A n i t a B e r i t H a n s e n University of Copenhagen A B S T R A C TThe present study explores the notion of lexical diffusion in relation to an ongoing change in Modern French nasal vowels. Data are interviews with 42 Parisians, recorded in 1972-74 and 1989-93. We start with the notion that sound change ought to be regular, according to the classification of Labov (1994): that is, being a phonetically gradual change, it should be lexically abrupt. The first part of our analysis, which includes more than 10,000 nasal vowel tokens, seems to indicate an influence of factors compatible with the hypothesis of regular sound change (i.e., stress and phonetic surroundings). A closer look at the vowel 0Ã 0, however, reveals an independent lexical and grammatical conditioning, one not entirely explicable in terms of stress or phonetics. As other studies have shown (Krishnamurti, 1998;Yaeger-Dror, 1996), gradual phonetic change might show lexical irregularities, a fact which calls for a revision of Labov's classification.

En français parisien, on parle depuis quelques décennies déjà d'un changement affectant le système des voyelles dites ‘à double timbre’. Ces voyelles comptent quatre paires (/e/-/ɛ/ comme dans parlé-parlait, /ø/-/œ/ comme dans jeûne-jeune, /o/-/ɔ/ comme dans saute-sotte et /ɑ/-/a/ comme dans mâle-mal). La différence interne dans chaque paire peut s'exprimer comme une distance physique plus ou moins grande sur le lieu d'articulation, les autres traits restant constants (différence d'aperture pour les trois premières, différence en termes de postériorisation de la racine de la langue vers le pharynx pour la dernière), ce qui explique partiellement pourquoi elles sont souvent réunies dans les descriptions traditionnelles du français standard: elles consistent toutes d'une voyelle avec un timbre fermé et d'une voyelle avec un timbre ouvert. Elles partagent, en outre, certains principes de distribution allophonique dans les cas où elles ne forment pas de paires minimales (par exemple pour /Ø/, /O/: uniquement le timbre fermé en finale absolue). Depuis l'enquête de Martinet en 1941, qui avait la forme d'une auto-évaluation de la part de 250 informateurs adultes de Paris et de la France du Nord (questions du type: ‘Prononcez-vous de façon identique pâte et patte ?’, Martinet, 1945 [1971]), et les enquêtes successives à méthodologie semblable de Reichstein (1960) (sur 556 élèves, âgées de 13 à 15 ans) et de Deyhime (1967a, b) (sur 500 étudiants de la Cité Universitaire à Paris), nous avons des preuves que de moins en moins de Parisiens font la distinction entre les deux /A/. Martinet (1969) a fait la synthèse de ces trois enquêtes. D'autres études, se servant d'analyses phonétiques auditives, ont confirmé ceci et ont élargi l'observation: les /E/ sont également touchés. Dans leurs enquêtes parisiennes, Léon (1973), Peretz (1977a), Peretz-Juillard (1985) et Landick (1995) ont noté des timbres intermédiaires là où on s'attendrait à une distinction entre timbre fermé, /e/, et timbre ouvert, /ɛ/. Les deux dernières paires de voyelles sont probablement concernées aussi, mais à un moindre degré: selon le témoignage de Landick (1995), basé sur des données de la fin des années 1980, l'opposition des deux /Ø/ n'est stable que parmi les locuteurs ayant fait des études supérieures, et l'opposition des deux /O/ est entamée aussi, mais reste la plus forte des quatre.

Partant d'une discussion sur la nécessité des études en temps réel pour aborder la question du changement linguistique, ce travail traite du ne de négation en français. Deux corpus d'interviews sociolinguistiques sont confrontés : celui de Péretz-Juillard enregistré à Paris en 1972-74 et ceux de Hansen (région parisienne 1989-93) et de Malderez (région de l'Oise 1992-93). L'étude confirme la progression de la chute du ne de négation dans le français oral informel. Cependant nous hésitons à conclure trop vite à sa perte définitive, car d'autres indices montrent que cette particule constitue une ressource sociolinguistique importante pour les locuteurs, et qu'elle est encore relativement fréquente dans certains contextes linguistiques spécifiques.

BackgroundPlacental malaria (PM) is associated with a higher susceptibility of infants to Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria. A hypothesis of immune tolerance has been suggested but no clear explanation has been provided so far. Our goal was to investigate the involvement of inhibitory receptors LILRB1 and LILRB2, known to drive immune evasion upon ligation with pathogen and/or host ligands, in PM-induced immune tolerance.MethodInfants of women with or without PM were enrolled in Allada, southern Benin, and followed-up for 24 months. Antibodies with specificity for five blood stage parasite antigens were quantified by ELISA, and the frequency of immune cell subsets was quantified by flow cytometry. LILRB1 or LILRB2 expression was assessed on cells collected at 18 and 24 months of age.FindingsInfants born to women with PM had a higher risk of developing symptomatic malaria than those born to women without PM (IRR=1.53, p=0.040), and such infants displayed a lower frequency of non-classical monocytes (OR=0.74, p=0.01) that overexpressed LILRB2 (OR=1.36, p=0.002). Moreover, infants born to women with PM had lower levels of cytophilic IgG and higher levels of IL-10 during active infection.InterpretationModulation of IgG and IL-10 levels could impair monocyte functions (opsonisation/phagocytosis) in infants born to women with PM, possibly contributing to their higher susceptibility to malaria. The long-lasting effect of PM on infants’ monocytes was notable, raising questions about the capacity of ligands such as Rifins or HLA-I molecules to bind to LILRB1 and LILRB2 and to modulate immune responses, and about the reprogramming of neonatal monocytes/macrophages.

No abstract

Historically, the higher circles of Paris have dictated the bon usage in French pronunciation, and have contributed to the present day Reference French; at the same time, howevr, Paris has preserved some local phonetic features, especially in lower social classes. The young man studied in this chapter is a PhD student, born to Parisian parents and raised in the 14th arrondissement. In the extract, his French is characterized by words from the familiar register (frigo, truc, sympa, clope) and by syntactic structures frequent in spontaneous spoken French (dislocations, clefts, ne-omission, etc.). On the phonetic level, he presents several features of Reference French (a reduced nasal vowel system, loss of /ɑ/, some tendencies towards the reduction of contrasts in mid vowels, three distinct high oral vowels, and an interconsonantal schwa which follows long-established rules). However, his palatalized /k/’s, and his prepausal schwa-tagging makes him sound specifically Parisian.

of Kew Gardens in London built his reputation as a botanist, to a large extent, on his publication of the floras of the southern ocean, namely his The Botany of The Antarctic Voyage of HM Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the Years 1839-1843, a set of books that contains Flora Antarctica, Flora Novae Zelandiae and Flora Tasmaniae. Although Hooker had visited all of these places on the voyage and collected a substantial number of botanical specimens for his research, he alone could not have assembled the comprehensive herbarium needed for such a wide-ranging set of flora. To aid him in this endeavour, Hooker relied on an enthusiastic group of colonial correspondents and collectors. He regarded the specimens, and the information about them, sent by the colonial correspondents as belonging to the metropolitan centre at Kew. However, as these correspondents gained botanical knowledge, in particular William Archer, Ronald Campbell Gunn and William Colenso, they clamoured for recognition of their expertise, something Hooker was not always willing to bestow.

No abstract