Evaluates two hypotheses that argue that the Spanish demonstrative verbs "aqui" and "aca" can alternate in some contexts. The results of a quantitative study of Venezuelan Spanish show that the delimination hypothesis, which states that the place denoted by "aqui" is less limited and defined than the place denoted by "aca," is valid. (29…

Examined synchronic and diachronic data for clefts and relative clauses in English, arguing that "it"-cleft complements do not differ syntactically from restrictive relative clauses. The diachronic data further show that cleft complements and restrictive relative clauses have changed together over time and at the same rate. (48…

This quantitative, diachronic study of the object markers "ba" and "jiang" in Mandarin Chinese challenges the view that these markers have undergone the same process of grammaticalization and have acquired the same function over time. Evidence is provided that shows that, in texts where both are used, each has its own distinctive functions. (36…

Examines the changes that French negative infinitives have undergone since the 15th century. Argues that, for main verbs, the change in word order reflects a change in the position of "pas," while the change in the position of modals and auxiliaries is due to these verbs assuming a position lower in the structure. (82 references) (MDM)

Examines the loss of palatalization assimilation in modern Russian within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT). Shows that this theory offers new explanations for the role of markedness and naturalness in the mechanism of a sound change and argues that OT provides new possibilities for relating quantitative patterns to the principles of…

Argues that the position of the finite verb in Old English clauses reflects synchronic variation in underlying structure, INFL-medial versus INFL-final, and that the syntax of main and subordinate clauses is the same. Quantitative data analysis indicates that the frequency of INFL-medial structure increases at the expense of INFL-final structure…

Reports a study of the diphthongs, "EAR" and "AIR," which are merging for many New Zealand speakers. Each stage of the study involves the analysis of word lists and sentences read by over 100 14- and 15-year-old school pupils. Results indicate a trend toward a merger to the EAR diphthong. (18 references) (Author/CK)

Proposes a set of copula forms that should be set aside from variable analysis as instances of "don't count" (DC) forms to allow for systematic comparisons among studies of the English language. Reviews the major alternative descriptions of DC copula cases in the literature and analyzes the behavior of the traditional DC categories. (29…

Discusses "end-weight," long, complex phrases that tend to come at the end of clauses. Corpus data on heavy noun phrase shift, the dative alternation, and particle movement indicate that there are several structural measures of weight highly correlated with constituent ordering. (38 references) (Author/CK)

Provides evidence from a small northern U.S. city for Canadian raising, a Canadian phenomenon that heightens the onset of diphthongs in /ai/ and /au/ relative to the low central onset in neighboring dialects. Findings suggest that the Canadian diphthong varieties may not be conforming to the U.S. norm, but instead that the two varieties are…

Examines a pattern of end-of-word deletion in Faetar, a Francoprovencal dialect spoken in southern Italy, and considers synchronic variants. The article uses the word "deletion" as a synchronic description of the fact that speakers do not always phonetically produce everything in the input form. Optimality Theory accounts for such…

Investigated the potential correlation of agreement marking with the expression of pronominal subjects in the speech of 10 Spanish speakers from Puerto Rico and 10 from Spain. The results show not only similar patterns of pronominal expression but also similar rankings of constraints on pronominal expression in both dialects. (MDM)

Develops analytical techniques to determine "borrowability," the ease with which a lexical item or category of lexical items can be borrowed by one language from another. These techniques are then applied to Spanish borrowings in Bolivian Quechua on the basis of a set of bilingual texts. (29 references) (MDM)