A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dphil) in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, 2016 / English is a world language. The serious concern for the study and the adaptation of English to the world in general and Nigerian and South African milieu in particular started over a century ago. The study of English has been given new dimension through debates held at conferences and workshops over the issue of standard or correctness which seemingly emerged in different countries of the world. The growing divergence and convergence of English language in the world today paved way for variations in use particularly at the level of spoken words. The present work is one of the new crops of studies that attempts to identify and characterise the varieties of spoken English of our time. The study deals with a comparative study of variation in stress and intonation patterns in the spoken Yoruba and Zulu English. It seeks to identify the nature of Yoruba and Zulu spoken English and to account for the varieties that exist within the continuum. The study also aims to generate a pedagogical approach for the presentation of the appropriate spoken English inputs which is necessary for characterizing Yoruba and Zulu spoken English. The essence is to see the growing divergence and convergence of spoken English in these two speech communities. The subjects of the study were 120 Yoruba and Zulu speakers of English. The speakers were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The main criteria for stratification were level education in English language and the linguistic group of the speakers. Two British (male and female) were used as the control. The elicitation instruments used for the collection of data were face to face interviews and materials for reading. The materials were divided into three parts: the word list, the sentence and a continuous reading passage. The three reading materials contained the target phonological variables which the researcher was interested in. The subjects were made to read each of the materials one after another and were recorded using PRAAT, a program for doing phonetic analyses and sound manipulations by Boersma and Weenink (2010). The study employed the framework of Metrical Phonology in the representation of stress. This was based on the view of rhythm proposed by Liberman (1975) and later developed into a theory by Liberman and Prince (1977). In this theory, the syllables are represented as having strong (S) and weak (W) stresses. The assignment of strong and weak nodes is determined by two rules: a Lexical Category Prominence Rule (LCPR), which operates on simple and compound words and Nuclear Stress Rule (NSR), which covers phrases and sentences. The analysis of intonation was based on Pierrehumbert’s (1980) model of intonation which supports the independence of stress pitch. In this system, intonation contours are seen as pitch accent and are described in terms of two levels: High and Low tones. The rank of difference was calculated using Wilcoxon (1985) Statistical Test. The study revealed that the spoken Yoruba and Zulu English featured more prominent syllables than spoken British English. The difference occurred mostly at the level of syllable and utterance duration. With regard to intonation, the study showed that the spoken Yoruba English is different from Zulu counterparts and those of the British. While the British used more directional tones, the Yoruba and Zulu used unidirectional tones. The study also showed that isiZulu speakers exhibited instances of vowel lengthening system while the Yoruba speakers demonstrated the tendency to use reduced vowel system. The varieties of spoken Yoruba English are different from those of isiZulu spoken English and in some measure significantly different from the British who served as the control group (see analyses on chapters five and six). The claim that high tones are associated with lexical words and low tones with structural words as posited by Well (1982), and Gut and Milde (2000) was not conclusively accepted by the data in this study. This study contends that the observed stress and intonation patterns in the spoken of some selected Yoruba and Zulu speakers could be considered as are part of ‘Standard educated Yoruba and Zulu spoken English’. The acoustic analyses of stress and intonation clearly showed that in isiZulu spoken English, syllable duration particularly the unstressed syllables are relatively longer than in the Yoruba and those in the native variety of spoken English being represented by the control group.

This study evaluated the temperature variability that existed in refrigerated table grape consignments over a two-day journey from two suppliers in southern Spain, to client managed facilities in England. In order to inhibit senescence, perishable foods are transported in temperature-controlled transport to maximize shelf life. However, thermal dynamics suggests that uniform spatial temperature is not necessarily achieved despite a constant set point. As fruit exposed to suboptimal temperatures is more likely to exhibit undesirable quality issues, knowledge of spatial temperature can direct quality control team members to these potentially problematic pallets within an inbound shipment. Warmer temperatures were identified on the passenger side of both trailers, at the rear of both trailers, and in lower pallet layers. Furthermore, heightened temperature was recorded in lower pallet layers in close proximity to the refrigeration return unit. The Supplier 2 shipment, set at 4oC, exhibited more spatially uniform temperatures compared to the Supplier 1 shipment set at 1oC. This implies that an operational compromise may exist: a higher but more uniform temperature or a lower but more variable temperature. In addition, analysis of airflow distribution suggested that airflow could be improved specifically in lower pallet layers and towards the rear of the trailer. Improved circulation will promote improved temperature uniformity for quality maintenance.

Somaclonal variation, to provide germplasm for crop improvement, must be screened, selected and characterized. Immature wheat, Triticum aestivum L., (PCYT-10) embryos (10-12 days old) were cultured on Hu rashige and Skoog (t1S) medium containing 0.5 mg L-1 6- furfurylaminopurine (kinet in) and 2, 3, or 4 mg L -1 of 1- methoxy-3,6- dichlorobenzoic acid (2,4-D). Dicamba, at 2 and 3 mg L -l and 0.2 mg L -1 2,4-D, produced 12.7%, 30.3%, and 28.2% of the somaclones, respectively. No plantlets were produced from other treatments. Variants were characterized by cytology, biochemistry and morphology. Somaclones showed significant differences in length and width of flag leaf, plant height, number of tillers, spike length, awn length, and number of seeds per main head when compared to parental controls for two sal fed recurrent generations. Number of spikelets per main head in the second generation showed no significant difference from controls. Stability and segregation of somaclones for measured traits indicated that genetic changes had occurred which could enhance wheat germplasm. Leaf isozymes of somaclones (SC 1 and sc 2 ) showed no variation in glutamine oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) (E.C . 2. 6. 2.1. ), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) (E.C. 3.4.11.1), or esterase (EST) (E.C. 3.4. 99) bands in 28% of the somaclones, 28% with light, and 44% missing a fast movind band. Approximately 30% of the normal group set no seeds. Mutants with the missing band were stable through the fourth-selfed generation, whereas, variants with the light EP band were still segregating . Plants with the missing EP band were morphologically normal compared to the parents except rachis internodes were longer than those of the parents. There was no correlation between the missing EP band and a missing chromosome in some mutants. The mutant may have been due to a point mutation, deletion, or activation of a repressor gene. Variants exhibited a wide range of protein density and missing or extra bands. Relative amounts of DNA per telophase nucleus were affected by inorganic salts and sucrose levels. Ploidy level increased with time within single-strength MS, but not within double MS medium. Cal li grown on the modified double MS medium exhibited a higher number of shoots than those grown on modified MS. Individual variants with desirable characteristics with high seed production, high protein levels, supernumerary spikelets, and larger flag leaves could be incorporated into a wheat improvement program.

Nine populations of sixty-eight individuals representing the distribution of Petrophytum caespitosum (Nutt.) Rydb. (Rosaceae) in the Intermountain Region were investigated for taxonomically significant variation using numerical techniques. On the basis of 19 morphological characters 3 subspecific taxa are recognized. Two taxa are existing subspecies: P. caespitosum (Nutt.) Rydb. var. caespitosum and P. caespitosum (Nutt.) Rydb. var. elatius (S. Wats.) Tides. One new subspecies is described: P. caespitosum (Nutt.) Rydb. var. latifolium. The ecology of the species is discussed. The floral and vegetative anatomy are described. Chromosome counts of 3 populations have given n = 9. A list of herbarium material is given. The numerical analyses were run on an IBM S/360 computer using standardized data to find the coefficients of correlation between individuals of the same population and the coefficients of correlation between pairs of populations. The results of the numerical analyses agree with more traditional methods.

With the contribution of intraspecific trait variation (ITV) to ecological processes being increasingly appreciated, its role in defining niche characteristics arises as a topic of interest. I hypothesised that species with a high magnitude of ITV would occupy a larger climate niche breadth than species with little ITV. Trait and occurrence data for 211 angiosperm tree species across Puerto Rico was used to investigate this hypothesis. Multiple indices for climate niche breadth (NB) and intraspecific variation were calculated, after which regression tests were performed to identify and characterise any relationships between NB and ITV. I found consistent positive correlations between niche breadth and intraspecific variation values (a single negative result was present), supporting the hypothesis that ITV of functional traits has a positive influence on climate niche breadth. These results highlight the contribution of ITV to species distribution, though the mechanisms behind this relationship are unclear and present a question for future study.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第19264号 / 理博第4119号 / 新制||理||1593(附属図書館) / 32266 / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 古市 剛史, 教授 湯本 貴和, 教授 中村 克樹 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

The variety of Kiswahili spoken in Bujumbura (Burundi) is central to the present sociolinguistic and structural analysis. Swahili in Burundi looks back upon a long history: first having been introduced by the German colonial administration, it has turned into a trade language along both the naval and non-naval trade routes between Uvira (DR Congo), Kigoma (Tanzania) and Bujumbura. Initially stigmatized as a language of ruthless urban rioters in the post-conflict era, it has increasingly gained popularity in Bujumbura, and is nowadays considered as one of the languages of Burundi, alongside Kirundi, French and English. Especially in the lively neighborhoods of the big- gest city, where there is a pulsating nightlife, Kiswahili can be heard in many interactions, and of- ten reveals influence from Kirundi, French, English and sometimes even Lingala. Structurally, the Swahili of Bujumbura combines elements from East Coast Swahili (ECS) as spoken in Tanzania and from Congo Swahili regiolects such as Kivu Swahili, and reveals a high degree of variability, depending upon interlocutors, contexts of interaction and communicative purpose. In this contribution, apart from summarizing the sociohistorical background and suggesting sociolinguistic approaches to grasping the high degree of variability in Kiswahili in Burundi, I discuss the most salient phonological and morphosyntactic patterns of variation and explain their situational distribution.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第24126号 / 理博第4854号 / 新制||理||1694(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 本川 雅治, 准教授 中野 隆文, 教授 中務 真人 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

No description available.

No description available.