scholarly journals Special reduction: a usage-based approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOAN BYBEE ◽  
RICHARD J. FILE-MURIEL ◽  
RICARDO NAPOLEÃO DE SOUZA

abstract‘Special reduction’ refers to instances of extreme phonetic reduction which is restricted to particular words or phrases, usually grammaticalizing constructions (going to > [gə̃ɾ̃ə̃]), greetings (hi from how are you), discourse markers (Spanish o sea > sa), or other sequences that are often used together. On the basis of data from English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Colombian Spanish, we argue that special reduction is based on the general phonetic tendencies in the language, but that these tendencies are carried to an extreme where word sequences are used with high frequency and become chunked, allowing formerly stressed syllables to lose stress and reduce. The data also show that special reduction takes place gradually over time, and reflects general patterns of change seen in the history of the language. In fact, in some examples, special reduction presages more general sound changes that occur later. We argue that the gradual phonetic changes that accumulate for particular words or phrases, eventually changing them dramatically, requires an exemplar model for the phonological representation of words and phrases, which is updated continually as sequences are used and affected by reductive phonetic processes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemilton Lopes Pinheiro

Neste trabalho, consideramos a concepção de Eugenio Coseriu sobre os níveis de linguagem e entendemos que um processo de construção textual como tal não pertence a nenhuma língua (nível histórico), mas ao nível individual dos textos. Nesses termos, um determinado processo pode ser repetido, ao longo do tempo, em um conjunto de textos relacionados a um gênero e ser configurado como uma tradição discursiva. Nesse sentido, nosso objetivo é analisar as permanências, modificações ou exclusões da estruturação interna de segmentos tópicos mínimos em um conjunto de cartas de leitores que constituem o corpus do Projeto História do Português Brasileiro no Rio Grande do Norte (PHPB-RN). Observamos padrões de repetição, exclusão e inserção que mobilizam subunidades de duas regras prototípicas de estruturação intratópica, ligadas ao propósito comunicativo do gênero, o que constitui uma tradição discursiva. No presente caso, uma tradição instável. In this work, we consider Eugenio Coseriu´s conception about language levels and understand that a process of textual construction as such does not belong to any language (historical level), but to the individual level of texts. In these terms, a given process can be repeated, over time, in a set of texts related to a genre and be configured as a discursive tradition. In this sense, our objective is to analyze the permanences, modifications or exclusions of the internal structuring of minimum thematic segments in a set of reader’s letters that constitute the corpus of the Project History of Brazilian Portuguese in Rio Grande do Norte (PHPB-RN). We have observed patterns of repetition, exclusion, and insertion which mobilize subunits of two prototypical rules of intra-topic structuring, connected to the genre’s communicative purpose, which constitutes a discursive tradition. In the present case, an unstable tradition.



2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Sindorela Doli Kryeziu

Abstract In our paper we will talk about the whole process of standardization of the Albanian language, where it has gone through a long historical route, for almost a century.When talking about standard Albanian language history and according to Albanian language literature, it is often thought that the Albanian language was standardized in the Albanian Language Orthography Congress, held in Tirana in 1972, or after the publication of the Orthographic Rules (which was a project at that time) of 1967 and the decisions of the Linguistic Conference, a conference of great importance that took place in Pristina, in 1968. All of these have influenced chronologically during a very difficult historical journey, until the standardization of the Albanian language.Considering a slightly wider and more complex view than what is often presented in Albanian language literature, we will try to describe the path (history) of the standard Albanian formation under the influence of many historical, political, social and cultural factors that are known in the history of the Albanian people. These factors have contributed to the formation of a common state, which would have, over time, a common standard language.It is fair to think that "all activity in the development of writing and the Albanian language, in the field of standardization and linguistic planning, should be seen as a single unit of Albanian culture, of course with frequent manifestations of specific polycentric organization, either because of divisions within the cultural body itself, or because of the external imposition"(Rexhep Ismajli," In Language and for Language ", Dukagjini, Peja, 1998, pp. 15-18.)



2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Susan M. Albring ◽  
Randal J. Elder ◽  
Mitchell A. Franklin

ABSTRACT The first tax inversion in 1983 was followed by small waves of subsequent inversion activity, including two inversions completed by Transocean. Significant media and political attention focused on transactions made by U.S. multinational corporations that were primarily designed to reduce U.S. corporate income taxes. As a result, the U.S. government took several actions to limit inversion activity. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) significantly lowered U.S. corporate tax rates and one expected impact of TCJA is a reduction of inversion activity. Students use the Transocean inversions to understand the reasons why companies complete a tax inversion and how the U.S. tax code affects inversion activity. Students also learn about the structure of inversion transactions and how they have changed over time as the U.S. government attempted to limit them. Students also assess the tax and economic impacts of inversion transactions to evaluate tax policy.



Author(s):  
Jürgen Schaflechner

Chapter 3 introduces the tradition of ritual journeys and sacred geographies in South Asia, then hones in on a detailed history of the grueling and elaborate pilgrimage attached to the shrine of Hinglaj. Before the construction of the Makran Coastal Highway the journey to the Goddess’s remote abode in the desert of Balochistan frequently presented a lethally dangerous undertaking for her devotees, the hardships of which have been described by many sources in Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Sindhi, and Urdu. This chapter draws heavily from original sources, including travelogues and novels, which are supplanted with local oral histories in order to weave a historical tapestry that displays the rich array of practices and beliefs surrounding the pilgrimage and how they have changed over time. The comparative analysis demonstrates how certain motifs, such as austerity (Skt. tapasyā), remain important themes within the whole Hinglaj genre even in modern times while others have been lost in the contemporary era.



Author(s):  
Marko Geslani

The introduction reviews the historiographic problem of the relation between fire sacrifice (yajña) and image worship (pūjā), which have traditionally been seen as opposing ritual structures serving to undergird the distinction of “Vedic” and “Hindu.” Against such an icono- and theocentric approach, it proposes a history of the priesthood in relation to royal power, centering on the relationship between the royal chaplain (purohita) and astrologer (sāṃvatsara) as a crucial, unexplored development in early Indian religion. In order to capture these historical developments, it outlines a method for the comparative study of ritual forms over time.



Author(s):  
Charles Hartman ◽  
Anthony DeBlasi

This chapter discusses how the full emergence of the centralized, aristocratic state in the seventh century brought about an official historiography that was part of the bureaucracy of that state. Beginning in the Tang, each dynastic court maintained an office of historiography. Over time, a regularized process evolved that, in theory and often in reality, turned the daily production of court bureaucratic documents into an official history of the dynasty. Although this process was ongoing throughout the dynasty, the final, standard ‘dynastic history’ was usually completed after the dynasty's demise by its successor state. Indeed, the very concept of a series of dynastic histories that, taken together, would present an official history of successive, legitimate Chinese states, dates from the eleventh century.



Think ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (58) ◽  
pp. 23-38
Author(s):  
Emily Thomas

ABSTRACTWhat is time? Just like everything else in the world, our understanding of time has changed continually over time. This article tracks this question through the history of Western philosophy and looks at major answers from the likes of Aristotle, Kant, and McTaggart.



2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-739
Author(s):  
Eva Maria Luef ◽  
Jong-Seung Sun

Abstract The frequency with which a word appears in the lexicon has implications for its pronunciation. Numerous studies have shown that high-frequency lemma are characterized by more phonetic reduction than lower-frequency lemma. These findings have proven to be particularly useful in the study of homophones where frequency-related reduction processes can give insights into lexical access theories. The majority of research on homophones and frequency effects has focused on heterographic and semantically unrelated homophones (e.g., English time – thyme) or investigated zero-derived homophones (e.g., English the cut, noun – to cut, verb). Here, zero inflection in German pluralization (e.g., ein Würfel ‘one die’– zwei Würfel ‘two dice’) was investigated to determine if and how frequency effects impact on the acoustic realization of the homophonous singular-plural word pairs. The findings indicate that the number-specified wordforms show acoustic variation related to wordform frequency and the relative frequency of the singular to plural inflected forms. Results differ for durations of wordforms, stem vowels, and final phonemes. Our findings have implications for lexical access theories and can inform about ‘frequency inheritance’ across the singular and plural homophones of the zero-inflected plurals.



2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212110053
Author(s):  
Moustafa Salamah ◽  
Ashraf Mahrous Eid ◽  
Hani Albialy ◽  
Sherif Sharaf EL Deen

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of two different suture types in levator plication for correction of congenital ptosis. Subjects and methods: Prospective comparative interventional randomized study involving 42 eyes of 42 patients aged more than 6 years with congenital ptosis and good levator action. The exclusion criteria were as follows: bilateral ptosis, history of previous surgery, fair or poor levator action, and associated other ocular diseases. Patients were randomized into group A, in which double-armed 5/0 polyester Ethibond were used, and group B, in which double-armed 5/0 Coated Vicryl® (polyglactin 910) suture material we used. Outcomes including eyelid height and stability of eyelid height over time were compared with follow-up data. The MRD was 4.05 ± 0.36 mm and 3.95 ± 0.34 after 1 week for both groups A and B, respectively. At the end of study follow up period (24 weeks), the MRD was 3.60 ± 0.42 mm in group A, and 2.52 ± 0.85 mm in group B. Conclusion: No difference in eyelid height between two groups in early postoperative period, but the postoperative eyelid height was more stable over time in the 5/0 polyester Ethibond group (group A) than in the 5/0 Coated Vicryl® (polyglactin 910) group (group B).



Author(s):  
Simeon Dekker

AbstractThe ‘diatribe’ is a dialogical mode of exposition, originating in Hellenistic Greek, where the author dramatically performs different voices in a polemical-didactic discourse. The voice of a fictitious opponent is often disambiguated by means of parenthetical verba dicendi, especially φησί(ν). Although diatribal texts were widely translated into Slavic in the Middle Ages, the textual history of the Zlatostruj collection of Chrysostomic homilies especially suits an investigation not only of how Greek ‘diatribal’ verbs were translated, but also how the Slavic verbs were transmitted or developed in different textual traditions. Over time, Slavic redactional activity led to a homogenization of verb forms. The initial variety of the original translation was partly eliminated, and the verb forms "Equation missing" and "Equation missing" became more firmly established as prototypical diatribal formulae. Especially the (increased) use of the 2sg form "Equation missing" has theoretical consequences for the text’s dialogical structure. Thus, an important dialogical component of the diatribe was reinforced in the Zlatostruj’s textual history on Slavic soil.



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