Abstract Adopting a grammaticalization path perspective on the envelope of variation, that is, the range of grammatical functions along the cross-linguistic perfect-to-perfective path, and employing the variationist comparative method, we compare use of the Present Perfect and Preterit in Mexican and Peninsular Spanish to identify the default past perfective form in each dialect. The linguistic conditioning of the variability provides evidence that the Present Perfect is becoming the default exponent of past perfective in Peninsular Spanish; in empirical terms, the default expression is the one appearing more frequently (combined effect of corrected mean and factor weight) in the most frequent and, crucially, the least specified contexts. The quantitative analysis of natural speech production—rather than elicited—data also suggests a different trajectory for perfect-to-perfective grammaticalization than the commonly assumed route via remoteness distinctions: the Present Perfect's shift from hodiernal to general perfective advances in temporally indeterminate past contexts.
Beneath the dry farmland of New South Wales lies a hidden window into a lost rainforest teeming with life from 11-16 million years ago。 At McGraths Flat, scientists have uncovered fossils preserved in astonishing detail—not in typical rock like shale or sandstone, but in iron-rich sediment once thought incapable of such preservation。 Tiny iron part
Series Editor's Preface. Introduction. 1. From Adam to Confusio Linguarum. Genesis 2, 10, 11. Before and After Europe. Side-effects. A Semiotic Model for Natural Language. 2. The Kabbalistic Pansemioticism. The Reading of the Torah. Cosmic Permutability and the Kabbala of Names. The Mother Tongue. 3. The Perfect Language of Dante. Latin and the Vernacular. Language and Lingusitic Behavior. The First Gift to Adam. Dante and Universal Grammar. The Illustrious Vernacular. Dante and Abulafia. 4. The Ars Magna of Raymond Lull. The Elements of the Ars Combinatoria. The Alphabet and the Four Figures. The Arbor Scientarium. The Concordia Universalis of Nicholas of Cusa. 5. The Monogenetic Hypothesis and the Mother Tongues. The Return to Hebrew. Postel's Universalistic Utopia. The Etymological Furor. Conventionalism, Epicureanism and Polygenesis. The Pre-Hebraic Language. The Nationalistic Hypotheses. Philosophers against Monogeneticism. A Dream that refused to Die. New Prospects for the Monogenetic Hypothesis. 6. Kabbalism and Lullism in Modern Culture. Magic Names and Kabbalistic Hebrew. Kabbalism and Lullism in the Steganographies. Lullian Kabbalism. Bruno: Ars Combinatoria and Infinite Worlds. Infinite Songs and Locutions. 7. The Perfect Language of Images. Horapollo's Hieroglyphica. The Egyptian Alphabet. Kircher's Egyptology. Kircher's Chinese. The Kircherian Ideology. Later Critics. The Egyptian vs. the Chinese Way. Images for Aliens. 8. Magic Language. Hypotheses. Dee's Magic Language. Perfection and Secrecy. 9. Polygraphies. Kircher's Polygraphy. Beck and Becher. First Attempts at a Content Organizations. 10. A Priori Philosophical Languages. Bacon. Comenius. Descarted and Mersenne. The English Debate on Character and Traits. Primitives and Organization Content. 11. George Dalgarno. 12. John Wilkins. The Tables and the Grammar. The Real Characters. The Dictionary: Synonyms, Periphrases, Metaphors. An Open Classification? The Limits of Classification. The Hypertext of Wilkins. 13. Francis Lodwick. 14. From Liebniz to the Encyclopedie. Characteristica and Calculus. The Problem of the Primitives. The Encyclopedia and the Aphabet of Thought. Blind Thought. The I Ching and the Binary Calculus. Side-effects. The 'Library' of Liebnitz and the Encyclopedie. 15. Philosophic Language from the Enlightenment to Today. Eighteenth-century Projects. The Last Flowering of Philosophic Languages. Space Languages. Artificial Intelligence. Some Ghosts of the Perfect Language. 16. The Internatonal Auxiliary Languages. The Mixed Systems. The Babel of A Posteriori Languages. Esperanto. An Optimized Grammar. Theoretical Objections and Counter-objections. The 'Political' Possibilitites of an IAL. Limits and Effability of an IAL. Conclusion. Translation. The Gift to Adam. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
Given a vector of N elements, the perfect shuffle of this vector is a permutation of the elements that are identical to a perfect shuffle of a deck of cards. Elements of the first half of the vector are interlaced with elements of the second half in the perfect shuffle of the vector.
We propose a class of qubit networks that admit the perfect state transfer of any quantum state in a fixed period of time. Unlike many other schemes for quantum computation and communication, these networks do not require qubit couplings to be switched on and off. When restricted to N-qubit spin networks of identical qubit couplings, we show that 2log3N is the maximal perfect communication distance for hypercube geometries. Moreover, if one allows fixed but different couplings between the qubits, then perfect state transfer can be achieved over arbitrarily long distances in a linear chain.
Focuses on a study which examined perfect equilibrium in a bargaining model. Overview of the strategic approach adopted for the study; Details of the bargaining situation used; Discussion on perfect equilibrium. (From Ebsco)
Scientists are grappling with a cosmic mystery: why does the Universe behave differently on massive scales compared to our own solar system。 While distant galaxies reveal clear signs of something bending the rules of gravity—often attributed to dark energy or a hidden “fifth force”—everything nearby seems to follow Einstein’s playbook perfectly
Physicists have taken a major step toward using AI not just to analyze data, but to uncover entirely new laws of nature。 By combining a specially designed neural network with precise 3D tracking of particles in a dusty plasma—a strange “fourth state of matter” found from space to wildfires—the team revealed hidden patterns in how particles interact
Scientists have uncovered the true boundary of the Milky Way’s star-forming region using stellar “age mapping。” They found a telltale U-shaped pattern showing that star formation drops sharply around 35,000–40,000 light-years from the center。 Beyond that, stars are mostly migrants, slowly drifting outward rather than forming in place
Quantum physics once shocked scientists by revealing that particles can behave like waves—and now, that strange behavior has been pushed even further。 For the first time, researchers have observed wave-like interference in positronium, an exotic “atom” made of an electron and its antimatter partner, a positron。 This breakthrough not only strengthen
Scientists have created tiny “optical tornadoes” — swirling beams of light that twist like miniature whirlwinds — using a surprisingly simple setup based on liquid crystals。 Instead of relying on complex nanotechnology, the team used self-organizing structures called torons to trap and manipulate light, causing it to spiral and rotate in intricate
A major physics experiment has uncovered evidence for a strange new form of matter, where a fleeting particle gets trapped inside a nucleus。 This exotic state may reveal how mass is generated, suggesting that particles can weigh less when surrounded by dense nuclear matter。 The findings support long-standing theories about how the vacuum of space i
Researchers have, for the first time, directly visualized how electronic patterns known as charge density waves evolve across a phase transition。 Using cutting-edge microscopy, they found these patterns form unevenly, breaking into patches influenced by tiny structural distortions。 Unexpectedly, small pockets of order persist even above the transit
Scientists have discovered unexpected water-ice clouds on a distant, Jupiter-like exoplanet, challenging current atmospheric models。 By directly imaging Epsilon Indi Ab with the James Webb Space Telescope, they found less ammonia than expected—likely hidden by thick, patchy clouds。 The finding reveals new layers of complexity in giant planets and s
As the Moon swallowed the Sun during the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, something remarkable happened on the ground—cities went eerily quiet。 Scientists analyzing seismic data found that human-generated vibrations, usually caused by traffic, construction, and daily activity, dropped sharply during totality。 The effect was so pronounced that it