Afrikaans is spoken by a wide range of ethnic groups in Namibia, both as an L1 and an L2. Stell (2021) showed that, in its phonetic variation, Namibian Afrikaans forms a continuum between Whites and Blacks with Coloureds1 located in between. This article aims to find out whether a continuum can likewise be observed in the grammatical patterns of Namibian Afrikaans varieties. The dataset is based on a translation task, administered to L1 Afrikaans-speaking Whites and Coloureds and to L2 Afrikaans-speaking Damaras and Ovambos, whose respective L1s are Khoekhoegowab and Oshiwambo. The article finds a contrast between L1 and L2 speakers as the Damara and Ovambo Afrikaans varieties show evidence of L1 transfers. However, it also finds evidence of a continuum linking the Whites, Coloureds, and Damaras in the form of commonly shared Orange River Afrikaans features. The fact that Ovambo Afrikaans does not quite fit into this continuum, the article argues, has to do with the historically late exposure of Oshiwambo speakers to L1 Afrikaans varieties. Finally, the article attempts to match evidence of Khoekhoegowab influence on Damara Afrikaans with Den Besten’s (2001) and Roberge’s (1994a) reflections on historical contact between Khoekhoe and Cape Dutch.

This study examines fodder quality traits of Hippophae salicifolia D. Don (Seabuckthorn) populations across the Western Himalayas of India, emphasizing their significance in domestication and sustainable utilization of indigenous fodder tree. In Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand regions, foliage of H. salicifolia serves as essential winter forage for livestock and is incorporated into local tea formulations. Fifty female genotypes were selected for evaluation from ten distinct geographical locations. Analysis of variance highlighted significant variability among the populations, with Badya population demonstrating the highest leaf fresh weight. In contrast, the Kardang population exhibited optimal values of leaf dry weight and total ash content. Sansha population was characterized by the highest leaf dry matter, crude protein and nitrogen levels, whereas the Jankichatti population showed the highest crude fibre content, and Sissu had the highest nitrogen-free extract value. Significant positive correlations were identified between leaf fresh weight and leaf dry weight (0.613), and between dry matter content and crude protein (0.458), indicating the potential to enhance these traits in breeding programs aimed at improving fodder quality. Accessions were grouped into two primary clusters, and leaf dry matter was the dominant factor influencing fodder quality variability, explaining 85.272% of the total variance. These findings will inform targeted breeding strategies and agricultural practices intended to augment the nutritional profile of this vital fodder resource. Moreover, the study underscores the potential of H. salicifolia as both a livestock forage and a viable component of agroforestry systems, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices in the Western Himalayas.

This study presents the first record of Miyalachnus sorini Kanturski & Lee, 2024 (Aphididae: Lachninae) in South Korea, thereby extending its known distribution beyond Japan and identifying a new host plant, Prunus sargentii (Rosaceae). We describe diagnostic morphological traits across multiple life stages and compare them with those of Japanese populations. Comparative analyses with Japanese populations demonstrated consistent morphological differentiation, notably elevated ratios of the ultimate rostral segment to antennal segments across multiple morphs in the Korean population, indicating potential ecological adaptation. DNA barcoding using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene revealed low intraspecific divergence (average 0.2%) and interspecific divergence (average 10.5%) between Miyalachnus sp. and M. sorini. Haplotype analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between host plants and cryptic genetic diversity. These findings enhance our understanding of the morphological and genetic diversity of M. sorini and underscore the importance of monitoring its spread for informed pest management strategies.

Language variation (specifically: optionality between different ways of saying the same thing, as in check out the places vs check the places out) tends to be considered abnormal, suboptimal, short-lived, dysfunctional and needlessly complex, especially in functional or cognitive linguistic circles. In this contribution, we are assessing these assumptions: does grammatical optionality increase the relative complexity (or: difficulty) of language production? We use a corpus-based psycholinguistics research design with a variationist twist and analyse SWITCHBOARD, a corpus of conversational spoken American English. We ask if and how grammatical optionality correlates with two symptoms of production difficulty, namely filled pauses (um and uh) and unfilled pauses (speech planning time). Our dataset covers 108,487 conversational turns in SWITCHBOARD, 22 grammatical alternation types yielding 57,032 optionality contexts, 589,124 unfilled pauses and 43,801 filled pauses. Analysis shows that overall optionality contexts do not make speech production more dysfluent – regardless of how many language-internal probabilistic constraints are in operation, or how many variants there are to choose from. With that being said, we show how some alternations in the grammar of English are more prone to attract or repel production difficulties than others. All told, our results call into question old dogmas in theoretical linguistics, such as the Principle of Isomorphism or the Principle of No Synonymy.

The late-acquired French subjunctive–indicative contrast conveys important information about event realization and is characterized by bound morphology, form ambiguity, contextual restrictedness, and the infrequency of the subjunctive. This study contributes underrepresented adverbial-clause interpretation data and incorporates lexical effects to extend what is known about why French mood is late-acquired. We assess interpretation of four adverbial conjunctions which primarily co-occur with subjunctive or indicative mood in corpus searches. Analysis of 77 participants revealed a statistically significant interaction between mood and proficiency, with more proficient learners affected by mood, whereas clause order influenced less proficient learners. Moreover, lower-proficiency learners treated adverbs within a particular class of co-occurrence more similarly across the 32 items than our advanced learners or native speakers, who were sensitive to lexical effects, attributable to the roles of frequency and semantics. The study contributes to the growing body of research on late-acquired structures, for which learners attend to evolving cues across acquisitional trajectories.

Traditionally, verbs like base have combined with the preposition on to express a meaning of derivation (based on). However, many writing in a US context have noticed the rapid rise of based off (of) alongside based on (Curzan 2013; Behrens 2014; Janda 2021). In this article, we document the relative increase of off in two English-language corpora in the verb base and six other verbs. The results show a clear real-time trend of increasing use of off, with some differences in the course of the change across different verbs. We also see an increase in use of off in apparent time, which we infer from the topical organization of comments in one of our corpora, the social media site Reddit.

The Floquet exponents of periodic field lines are studied through the variations of the magnetic action on the magnetic axis, which is assumed to be elliptical. The near-axis formalism developed by Mercier, Solov'ev and Shafranov is combined with a Lagrangian approach. The on-axis Floquet exponent is shown to coincide with the on-axis rotational transform. A discrete solution suitable for numerical implementation is introduced, which gives the Floquet exponents as solutions to an eigenvalue problem. This discrete formalism expresses the exponents as the eigenvalues of a $6\times 6$ matrix.

It is well-known that English variable word-final coronal stop deletion (CSD) is less likely to occur when the final coronal stop instantiates the inflectional suffix -ed. It is sometimes hypothesised that the reason for this effect is to avoid the homophony between past and present tenses that would result from the suffix -ed being deleted. This reasoning suggests another hypothesis: that CSD should also be disfavoured when it would create homophony between two distinct lexical items, such as bald and ball. In this squib, we test that hypothesis on data from a corpus of Philadelphia English. We find no evidence that probability of CSD is affected by homophony avoidance between lexical items. This weakens the case that homophony avoidance is at play in disfavouring CSD in the -ed case, and may have implications for the theory of homophony avoidance in phonology in general.

Categories can be counted, rated, or ranked, but they cannot be measured. Likewise, persons or individuals can be counted, rated, or ranked, but they cannot be measured either. Nevertheless, psychology has realized early on that it can take an indirect road to measurement: What can be measured is the strength of association between categories in samples or populations, and what can be quantitatively compared are counts, ratings, or rankings made under different circumstances, or originating from different persons. The strong demand for quantitative analysis of categorical data has thus created a variety of statistical methods, with substantial contributions from psychometrics and sociometrics. What is the common basis of these methods dealing with categories? The basic element they share is that the sample space has a special geometry, in which categories (or persons) are point masses forming a simplex, while distributions of counts or profiles of ratings are centers of gravity, which are also point masses. Rankings form a discrete subset in the interior of the simplex, known as the permutation polytope, and paired comparisons form another subset on the edges of the simplex. Distances between point masses form the basic tool of analysis. The paper gives some history of major concepts, which naturally leads to a new concept: the shadow point. It is then shown how loglinear models, Luce and Rasch models, unfolding models, correspondence analysis and homogeneity analysis, forced classification and classification trees, as well as other models and methods, fit into this particular geometrical framework.

Dietitians working at evacuation shelters conduct weighed food records (WFR) for multiple days for dietary assessment. Because the menus in evacuation shelters do not change much from day to day, this study examined whether 1- and 2-d WFR are sufficient for dietary assessment at shelters and identified dietary components that can influence the number of assessment days. Overall, twenty-six WFR were collected from ten shelters in Kumamoto Prefecture, and the amounts of energy; protein; vitamins B1, B2 and C and salt were calculated. Correlation analysis and paired sample tests were conducted to examine significant differences between ‘one- and two-consecutive- or non-consecutive-day WFR’ and ‘three-consecutive-day WFR’, which were set as the standard in this study. Additionally, the (CV for the categories by meal and dish were calculated to examine the variables that affected the large variations. As a result, 1-d WFR had significant positive correlations with the standard; thus, it could be used for the triage of shelters requiring nutrition assistance as a substitute for 3-d WFR. Two-consecutive-day and non-consecutive-day WFR showed a stronger correlation with the standard compared with the 1-d WFR. For energy and nutrients and dish categories, ready-to-eat foods had larger CV than boxed meals or foods from hot meal services. Whenever the meals included ready-to-eat foods, a two-non-consecutive-day WFR is recommended considering large between-day variations. Salty soup or beverages affected the variation of some nutrients. Our result would help municipalities to consider the number of WFR during emergency.

Despite the attention (ing) has received in variationist literature, it is comparatively understudied in the North West of England where it holds something of a unique sociolinguistic profile. Variation in this region is between three competing forms: [ɪŋɡ] appears alongside the usual [ɪn]/[ɪŋ] variants. Based on sociolinguistic interviews with 32 speakers from this region, this study investigates whether [ɪŋɡ] replaces [ɪŋ] as the local standard or exists alongside it to fulfill a different sociolinguistic role. Results suggest that [ɪŋ] is maintained as the standard variant, and that [ɪŋɡ] occupies its own functional space as a feature of emphatic and hyper-articulate speech, appearing almost exclusively before pause. (ing) also shows no sensitivity to part of speech, despite the strength of this effect in other varieties of English. These results are discussed in the context of broader questions regarding the underlying representation of this variation, specifically its allophonic or allomorphic nature.

A growth monitoring study (0–7 day of age) was conducted involving 87, one-day old Ross 308 male broilers to evaluate organ weights, bone parameters and ileal transcriptomic profile of broiler chicks as influenced by day 7 bodyweight (BW) grouping. The chicks were raised in a deep-litter house under common controlled environmental conditions and commercial starter diet. Chicks were grouped on day 7 into two distinct BW, super performer (SP) and under performer (UP) with bodyweights >260, and <200 g respectively. Results revealed that the SP chicks had significantly higher bone ash, sodium (Na), phosphorus (P) and rubidium (Rb) concentrations compared to the UP chicks on D7. In contrast, the UP chicks had significantly higher tibial cadmium (Cd), caesium (Cs) and lead (Pb) compared to the SP group; the UP chicks also had proportionally heavier relative gizzard weight than the SP chicks. The ileal transcriptomic data revealed differentially expressed genes (DEG) between the two groups of chicks, with 150 upregulated and 83 down-regulated genes with a fold change of ≥1.25 or ≤ 1.25 in the SP chicks relative to the UP chicks. Furthermore, functional annotation and pathway analysis revealed that some of these DEG were involved in various pathways including calcium signalling, Wnt signalling, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and mucin type O-glycan biosynthesis. This study revealed that chicks of the same breed and of uniform environmental and diet management exhibited differences in digestive organ weights, tibial bone characteristics and ileal gene expression that may be related to BW.