Linguistics and Philosophy - Master's degree

Non-specific objects in the pseudopassive : the syntax and semantics of English pseudo-incorporated pseudopassives

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Non-specific objects in the pseudopassive : the syntax and semantics of English pseudo-incorporated pseudopassives Mills, Jillian Louise This thesis introduces a special form of pseudopassive that differs from previously discussed forms in that it includes a direct object adjacent to the verb. It is shown that the direct object position in this construction is restricted to NPs that lack D(eterminer)-level projections. As a result, the direct object can only receive a non-specific interpretation, resists certain types of modification, extraction, and scope interactions. Due to its lack of D-level, I argue, the direct object also cannot check the EPP feature on T and therefore cannot raise to subject of the passive sentence. T, then, must probe instead into the PP, agreeing with the PP-object and raising it to its specifier. I posit that the syntactic machinery which allows pseudopassivization is the availability in English of selecting prepositions from the lexicon that are unvalued for tense - as such, these prepositions must depend on the c-commanding verb to value their tense features and in turn assign case to their objects. When the verb itself is unvalued for tense, the PP's nominal object must raise to a higher project to value its tense features (i.e., to be case-licensed); this is the situation in passives, namely in pseudopassives. The solution I argue for draws heavily from the recent research and framework of Pesetsky & Torrego (2004, 2006, 2007). On the semantic side, the direct objects in these pseudopassives are compared to similarly behaving non-specific nominals in Hindi, Chol, Tongan, Inuktitut, Nez Perce, among others (Dayal 2003, Coon to appear, Ball 2005, Wharram 2003, Deal 2007). The researchers who identified such nominals in these languages have referred to them as pseudo-incorporated, and claim that pseudo-incorporated NPs are interpreted not as individuals (type e) but as properties (type ). Following their lead, I have coined the term pseudo-incorporated pseudopassive (PIPP) for the special form of pseudopassive that includes these reduced, non-specific direct objects. In order to semantically combine the passive predicate with these non-specific propertytype arguments, I adopt Wharram (2003) and Deal's (2007) proposal for a morpheme, ANTIP, that adjoins to the verb root and yields a property-taking function in place of an individual-taking one. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2008.; "September 2008."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57).

The role of perception in phonotactic constraints : evidence from Trinidad English

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The role of perception in phonotactic constraints : evidence from Trinidad English Katzir Cozier, Franz This thesis demonstrates that perception plays a role in computing grammatical well-formedness. This is shown specifically for grammatical constraints on word-final consonant cluster inventories (VC 1 C2#), with focus on coda cluster simplification in Trinidad English. The first claim of this thesis is that C2 deletion is triggered when VC 1 C2# is not sufficiently distinguished perceptually from VC 1 #, by at least one relevant perceptual dimension. The relevant properties that sufficiently distinguish VC1C2# from VC1# are the release burst spectrum, values of F2 transitions to Cl or C2, transitions from Cl into C1, nucleus (Vowel + Sonorant) duration, and high amplitude frication noise. This hypothesis was tested with a perception experiment that measured Standard English speakers' ability to discriminate between attested VC 1C2#'s of Standard English and VCI#, with unreleased C2. The result is that those C2's that are significantly less likely to be perceived in the absence of release are the same C2's that are deleted in Trinidad English (p < .01). The relevant perceptual dimensions are the ones proposed here: release burst, values of F2 transitions to Cl or C2, transitions from Cl into C2, nucleus duration, and high amplitude frication noise.The second claim of this thesis is that speakers encode this perceptually based difference between simplified and preserved clusters in their grammars. Namely, speakers neutralize VC1C2# and VC1# to VC1# where there is subminimal perceptual contrast between VC1C2# and VC1#. In order to test this second hypothesis, the perceptual discriminability of VC 1 C2# and VC 1 #, for unattested clusters of English, was established in a perception experiment.; (cont.) Some unattested VC 1C2's were significantly more perceptually distinct from VC 1 than others (p < .01). This was predictable based on the relevant properties: release burst spectrum, values of F2 transitions to Cl or C2, transitions from Cl into C2, nucleus duration, and high amplitude frication noise. In an affix stripping experiment, it was then discovered that TE speakers do not simplify unattested clusters (like mg# or mk#) across the board, but rather they simplify all clusters as a function of the perceptual difficulty involved in discriminating VC 1 C2# from VCI#. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-56).

The effects of frequency and composition on production duration on morphological processing

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The effects of frequency and composition on production duration on morphological processing Tapio, Sophia Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-35).

Syllabification and syllable weight in Ancient Greek songs

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Syllabification and syllable weight in Ancient Greek songs Hill, J. D. (Joseph David) This thesis is about phonetic events, phonetic representations, and the grammatical constraints on those representations, with respect to one particular phonetic dimension: time. It focuses on a process called beat mapping, whose clearest manifestation is in singing (as opposed to "ordinary" speech). This is the mapping of a sequence of syllables/segments onto a sequence of timing units or beats. The empirical ground is provided by Ancient Greek musical scores. We analyze the way that sensitivity to syllable weight manifests itself in beat mapping. In Ancient Greek, the musical quantity of syllables (their duration, counted in beats) is tightly controlled by their type. Taking this as a robust example of a weight-sensitive process, we set out to demonstrate that syllable weight is not about syllables, but about segments; this is contrary to what current theories of syllable weight assume (see Gordon 2004). We attempt to derive both syllable weight and syllable constituency itself from constraints on the beat mapping of segments. This beat mapping grammar is developed within the general framework of Generalized Correspondence Theory (McCarthy and Prince 2005), and exploits certain properties of correspondence relations, notably non-linearity and reciprocity (bidirectionality). The mapping of segments onto beats respects their linear order but does not reflect them: it is a many-to-many mapping. Correspondence also provides the basis for a new definition of "syllable," which rests on two things: the reciprocity of correspondence relations, and a principle of "salience matching" in mappings between non-homologous domains. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-91).