Polish Subjects Research Articles

Perception of word-final devoicing in Polish

Researchers examining the phonetic characteristics of a number of neutralization rules have found that underlying contrasts that should be neutralized are phonetically preserved. In particular, earlier results from a production experiment suggested that the rule of word-final devoicing in Polish is not neutralizing. The present investigation extended this work by testing whether the acoustic measures identified in productions from the original study are functional in perception. Native Polish and English listeners identified Polish monosyllabic words using a two-alternative forced-choice procedure. Results for the Polish subjects revealed better than chance performance in identifying words from the minimal pairs examined in the production study, although the magnitude of these results was less than expected. Moreover, the results suggested a bias to choose the voiceless alternative. Data obtained from English speaking subjects revealed similar results, suggesting that poor identification performance and a bias to respond with the voiceless alternative is not a function of Polish listeners’ familiarity with the rules of the language. The combined results suggest that differences in measurements obtained in the production study are not the primary cue used to distinguish reliably these items in perception.

Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses Regarding Polish Subjects: 1900-1985: An Annotated Bibliography. Compiled and edited by Bernard Wielewinski. Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, 1988. vi, 200 pp. $30.00, cloth.

Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses Regarding Polish Subjects: 1900-1985: An Annotated Bibliography. Compiled and edited by Bernard Wielewinski. Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, 1988. vi, 200 pp. $30.00, cloth. - Volume 48 Issue 1

Identification of Polish words with non‐neutralized word‐final segments

Research examining the phonetic characteristics of a number of neutralization rules has found that underlying contrasts that should be neutralized are phonetically preserved. In particular, earlier results [L. Slowiaczek and D. Dinnsen, J. Phonet. 13, 325–341 (1985)] found evidence that the rule of word‐final devoicing in Polish is not neutralized. The present investigation extended these production results by testing whether the acoustic measures identified in productions from the original study are functional in perception. Native Polish and English listeners identified Polish monosyllabic words using a two‐alternative forced‐choice procedure. Results for the Polish subjects indicated a bias to choose the voiceless alternative and suggested that Polish listeners are unable to perceive differences in the minimal pairs examined in the production study. [Work supported by a small grant from Loyola University of Chicago.]

Austria and its Polish Subjects, 1866–1914: A Relationship of Interests

As one of the original partitioning powers of the eighteenth century, Austria shared equally with Russia and Prussia in the responsibility for destroying the independent Polish kingdom. Maria Theresa may have felt troubled by this violation of sovereignty, but, to paraphrase Frederick the Great, she (and her successors) still took. The fact that conscience did not prevail over reason of state, even in the case of such a pious empress, set the pattern for the future relations between Habsburg Austria and its Polish subjects. As they had in 1772, Austrian interests took precedence over Polish ones and, until 1866, the demarcation between ruler and ruled was clear.

Anaphoric subjects in Polish and their cohesive function

Anaphoric subjects in Polish and their cohesive function

Iconic Communication of Values among Americanand Polish Students

Many of the major value surveys are forced-choice questionnaires based on the theoretical assumption that values are variable only in the ranking patterns of universal components. In order to test the assumption of universalism across two diverse cultures, a free-response method was employed in which Polish and American college freshmen took photographs of preferred objects in their everyday environment. The resultant value orientations reveal a behavioral component of values in everyday life. The Polish subjects depicted a narrower range of orientations, and institutional as opposed to private orientations. The results were interpreted in terms of the more limited range of alternatives of choice afforded by the Polish environment relative to that of the American subjects, and an orientation toward values associated with enduring aspects of Polish life within a culture marked by instability.

Norms Regulating Self-Disclosure among Polish University Students

The reactions of Polish university students about norms governing self-disclosure as a function of degree of friendship and discloser's sex were assessed. In the first study most American norms governing reactions to self-disclosure to friends and strangers were replicated. Disclosure of personal information to a stranger is disapproved, whereas disclosure to a friend is approved. Somewhat different from the American data, Polish students disapproved of nondisclosure to a friend but not to a stranger. In the second study American norms governing self-disclosure to males and females were not replicated. Polish students did not judge differently disclosure by males and females. These results seem to reflect different attitudes about sex roles governing self-disclosure by American versus Polish subjects.

An “Era of Reconciliation” in German-Polish Relations (1890-1894)

With Bismarck's dismissal as head of the German and Prussian governments in 1890, a number of policies bearing his personal stamp were called into question, including his Polish policy. The chancellorship of General von Caprivi (1890-94) saw a perceptible twist in the long history of relations between the Prussian/German governments and their Polish subjects, causing both contemporaries and historians to speak of an “era of reconciliation” (Versöhnungsära). During this period, Polish leaders supported government legislation and offered to work to strengthen the German Empire, while the Caprivi administration indicated its desire for better relations with the Poles and made a number of concessions to them. The Era of Reconciliation did not last long, however, not even as long as Caprivi's own tenure; its net results were meager, and after 1894 the idea of German-Polish cooperation faded away.Although this period has attracted the interest of some scholars of German-Polish relations, it has not received (perhaps because of its aberrant character) its fair share of attention in general works on German-Polish relations. Quite fundamental questions—for example, what prompted the milder Polish policies and why did they turn out so disappointingly—remain without adequate answers. In considering these questions, it is important to keep in mind that the Era of Reconciliation was a two-way street: a merger of government policy under Caprivi with a parallel trend toward “loyalism” within the Polish leadership.

Necropsy-proved multiple sclerosis: Clinical characteristics, diagnostic scores and clinical-anatomic correlations

Three necropsy-proved groups of patients with multiple sclerosis, one from Poland, one from England, the United States and Norway, and one from other countries, were compared to each other. Most common symptoms and signs in Polish as well as in other groups were pyramidal signs, cerebellar symptoms, urinary disturbance and signs of the affection of optic nerves. Lower incidence of some symptoms and signs in the Polish group than in the Anglo-American and Scandinavian collection was mainly due to the selection of the material and to differences in clinical evaluation, not to geographic differences. Headaches, changes in state of consciousness and the alteration of superficial sensation were more frequently recorded in acute cases in other areas than in Polish subjects ( p < 0.05). Clinical-anatomic correlations showed remarkable consistency between the symptomatology of the disease and the distribution of plaques.

Haptoglobin types in Poland.

The frequency of the Hp(1) gene in Polish subjects is 0.36. This frequency is lower than that in Western European populations and higher than that in Asiatic populations. We suggest that the increase in frequency of this gene from East to West has a regular continuous character that may be attributed to a stillunclear genetic mechanism.

In re Wayda’s Estate.

Change of Sovereignty — Effect on Private Rights — Effect on Persons Resident Outside the Ceded Territory.State Succession — Continuance of Laws — Administration of Estate of Austro-Hungarian Subject, Resident in the United States, who has become Polish Subject.