This study focused on using a mapping tool, Space Syntax, to analyze the connectivity of the Cache County road network and its use to plan for bicycles. Space Syntax is being compared to another method that is already used by city planners called Bicycle Level of Service, or BLOS. The two analyses used data from Cache County and, after they were modeled and evaluated, a statistical analysis was done to see how similar one is to the other. The analyses were done at both a regional and a local scale. At both scales the analyses were not similar. Data was added to the Space Syntax analysis at both scales to see if it would influence making it more similar to BLOS. Adding the data had no effect in making them similar. It was determined that Space Syntax and BLOS are not similar and more research would need to be done to attempt to make them similar. They both have advantages and disadvantages to them when being used for planning for bicycles. One is not necessarily better than the other, as they are two different methods that could be used.

This thesis describes the Drag language. Drag is a general purpose, gradually typed, lexically scoped, and multi-paradigm pro- gramming language. The essence of Drag is to build the abstract syntax trees of the programs directly and interactively. Our work includes the language specification and a prototype program. The language specification focuses on the syntax, the semantic model, and the type system. The prototype consists of an interactive editor and a compiler that targets several plat- forms, among which we focus on the LLVM platform in this thesis.

This study examines the distribution and the status of the izāfa particle in Sorani Kurdish (Central Kurdish). It uses a corpus-based analysis to investigate the forms and the pattern of distribution of the izāfa particle in Sorani, a dominant dialect of Kurdish among the Western Iranian languages. The study details an investigation of the appearance of izāfa in various NPs using a variety of data mostly from the corpus but supplemented by the grammaticality judgments of native speakers. I show that next to parallel properties seen in other Western Iranian languages, Sorani Kurdish izāfa shows a form alternation. I examine the morphological status of the izāfa and other nominal morphological features in Kurdish as well as the sensitivity of izāfa form variation to specificity in Kurdish NPs. I argue that the differences and distributional incoherence of the izāfa within Sorani and across Western Iranian languages calls for a morphomic approach, which can be formally described using a constructional approach to grammar. The study focuses on the following questions: What type of head does the izāfa mark? What is the function of this marker? What are the constraints on its distribution? What are the syntactic and morphological rules governing its distribution?

Motor neuron disease (MND) is a set of neuromuscular diseases that affect the upper and/or lower motor neurons, resulting in progressive disability. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) are two forms of MND that both involve upper motor neuron degeneration, which can also accompany extra-motor changes in cognitive, behavioral, and/or emotional functioning for some individuals. Characterization of the cognitive profile of MND is still evolving, with growing interest in cognitive subtypes. The development of cognitive screens targeted to the MND cognitive profile aim to provide efficient and accurate brief assessments. However, empirical evaluation of tailored MND cognitive screens is needed for cross-validation independent of tests’ original developers. The present study addresses the cognitive profile of MND and the utility of brief cognitive screens with a focus on impairments in the language domain. The two primary aims include: (1) comprehensive assessment and characterization of language dysfunction in MND, and (2) empirical evaluation of brief cognitive screens with regard to detecting language impairments. Forty-one patients with MND (ALS n = 36; PLS n = 5) were administered a comprehensive language battery to classify cognitive impairment (MND/ALSci; Strong et al., 2017) in the language domain and/or verbal fluency. Patients also completed two tailored cognitive screens [ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS), Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS)] and one general screen (Montreal Cognitive Assessment; MoCA). The current preliminary results suggest language dysfunction in MND is characterized by prominent difficulties with word retrieval (confrontation naming) and/or syntax comprehension. However, evidence of reduced word production resembling nonfluent/agrammatic aphasia was not found. In total, 19.5% of the sample met criteria for MND/ALSci in the language domain (n = 8, all ALS); 22.0% met criteria for MND/ALSci in the verbal fluency domain (n = 9). Patients were classified into three subgroups, those with broad language impairments (ALSci-L n = 4, 9.8%), phonemic fluency impairments (MNDci-VF n = 5, 12.2%), or both impairments (ALSci-L+VF n = 4, 9.8%). Results also revealed existing challenges in accurately classifying patients with language dysfunction using brief cognitive screens. The ECAS Language subscore offered limited classification of broad language impairments in the present MND sample (sensitivity 50%, specificity 70%). Among the broader cognitive screens, sensitivities to language impairments were: ALS-CBS (100%), ECAS ALS-Specific Score (75%), and MoCA (71%). Convergent validity was demonstrated between outcomes on the ALS-CBS and ECAS ALS-Specific Score (rФ = .59). Discriminant validity was also demonstrated between outcomes on ALS-CBS compared to the MoCA (rФ = .11). Future research is needed to assess whether language dysfunction reflects a distinct MND cognitive phenotype(s) and potential relationships with disease prognosis. Naming and syntax comprehension may be fruitful language screening targets for future research.

Ce travail vise à tracer l’évolution de la question des « erreurs » de Boccace, du XVIe siècle jusqu’à nos jours, selon différentes approches : historique, ecdotique, linguistique et stylistique. Le travail se compose d’un premier chapitre divisé en trois sous-parties. Les deux premières sont consacrées à la perception du modèle de Boccace pendant les querelles linguistiques du XVIe siècle. La troisième vise à réfléchir sur la façon dont les lettrés de l’époque ont associé la définition d’ « erreurs » à la syntaxe du Décaméron.Nous nous attarderons sur les commentaires de Ruscelli, Borghini, Salviati et Beni. Le deuxième chapitre porte sur la tradition manuscrite du Décaméron et sur les propositions ecdotiques les plus récentes émises par les philologues modernes. Le troisième chapitre est entièrement consacré à la description des phénomènes de répétition de « che », du « che » suivi d’un infinitif, de la parahypotaxe et de la coordination entre subordonnées aux modes personnels et impersonnels, selon une approche comparative en italien ancien et ancien français. Le dernier chapitre se propose de réfléchir sur la présence (et l’absence) de ces constructions syntaxiques dans le Décaméron, afin de comprendre les choix de Boccace écrivain, selon les contextes d’élocution et les niveaux diégétiques des nouvelles. / The present work aims to describe the evolution of Boccaccio’s “mistakes” from 16th century on through the use of different approaches (namely historical, ecdotic, linguistic, and stylistic). The dissertation starts with a chapter divided in three sections: the first two sections deal with the perception of Boccaccio’s model in the linguistic controversy characterizing the 16th century. The third section analyses how the syntax of the Decameron came to be considered incorrect by scholars of the time.I will concentrate on the commentaries by Ruscelli, Borghini, Salviati and Beni. The second chapter is about the manuscript tradition of the Decameron and on the most recent ecdotic theories formulated by modern philologists on the issue. In the third chapter I focus on such linguistic phenomena as the repetition of “che”, para-hypotaxis, “che” followed by the infinitive, and the coordination between dependent clauses with both finite and nonfinite verbs. In this part of my dissertation, I make use of a comparative method, bringing together Old Italian and Old French. In the last chapter I intend to reflect on the presence (and absence) of these linguistic phenomena in the Decameron, in order to understand Boccaccio’s writing choices, and taking into account other elements such as elocution and the different diegetic levels acting in the novellas.

With the amount of programming languages currently available there is a high risk of confusion anddoubtfulness in aspiring programmers of which to choose. It may be motivating for a beginner tochoose “the perfect language” when starting, to avoid learning multiple languages. This thesiscompares three popular languages on three separate aspects, their syntax, usefulness in differentareas, and performance in terms of speed. Syntax wise the results varied with some aspects beingvery similar across all three languages to completely different in others. In terms of usefulness inspecific areas the languages flexibility allowed them to develop applications in most fields, while beingdominant in different areas. The speed comparison resulted in python being the slowest across alltests, with Java and Javascript (running inside Nodejs) competing for first place.

Children with high-functioning autism, children with specific language impairment, children with autism and language impairment, and controls produced sentences after a prompt to form a sentence using a specific word. The sentences were analyzed for syntactic complexity. Children with language impairment, regardless of autism diagnosis, made less complex sentences than their age peers. However, children with autism and language impairment exhibited a broader range of ability than children with language impairment alone. Children with high-functioning autism without concomitant structural language impairment created sentences of similar complexity to age peers. Word variables also influenced sentence complexity, with word meaning (abstract vs. concrete) having the most robust effect and word frequency having a negligible effect. Implications for this study in relation to double-deficit and syntactic bootstrapping models are discussed.

Previous accounts of preverbal subjects in Spanish and European Portuguese (EP) in the literature have debated the syntactic position of these elements. According to some analyses, preverbal subjects are canonical arguments appearing in an A-position (e.g. Goodall 2001, 2002; Suñer 2003 for Spanish; Duarte 1997; Costa 2004 for EP). Other analyses propose that preverbal subjects are non-arguments appearing in a left-peripheral - perhaps CLLD - A'-position (e.g. Uribe-Etxebarria 1990, 1995; Ordóñez & Treviño 1999 for Spanish; Barbosa 1996, 2000 for EP). Although Galician is an ideal language for insight on this debate due to linguistic ties with EP and political ties with Spain, Gupton (2006) obtained inconclusive results regarding the status of preverbal subjects in Galician. As the literature on Galician lacks descriptions of preferred word orders according to discourse context, I collected quantitative and qualitative experimental data to describe the syntax-information structure interface in Galician. The vast majority of speakers of this minority language are Spanish-Galician bilinguals with (self-reported) high levels of competency in both languages. This is of relevance because a variety of bilinguals, including heritage speakers, attrited L1 speakers, and those who have been claimed to have incompletely acquired the heritage language have been shown to exhibit instability and optionality at the linguistic interfaces, in particular at the syntax-discourse pragmatics interface (e.g. Hulk & Müller 2000; Sorace 2005 among numerous others), which is the subject of investigation in this dissertation. The data collected indicate a marked preference for SVO in a wide variety of discourse contexts, a preference that differs from those claimed to apply in similar contexts in Spanish (e.g. Ordóñez 1997, Zubizarreta 1998, Casielles 2004). Assuming that the presence of clitics implies the projection of f (Raposo & Uriagereka 2005) and the extension of the preverbal field into the left periphery, the cliticization data gathered for Galician in main clauses, subordinate clauses and recomplementation contexts suggest a number of preverbal positions in which preverbal subjects, affective phrases, and Topic elements may appear, one of which I suggest is Spec, DoubledFceP, following Martín-González (2002), but with proposed modifications. The data also suggest necessary modifications for López's (2009) syntax-information structure interface proposal in Romance, which suggests a reduced, syncretic left-peripheral position (Spec, FinP) in which CLLD Topics, wh- elements, and Fronted Focus elements appear and are assigned [+c] (contrastive) by the Pragmatics module. Within the preverbal architecture I propose, preverbal subjects and other left-peripheral elements coincide, but in a variety of syntactic positions. Therefore, for pragmatic feature assignment to successfully assign [+c], Pragmatics must distinguish between preverbal subjects and other left-peripheral phrases.

It has long been theorized that, after the so-called critical period has passed, acquiring language becomes a more difficult enterprise. While general differences between adult second language (L2) learners and normally developed child (L1) acquirers have been more or less empirically established, a strand of recent L2 accounts have focused on the specific locus of these differences. The main goal of this dissertation project is to test the predictions of one such account: Clahsen and Felser's Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH; Clahsen & Felser 2006a, 2006b). The SSH places emphasis on the empirical testing of native/non-native language processing asymmetries, which are argued to be due to less detailed L2 grammatical representations. This dissertation tests the predictions of the SSH using a long-distance dependency: Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) in L2 Spanish. The study includes on-line and an off-line tasks, which were completed by a control group of native speakers of Spanish and an experimental group constituted by L2 learners of Spanish whose first language was English. In view of the well-known fact that L2 learning outcomes vary widely across individuals, a secondary goal of this dissertation project is to determine whether variability in individual learning abilities, such as inhibitory control and statistical learning predicts variability in L2 learning. Part of L2 learning involves detecting the probabilistic patterns of a language (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport, 1996), such that individuals who are better pattern learners may be better able to learn the structural regularities of the L2 input. Results were analyzed in order to determine whether the predictions of the SSH could account for the patterns present in the data. These results suggest that although the acquisition of long-distance dependencies is a protracted process, both intermediate and advanced L2 learners of Spanish could anticipate (predict) a syntactic element based in previously occurring cues. Thus, these results fail to support the predictions of the SSH. In terms of individual differences, overall, neither statistical learning nor inhibitory control appear to modulate the on-line processing of this particular long-distance dependency in Spanish.

The goal of this dissertation is to examine the ubiquitous challenge that adult second language speakers have in producing functional morphology, even at advanced stages of acquisition. Specifically, this study examines how native speakers of Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese use past tense and number morphology in English. To this aim, two current competing hypotheses are tested: the Interpretability Hypothesis, which states that certain aspects of syntactic knowledge (uninterpretable features) cannot be acquired after a critical period, resulting in target-deviant use of functional morphology, and the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis, which claims that all aspects of syntax can be acquired, but that phonological transfer effects from the first language might be at the source of target-deviant use of functional morphology. Participants were selected according to a pre-established set of criteria in order to obtain similar linguistic profiles. Native speakers of American English also participated as controls. The experiments included proficiency tests, sentence completion tests and picture description tests. Group and individual results were analyzed in order to determine the extent to which the Interpretability Hypothesis and the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis could account for the observed patterns. The results of the experiments in this study strongly suggest that phonological factors can account for some of the observed target-deviant use of functional morphology, supporting the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis. The results also suggest that ultimate acquisition of new uninterpretable features is possible, supporting the Prosodic Transfer Hypothesis and not the Interpretability Hypothesis. The study also stresses the idea that although phonological transfer effects cannot account for all the problems observed in second language functional morphology, it is vital that phonological factors be taken into account.