This dissertation develops a theory of minimality and foot structure in metrical phonology and prosodic morphology. Central to the theory is the proposal that whether foot structures may be satisfied by a minimum of phonological content is determined by specifying binary values for a new parameter, the Minimal Structure Parameter. The theory of minimality is embedded within a larger theory of prosody which construes metrical footing as mapping to templates. Under this view, metrical templates are subject to the same universal principles, for example Template Satisfaction and Maximization of Association, which constrain association to templates in morphological foot mapping and syllabification. The dissertation argues that the Minimal Structure Parameter together with these principles provides not only a uniform account of diverse metrical phenomena, but offers in addition a principled treatment of an unexpected parallel between metrical and morphological systems: morphological foot structures as well as those in metrical systems may permit subcanonical exemplars of feet. In addition to the parallel just noted, the dissertation finds two differences between metrical and morphological foot structures. First, while metrical feet must specify head elements, morphological feet do not require them. One argument is based on templatic asymmetries between metrical and morphological surface foot inventories. The occurrence of certain foot structures in metrical systems but not in morphology (e.g. trisyllabic feet [σ σ σ], Revised Obligatory Branching feet [σμμ σ]) is explained under the theory of minimality and headship developed within. Second, the minimal constraint on metrical feet is either one or two morae, whereas the minimum for subcanonical feet in morphology is two morae. This is also made to follow from the head/no-head distinction: a metrical foot can be no smaller than the smallest head permitted by the language. In morphology where feet do not specify heads, Minimal Structure defaults to the universal inventory of feet and imposes as the minimal criterion the smallest foot template defined by UG--the bimoraic foot. This work contributes to prosodic theory in (i) aligning theory with data, (ii) aligning metrical theory in particular with theories of templates in morphology and syllabification, and (iii) defining more precisely one constraint on templatic association.

This thesis investigates language standardization from linguistic, sociolinguistic and critical applied linguistic perspectives. It arises from my involvement with a local ex-refugee Hmong community, who asked me a few years ago to assist in an ongoing standardization project; working first on orthography establishment, then moving on to dictionary work. This work has led me to consider what directs the phenomenon, the goals and the procedures of standardization. An intricate web of ideologies, intergroup relations, linguistic considerations and practical requirements motivate and shape the course it follows. Speakers and researchers, the minority community and the dominant culture all influence its processes and outcomes. For my primary Hmong consultancy group, a strong socio-politico-religious position leads the standardization agenda, manifested particularly in the choice of a unique script. Throughout the wider Hmong community, values including orthodoxy, progressivism and nationism interact with communicative, pedagogical, scientific and technological imperatives, as well as the broader context of recent relocation to a western environment. This complex of conditions informs the salient problems and directions discussed. My approach comprises (i) a descriptive linguistic and sociolinguistic assessment of how particular aspects of language are treated in standardisation, and (ii) a post-Foucauldian investigation of how the processes of standardization are given form as possible objects of thought, discussion or action. In order to explore these questions: / (i) I ground my case study in a descriptive and analytical presentation of the language and linguistics topics most salient to standardisation. Base linguistic issues include phonology and word formation. Key language planning issues are standard dialect, orthography, lexical elaboration, tools of standardisation and dissemination. Contentions and solutions are discussed for each issue which arises, as seen from various positions from both inside and outside the Hmong-speaking community. The focuses and projects of many different subgroups are incorporated, and the local dictionary project discussed in depth. / (ii) I excavate and construct the discourse formations—that is, the structures which predispose the particular ideas, principles and directions of standardization that emerge. I examine the strategies people employ in their movement within these discourse formations, and explore how the discourses are perpetually reworked and reconstituted in the process of their actualisation during the standardization processes. / The strong orientation of this thesis on the one hand to the work and ideas of the speech community, and on the other hand to exploring the underlying structures shaping language and linguistics work, calls attention to the some of structures implicit in the research itself. Specifically, this thesis foregrounds considerations of the changing roles of researchers and speakers, the legitimation of certain kinds of knowledge, and the differences in what can be understood of the object of research depending on the discursive position of the viewer. I develop working principles which pursue diversity of viewing positions, emphasise the knowledge and perspectives of speakers, and privilege the small and particular over the dominant and central. / The thesis as a whole contributes to: • furthering current understanding of linguistic and sociolinguistic aspects of the Hmonglanguage and its standardization / • expanding linguistic theory to incorporate social conditions and discursive bases as aninextricable part of the language ecology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Satoshi Tomioka, Dept. of Linguistics. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 1999. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-149).

Thesis--Stockholm. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-128).

Thesis--Cornell, 1971. / Added t.p. in Hindi: Hindï kä käraka-vyäkaran̈a, preran̈ärthaka väkyom̈ ke vis̈esha sandarbha mem̈. Includes (2d group) abridged Hindi translation. Includes bibliographical references (p. 3̈9-̈40 (2d group)).

Habilitationsschrift--Technische Hochschule, Aachen. / Bibliography: p. 195-209.

Thesis--Stockholm. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-128).

Thesis--Cornell, 1971. / Added t.p. in Hindi: Hindï kä käraka-vyäkaran̈a, preran̈ärthaka väkyom̈ ke vis̈esha sandarbha mem̈. Includes (2d group) abridged Hindi translation. Includes bibliographical references (p. 3̈9-̈40 (2d group)).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, Sept., 1976. / Photocopy of typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-172).