From Negation to Agreement: Revisiting the Problem of Sources for Socio-Historical Linguistics

In this article we review recent work on the history of French negation in relation to three key issues in socio-historical linguistics: identifying appropriate sources, interpreting scant or anomalous data, and interpreting generational differences in historical data. We then turn to a new case study, that of verbal agreement with la plupart, to see whether this can shed fresh light on these issues. We argue that organising data according to the author’s date of birth is methodologically sounder than according to date of publication. We explore the extent to which different genres and text types reflect changing patterns of usage and suggest that additional, different case-studies are required in order to make more secure generalisations about the reliability of different sources.

Lismore Historical Society visitor centre - Lismore Argyll

2005-6 Input into content and design of the Lismore Historical Society Museum displays

Assessing Historical and Current Threats to Common Frog (Rana Temporaria) Populations in Ireland

Ponds are an ephemeral feature of the landscape but their large-scale loss can have profound implications for biodiversity and the persistence of amphibian populations. We quantified rates of pond loss throughout Ireland over a period of approximately 125 yr. Environmental parameters and perceived risk factors associated with the current occurrence and density of the Common Frog, Rana temporaria, were also analyzed. The numbers of farmland ponds declined by 54% between 1887–1913 and 2005–11, with most ponds and the greatest losses
in the East, coincident with agricultural intensification and human habitation. The decline of pond numbers was significant but, at approximately 0.5% per annum, was substantially less than losses recorded in other European countries. Losses were coincident with major changes to the agricultural landscape including extensive land drainage. However, losses of pond and natural wetland habitats throughout Ireland may have been partially or wholly mitigated by a synchronous expansion of artificial field margin ditches associated with drainage projects during the mid-20th Century. The ecology of the Common Frog in Ireland was similar to its ecology elsewhere and it appears largely unaffected by pollution and disturbance. Consequently, the conservation status of the frog in Ireland was judged ‘‘favorable’’ and should remain so for the foreseeable future.