Phonological Change in Bilingualism: Interface of Phonology and Syntax

論文發表人: 楊惠玲 (亞利桑那州立大學英文系語言學博士班)

http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/eddingtond/LASSO/

本研究檢視雙語運用者的子音變化，以探討語音與語法存在的介面。研究標的為：國語與台灣閩南語，實驗對象則為熟稔此二語言並且能自如運用者。本研究分析他的國語捲舌音（包括塞擦音與擦音）在不同語法環境下的變異與自由選用。相關文獻指出，前人的研究多數採取社會語言學的觀點來探討此議題。然而，本研究則著重在了解雙語運用者之語音產出是否與語法環境有關。本研究分析一位閩南語跟國語的雙語運用者之子音產出。分析指出，這位雙語運用者的捲舌音具有特定的模式。特別是他對於「是」字的產出，初步看來時而捲舌，時而不捲舌，他對於此字的發音似乎處於隨性的狀態。然而，本研究進一步發現，在某些語法環境下，他發了不捲舌的「是」（譬如說「是」出現在人稱代名詞之後），而在其他環境之下，他卻發出正確的捲舌「是」（譬如出現在焦點句型中的「是」）。顯然捲舌與否是有跡可尋的，並非如多數人想像，個人捲舌音的產生是隨性隨機的。本研究因而建議，雙語或多語言環境下語音的變異未必僅與語言接觸有關。言語使用中的語法環境也會造成語音的變異。

 

This study examines the interface of phonology and syntax in consonant changes in a bilingual speaker of Mandarin and Southern Min. I analyze the unique retroflex fricatives and affricates in Mandarin, which are independent phonemes and phonologically marked (cf. Li, 2004). Previous studies have addressed phonological variations in Taiwanese Mandarin, mainly from sociolinguistic points of view. Little attention has been paid to the interface of this phenomenon with its syntax. This study elicited a bilingual speaker's free variation between [ʂɻ̩] and [sɻ̩] when producing the Mandarin copular是 shi, and further found systematic syntax in this speaker's use of retroflexion. The empirical data further suggests that sound changes may not be triggered solely by language contact and that it may be decided by the syntactic structure that a changed sound interacts with.

Evaluation of Bioaugmentation to Improve Wastewater Treatment

論文發表人: 呂紹元(加州大學洛杉磯分校土木與環工系博士班)

 

http://www.weftec.org/

 

生物強化技術(bioaugmentation)可有效改善活性污泥(activated sludge)廢水處理去氮除磷(nutrient removal)之能力及去除有害廢棄物(hazardous wastes)。此一技術乃利用高強度廢水培養之菌種(enriched culture)來提升目標污染物(target pollutant)的降解速率。本研究就現今已發表之各生物強化技術分為下列三類建立數值模式以進行比較：1)並聯廢水處理廠(parallel plants)模式；2)離線(off-line)生物培養槽模式(enricher-reactor, 或簡稱ER模式)；及3)現場培養(in-situ process)或在線污泥回收模式(簡稱ER-RAS模式)。數值模擬結果顯示兩種生物培養槽之生物強化模式較並聯廢水處理廠更有效率；並聯廢水處理廠可能產生過量污泥並會受限於低溫。而ER-RAS與離線模式相比則各有優缺：當污泥停滯時間(solid retention time)略高或溫度較低(<16ºC)時，ER-RAS表現略佳；而離線模式的優點則在於可處理多種不同的目標污染物而不致造成互相干擾之結果。

 

Bioaugmentation is a proposed method to improve nutrient removal or to enhance the removal of hazardous wastes in activated sludge (AS) processes. Many approaches for bioaugmentation have been developed, and bioaugmentation processes can be classified into several major schemes, such as adding enriched cultures from commercial or "off-site" sources; adding cells produced from other treatment plants or "on-site" reactors, or growing additional biomass in-situ with the ordinary biomass, using special reactor geometry. However, only few studies have compared the benefits among different processes. This paper quantifies the effectiveness of bioaugmentation processes based using experimental results and verified models. In the first part of the paper, we present our lab-scale experiments and simulations with bioaugmentation ranging from 1% to 16% (calculated as mass of augmented cells per unit of indigenous cell mass) to enhance the removal of an aromatic-type hazardous waste. Based upon a similar model, the second part of this paper compares three alternative "on-site" bioaugmentation approaches to improve nitrogen removal in full-scale treatment processes. The three bioaugmentation processes under comparison are: 1) the parallel plant process; 2) the off-line enricher-reactor (ER) process; and 3) the in-situ process. Simulation results suggested that all bioaugmentation approaches can decrease the minimum SRT for nitrification. The parallel plants approach creates the highest concentration of biomass but may fail at too low temperature. The ER-RAS approach would likely be more useful at lower temperature and required less reactor volume while the ER approach would likely be more advantageous in the presence of inhibitory compound(s).

Production of a1-2 knockdown lines in an a1-3 background to assess the role of the cnd41 aspartyl protease in leaf senescence

論文發表人: 戴雨豆 / 加州州立大學長堤分校生物所碩士班

 

http://www.lyon.edu/photosynthesis/

 

植物老化是一種很嚴謹且規律的過程. 在植物老化過程中,葉綠體中的蛋白質會被分解並轉送到植物其他新生部位如果實和種子. 研究顯示菸草蛋白CND41在植物老化過程中扮演很重要的腳色. CND41是葉綠體DNA結合蛋白並含有一個蛋白質水解酵素功能區塊. 阿拉伯芥中發現三個CND41 異物種同源基因A1-1, A1-2和 A1-3.研究顯示 A1-2 和 A1-3基因在較老的植物葉片中有較高的表現因此被視為跟植物老化有關聯但是a1-2 和 a1-3單基因突變植物體並沒有明顯的植物老化現象產生,其原因有可能是A1-2 和A1-3基因互為互補基因. 為了能了解A1-2和A1-3基因的功能,我們利用RNAi的技術去產生一個雙重基因突變(a1-2KD/a1-3KO)阿拉伯芥植株並去研究這個雙重突變植物體是否對植物的老化現象產生影響. 我們選擇使用RNAi的技術去獲得雙重突變植物體的原因是因為A1-2和A1-3基因是相鄰基因,因此我們無法利用傳統育種的方式來取得雙重突變植物體. 這個研究分成兩個部分,第一個部分包含了RNAi質體的設計和構築以及基因轉植植株的生成.第二個部分則是研究雙重基因突變植株(a1-2KD/a1-3KO)是否可以延遲植物的老化現象. 目前實驗已經完成了第一個部分並且大部分的轉植植株的A1-2的mRNA量都非常的稀少.接下了則是要進行測試這些轉植植株在老化過程中是否有延遲老化的現象.

 

 

Leaf senescence is considered to be a highly regulated process. During senescence, chloroplast proteins degrade into nutrients that are exported. Previous research showed that CND41 played a role in the senescence process in tobacco. CND41 is a chloroplast DNA binding protein that also contains an A1 aspartic protease domain. In Arabidopsis, three CND41 orthologs have been found, A1-1, A1-2, and A1-3. A1-2 and A1-3 are considered to potentially play a role in senescence as their expression is upregulated in older leaves.However, individual a1-2 and a1-3 knockout Arabidopsis mutants did not show any obvious delays in senescence. The reason might be because the A1-2 and A1-3 genes can compensate for each other due to redundancy. Therefore, in order to verify the function of A1-2 and A1-3 genes, we plan to knock down A1-2 expression in an a1-3 knockout mutant and observe if there is any delay of leaf senescence in the a1-2KD/a1-3KO double mutant. It is difficult to obtain an a1-2/a1-3 double knockout line by crossing the a1-2 KO and a1-3 KO mutant because these are adjacent genes. Thus, we are using RNAi to obtain the double mutant. The first step is to design and construct the RNAi vector and produce transgenic lines while the second part is to analyze the senescence phenotypes of double mutants.  RNAi constructs have been obtained, transgenic lines have been selected, and our initial analysis demonstrates silencing of A1-2 gene expression in nearly all transgenic lines.  These lines are currently being grown for analysis of senescence phenotypes.  (This work funded by NSF 0415108.)

“Mozart Is Thinking of Chairman Mao”: Cultural Translation in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

論文發表人：余淡如/加州大學河濱分校比較文學系

 

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf/Contact Information:

 

本論文探討在中西文化交流當中產生的文化的翻譯性。本文追述在旅法作家戴思杰的小說中，文化革命，毛主義，以及其他思想如何被轉換翻譯以及重述，進而強調翻譯的過程，解構以及重建，以及文化的多重性。Salman Rushdie在 Imaginary homelands當中強調移民作家的獨特的雙重視野：深處在既是圈內人也是圈外人的雙重困境下，移民作家對家園產生濃烈的懷舊感，進而重建一個記憶中和想像中的家園。在旅法中國作家戴思杰2000的暢銷小說＜巴爾札克與小裁縫＞文中，戴思杰即表現了這種以記憶和想像重建家園的論述。<巴爾札克>一文描述，流放下鄉的青年在紛擾的文化革命時代劇變中以及城鄉差距下找尋自己的出路。戴思杰的小說中充滿對文化革命時期上山下鄉的懷舊感，相較於同一時期傷痕文學論述中對文化革命的批判，戴思杰以懷舊和幽默建構了對中國的新的想像。戴思杰以輕鬆詼諧的語調將文化革命以及毛主義一筆帶過，但是卻強調中國的東方色彩以及異國情調。毛主義在法國也被視為對法國革命的嚮往，其意義在不同文本下被不斷翻譯以及改變。戴思杰的小說反映他比須在中西兩方不同的論述下得取得共同點以維持他身為移民作家的獨特性。

 

In Imaginary Homelands, Salman Rushdie explains migrant writers' "double perspective"(19) as both insiders and outsiders in the worlds they describe. Through redescription, migrant writers reconstruct and negotiate the homeland that is both being remembered and imagined. Dai Sijie, a Chinese writer who moved in France in 1984, represents precise such double perspective as a migrant writer. Dai won immediate fame with his novel, Balzac et La Tailleuse Chinoise when it was first published in 2000. This semi-autobiographical novel delineates Dai Sijie's teenage years in the backward countryside during Cultural Revolution. Two years later, Dai adapted his own novel into a film, which won him international attention as a French filmmaker. Dai's identity as a migrant writer who writes about his memories and experiences of his youth to audiences in his current residing country poses interesting question on cultural translation. On the one hand, Balzac articulates experiences of Cultural Revolution through an autobiographical air of expression; on the other hand, such memories are reiterated with a light-hearted, nostalgic and almost orientalist point of view. The gap between historical reality and personal memories parallel the problems between experiences and expression. Balzac shows Dai's identity as a migrant writer who has to constantly struggles and negotiates between his home country, China and current country, France. This essay traces the process of translation in ideas and memories through the "re-education" of the female protagonist and argues that Dai, as a migrant author, negotiates his identity through subversion and reiteration of Maoist ideology.