Search

This study aims to explore the syntactic functions and characteristics of the genitive case in the ancient Greek novel “Daphnis and Chloe” by Longus, a text from the 2nd century AD, which exemplifies the “second sophistic” period of rhetorical development. The primary source for this research is the text of “Daphnis and Chloe”, which has been thoroughly analysed to ascertain the usage of the genitive case in various syntactic roles. The research employs descriptive and structural methods of linguistic analysis. The descriptive method identifies and explains instances of the genitive case within the text, while the structural method examines the relationships between these instances and other linguistic elements. The genitive case in the novel is found to perform multiple syntactic functions, including controlling verbs, nouns, adjectives, and expressing various semantic nuances. Detailed examples are provided to illustrate these functions and their impact on the text’s meaning. The findings offer a foundation for further studies of the genitive case in ancient Greek texts, providing significant insights for researchers and linguists interested in ancient Greek grammar and its syntactic constructions. The study enhances understanding of ancient rhetorical techniques and their application in literary texts during the “second sophistic” period.

The Turkish nominalizer -(y)Iş demonstrates a broad spectrum of functions ranging from a deverbal word-formation device that forms lexicalized nouns with concrete and abstract meanings to an inflectional marker used in nominal clauses, especially in clausal complementation. In some uses, the item conveys manner semantics. While the item itself has been variously investigated and forms an established part of any Turkish grammar description, there is still a lack of consensus on its functional and semantic properties. This article investigates the morphosyntactic functions and the semantic features of the nominalizer -(y)Iş in light of the claims in the linguistic literature on the one hand, which include manner, countable events, factive imperfective, single instance of an event, direct reference to the inner process of an action, etc., and of examples from primary sources on the other, and evaluates the findings from the perspective of grammaticalization. It will be argued that the range of functions of this item and the fact that it seems to resist any straightforward analysis result from its transition from a derivational marker to an inflectional marker with tasks including complementizer functions, a process in which manner semantics will be argued to play a role.

Introduction: In heritage bilingualism studies, code-switching has often been overlooked, with a focus on either the heritage language or the dominant societal language of the bilingual individual. However, exploring code-switching can provide valuable insights into heritage speakers' grammar, revealing patterns that may not be apparent when only examining monolingual speech. Recent research suggests that in code-switched clauses, functional elements must align with the language of verbal inflection (INFL), which encompasses tense, aspect, voice, and agreement. This generalization is usually referred to as the Matrix Language Frame (MLF). The present study explores the empirical validity of this generalization using an experimental protocol that controls for variables that earlier work did not take into consideration. These variables are (a) adjacency between INFL and the functional element, (b) the interaction of the MLF with embedded islands, and (c) the possibly degrading effects of inserting a functional category. Thus, the aim of this study is to provide evidence in support (or not) of the INFL constraint beyond the experimental limitations in earlier work. The study focuses on the bilingual combination Papiamento-Dutch. Our results, by and large, support the MLF generalization. Methods: We carried out an online audio survey (3-point Likert scale) with 43 Papiamento-Dutch bilinguals. We manipulated the position of the switch and controlled for potential directionality effects by presenting code-switches in both switching directions. Results: We find a scale of acceptability, where the conditions that respect the INFL constraint are preferred. Additionally, and consistent with recent corpus and experimental literature, our results point to a clear asymmetry regarding directionality effects or choice of ML, reflecting how code-switching is deployed in the community. Discussion: Controlling for directionality allows us to discern the mechanisms of the INFL constraint. Thus, these findings underscore the intertwining influence of linguistic factors and community norms in guiding code-switching dynamics. Such insights extend beyond the specific context to shed light on broader dynamics within (heritage-language) bilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article approaches defective and overabundant paradigm cells as an opportunity and pitfall for usage-based linguistics. Through reference to two production tasks involving native speakers of Czech, we show how definitions of these two categories are problematized when multiple forms per context are entrenched, or when pre-emption seems to occur in the absence of entrenchment: in other words, pre-emption occurs via entrenchment of uncertainty. We explain the results by adopting a broader, usage-based perspective. We examine the relationship between frequency (as proxy for exposure) and reference-work information (as proxy for a priori structure) to assess their connection with our experimental results. We assign a role to frequency as helping to form perceptions of "suitable" and "unsuitable" forms, but also note places where non-frequency factors predominate. "Structure" as represented by reference-work recommendations appears to have no significant connection to our experimental results; we discuss reasons for this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between morphology and spelling is an important source of evidence for theories of linguistic processing. In particular, spelling errors can help us assess the role of morphological structure in language users' mental representations of words in authentic texts. Previous research suggests that some morphological units are more prone to spelling errors than others, partly depending on the degree to which they are perceived as separate units. In this paper, we want to test this hypothesis by exploring graphemic variation in a collection of 1,667 German school-exit exams. Specifically, we code the spelling errors for their morphological structure. We can show that inflectional suffixes show a much higher probability of final letter omissions compared to final stems or derivational suffixes. We also find tentative evidence that case markers are more often affected by omissions than number markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mabaan, a Western Nilotic language, there is a binary inflectional voice contrast in the morphology of verbs. In addition to a morphologically unmarked basic voice, there is a fully productive applicative voice, which is morphologically marked. This applicative voice may be called circumstantial in order to distinguish it from another applicative voice, which is derivational, namely benefactive. The circumstantial voice turns an adjunct into an object, making an intransitive verb transitive and a transitive verb ditransitive. In a main clause, however, a transitive verb needs to be detransitivized via antipassive derivation in order for an adjunct to become object through the circumstantial voice. In some types of subordinate clauses, by contrast, any verb can get the circumstantial voice, whatever its transitivity, derivational status and meaning. This voice is obligatory in relative clauses when the relativized constituent is an adjunct and in some types of adverbial clauses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article provides a case study of the forms corresponding to the meaning 'small' in Swedish, which exhibit a number-based suppletive alternation: descriptively, liten appears in the singular while små appears in the plural. We demonstrate that this alternation is best treated as contextual allomorphy, and provide six arguments that favor this account over a plausible alternative, according to which the forms realize two distinct roots with different lexical semantics. We situate a Distributed Morphology-based account of the alternation within the broader context of inflection in the language, and address challenges and complications to the allomorphy approach from outside of the root's 'typical' adjectival contexts, including adverbs and compounding. This study supports the existence of root suppletion conditioned by inflectional features, and has implications for our understanding of locality conditions on root suppletion as well as contextual allomorphy more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time reference is used to build the temporal framework of discourse and is essential in ensuring efficient communication. Several studies have reported time reference deficits in fluent and non-fluent aphasia and have shown that tenses (past, present, future) are not all impaired to the same extent. However, there is little consensus on the dissociations between tenses, and the question of the influence of the type of aphasia (fluent vs. non-fluent) on time reference remains open. Therefore, a systematic review and an individual participant data meta-analysis (or mega-analysis) were conducted to determine (1) whether one tense is more impaired than another in fluent and non-fluent aphasia and, if so, (2) which task and speaker-related factors moderate tense effects. The systematic review resulted in 35 studies reporting the performance in time reference of 392 participants. The mega-analysis was then performed on 23 studies for a total of 232 participants and showed an alteration of past tense compared to present and future tenses in both types of aphasia. The analysis also showed a task and an age effect on time reference but no gender effect, independently of tenses. These results add to our knowledge of time reference in aphasia and have implications for future therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(N , γ) -hyperelliptic semigroups were introduced by Fernando Torres to encapsulate the most salient properties of Weierstrass semigroups associated with totally ramified points of N-fold covers of curves of genus γ . Torres characterized (2 , γ) -hyperelliptic semigroups of maximal weight whenever their genus is large relative to γ . Here we do the same for (3 , γ) -hyperelliptic semigroups, and we formulate a conjecture about the general case whenever N ≥ 3 is prime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the early stages in the development of children’s speech system. Its main features (specific ways of gender identification, simplified inflectional rules, and free derivation) constitute the backbone of Russian grammar, which in turn defines the functioning of the entire mechanism of the Russian language. These are the underlying linguistic patterns and the most general rules. Children learn them at the earliest stage of language acquisition and then modify them using more intricate and complex patterns as they continue to develop their language system. Based on the results obtained, the structure of the Russian grammar framework, an artificial model that summarizes the tendencies inherent in children’s speech at different stages of language acquisition and brings them to a logical conclusion, is outlined. When young children follow the rules of this framework, they sometimes create unique speech products that deviate substantially from the norm. However, they rely on the fixed, albeit simplified, rules and thus master the tricky issues of the grammatical system of the Russian language. Therefore, the framework of Russian grammar, or the core of the Russian language system, should be taken into account in diagnosing the level of speech development, learning Russian as a foreign language, and working with bilingual children.

Copyright of Naše Řeč is the property of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of the Czech Language and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We examine the reactions of Czech native speakers to cues asking them to supply inflectional forms of nouns and verbs that are either canonical (non-variant), overabundant, or supposedly defective, to see what distinguishing characteristics these three conditions have for production. We find that respondents handle defective material differently from other conditions, producing different sorts of forms at different frequencies, and taking significantly longer to do so. Overabundant cells pattern at the individual level like canonical inflectional cells, but collectively display a significantly more varied and less focused spread of forms produced than our canonical cells. The individual dimension of uncertainty in production is thus limited to defective cells, but the collective dimension of uncertainty is evident between all three conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time reference is used to build the temporal framework of discourse and is essential in ensuring efficient communication. Several studies have reported time reference deficits in fluent and non-fluent aphasia and have shown that tenses (past, present, future) are not all impaired to the same extent. However, there is little consensus on the dissociations between tenses, and the question of the influence of the type of aphasia (fluent vs. non-fluent) on time reference remains open. Therefore, a systematic review and an individual participant data meta-analysis (or mega-analysis) were conducted to determine (1) whether one tense is more impaired than another in fluent and non-fluent aphasia and, if so, (2) which task and speaker-related factors moderate tense effects. The systematic review resulted in 35 studies reporting the performance in time reference of 392 participants. The mega-analysis was then performed on 23 studies for a total of 232 participants and showed an alteration of past tense compared to present and future tenses in both types of aphasia. The analysis also showed a task and an age effect on time reference but no gender effect, independently of tenses. These results add to our knowledge of time reference in aphasia and have implications for future therapies.

IntroductionIn heritage bilingualism studies, code-switching has often been overlooked, with a focus on either the heritage language or the dominant societal language of the bilingual individual. However, exploring code-switching can provide valuable insights into heritage speakers' grammar, revealing patterns that may not be apparent when only examining monolingual speech. Recent research suggests that in code-switched clauses, functional elements must align with the language of verbal inflection (INFL), which encompasses tense, aspect, voice, and agreement. This generalization is usually referred to as the Matrix Language Frame (MLF). The present study explores the empirical validity of this generalization using an experimental protocol that controls for variables that earlier work did not take into consideration. These variables are (a) adjacency between INFL and the functional element, (b) the interaction of the MLF with embedded islands, and (c) the possibly degrading effects of inserting a functional category. Thus, the aim of this study is to provide evidence in support (or not) of the INFL constraint beyond the experimental limitations in earlier work. The study focuses on the bilingual combination Papiamento–Dutch. Our results, by and large, support the MLF generalization.MethodsWe carried out an online audio survey (3-point Likert scale) with 43 Papiamento–Dutch bilinguals. We manipulated the position of the switch and controlled for potential directionality effects by presenting code-switches in both switching directions.ResultsWe find a scale of acceptability, where the conditions that respect the INFL constraint are preferred. Additionally, and consistent with recent corpus and experimental literature, our results point to a clear asymmetry regarding directionality effects or choice of ML, reflecting how code-switching is deployed in the community.DiscussionControlling for directionality allows us to discern the mechanisms of the INFL constraint. Thus, these findings underscore the intertwining influence of linguistic factors and community norms in guiding code-switching dynamics. Such insights extend beyond the specific context to shed light on broader dynamics within (heritage-language) bilingualism.

This brief research report presents a comparison of the early verb productions of four children acquiring the Papuan language Nungon as a first language. A previous case study examined only verb productions of the child TO; these are now compared with those from three other children, studied from ages 1;1-2;7 (non-dense corpus; one child, AB) and ages 2;4-2;7 (dense corpora; two children, MK and MF). Two of the most striking features of TO's early verb productions are shown to be outliers relative to the other three children: her 'root nominals' stage and her delayed near future tense production. Neither of these is transparently linked to patterns in her parents' child-directed speech. The other children also display differing strategies into language production. The dense corpus is beneficial for catching tokens of less-frequent inflections, but the frequent long recording sessions may be difficult for at least one child to tolerate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the relations between phonological form and information content within Latin verbal inflection from two interrelated points of view. It looks at conditional entropy relations within the present paradigm to see how these relate to the textual frequency of the individual forms; and it seeks to answer the question to what extent the phonological form of stems and endings has the potential to lead to ambiguity in morphological marking. The latter issue is approached from the angle of the information content that word forms taken in themselves have about their morphological status. The broader question of potential ambiguity is broken down into two separate questions: one concerns stems where intra-paradigmatic ambiguity would be possible; the other concerns stems that include phonological material that could itself be interpreted as a morphological marker. The absence of potential ambiguity in the first sense, and its severe restriction in the second sense is interpreted here as an emergent mechanism to enhance the information content of verb forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate around inflectional morphology in language acquisition has contrasted various rule- versus analogy-based approaches. This paper tests the rule-based Tolerance Principle (TP) against a new type of pattern in the acquisition of the possessive suffix - im in Northern East Cree. When possessed, each noun type either requires or disallows the suffix, which has a complex distribution throughout the lexicon. Using naturalistic video data from one adult and two children – Ani (2;01–4;03) and Daisy (3;08–5;10) – this paper presents two studies. Study 1 applies the TP to the input to extrapolate two possible sets of nested rules for - im and make predictions for child speech. Study 2 tests these predictions and finds that each child's production of possessives over time is largely consistent with the predictions of the TP. This paper finds the TP can account for the acquisition of the possessive suffix and discusses implications for language science and Cree language communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the complex numbers, Plücker's formula computes the number of inflection points of a linear series of fixed degree and projective dimension on an algebraic curve of fixed genus. Here, we explore the geometric meaning of a natural analog of Plücker's formula and its constituent local indices in A1$\mathbb {A}^1$‐homotopy theory for certain linear series on hyperelliptic curves defined over an arbitrary field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents part of a statistical analysis (SPSS) of the Polish-Ukrainian interlanguage which is currently being conducted. The presented part of the research pertains to the most difficult forms from the morphological level of the Polish language for speakers of Ukrainian who learn Polish as a foreign language, regardless of their declared level of language proficiency (A1+ ‒ B2+). The analyses presented in the article are of a qualitative nature. The questionnaire for the research into the interlanguage contained both correct and wrong forms (i.e. interferential forms extracted from the previous author’s corpus-based error analyses) – the respondent had to decide which form was correct. Therefore, the study concerns language intuition. The results of the research are convergent with the analyses of actual errors made by Ukrainians in their written assignments, which constitutes a motivation for further statistical analyses of the interlanguage with the use of the same research tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Applied Linguistics / Taikomoji Kalbotyra is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper seeks to analyse and describe the nature of morphophonemic variation in the nominal morphology of Assamese, an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Assam. Previous discussions of morphophonemic variation in the language have focused on the phonological aspects of such variation (Goswami and Tamuli, 2003: 410-13). However, the present study seeks to examine the nature and range of phonological variations within morphemes triggered by nominal morphological processes such as (a) deictic inflections for relational nouns, (b) case inflections for nouns and pronouns and (c) nominal word-formation via derivation and compounding.Identifying the phonological and morphological factors behind the morphophonemic variation in nominal morphology will serve to uncover the patterned nature of the underlying regularities of a major area of Assamese grammar. Moreover, in seeking to align the morphophonemic variations with specific nominal morphological processes rather than treating them in intrinsic phonological terms, this study proposes to highlight the interdependent functioning of the levels of analysis. Such functioning is evident in instances of phonological variations within morphemes that serve to mark different grammatical functions in the language. In addition to such descriptive considerations, the range of variations and their associated morphological processes can also shed light on specific aspects of diachronic change when they are cross-linguistically compared with cognate languages. The study will be based mainly on corpus data using the empirical methodology of corpus linguistics. Supplementary introspective data will also be used where necessary.

This brief research report presents a comparison of the early verb productions of four children acquiring the Papuan language Nungon as a first language. A previous case study examined only verb productions of the child TO; these are now compared with those from three other children, studied from ages 1;1–2;7 (non-dense corpus; one child, AB) and ages 2;4–2;7 (dense corpora; two children, MK and MF). Two of the most striking features of TO’s early verb productions are shown to be outliers relative to the other three children: her ‘root nominals’ stage and her delayed near future tense production. Neither of these is transparently linked to patterns in her parents’ child-directed speech. The other children also display differing strategies into language production. The dense corpus is beneficial for catching tokens of less-frequent inflections, but the frequent long recording sessions may be difficult for at least one child to tolerate.

Recent evidence indicates that a word's paradigmatic neighbors affect production. However, these findings have mostly been obtained in careful laboratory settings using words in isolation, and thus ignoring potential effects that may arise from the syntagmatic context, which is typically present in spontaneous speech. The current corpus analysis investigates paradigmatic and syntagmatic effects in Estonian spontaneous speech. Following work on English, we focus on the duration of inflected and uninflected word-final /-s/ in content words, while simultaneously investigating whole words. Our analyses reveal three points. First, we find an effect of realized inflectional paradigm size, such that smaller paradigms actively used by the speakers lead to longer durations. Second, higher conditional probability is associated with shorter word forms and shorter segments. Finally, we do not directly replicate previous work on effects of inflectional status as in English word-final /-s/. Instead, we find that inflectional status interacts with conditional probability. We discuss the results in light of models of speech production and how they account for morphologically complex words and their paradigmatic neighbors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphological analyzer is a computational process that combines lemmas with other linguistic features to produce new lexical word forms. This paper investigates the processing of a nominal system in the Urdu language. It focuses on the inflections of noun forms and studies number, gender, person, and case representations, using a Finite State Machine (FSM) to analyze and create all the possible forms of the standardized registers. The application of the analysis using this tool provides and displays all the possible structures and their declensions. This study adds all the necessary features and values to the lexical concatenating nouns according to their patterns. The accuracy score of the output is 92.7, where the actual output depends on the detailed design of the FSM and the specific morphological processes provided to the finite state tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Język Polski is the property of Society of the Friends of the Polish Language / Towarzystwo Milosnikow Jezyka Polskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In many languages, grammatical gender is an inherent property of nouns and, as such, forms a basis for agreement relations between nouns and their dependent elements (e.g., adjectives, determiners). Mental gender representation is traditionally assumed to be categorial, with categorial gender nodes corresponding to the given gender specifications in a certain language (e.g., [masculine], [feminine], [neuter] in German). In alternative models, inspired by accounts put forward in theoretical linguistics, it has been argued that mental gender representations consist of sets of binary features which might be fully specified (e.g., masc [+ m, − f], fem [− m, + f], neut [− m, − f]) or underspecified (e.g., masc [+ m], fem [+ f], neut [] or masc [+ m, − f], fem [], neut [− f]). We have conducted two experiments to test these controversial accounts. Native speakers of German were asked to decide on the (un-)grammaticality of gender agreement of visually presented combinations of I) definite determiners and nouns, and II) anaphoric personal pronouns and nouns in an implicit nominative singular setting. Overall, agreement violations with neuter das / es increased processing costs compared to violations with die / sie or der / er for masculine or feminine target nouns, respectively. The observed pattern poses a challenge for models involving categorial gender representation. Rather, it is consistent with feature-based representations of grammatical gender in the mental lexicon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents examples of meta-morphomes (a kind of morphomic patterns, involving syncretisms) in North Germanic. There has been some debate over the notion of such patterns, and the aim is therefore to present relatively clear cases. Five cases are presented, involving inflection in verbs, nouns and adjectives. The syncretisms are all 'unnatural'; they do not make much sense for syntax, semantics or phonology. While patterns that are obvious to the linguist are not necessarily obvious to speakers, the paper presents diachronic evidence that these morphomic patterns have been noticed by speakers. At least some criticism against 'morphomic' analyses is based on implausible premises: An analysis in terms of features is not automatically preferable only by being possible; the idea of 'taking morphology seriously' is untenable; the claim that the morphomic approach is a mere enumeration of facts may involve a self-contradiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In linguistic theory, there is no common point of view on the question of whether verbs in aspectual pairs are in inflectional or derivational relations. At the same time, the prefix and suffix methods of forming aspectual pairs are contrasted in this respect. The publications (e.g. Janda Lyashevskaya 2011) pointed out the need to develop new quantitative approaches to this aspect of the text corpus. We propose two new approaches that compare the quantitative characteristics of aspectual pairs of both types. One approach is based on the Google Books Ngram corpus and analyzes the dynamics of the frequency of the use of words in pairs. The aspectual pairs from the databases created by Janda and Lyashevskaya are considered. For a numerical assessment of the degree of proximity of the frequency graphs, the Pearson correlation coefficients were used. The second approach introduces a numerical characteristic of the semantic proximity of verbs in pairs using modern computer methods. Semantic proximity of verbs is calculated as a standard cosine measure between vectors representing the compatibility of the considered verbs in the corpus. Several computer models and text corpora are considered. Both proposed approaches did not reveal significant numerical differences in semantic proximity between verbs in aspectual pairs with prefix and suffix pairing. This is in good agreement with the results of an early study by Janda and Lyashevskaya (2011). Together with the results of this work, our research shows that the suffixal and affixal ways of forming aspectual pairs have an equal status in terms of their classification as inflectional or derivational.

This study aims to describe the affixation of Madurese verbs in the Pamekasan dialect of low speech level based on the perspective of derivation and inflexion. The data of this research is in the form of Pamekasan dialect Madurese verbs. The data sources in this study were 10 informants who were native speakers of the Pamekasan Madura dialect, which were determined using the snowball sampling technique. Data collection is done by using the interview method with elicitation techniques. The data obtained were then analyzed through three stages: the data reduction stage, the data presentation stage, and the conclusion preparation stage. The results showed three processes of verb-forming affixation in the Pamekasan dialect of Madura, including prefixation, suffixation, and confixation. Based on the data, it was found that several affixes that make up Pamekasan dialect Madurese verbs, including prefixes ma–, a–, ta–, N–, –, pa–, pa–, nga–, and ka–, suffixes –a, – aghi, and –è, and the confixes a–aghi, N–aghi, N–è, ma–aghi, –aghi, ma–ana, –è, a–an, ma–è, and ma–an. This affixation is divided into inflectional affixation, transpositional derivational affixation, and non-transpositional derivational affixation.

With the increasing implementation of compliant mechanisms in high-precision and high-accuracy applications, the need to evaluate the positioning performance of the flexure hinges becomes evident. In this paper, the determination of the accuracy of planar flexures is addressed by analyzing and comparing the available criteria presented in literature, including a new criterion based on the pole of the displacements. For uniform flexures, an analytical formulation is developed for end-moment loads, whereas complex loading conditions, resulting in an inflection point, are analyzed and numerically evaluated. The accuracy criteria are also applied for analyzing the positioning performance of the cross-axis flexural pivot. Various relations among the different criteria are determined, and their limitations, such as the non-bijective correspondence with the deformed configurations, are discussed. The criteria are applied to the design of a high-accuracy cross-axis pivot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boundary layer pumps, although attractive due to their compactness, robustness and multi-fluid and phase-handling capability, have been reported to have low experimental efficiencies despite optimistic predictions from analytical models. A lower-order flow-physics-based analytical model that can be used as a 1D design code for sizing and predicting pump performance is described. The rotor component is modelled by means of the Navier–Stokes equations as simplified using velocity profiles in the inter-disk gap, while the volute is modelled using kinetic-energy-based coefficients inspired by centrifugal pumps. The code can predict the rotor outlet and overall pump pressure ratio with an around 3% and 10% average error, respectively, compared to the reference experimental data for a water pump. Moreover, 3D RANS flow-field explorations of the rotor are carried out for different inter-disk gaps to provide insights concerning the improvement of the 1D design code for the better prediction of the overall pump performance. Improvements in volute loss modelling through the inclusion of realistic flow properties at the rotor outlet rather than the detailed resolution of the velocity profiles within the rotor are suggested as guidelines for improved predictions. Such improved design codes could close the gap between predictions and experimental values, thereby paving the way for the appropriate sizing of boundary layer pumps for several applications, including aircraft thermal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems of inflectional morphology provide a useful testing ground for input-based language acquisition theories. Two analyses were performed on a high-density (12%) naturalistic sample of two Polish-English children's (2;0 and 3;11) and their parents' use of Polish noun inflection: first, each child's use of inflectional affixes and their lexical restrictedness was compared with their father's equalised sample. Second, the children's spontaneous case-marking errors were analysed in context and measured against type and token frequencies in both parents' data and the child-directed speech (CDS) corpus. Findings in both analyses accord with constructivist theory: near adult-like knowledge of Polish inflections hiding a range of use that is more lexically restricted than in their caregivers' speech; low error rates hiding much higher 'pockets of ignorance' for specific inflectional contexts; and patterns of error that correspond closely to token/type frequencies in the CDS, though with the older sibling making some errors that were not frequency-based. Potential effects of syncretism, case ambiguity and semantics are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present an analysis of the complexity of grammatical constraints and their impact on early language acquisition of inflectional morphemes in Malayalam. We use the natural speech production data of two monolingual children acquiring Malayalam between the ages 1;9–2;10 and 2;3–3;0 and three bilingual children acquiring Malayalam-English between the ages 1;9–2;8, 2;0–3;0 and 1;10–2;11 to recover the underlying grammatical constraints that govern the correct productions as well as errors across monolingual and bilingual contexts. We find rules that reference lexico-semantic properties to be particularly challenging to young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]