This thesis is a detailed investigation of the phonology and phonetics of the intonation of Persian carried out in the framework of the AM theory of intonational phonology. Based on 2112 utterances read by a total of 8 native speakers, the work, on the one hand, presents a phonological account of the prosodic structure of this language, a structure that consists of the level Accentual Phrase with the pitch accent (L+)H* immediately dominated by the level Intonational Phrase, each level being marked by a low or high boundary tone. On the other hand, it scrutinizes the phonetic implementation of tones with regard to segments and shows how the phonology of Persian intonation is phonetically realized in the speech string. This research also studies the intonational patterns of simplex sentences, compound sentences coordinated with different types of conjunctions, subordinate structures, and vocative constructions. The sentence types include copular verb declaratives, sentences with unaccusative and unergative verbs, (S)(O)V sentences with and without adjuncts, null subject sentences, scrambled sentences, yes/no questions, leading yes/no questions, alternative questions, tag questions, single and multiple WH-questions, echo questions, imperatives, and single, double, and phrase focus constructions.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / School of Physical Education

This thesis is a detailed investigation of the phonology and phonetics of the intonation of Persian carried out in the framework of the AM theory of intonational phonology. Based on 2112 utterances read by a total of 8 native speakers, the work, on the one hand, presents a phonological account of the prosodic structure of this language, a structure that consists of the level Accentual Phrase with the pitch accent (L+)H* immediately dominated by the level Intonational Phrase, each level being marked by a low or high boundary tone. On the other hand, it scrutinizes the phonetic implementation of tones with regard to segments and shows how the phonology of Persian intonation is phonetically realized in the speech string. This research also studies the intonational patterns of simplex sentences, compound sentences coordinated with different types of conjunctions, subordinate structures, and vocative constructions. The sentence types include copular verb declaratives, sentences with unaccusative and unergative verbs, (S)(O)V sentences with and without adjuncts, null subject sentences, scrambled sentences, yes/no questions, leading yes/no questions, alternative questions, tag questions, single and multiple WH-questions, echo questions, imperatives, and single, double, and phrase focus constructions.

The research presented in this thesis is aimed at developing a limit state design methodology for railway track for recommendation to Standards Australia's next revision of the 'Permanent way materials: prestressed concrete sleepers' code (AS1085.14, 2003). There is widespread suspicion that the railway track, particularly concrete sleepers, have untapped reserves of strength that has potential engineering and economic advantages for track owners. Through quantifying the effects of train speed, wheel impact loadings and distribution of vehicle loads, track engineers would be able to design railway track more accurately and hence uncover the reserves of strengths in railway track. To achieve this improvement a comprehensive set of wheel/rail impact measurements has been collected over a one year period to establish a distribution of track loadings. The wheel/rail impact data collected showed a logarithmically linear distribution which shows that impact forces are randomly occurring events. The linearity of the data also allows for wheel/rail impact forces to be forecasted allowing for a more rational risk based design of the railway track. To help with an investigation of the influence of changes to train operation on the wheel/rail impact force distributions, development of a new dynamic track computer model capable of simulating the complex interaction between the train and track was completed within this research. The model known as DTRACK (Dynamic analysis of rail TRACK) was benchmarked against other dynamic models and field data to validate its outputs. The field measurements and DTRACK simulations became the basis for development of a limit state design methodology for railway track (risk based approach) for railway track in place of an allowable limit state (compliance based) approach. This new approach will allow track owners to assess the track capacity based on more realistic loads and is expected to allow an increase in the capacity of existing track infrastructure which will allow railways to be more commercially competitive and viable.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Physics, March 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.