Analysis of the Form-Function Relationship: Digging Behavior as a Case Study

Author(s):  
Aldo I. Vassallo ◽  
Federico Becerra ◽  
Alejandra I. Echeverría ◽  
Alcira O. Díaz ◽  
María Victoria Longo ◽  
...  
2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-38
Author(s):  
Nicola McLelland

Summary This article adapts Linn’s ‘stylistics of standardization’ concept, which Linn (1998) has used to compare Norwegian and Faroese grammarians, to look at grammaticization processes in the first two grammars of German (Albertus 1573, Ölinger 1574). While both are clearly indebted to traditional Latin grammar and humanist ideals, these two grammars differ interestingly in the picture of the language that emerges from their metalanguage and structural principles. In his reflection on the language, his structuring and naming of linguistic phenomena and his attitudes to variation, Ölinger is the practical pedagogue, who imposes systematicity and aims for a one-to-one form-function relationship. Albertus on the other hand, though he too envisages his grammar being used for learning German, has a more cultural patriotic motivation, celebrating the richness and variety of German, worthy to be ranked alongside Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Albertus and Ölinger thus come up with quite different versions of the (as yet arguably non-existent) High German language. Each grammar yields a different subset of possible forms, reminding us that grammar-writing is always a task of creative construction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 026001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Kaldenbach ◽  
Adrian Klein ◽  
Horst Bleckmann

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 181447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrick J. Larabee ◽  
Adrian A. Smith ◽  
Andrew V. Suarez

What is the limit of animal speed and what mechanisms produce the fastest movements? More than natural history trivia, the answer provides key insight into the form–function relationship of musculoskeletal movement and can determine the outcome of predator–prey interactions. The fastest known animal movements belong to arthropods, including trap-jaw ants, mantis shrimp and froghoppers, that have incorporated latches and springs into their appendage systems to overcome the limits of muscle power. In contrast to these examples of power amplification, where separate structures act as latch and spring to accelerate an appendage, some animals use a ‘snap-jaw’ mechanism that incorporates the latch and spring on the accelerating appendage itself. We examined the kinematics and functional morphology of the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae , who use a snap-jaw mechanism to quickly slide their mandibles across each other similar to a finger snap. Kinematic analysis of high-speed video revealed that snap-jaw ant mandibles complete their strike in as little as 23 µsec and reach peak velocities of 90 m s −1 , making them the fastest known animal appendage. Finite-element analysis demonstrated that snap-jaw mandibles were less stiff than biting non-power-amplified mandibles, consistent with their use as a flexible spring. These results extend our understanding of animal speed and demonstrate how small changes in morphology can result in dramatic differences in performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik De Smet ◽  
Freek Van de Velde

This paper examines two cases of so-called syntactic amalgams. In syntactic amalgams a particular string that is shared by two constructions is exploited to combine them, in such a way that one of the constructions functions as a modifier of the other. Typical examples are after God knows how many years (< after many years + God knows how many years) and a big enough house (< a big house + big enough). In formal theories, these kinds of constructions have been insightfully described as ‘grafts’. However, the exact process through which these amalgams arise remains unexplored. When studied closely, these processes reveal form–function friction not fully accounted for by the graft metaphor. Syntactic amalgams typically serve a subjective function and have been recruited for this purpose. However, because they consist of a syntagm that is still internally parsable, they tend to resist full reanalysis. More precisely, their original syntax continues to constrain their use. As such, amalgams get caught between their original syntax, which remains transparent, and their new function, which suggests a new syntactic status. This appears clearly from contrastive studies of amalgams in Dutch and English that are functionally similar but whose use is constrained in different ways due to structural differences between the two languages. Our first case study deals with the Dutch and English amalgam wie weet / who knows. A contrastive analysis of the development of the respective items shows both the conservative effect of the origin of change and the attraction exerted by the target of change. The second case we discuss in detail involves so-called transparent free relatives. A contrastive analysis shows the role of the overall grammar of a language in licensing change, in this case with Dutch word order posing more difficulties to the new focusing function of transparent free relatives. In general, both case studies show the formation of syntactic amalgams to be sensitive to system pressures both in the course of their development and in the eventual outcome of change.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Enfield ◽  
Jack Sidnell

AbstractWhile it has been shown that languages can select quite different formal resources for performing similar pragmatic functions in social interaction, our focus in this paper is the possibility that some types of form-function mapping are essentially universal. Our case study looks at how polar questions are confirmed. For confirming a polar question like ‘Have they gone?’, all languages provide two basic alternatives: an interjection type strategy (something like ‘Yes’) and a repetition type strategy (something like ‘They have gone’). Combinations of these are also possible. Does selection of one of these options have a definable pragmatic function? An analysis of cases from English telephone calls shows that interjection type confirmations are used when the confirmation is relatively straightforward in interactional terms, and where the epistemic terms of the question are accepted by the person who is confirming. By contrast, repetition type confirmations are associated with pragmatic functions where the answerer is in some way resisting the epistemic terms of the question, or dealing with a perturbation of the interactional sequence. We argue that the inherent semiotics of the two strategies explain why they have this distribution; i.e., we do not expect that interjection forms would be standardly used for non-straightforward confirmations, etc. In other words, the form-function mapping observed in English is a non-arbitrary one. Given that this semiotic motivation for choosing one over the other alternative for confirming polar questions should be present in other languages as well, we predict that the mapping observed in English will be observed in other languages as well.


2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola McLelland

SUMMARY This article adapts Linn’s ‘stylistics of standardization’ concept, which Linn (1998) has used to compare Norwegian and Faroese grammarians, to look at grammaticization processes in the first two grammars of German (Albertus 1573, Ölinger 1574). While both are clearly indebted to traditional Latin grammar and humanist ideals, these two grammars differ interestingly in the picture of the language that emerges from their metalanguage and structural principles. In his reflection on the language, his structuring and naming of linguistic phenomena and his attitudes to variation, Ölinger is the practical pedagogue, who imposes systematicity and aims for a one-to-one form-function relationship. Albertus on the other hand, though he too envisages his grammar being used for learning German, has a more cultural patriotic motivation, celebrating the richness and variety of German, worthy to be ranked alongside Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Albertus and Ölinger thus come up with quite different versions of the (as yet arguably non-existent) High German language. Each grammar yields a different subset of possible forms, reminding us that grammar-writing is always a task of creative construction.RÉSUMÉ Cet article prend comme point de départ la ‘stylistique de standardisation’ que Linn (1998) a utilisé dans sa comparaison d’un grammairien norvégien et d’un grammairien féroïen. Cette approche est adaptée ici pour permettre la comparaison des processus de grammaticisation dans les deux premières grammaires allemandes (Albertus 1573, Ölinger 1574). Tandis qu’Albertus et Ölinger doivent tous les deux beaucoup et à la grammaire latine traditionnelle et aux idéaux humanistes de l’époque, leurs grammaires diffèrent de manière intéressante en ce qui concerne l’image de la langue allemande que créent leur métalangage et leurs principes d’organisation. Dans ses réflexions sur la langue, dans la structure et la façon de nommer les phénomènes linguistiques, et dans son attitude envers la variation, Ölinger est le pédagogue pragmatique, qui cherche à imposer un système et à produire une relation unique entre forme et fonction. Albertus, pour sa part, s’il écrit lui aussi sa grammaire pour faciliter l’apprentissage de la langue, semble avoir une motivation patriotique, célébrant la richesse de l’allemand, digne d’être rangé à côté du latin, du grec et de l’hébreu. Albertus et Ölinger offrent donc deux versions différentes de la langue allemande — chaque grammaire produit un sous-ensemble de formes possibles, nous rappellant que la tâche d’écrire une grammaire est toujours un processus de ‘construction créative’.ZUSAMMENFASSUNG In diesem Artikel wird Linns Ansatz einer ‘Stilistik der Standardisierung’, den Linn (1998) für den Vergleich eines norwegischen und eines färörischen Grammatikers anwandte, auf Grammatisierungsprozesse in den beiden ersten deutschen Grammatiken (Albertus 1573, Ölinger 1574) angewandt. Während beide Grammatiken offensichtlich sowohl der traditionellen lateinischen Grammatik als auch humanistischen Idealen manches schulden, unterscheiden sie sich systematisch im Bild der Sprache, das aus ihrer Metasprache und ihrem Aufbau entsteht. In seiner Reflexion über die Sprache, in der Strukturierung und Benennung sprachlicher Phänomene, und in seiner Einstellung der Variation gegenüber, ist Ölinger durchweg der pragmatische Pädagoge, der ein System — und möglichst eine Eins-zu-eins-Form-Funktion-Beziehung — sucht und findet. Albertus, obwohl er seine Grammatik ebenfalls als Lehrtext konzipiert, geht eher von einer kulturpatriotischen Motivation aus, um den Reichtum der deutschen Sprache zu feiern — einer Sprache, die nicht weniger vollkommen sei als Lateinisch, Griechisch und Hebräisch. Albertus und Ölinger entwerfen also ziemlich verschiedene Versionen der (noch nicht wirklich existierenden) hochdeutschen Sprache — jede Grammatik läßt jeweils verschiedene Formen zu, und wir erkennen noch einmal, dass die Grammatikschreibung stets einen Prozess ‘kreativer Konstruktion’ darstellt.


Author(s):  
Esperanza Morales-López

Abstract In this paper, I analyze the construction of the trope of irony in a political interview, more specifically the interview with a Spanish politician on television in 2013. Its context is the emergence of the 15M, a citizen’s protest movement against the cuts imposed by the European Union and the Spanish Government. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, I adopt a holistic perspective, inspired by Halliday’s approach of jointly analysing the form-function relationship and White’s constructivism. I also review the different definitions and explanations of irony. After analysing the formal resources that construct irony, I give an account of the cognitive frameworks that are opposed in this discourse, and finally describe their narrative disposition and the communicative functions that those resources fulfill.


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