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- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
The end of the nineteenth century was an exhilarating and revolutionary era for the flute. This period is the Second Golden Age of the flute, when players and teachers associated with the Paris Conservatory developed what would be considered the birth of the modern flute school. In addition, the founding in 1871 of the Société Nationale de Musique by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and Romain Bussine (1830-1899) made possible the promotion of contemporary French composers. The founding of the Société des Instruments à Vent by Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) in 1879 also invigorated a new era of chamber music for wind instruments. Within this groundbreaking environment, Mélanie Hélène Bonis (pen name Mel Bonis) entered the Paris Conservatory in 1876, under the tutelage of César Franck (1822-1890). Many flutists are dismayed by the scarcity of repertoire for the instrument in the Romantic and post-Romantic traditions; they make up for this absence by borrowing the violin sonatas of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Franck. The flute and piano works of Mel Bonis help to fill this void with music composed originally for flute. Bonis was a prolific composer with over 300 works to her credit, but her works for flute and piano have not been researched or professionally recorded in the United States before the present study. Although virtually unknown today in the American flute community, Bonis's music received much acclaim from her contemporaries and deserves a prominent place in the flutist's repertoire. After a brief biographical introduction, this document examines Mel Bonis's musical style and describes in detail her six works for flute and piano while also offering performance suggestions.
ContributorsDaum, Jenna Elyse (Author) / Buck, Elizabeth (Thesis advisor) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The primary topic of this dissertation is the grammaticalization of negation in three Sinitic language varieties: Hakka, Mandarin, and Southern Min. I discuss negative morphemes that are used under different modality or aspect contexts, including ability, volition, necessity, and perfectivity. Not only does this study examine Southern Min affirmative and negative pairs, but it also highlights the grammaticalization of negation and parametric differences in negation among the languages under investigation. This dissertation also covers the reanalysis of negatives into interrogatives. I approach the investigation of Southern Min negation from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. I analyze corpus data in addition to data collected from fieldwork for the contemporary linguistic data. For my diachronic research of Chinese negation, I use historical texts and etymological dictionaries. Diachronically, many of the negative morphemes originate from full-fledged verbs and undergo an analogous grammaticalization process that consists of multiple stages of reanalysis from V to T (aspect; modality), and then T to C (interrogative; discourse). I explain this reanalysis, which involves head-to-head movement, using generative frameworks that combine a modified cartographic approach and the Minimalist Economy Principles. Synchronic data show that Southern Min affirmative modals are characterized by a certain morphological doubling. These doublings consist of two near synonyms used in sequence, resulting from the loss of features in a verb and a second verb added as a renewal. In the negation paradigm, some negatives project a negative phrase, while the others serve a dual function, occupying a modal/aspect head as well as a negative head. The latter system is gradually shifting to the former. This study uncovers evidence to counter the long-established paradigm, where negation is tied to its independent modality (abilitive, volitional and necessitive) or aspect (perfective and perfect). I observe a mismatch between the use of interrogatives and their modality/aspect and attribute this phenomenon to feature loss during their reanalysis from negatives to interrogatives. Results however show that consistency occurs in the grammaticalization of negation within Southern Min and intra-linguistically among the three Sinitic languages, and that parametric differences are found at the morphological level.
ContributorsYang, Huiling (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Gillon, Carrie (Committee member) / Sun, Chaofen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The purpose of this study is to explore the syntax and pragmatics of subject doubling in spoken French. Many prescriptivists have considered it a redundant and ungrammatical form, but over the years, it has gained more interest from syntacticians. It is widely acknowledged that dislocations involve topics, but the position of these structures is very disputed. Some linguists believe in base generation while others state there is movement. The status of subject clitics also comes into play and their role as arguments or agreement markers is crucial to understanding the issues at stake with a topic analysis. It is often argued that the clitics are undergoing a linguistic cycle whereby they lose their function of argument, and need to be reinforced by disjunct pronouns. In this study, I examined which analyses support my data and I attempted to determine what structures tend to be most dislocated by looking at the environment of the discourse in a corpus of spoken French.
ContributorsBlanquart, Eleonore (Author) / Ossipov, Helene (Thesis advisor) / Bahtchevanova, Mariana (Thesis advisor) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The nature of imperative syntax has remained an elusive, yet ever-present, subject in syntactic research, spanning several decades of linguistic inquiry and analysis, and it is therefore unsurprising that current views on the subject continue to be somewhat divided. This thesis examines the syntactic evidence from imperatives in Old English and ultimately seeks to develop a picture of the possibilities for imperative clauses in OE alongside an overall framework for imperative syntax within contemporary theoretical models of syntactic structure. The general, perceived pattern for OE imperative clauses (e.g. Millward 1971) is “verb−first,” and statistical data from the corpora confirm this perception, with the majority of imperative clauses exhibiting the verb in clause−initial position. Imperative constructions with post− and preverbal overt subjects are also examined at length, and postverbal subjects are found to be the majority case. These results are further expanded by examinations of data from verb−second and verb−third contexts, which include possibilities for topicalized constituents and adverbs. Ultimately, the relative position of both the verb and the subject and the relationship between these and other elements in the totality of the data provide essential clues for constructing a clearer model of OE imperative syntax. Within a relatively rich cartographic framework (Rizzi 1997), I therefore argue that the imperative verb is standardly fronted to the head of ForceP, with the overt subject remaining in spec−FinP, in parallel with other models for imperative syntax and OE syntax. Exceptions to this pattern for imperatives which suggest lower positions for the imperative verb (e.g. verb−second and verb−third constructions) are also accounted for, all with the central goal of demonstrating a consistent pattern underlying the realization of imperative syntax in Old English.
ContributorsKruger, William Wriley (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Major, Roy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This dissertation investigates the precise degree to which prosody and syntax are related. One possibility is that the syntax-prosody mapping is one-to-one (“isomorphic”) at an underlying level (Chomsky & Halle 1968, Selkirk 1996, 2011, Ito & Mester 2009). This predicts that prosodic units should preferably match up with syntactic units. It is also possible that the mapping between these systems is entirely non-isomorphic, with prosody being influenced by factors from language perception and production (Wheeldon & Lahiri 1997, Lahiri & Plank 2010). In this work, I argue that both perspectives are needed in order to address the full range of phonological phenomena that have been identified in English and related languages, including word-initial lenition/flapping, word-initial segment-deletion, and vowel reduction in function words, as well as patterns of pitch accent assignment, final-pronoun constructions, and the distribution of null complementizer allomorphs. In the process, I develop models for both isomorphic and non-isomorphic phrasing. The former is cast within a Minimalist syntactic framework of Merge/Label and Bare Phrase Structure (Chomsky 2013, 2015), while the latter is characterized by a stress-based algorithm for the formation of phonological domains, following Lahiri & Plank (2010).
ContributorsKruger, William Wriley (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Carnie, Andrew (Committee member) / Pruitt, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This thesis argues for the utility of syntactic cartography in representing and analyzing the disputed language of legal statutes. It presents an analysis of two appellate court cases, Flores-Figueroa v. United States (2009) and In re Sanders (2008). Each case involves a difference of opinion with respect to the position and function of prepositions found in 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) and 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f), respectively. Informing the tree structures are Merlo and Ferrer's (2006) six diagnostics for PP attachment: head dependence, optionality, iterativity, ordering, copular paraphrase, and deverbal nouns. In Flores-Figueroa, the analysis yields a conclusion that affirms the court's decision, as does the analysis in Sanders, although it only concurs in part. Implications of the study and the overall cartography approach are discussed, including how it could impact the drafting of jury instructions and future legislation. The paper also addresses the unique heritage of legal language, the ways in which it contrasts with civic, non-legal English, and how its characteristics give rise to ambiguity and vagueness, two suitable phenomena for linguistic analysis. Further, it discusses the potential for providing linguistic input on active cases to the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies.
ContributorsPetersen, Justin Bruce (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Renaud, Claire (Committee member) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This dissertation draws upon modern Chomskyan theory to address issues surrounding the development of a unified, minimalist account of language as a mental and biological object, both in terms of its generation and historic change. Towards that end, I investigate, apply, and advance the labeling approach to generative syntax. Labeling is a hypothetical process, operating within the confines of phase theory, which is thought to prepare constructed syntactic objects for interpretation at relevant mental interfaces. I argue a number of points applicable to both synchronic and diachronic linguistics: 1) Labeling failures happen as a matter of course during a derivation, forcing re-evaluation of labeled syntactic structures which ultimately leads to a successful derivation. 2) Labeling and its errors do not happen in real-time, but are bounded by phases. This has consequences for how researchers ought to look at notions and limitations of phasal memory. 3) Labeling not only drives an individual’s mature syntax, but has an effect on how children acquire their syntax, causing them in some cases to alter structures and create new categories. This is responsible for many cases of language change, and I support this argument by investigating data from the history of Chinese and Macedonian that are sensitive to labeling-based phenomena. 4) Research into labeling can help us speculate about the evolution of language generally. Although recursion is sometimes thought to be a defining feature of Universal Grammar, labeling in fact is a much more likely candidate in this regard.
ContributorsSanatana-LaBarge, Robert E. (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Ingram, David (Committee member) / Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
ABSTRACT Many musicians, both amateur and professional alike, are continuously seeking to expand and explore their performance literature and repertory. Introducing new works into the standard repertory is an exciting endeavor for any active musician. Establishing connections, commissioning new works, and collaborating on performances can all work together toward the acceptance and success of a composer's music within an instrument community. For the flute, one such composer is Daniel Dorff (b. 1956). Dorff, a Philadelphia-based composer, has written for symphony orchestra, clarinet, contrabassoon, and others; however, his award-winning works for flute and piccolo are earning him much recognition. He has written works for such illustrious flutists as Mimi Stillman, Walfrid Kujala, and Gary Schocker; his flute works have been recorded by Laurel Zucker, Pamela Youngblood and Lois Bliss Herbine; and his pieces have been performed and premiered at each of the National Flute Association Conventions from 2004 to 2009. Despite this success, little has been written about Dorff's life, compositional style, and contributions to the flute repertory. In order to further promote the flute works of Daniel Dorff, the primary focus of this study is the creation of a compact disc recording of Dorff's most prominent works for flute: April Whirlwind, 9 Walks Down 7th Avenue, both for flute and piano, and Nocturne Caprice for solo flute. In support of this recording, the study also provides biographical information regarding Daniel Dorff, discusses his compositional methods and ideology, and presents background information, description, and performance notes for each piece. Interviews with Daniel Dorff regarding biographical and compositional details serve as the primary source for this document. Suggestions for the performance of the three flute works were gathered through interviews with prominent flutists who have studied and performed Dorff's pieces. Additional performance suggestions for Nocturne Caprice were gathered through a coaching session between the author and the composer. This project is meant to promote the flute works of Daniel Dorff and to help establish their role in the standard flute repertory.
ContributorsRich, Angela Marie (Contributor) / Novak, Gail (Pianist) (Performer) / Buck, Elizabeth Y (Thesis advisor) / Hill, Gary W. (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
The dissertation investigates the applicability of Cinque’s (1999) functional hierarchy hypothesis to adverb(ial)s in Iraqi Arabic. Cinque’s functional hierarchy is a hypothesis developed to predict adverb ordering statement in Italian and with its multiple versions, Cinque advocates the universality of his hypothesis. The investigation specifically explores two questions, is an adverb a separate part of speech Arabic? And do adverb(ial)s in Iraqi Arabic follow a rigid ordering statement similar to that suggested by Cinque’s? I argue in my investigation that the term adverb is still vague to Arab linguists, hence I adopt the term adveb(ial)s throughout my dissertation. While the two terms in English are quite distinct, I think, Arabic grammarians are far from settling the debate over considering it a separate part of speech. Certainly, the case is the same for Iraqi Arabic which is the vernacular I am investigating. As I turn to English, I discuss the two most recent hypotheses of adverb ordering. I review Cinque’s functional hierarchy as a syntactic-based hypothesis and Ernst’s scope theory which is a semantic-based hypothesis. While the two hypotheses are valid to predict adverb placement and ordering, I only test Cinque’s hierarchy in my investigation of the ordering in Iraqi Arabic.
In my research, I rely on Zyman’s (2012) research on adverbs in English as I utilize many of his examples and translate them to Iraqi Arabic. I suggest that Adverb(ial)s in Iraqi Arabic are in the Spec of a functional head in accordance with the Cinquian hierarchy. Generally, this claim has its roots in Baker’s (1985) Mirror principle which configures the relationship between morphology and syntax. My test of Iraqi Arabic proves that Cinque’s modal is not fully applicable to Iraqi Arabic as adverbs tied to non-spinal constituents do not comply with Cinque’s rigid ordering.
The data and the finding in this dissertation will contribute to the Arabic language research on the interplay between syntax, semantics and morphology. Additionally, the findings will shed light on other vernaculars in Arabic as more research is needed on the different varieties of Arabic.
ContributorsSulayman, Umar (Author) / Van Gelderen, Elly (Thesis advisor) / Ali, Souad T (Committee member) / Aljumaily, Abdulatif (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to provide an in-depth examination of the syntactic rules and pragmatic structures that govern the construction of Thai nominal phrases. There is a current debate among linguistic researchers of the Thai language (and others within the Tai-Kadai family) contemplating whether the inherent syntactic structure of nominal phrases projects a Determiner Phrase [DP] or a Noun Phrase [NP] (Birmingham, 2020; Jenks, 2011; Piriyawiboon, 2010; and Singhapreecha, 2001). An examination of the grammatical and pragmatic features that dictate the formation of Thai nominals, as well as an investigation of the prevailing linguistic theories focused on nominal phrase construction supporting each structure, has been conducted and is presented within this thesis. This extensive research, performed to address the dilemma “Does the Thai language project a DP or an NP?”, has resulted in the conclusion that the Thai language, with its free word-order and its fascinating pragmatic structures, projects an underlying NP phrase structure that allows for an optional determiner, used to indicate specificity.
ContributorsBirmingham, Sabrina A (Author) / Van Gelderen, Elly (Thesis advisor) / Pruitt, Kathryn (Committee member) / Peterson, Tyler (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021