Perspectives in motion: the case of metaphorical temporal statements in Spanish

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLORENCIA REALI ◽  
MARTIN LLERAS
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Spatial Motion ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Metaphorical Expression

abstractInterpreting temporal statements involves adopting alternative frames of reference. Previous work has shown that people draw on time-moving or ego-moving perspectives to interpret statements such as Next Wednesday´s meeting has been moved forward two days. The expression move forward in English can be translated into Spanish as mover hacia adelante or adelantar. Corpus data show that when these expressions are used metaphorically to describe time, the former is typically used to describe events parting from the ego (ego-moving perspective) while the latter is typically used to describe events moving towards the ego (time-moving perspective). We provide empirical evidence that different frames of reference are elicited depending on the specific metaphorical expression in Spanish (Corpus Analysis, Experiments 1 and 2), to the extent that the use of these linguistic forms in temporal sentences affects subsequent spatial reasoning (Experiment 3). We conclude that Spanish has some metaphorical expressions that are not neutral regarding the ego-/time-moving perspectives, and that their use affects how people draw on spatial motion schemas when thinking about time and space.

“By Degrees”

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-293
Author(s):  
Paul Giles
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
World Literature ◽  
Local Realism ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Mansfield Park ◽  
Initial Analysis ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Paul Giles, “‘By Degrees’: Jane Austen’s Chronometric Style of World Literature” (pp. 265–293) This essay considers how Jane Austen’s work relates to “World Literature” by internalizing a chronometric style. Examining the emergence of the chronometer in the eighteenth century, it suggests how Austen drew on nautical frames of reference to combine disparate trajectories of local realism, geographical distance, and historical time. The essay thus argues that Austen’s fiction is interwoven with a reflexive mode of cartographic mapping, one that draws aesthetically on nautical instruments to remap time and space. This style involves charting various fluctuations of perspective that reorder history, memory, and genealogy, while also recalibrating Britain’s position in relation to the wider world. Moving on from an initial analysis of Austen’s juvenilia and early novels, the essay proceeds in its second part to discuss Mansfield Park (1814) in relation to Pacific exploration and trade. In its third part, it considers Emma (1815) in the context of comic distortions and the misreadings that arise from temporal and spatial compressions in the narrative, a form heightened by the novel’s reflexive wordplay. Hence the essay argues that Austen’s particular style of World Literature integrates chronometric cartography with domestic circumstances, an elusive idiom that also manifests itself in relation to the gender dynamics of Persuasion (1817) and the unfinished “Sanditon,” as discussed in the essay’s concluding pages. This is correlated finally with the way Austen’s novels are calibrated, either directly or indirectly, in relation to a global orbit.

scholarly journals Retrieving Linguistic Information from a Corpus on the Example of Negation in Chinese

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-115
Author(s):  
Ľuboš GAJDOŠ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Authentic Language ◽  
Practical Implications

The paper deals with corpus analysis of negation in Chinese, namely the negatives bù 不 and méi/ méiyǒu没/没有. The adverbs BU and MEI are two of the most frequent negatives in Chinese. The aim of this study is to present statistical data together with linguistics analysis. The results provide empirical evidence of discrepancy between “authentic” language data versus linguistic prescription with practical implications for second-language acquisition. The findings inter alia suggest a new approach to verb categorisation.  

scholarly journals On the path of time: temporal motion in typological perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELE I. FEIST ◽  
SARAH E. DUFFY
Keyword(s):  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Spatial Motion ◽  
Psychological Reality ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Temporal Expressions ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Carry Over

ABSTRACTThe Moving Ego and Moving Time metaphors have provided a fertile testing ground for the psychological reality of space–time metaphors. Despite this, little research has targeted the linguistic patterns used in these two mappings. To fill that gap, the current study uses corpus data to examine the use of motion verbs in two typologically different languages, English and Spanish. We first investigated the relative frequency of the two metaphors. Whereas we observed no difference in frequency in the Spanish data, our findings indicated that in English, Moving Time expressions are more prevalent than are Moving Ego expressions. Second, we focused on the patterns of use of the verbs themselves, asking whether well-known typological patterns in the expression of spatial motion would carry over to temporal motion. Specifically, we examined the frequencies of temporal uses of path and manner verbs in English and in Spanish. Contra the patterns observed in space, we observed a preference for path verbs in both languages, with this preference more strongly evident in English than in Spanish. In addition, our findings revealed greater use of motion verbs in temporal expressions in Spanish compared to English. These findings begin to outline constraints on the aspects of spatial conceptualization that are likely to be reused in the conceptualization of time.

A multi-level semantic approach to Korean causal conjunctive suffixes -(e)se and -(u)nikka

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-suk Oh
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
Functional Differences ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Linguistic Categories ◽  
Four Levels

The purpose of this paper is to discuss actual usage of the two Korean causal conjunctive suffixes, -(e)seand-(u)nikka, and to propose their multi-layered semantics based on analysis of corpus data. To account for the functional differences of the two conjunctives, most previous studies focused on different syntactic distributions or semantic contrast by employing an objectivist viewpoint, failing to incorporate the polyfunctionality, semantic overlapping and pragmatic ambiguities of them. This paper advances that the meanings of the two causal suffixes are distributed on four different cognitive-discourse levels: content, epistemic, speech act, and discourse level. Corpus analysis does reveal that all four levels are accessible to both conjunctive suffixes but the difference between the two suffixes lies in the different degree of accessibility of these four levels in their sentence semantics. This finding suggests that we treat these linguistic categories more flexibly by accepting their gradient and pragmatically ambiguous status.

scholarly journals Accuracy and Coordination of Spatial Frames of Reference during the Exploration of Virtual Maps: Interest for Orientation and Mobility of Blind People?

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Simonnet ◽  
Stéphane Vieilledent
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Map Reading ◽  
Spatial Frames Of Reference ◽  
Maritime Environment ◽  
Reference Strategy

Even if their spatial reasoning capabilities remain quite similar to those of sighted people, blind people encounter difficulties in getting distant information from their surroundings. Thus, whole body displacements, tactile map consultations, or auditory solutions are needed to establish physical contacts with their environment. Therefore, the accuracy of nonvisual spatial representations heavily relies upon the efficiency of exploration strategies and the ability to coordinate egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference. This study aims to better understand the mechanisms of this coordination without vision by analyzing cartographic exploration strategies and assessing their influence on mental spatial representations. Six blind sailors were immersed within a virtual haptic and auditory maritime environment. They were required to learn the layout of the map. Their movements were recorded and we identified some exploration strategies. Then they had to estimate the directions of six particular seamarks in aligned and misaligned situations. Better accuracy and coordination were obtained when participants used the “central point of reference” strategy. Our discussion relative to the articulation between geometric enduring representations and salient transient perceptions provides implications on map reading techniques and on mobility and orientation programs for blind people.

A corpus-driven description of when-adverbial in Nigerian and British Englishes

Glottotheory ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayowa Akinlotan
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Structural Variation ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Distributional Analysis ◽  
British English ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Corpus Data

Abstract Syntactic alternation allows us to understand how structural variation, including crucial factors relevant to their meaning and interpretation, operates linguistic varieties. Empirical evidence from such syntactic alternation study can provide insights into how new varieties differ from the established ones. The present study aims at increasing contributions that show the nature of syntactic alternation from new Englishes such as Nigerian English, and how they differ from established varieties such as British English. Taking when adverbial construction in Nigerian English as a reference point (When Trump realised his reelection loss, he changed his political expectations versus Trump changed his political expectations when he realised his reelection loss), the study shows the extent to which previously tested factors influence the ordering of the construction and how they differ from findings reported in British English. Relying on corpus data, together with descriptive distributional analysis, the study shows that, unlike British English in which functional and cognitive factors strongly influence structural patterning, functional factors outweigh cognitive factors in Nigerian English.

scholarly journals Corpus Analysis and Lexical Pragmatics: An Overview

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Kolaiti ◽  
Deirdre Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Metaphorical Extension ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Lexical pragmatics studies the processes by which lexically encoded meanings are modified in use; well-studied examples include lexical narrowing, approximation and metaphorical extension. Relevance theorists have been trying to develop a unitary account on which narrowing, approximation and metaphorical extension are all explained in the same way. While there have been several corpus-based studies of metaphor and a few of hyperbole or approximation, there has been no attempt so far to test the unitary account using corpus data. This paper reports the results of a corpus-based investigation of lexical-pragmatic processes, and discusses the theoretical issues and challenges it raises.

Empirical Evidence and Practical Cases for Using Virtual Worlds in Educational Contexts

2010 ◽  
pp. 228-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung Sung Park ◽  
Young Kyun Baek
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Field Trip ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Mutual Understanding

The purpose of this chapter is to offer practical ideas and cases for educational use of the Second Life® virtual world with Web 2.0 based technology. Virtual worlds with Web 2.0 technologies have many methods for testing users’ experiences about and mutual understanding of other people, extending limited human capacities, and improving valuable skills in educational contexts. Through these activities, learners may receive positive feedback and beneficial learning experiences. In this chapter, the authors introduce three cases and provide empirical evidence for effective usage within three educational contexts: 1, offering a field trip in virtual space, 2 switching gender roles in the Second Life® virtual world to understand opposite genders, and 3. Object-making and manipulation activities to improve spatial reasoning.

scholarly journals Three Types of Old English Adjectival Postposition: A Corpus-Based Construction Grammar Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-198
Author(s):  
Maciej Grabski
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Old English ◽  
Dynamic Network ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Mutual Relations

The present article looks at different patterns of adjectival postmodification in Old English. A detailed corpus analysis is performed, whose results are interpreted within the framework of Construction Grammar. This study contributes to previous research on the subject by using a large set of corpus data which pave the way for adopting a usage-based approach. The results indicate that the patterns analyzed fulfilled different functions, which in the framework adopted is grounds enough for assigning them to different conceptual categories, i.e., “constructions.” Further, I investigate the mutual relations between these constructions as well as the internal dynamics of their functions and development. The findings support the basic constructionist notion that language is most effectively described as a complex and dynamic network of interrelated constructions.

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