Morphological characters have a long history of use in the estimation of phylogenetic trees. Datasets consisting of morphological characters are most often analyzed using the maximum parsimony criterion, which seeks to minimize the amount of character change across a phylogenetic tree. When combined with molecular data, characters are often analyzed using model-based methods, such as maximum likelihood or, more commonly, Bayesian estimation. The efficacy of likelihood and Bayesian methods using a common model for estimating topology from discrete morphological characters, the Mk model, is poorly-explored. In Chapter One, I explore the efficacy of Bayesian estimation of phylogeny, using the Mk model, under conditions that are commonly encountered in paleontological studies. Using simulated data, I describe the relative performances of parsimony and the Mk model under a range of realistic conditions that include common scenarios of missing data and rate heterogeneity. I further examine the use of the Mk model in Chapter Two. Like any model, the Mk model makes a number of assumptions. One is that transition between character states are symmetric (i.e., there is an equal probability of changing from state 0 to state 1 and from state 1 to state 0). Many characters, including alleged Dollo characters and extremely labile characters, may not fit this assumption. I tested methods for relaxing this assumption in a Bayesian context. Using empirical datasets, I performed model fitting to demonstrate cases in which modelling asymmetric transitions among characters is preferred. I used simulated datasets to demonstrate that choosing the best-fit model of transition state symmetry can improve model fit and phylogenetic estimation. In my final chapter, I looked at the use of partitions to model datasets more appropriately. Common in molecular studies, partitioning breaks up the dataset into pieces that evolve according to similar mechanisms. These pieces, called partitions, are then modeled separately. This practice has not been widely adopted in morphological studies. I extended the PartitionFinder software, which is used in molecular studies to score different possible partition schemes to find the one which best models the dataset. I used empirical datasets to demonstrate the effects of partitioning datasets on model likelihoods and on the phylogenetic trees estimated from those datasets. / text

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This dissertation consists of a description of the grammar of Tila Chol. Chol is one of the 30 Mayan languages spoken in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. This language is used by nearly 200,000 speakers, distributed in two main dialects: Tila Chol and Tumbalá Chol. The data for this thesis are mostly from Tila Chol. This dissertation includes aspects of phonology, morphology, and syntax from a contrastive and typological perspective. The grammar begins with general information about the speakers and the language (chapter one). Chapter two is a description of phonology, which includes the inventory of sounds, stress, syllabic patterns and phonological processes. Chapter three presents the properties of root/word classes, as well as affixes and particles. Chapter four is about the person and number markers. Chapter five provides the main features of word classes, such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, positionals, affect words, adverbs, minor classes and clitics. The next chapter (chapter six) deals with the elements that verbs can take, including incorporation of modifiers and noun incorporation. Chapter seven provides the main features of non-verbal predicates. In chapter eight, the structures of noun phrases, such as possessors, determiners and modifiers are presented. Chapter nine describes the structure of simple sentences in both verbal and non-verbal predicates. Chapter ten is devoted to the operations that changevalence, including passive, antipassive, reflexive/reciprocal, causative and applicative. Chapter eleven deals with information structure in the discourse, specifically topicalization and focus. Chapter twelve is a brief description of passive constructions as operations triggered by paradigmatic gaps related to obviation as documented in Algonquian languages. Chapter thirteen deals with complex predicate structures. Finally, in Chapter fourteen, the complex sentences are described, including complement clauses, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, conditional clauses and coordination. This grammar will provide useful information for current Chol projects related to strengthening and revitalization efforts, such as in the construction of pedagogical materials and will also be useful for the field of linguistics or other related areas. / text

D8 originally designated as the dominant stature mutant of maize, was characterized and shown to be incompletely dominant. The study included morphological measurements, cytology, hormone studies, and enzyme and protein analysis. The effect of the D8 mutation can be detected after 40 hours of germination of the coleoptile. Dwarf (D8/d8) seedling length is 1/2 of the normal sib length for coleoptile, first leaf, and mesocotyl. The cell measurements indicate that cell elongation and cell division are involved in the size discrepancy. Mature dwarf plants have shorter internodes and the shorter, wider leaves are a darker green than the normal plant. The homozygous D8/D8 displays normal meiotic division and pollen formation is normal upto the 2 nucleate stage. Pollen viability of the homozygote is low and no seed was obtained in crosses involving this genotype. Several biological stains were used to test pollen viability with the results indicating greater than 85% viability for the heterozygote and less than 15.6% viability for the homozygote. The examination of the pachytene chromosomes of heterozygotes indicates a loop on a large chromosome. This loop is only found in the D8 heterozygote and implies a duplication or deficiency may be involved with the D8 phenotype. Avena straight growth bioassay for auxin displayed no significant difference in auxin production between dwarf and normal coleoptile tips. The D8 dwarf seedlings responded to the exogenous application of auxin, kinetin, and casamino acids in the same pattern as the normal seedlings, but never attained normal stature. Gibberellic acid (GA) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) exogenous applications displayed a difference in dwarf and normal response patterns and implies that the utilization or destruction of these substances may be involved. The investigation of Laemmli gel patterns for the three genotypes failed to show a difference. The soluble proteins formed 27 bands from the coleoptiles of each phenotype. Adh-1 gel patterns and pollen staining was utilized to examine the possibility of a deletion overlapping this locus. The Adh-1 locus has been mapped proximal to the D8 locus. The results indicate the Adh locus is not included in the putative D8 deletion.

Στην παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή εργασία εξετάζεται η μορφολογική διαδικασία του υποκορισμού όπως αυτή πραγματώνεται μέσω της παραγωγικής επιθηματοποίησης στη διαλεκτική ποικιλία της ελληνικής σε σύγκριση με την Κοινή Νέα Ελληνική (στο εξής ΚΝΕ). Οι διαλεκτικές ποικιλίες που εξετάζονται, τοποθετούνται γεωγραφικά εκτός του σημερινού ελλαδικού χώρου και είναι το μικρασιατικό ιδίωμα Κυδωνιών (Αϊβαλί) και Μοσχονησίων, η Γκρίκο που ομιλείται στην περιοχή της Απουλίας στη Νότια Ιταλία, τα Ποντιακά και τα Καππαδοκικά. Η μελέτη στηρίζεται σε πρωτογενείς και δευτερογενείς γραπτές πηγές (γραμματικές περιγραφές, παραμύθια, αινίγματα κ.λπ.) και στο διαλεκτικό υλικό προφορικού λόγου του Τμήματος Φιλολογίας του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, το οποίο συλλέγεται τα τελευταία επτά χρόνια. Οι πηγές του διαλεκτικού γλωσσικού υλικού -γραπτές και προφορικές- αποκαλύπτουν μια σειρά αποκλίσεων των διαλέκτων ως προς τις στρατηγικές πραγμάτωσης του υποκορισμού που αφορούν στα εξής: Σε αντίθεση με την Κοινή Νεοελληνική (ΚΝΕ), όπου ο υποκορισμός εμφανίζεται με ποικιλία επιθημάτων, ουσιαστικών και επιθέτων, ο υποκορισμός στις διαλεκτικές ποικιλίες που εξετάζονται, πραγματώνεται με πολύ πιο περιορισμένο αριθμό. Στο μικρασιατικό ιδίωμα των Κυδωνιών και Μοσχονησίων τα επιθήματα που βρίσκονται σε χρήση είναι τα: -ελ’ (π.χ. κουρτσέλ’ < κοριτσέλι ‘κοριτσάκι’) -ουδa (π.χ. κουπιλούδα < κοπελούδα ‘κοπελίτσα’), και σε μικρότερη έκταση –ι (π.χ. πουρτί < πορτί ‘πορτάκι ή πορτούλα’). Αντίστοιχα, στη Γκρίκο τα επιθήματα που βρίσκονται σε χρήση είναι τρία: -edda (π.χ. cateredda < catera ‘θυγατέρα-κόρη’) –uddi (π.χ. anemuddi < anemo ‘άνεμος’) και -a(k)i (π.χ. gratai < gratti ‘κρεββάτι’). Επίσης, στα Καππαδοκικά απαντώνται τα –οκκο /οππο (π.χ. κλουρ-όππο < κλουρ ‘κουλούρι’) -ιτσα (π.χ. γιασκαλ-ίτσα < γιασκάλα ‘δασκάλα’) – ίσκο/-ούσκο/-ούτσκο (π.χ. μικρ-ούσκο / μικρ-ίσκο / μιτσ-ίσκο < μικρό) ενώ τέλος στα Ποντιακά τα: -οπον (π.χ. σκυλ-όπον < σκύλος) –ιτσα (π.χ. γυναικ-ίτζα < γυναίκα) – ιτσ(ος) (π.χ. δαβολ-ίτσος < δαβολος) –ικoς (π.χ. μικρίκος < μικρός) –ι/ουτσικος (π.χ. καμποσ-ούτσικος < καμπόσος). Επιπλέον, σε αντίθεση με την ΚΝΕ όπου παρατηρείται υψηλή εναλλαγή υποκοριστικών επιθημάτων- χαρακτηριστικό το οποίο θεωρείται σύνηθες γνώρισμα του υποκορισμού και απαντάται γενικά στις φυσικές γλώσσες (βλ.Bauer 1983)-, στις διαλέκτους αυτή είτε περιορίζεται στα θηλυκά ουσιαστικά (Αϊβαλί-Μοσχονήσια, Ποντιακά, Καππαδοκικά) είτε απουσιάζει εντελώς (Γκρίκο). Παράλληλα, απαγορευτική είναι στη διαλεκτική ποικιλία της ελληνικής και η συσσώρευση των υποκοριστικών επιθημάτων που απαντάται στην ΚΝΕ (π.χ. μαν- ουλ-ίτσα, μικρ-ούλ-ικ(ος)). Τέλος, παρατηρείται σημαντικός περιορισμός της έκφρασης του γένους. Από τις διαλέκτους που εξετάζονται, τα Καππαδοκικά, το ιδίωμα Κυδωνιών και Μοσχονησίων και η Γκρίκο δεν εμφανίζουν καθόλου υποκοριστικά αρσενικού γένους. Για παράδειγμα τα υποκοριστικά της ΚΝΕ γιατρ- άκ(ος) και Γιανν-άκη(ς) αντικαθίστανται στη διάλεκτο των Κυδωνιών και Μοσχονησίων από τα γιατρέλ’ (< γιατρέλι) και Γιαννέλ’ (< Γιαννέλι). Αντίστοιχα στη Γκρίκο, τα αρσενικά ονόματα δίνουν ουδέτερα υποκοριστικά με το –uddi ή το -a(c)i ανάλογα με την κλιτική τάξη στην οποία βρίσκονται, ενώ στα Καππαδοκικά τα κοινά ουσιαστικά τρέπονται σε ουδέτερα με το –οππο/-οκκο εκτός από τα εμψυχα δισύλλαβα τουρκικής προέλευσης που υποκορίζονται με το θηλυκό –κα (π.χ. τάτα > τατάκα ‘νονός’). Τα Ποντιακά μόνο εμφανίζουν αρσενικά υποκοριστικά αλλά πολύ πιο περιορισμένα απ’ ό,τι στην ΚΝΕ δεδομένου ότι περιορίζονται σε βάσεις που διέπονται από το χαρακτηριστικό [+έμψυχο]. Σε μια προσπάθεια διερεύνησης της παρατηρούμενης γλωσσικής διαφοροποίησης, προτείνουμε ότι ο περιορισμένος αριθμός υποκοριστικών επιθημάτων στις διαλέκτους, η χαμηλή εναλλαγή και η απουσία συσσώρευσής τους μπορεί να ερμηνευθεί ως μια δια-διαλεκτική (“cross-dialectal”) τάση για δημιουργία ελάχιστων μορφολογικών δομών (“morphological minimal structures”). Οι διάλεκτοι δηλαδή αποφεύγουν, εκτός εάν αυτό είναι αναγκαίο, την αλλομορφία σε επίπεδο επιθημάτων, την ποικιλία στην έκφραση του γένους όπως επίσης και την επανάληψη στοιχείων με την ίδια λειτουργία προκειμένου να επιτευχθεί βελτιστοποίηση της γραμματικής (“grammar optimization” βλ. Kiparsky, 1982). Επιπλέον υποστηρίζουμε ότι τα επιθήματα που κυριαρχούν στην παραγωγική μορφολογία των διαλέκτων είναι αυτά που θα θεωρούσαμε ως πλέον αμαρκάριστα - δηλαδή τα επιθήματα ουδετέρου γένους (βλ. Αναστασιάδη, Ράλλη & Χειλά-Μαρκοπούλου 2003, Corbett 1991)- και τα πιο παραγωγικά, δηλαδή τα επιθήματα που υπόκεινται στους λιγότερους περιορισμούς επιλογής βάσεων (“selectional constraints”) Bauer 2001, Plag 1999, 2003)). / -

This dissertation investigates the mental representation of the root in the Moroccan dialect of spoken Arabic. While morphemes like roots have traditionally been defined as the smallest unit of sound-meaning correspondence, this definition has been long known to be problematic (Hockett, 1954). Other theories suggest that roots may be abstract units devoid of phonological or semantic content (Pfau, 2009; Harley, 2012) or that words are the basic unit of the mental lexicon (Aronoff, 1994, 2007; Blevins, 2006). The root of Moroccan words is examined with auditory priming experiments, using auditory lexical decision tasks, including the subliminal speech priming technique (Kouider and Dupoux, 2005). Chapter 2 shows that the subliminal speech priming technique should be modified with primes compressed uniformly to 240ms for Moroccan Arabic (the compression rate varies to achieve the uniform 240ms prime duration).Chapters 3 and 4 apply supraliminal and subliminal speech priming technique to Moroccan Arabic. The priming effect of words that share a root are found to be robust and distinct from words which simply share semantic or phonological content. Furthermore, roots which are instantiated as novel coinages produce priming effects, which further suggests that the root is a structural unit. Each related word in a morphological family, however, does not prime all of its relatives, contradicting the idea of a root as a structural unit. These subliminal effects also differ from supraliminal effects, where overlap in phonological form between the prime and target results in facilitation when identifying the target. The results of these experiments suggest that the word is the basic unit of speech perception, rather than the root. The root is is not an mental unit but a property of words or relationship among a morphological family. Competition from phonological neighbors is a late effect, since shared phonology facilitates only with the supraliminal technique but not the subliminal technique. Finally, realizational theories of morphology are supported, since take the word as the basic unit of the lexicon. While the root may not have phonological content per se, root phonology is important for deriving morphological families. Chapter 4 uses weak roots (which do not consistently show three root consonants in each derived form) to show that semi-vowels are encoded as root consonants.

Among the many ways in which sounds alternate in the world's languages, changes in the order of sounds (metathesis) are relatively rare. Mutsun, a Southern Costanoan language of California which was documented extensively before the death of its last speaker in 1930, displays three patterns of synchronic consonant-vowel (CV) metathesis. Two of these patterns appear to have remained productive while the language was actively spoken. In stem-deriving metathesis, many disyllabic noun stems ending in a VC string (as well as a few trisyllabic noun stems) alternate with semantically related verb stems ending in a CV string: e.g.,cayic ‘strength’ ~ cayci ‘to be strong’. In reflexive metathesis, a subset of verb stems, which are normally vowel-final in all environments, surface in consonant-final form in the presence of the reflexive suffix –pu and/or the reciprocal suffix -mu, as in kitro ‘to dress, to clothe’ ~ kitorpu ‘to get dressed, to dress oneself’. Finally, in suffix metathesis, the plural and locative suffixes (as well as the desiderative/irrealis enclitic) alternate between CCV and CVC forms depending on whether the preceding stem ends in a consonant or a vowel. Based on data from a large corpus of archival records of the language compiled over a span of more than a century, all three patterns of metathesis in Mutsun appear to defy the types of phonological analysis that have been proposed in the literature to account for metathesis in a variety of other languages. The phonetic and phonological factors claimed to motivate metathesis in other languages, such as misinterpretation of acoustic cues, stress attraction, sonority hierarchies, and positional restrictions, are absent in Mutsun. In this dissertation, I argue that prosodic analyses based on syllable weight and prosodic templates are required to account for Mutsun metathesis. Mutsun stem metathesis in particular has less in common, morphophonologically speaking, with metathesis in other languages than it does with reduplication or templatic morphology.

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