The nature of personal pronouns is different from one language to another. In many languages, personal pronouns can be construed as bound variables in the logical representation. Except neuter forms, Japanese personal pronouns differ in this respect and cannot be construed as bound variables. One of the major purposes of this thesis is to investigate this cross-linguistic difference from the viewpoint of the role syntactic categories play in anaphoric relations. The leading idea is that the so-called "functional" categories play an active role in binding. It will be shown that English personal pronouns are what I call "D-pronouns" and can be construed as bound variables, whereas Japanese personal pronouns are what I call "N-pronouns" and cannot be so construed. This cross-linguistic difference does not exclude a language-internal variation, and it will be shown that English personal pronouns can behave as N-pronouns in certain constructions, and that certain types of Japanese personal pronouns can behave as D-pronouns. The language-internal asymmetry further supports the idea that the categorial distinction is what is at stake in binding. Within the framework which crucially distinguishes binding from coreference (cf. Reinhart 1983, 1986, Grodzinsky and Reinhart 1993), the idea that only functional items can enter into binding leads us to expect that Japanese personal pronouns can only enter into coreference. I will in fact argue that Japanese personal pronouns are not subject to the binding theory and that their distribution is regulated in terms of a constraint on coreference. The idea that functional categories play a major role in pronominal anaphora is extended to relations involving anaphors. By incorporating Borer's (1989) insight that an agreement head is anaphoric in obligatory control configuration, I will show that control in general involves binding into a functional head and discuss two basic types of obligatory control: control into CP and control into DP. I will further argue that control involves selection of an anaphoric feature by the matrix verb. This captures not only the parallelism between control and reflexive binding, but also certain differences between them.

The purpose of this study is twofold: to explore the social and linguistic factors that influence the variable application of some phonological processes of Central Asturian, and to test the hypothesis that establishes a relation between the structure of society and the hierarchical structure of phonological segments. This hypothesis predicts that processes that operate at a higher level in the segmental structure will be socially less acceptable than processes that affect the segmental structure at a lower level. Chapter one outlines the socio-historical circumstances that have led to the present linguistic situation of Asturias. It describes the origins of Asturian and Castilian, the two languages in contact in the area, and the relation between these languages up to the present day. The most representative characteristics of the pronunciation of Central Asturian are also presented in this chapter. In chapter two, the treatment of post-nuclear stop and nasal segments, and the processes that affect stressed and unstressed vowels in Asturian, are interpreted within the theoretical framework provided by autosegmental phonology. The processes that affect stop segments are viewed as processes triggered by sonority restrictions of the Asturian syllable. All processes operate on a structure in which segmental features are hierarchically organized by delinking and spreading features, plus some language-specific default rules. The third chapter presents the results of a sociolinguistic study conducted in the industrial city of Langreo, in Central Asturias. This study employs the methodology developed in quantitative sociolinguistic studies. Speech data from the city of Langreo were obtained in a series of recorded interviews conducted by the author with a representative sample of residents. The results of the variational analysis determine the actual degree of use of Asturian features among the different sectors of the population, and address questions of the status and stability of the local language. The results partially support the hypothesis that there is a relation between the segmental structure and the structure of society.

<p> This study seeks to examine and compare motivational orientations of French learners across different dimensions: cultural background (USA vs. Russia), educational modality and age (college students vs. private courses learners), gender, and time of studying foreign language. 613 American and Russian learners of French completed the questionnaire addressing 10 motivational factors to study French language. Despite differences in nationality, age, educational background and learning experience, all groups of participants produced nearly identical motivational rankings. The rankings are topped by the Travelling orientation, which seems to be universally appealing, followed by the orientations within the Idealistic motivational cluster (Aesthetic Factors, Culture, Knowledge, and Ideal Self). The Pragmatic motivational cluster (Instrumental orientation, which is sometimes coupled to Emigration and Friendship dimensions) is by far less important. This disposition is also confirmed by the qualitative data. With regard to specific orientations it has been found that US learners score consistently higher in Sociability motivation, whereas Russians score higher in the Peers&rsquo; Encouragement and Aesthetic categories. In regard to gender differences, this study shows that male students appear to be more personable, e.g. among American learners males consistently outscore females in the Friendship category. Referring to age differences, it was found that the overall level of motivation tends to decline with age.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 268 p.; also includes graphics. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Chris Brew, Dept. of Linguistics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 252-266) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.A. (Sociolinguistics))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Linguistics, 2006. / Adviser: Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig.

Thesis (Doctoral)--Beijing yu yan da xue, 2006. / Title from PDF of title page (CNKI, viewed July 28, 2009).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of French & Italian Studies, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 8, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-05, Section: A, page: 1741. Chair: Albert Valdman.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Cambridge, 2000. / Cover title. "September 2000." Includes bibliographical references.