History of the Study of Imitative in General Linguistics

The history of the origin of imitative has ancient roots. People have been interested in imitations since ancient times. Not only linguists, but also even philosophers, psychologists, to one degree or another at different times, have addressed the problem of sound visualization. Imitative vocabulary helps to increase the imagery and emotional expressiveness of the word. However, due to its complex nature, for some time, linguists of various languages did not conduct serious research on the linguistic functions of imitative words. However, they are often found in oral folk art and fiction, giving these texts artistic and poetic meaning, expressiveness, imagery, artistic power and accessibility, liveliness and dynamism, all this has led, now, to the fact that linguists began to pay close attention the study of this unusual group of words. Тhey are divided into types, separated into a special part of speech, they are used in the formation of new words, they act as members of a sentence.

Contributions of common genetic variants to specific languages and to when a language is learned

Research over the past two decades has identified a group of common genetic variants explaining a portion of variance in native language ability. The present study investigates whether the same group of genetic variants are associated with different languages and languages learned at different times in life. We recruited 940 young adults who spoke from childhood Chinese and English as their first (native) (L1) and second (L2) language, respectively, who were learners of a new, third (L3) language. For the variants examined, we found a general decrease of contribution of genes to language functions from native to foreign (L2 and L3) languages, with variance in foreign languages explained largely by non-genetic factors such as musical training and motivation. Furthermore, genetic variants that were found to contribute to traits specific to Chinese and English respectively exerted the strongest effects on L1 and L2. These results seem to speak against the hypothesis of a language- and time-universal genetic core of linguistic functions. Instead, they provide preliminary evidence that genetic contribution to language may depend at least partly on the intricate language-specific features. Future research including a larger sample size, more languages and more genetic variants is required to further explore these hypotheses.

A Data-Based Approach for Selecting Pre- and Intra-Operative Language Mapping Tasks

Background: Pre- and intra-operative language mapping in neurosurgery patients frequently involves an object naming task. The choice of the optimal object naming paradigm remains challenging due to lack of normative data and standardization in mapping practices. The aim of this study was to identify object naming paradigms that robustly and consistently activate classical language regions and could therefore be used to improve the sensitivity of language mapping in brain tumor and epilepsy patients.Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from two independent groups of healthy controls (total = 79) were used to generate threshold-weighted voxel-based consistency maps. This novel approach allowed us to compare inter-subject consistency of activation for naming single objects in the visual and auditory modality and naming two objects in a phrase or a sentence.Results: We found that the consistency of activation in language regions was greater for naming two objects per picture than one object per picture, even when controlling for the number of names produced in 5 s.Conclusion: More consistent activation in language areas for naming two objects compared to one object suggests that two-object naming tasks may be more suitable for delimiting language eloquent regions with pre- and intra-operative language testing. More broadly, we propose that the functional specificity of brain mapping paradigms for a whole range of different linguistic and non-linguistic functions could be enhanced by referring to databased models of inter-subject consistency and variability in typical and atypical brain responses.

Estetyczne akty mowy jako przedmiot pragmalingwistyki: status, funkcje, formy

Aesthetic Acts of Speech as a Subject of Pragmalinguistics: Status, Functions, Forms. Part 1 In the paper, the status and features of aesthetic speech acts are discussed. They are a research phenomenon at the junction of two disciplines: pragmatics and stylistics. The authors treat aesthetic speech acts as these kinds of speech acts that are produced by the sender with an intention to make the receiver have an aesthetic experience, however, they are not limited solely to the field of literature. No performative verbs can be ascribed to them, therefore they may be categorized as indirect stimulating acts. Moreover, the aesthetic function performed by such speech acts is frequently accompanied by other linguistic functions.

Learning Russian as a foreign language while working with a dictionary

Статья посвящена вопросу изучения русского языка как иностранного. Помощь в изучении русского языка может оказать словарь, как богатый источник информации. Целью работы является показать, что предложенная работа со словарём является полезным видом деятельности. Словарь можно использовать как при чтении, так и при выполнении письменных работ. Данная работа играет важную роль в изучении русского языка как иностранного. Авторы обращают внимание, что герменевтическая и лингвистическая функции представляют собой систему профессионально значимых операций, видов и форм учебной деятельности при овладении иностранным языком. К используемым методам относятся: метод пояснения, метод сопоставления, метод уточнения. Методологический основой послужили работы в области теоретической и практической методики преподавания иностранных языков. Результатом является описание профессионально значимых операций, видов и форм учебной деятельности, которые можно использовать при работе со словарём. К герменевтической функции относятся: понимание, восприятие, осмысление, узнавание предметов и явлений, речевая деятельность, структурная схема речевой деятельности, речь, понятие смысловой структуры текста и тектообразующая функция терминов. К лингвистической функции относятся: оперирование лексическими и грамматическими нормами оформления терминов, моделирование групп терминов, владение орфографическими, орфоэпическими нормами оформления терминов, оформление результатов обмена информацией, формирование отдельных навыков словоупотребления и осмысление экстралингвистической информации. Приводятся примеры работы со словарной статьёй. Результаты могут быть применены при обучении иностранных обучающихся русскому языку как иностранному в военно-морских вузах. Авторы пришли к выводу, что обучение иностранных слушателей возможно проводить по специально разработанной программе, которую необходимо строить с учетом учебного материала и тех видов речевой деятельности, в которые включается обучающийся на занятиях по профилирующим предметам. The article is devoted to the issue of studying Russian as a foreign language. A dictionary can help you learn Russian as a rich source of information. The purpose of the work is to show that the proposed work with the dictionary is a useful activity. The dictionary can be used both when reading and when doing written work. This work plays an important role in the study of Russian as a foreign language. The authors draw attention to the fact that hermeneutical and linguistic functions represent a system of professionally significant operations, types and forms of educational activity in mastering a foreign language. The methods used include: the method of explanation, the method of comparison, the method of clarification. The methodological basis was the work in the field of theoretical and practical methods of teaching foreign languages. The result is a description of professionally significant operations, types and forms of educational activities that can be used when working with a dictionary. The hermeneutic function includes: understanding, perception, comprehension, recognition of objects and phenomena, speech activity, the structural scheme of speech activity, speech, the concept of the semantic structure of the text and the tectonic function of terms. The linguistic function includes: the operation of lexical and grammatical norms of the design of terms, the modeling of groups of terms, the possession of spelling, orthoepic norms of the design of terms, the design of the results of information exchange, the formation of individual skills of word usage and the comprehension of extralinguistic information. Examples of working with a dictionary entry are given. The results can be applied in teaching foreign students Russian as a foreign language in naval universities. The authors came to the conclusion that the training of foreign students can be carried out according to a specially developed program, which must be built taking into account the educational material and those types of speech activity in which the student is included in the classes on core subjects.

Referencing Race = Racist? Examining Perceptions of References to a Target’s Race as Offensive

We examined majority group members’ perceptions of racial slurs, compared to what we have labeled as combination terms. These combination terms possess the same semantic and pragmatic linguistic functions as racial slurs, functioning to express negative emotion toward, and to describe, a target. Across three studies (total N = 943) racial slurs were not perceived as significantly different from combination terms. We then examined whether participants higher in social dominance beliefs reported greater perceived justification for using combination terms over racial slurs because of their lack of historical denigration of marginalized groups that racial slurs have. Participants, even those higher in socially dominant attitudes, did not perceive greater justification for the use of combination terms than racial slurs. Indeed, an important implication is that race-marking, an understudied area of social psychology, paired with general derogative terms produces terms which may function similarly to racial slurs, but, fortunately, are also similarly vilified in modern society.

Cognitive functioning of children and youth with developmental language disorder

The article consists a literature review. It presents the results of research on the cognitive functioning of people with developmental language disorder, with particular emphasis on executive and linguistic functions. The discussion focused on terminological issues related to medical classifications of diseases. The most common cognitive deficits occurring in people with this disorder and their consequences for functioning are presented. The language profile is presented in detail, taking into account all language and language pragmatics.

“When you were that little…”

In this article, I analyse how conventional height-specifier gestures used by speakers of Yucatec Maya become incorporated into Yucatec Maya Sign Languages (YMSLs). Combining video-data from elicitation, narrations, conversations and interviews collected from YMSL signers from four communities as well as from hearing nonsigners from another Yucatec Maya village, I compare form, meaning and distribution of height-specifiers in gesture and sign. Co-speech gestures that depict the height of upright entities – performed with a flat hand, palm facing downwards – come to serve various linguistic functions in YMSLs: a noun for human referents, a verb GROW, a spatial referential device, and an element of name signs. Special attention is paid to how height-specifier gestures fulfil a grammatical purpose as noun-classifiers for human referents in YMSLs. My study demonstrates processes of lexicalisation and grammaticalisation from gesture to sign and discusses the impact of gesture on the emergence of shared sign languages.

On preverbal zai in Mandarin Chinese: its progressive and prepositional functions

This study revisits the linguistic properties of preverbal zai in Mandarin Chinese. Specifically, it examines the syntax of a prepositional phrase headed by zai functioning as an adjunct, as the main predicate of a sentence with a continuous reading, as well as a sentence containing zai with a progressive reading. It is argued that there is only one zai and that it always functions as a preposition selecting either a Locative Phrase (LP) or a Zeit Phrase (ZP) as its complement. The study also claims that the different aspectual readings of sentences containing zai are a result of the different types of complements zai selects. It is argued that a sentence has a continuous reading when zai selects an LP and a progressive one when it selects a ZP as its complement. The proposed analyses not only provide a unified account of the linguistic functions of zai but also give a syntactic account of the close relation between the imperfective aspect (in particular, the progressive aspect) and locative elements that has been observed by many previous studies.