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Empty Consonants In Root-Medial Position, Stephen A. Marlett

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Evidence is given that empty consonants occur in root-medial position in Seri, which bears on the observation in Broselow 1995 (Skeletal positions and moras) that such had not been described in the literature. This brief work complements an earlier publication (Marlett and Stemberger 1983, Empty consonant positions in Seri) which posited such consonants at the beginning of various verbs.

Proceeding From Syllable Inventory To Phonemic Inventory In The Analysis Of Liangshan Yi, Andrew Eatough

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Liangshan Yi (also known as Nosu, spoken in Sichuan Province, China) has many phonetically-interesting syllables. In this paper an articulatory description of the full range of distinctive syllables of this language is given and it is shown that the standard phonemicization of these is reasonable.

An Ot Account Of Laryngealization In Cuzco Quechua Show Summary Item Record, Steve Parker

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Classical phonemic accounts of Cuzco Quechua posit three distinct series of stops: plain, aspirated, and glottalized. Parker and Weber 1996 argue instead for a root-level feature of laryngealization governed by a small number of formal mechanisms. In this paper, the analysis is taken one step farther and it is shown that even greater explanatory power may be achieved by appealing to the model of Optimality Theory.

Rule-Governed Allomorphy Can Be Suppletive Also, David Tuggy

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Commonly occurring linguistic forms, including allomorphs, tend to be learned (listed in speakers' mental lexicons) even if they are formed according to the pattern of a linguistic rule. They thus have dual motivation: the motivation given by the rule, and the suppletive motivation of their having been learned. This accounts for the otherwise inexplicable persistence of rule-governed allomorphy when the conditioning environment is destroyed through diachronic change, producing apparent positive exceptions to the rule.

What Is Literature? A Definition Based On Prototypes, Jim Meyer

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Most definitions of literature have been criterial definitions, definitions based on a list of criteria which all literary works must meet. However, more current theories of meaning take the view that definitions are based on prototypes: there is broad agreement about good examples that meet all of the prototypical characteristics, and other examples are related to the prototypes by family resemblance. For literary works, prototypical characteristics include careful use of language, being written in a literary genre (poetry, prose fiction, or drama), being read aesthetically, and containing many weak implicatures.

Seri Dictionary: People And Kinship Terms, Mary B. Moser, Stephen A. Marlett

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

A subset of the Seri bilingual dictionary includes terms referring to people, kinship terms, and verbs that are closely related to them. This version includes English glosses in addition to the Spanish glosses, and an English-to-Seri reversal.

Other excerpts from the Seri dictionary have been published in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Work Papers. The complete dictionary was published in 2005 and updated in 2010. The second edition is available here: mexico.sil.org/resources/archives/42821

High Pitch As A Mark Of Respect In Lachixío Zapotec, Jan A. Persons

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

Demonstrating respect to the addressee is accomplished by speaking in a high-pitched voice among the Zapotec speakers of Santa María Lachixío. Various factors determine the use of this feature.