Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 3, leaves 575-581). / This thesis is concerned with developing an account within the Government and Binding (GB) theory of the grammaticality of such structures as (1), and exploring the implications of this account for the theory of empty categories, chains, and scope. The hallmark characteristic of such grammatical S-Structure representations as (1) is that the anaphor is outside the c-command domain of its understood antecedent. The basic anaphoric effect is termed connectivity. 1) [which of each other's friends][did the men see t]? Chapter 1 is a brief overview of the necessary definitions presumed in the thesis, and an outline of the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 introduces a large body of data which must be treated on a par with (1), and reviews and criticizes several existing proposals which have been made to account for (1). The chapter argues that the binding theory must apply to structures having the essential form of (1). We demonstrate that no treatment which involves lowering the anaphor into the c-command domain of the antecedent via "reconstruction" operations, or involves applying the Binding Theory at a level at which WH movement is not represented, can be maintained. Chapter 3 develops a revision of the binding theory, focusing on Condition A, which is capable of treating all the connectivity data in a unified way. The major formal construct proposed in the chapter is the chain accessibility sequence, essentially a path of nodes through which the potential antecedents for an expression are accessed. The revised binding theory is defined in terms of such sequences; as the name implies, the notion chain plays a prominent role. This approach to connectivity is developed in the spirit of the Path theory of Kayne (1983) and Pesetsky (1982). We also discuss properties of structures of the form of {l), but where the constituent containing the anaphor is predicative in nature. We shall see that the predicative nature of the constituent significantly constrains the possibilities of assigning the anaphor an antecedent. This chapter adopts, and argues in favor of, the Linking theory of binding introduced by Higginbotham (1983). Chapter 4 focuses on the theory of empty categories, arguing that it is desirable to construct the theory so that no empty categories bear binding features (the features[+/- anaphoric] and[+/- pronominal] are thus restricted to overt categories). This proposal, which I term the No Features Hypothesis, departs from the characteristic treatment of ECs in GB theory. The chapter adopts Brody's (1985) proposals concerning the distribution of PRO and NP-trace. We adopt, and later extend, the Local Binding Condition (LBC) on A chains, argued by Rizzi (1982) to constrain the well-formedness of A chains. We reformulate it in terms of Linking theory, as the Chain Obviation Condition (CCC), and argue that it holds of all chain types. This is shown to be a principle with considerable generality, subsuming the LBC, Condition C of the binding theory, and the anti-c-command condition on linking. Adopting the COC, along with the NFH, allows the elimination of the class R-expression from the inventory of binding types. It will be shown that the anti-c-command condition on parasitic gaps derives directly from the CCC, with no stipulations. The chapter concludes with a defense of the proposal that the theory of anaphora must recognize anaphoric dependence and obviation as separate relations (as argued by Lasnik (1976), (1981), and Higgginbotham (1985)). Chapter 5 discusses constraints on the interpretation of sentences in which a quantificational NP is the antecedent of an NP-trace which it does not c-command. These considerations lead us to formulate a constraint on movement operations. The chapter also argues that the operations of WH-movement and QR are strictly ordered in the LF component. / by Andrew Barss. / Ph.D.

Music and language are both deeply rooted in our biology, but scientists have given far more attention to the neurological, biological and evolutionary roots of language than those of music. Because of this, and probably partially due to this, the purpose of music, in evolutionary terms, remains a mystery. Our brain, physiology and psychology make us capable of producing and listening to music since early infancy; therefore, our biology and behaviour are carrying some of the clues that need to be revealed to understand what music is “for”. Furthermore, music and language have a deep relationship, particularly in terms of cognitive processing, that can provide clues about the origins of music. Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an important form of communication that enables individual recognition and assessment of the speaker’s physical characteristics (including sex, femininity/masculinity, body size, physical strength, and attractiveness). Vocal parameters, however, can be intentionally varied, for example altering the intensity (loudness), rhythm and pitch during speech. This is classically demonstrated in infant directed speech (IDS), in which adults alter vocal characteristics such as pitch, cadence and intonation contours when speaking to infants. In this thesis, I analyse vocal modulation and its perception in human social interaction, in different social contexts such as courtship and authority ranking relationships. Results show that specific vocal modulations, akin to those of IDS, and perhaps music, play a role in communicating courtship intent. Based on these results, as well the body of current knowledge, I then propose a model for the evolution of musicality, the human capacity to process musical information, in relation to human vocal communication. I suggest that musicality may not be limited to specifically musical contexts, and can have a role in other domains such as language, which would provide further support for a common origin of language and music. This model supports the hypothesis of a stage in human evolution in which individuals communicated using a music-like protolanguage, a hypothesis first suggested by Darwin.

Orientador: Wilmar da Rocha D'Angelis / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T05:51:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jolkesky_MarceloPinhoDeValhery_M.pdf: 6190456 bytes, checksum: dd6c3f68c0202dc4c66e3d191a10025b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Esta dissertação busca reconstruir a fonologia e o léxico do Proto-Jê meridional (PJM). O Jê meridional é um dos três ramos da família jê e é composto por cinco línguas: Xokleng, Kaingang, Kaingang paulista, Ingain e Kimdá. Enquanto o foco principal dos trabalhos comparativos publicados sobre o PJM foi a fonologia, este estudo se concentra também na reconstrução de uma grande porção do seu léxico. Esta pesquisa adotou todos os trabalhos anteriores como base. Compõe-se de sete capítulos: §1 descreve alguns aspectos da origem dos povos jê meridionais e de suas línguas, baseando-se em dados históricos e arqueológicos. §2-§3 tratam essencialmente de tópicos teóricos relacionados com lingüística histórico-comparativa, modelos dinâmicos de mudança lingüística e análise fonológica numa perspectiva estruturalista. §4. descreve o sistema fonológico de cada membro do PJM; traz (i) um esboço dos segmentos fonéticos, (ii) a descrição dos fonemas vocálicos e consonantais com base nos critérios de variação livre, distribuição complementar e oposição, discriminando suas realizações nos seus diversos ambientes e (iii) a estrutura silábica e suas restrições fonotáticas. Em §5. reconstruo o sistema fonológico do PJM, detalhando as inovações ocorridas em cada língua e uma série de mudanças fonológicas inexplicáveis. Em §6. o léxico do PJM é apresentado com detalhamento morfológico. No último capítulo exponho algumas considerações léxico-estatísticas e glotocronológicas e proponho algumas questões para pesquisas futuras / Abstract: This dissertation attempts to reconstruct Proto-Southern Jê (PSJ) phonology and its lexicon. The Southern Jê is one of the three branches of the Jê family and comprises five languages: Xokleng, Kaingang, São Paulo Kaingang, Ingain and Kimdá. While other comparative works have focused mainly on PSJ phonology, this study concentrates too on the reconstruction of a wide range of its lexicon. This research acknowledged all the previous works as a start point. It has seven main chapters: §1 describes some aspects of the origin of the southern Jê peoples and languages, based on archaeological and some historical records; §2-§3 deal essentially with theoretical topics on historical linguistics, dynamic models of language change and phonological analysis in a structuralist perspective. §4. describes the phonological system of each of the members of PSJ (excepting Kimdá), encompassing: (i) a sketch of the phonetic segments; (ii) a description of the vocalic and consonantal phonemes based on criteria of free variation, complementary distribution and opposition, and (iii) their syllable structure and accentual pattern, as well as their phonemic distribution. In §5. I reconstruct the phonological system of PSJ, detailing the innovations regarded to each language as well as a series of unexplained sound changes. In §6. a lexicon of the PSJ is presented with morphological details. The last chapter features some considerations about the time depth of PSJ and fetches some questions for future research / Mestrado / Linguistica / Mestre em Linguística

Orientador: Rosana do Carmo Novaes Pinto / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem, / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T13:48:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Kleppa_Lou-Ann_D.pdf: 12084543 bytes, checksum: 1e300902cc79348dede7cd9bdbf89d2d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Esta tese situa-se na área de Neurolingüística, buscando dialogar com a área da Aquisição de Linguagem. Seu ponto de partida é a hipótese do espelho invertido, proposta por Roman Jakobson ([1956] 1971), que prevê que os primeiros elementos lingüísticos adquiridos por uma criança serão os últimos sujeitos à dissolução na fala do sujeito afásico. O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa é a preposição ligada a verbos na fala de uma criança (R) em processo de aquisição de linguagem e de dois sujeitos afásicos com agramatismo (MS e OJ) em processo de reconstrução de linguagem. Não se tem notícia de outros estudos que tomem a preposição como ponto de articulação para o contraste da fala de crianças e sujeitos afásicos. Foram examinados dados longitudinais, dialógicos e de fala espontânea de R, MS e OJ e dados dialógicos dos sujeitos afásicos, coletados em situações experimentais. Estes dados, de naturezas diferentes, foram examinados separadamente, para que fosse possível contrastar o funcionamento da preposição (i) na fala da criança versus dos sujeitos afásicos quando envolvidos numa mesma situação dialógica: a conversa informal; (ii) e na fala dos sujeitos afásicos em diferentes situações dialógicas: conversa informal versus situações experimentais. Os resultados obtidos indicam que a classificação das preposições mais adequada é a proposta pela Hipótese da Gramaticalização, já adotada em Kleppa (2005a) para dispor as preposições num continuum de diferentes graus de gramaticalização. Assim, questões de freqüência, distribuição, forma e sentido da preposição determinam seu uso na fala da criança e dos sujeitos afásicos. Os resultados também indicam que a diferença de uso de preposições na fala da criança versus sujeitos afásicos, e dos sujeitos afásicos em conversas espontâneas versus situações experimentais é quantitativa, não qualitativa. Contudo, a maior diferença encontrada diz respeito ao estatuto de sujeito falante da criança e do sujeito afásico. A partir da análise de dados podemos dizer que a criança e os sujeitos afásicos movimentam-se na mesma língua, mas estabelecem diferentes (e incomparáveis) relações com ela. No âmbito da Neurolingüística, a Teoria da Adaptação orienta esta pesquisa, ao passo que no âmbito da Aquisição de Linguagem, a teorização de De Lemos ilumina algumas questões pontuais. Davidson, com seu estudo sobre malapropismos, apresenta uma visão interessante do ato comunicativo/ interpretativo e assim chegamos a diferentes concepções de língua, falante e fala daquelas adotadas nos estudos correntes sobre preposições, fala de criança ou afásico. / Abstract: This thesis was developed within the field of Neurolinguistics and aims some possible dialogue with the field of Language Acquisition. The starting point for this study is the inverted mirror hypothesis, posed by Roman Jakobson ([1956] 1971), predicting that the first linguistic elements acquired by the child will be the last ones dissolved in the speech of aphasic speakers. The object of this study is the preposition linked to verbs in the speech of one child (R) in the process of language acquisition and two agrammatic speakers (MS and OJ) in the process of language reconstruction. As far as we know, there are no other studies taking the preposition as an articulation point for the contrast between child and aphasic speech. Longitudinal, dialogical data were examined from both the child and the aphasic speakers: R provides spontaneous speech data, while MS and OJ provide as well spontaneous as elicited speech. These data, different by nature, were examined separately in order to allow the contrast of prepositions functioning (i) in the speech of the child versus the speech of agrammatic speakers when involved in the same dialogical context: informal conversation; (ii) and in the speech of agrammatic subjects in different conversational situations: informal conversation versus experimental situations. The results obtained indicate that the best classification of prepositions is the one offered by the Grammaticalization Hypothesis, arraying them in a synchronic continuum of different degrees of grammaticalization, as was done in Kleppa (2005a). Thus, issues concerning frequency, distribution, form and meaning of the prepositions determine their use in the speech of children and agrammatic subjects. Our results also indicate that the differences between the use of prepositions in child and aphasic speech in informal conversations are quantitative, not qualitative. The greatest difference, however, is related to the position of the speaker towards (his) language. The analysis shows that both the child and the aphasic speakers move within their language according to the possibilities given by the language, but the relations they establish with this language are not comparable. Within Neurolinguistics, the Adaptation Theory guides this research, while the theory developed by De Lemos comes to illuminate some specific points of debate concerning language acquisition. Davidson, with his study on malapropisms, presents an alternative view of the communicative/ interpretive act, and thus we reach different conceptions of language, speaker and speech from those assumed in current studies about prepositions, child and agrammatic speech. / Doutorado / Doutor em Linguística