The Calibrated Error-Driven Ranking Algorithm (CEDRA;
) is shown to fail on two test cases of phonologically conditioned variation from
. The failure of the CEDRA raises a serious unsolved challenge ...for learnability research in stochastic Optimality Theory, because the CEDRA itself was proposed to repair a learnability problem (
) encountered by the original Gradual Learning Algorithm. This result is supported by both simulation results and a detailed analysis whereby a few constraints and a few candidates at a time are recursively “peeled off” until we are left with a “core” small enough that the behavior of the learner is easy to interpret.
Elements, Government, and Licensing brings together new theoretical and empirical developments in phonology. It covers three principal domains of phonological representation: melody and segmental ...structure; tone, prosody and prosodic structure; and phonological relations, empty categories, and vowel-zero alternations. Theoretical topics covered include the formalisation of Element Theory, the hotly debated topic of structural recursion in phonology, and the empirical status of government. In addition, a wealth of new analyses and empirical evidence sheds new light on empty categories in phonology, the analysis of certain consonantal sequences, phonological and non-phonological alternation, the elemental composition of segments, and many more. Taking up long-standing empirical and theoretical issues informed by the Government Phonology and Element Theory, this book provides theoretical advances while also bringing to light new empirical evidence and analysis challenging previous generalisations. The insights offered here will be equally exciting for phonologists working on related issues inside and outside the Principles & Parameters programme, such as researchers working in Optimality Theory or classical rule-based phonology.
Sowing dates are currently an essential input for crop models. However, in the future, the optimal sowing time will be affected by climate changes and human adaptations to these changes. A better ...understanding of what determines the choice of wheat type and sowing dates is required to be able to predict future crop yields reliably.
This study was conducted to understand how climate conditions affect the choice of wheat types and sowing dates globally.
We develop a model integrating optimality concepts for simulating gross primary production (GPP) with climate constraints on wheat phenology to predict sowing dates. We assume that wheat could be sown at any time with suitable climate conditions and farmers would select a sowing date that maximises yields. The model is run starting on every possible climatically suitable day, determined by climate constraints associated with low temperature and intense precipitation. The optimal sowing date is the day which gives the highest yield in each location. We evaluate the simulated optimal sowing dates with data on observed sowing dates created by merging census-based datasets and local agronomic information, then predict their changes under future climate scenarios to gain insight into the impacts of climate change.
Cold-season temperatures are the major determinant of sowing dates in the extra-tropics, whereas the seasonal cycle of monsoon rainfall is important in the tropics. Our model captures the timing of reported sowing dates, with differences of less than one month over much of the world; maximum errors of up to two months occur in tropical regions with large altitudinal gradients. Discrepancies between predictions and observations are larger in tropical regions than temperate and cold regions. Slight warming is shown to promote earlier sowing in wet areas but later in dry areas; larger warming leads to delayed sowing in most regions. These predictions arise due to the interactions of several influences on yield, including the effects of warming on growing-season length, the need for sufficient moisture during key phenological stages, and the temperature threshold for vernalization of winter wheat.
The integration of optimality concepts for simulating GPP with climate constraints on phenology provides realistic predictions of wheat type and sowing dates. The model thus provides a basis for predicting how crop calendars might change under future climate change. It can also be used to investigate potential changes in management to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
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•Uncertainties in projected crop yields stem from specifying sowing dates; there is a need to predict sowing dates reliably.•We investigate if wheat type and optimal sowing date can be predicted from climate constraints on phenology.•Including constraints to avoid frost and rain damage in an optimality-based model gives good predictions of sowing dates.•Global patterns in wheat type and sowing date, reflecting management practices to maximise local yields, are predictable.•Our model can be used to predict climate change impacts on wheat yield and if changing sowing dates mitigate these impacts.
The purpose of this paper is to show how the basic Topic-Comment ordering pattern of the Hakka can be accounted for by the constraint-based optimality theory. Part of the linguistic data used in this ...paper is adopted from Xu (2002), while those examples presented to show syntactic tests are created by the author. These sentences have been further checked and confirmed by a native speaker of Hakka. This paper proposes an Optimality Theoretic (OT) model that takes into account both syntactic and semantic considerations. It shows that semantic information comes into play successively at different points of OT grammar. First, integrating semantic information into the schema of OT syntax works precisely to describe the Hakka topic-initial sentence pattern. The alignment constraints incorporate information about the semantically defined topic and comment constructions into the constraint design, which interacts with other markedness constraints to filter linguistic constructions during production. Second, semantic constraints are formed to further evaluate form-meaning pairs during the process of interpretation. In this aspect, semantic notions including contrastiveness and markedness are incorporated into the theoretical plan with the purpose of pairing syntactically well-formed sentences with appropriate meaning. The paper successfully presents an optimization model illustrating how syntax and semantics cooperate to pair meanings with linguistic constructions in forming linguistic expressions.
Laryngeal Metathesis in Saraiki Language Atta, Firdos; Syed, Nasir Abbas; Bano, Saira
Journal of communication and cultural trends,
03/2023, Letnik:
5, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This study presents an analysis of synchronic metathesis in the Saraiki language based on the Optimality Theory (OT) approach. It is limited to the voiced laryngeal fricative (/ɦ/). Only voiced ...phonemes are the targets of /ɦ/ metathesis in Saraiki (resulting in breathy voiced consonants), while voiceless plosives are incompatible with this process. Metathesized and non-metathesized forms both occur in Saraiki. They are realized in informal and formal speech styles, respectively. This study analyses the informal speech style and identifies the reasons behind the movement of the above laryngeal fricative in phonetic optimization.
Borrowing in linguistics refers to the process whereby a group of speakers incorporates certain foreign linguistic components into their home language via a process known as linguistic borrowing. The ...process by which these foreign linguistic elements, known as loanwords, go through phonological, morphological, or semantic changes in order for them to fit the grammar of the recipient language is referred to as loanword adaptation. Loanwords go through these changes in order for them to become compatible with the grammar of the recipient language. One of the most divisive topics in loanword phonology is whether adaptations occur at the phonemic or phonetic levels, and current literature distinguishes three primary viewpoints: nativization-through-perception, nativization-through-production, and the Optimality Model. This article provides an overview of lexical borrowing and then presents a detailed account of the three models of phonological loanword adaptation.
In the 1990s, language acquisition researchers and theoretical linguists developed an interest in learning mechanisms, and learning theorists rediscovered the verbal learning tradition. Nonetheless, ...learning theory and language acquisition continued to develop largely independently, which has stymied progress in both fields. However, exciting progress is happening in applying learning theory to language, and, more recently, in using language learning data to advance domain‐general learning theory. These developments raise hopes for a bidirectional flow of information between the fields. The importance of language data for learning theory and of learning theory for understanding language is briefly discussed.
This paper analyzes the universal concept that sonorants are marked geminates in the gemination process of Sylheti Bangla (henceforth SHB). Evidence from SHB suggests that when SHB speakers confront ...borrowed words with sonorant initial or obstruent initial heterosyllabic clusters, it is invariably the sonorant that gets assimilated. In addition, SHB data indicates that when faced with choices between two sonorants of the heterosyllabic clusters, speakers opt for the less sonorous one for gemination. Given this phenomenon, the proposal that sonorant gemination is absent in SHB could not be the ultimate one as it receives additional support from the fact that SHB also possesses many underlying sonorant geminations. Based on this investigation the hierarchy of the constraints *GG*RR>>*LL*NN is proposed for analyzing the gemination process in SHB. Finally, this paper illustrates some additional constraints in the SHB gemination process found to be necessary.
•Compares prior work on unusual features of the standard amino acid alphabet.•Confirms highly unusual patterns for amino acid volume and hydrophobicity.•No clear, non-random distribution of pKa ...values in the standard amino acid alphabet.•Much weaker patterns for the abiotically plausible subset of coded amino acids.•Multiple, specific future directions are suggested.
A series of prior publications has reported unusual properties of the set of genetically encoded amino acids shared by all known life. This work uses quantitative measures (descriptors) of size, charge and hydrophobicity to compare the distribution of the genetically encoded amino acids with random samples of plausible alternatives. Results show that the standard “alphabet” of amino acids established by the time of LUCA is distributed with unusual evenness over a broad range for the three, key physicochemical properties. However, different publications have used slightly different assumptions, including variations in the precise descriptors used, the set of plausible alternative molecules considered, and the format in which results have been presented. Here we consolidate these findings into a unified framework in order to clarify unusual features. We find that in general, the remarkable features of the full set of 20 genetically encoded amino acids are robust when compared with random samples drawn from a densely populated picture of plausible, alternative L-α-amino acids. In particular, the genetically encoded set is distributed across an exceptionally broad range of volumes, and distributed exceptionally evenly within a modest range of hydrophobicities. Surprisingly, range and evenness of charge (pKa) is exceptional only for the full amino acid structures, not for their sidechains - a result inconsistent with prior interpretations involving the role that amino acid sidechains play within protein sequences. In stark contrast, these remarkable features are far less clear when the prebiotically plausible subset of genetically encoded amino acids is compared with a much smaller pool of prebiotically plausible alternatives. By considering the nature of the “optimality theory” approach taken to derive these and prior insights, we suggest productive avenues for further research.
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