PP-Extraposition and the Order of Adverbials in English

In English, adverbials may intervene between the verb and a selected PP. We consider three analyses of this fact: the traditional account, that the PP shifts rightward across a right-adjoined adverbial ( Stowell 1981 ); an alternative account, that the verb moves leftward across a left-adjoined adverbial ( Pesetsky 1989 , Johnson 1991 ); and a hybrid account that assumes both extraposition and verb raising. We argue that the order of postverbal adverbials favors the extraposition analysis, provided this analysis is combined with the hypothesis that certain adverbials can directly modify other adverbials ( Rohrbacher 1994 , Williams 2014 ). We then compare two instantiations of the extraposition analysis: the traditional account and an antisymmetric account that emulates PP-extraposition through a combination of PP-intraposition and roll-up movement. While close to being notational variants, these accounts can be teased apart using the very strict locality requirement that holds of interaction with temporal only. The data then show that the symmetric account has the edge. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of our findings for the analysis of the English VP, with a focus on the circumstances under which the verb moves.

A Computational Account of Tone Sandhi Interaction

This paper presents a computational account of three tone sandhi rules in Tianjin Chinese that have received a lot of attention in the literature due to the seemingly complex way in which they interact. Two of the rules apply right-to-left while the third applies left-to-right, making it difficult for both rule- and constraint-based formalisms to account for the interaction in a unified way. In the computational framework advocated for in this paper, the apparent difference in directionality of the three rules amounts to a subtle difference in computational classification: the left-to-right rule has the property of input strict locality (ISL) while the right-to-left rules share the property of output strict locality (OSL). However, the fact that the direction of rules with the ISL property doesn’t actually matter, a unified account becomes possible in that all three rules can be modeled as a single input-output strictly local function.

Strict Locality and Phonological Maps

In this article, we identify Strict Locality as a strong computational property of a certain class of phonological maps from underlying to surface forms. We show that these maps can be modeled with Input Strictly Local functions, a previously undefined class of subregular relations. These functions extend the conception of locality from the Strictly Local formal languages (recognizers/acceptors) ( McNaughton and Papert 1971 , Rogers and Pullum 2011 , Rogers et al. 2013 ) to maps (transducers/functions) and therefore formalize the notion of phonological locality. We discuss the insights such computational properties provide for phonological theory, typology, and learning.

Loophole-Free Bell Tests and the Falsification of Local Realism

Quantum mechanics is strictly incompatible with local realism. It has been shown by Bell and others that it is possible, in principle, to experimentally differentiate between local realism and quantum mechanics. Numerous experiments have attempted to falsify local realism; however, they have consistently failed to close the detection loophole under strict locality conditions, thereby allowing local realistic explanations for their observations. In 2015, three experiments took place that tested local realism without the impediments of these significant loopholes. Between these three experiments, a substantial data set was collected. All of the collected data show a strong violation of local realism and strong support for quantum mechanics. This article reviews the theoretical basis of Bell tests and the affiliated loopholes, as well as the methods employed by these recent experiments and the implications of the results they observed. La mécanique quantique est strictement incompatible avec le réalisme local. Bell et d’autres scientifiques ont montré qu’il est possible, en théorie, de trouver la différence entre le réalisme local et la mécanique quantique expérimentalement. De nombreuses expériences ont tenté de falsifier le réalisme local; cependant, elles ont toujours échoué à combler la faille de détection dans des conditions de localité strictes, permettant ainsi des explications réalistes locales pour leurs observations. En 2015, trois expériences ont testé le réalisme local sans les entraves de ces failles importantes. Entre ces trois expériences, des données substantielles ont été recueillies. Toutes les données recueillies ont montré une forte déviation du réalisme local et un appui solid pour la mécanique quantique. Cet article examine les bases théoriques des tests de Bell et les failles af liées, ainsi que les méthodes employées par ces expériences récentes et les implications de leurs résultats.

Exponence and morphosyntactically triggered phonological processes in the Russian verbal complex

This paper examines a non-canonical morphophonological vowel alternation in the roots of Russian verbs that is conditioned by aspectual information (derived imperfectivization). This aspectual morpheme is usually expressed as a suffix, but in the forms of interest appears as a vocalic nucleus in the root (whereas there is no vocalic nucleus in the perfective form). In a manner broadly compatible with Distributed Morphology (DM), I argue that this alternation is part of a more general phonological process – yer realization – special only in that it is triggered by morphosyntactic, rather than phonological, information. I propose an analysis of this pattern in which autosegmental representations – in this case, a mora – can be the exponents of morphosyntactic features. This approach obviates the need for DM readjustment rules, which have been criticized on empirical and theoretical grounds (Siddiqi 2006, 2009; Bye & Svenonius 2012; Haugen & Siddiqi 2013). I demonstrate that the required allomorphic interaction between the root and the derived imperfective morpheme is local, despite surface appearances: the intervening vowel is a theme vowel, inserted post-syntactically. This approach makes sense of broader patterns involving this theme vowel, and vindicates theories of allomorphic interaction that impose strict locality conditions (e.g., structural and/or linear adjacency).

Learning Strictly Local Subsequential Functions

We define two proper subclasses of subsequential functions based on the concept of Strict Locality (McNaughton and Papert, 1971; Rogers and Pullum, 2011; Rogers et al., 2013) for formal languages. They are called Input and Output Strictly Local (ISL and OSL). We provide an automata-theoretic characterization of the ISL class and theorems establishing how the classes are related to each other and to Strictly Local languages. We give evidence that local phonological and morphological processes belong to these classes. Finally we provide a learning algorithm which provably identifies the class of ISL functions in the limit from positive data in polynomial time and data. We demonstrate this learning result on appropriately synthesized artificial corpora. We leave a similar learning result for OSL functions for future work and suggest future directions for addressing non-local phonological processes.

The Strict Locality of Phonological Processes

<p>This paper addresses the question of ‘what is a possible phonological <span>process’ from a computational perspective. Many previous studies have offered explanations </span>for why certain processes are attested and/or common while others are unattested or rare <span>(see Hume &amp; Johnson 2001, Hayes et al. 2004, Blevins 2004, among others). Following work on phonotactics by Heinz (2007, 2009, 2010), the goal of the present study is to demonstrate </span>the extent to which computational properties can distinguish the subset of what is phonologically possible from the larger set of logically possible processes. <span>Specifically, I identify a strong computational property of the mapping from underlying </span>representation (UR) to surface representation (SR) in local phonological processes. This property is called Input Strict Locality (ISL) after the well-studied Strictly Local formal languages (McNaughton &amp; Papert 1971, Rogers &amp; Pullum 2011, Rogers et al. 2013). I demonstrate <span>that this property has broad empirical coverage and describe its </span>utility in phonological learning.</p>