John Mansfield
Biographic Data
| ID | 135342 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John Mansfield |
| GIVEN NAMES | John |
| FAMILY NAME | Mansfield |
| SIGNATURE | MANSFIELD J |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1167-1136 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1974 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Managing expectations
One of the central goals of human language is to convey intended messages successfully to the addressee. However, communication inherently involves uncertainty or unexpectedness which hinders this delivery. Different languages have different strategies to manage unexpectedness. In this article, we explore the strategies used in Murrinhpatha, an Australian Aboriginal language with highly flexible syntax, that is, free constituent order and frequen…
The diachrony of verbal classification
Classifier systems apply a semantic classification to nouns or verbs, though in some systems the number of classes is much reduced, and classes may lose their semantic coherence. In this article I investigate the diachronic process by which classifier systems undergo set reduction and semantic dissolution, shifting them along a cline towards purely morphological classes. Following previous literature I identify two potential mechanisms, obsolesce…
Linguistic Diversification and Rates of Change
Language diversification and change can be studied using phylogenetic modelling of families over thousands of years, or by close observation of changes unfolding over a few decades at the community level. While the phylogenetic approach uses data from hundreds of languages to make cross‐linguistic generalisations, community‐level studies of sociolinguistic variation have until recently been limited to a very narrow language sample. However this i…
A Simple Explanation for Harmonic Word Order
Harmonic word order is a well‐established tendency in natural languages, which has previously been explained as a single ordering rule for all head‐dependent relations. We propose that it can be more parsimoniously explained as an outcome of word‐class frequencies, where the purported “head” is the most frequently instantiated word class in a phrasal schema. We show that the most frequent class gravitates spontaneously to an edge position in a ph…
Naturalness is gradient in morphological paradigms
Agreement markers that refer to the same feature or argument tend to be found in the same position (e.g., all subject agreement markers as suffixes, all object agreement markers as prefixes). However, little is known about the exceptions to this trend: cases where different values of the same feature are marked in different positions in the word (i.e., positional splits). In this study, we explore the positional properties of subject and object p…
The sound of one quotation mark
Dialect differences and linguistic divergence
This article presents a new type of comparative linguistic survey, analyzing (socio)linguistic variation in a database of 1,155 grammatical constructions drawn from 42 diverse languages. We focus in particular on variation in the expression of grammatical meanings, and the extent to which grammatical variation differentiates geographic dialects. This is the first study we know of to present a systematic, crosslinguistic survey of dialect differen…
Aboriginal linguistic exchange in an Australian city
Tropical northern Australia is a region of high linguistic diversity, with dozens of language varieties each spoken by a small number of people. Traditionally, this level of diversity has been supported by egalitarian linguistic ecologies, where Aboriginal people use multiple languages alongside one another in each local region. In this study, I explore new types of multilingual practices that are emerging in Darwin, the only major city in the ar…
Clause chaining and the utterance phrase
Clause chaining is a form of syntactic dependency holding between a series of clauses, typically expressing temporal or causal relations between events. Prosodic hierarchy theory proposes that syntactic constituents are systematically mapped to prosodic constituents, but most versions of the theory do not account for clause chain syntax. This article presents original data from Matukar Panau, a clause-chaining Oceanic (Austronesian) language of P…
Positional dependency in Murrinhpatha
Principles of morphotactics are a major source of morphological diversity amongst the world’s languages, and it is well-known that languages exhibit many different types of deviation from a canonical ideal in which there is a unique and consistent mapping between function and form. In this paper we present data from Murrinhpatha (non-Pama-Nyungan, northern Australia) that demonstrates a type of non-canonical morphotactics so far unattested in the…
Fricative contrasts and neutralization in Marri Tjevin
Marri Tjevin is the language of the Rak Thangkurral and Rak Nadirri people of the Daly River region in northern Australia. Unusually for an Australian language, Marri Tjevin has fricatives at all points of articulation /β, ð, ʐ, ʒ, ɣ/, contrasting with phonetically long, voiceless stops /p, t̪, t, ȶ, k/. These series are only contrastive word-medially, while most word-initial obstruents vary freely in stricture and voicing, which constitutes a ty…
The word as a unit of internal predictability
A long-standing problem in linguistics is how to defineword. Recent research has focused on the incompatibility of diverse definitions, and the challenge of finding a definition that is crosslinguistically applicable. In this study I take a different approach, asking whether one structure is more word-like than another based on the concepts of predictability and information. I hypothesize that word constructions tend to be more "internally predic…
Inflectional predictability and prosodic morphology in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara
Category clustering
Category clustering
Recent research has revealed several languages (e.g. Chintang, Rarámuri, Tagalog, Murrinhpatha) that challenge the general expectation of strict sequential ordering in morphological structure. However, it has remained unclear whether these languages exhibit random placement of affixes or whether there are some underlying probabilistic principles that predict their placement. Here we address this question for verbal agreement markers and hypothesi…
Epistemic authority and sociolinguistic stance in an Australian Aboriginal language
Murrinhpatha, an Aboriginal language of northern Australia, has an initial k -alternation in verbs that has hitherto been resistant to grammatical analysis. I argue that k -does not encode any feature of event structure, but rather signals the speaker’s epistemic primacy over the addressee. This authority may relate to concrete perceptual factors in the field of discourse, or to socially normative authority, where it asserts the speaker’s epistem…
Prosodic words in cyclic derivation
Consonant lenition as a sociophonetic variable in Murrinh Patha (Australia)
In recent years, the typological and geographic range of languages subjected to sociophonetic study has been expanding, though until now Australian Aboriginal languages have been absent from this subdiscipline. This first sociophonetic study of an Australian language, Murrinh Patha, shows a type of consonant lenition that is notably distinct from the better known examples in Standard Average European languages, effecting /p/ and /k/ primarily in …
The social organisation of Wadeye's heavy metal mobs
The heavy metal mobs of Wadeye (notorious in the media as ‘heavy metal gangs’) are a new form of Aboriginal social organisation, almost entirely constituted by collateral kinship rather than descent relations. Dozens of overlapping mobs are each made up of sets of brothers and cousins, and are publicly symbolised by the name of a heavy metal band discovered via mass media. In contrast to recent Australianist anthropology that emphasises the fluid…
Using Population-Based Data to Enhance Clinical Practice Guideline Development
OBJECTIVES: Working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, and using tonsillectomies as a basis of inquiry, MCHPE examined surgical rates and patterns of practice. This project had three major aims: to review whether current patterns of delivery provide optimal care; to enhance the development of clinical guidelines; and to inform and influence physician practice. RESEARCH DESIGN: Both a population-based method of inquiry (which…
Letters of John Masefield to Florence Lamont
Some Bibliographies, Old and New
Prosodic words in cyclic derivation
Inflectional predictability and prosodic morphology in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara
Category clustering
Recent research has revealed several languages (e.g. Chintang, Rarámuri, Tagalog, Murrinhpatha) that challenge the general expectation of strict sequential ordering in morphological structure. However, it has remained unclear whether these languages exhibit random placement of affixes or whether there are some underlying probabilistic principles that predict their placement. Here we address this question for verbal agreement markers and hypothesi…
Consonant lenition as a sociophonetic variable in Murrinh Patha (Australia)
In recent years, the typological and geographic range of languages subjected to sociophonetic study has been expanding, though until now Australian Aboriginal languages have been absent from this subdiscipline. This first sociophonetic study of an Australian language, Murrinh Patha, shows a type of consonant lenition that is notably distinct from the better known examples in Standard Average European languages, effecting /p/ and /k/ primarily in …
The word as a unit of internal predictability
A long-standing problem in linguistics is how to defineword. Recent research has focused on the incompatibility of diverse definitions, and the challenge of finding a definition that is crosslinguistically applicable. In this study I take a different approach, asking whether one structure is more word-like than another based on the concepts of predictability and information. I hypothesize that word constructions tend to be more "internally predic…
Some Bibliographies, Old and New
Some Bibliographies, Old and New
Letters of John Masefield to Florence Lamont
Using Population-Based Data to Enhance Clinical Practice Guideline Development
OBJECTIVES: Working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, and using tonsillectomies as a basis of inquiry, MCHPE examined surgical rates and patterns of practice. This project had three major aims: to review whether current patterns of delivery provide optimal care; to enhance the development of clinical guidelines; and to inform and influence physician practice. RESEARCH DESIGN: Both a population-based method of inquiry (which…
The social organisation of Wadeye's heavy metal mobs
The heavy metal mobs of Wadeye (notorious in the media as ‘heavy metal gangs’) are a new form of Aboriginal social organisation, almost entirely constituted by collateral kinship rather than descent relations. Dozens of overlapping mobs are each made up of sets of brothers and cousins, and are publicly symbolised by the name of a heavy metal band discovered via mass media. In contrast to recent Australianist anthropology that emphasises the fluid…
Consonant lenition as a sociophonetic variable in Murrinh Patha (Australia)
In recent years, the typological and geographic range of languages subjected to sociophonetic study has been expanding, though until now Australian Aboriginal languages have been absent from this subdiscipline. This first sociophonetic study of an Australian language, Murrinh Patha, shows a type of consonant lenition that is notably distinct from the better known examples in Standard Average European languages, effecting /p/ and /k/ primarily in …
Prosodic words in cyclic derivation
Epistemic authority and sociolinguistic stance in an Australian Aboriginal language
Murrinhpatha, an Aboriginal language of northern Australia, has an initial k -alternation in verbs that has hitherto been resistant to grammatical analysis. I argue that k -does not encode any feature of event structure, but rather signals the speaker’s epistemic primacy over the addressee. This authority may relate to concrete perceptual factors in the field of discourse, or to socially normative authority, where it asserts the speaker’s epistem…
Category clustering
Category clustering
Recent research has revealed several languages (e.g. Chintang, Rarámuri, Tagalog, Murrinhpatha) that challenge the general expectation of strict sequential ordering in morphological structure. However, it has remained unclear whether these languages exhibit random placement of affixes or whether there are some underlying probabilistic principles that predict their placement. Here we address this question for verbal agreement markers and hypothesi…
Clause chaining and the utterance phrase
Clause chaining is a form of syntactic dependency holding between a series of clauses, typically expressing temporal or causal relations between events. Prosodic hierarchy theory proposes that syntactic constituents are systematically mapped to prosodic constituents, but most versions of the theory do not account for clause chain syntax. This article presents original data from Matukar Panau, a clause-chaining Oceanic (Austronesian) language of P…
Positional dependency in Murrinhpatha
Principles of morphotactics are a major source of morphological diversity amongst the world’s languages, and it is well-known that languages exhibit many different types of deviation from a canonical ideal in which there is a unique and consistent mapping between function and form. In this paper we present data from Murrinhpatha (non-Pama-Nyungan, northern Australia) that demonstrates a type of non-canonical morphotactics so far unattested in the…
Fricative contrasts and neutralization in Marri Tjevin
Marri Tjevin is the language of the Rak Thangkurral and Rak Nadirri people of the Daly River region in northern Australia. Unusually for an Australian language, Marri Tjevin has fricatives at all points of articulation /β, ð, ʐ, ʒ, ɣ/, contrasting with phonetically long, voiceless stops /p, t̪, t, ȶ, k/. These series are only contrastive word-medially, while most word-initial obstruents vary freely in stricture and voicing, which constitutes a ty…
The word as a unit of internal predictability
A long-standing problem in linguistics is how to defineword. Recent research has focused on the incompatibility of diverse definitions, and the challenge of finding a definition that is crosslinguistically applicable. In this study I take a different approach, asking whether one structure is more word-like than another based on the concepts of predictability and information. I hypothesize that word constructions tend to be more "internally predic…
Inflectional predictability and prosodic morphology in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara
Aboriginal linguistic exchange in an Australian city
Tropical northern Australia is a region of high linguistic diversity, with dozens of language varieties each spoken by a small number of people. Traditionally, this level of diversity has been supported by egalitarian linguistic ecologies, where Aboriginal people use multiple languages alongside one another in each local region. In this study, I explore new types of multilingual practices that are emerging in Darwin, the only major city in the ar…
Naturalness is gradient in morphological paradigms
Agreement markers that refer to the same feature or argument tend to be found in the same position (e.g., all subject agreement markers as suffixes, all object agreement markers as prefixes). However, little is known about the exceptions to this trend: cases where different values of the same feature are marked in different positions in the word (i.e., positional splits). In this study, we explore the positional properties of subject and object p…
The sound of one quotation mark
Dialect differences and linguistic divergence
This article presents a new type of comparative linguistic survey, analyzing (socio)linguistic variation in a database of 1,155 grammatical constructions drawn from 42 diverse languages. We focus in particular on variation in the expression of grammatical meanings, and the extent to which grammatical variation differentiates geographic dialects. This is the first study we know of to present a systematic, crosslinguistic survey of dialect differen…
Managing expectations
One of the central goals of human language is to convey intended messages successfully to the addressee. However, communication inherently involves uncertainty or unexpectedness which hinders this delivery. Different languages have different strategies to manage unexpectedness. In this article, we explore the strategies used in Murrinhpatha, an Australian Aboriginal language with highly flexible syntax, that is, free constituent order and frequen…
The diachrony of verbal classification
Classifier systems apply a semantic classification to nouns or verbs, though in some systems the number of classes is much reduced, and classes may lose their semantic coherence. In this article I investigate the diachronic process by which classifier systems undergo set reduction and semantic dissolution, shifting them along a cline towards purely morphological classes. Following previous literature I identify two potential mechanisms, obsolesce…
Linguistic Diversification and Rates of Change
Language diversification and change can be studied using phylogenetic modelling of families over thousands of years, or by close observation of changes unfolding over a few decades at the community level. While the phylogenetic approach uses data from hundreds of languages to make cross‐linguistic generalisations, community‐level studies of sociolinguistic variation have until recently been limited to a very narrow language sample. However this i…
A Simple Explanation for Harmonic Word Order
Harmonic word order is a well‐established tendency in natural languages, which has previously been explained as a single ordering rule for all head‐dependent relations. We propose that it can be more parsimoniously explained as an outcome of word‐class frequencies, where the purported “head” is the most frequently instantiated word class in a phrasal schema. We show that the most frequent class gravitates spontaneously to an edge position in a ph…
Linguistics (16 works) · Computer Science (15 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (10 works) · Artificial Intelligence (9 works) · Natural language processing (8 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (7 works) · Mathematics (6 works) · Language and cultural evolution (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works)