Monday 30 January 2012

Fockley magh R

Ta mish gobbraghey ayns lioarlan ollooscoill, as ta studeyryn gobbraghey marin 'syn oie myr cooney lhieeneydagh (t'ad ny sloo deyr na obbree lane-emshir!). Ta shin caarjoil dy liooar as ta kuse jin ceau traa rish y cheilley ny keayrtyn. Aghterbee, ta ben jeu smooinaghtyn er jeet dy ve ny ben-lioarlan erreish da'n ollooscoill, as dinsh ee dou dy vel ee er chur stiagh er son Aberystwyth. Wahll, va mee ayns shen blein ny queig er dy henney (as b'wooar lhiam ee), as hug mee gaue jee dy by ymmydoil eh Bretnish y ynsaghey er y fa dy vel ad daa-hengagh 'sy lioarlan. Cha row mee jerkal eh tra dreggyr ee dy by vie lhee oyr dy ynsaghey Bretnish.

Wahll, erreish dou toiggal ee, chowree mee jee dy row yn oyr shen eck: foddee ee loayrt Bretnish marym. Ta anaase myr shen dy liooar dou goaill toshiaght er shalee, as t'eh foym cooney lhee ynsaghey iaith y nefoedd my s'cosoylagh eh. Hooar magh mee dy row doilleeid ayn tra dooyrt ee dou nagh nod ee fockley magh [r] Celtiagh. Ghow mee yindys. S'doillee dou fockley magh [ʁ] Germaanish, agh shen er y fa (choud's noddym toiggal) dy vel eh ro-chosoylagh rish [ɣ] as [x] Celtiagh as cha noddym geddyn greim er y scansh mooar t'eddyr oc. Agh cha nod ee fockley magh [r]. Dou hene, cha nel monney scansh eddyr /r/ 'sy Ghaelg as 'sy Vaarle t'ayms dy cadjin, agh ta mish my Scouser as ta frap rhotagh ain ([ɾ]). Sleih ass ram buill elley ayns Sostyn, she [ɹ] t'oc. Er lhiam dy vel eh ny s'doillee caghlaa veih shen dys [r] creoi.

Agh shoh y red - cha noddym çheet er aght dy hoilshaghey magh yn aght ta mee gra [r]. Cha nel eh jyst sheidey aer harrish birr ny çhengey; ta'n birr craa fo'n stroo dy aer as bwoalley er y charbad ymmodee keayrtyn. Er y laue elley, cha nel mee jannoo shen jeh yoin; t'eh taghyrt, shen ooilley. Foddym soilshaghey cre'n aght ta mee fockley magh sheean erbee elley, er lhimmey jeh ny craaghyn. Mollaght orroo.

Mannagh hoig oo ny cowraghyn quaagh shen ayns lhoobeenyn kerrinagh, jeeagh er artyn Wiki ny Gaelgey er yn Abbyrlhit Sheeanagh Eddyr-ashoonagh as myn-heeanyn dys ynsaghey reddyn noa!

Ronsaghey proteenagh liorish obbyr hionnalagh as gamman co-earrooder

Victory for crowdsourced biomolecule design

Nature News 22-01-2012; http://www.nature.com/news/victory-for-crowdsourced-biomolecule-design-1.9872

DOI: 10.1038/nature.2012.9872

Jessica Marshall

Ta ymmodee artyn ayn bentyn rish y chooish shoh, agh shoh y fer ynrican gyn costys. Ta daa imraa elley ec bun yn art shoh.

Giare-chummey

Ta cloiederyn co-earrooder er ngeddyn y kione share er oaylleeyn (as cur cooney mooar daue) bentyn rish strughtoor ensyme tuarastyllagh.

Ta Center for Game Science as bea-oayllee David Baker er nyannoo gamman (Foldit) ta lhiggey dhyt filley as troggal proteenyn. Ta strughtoor bree sloo cosney skensh smoo. Liorish geddyn obbyr share ny cloiederyn as jannoo prowaltys oaylleeagh urree, t'ad er ngeddyn cummaghyn noa as anaasoil.

'Sy toshiaght, cha row ny h-arryltee agh coyrt bree obbree naggyr ny co-earrooderyn oc da'n çhalee. Ta obbyr skeaylt ("distributed processing") myr shen cadjin dy liooar – myr sampleyr, SETI@home. Chaghlaa ad dys lhiggey da ny h-arryltee feaysley er strughtooryn proteenagh, as nish dys croo proteenyn noa.

Er y gherrid, ta cloiederyn Foldit er groo ensyme ta gobbraghey 18 wheesh ny smoo na'n fer bunneydagh. T'eh catalysal ym-obbraghyn Diels-Alder, obbyr ta co-haaghey ymmodee covreneenyn. Ta ny ym-obbraghyn shoh feer ymmydoil, agh cha nel fys ain er monney ensymeyn. Ayns 2010, ren Baker as e cho-obbree kiaddey ensyme Diels-Alderase noa, agh dooyrt Baker "cha nee ensyme feer vie v'ayn". V'eh moal as missilagh, as cha dod ad eh y hareaghey. Hug magh ad y feysht er Foldit, as shirrey er ny cloiederyn feaysley er feyshtyn er lheh: myr sampleyr, aachroo lhoob geayr aminagh do beagh eh bentyn rish stoo ym-obbree ny smoo fondagh; as eisht feddyn cummey anchorragh as y lhoob noa echey. Ghow ny h-oaylleeyn ny kiaddaghyn share as jannoo prowaltyssyn rere ad dys feddyn y cummey share.

Ta Foldit lhiggey da cloiederyn jannoo caghlaaghyn mooar da strughtoor ny proteenyn, foddey erskyn ny yinnagh claare co-earrooder ny prowaltys cadjin. Myr sampleyr, ta aafilley fo stiurey ("directed evolution") ceaghey possan mooar dy ensymeyn, as ad y vynscrutaghey dys feddyn caghlaaderyn ymmydoil. Son y chooid smoo, she caghlaa un gheayr aminagh t'ayn. 'Sy chooish Diels-Alderase, ren cloiederyn cur stiagh 13 geayryn aminagh noa, ny chaghlaa mooar. Dys jannoo prowaltys oardreilagh er caghlaaghyn cho mooar as shen, veagh eh er oayllee prowal proteenyn ass towse. S'doillee da co-earrooderyn prowal caghlaaghyn mooar, as dooillee er lheh my ta'n claare er ngeddyn freggyrtyn ayns "couan" beggan bree; cha mie lhieu treigeil lhied y 'reggyrt lieh-vie as goll trooid freggyrtyn bree smoo dys shirrey freggyrt bree sloo foast.

Ta'n gamman lhiggey da aghtallys as sheiltynys deiney prowal eieyn liorish keeayll ghooghyssagh. Ta ram schlei feayslee shilley ec deiney, as ta jargaght ain strateishyn feayslee y chroo as caghlaa tra ta shin gobbraghey. Ta co-hirrey ny vrod da cloiederyn, as ta co-obbraghey lhiggey daue feaysley er feyshtyn nagh dod ad gyn nyn lomarcan.

Ec y traa t'ayn, t'eh fo ny h-oayllee shirrey er cloiederyn Foldit feddyn covreneenyn dys lhiettal veeryssyn floo as cooyl-veeryssyn ("retroviruses").

Imraaghyn elley

"Increased Diels-Alderase activity through backbone remodeling guided by Foldit players", Nature Biotechnology 22-01-2012. Christopher B Eiben, Justin B Siegel, Jacob B Bale, Seth Cooper, Firas Khatib, Betty W Shen, Foldit Players, Barry L Stoddard, Zoran Popovic as David Baker. DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2109

"Predicting protein structures with a multiplayer online game", Nature 466: 756-760, 05-08-2010. Seth Cooper, Firas Khatib, Adrien Treuille, Janos Barbero, Jeehyung Lee, Michael Beenen, Andrew Leaver-Fay, David Baker, Zoran Popovic as Foldit Players. DOI: 10.1038/nature09304

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Menkid lettyryn Yernish er son coadey as cronnaghey eash screeuee

Rere yn Irish Times, ta caillin er veddyn magh saase noa dy hickyraghey teksyn Yernish. Ren Aoife Gregg oltscarrey menkid lettyr er 15,000 fockle veih ynnyd-eggey'n phabyr-naight Foinse, liorish towse lettyryn, daalettyryn as treelettyryn. Ren ee cosoylaghey ny h-eiyrtyssyn marish teks giare as geddyn towseyn cosoylagh. Hooar ee sambyl towse fondagh, as A, I, H as N smoo cadjin 'syn oardagh shen.

Erreish da'n eiyrtys shen, ghow ee toshiaght jannoo studeyrys er menkid lettyryn ayns shenn docamadys as scrutaghey caghlaaghyn shennaghyssagh. Va scanshyn eddyr menkid lettyr ny docamadyn; myr sampleyr, ta A as H foddey ny s'cadjiney jiu. Hooar ee dy dod ee cronnaghey eash ny docamadyn, as shen cruinn dy liooar so y chooid smoo (ren 7 ass 10 prowaltyssyn coardail rish y traih eash ta ard-scoillaryn cur orroo).

Chammah's shen, ren sambylyn menkid as cochiangley lhiggey jee jee-choadey çhaghteraghtyn v'er nyn coadey eck hene ny ec sleih elley. Myr sampleyr, roish H ta C smoo cadjin, as eddyr A as R ta Í smoo cadjin.

Ec y traa t'ayn, s'treih lhiam gra, cha noddym feddyn teks yn obbyr hene. Ta feeshag ry-akin er YouTube jeh Aoife soilshaghey'n obbyr eck.

Sunday 22 January 2012

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA as kiarail

Ta ram stoo ry-akin mychione SOPA as PIPA ec y traa t’ayn, eer er ym-ysseraght hradishoonagh ny keayrtyn. Va artyn beggey er ynnydyn-eggey pabyryn-naightey, agh ass shilley son y chooid smoo er y fa dy row reddyn scanshoil ry-ghra mychione sleih çhellveeish as cloiederyn spoyrt ennagh nagh row enney aym orroo.

Mastey ny h-artyn smoo anaasagh honnick mee er y chooish va’n fer shoh liorish John Walker, screeudeyr Rock, Paper, Shotgun, ec botherer.org. V’eh gimraa art assagagh Chotaku ren leshtallyn er son nagh ghow ad ayrn ad ‘sy Lane-Vooghey eddyr-voggyl, as jannoo argane nagh row ad toiggal bun y chooish er chor erbee.

Dooyrt Kotaku:

SOPA is miserably vague in so many ways. Its section that classifies streaming video as a copyright infringement susceptible to all of the aforementioned website-strangling, describes a potentially problematic video stream as follows:...

It’s no wonder that an outfit like the League of Legends creators at Riot Games read that and worry that a livestream of a great LoL match could be found in violation of SOPA the moment someone starts singing the lyrics of a copyrighted song on it. Is that really the kind of stifling of the Internet the writers of SOPA and PIPA are seeking?

Dreggyr Walker:

Yes! Yes it is. That is precisely the internet they’re seeking. It seems so outlandish that so many news outlets are phrasing it as if it’s a reductio ad absurdum, throwing their hands up and saying, “This bill’s so crazy it would lead to these wacky outcomes!” as if such a result is a parody of the poorly written nature of the bill.

This is to so frighteningly miss the point as to be all but helping those crafting such bills. By reducing the very intent of terrified industries – they who built their empires around plastic squares and discs that have since been rendered pointless – to a perceived exaggeration, something apparently so laughable as to parody the bills’ intentions, is to ignore the reality of what we are facing.

The terrified industries, built up around an illusion of digital ideas having physical forms, are desperate. Like a dying wild animal, trapped in a corner, they are lashing out with their last strength, and they will do anything, go to any extent, to survive. But it doesn’t matter how many children and grandmothers they sue, how many bands and singers they bankrupt and ring out to dry, how big their lies, nor how outrageous their political influence, the reaction is always the same: “They’ll be banning us from singing in the shower next!”

Yes. They will. They are so desperate for control in a world that is increasingly recognising their irrelevance that they are attempting to shut down and dominate everything they can.

Er lhiam dy vel kiart echey. Dy mennick, ta sleih jannoo coontys jeh cooish slattyssagh ny leighagh ennagh as cowraghey magh ny reddyn ‘meeresoonagh’ oddagh taghyrt rere focklyn jeeragh y clattys. Agh cha nel ad meeresoonagh dagh keayrt. Adsyn ta cur trimmid er politickeyryn er lheid ny cooishyn, ta dean er lheh oc; as er lhiam nagh vel ad cur monney geill da fo-eiyrtyssyn yn obbyr. Y sleih ta greesaghey er son SOPA as PIPA, t’ad shirrey lane niart er yn obbyr as cooid inçhynaght oc. Cha noddym shassoo noi shen hene dy firrinagh; s’olk lhiam roosteyrys, as my t’ou uss geddyn stoo ta ry-chreck gyn eeck as gyn kiart adsyn ren eh, she roosteyrys t’ayn.

Bentynagh: cha nel mee coontey monney jeh arganeyn mychione “cha nee geid t’ayn, er y fa nagh vel oo er ngoaill y nhee veih y fer v’eh echey; t’eh echey foast”. T’eh, dy feer, agh cha nee shen y coardailys. My ta peiagh erbee cur magh red ennagh as gra: “shen yn obbyr ayms, agh lhiggym dhyt eh y lhaih (ny clashtyn, ny ee, ny cummal ayn) my t’ou uss geeck”, cha nel kiart ayd goll shaghey y çhebbal. My ta mee goll stiagh ‘sy thie ayds tra t’ou uss gobbraghey, as cadley ayn rish hoght ooryn as jannoo ymmyd jeh’n stoo ayd gyn geid ny brishey nhee erbee, cre’n assee dhyts? Agh quoi yinnagh lowal shen? Ec y traa t’ayn, cha nel mee gra dy vel y roosteyrys shoh jannoo assee scanshoil da faill colughtyn mooarey; ta ny cooishyn shoh cramp dy liooar, ta taishbyney scanshoil dy liooar, as cha nod oo gra dy vel “coip jeh gyn kiart” y red cheddin as “creck caillt”. Agh ta mee lane shickyr dy vel crootee veggey coayl argid ennagh, er y fa dy vel sleih goaill ny t’ad croo gyn eeck as cha nel ad mooar dy liooar dy gheddyn vondeish jeh. Monney argid? Cha s’aym.

Ta’n sleih er son fendeil y chooid inçhynaght oc, as shen y chooish scanshoil er lhieu. S’cummey lhieu my nod oo screeu dty varel er ynnyd-eggey coloayrtys. S’cummey lhieu my nod oo laadey neese caslyssyn-soilshey jeh’n lught-thie. S’cummey lhieu my nod oo cur magh fillym beg feer aitt ren oo marish carrey ny ghaa da sleih elley jeeaghyn er. Cre’n fa nagh by chummey lhieu? She’n obbyr oc jannoo ny oddagh ad; y currym oc dy mennick. My t’ad credjal dy yinnagh saase ennagh ad y chooney, nee ad ymmyd jeh. My ta saase ry-ymmyd oc, as cha jean ad ymmyd jeh, bee ayrniee as oltscarreydeyryn dellal coontey olk jeh. Ta DRM er gammanyn co-earrooder gyn monney eiyrtys noi roosteyrys gammanyn, as she bun ram doilleeid t’ayn da sleih ynrick ta geeck er nyn son; agh er lesh ny colughtyn dy nhegin daue red ennagh y yannoo, as t’eh lhiettal sleih cadjin veih jannoo coip jeh’n ghamman da carrey. My t’eh boirey er kionneyderyn ynrick, as eer my ta coip anleighagh gobbraghey ny share na’n coip ynrick – s’cummey lhieu.

Er lhiam dy bee y red cheddin taghyrt bentyn rish ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Er lesh Oxfam dy jean y coardailys eh ny s’doillee da çheeraghyn boghtey geddyn stoo lheeys keintagh neugheyr. Ta lughtyn-reilley foast glackey stoo lheeys keintagh ta goll dys ny çheeraghyn lhiasaghey, as ta’n Unnaneys Oarpagh gobbal aayeeaghyn er y chooish. Nish ta Oxfam credjal dy jean ACTA y chooish ny smessey; agh ta ny çheeraghyn ta goaill ayrn gobbal taishbyney y coardailys draghtagh. Er lhiam, tra ta ny pabyryn-naightey geddyn greim er y chooish, dy bee artyn ry-akin mychione “fo-eiyrtyssyn neuchooie” y choardailys liorish focklyn neuvaghtal. Agh cha nee meechiarail t’ayn ayns ny cooishyn shoh, son y chooid smoo. She sleih tushtagh ta screeu slattyssyn dy jeeragh myr by vie lhieu, as cha nel ny deanyn cheddin oc as ain.

Friday 20 January 2012

Geaylin ghonnagh

Cha nel ram traa screeuee er ve ayms rish tammylt.  Ta shin goan 'syn obbyr; chaill shin ben da staartey noa ec toshiaght Yerrey Geuree, as va ben elley çhin yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie, as ish ny shiaghtin s'throngey ny h-imbee.  Myr shen, ta mee er n'obbraghey ny smoo na cadjin.  S'treih lhiam gra, liorish troggal as ymmyrkey rouyr lioaryn tromey rouyr keayrtyn, ta'n yeaylin aym er vaagail jeh as t'ee gonnagh dy liooar.  Cha noddym jannoo y chooid smoo jeh'n obbyr ayms myr cooneyder lioarlan, as she obbyr olk t'ayn my t'ou cur er sleih elley jannoo yn obbyr ayds.  Erreish da'n chied laa, hug yn ard-ven orrym clibbag hroggee y cheau, as myr shen ta cagh credjal dy vel arm brisht ayms.  Wahll, nagh taitnyssagh eh feddyn magh wheesh dy 'leih ta boirey er-my-hon as siyraghey dy vriaght orrym my ta mee brisht.  She studeyryn kenjal dy liooar t'ain, er lhiam.

As geaylin ghonnagh aym, cha nel eh aashagh jannoo monney.  Cha smooinnee mee rieau er wheesh dy reddyn ta feme ayd er daa arm ad y yannoo rere yn aght chadjin.  Strulley siyn: cha ren mee shen rish traa laghyn as shegin da'n co-chummalee aym ve currit ass rish shen.  Roie: cha ghow mee lheiltys erbee rish shiaghtin er y fa nagh noddym roie gyn leaystey my laueyn.  Giarrey bee.  Ceau poagey drommey, ny cooat.

Ta red ny ghaa goll er screeu aym ec y traa t'ayn, agh er lhiam nagh noddym jerrey orroo y chur derrey vees y yeaylin agglagh shoh slane reesht.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Reading "What is morphology?", part 2

This is the second part of my discussion of What is Morphology?, and follows on from the previous post. In that post, I looked at some of the problems with their teaching style: I suggested that they present claims from authority rather than providing convincing evidence, and particularly that their use of examples is unhelpful and often fails (on closer examination) to demonstrate their points.

The second problem I mentioned was their approach to problems. Like the first post, this is a non-expert analysis and I'm willing to be corrected on any claims I make. Broadly speaking, I got the impression that Aronoff and Fudeman had got hold of a morphological hammer and every linguistic problem looked like a nail to them.

I'll stick with an example from chapter 4, which I mentioned in the first post.

(4) She’s a high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor

There is evidence that high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor is a single noun.

This is not an immediately intuitive statement, so I'm glad to see a bit of analysis follows.

First, its distribution matches that of any other noun, so we can insert it into phrases like [a good N] or [N for hire].

Second, high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor behaves as a single unit for the purposes of wh-movement. Question-answer pairs that break it up are at the very least awkward. In chapter 2 we related this characteristic of words to the notion of lexical integrity.

(5) a. Q: Which electricity grid systems supervisor did you see?

A: ?The high voltage one.

b. Q: Which systems supervisor did you see?

A: *The high voltage electricity grid one.

c. Q: Which supervisor did you see?

A: *The high voltage electricity grid systems one.

Contrast these with syntactic strings of modifier plus noun which are easily broken up, as shown in (6):

(6) Q: Which supervisor did you see?

A: The tall one.

Continuing with the notion of lexical integrity, we can ask whether it is possible to describe part of the string high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor with a modifier. When we try, the result is very awkward (7):

(7) ?A very high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor.

The most natural interpretation of (7) is the figurative one whereby very high voltage is used as an adjectival phrase modifying a smaller compound [electricity grid] giving the intermediate form very high voltage electricity grid, which in turn modifies [systems supervisor], giving the entire form in (7).

Finally we can point to the structure of high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor as evidence that it is a single noun formed by compounding. Words in English are generally head-final... a dogsled is a kind of sled, not a kind of dog... and affixed word like pollution take on the lexical category of the suffix (in this case, noun) rather than that of the stem (pollute, a verb). As speakers of English we know this, and without ever having heard high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor before, we know that it designates a type of supervisor. Phrases, in contrast to words, are less likely to be head-final. The head of [NP John’s walking into work without a tie] is walking, not tie.

Having established that high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor is a single word of the category N...

Hey, hang on a minute! Exactly when do you imagine you established that?

Just to be clear, I don’t necessarily disagree with them. There’s no particular reason to think that high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor isn’t a single noun when houseboat or penknife or bookworm all seem to be (spacing conventions aside).

However, their analysis suffers from similar problems to those I noted last time. They make a few claims about things that demonstrate noun status, without ever explaining why they think those are good tests for nounhood. At some point in the book they might eventually explain what they think it means for something to be a single noun, and whether their definition is necessarily distinguishable from a noun phrase, but I didn’t get that far.

Anyway, let’s examine their first claim.

Distribution tests for nounhood

First, its distribution matches that of any other noun, so we can insert it into phrases like [a good N] or [N for hire].

Really? Okay, let’s try it along with some similar sentences and see how they pan out.

  • high voltage electricity grid systems supervisor for hire
  • short-wave radio repair company manager for hire
  • low-quality pulp fiction magazine publishing company for hire
  • local hedgehog preservation society president for hire

Well yes, you can insert them into those structures. The resulting sentences have something in common: they all sound strange. They sound faux-portentous and self-parodying, like taglines from upcoming films. It's perhaps related to the fact that the common versions (gun for hire and so on) are short and punchy, and generally far removed in tone from these examples too. However, there are contexts where some variations of these could work; an engineering magazine with adverts for high-voltage electricity grid systems maintenance equipment for hire wouldn’t raise many eyebrows.

Let’s try the other test.

  • a good low-quality pulp fiction magazine publishing company
  • a good national hedgehog preservation society president
  • a good mass-market lacquered hardwood violin polish

To me, these imply that good is being carefully limited by the string of adjectives; damning with faint praise, in fact (consider “a good first-year undergraduate answer”). These sentences, appearing in a business article or CV, would not be read as endorsements. Only the third seems arguable as actual praise, because deciding what violin polish to use may involve complex weighing-up decisions: only a lacquered hardwood polish is suitable for my lacquered hardwood violin, but is it worth getting the specialist stuff, or is there a decent mass-market brand available?

If we really want to convey the literal meaning of those sorts of sentences, without creating other implications, what we do is tend towards the minimum necessary information when we really want to give the literal meaning of the words. Further information can be divulged later.

  • a good company
  • a good president
  • systems supervisor for hire

I’ll come back to this issue next time. That's plenty of post for now.