguistic variability. The third chapter discusses the research methodology adopted for the present study. The fourth chapter examines the linguistic variants in different phonolog'ical environments and confirms our hypothesis that linguistic variation in second language IS systematic at the level of both the individual and the group. In the fifth chapter phonological variables have been analysed in relation to social demographic variables, such as schooling, education, age, sex and social class. The analysis in the sixth chapter deals with stylistic variation and shows a wide variation in different styles of speech. The seventh chapter very briefly examines intelligibility of Indian English and suggests that a change is probably taking place in Indian English due to social and political pressures within the country, particularly affecting younger generation. The last chapter begins with a brief discussion of the major findings and their social and linguistic implications and suggests ways in which the insights gained from the study can be utilised in the teaching of English as a second language.
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Pagoni, Stamatia. "Modern Greek phonological variation : a government phonology approach." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.294233.
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Ciarlo, Chiara. "Subject clitic variation in a northern Italian dialect." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2010. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/452.
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This study investigates the phenomenon of subject clitic (henceforth, SCl) variation in Ligurian, a variety spoken in the north-west of Italy. Through the examination of empirical data, this work shows that variation can be incorporated in the theory of a single grammar. In particular, this study determines which linguistic and extra-linguistic factors influence SCl variation and whether these factors vary among individual speakers, and it applies notions of minimalist theory to account for variable and categorical cases. Three variables in the Ligurian SCl paradigm are examined, where overt variants alternate with a zero form. These are: 3rd singular u, a/Ø, 3rd plural i/e/Ø, and 1st person e/a/Ø. In these variables, the zero form is always affected by adjacent negation and object clitics, by processing factors, and occasionally by following phonological context, though never by age of the speaker. In contrast, factors that influence overt SCl alternation vary: subject-verb agreement in 3rd singular contexts, morpho-phonological factors in 3rd plural contexts, and phonological, syntactic, and extra-linguistic factors in 1st person contexts. Following the general view that SCls in northern Italian dialects express subject agreement features (e.g., Poletto, 2000), I propose that SCl variants are phonological expression of different phi-feature combinations of two categories of Agreement (Number and Person) which include underspecification of features and feature values (Adger, 2006). Overt variants may show underspecification of the number and/or gender features of Number, whereas a null underlying variant always has unvalued number and gender. In variable cases, all variants in the set are formally satisfied and significant factors trigger the choice of the variant. In categorical cases, only one SCl variant in the set has its feature requirements fulfilled. Furthermore, I propose a four-fold interpretation of the zero form, namely, as null underlying variant, as nonpronunced SCl projection due to blocking by syntactic elements, as absence of phi-features, and as phonological deletion of overt variants (inter-speaker variation).
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Kailoglou, Eleftherios. "Style and sociolinguistic variation in Athens." Thesis, University of Essex, 2010. http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/1956/.
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Clark, Lynn. "Variation, change and the usage-based approach." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/3241.
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The potential for synthesis between variationist sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics has been recognised by researchers in both sub-disciplines (e.g. Henry 1995; Adger and Smith 2005) but it has been difficult to move beyond a description of this unified approach towards an account of variation that can explain both ‘social’ and ‘linguistic’ phenomena in the same theoretical framework. Chambers (2005: 217) suggests that such a synthesis is currently “well beyond our reach and hardly even foreseeable”. I argue that this is partly because most of the theories on which attempts to address this issue are modelled are fundamentally asocial in their design and in order to improve the synthesis between sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics, it is necessary to first begin with a theory in which social and linguistic knowledge are inherently and inextricably linked in cognition. The aim of this thesis is therefore to consider to what extent it is possible to synthesise variationist sociolinguistic methods of data collection and analysis with usage-based models of interpretation. Using the ethnographic technique of participant observation, the data for this thesis were collected over a 2 year period from a group of 54 speakers who play together in West Fife High Pipe Band (WFHPB). These data form a corpus of 38 hours of conversation (roughly 360,000 words). Two different phonological variables are discussed in this thesis: th-fronting, which is a consonantal change in progress in this community, and variation in the BIT vowel, which is reported to be a stable variable in this variety. Using quantitative methods that are typically considered appropriate in variationist sociolinguistics (i.e. varbrul and multiple regression), this thesis correlates variation in both of these variables with a number of different ‘social’, ‘linguistic’ and ‘cognitive’ factors and shows that this is one way to explore the potential for synthesis. However, it is vital not only to incorporate these factors into a quantitative analysis of variation; it is also necessary to be able to explain the outcome of the quantitative analysis by invoking principles of the theoretical framework. By adding the theoretical assumptions of the usage-based approach to an analysis of variation that is already grounded in current sociolinguistic practices of data collection and interpretation, I suggest that it is possible to reach a more unified and insightful explanation of linguistic variation and change in this community and a more unified and insightful approach to linguistic theory; one in which “everything fits, and everything fits together” (Langacker 1987: 32).
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Yohana, Rafiki. "A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Variation in a Rural African Community." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3599.
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This study mainly investigates whether language variation due to sociolinguistic stratification in Western urban speech communities is similar to that in rural African communities, using as a case study the multilingual Chasu of Same district in Kilimanjaro Tanzania. Primarily, the study addresses the question of language use and variation in a multilingual context in which an analysis of the frequency of occurrence of lexical borrowings and code-switching from Swahili and English is undertaken. The study firstly investigates whether the key sociolinguistic variables of social class, gender, style, age and educational levels have as much bearing in explaining the occurrence of code-switching and lexical borrowings in multilingual Chasu. Secondly, the study examines whether social stratification correlates with the phonological variables (s) and (z) in Chasu, along lines established in Western variationist sociolinguistics. In order to obtain a valuable representative sample of data, the 'Labovian' model of the sociolinguistic interview incorporating narratives of personal experience was used. Other complementary techniques such as participatory observation and rapid surveys with wordlists and questionnaires are employed as well. In the context of language contact, the analysis demonstrates that highly educated, young and middle-class speakers are the ones who borrow words and code-switch from word to sentence levels from Swahili and sometimes from English. Through VARBRUL and Rbrul analysis of phonological variation this study reveals further that, while in Western urban communities social factors particularly social class - have significant impact on language variation and change, in Chasu society internal structural factors are the ones that are more influential. Education attainment is a prime external factor in regulating the use of standard variants [z] and [s] against non-standard variants [ð] and [θ] respectively. However, such external social factors are significant only when associated with syllable position, vowels following the variables or the status of the lexical item-i.e. whether a word is borrowed from Swahili or native Chasu words.
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Elhindi, Yousif, and Theresa McGarry. "Gender-Linked Variation Across Languages." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. http://amzn.com/1612292224.
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"...this volume presents a collection of studies that highlights the linguistic diversity of the language and gender research currently being pursued, to emphasize the value of such work for the formulation of theories and methods and to stimulate more research across languages...." --Introductionhttps://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1040/thumbnail.jpg
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Ebarb, Kristopher J. "Tone and variation in Idakho and other Luhya varieties." Thesis, Indiana University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3640905.
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Bantu languages commonly signal tense, aspect, mood, polarity, and clause-type distinctions with tonal as well as segmental cues. The inflectional tonal melodies on verbs may be viewed as underlyingly floating H tones (henceforth `melodic Hs') contributed by the morpho-syntax that are assigned by rule to different positions within the verb. Along with a small set of construction specific tonal adjustment rules, the number and position of melodic Hs distinguish one tonal melody from another.
The present dissertation makes two contributions to the study of the special role that tone plays in Bantu verbal morpho-syntax. First, it contributes extensive novel documentation of the verbal tone system of Idakho: a variety of the Luhya cluster of Bantu languages spoken near Lake Victoria in western Kenya and eastern Uganda. Second, I show how aspects of the Idakho system and that of other Luhya varieties like it have contributed to the development of rich diversity within the verbal tone systems of Luhya.
Part I comprises the descriptive component of the dissertation and emphasizes the impact of several factors known to influence verb tone in Bantu. Because many language consultants contributed to the project, the dissertation makes note of variation within and across speakers of Idakho. In Part II, I demonstrate the role that a preference for prosodically well-cued morphological boundaries has played in two striking tonal developments within the Luhya macrolanguage: the loss of a lexical tonal contrast reconstructed to Proto-Bantu and the introduction of tonal melodies in constructions for which there is no historical precedence for tonal inflection.
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Tollfree, Laura. "Modelling phonological variation and change : evidence from English consonants." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309701.
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Mazraani, Nathalie. "Aspects of language variation in Arabic political speech-making." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.284199.
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Burdin, Rachel Steindel Burdin. "Variation in Form and Function in Jewish English Intonation." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1470147757.
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Carter, Paul Graham. "Structured variation in British English liquids : the role of resonance." Thesis, University of York, 2002. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14164/.
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Latimer, Elizabeth. "Variation in the use of prepositions in Quebec French." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/30160.
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Using the combined approach of Variationist Sociolinguistics and Cognitive Linguistics, this thesis undertakes the classification and analysis of certain prepositions in spoken Quebec French. The study examines 21 interviews that make up part of the Corpus de français parlé au Québec (CFPQ). The aim of this thesis is to examine the use of the variables expressing the concept of ‘possession’, and those equivalent to English before/in front of and after/behind. These three variables are represented as (POSS), (ANTE) and (POST). An initial quantification of the variants is carried out, which establishes the contexts of production, and helps determine the areas of linguistic analysis to be explored. For the (POSS) variable, the data is examined in terms of linguistic factors such as the reference of the possessor, the avoidance of hiatus, and inalienable/alienable possession. Interpersonal variation is also considered, including age and gender in addition to level of education. From the Cognitive Linguistic perspective, we investigate ‘reference point theory’ and how it can shed light on the alternation between the variants. The (ANTE) and (POST) variables are studied in terms of the type of reference (i.e. locative or temporal), the locating noun category, and the age, sex, and level of education of the speakers. The Cognitive Linguistic theory of ‘subjectification’ is also considered for these two variables. For the (POSS) variable, the reference of the possessor and the level of education are seen to be important factors for the use of possessive à. In addition, the ‘reference point theory’ contributes to our understanding of the use of this variant. With the (ANTE) and (POST) variables certain variants are seen to be employed both with and without an overt complement. The variant devant is predominantly found in contexts involving narrative discourse, and the variants en avant and en avant de are preferred for locative reference. Once again, the Cognitive Sociolinguistic approach highlights the possibility that the difference in variant choice is linked to the speakers’ cognitive construal of the situation.
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Lumsden, John Stewart. "Syntactic features : parametric variation in the history of English." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/14702.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1987.Title as it appears in M.I.T. Graduate List, Sept. 1987: Syntactic features--parameters in the history of English.
Bibliography: v. 2, leaves 418-422.
by John Stewart Lumsden.
Ph.D.
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Lin, Yuhan. "Stylistic Variation and Social Perception in Second Dialect Acquisition." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1532059573668516.
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Kügler, Frank. "Do we know the answer? : variation in yes-no-question intonation." Universität Potsdam, 2003. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2009/3242/.
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Content:
1. Introduction
2. The corpus
2.1 Subjects
2.2 Recordings
2.3 Data processing
2.4 Materials
3. Intonation in Upper Saxon German yes-no-questions
4. Intonational variation and information structure
5. Conclusions and discussion
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Al-Khatib, Saleh. "Variation in speech timing : a durational model for modern standard Arabic." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.333464.
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Meechan, Marjory Ellen. "The Mormon drawl: Religious ethnicity and phonological variation in southern Alberta." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/8643.
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This thesis investigates the effect of ethnicity on phonological variation with a comparison of the speech of Mormons and non-Mormons in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. On non-linguistic grounds, Mormons are shown to be an ethnic group in southern Alberta. Using variationist methodology, the social and linguistic conditioning of' five variables; front lax vowel lowering, (aw) fronting and the height alternation in the low diphthongs (i.e. Canadian raising), is compared. In particular, possible effects of Mormon ethnicity are explored. The results show that Mormon religious affiliation is a primary factor in height variation of the low diphthongs and only indirectly involved with other variables. The conclusion is that the use of low variants of the low diphthongs before voiceless consonants is a marker of Mormon ethnicity in this community although it is mediated by contact between groups. All other variation shows no direct evidence of ethnic significance and any differences can be attributed to the social isolation of the Mormons rather than their ethnic identity. Ethnicity is shown to be a factor in the potential for change across the community as a result or "linguistic pursuit" in the maintenance of the ethnic boundary between Mormons and non-Mormons in southern Alberta.
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Simango, Aurélio Zacarias. "Language variation and contact phonetic and phonological aspects of Portuguese of Maputo city." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11441.
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Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105).
The main goal of this study was to determine the extent to which (some of) Chambers' (1998) "Eight Rules of Dialect Acquisition", also discussed by Surek-Clark (1998) in her study of Brazilian Portuguese speakers, apply to Mozambique Portuguese learners and if sociolinguistic factors such as age, education, residence and sex, play a significant role in allophonic distribution and sociolinguistic variation in Portuguese in Mozambique, taking into account community-based patterns of use. The data used in this study is part of Panorama of Oral Portuguese of Maputo "PPOM - Panorama do Português Oral do Maputo", a linguistic survey comprised of individual interviews and group interviews carried out in 1997 in region of the City of Maputo and its surroundings undertaken by Christopher Stroud and Perpétua Gonçalves (1997).
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Ferrari, Giorgia. "Teaching and learning Arabic variation through vocabulary." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34217.
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The field of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL) has seen in recent decades a growing interest in portraying and teaching one of the most salient and intrinsic features of Arabic: language variation. This thesis takes a position in contrast to approaches that portray the two varieties as being distinct and well-defined dichotomic units, in favour of an approach that interprets them as two heterogeneous language varieties within one singular linguistic system. The two language varieties are embodied by Standard and Colloquial Arabic and it is argued here for the teaching of both varieties to students of Arabic as a foreign language. In this light, this thesis sets out to investigate the development of two language skills, vocabulary knowledge and language awareness, in a diglossic learning environment. Moreover, it explores the attitudes and perceptions of the students towards Arabic variation. Two experimental methods based on focus-on-form instruction are used in this research to teach Colloquial Arabic to students of Arabic as a foreign language at higher-education level, and the empirical research is conducted within a semi-embedded research design in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected. Students from three universities participate in this research: the Universities of Exeter, Genoa and Milan. This allows for the comparison of results from students of different mother tongues. The main research question that this thesis sets out to answer is: does focus-on-form instruction lead to vocabulary development in two diglossic varieties, namely Standard and Colloquial Arabic, more effectively when it focuses on the two varieties separately or when it links their forms? Two sub-questions investigate which of the two methods of focus-on-form instruction lead more efficiently to the development of language awareness, and the impact they have on students’ attitudes towards Arabic variation. The last sub-question asks to what extent the development of the diglossic language skills and attitudes is a consequence of the method of instruction received. The results of this study suggest that the answer lies in focusing predominantly on one variety at a time with additional consolidation exercises that compare the forms of the two varieties. The main contributions of this thesis are both theoretical, to the literature of TAFL, and empirical, regarding the development of the language skills and attitudes measured.
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Vogel, Ralf. "Dialectal variation in German 3-verb clusters : looking for the best analysis." Universität Potsdam, 2004. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2009/3251/.
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Content:
1 The Typology
1.1 Object Placement
2 Treatment of StG in terms of LF Movement – with and without Head Movement
3 An OT-solution in terms of linearisation (‘LF-to-PF-Mapping’)
3.1 The trigger for additional orders: Focus
3.2 Competitions
3.3 Summary
4 RP
4.1 LF Movement – with and without Head Movement
4.2 The OT-account for RP
4.3 Competitions
5 Summary
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Burgess, Sally. "Discourse variation across cultures : a genre-analytic study of writing on linguistics." Thesis, University of Reading, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.360078.
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Wharton, Susan M. "From postgraduate student to published writer : discourse variation and development in TESOL." Thesis, Aston University, 1999. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/14833/.
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This thesis is part of a project whose overall aim is to assist participants on an MSc TESOL course who wish to begin to publish articles in the field to do so. The project, which is undertaken within a naturalistic paradigm, has two intimately related and mutually constitutive strands: one descriptive, one interventionist. The descriptive strand consists of an analytical model of the TESOL article genre, and it is instantiated in this thesis. The interventionist strand consists of a series of pedagogic interactions and materials intended to assist project participants formulate a text suitable for publication within the target genre, and it is reported on in this thesis. I begin the thesis by looking in detail at the research approach which characterises the project. I then attempt to explain the situational context of the work and to position it within the context of other research in the areas of discourse community membership, academic genres, genre learning and academic enculturation. Having thus contextualised the work, I next attempt a detailed exploration of the problems of postgraduate students in TESOL when first attempting to write in the TESOL article genre: this exploration is undertaken from both a linguistic and a pedagogic perspective. Then in subsequent chapters, both a linguistic and a pedagogic response to these problems are proposed: the first consisting of an analytical model of the target genre, the second consisting of a series of pedagogic interactions and materials. The relationships between the two lines of response are also examined in some detail. Then in the final part of the thesis, I report feedback from the interventionist strand and attempt to conduct an evaluation of the whole project to date. Criteria for evaluation are proposed and examined in some detail in the context of the research approach of the project. The concluding chapter is a brief discussion of future directions for this work.
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Doyle, Sean. "Progressive word hypotheses reduction for very large vocabulary, continuous speech recognition." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape16/PQDD_0015/MQ37123.pdf.
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Dodsworth, Robin M. "Linguistic variation and sociological consciousness." Connect to resource, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1123115802.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005.Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xvi, 244 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-244). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center
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Aguilar-Sánchez, Jorge. "Syntactic variation the case of copula choice in Limon, Costa Rica /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3386661.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Department of TESOL and Applied Linguistics and Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese of the College of Arts and Sciences, 2009.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 15, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: A, page: 4653. Adviser: Manuel Diaz-Campos.
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McCarvel, Miranda Kelly. "Allomorphic Variation of Definite Articles in Jersey: a Sonority Based Account." The University of Montana, 2010. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-03082010-102529/.
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Allomorphic variation is a common linguistic phenomenon in Jersey (Jersey Norman French). Definite articles in Jersey each have at least two allomorphs. The occurrence of each allomorph has been attributed to the composition of word initial syllable following the article (Liddicoat 1994). Instead of using a ruled-based approach, this thesis examines the variation found among Jersey definite articles and uses sonority-based principles to analyze the allomorphic variation. Using Jersey phonotactics, this thesis first puts forth a Jersey specific sonority hierarchy and then utilizes that hierarchy and principles of syllabification to syllabify phrases containing definite articles. Then using sonority based principles, such as the Sonority Sequencing Principle and Syllable Contact Law, this thesis analyzes the syllabified phrases. The analysis identifies the sonority based conditions that trigger the allomorphic variation found in the data. This thesis contributes to the field of linguistics in several ways. It supports the use of both the Universal Sonority Hierarchy and language specific sonority hierarchies. This thesis also supports the practice of using available data sources for analysis. The analysis of a described but analyzed phenomenon contributes valuable information to the general knowledge of Jersey and sonority. Finally, this thesis also serves as an important resource for the study of Norman dialects in Europe such as Guernsey, Sark and Norman, as Jersey is a member of this linguistic group. This thesis contributes to both the field of Jersey linguistics and to the field of theoretical linguistics, while accounting for the allomorphic variation of Jersey definite articles.
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Panyaatisin, Kosin. "Dialect maintenance, shift and variation in a Northern Thai Industrial Estate." Thesis, University of Essex, 2018. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/22700/.
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This study investigates linguistic variation in a case of dialect change and maintenance, for a Northern (NT) Thai dialect in a Northern Industrial Estate (NTIE) of Thailand, in Lamphun province. The target area is the Ban Klang Municipal (MBK) community where locals use the NT Thai dialect. However, due to internal immigration over the past 30 years, MBK has undergone a dramatic change in socio-economics and culture, from an agriculturally-based society, swiftly transforming into an urbanised and industrialised one. The national standard Bangkok (BKK) Thai, has influenced and motivated dialect shift among MBK speakers who speak the NT Thai dialect. The quantitative variationist approach can clarify the changing linguistic situation in the MBK area. The dependent linguistic variables include rhotic consonant onset (r) incorporating [r], [ɾ], [l] and [h] as its variants, such as [rɯa:n0], [ɾɯa:n0], [lɯa:n0] and [hɯa:n0], "house". The consonant cluster onset with rhotic (Cr) comprises {Cr}, {Cɾ}, {Cl} and {C∅}, such as [khrap3], [khɾap3], [khlap3] and [khap3], "male polite final particle". Only the (r) onset includes the local variant [h] in NT Thai dialect; only (Cr) includes a deleted variant. The independent variables comprise Labovian style factors, demographic social factors, social network strength (SNS) factors and phonological constraints. The dyadic interviews included 66 respondents. Defined by geographic origin differences, the 57 MBK locals were the focused group, while the 9 BKK speakers were the control group. A friend-to-friend method and judgment sampling were employed. The total length of interviews was around 120 hours. The study revealed the following: 1. In both (r) and (Cr) variables, the study showed that [l] and {C∅} were the most commonly-used forms. Stylistic stratification occurs, with formal styles favouring the standard rhotic variants. 2. Style plays a major role in linguistic variability, followed by social factors and linguistic constraints, respectively. LMC women are the linguistic trailblazers in certain variants. MMC elderly local males are the primary dialect maintainers. The MMC and WC locals used the covert prestige form [h] more often, but with different underlying social meanings. 3. Social network (SN) analysis employed an ego-centric network approach. SN factors were significant in the model but not a strong explanatory predictor. MBK networks were largely ethnically homogeneous. Contact frequency and intimacy scores were highly correlated. This confirms that all attributes forming the SN are highly interrelated and dependent. 4. The corresponding variants of (r) and (Cr) reveal non-parallel linguistic patterns. The relationship between variable (r) and (Cr) exhibited weak associations, with the rhotic variants patterning similarly, while the lateral variants were not aligned. The emergence of laterals in (Cr) might be derived partly from articulatory errors, while [l] patterned in line with {C∅} as the neutral variants in casual styles. 5. The stylistic and social factors played greater roles in linguistic variability than the internal linguistic factors. This might be due to the social structure that has an effect on the linguistic structure, particularly in these Tai-Kadai family and related non-Western languages. The style and social factor elements are an important determinant of linguistic structure.
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Barnes, Sonia. "MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL VARIATION IN URBAN ASTURIAN SPANISH: LANGUAGE CONTACT AND REGIONAL IDENTITY." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1371475793.
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Armstrong, Nigel Robert. "A study of phonological variation in French secondary school pupils." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.358079.
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Levey, Stephen. "The next generation : aspects of grammatical variation in the speech of some London preadolescents." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2007. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/1493.
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This thesis is a sociolinguistic investigation into aspects of non-phonological variation in a group of preadolescents recorded in outer east London. Focusing on the analysis of selected grammatical variables, it aims to explore the nature and development of linguistic variation in an age group which has not figured prominently in the foundational sociolinguistic literature. The study is embedded within a variationist framework, and examines how the distribution of vernacular variables selected from different levels of the grammar can provide important insights into the maturing sociolinguistic competence of preadolescent speakers. The distribution of specific grammatical variables is correlated with the broad social dimensions of age and gender in order to examine the social and linguistic constraints which operate on aspects of variation in this age group. Furthermore, the findings which emerge from this study are contextualized in relation to patterns of variation used by older speakers, and are more broadly situated with regard to related patterns of variation in other dialects of English. Another primary aim of the study is to contribute to empirical characterisations of grammatical variation in southeastern England, an area in which there has been little systematic quantitative investigation of non-phonological variation. Given that London has been identified in the sociolinguistic literature as the site of considerable dialect levelling and a major locus of linguistic innovation, the study explores preadolescents' active participation in some of the burgeoning linguistic changes that are affecting not only southeasten dialects, but also other contemporary varieties of English.
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Nwogu, Kevin N. "Discourse variation in medical texts : schema, theme and cohesion in professional and journalistic accounts." Thesis, Aston University, 1989. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/14823/.
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This study is undertaken as an exercise in Comparative Discourse Analysis. Working within the framework of the branch of Discourse Analysis known as Genre-Analysis, this thesis examines differences in the organization of discourse in three parallel genres of written medical texts - the Abstract (ABS) accompanying a medical research paper, the Research Article Proper (RAP) and the equivalent Journalistic Reported Version (JRV) of the research article in a popular science magazine or in a newspaper. The corpus for the study consists of 45 texts: 15 triadic sets of parallel texts representing an equal number of texts from each of the three genres on which the study is based. The approach to the analysis of features of discourse organization is eclectic and comparative. Thus, texts in the corpus are analysed for differences at three levels of organization - the levels of schematic structure, Thematic Progression (TP) and Cohesion. A number of differences are observed across the three genres. First, the genres are found to differ distinctively in the way information is organized into hierarchical schematic units. Less di stinctive pragmatic differences are observed in the realization and di stribution of formal syntactic elements which constitute theme. Similarly, very subtle pragmatic differences are observed in the realization and function of Reference, Conjunction and Lexical Cohesion items in texts across the three genres. The results indicate that there is a great similarity in discourse organization between the professional genres (ABS and RAP) and that both genres differ distinctively from the popularized genre (JRV). This thesis provides conclusive evidence to support the view that subject-matter is not the sole determinant of genre; that subject-matter is only one alongside a number of other contextual factors such as purpose, audience and medium of discourse by which genres must be characterized. To this end, this thesis is a contribution to the newly developing field of genre-analysis. But, more importantly, it is a contribution to research in the field of science popularization.
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Yan, Jing. "Social Variation of Vernacular Written Cantonese in Guangzhou (Canton City), China." The Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218509758.
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Krautkramer, Jesse. "Cultural transmission, style and continuous variation among north central Sierra Nevada projectile points." [Chico, Calif. : California State University, Chico], 2009. http://csuchico-dspace.calstate.edu/xmlui/handle/10211.4/178.
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Bradfield, M. F. A. (Michael Ford Alexander). "Continuous production of succinic acid by Actinobacillus succinogenes : steady state metabolic flux variation." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40826.
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Continuous fermentations were performed in a novel external-recycle, biofilm reactor using D-glucose and CO2 as carbon substrates. Corn steep liquor (CSL) and yeast extract (YE) served as nitrogen sources.
In anaerobic fermentations using medium containing CSL and YE, succinic acid (SA) yields were found to be an increasing function of glucose consumption. The ratio of SA to the major by-product, acetic acid (YAASA), increased from 2.4 g g-1 at a glucose consumption of 15 g L-1, to 5.7 g g-1 at a glucose consumption of 46 g L-1. For medium containing no CSL, YAASA remained near 1.97 g g-1, exceeding this for cases where biofilm grown on CSL-containing medium was present.
The ratio of formic acid to acetic acid (YAAFA), for CSL-containing medium, decreased from an equimolar value (0.77 g g-1) at a glucose consumption of 10 g L-1 to zero at 46 g L-1 glucose consumed. In contrast, YAAFA for YE-only medium remained at 0.77 g g-1. Therefore, pyruvate was metabolised solely by pyruvate-formate lyase when no CSL was present.
The highest SA yield obtained on glucose, SA titre and SA productivity were 0.91 g g-1, 48.5 g L-1 and 9.4 g L-1 h-1, respectively, all for medium containing CSL. Medium that included CSL significantly outperformed medium that excluded CSL, achieving 64%, 21% and 203% greater SA titres, yields on glucose and productivities respectively.
Metabolic flux analyses based on the established C3 and C4 metabolic pathways of Actinobacillus succinogenes revealed that the increase in YAASA, for CSL-containing fermentations, could not be attributed to the decrease in formate and biomass formation, and that an additional source of reducing power was present. The fraction of reducing power (NADH) unaccounted for increased with glucose consumption, suggesting that the maintenance or non-growth metabolism encountered at higher SA titres differs from the growth metabolism. It is postulated that the additional reducing power originates from an active pentose phosphate pathway in non-growing cells or from an undetected component(s) in the fermentation medium. No major metabolic flux variations were found in fermentations that excluded CSL.Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
gm2014
Chemical Engineering
unrestricted
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XU, TIJIE. "Detection of Final Solidification Due to Variation of Ferrostatic Pressure during Continuous Casting." Thesis, KTH, Materialvetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-215960.
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This paper presents an investigation on using the variation of ferrostatic pressure exerted by the molten steel in the strand to the support rolls during continuous casting to detect the location of the final solidification. The final solidification point is of high importance for applying soft reduction during continuous casting in order to ensure inner quality and achieve high productivity. The measurement was conducted at one of the casters at SSAB Oxelösund, of which all the support rolls are separately mounted. The project finds that this method shows promising results and can help to narrow down the range of the location due to certain interferences and noises. The ferrostatic pressure decrease during tail-out and the variation of whether a pressure drop exists is the dividing line of full and partial solidification. With the promising results achieved, more effort should be put to further improve the method.
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Ribbens-Klein, Yolandi. "To bry or not to bry: the social meanings of Afrikaans rhotic variation in the South Cape." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22809.
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This dissertation investigates the social meanings of Afrikaans rhotic variation in a town in the South Cape region of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The study combines approaches to 'place as location' (traditional dialectology and sociolinguistics) and 'place as meaning' (ethnography and linguistic anthropology) to explore the relationship between geographical place, local social meanings and linguistic variation. Theoretically, I make use of the concept of indexicality, following Silverstein's (2003) indexical orders and Eckert's (2008) indexical fields. To date, there is no previous study that explores Afrikaans variation from these perspectives. The study therefore contributes to the development of Afrikaans linguistics. The participants are residents of Houtiniquadorp, which was a mission station in South Africa's colonial era and declared a Coloured residential area during apartheid. In South Africa, place has been politicised due to colonialism and apartheid. I argue that the racialisation of places contributes to Houtiniquadorpers' sense of locality and belonging. The linguistic form I focus on is Afrikaans /r/. Afrikaans phonetics texts describe alveolar-r [r] as standard, and uvular-r ([ʀ] or [ʁ]; bry-r) as a non-standard, regional feature. In Houtiniquadorp, [ʀ] and [r] variants of the (r) variable are used. My data collection methods were semi-structured interviews and ethnographic fieldwork. The linguistic variants were quantified from the interview data and description tasks. The qualitative data analysis focused on the participants' narratives about places, lived experiences, and meta-linguistic commentary. I discuss three different sets of results, all of which investigate how people in Houtiniquadorp use Afrikaans /r/ to index locality, belonging, and other forms of social meanings, particularly in the context of social and geographic mobility. I analyse metalinguistic comments, the frequency use of rhotic variants, and the use of variants in interaction. Uvularr forms part of many Houtiniquadorpers' repertoires, and the participants show varying degrees of awareness of the sound as locally, and socially, meaningful. The results show that while uvular-r is an emplaced sound (i.e. a regional stereotype or dialect feature), the sound has various other non-place meanings that index macro-social categories such as residential status, gender and age. Finally, by looking at participants who use both variants, I argue that they use variation to index meaningful moments during the interview interactions.
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Hasan, Ali S. "Variation in spoken discourse in and beyond the english foreign language classroom : a comparative study." Thesis, Aston University, 1988. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/14816/.
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This study is concerned with one of the most interesting and the least well-researched areas in contemporary research on classroom interaction: that of the discourse variability exhibited by participants. It investigates the way in which the language of native speakers (NSs) as well as that of non-native speakers (NNSs) may vary according to the circumstances under which it is produced. The study, therefore, attempts to characterise the performance of both NSs and NNSs (with particular emphasis placed on the latter) in various types of interaction in and beyond the EFL classroom. These are: Formal Interview (FI), Formal Classroom Interaction (FCI), Informal Classroom Interaction (ICI), Informal Classroom Discussion (ICD), and Informal Conversation (IC). The corpus of the study consisted of four NSs and fifteen NNSs. Both a video and a tape recording was made for each type of interaction, with the exception of the IC which was only audio-recorded so as not to inhibit the natural use of language. Each lasted for 35 minutes. The findings of the study mark clearly the distinction between the `artificiality' of classroom interaction and the `naturalness' or `authenticity' of non-classroom discourse. Amongst the most interesting findings are the following: Unlike both FCI and ICI, in the FI, ICD, and IC, the language of NNSs was characterised by: greater quantity of oral output, a wider range of errors, the use of natural discourse strategies such as holding the floor and self-correction, and a greater number of initiations in both ICD and IC. It is suggested that if `natural' or `authentic' discourse is to be promoted, the incorporation of FI, ICD, and IC into the EFL classroom activities is much needed. The study differs from most studies on classroom interaction in that it attempts to relate work in the EFL classroom to the `real' world as its prime objective.
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Jiang, Li. "Nominal Arguments and Language Variation." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10495.
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This dissertation investigates nominal arguments in classifier languages (ClLs). There are two main goals. The first is to explore what is constant and what varies in the way ClLs form nominal arguments. The second goal is to understand the relationship between argument formation in classifier languages and argument formation more generally. Three classifier languages are the center of the discussion: Mandarin, a ClL without overt evidence of determiners, Yi, a head-final ClL which will be shown to have overt determiners, and Bengali, a ClL that has already been argued to have overt evidence of determiners. In addition to paying particular attention to these three ClLs, the discussion of nominal arguments also covers a wider range of ClLs and number marking languages (NMLs) from Romance, Germanic, and Slavic, as well as Hindi. In this dissertation we will argue for the following three points. First, numeral constructions (NCs) have identical syntax and semantics in ClLs and NMLs (possibly universally); specifically, we argue that NCs have a predicative interpretation and an argumental interpretation that arises via a choice function in the lexical entry of numerals. Secondly, we argue that language variation in the nominal domain is due primarily to two interrelated factors: what nouns denote (kinds or properties) and what low functional heads (i.e. number morphology (#) and classifiers) denote; we show how this variation in the nominal domain can be related to a more general macroparameter. Thirdly, we argue that determiners in ClLs are in fact expected, contrary to the standard view, but while they can combine with numeral-classifier phrases (ClPs) and numeral-less ClPs, they can never combine with bare nouns. The proposal is that bare nouns in ClLs are always argumental regardless of whether or not there are determiners. In the last chapter of this dissertation, we show that the developed analysis of nominal arguments and language variation yields an updated language typology of argument formation. With this proposed analysis of nominal arguments, we may be a few steps closer to a general theory of argument formation of wide cross-linguistic applicability.Linguistics
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Lynn, Ethan Michael. "Getting All the Ducks in a Row: Towards a Method for the Consolidation of English Idioms." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2016. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6014.
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Idioms play an important role in language acquisition but learners do not have sufficient time to learn all of them. Therefore, learners need to focus on the most frequently occurring idioms, which can be determined by corpus searches. Building off previous corpus studies, this study generated a comprehensive list of English idioms by combining lists from several sources and developed a methodology for organizing and sorting idioms within the list. In total, over 27,000 idiom forms were amalgamated and a portion of the list was compiled, which featured 2,697 core idioms and 5,559 variant idiom forms. It was found that over 35% of idioms varied structurally and thirteen types of idiom variation were highlighted. Additionally, issues concerning idiom boundaries were investigated. These results are congruent with previous findings which show that variation is a commonly occurring element of idioms. Furthermore, specific problematic elements for future corpus searches and English language learners are identified.
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Kim, Maria. "Discourse variation in American magazine advertisements." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2006. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3243779.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Linguistics, 2006.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 17, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4528. Advisers: Samuel Obeng; Beverly Hartford.
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Abe, Mariko. "Syntactic variation across proficiency levels in Japanese EFL learner speech." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2015. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/350754.
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Teaching & LearningEd.D.
Overall patterns of language use variation across oral proficiency levels of 1,243 Japanese EFL learners and 20 native speakers of English using the linguistic features set from Biber (1988) were investigated in this study. The approach combined learner corpora, language processing techniques, visual inspection of descriptive statistics, and multivariate statistical analysis to identify characteristics of learner language use. The largest spoken learner corpus in Japan, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology Japanese Learner English (NICT JLE) Corpus was used for the analysis. It consists of over one million running words of L2 spoken English with oral proficiency level information. The level of the material in the corpus is approximately equal to a Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) range of 356 to 921. It also includes data gathered from 20 native speakers who performed identical speaking tasks as the learners. The 58 linguistic features (e.g., grammatical features) were taken from the original list of 67 linguistic features in Biber (1988) to explore the variation of learner language. The following research questions were addressed. First, what linguistic features characterize different oral proficiency levels? Second, to what degree do the language features appearing in the spoken production of high proficiency learners match those of native speakers who perform the same task? Third, is the oral production of Japanese EFL learners rich enough to display the full range of features used by Biber? Grammatical features alone would not be enough to comprehensively distinguish oral proficiency levels, but the results of the study show that various types of grammatical features can be used to describe differences in the levels. First, frequency change patterns (i.e., a rising, a falling, a combination of rising, falling, and a plateauing) across the oral proficiency levels were shown through linguistic features from a wide range of categories: (a) part-of-speech (noun, pronoun it, first person pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, indefinite pronoun, possibility modal, adverb, causative adverb), (b) stance markers (emphatic, hedge, amplifier), (c) reduced forms (contraction, stranded preposition), (d) specialized verb class (private verb), complementation (infinitive), (e) coordination (phrasal coordination), (f) passive (agentless passive), and (g) possibly tense and aspect markers (past tense, perfect aspect). In addition, there is a noticeable gap between native and non-native speakers of English. There are six items that native speakers of English use more frequently than the most advanced learners (perfect aspect, place adverb, pronoun it, stranded preposition, synthetic negation, emphatic) and five items that native speakers use less frequently (past tense, first person pronoun, infinitive, possibility modal, analytic negation). Other linguistic features are used with similar frequency across the levels. What is clear is that the speaking tasks and the time allowed for provided ample opportunity for most of Biber’s features to be used across the levels. The results of this study show that various linguistic features can be used to distinguish different oral proficiency levels, and to distinguish the oral language use of native and non-native speakers of English.
Temple University--Theses
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McDougall, David C. "Linguistic variation in the 'Fazienda de Ultramar'." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2018. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/36676.
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The 'Fazienda de Ultramar' is considered to be the earliest extensive prose work in Castilian. The aim of this study is to assess, quantify and examine in detail the linguistic variation in the text and attempt to explain this variation with reference to the various factors that may influence it: internal linguistic factors such as palaeographic, morphological and syntactic considerations, or external extra-linguistic factors comprising variatio, register and scribal considerations. I focus on six variables. Three are orthographic: the use of < m >, < n >, or < ˉ > to represent /M/ before a bilabial; the use of < i > or