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Heidi Harley (University of Arizona) Session 106Jason Haugen (University of Arizona)On the grammatical expression of inception & cessation in Hiaki (Yaqui)We describe and compare the various constructions used for inception and cessation in Hiaki (Yaqui). In addition to verbal suffixesthere are verb-affix ‘hybrids’ that can stand alone or be suffixed to another verb: naate (inceptive) and ya'ate (cessative). One hybrid,hapte 'stand up', is only used for plural subjects and is ambiguous between 'start' and 'stop'. We analyze its aspectual meaning as'change in action' (i.e. beginning an action not yet begun or ceasing an action already ongoing). The singular subject form of thissuppletive verb (kikte) does not have this meaning. Finally, while suffixal -taite (inceptive) cannot appear as a free verb, it is able tohost a cessative suffix.Martin Haspelmath (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) Session 40Explaining some universals of causative verb formationSynthetic causative verbs can be formed the more easily (i.e., in more languages or with shorter coding), the higher the noncausativebase is on the following scale: energy-costly unaccusatives ('break') > automatic unaccusatives ('freeze') > unergatives ('laugh') >transitives ('cut'). This scale, called ‘spontaneity scale’ here, generalizes over some earlier noted universals (e.g. by Nedjalkov andSil'nickij 1969, Haspelmath 1993, Shibatani 2002). I argue that the explanation for the various trends covered by this scale isfrequency of use: The higher a noncausative base is on the scale, the more likely it is that it will occur as a causative.Martin Haspelmath (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) Session 84Typical creole features & the World Atlas of Language StructuresTo count as characteristic of creoles, a grammatical feature not only has to be present in most creoles and absent in their lexifierlanguages but must also not be pervasive in the world’s languages. Thus, to understand what is typical of creoles, we need to knowwhat is typical in general. I present a new tool for worldwide comparison, the World Atlas of Language Structures (OUP 2005). Thislarge-scale collaborative work shows the worldwide distribution of 142 grammatical features in 400 languages on average. Creolistscan exploit this database to evaluate ‘typical’ creole features in a worldwide context.Midori Hayashi (University of Toronto) WITHDRAWN Session 18What accounts for boosts in downstep? Syntax-prosody mapping revisitedBruce Hayes (University of California, Los Angeles) Session 7Colin Wilson (University of California, Los Angeles)A maximum entropy model of phonotactics & phonotactic learningWe propose a theory of phonotactic grammars and an algorithm for learning them. Our grammars, which consist of constraintsweighted according to the principle of maximum entropy, characterize both categorical and gradient phonotactic patterns. Ourlearning algorithm assumes no a priori constraint set but instead uses its own resources to construct the constraints. To illustrate themodel, we first show that a baseline version suffices to learn the phonotactics of English onsets. An augmented version of the model,with autosegmental tiers and metrical grids, can learn more complex systems: vowel harmony, unbounded stress, and the completephonotactics of Wargamay.Kirk Hazen (West Virginia University) Session 62Sarah Hamilton (West Virginia University)The effects of migration on Appalachian language variation patternsOur analysis of one Appalachian family's language variation affected by migration reveals distinctive quantitative levels of vernacularpatterns. One of the most important variables is was leveling, with the migrants having a higher rate (70%) of the vernacular variantsthan those who stayed (45%). The findings indicate that Appalachian migrants negotiate their sociolinguistic identity between theirfamily members and their adopted homes. Once "reunited" in West Virginia, they work to reestablish their sociolinguistic profiles,reinforcing local, West Virginia norms. From our analysis of this one family, migration has affected the language variation patterns oftraditional Appalachian speech.128