The role of meaning in past-tense inflection: evidence from polysemy and denominal derivation.

Although English verbs can be either regular (walk-walked) or irregular (sing-sang), "denominal verbs" that are derived from nouns, such as the use of the verb ring derived from the noun a ring, take the regular form even if they are homophonous with an existing irregular verb: The soldiers ringed the city rather than *The soldiers rang the city. Is this regularization due to a semantic difference from the usual verb, or is it due to the application of the default rule, namely VERB+ -ed suffix? In Experiment 1, participants rated the semantic similarity of the extended senses of polysemous verbs and denominal verbs to their central senses. Experiment 2 examined the acceptability of the regular and irregular past tenses of the different verbs. The results showed that all the denominal verbs were rated as more acceptable for the regular inflection than the same verbs used polysemously, even though the two were semantically equally similar to the central meaning. Thus, the derivation of the verb (nominal or verbal) determined the past-tense preference more than semantic variables, consistent with dual-route models of verb inflection.

Perceived Biases and Prejudices Experienced by International Medical Graduates in the US Post-Graduate Medical Education System.

Purpose - The purpose of this project was to collect qualitative data on the types of bias and prejudices experienced by international medical graduates (IMGs) in the US graduate medical education system. Methods - We conducted thirty-six qualitative interviews from a single internal medicine residency program in a large mid-western city over a four-year time period. The study population consisted of 33 IMGs and 3 USMGs. Results - The data aggregated into four major themes; the externship requirements of residency programs for IMGs, difficult interview experiences, US medical students are critical of residency programs with IMGs, and greater difficulties for IMGs finding employment after residency. Conclusion - The IMGs from one Internal Medicine residency program in the US post-graduate medical system self-reported considerable bias and prejudice.