Connecting the present and the past: cognitive processing and the position of adverbial clauses in Samuel Pepys's Diary

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-282
Author(s):  
MEIKE PENTREL
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Similar Extent ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Implied Meaning ◽  
Temporal Adverbial

The present article studies the linear order of main and temporal adverbial clauses in theDiary of Samuel Pepys (1660–1669). In the development of a framework that combines cognitive and historical data, processing principles identified for Present-day English (e.g. Prideaux 1989; Diessel 2008) are tested for this ego-document from the seventeenth century. The factors investigated are the iconic temporal order of both clauses, the length of the adverbial clause and the implied meaning of the clauses. Moreover, the discourse function of the respective clauses will be discussed. On the basis of the Uniformitarian Principle, the present study assumes that processing principles that are valid for Present-day English predict the position of the clause in past language stages to a similar extent.

Examining individual variation in learner production data: A few programmatic pointers for corpus-based analyses using the example of adverbial clause ordering

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Stefan Th. Gries ◽  
Stefanie Wulff
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Temporal Adverbial

ABSTRACT This study examines the variable positioning of a finite adverbial subordinate clause and its main clause with the subordinate clause either preceding or following the main clause in native versus nonnative English. Specifically, we contrast causal, concessive, conditional, and temporal adverbial clauses produced by German and Chinese learners of English with those produced by native speakers. We examined 2,362 attestations from the Chinese and German subsections of the International Corpus of Learner English (Granger, Dagneaux, Meunier, & Paquot, 2009) and from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (Granger, 1998). All instances were annotated for the ordering, the subordinate clause type, the lengths of the main and subordinate clauses, the first language of the speakers, the conjunction used, and the file it originated from (as a proxy for the speaker producing the sentence so as to be able to study individual and lexical variation). The results of a two-step regression modeling protocol suggest that learners behave most nativelike with causal clauses and struggle most with conditional and concessive clauses; in addition, learners make more non-nativelike choices when the main and subordinate clause are of about equal length.

Syntax from and for discourse II: More on complex sentences as meso-constructions

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Hampe ◽  
Stefan Th. Gries
Keyword(s):  
Multinomial Regression ◽  
Complex Sentence ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Temporal Adverbial

Abstract This paper presents a direct continuation of preceding corpus-linguistic research on complex sentence constructions with temporal adverbial clauses in a cognitive and usage-based framework (Diessel 2008; Hampe 2015). Working towards a more systematic construction-based account of complex sentences with before-, after-, until- and once-clauses in spontaneously spoken English, Hampe (2015) hypothesised that the morpho-syntactic realisations of configurations with initial adverbial clauses systematically diverge from those of configurations with final ones as a reflection of the specific functionality of each and that usage properties that are found across instantiations with a coherent functional load are retained in the schematisations creating constructions. This paper employs a multinomial regression in order to test to which extent each of eight closely related complex-sentence constructions with either initial or final before-, after-, until- and once-clauses can be predicted from the realisation of a few key morpho-syntactic properties of the respective adverbial and matrix clauses involved. The results support an analysis of complex-sentence constructions as meso-constructions that are not only specific about the subordinator and the positioning of the adverbial clause, but also retain “traces” of characteristic usage properties.

scholarly journals (Zeit)Befindlichkeit und partieller Gleichlauf in der Sprache. Eine Untersuchung zum Deutschen

2019 ◽  
pp. 227-239
Author(s):  
Mariola Wierzbicka
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
German Language ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Absolute Necessity ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Temporal Adverbial

The paper discusses ways of expressing the temporal relations of partial simultaneity in adverbial clauses in the German language. Although the relations can be expressed by participle phrases, noun phrases, prepositional phrases and infinitive phrases, the adverbial clause is the most frequent means of expressing the relations. The temporal adverbial clause has an almost unlimited range of applications, which stretches from vaguely hinted relation to absolute necessity, and from general statements and clarifications to definite emotionally motivated utterances. Wherever there is an obvious connection between facts, events, actions, relations as well as personal will and feeling, it can be expressed by means of a temporal structure. The subject of the paper is the influence of conjunctions während, als, wenn, seit(dem) and solange on the time arrangement of situations introduced into the time clause and the main clause with regard to morphological, syntactic and semantic elements and dependence on the relation of the correspondence between events in the time clause and events in the main clause in German.

Exploring the Boundaries of the Number–Temporal Order Association

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Ganor-Stern
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Numerical Comparison ◽  
Negative Number ◽  
Comparison Task ◽  
Negative Numbers ◽  
The Past

Past research has shown that numbers are associated with order in time such that performance in a numerical comparison task is enhanced when number pairs appear in ascending order, when the larger number follows the smaller one. This was found in the past for the integers 1–9 ( Ben-Meir, Ganor-Stern, & Tzelgov, 2013 ; Müller & Schwarz, 2008 ). In the present study we explored whether the advantage for processing numbers in ascending order exists also for fractions and negative numbers. The results demonstrate this advantage for fraction pairs and for integer-fraction pairs. However, the opposite advantage for descending order was found for negative numbers and for positive-negative number pairs. These findings are interpreted in the context of embodied cognition approaches and current theories on the mental representation of fractions and negative numbers.

Production, Mortality, And Sustainable Yield Of Northwest Atlantic Harp Seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus)

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1249-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. H. Winters
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Maximum Sustainable Yield ◽  
Sustainable Yield ◽  
Natural Mortality ◽  
Northwest Atlantic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Pagophilus Groenlandicus

From recent and historical data the natural mortality rate of adult harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) is estimated to be 0.10 which is within the range of previous estimates (0.08–0.11). New estimates of bedlamer and 0-group natural mortality rates were not significantly different from those of adult seals. Pup production estimates from survival indices agreed well with those from sequential population analyses and indicated a decline from about 350 000 animals in the early 1950s to about 310 000 animals in the early 1970s. Over the same period the 1+ population size declined from 2.5 to 1.1 million animals but has been increasing at the rate of 3%/yr since the introduction of quotas in 1972. The relative contribution of the "Front" production to total ("Front" plus Gulf) production during the past decade has fluctuated from 49 to 87%, the average of 64% being very similar to the 61% obtained previously. These fluctuations suggest some interchange between "Front" and Gulf adults and it is concluded that homing in the breeding areas is a facultative rather than obligatory aspect of seal behavior. Thus the heavier exploitation of the "Front" production is probably sufficiently diffused into the total population to avoid serious effects on "Front" production. The maximum sustainable yield of Northwest Atlantic seals harvested according to recent patterns is estimated to be 290 000 animals (80% pups) from a 1+ population size of 1.8 million animals producing 460 000 pups annually. The sustainable yield at present levels of pup production (335 000 animals) is calculated to be 220 000 animals which is substantially above the present TAC of 180 000 animals and coincides with present harvesting strategies designed to enable the seal hunt to increase slowly towards the MSY level. Key words: mortality, production, sustainable yield, population dynamics, marine mammal

scholarly journals An advanced frequent closed sequences using BIDE

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.20) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
K Vineela ◽  
M V.B.T. Santhi ◽  
N V.V. Gowtham Srujan ◽  
V Ashok
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Search Space ◽  
Effective Algorithm ◽  
Direct Test ◽  
Test Strategy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mining Algorithm ◽  
Parent Child Relationships

According to the past reasearches which produced few argumented stating that the frequent mining algorithm should only be closed but not frequent, as it not only results in compact but also complete results, and also in greater effectiveness. Most of the previous algorithms have mainly provided a direct test strategy to detect. In this article, we provide an Advanced BIDE, which is an effective algorithm used for processing query methods frequently closed. BI-Directional extension algorithm is better in pruning or filtering the search space when compared to any other algorithm. It is related to the calculation of frequent samples of search engines by parent-child relationships. An experimental study based on a variety of real historical data demonstrates the effectiveness and measurability of A-BIDE on the known alternatives of the past. It can also be scaled in terms of size of a query. 

Corpora and intuition: a study of Mandarin Chinese adverbial clauses and subjecthood

Corpora ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
May L-Y Wong
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Semantic Function ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
New Information ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
Adverbial Clause ◽  
Linguistic Methods

This paper presents a corpus-based approach to investigating the distribution of adverbial clauses and their subjects (overt vs. non-overt) in spoken and written Mandarin Chinese. It argues that the choice of subject type is determined by three variables, namely, given-new information, semantic function of adverbial clause and text type. In written Chinese, the distribution of subject types varies across semantic classes of adverbial clauses, but not across text categories. The influence of semantic classes on the distribution of subject types, however, depends on text type. For the same semantic function, the decision as to whether to include a subject is governed by given and new information. In contrasting the distribution of subject types of adverbial clauses across speech and writing, it was found that both spoken and written Chinese use more overt subjects in clauses of reason. Methodologically, this study demonstrates how quantitative corpus-linguistic methods can be used to supplement introspective theoretical assumptions with authentic, observable evidence in order to gain better insights into the behaviour of adverbial clauses in speech and writing.

Historical Records and Collections

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-33
Author(s):  
Emily W. B. Russell Southgate
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Historical Photographs ◽  
General Explanation

This chapter introduces the use of historical documents and other forms of information that depend on written explanation, such as natural history collections and historical photographs. After a general explanation of the unique values of these data for establishing historical baselines and trajectories, it gives a brief introduction to the methods used to assess the validity of the sources, including consideration of various biases that are integral to written documents. These include a consideration of scale. The chapter then describes a variety of sources, including historical data, maps, photographs, government documents, and plant and animal collections, with examples of how each has been used to establish some condition or process in the past.

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