scholarly journals Operationalizing the Role of Context in Language Variation: The Role of Perspective Alignment in the Spanish Imperfective Domain

2021 ◽  
pp. 201-217
Author(s):  
Martín Fuchs ◽  
María Mercedes Piñango ◽  
Ashwini Deo
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Language Variation ◽  
Mexican Spanish ◽  
Pattern Of Variation ◽  
Aspectual Markers ◽  
Present Progressive

AbstractWe present a cognitively grounded analysis of the pattern of variation that underlies the ​use of two aspectual markers in Spanish (the Simple-Present marker, Ana baila ‘Ana dances’, and the Present-Progressive marker, Ana está bailando ‘Ana is dancing’) when they express an event-in-progress reading. This analysis is centered around one fundamental communicative goal, which we term perspectivealignment: the bringing of the hearer’s perspective closer to that of the speaker. Perspective alignment optimizes the tension between two nonlinguistic constraints: Theory of Mind, which gives rise to linguisticexpressivity, and Common Ground, which gives rise to linguisticeconomy. We propose that, linguistically, perspectivealignment capitalizes on lexicalized meanings, such as the progressive meaning, that can bring the hearer to the “here and now”. In Spanish, progressive meaning can be conveyed with the Present-Progressive marker regardless of context. By contrast, if the Simple-Present marker is used for that purpose, it must be in a context of shared perceptual access between speaker and hearer; precisely, a condition that establishes perspectivealignment non-linguistically. Support for this analysis comes from a previously observed yet unexplained pattern of contextually-determined variation for the use of the Simple-Present marker in Iberian and Rioplatense (vs. Mexican) Spanish—in contrast to the preference across all three varieties for the use of the Present-Progressive marker—to express an event-in-progress reading.

Putting the Madhyamaka Trick in Context: A Contextualist Reading of Huntington’s Interpretation of Madhyamaka

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-124
Author(s):  
Michael Dorfman
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Correspondence Theory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Rational Analysis ◽  
At Command ◽  
Rational Argumentation ◽  
Logical Fallacies ◽  
Key Terms

In a series of works published over a period of twenty five years, C.W. Huntington, Jr. has developed a provocative and radical reading of Madhyamaka (particularly Early Indian Madhyamaka) inspired by ‘the insights of post- Wittgensteinian pragmatism and deconstruction’ (1993, 9). This article examines the body of Huntington’s work through the filter of his seminal 2007 publication, ‘The Nature of the M?dhyamika Trick’, a polemic aimed at a quartet of other recent commentators on Madhyamaka (Robinson, Hayes, Tillemans and Garfield) who attempt ‘to read N?g?rjuna through the lens of modern symbolic logic’ (2007, 103), a project which is the ‘end result of a long and complex scholastic enterprise … [which] can be traced backwards from contemporary academic discourse to fifteenth century Tibet, and from there into India’ (2007, 111) and which Huntington sees as distorting the Madhyamaka project which was not aimed at ‘command[ing] assent to a set of rationally grounded doctrines, tenets, or true conclusions’ (2007, 129). This article begins by explicating some disparate strands found in Huntington’s work, which I connect under a radicalized notion of ‘context’. These strands consist of a contextualist/pragmatic theory of truth (as opposed to a correspondence theory of truth), a contextualist epistemology (as opposed to one relying on foundationalist epistemic warrants), and a contextualist ontology where entities are viewed as necessarily relational (as opposed to possessing a context-independent essence.) I then use these linked theories to find fault with Huntington’s own readings of Candrak?rti and N?g?rjuna, arguing that Huntington misreads the semantic context of certain key terms (tarka, d???i, pak?a and pratijñ?) and fails to follow the implications of N?g?rjuna and Candrak?rti’s reliance on the role of the pram??as in constituting conventional reality. Thus, I find that Huntington’s imputation of a rejection of logic and rational argumentation to N?g?rjuna and Candrak?rti is unwarranted. Finally, I offer alternate readings of the four contemporary commentators selected by Huntington, using the conceptual apparatus developed earlier to dismiss Robinson’s and Hayes’s view of N?g?rjuna as a charlatan relying on logical fallacies, and to find common ground between Huntington’s project and the view of N?g?rjuna developed by Tillemans and Garfield as a thinker committed using reason to reach, through rational analysis, ‘the limits of thought.’

Children's distributive justice:The role of Theory of Mind

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1299
Author(s):  
Tong CHEN ◽  
Zhen WU
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind

Showing, Expressing, and Figuratively Meaning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Green
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Speaker Meaning

We first correct some errors in Lepore and Stone’s discussion of speaker meaning and its relation to linguistic meaning. With a proper understanding of those notions and their relation, we may then motivate a liberalization of speaker meaning that includes overtly showing one’s psychological state. I then distinguish this notion from that of expression, which, although communicative, is less cognitively demanding than speaker meaning since it need not be overt. This perspective in turn enables us to address Lepore and Stone’s broadly Davidsonian view of figurative language, which rightly emphasizes the role of imagination and perspective-taking associated with such language, but mistakenly suggests it is sui generis relative to other types of pragmatic process, and beyond the realm of communication. Figurative utterances may influence conversational common ground, and may be assessed for their aptness; they also have a characteristically expressive role that a Davidsonian view lacks the resources to explain.

Spatial Ability and Theory of Mind: A Mediating Role of Visual Perspective Taking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Tian ◽  
Tianrui Luo ◽  
Jinxia Ding ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Him Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Spatial Ability ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Visual Perspective ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Visual Perspective Taking

scholarly journals Large-Scale Adaptive Hitchhiking Upon High Recombination inDrosophila simulans

Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 895-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Humberto Quesada ◽  
Ursula E M Ramírez ◽  
Julio Rozas ◽  
Montserrat Aguadé
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Linkage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Intermediate Frequency ◽  
Core Region ◽  
Adaptive Mutation ◽  
Nucleotide Variation ◽  
Extended Haplotype ◽  
Major Haplotype ◽  
Pattern Of Variation

AbstractNatural selection is expected to leave a characteristic footprint on neighboring nucleotide variation through the effects of genetic linkage. The size of the region affected is proportional to the strength of selection and greatly reduced with the recombinational distance from the selected site. Thus, the genomic footprint of selection is generally believed to be restricted to a small DNA stretch in normal and highly recombining regions. Here, we study the effect of selection on linked polymorphism (hitchhiking effect) by surveying nucleotide variation across a highly recombining ∼88-kb genomic fragment in an African population of Drosophila simulans. We find a core region of up to 38 kb with a major haplotype at intermediate frequency. The extended haplotype structure that gradually vanishes until disappearing is unusual for a highly recombining region. Both the presence in the structured genomic domain of a single major haplotype depleted of variability and the detected spatial pattern of variation along the ∼88-kb fragment are incompatible with neutral predictions in a panmictic population. A major role of demographic effects could also be discarded. The observed pattern of variation clearly provides evidence that directional selection has acted recently on this region, sweeping out variation around a strongly adaptive mutation. Our findings suggest a major role of positive selection in shaping DNA variability even in highly recombining regions.

Variation in the morphology and flowering time of cluster clover (Trifolium glomeratum L.) and its relationship to distribution in southern Australia

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
FP Smith ◽  
PS Cocks ◽  
MA Ewing
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Summer Maximum ◽  
Maximum Temperatures ◽  
Pattern Of Variation ◽  
Growth Habits

Cluster clover is a widely distributed and ecologically successful introduced legume in southern Australia. In an attempt to understand the role of genetic variation in this success, morphological and physiological traits were measured in 94 accessions from southern Australia and 6 from the Mediterranean basin. Flowering time ranged from 105 to 185 days after sowing, but was not strongly correlated with annual rainfall or length of growing season at the site of collection. Variation in other traits partitioned the populations into two morphs which, apart from flowering time and leaf marker, were largely homogeneous. The morphs differed significantly in floret number per inflorescence (22 v. 32-37) and seed mass (379 8g v. 523 8g), had different growth habits and strong within-morph associations between leaf markers and stipule and petal coloration. The morphs differed in their distributions within southern Australia and the pattern of distribution was related to summer maximum temperatures, winter minimum temperatures and spring rainfall. These results demonstrate that genetic variation has been important to the success of cluster clover and suggests that the variation is organized. The pattern of variation observed and its relationship to ecogeography is consistent with findings for other highly inbreeding species. A map of the species distribution in Western Australia is presented.

The Quaker, the Primitivist, and the Progressive: Three Cultural Brokers in New Mexico's Quest for Multicultural Harmony

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne M. Getz
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
New Mexico ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Cultural Brokers ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Good Will

New Mexicans pride themselves on their ability to bridge multicultural divides. Part of what we are urged to understand as “enchanting” about the Land of Enchantment is its diverse cultural background. Native American, Hispano, and Anglo have existed side by side, at times with remarkable harmony and good will, for nearly two centuries. The Land of Enchantment is not altogether a fantasy. Many New Mexicans have shown an uncanny ability to bridge ethnic divides and find common ground in the interstices between cultures. The soil of New Mexico seems to be fertile ground indeed for producing cultural brokers. Margaret Connell Szasz admits that living in New Mexico makes her particularly attuned to the role of the cultural broker.

scholarly journals The role of executive functions in older adults’ affective theory of mind

2021 ◽  
pp. 104513
Author(s):  
Yuki Otsuka ◽  
Miho Shizawa ◽  
Ayumi Sato ◽  
Shoji Itakura
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Functions
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