THE AINU LANGUAGES: TRADITIONAL RECONSTRUCTION, EURASIAN AREAL LINGUISTICS, AND DIACHRONIC (HOLISTIC) TYPOLOGY

El objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral es, en primer lugar, ofrecer una reconstrucción alternativa del protoainu para, en segundo lugar, aplicar conceptos de tipología diacrónicaholística con el fin de discernir algún patrón evolutivo que ayude a responder a la pregunta:¿por qué la lengua ainu es como es en su contexto geolingüístico (lengua AOV con prefijos),cuando en la región euroasiática lo normal es encontrar el perfil 'lengua AOV con sufijos'? En suma, se trata de explorar las posibilidades que ofrece la tipología diacrónica holística,combinada con métodos más tradicionales, en la investigación de las etapas prehistóricas delenguas aisladas, es decir, sin parientes conocidos, como el ainu, el vasco, el zuñi o elburushaski. Este trabajo se divide en tres grandes bloques con un total de ocho capítulos, unapéndice con las nuevas reconstrucciones protoainúes y la bibliografía.El primer bloque se abre con el capítulo 1, donde se hace una breve presentación delas lenguas ainus y su filología. El capítulo 2 está dedicado a la reconstrucción de la fonologíaprotoainu. La reconstrucción pionera pertenece a A. Vovin (1992), que de hecho sirve comobase sobre la que ampliar, corregir o modificar nuevos elementos. En el capítulo 3 se describela morfología histórica de las lenguas ainus. En el capítulo 4 se investiga esta opción dentrode un marco más amplio que tiene como objetivo analizar los patrones elementales deformación de palabras. El capítulo 5, con el que se inicia el segundo bloque, da cabida a lapresentación de una hipótesis tipológica diacrónica, a cargo de P. Donegan y D. Stampe, conla que especialistas en lenguas munda y mon-khmer han sido capaces de alcanzar unreconstrucción del protoaustroasiático según la cual el tipo aglutinante de las lenguas mundasería secundario, frente al original monosilábico de las lenguas mon-khmer. En el capítulo 6se retoma la perspectiva tradicional de la lingüística geográfica, pero no se olvidan algunas delas consideraciones tipológicas apuntadas en el capítulo anterior (el hecho de que la hipótesisde Donegan y Stampe no funcione con el ainu no significa que la tipología diacrónica nopueda ser todavía de utilidad). En el capítulo 7 se presentan algunas incongruencias queresultan tras combinar las supuestas evidencias arqueológicas con el escenario lingüísticodescrito en capítulos anteriores. Las conclusiones generales se presentan en el capítulo 8. Elapéndice es una tabla comparativa con las dos reconstrucciones disponibles a fecha de hoypara la lengua protoainu, es decir, las propuestas por A. Vovin en su estudio seminal de 1992y en el capítulo 3 de la presente tesis. Dicha tabla incluye 686 reconstrucciones (puedehacerse una sencilla referencia cruzada con Vovin, puesto que ambas están ordenadasalfabéticamente).

A importância do estudo de história da língua portuguesa no curso de Letras

Este trabalho tem como objetivo ressaltar a importância dos conteúdos da disciplina História da Língua Portuguesa para a formação do graduando do curso de Letras. O ensino de Língua Portuguesa se dá, por questões didáticas, de forma recortada, sendo cada um de seus recortes (Morfologia, Fonética, Sintaxe etc.) trabalhado em semestres diferentes. A forma fragmentada de estudar a língua parece induzir o graduando a uma visão também fragmentada (e fragmentária) de seu objeto de estudo, prejudicando a formação do futuro professor/pesquisador da língua. A análise dos fenômenos linguísticos sob a ótica da diacronia em que uma alteração fonética pode, por exemplo, resultar em alterações morfológicas e sintáticas possibilita a visão da língua em seu funcionamento como um todo, com suas partes interagindo e se interpenetrando. Essa visão mais ampla, segundo cremos, poderá capacitar o aluno para conectar as informações de diferentes recortes, a fim de alcançar conhecimentos novos e mais complexos. Procuramos evidenciar os benefícios da abordagem diacrônica apresentando o conteúdo programático da disciplina História da Língua Portuguesa e tecendo comentários que apontam a relevância de cada conteúdo para a formação do graduando. Acrescentamos, algumas vezes, sugestões de atividades didáticas com o intuito de granjear o interesse do aluno para a disciplina

The use of syntax and multiple alternatives in the VODIS voice operated database inquiry system

The paper describes the architecture of VODIS, a voice operated database inquiry system, and presents some experiments which investigate the effects on performance of varying the level of a priori syntactic constraints. The VODIS system includes a novel mechanism for incorporating context-free grammatical constraints directly into the word recognition algorithm. This allows the degree of a priori constraint to be smoothly varied and provides for the controlled generation of multiple alternatives. The results show that when the spoken input deviates from the predefined task grammar, a combination of weak a priori syntax rules in conjunction with full a posteriori parsing on a lattice of alternative word matches provides the most robust recognition performance. © 1991.

Taxonomic Syntax for First-Order Inference

Most knowledge representation languages are based on classes and taxonomic relationships between classes. Taxonomic hierarchies without defaults or exceptions are semantically equivalent to a collection of formulas in first order predicate calculus. Although designers of knowledge representation languages often express an intuitive feeling that there must be some advantage to representing facts as taxonomic relationships rather than first order formulas, there are few, if any, technical results supporting this intuition. We attempt to remedy this situation by presenting a taxonomic syntax for first order predicate calculus and a series of theorems that support the claim that taxonomic syntax is superior to classical syntax.

Natural Language Syntax and First Order Preference

We have argued elsewhere that first order inference can be made more efficient by using non-standard syntax for first order logic. In this paper we show how a fragment of English syntax under Montague semantics provides the foundation of a new inference procedure. This procedure seems more effective than corresponding procedures based on either classical syntax of our previously proposed taxonomic syntax. This observation may provide a functional explanation for some of the syntactic structure of English.

Syntax-Based Analytic Reading of Musical Scores

As part of a larger research project in musical structure, a program has been written which "reads" scores encoded in an input language isomorphic to music notation. The program is believed to be the first of its kind. From a small number of parsing rules the program derives complex configurations, each of which is associated with a set of reference points in a numerical representation of a time-continuum. The logical structure of the program is such that all and only the defined classes of events are represented in the output. Because the basis of the program is syntactic (in the sense that parsing operations are performed on formal structures in the input string), many extensions and refinements can be made without excessive difficulty. The program can be applied to any music which can be represented in the input language. At present, however, it constitutes the first stage in the development of a set of analytic tools for the study of so-called atonal music, the revolutionary and little understood music which has exerted a decisive influence upon contemporary practice of the art. The program and the approach to automatic data-structuring may be of interest to linguists and scholars in other fields concerned with basic studies of complex structures produced by human beings.

Novel information sharing syntax for data sharing between police and community partners, using role-based security.

The exchange of information between the police and community partners forms a central aspect of effective community service provision. In the context of policing, a robust and timely communications mechanism is required between police agencies and community partner domains, including: Primary healthcare (such as a Family Physician or a General Practitioner); Secondary healthcare (such as hospitals); Social Services; Education; and Fire and Rescue services. Investigations into high-profile cases such as the Victoria Climbié murder in 2000, the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, and, more recently, the death of baby Peter Connelly through child abuse in 2007, highlight the requirement for a robust information-sharing framework. This paper presents a novel syntax that supports information-sharing requests, within strict data-sharing policy definitions. Such requests may form the basis for any information-sharing agreement that can exist between the police and their community partners. It defines a role-based architecture, with partner domains, with a syntax for the effective and efficient information sharing, using SPoC (Single Point-of-Contact) agents to control in-formation exchange. The application of policy definitions using rules within these SPoCs is inspired by network firewall rules and thus define information exchange permissions. These rules can be imple-mented by software filtering agents that act as information gateways between partner domains. Roles are exposed from each domain to give the rights to exchange information as defined within the policy definition. This work involves collaboration with the Scottish Police, as part of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), and aims to improve the safety of individuals by reducing risks to the community using enhanced information-sharing mechanisms.

Male mice song syntax depends on social contexts and influences female preferences.

In 2005, Holy and Guo advanced the idea that male mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) with some features similar to courtship songs of songbirds. Since then, studies showed that male mice emit USV songs in different contexts (sexual and other) and possess a multisyllabic repertoire. Debate still exists for and against plasticity in their vocalizations. But the use of a multisyllabic repertoire can increase potential flexibility and information, in how elements are organized and recombined, namely syntax. In many bird species, modulating song syntax has ethological relevance for sexual behavior and mate preferences. In this study we exposed adult male mice to different social contexts and developed a new approach of analyzing their USVs based on songbird syntax analysis. We found that male mice modify their syntax, including specific sequences, length of sequence, repertoire composition, and spectral features, according to stimulus and social context. Males emit longer and simpler syllables and sequences when singing to females, but more complex syllables and sequences in response to fresh female urine. Playback experiments show that the females prefer the complex songs over the simpler ones. We propose the complex songs are to lure females in, whereas the directed simpler sequences are used for direct courtship. These results suggest that although mice have a much more limited ability of song modification, they could still be used as animal models for understanding some vocal communication features that songbirds are used for.

A Syntax-based approach to measuring the degree of inconsistency for belief bases

Measuring the degree of inconsistency of a belief base is an important issue in many real world applications. It has been increasingly recognized that deriving syntax sensitive inconsistency measures for a belief base from its minimal inconsistent subsets is a natural way forward. Most of the current proposals along this line do not take the impact of the size of each minimal inconsistent subset into account. However, as illustrated by the well-known Lottery Paradox, as the size of a minimal inconsistent subset increases, the degree of its inconsistency decreases. Another lack in current studies in this area is about the role of free formulas of a belief base in measuring the degree of inconsistency. This has not yet been characterized well. Adding free formulas to a belief base can enlarge the set of consistent subsets of that base. However, consistent subsets of a belief base also have an impact on the syntax sensitive normalized measures of the degree of inconsistency, the reason for this is that each consistent subset can be considered as a distinctive plausible perspective reflected by that belief base,whilst eachminimal inconsistent subset projects a distinctive viewof the inconsistency. To address these two issues,we propose a normalized framework formeasuring the degree of inconsistency of a belief base which unifies the impact of both consistent subsets and minimal inconsistent subsets. We also show that this normalized framework satisfies all the properties deemed necessary by common consent to characterize an intuitively satisfactory measure of the degree of inconsistency for belief bases. Finally, we use a simple but explanatory example in equirements engineering to illustrate the application of the normalized framework.

Diachronic Change in Verbal Agreement Patterns with Majorité

This article is concerned with the description of data relating to a case of morphosyntactic variation and change in French: verbal agreement patterns with the noun majorité (‘majority’). Quantitative analysis of apparent-time data from cloze (‘gap-fill’) tests suggests that plural agreement with this noun is increasing; data from a diachronic corpus study confirm that this is the case. A number of factors are found to constrain this variation and change, including most importantly the presence and number of a post-modifying noun phrase (e.g. la majorité des hommes). The implications of these findings for the definition of collective nouns in French are discussed.

The syntax of concealment:Reliable methods for plain text information hiding

Many plain text information hiding techniques demand deep semantic processing, and so suffer in reliability. In contrast, syntactic processing is a more mature and reliable technology. Assuming a perfect parser, this paper evaluates a set of automated and reversible syntactic transforms that can hide information in plain text without changing the meaning or style of a document. A large representative collection of newspaper text is fed through a prototype system. In contrast to previous work, the output is subjected to human testing to verify that the text has not been significantly compromised by the information hiding procedure, yielding a success rate of 96% and bandwidth of 0.3 bits per sentence. © 2007 SPIE-IS&T.