Contextual variability in American English dark-l

This paper presents a four-subject study that examines the relative influence of syllable position and stress, together with vowel context on the colouring of the dark-l characteristic of speakers of General American English. Most investigators report lighter /l/ tokens in syllable onsets and darker tokens in coda positions. The present study demonstrates that when dark-l serves as an onset in iambic intervocalic context with tautosyllabic high front vowels, it is fully dark as a result of domain-initial strengthening. By contrast, when dark-l is abutted across a word boundary to word-final or word-initial consonants, or when it is contained in a foot-internal context (preboundary intervocalic rime with trochaic stress) its dorsal gesture is constrained, resulting in less dark tokens. In the case of dark-l, articulatory undershoot must be understood not only in terms of the alveolar gesture, but also the dorsal gesture.     

Anxiety, nostalgia and melancholy. A few remarks on psychoanalysis and tango

Our work is based on the application of psychoanalytic techniques, in order to unveil this cultural phenomenon called tango, related with sexuality and unconscious processes. As a way of introduction, it deals with a brief theory of the birth of tango, the possible terminological source of its name, its main creators and interpreters, as well as the chronological classification into the first wave tangos, Guardia Vieja, and the newer wave tangos, Guardia Nueva. The former ones were awash with festive themes of the centennial years, expressed in behaviors that denote sexuality and love, whereas the latter ones, expose the great bewilderment of the thirties' crisis, due to the imminent downfall of the country, the denunciation of materialism, the crumbling of ideas; which led up to feelings of utter pessimism, loneliness and abandonment. From this point onwards, through the use of techniques provided by psychoanalysis applied to tango lyrics, we are able to unravel the unconscious processes of the drama of its characters; the immigrant, hopeful and at same time nostalgic for the loss of his mother country; the porteno -urban man from Buenos Aires city- who, overwhelmed by immigrants, has to give way to the new compatriots; the inland inhabitant, who was dragged to the city because of the new conditions of rural work; and finally the conventillo, tenement house, as a melting pot that fulfilled the integration of these groups. Like in a painter's palette, which contains various colors and shades, the interpretations about nostalgia, grief and loneliness become apparent, along with the father-son rivalry, the conflict with the absent mother, the relationship between sexes, male chauvinism, infatuation, identity, the fear of death, the rebirth to a new life, the passage from gaucho to guapo, from a shrewd horseman to a daring, bullying braggart.     

Speaking rates of American and New Zealand varieties of English

Various acoustic measures of speaking rate were calculated for 40 adult speakers of New Zealand English (NZE). These measures were then compared to a group of 40 adult speakers of American English (AE). Results of the analysis identified significantly faster overall speaking rate and articulation rate for the NZE group compared to the AE group. No gender differences in speaking rate or articulation rate were found for either variety of English. The observed differences in rate between AE and NZE are interpreted with regard to diverse vowel production patterns between the varieties, as well as possible differences in rhythmic timing patterns. The impact of differences in speaking rate between varieties of English on the assessment and treatment of speech timing disorders is discussed.     

Reference data for the American English acoustic vowel space

Reference data for the acoustic vowel space area (VSA) in children and adolescents do not currently appear to be available in a form suitable for normative comparisons. In the current study, individual speaker formant data for the four corner vowels of American English (/i, u, æ, ɑ/) were used to compute individual speaker VSAs. The sample included 300 children aged 5–18 years and 38 adults aged 25–50 years. Age trends and sex differences were examined and reference data for clinical application were developed. Findings indicated significant declines in VSA with age; sex differences were not fully apparent until late adolescence and adulthood. Implications are discussed.     

Late-onset familial amyloid polyneuropathy in an American family of English origin

Recent advances permit biochemical and genetic classification of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy. We report a family with the methionine-30 prealbumin variant, which is atypical in late age of onset and the appearance of proximal arm weakness before more typical generalized neuropathy.     

Then melancholy, now depression: a modern interpretation of Rembrandt's mental state in midlife

The authors identify two Rembrandt etchings of 1642, Saint Jerome in a Dark Chamber and A Scholar at a Table by Candlelight, as self-portraits. Considered with biographical data, the prints suggest that Rembrandt suffered from a bipolar personality disorder, manifest in exuberance and lavish spending in the 1630s, and then, after the death of the artist's wife, in clinical depression in the early 1640s. Depression is depicted in the prints by their dark ambiance, and the figure's pose is traditional in art to represent melancholia, one of the four classical humors conventionally ascribed to artistic genius. In addition, the authors identify as a portrait of his wife the object at which the "scholar" is looking. Although the panel is turned away from the viewer of the etching, its size, shape, and material suggest that it is a painting that survives in Kassel, Germany.     

The continuity of biological models in psychiatry: melancholy as brain disease in scholastic psychology

This paper emphasizes the long lines of tradition biological concepts have in the explanation of mental disorders in classical antiquity and the middle ages; yet it also portrays rivalling theories. I describe both medical and philosophical approaches, as they merged into a quite coherent model during scholasticism. The work of Albert the Great serves as an example for this model. A last paragraph shows its plausibility for authors even of the 17th century and discusses the epistomological basis of dualistic systems.     

Fatigue, insomnia and nervousness: gender disparities and roles of individual characteristics and lifestyle factors among economically active people

Background

Individuals with certain personal, family and job characteristics are at elevated risk of poor mental health. Yet, the respective role of obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, low education, income, living and family conditions, and socio-occupational category in fatigue/insomnia (FI), nervousness (N) and frequent drug use for those disorders (DFI and DN) among men and women and in gender disparities are not well known.

Methods

We studied gender differences in FI, N, DFI, DN, and in their correlated, and whether the gender differences were mediated by individual and lifestyle factors among 3,450 active subjects aged 18–64, randomly selected from North-eastern France. Subjects completed a post-mailed questionnaire. Data were analyzed via adjusted odds ratio (ORa) computed with the logistic regression model.

Results

Women were more affected than men for FI (21.3 vs. 13.1%, OR adjusted for age ORa 1.80, 95% CI 1.50–2.16), DFI (11.6 vs. 7.1%, ORa 1.74, 1.38–2.21), N (14.7 vs. 9.9%, ORa 1.58, 1.28–1.94), and for DN (12.1 vs. 5.7%, ORa 2.29, 1.79–2.94). These differences were not mediated by the individual characteristics studied. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk patterns varied between the two sexes. Smoking was related to N in men as well as in women; alcohol abuse to DFI in men only; lack of family support to all outcome variables in men and women; low educational level to DFI in men only; low income to FI, N and DN in men and to FI and DN in women; being unmarried to DN in men; being divorced/separated to N and DN in women; being a manual worker to FI and being a farmer to DFI in men; and being a manual worker to DN and being an employee to FI in women (1.50 ≤ ORa ≤ 2.95).

Conclusions

Women suffered more from fatigue/insomnia and nervousness and used more drug for those disorders than men. Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors played significant roles among men and women but they did not explain the gender disparities.     

Cultural Adaptation,Parenting and Child Mental Health Among English Speaking Asian American Immigrant Families

Contrary to the “model minority” myth, Asian American children, especially those from low-income immigrant families, are at risk for both behavioral and emotional problems early in life. Little is known, however, about the underlying developmental mechanisms placing Asian American children at risk, including the role of cultural adaptation and parenting. This study examined cultural adaptation, parenting practices and culture related parenting values and child mental health in a sample of 157 English speaking Asian American immigrant families of children enrolled in early childhood education programs in low-income, urban neighborhoods. Overall, cultural adaptation and parenting cultural values and behaviors were related to aspects of child mental health in meaningful ways. Parents’ cultural value of independence appears to be especially salient (e.g., negatively related to behavior problems and positively related to adaptive behavior) and significantly mediates the link between cultural adaptation and adaptive behavior. Study findings have implications for supporting Asian American immigrant families to promote their young children’s mental health.     

Depression and loss: a theme in Robert Burton's "Anatomy of melancholy" (1621).

Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) can hardly be thought of as a modern study in psychiatry, but it contains more elements of modern theory than have been recognized. Attempts to recommend the book to modern readers have missed the point that Burton, more clearly than other seventeenth century writers on melancholy, sees traumatic loss of attachment figures, status symbols and personal health as predisposing to mood disorders. In this he strongly anticipates such work as that of John Bowlby in Attachment and Loss (1969), 1973). Burton's theory is divided between the humoural physiological theory descending from Galen and the observation that loss is a frequent precursor of melancholy. He cannot reconcile the two, writing a book only poised on the verge of modernity. The Anatomy of Melancholy nevertheless very fully discusses etiological "hunches" which have found verification in recent studies of traumatic loss.     

Sadness as a passion of the soul: a psychopathological consideration of the Cartesian concept of melancholy

The relationship between the "passions" (emotions or feelings) and psychopathology has been a constant throughout the history of medicine. In this context, melancholy was considered a perversion of the soul (corruption of the passions). One of the most influential authors on this subject was René Descartes, who discussed it in his work The Treatise on the Passions of the Soul (1649). Descartes believed that "passions" were sensitive movements that the soul experienced due to its union with the body (res extensa). According to this theory, the soul was located in the pineal gland, where it was actively involved in overseeing the functions of the "human machine" and kept its dysfunctions under control, by circulating animal spirits. Descartes described sadness as one of "the six primitive passions of the soul", which leads to melancholy if not remedied. Cartesian theories had a great deal of influence on the way that mental pathologies were considered throughout the entire 17th century (Spinoza, Willis, Pitcairn) and during much of the 18th century (Le Cat, Tissot). From the 19th century onwards, emotional symptomatology finally began to be used in diagnostic criteria for mood disorders.     

Perception of American English dark /l/ by normally hearing young adult women

This perceptual study describes changes in how listeners perceive VCV elements within successive truncations taken from an iambic phrase containing /l/ (e.g. a leaf, or a load) spoken by four male speakers of General American English. Evidence of the respective roles of dorsal gestural affiliation between /l/ and the reduced vowel, (V₁CV₂), and gestural separation from a tautosyllabic high front vowel (V₂) were demonstrated. Coproduction of dark-l with a preceding reduced vowel was evident in early reports of back vowels or diphthongs, particularly when the carrier word contained a front vowel, and was noted more in darker-l than lighter-l speakers. The pairing of /l/ with a tautosyllabic front vowel reduced earlier identification of /l/, whereas its pairing with a back vowel enhanced early identification. The role of perceived contrast in identification of /l/ was reflected in changes in listener's perception of the reduced vowel across successive truncations. Clinical implications are addressed.     

Rates of auxiliary is and are in African American English speaking children with specific language impairment following language treatment

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine rates of auxiliary is and are across dialect patterns produced by African American English with specific language impairment (AAE-SLI) children following language treatment. The following research question is asked: Do AAE-SLI children exhibit rates of auxiliary is and are across dialect patterns consistent with previous reports of typically developing children and adult AAE speakers? A pre-/post-test design was used to identify patterns in which auxiliary is and are were produced at significant levels. Individual performance was included to examine variable rates of use across patterns. Group and individual results suggest children used auxiliary is and are in dialect patterns at rates consistent with typically developing child and adult AAE speakers. We conclude that rates of use may contribute to evidence-based guidelines for morphological intervention with AAE-SLI children.