scholarly journals From twig-skinny to Kate Moss skinny: expressing degree with common and proper nouns

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
TURO VARTIAINEN
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
American English ◽  
Recent History ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
English Usage ◽  
Degree Modifiers ◽  
New Evidence

This article provides a constructional (CxG) analysis of N-ADJ compounds in which the noun receives a degree reading (e.g. bullet-straight, Kennedy-handsome). A semantic analysis based on similes and scale matching is provided, and the recent history and increased productivity of the construction are examined in light of data from both the Corpus of Historical American English and a range of present-day corpora. The article introduces new evidence of the increased functional flexibility of both common and proper nouns in English and discusses the ongoing conventionalisation of proper noun degree modifiers in both American English and other varieties of English. The results of the study suggest that the recent introduction of proper noun degree modifiers has been supported by both constructional (semantic) change and macro-trends that have affected English usage more generally.

Russian proper nouns derived from a Roman praenomen

Proglas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergana Petkova ◽  
◽  
Vanya Ivanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Proper Names ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
Feminine Gender ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Catholic Tradition

The present paper examines Russian proper nouns of both masculine and feminine gender, which are derived from a Roman praenomen. Our main goal has been to present these proper names in their entirety, together with their etymology. The excerpted onyms are grouped according to the appellative or the anthroponym from which they are derived. Another classification, based on extralinguistic information about the canonization of proper names, is also included: it takes into account its origin, i.e. when a Russian anthroponym is derived from a saint’s name in the Orthodox or the Catholic tradition, or when it is recognized by and exists in the canons of both churches. A brief review of the proper-noun system in Ancient Rome – and the role of Roman praenomens in it – is also provided. Special attention has been paid to the etymology of the praenomens.

scholarly journals td-deletion in British English: New evidence for the long-lost morphological effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Maciej Baranowski ◽  
Danielle Turton
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
American English ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Morphological Effect ◽  
British English ◽  
Glottal Stop ◽  
New Evidence

ABSTRACTThis paper analyzes td-deletion, the process whereby coronal stops /t, d/ are deleted after a consonant at the end of the word (e.g., best, kept, missed) in the speech of 93 speakers from Manchester, stratified for age, social class, gender, and ethnicity. Prior studies of British English have not found the morphological effect—more deletion in monomorphemic mist than past tense missed—commonly observed in American English. We find this effect in Manchester and provide evidence that the rise of glottal stop replacement in postsonorant position in British English (e.g., halt, aunt) may be responsible for the reduction in the strength of this effect in British varieties. Glottaling blocks deletion, and, because the vast majority of postsonorant tokens are monomorphemic, the higher rates of monomorpheme glottaling dampens the typical effect of deletion in this context. These findings indicate organization at a higher level of the grammar, while also showing overlaid effects of factors such as style and word frequency.

scholarly journals Recent change in the productivity and schematicity of the way-construction: A distributional semantic analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Perek
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Occurrence Frequency ◽  
Semantic Model ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Semantic Domain ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis paper presents a corpus-based study of recent change in the Englishway-construction, drawing on data from the 1830s to the 2000s. Semantic change in the distribution of the construction is characterized by means of a distributional semantic model, which captures semantic similarity between verbs through their co-occurrence frequency with other words in the corpus. By plotting and comparing the semantic domain of the three senses of the construction at different points in time, it is found that they all have gained in semantic diversity. These findings are interpreted in terms of increases in schematicity, either of the verb slot or the motion component contributed by the construction.

Special issue on English intensifiers

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
BELÉN MÉNDEZ-NAYA
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Grammatical Change ◽  
Degree Modifiers ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Degree modifiers, degree words or intensifiers are linguistic elements which convey the degree or the exact value of the quality expressed by the item they modify. They are typically adverbs, as in very hot, really interesting, greatly appreciate or completely absurd, but adjectives may also fulfil this function, as in utter nonsense. As noted by Bolinger (1972: 18), degree words offer a picture of ‘fevered invention’, and without any doubt constitute one of the major areas of grammatical change and renewal in English (Brinton & Arnovik 2006: 441), especially from the Early Modern English period onwards (Peters 1993). It is therefore no surprise that degree modifiers have attracted so much scholarly attention from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Pioneering studies, such as those by Stoffel (1901), Borst (1902) and Fettig (1934), provide comprehensive inventories of intensifying adverbs in both modern and earlier English, as well as valuable insights into how they originated. In the last decade, however, intensifiers have become the object of renewed interest; this can be attributed in part to the development of computerized corpora, and also to advances in theoretical linguistics, more specifically in the study of semantic change and of grammaticalization processes. This renewed interest has focused, for example, on the individual histories of particular degree items as seen from the perspective of grammaticalization, on the competition of different intensifiers within a given period and across time, and on their distribution across different social groups, varieties or registers.

The non-spiritual semasiology of the adjective divine in Late Modern American English

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-74
Author(s):  
Sylwester Lodej ◽  
John G. Newman
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
American English ◽  
Old French ◽  
Oxford English Dictionary ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Late Modern ◽  
English Loanword

This paper examines semantic change in the adjective divine as evidenced in its attributive constructions in Late Modern American English. Even before modern English times, the word was capable of bearing two meanings, one spiritual and one non-spiritual. However, according to the Oxford English dictionary, the adjectival divine, a Middle English loanword from Old French, was used earlier (fourteenth century) in the spiritual sense “pertaining to God” and later (fifteenth century) in the non-spiritual sense “supremely good,” and further that it was used primarily in the spiritual sense and secondarily in the non-spiritual sense into modern English times. It is with semantic developments regarding these two senses in American English, particularly the rise in frequency and spread in the applicability of the non-spiritual sense of divine in American English, with which we are concerned here. A main object of the investigation is to identify metaphorical conceptualizations that have been responsible for the emergence of conceptual values, which themselves have facilitated the diachronic semasiological patterns observable in extant textual materials. The corpus of historical American English (COHA) is the source of the bulk of the data analyzed.

scholarly journals THEY AND ITS LEMMAS AS NON-BINARY THIRD PERSON SINGULAR PRONOUNS IN THE WASHINGTON POST

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tantri Refa Indhiarti ◽  
Dwi I Rizki
Keyword(s):  
Concrete Noun ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Abstract Noun ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Abstract Entities ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Indefinite Pronoun

In recent years, it is found that pronoun they and its lemmas are used to refer to singular person to show that the person does not wish to be identified as one of gender binaries. This phenomenon occurs in The Washington Post having added singular they to their stylebook. Therefore this paper aims at elaborating how pronouns they, them, their, theirs, and themselves are used as singular ones in the articles of The Washington Post published in 2016. With the aid of corpus instrument software, this study qualitatively analyses a small corpus consisting of 100 articles. References of pronouns identified as singular are proceeded as the data source of this study and categorized into Crystal’s (2003) main classes of noun and Cobuild’s (2011) classification of indefinite pronoun. The study reveals that The Washington Post used they as singular with the references of proper noun which consists of names of people and organizations, common count concrete noun which consists of nouns denoting persons and a noun denoting things, common count abstract noun consisting of nouns denoting abstract entities, and 6 indefinite pronouns which are used to refer to persons. These references are found mostly to be non-referential, where gender is indefinite. However, some are found to be referential which are common count concrete noun child and proper nouns in the form of names of people. These references refer to individuals who identify themselves not in one of gender binaries, instead they are found to be used in a context regarding LGBT.

scholarly journals Structural and Semantic Analysis of English and Russian Proverbs about Marriage as a Source of Expression of Cultural and National Identity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1075-1093
Author(s):  
Tatiana G. Orlova
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Marital Relations ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
The Family

The article is devoted to the comparative structural and semantic analysis of proverbs of the English and Russian languages with the meaning marriage. The novelty and relevance of the study consists in the fact that the proverbs that go to the heart of the current problems of marriage relations were first analyzed with the use of comparative approach in the context of structural and semantic analysis. In the course of the analysis, on the material of the proverbs of these languages, the main meanings of the proverbs were identified and systematized. The proverbs reveal the view on the value of marriage, the view on the predestination of marriage, the roles of husband and wife, controversial aspects of marital relations, as well as the question of the unity and strength of the family. An important part of the article is the study of male and female views on the problem of marriage, family life and the choice of a life partner. In English proverbs, a critical attitude towards marriage and the mention of the advantages of a bachelor life can be found more often. In Russian proverbs, marriage is generally viewed more positively but almost half of the proverbs that reveal the hardships of life in marriage are proverbs that convey a womans view of marriage. The article reveals lexical components, syntactic structures, artistic techniques and figurative means pertain to the proverbs of both linguistic and cultural ethnic groups. The presence of unique and distinctive proverbs in each language reflects the peculiarities of the historical and cultural experience of the two peoples, but the proverbs of both languages also have many common features. This is explained both by the community of human nature and knowledge, and by borrowing from common sources. Both Russian and English proverbs are characterized by using methods of comparison, contraposition, allegory, the use of personifying metaphors, lexical antonymy, the use of zoonyms, proper nouns and somatisms. In Russian, the emotional and expressive component is higher due to the use of diminutive suffixes, vernacular and vulgar words, they represent more widely archaisms and vocabulary associated with the realities of peasant life. Most Russian proverbs are composed according to the laws of the folklore genre and have a compositional completeness due to their rhythmic and phonetic design. Most of the English proverbs contain sayings, teachings, and use more abstract and neutral vocabulary, although there are also bright and original proverbs among them. The author reveals interaction of the figurative means and the conceptual component of proverbs and concludes that the linguistic means and figurative motivation of proverbs are related to the peculiarities of the national-cultural thinking of the both peoples.

scholarly journals Disambiguierung deutschsprachiger Diskursmarker: Eine Pilot-Studie

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne H. Baider ◽  
Henriette Gezundhajt
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Human Dimension ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Typical Property ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
The People ◽  
Semantic Value ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Semantic Properties

Framed within Antoine Culioli's Enunciative Model of language, this article suggests a new analysis regarding the semantic properties of the suffix -esque and argues that this suffix refers to an alterity expressed within a typical property. Moreover this article reassesses earlier findings made about the suffix -esque, namely its low productivity in creation of neologisms and its apparent usage limited to literary and journalistic styles. The alleged constraint for all its bases to be referring to a human being is also reconsidered and our semantic analysis questions the value of "extreme" supposedly added by -esque to the nominal basis. Indeed, its usage in French shows that if this suffix is no longer typically associated to a nominal basis referring to the people of a country (see mauresque or arabesque), the human dimension associated to the nominal basis such as in la soldatesque, is not always found either (see TV-esque). Rather, this suffix seems to have lost its role as a simple identifier towards a referential domain as found in expressions such as une oeuvre molièresque which could be glossed over as "une oeuvre typique de Molière". This identification is most of the time linked to a laudatory or negative appreciation on the part of the enunciator, as found in examples such as gargantuesque. Besides, the contemporary dynamism of the -esque flexion enables the creation of neologisms. These neologisms are derived from proper nouns (mitterrandesque) or from acronyms (rmiesque) that do not exhibit standard properties. This begs the question of whether the value which seemed to be added to the composite [noun + esque] is determined by the suffix itself or whether it is partially connected to the atypical notional value of the root's semantic value.

scholarly journals SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF THE SYNONYMS PAIN / HURT / ACHE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina G. Ilina ◽  
◽  
Ekaterina M. Vishnevskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
English Language ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
American English ◽  
Structural Features

The paper considers the semantic and structural features of synonymous nouns pain / hurt / ache from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The study is based on the data from British and American English. The paper reveals the peculiarities of the semantic zones, where the investigated words are relevant and clarifies their definition. The study specifies the functioning of basic nouns that are used for pain description in the English language.

scholarly journals Negation of resultative and progressive periphrases

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel González Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Negative Particle ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Auxiliary Verb ◽  
New Evidence

This paper focuses on resultative and progressive periphrases in Spanish: &lt;<em>estar</em> ‘to be’ + participle&gt; and &lt;<em>estar</em> ‘to be’ + gerund&gt;, respectively. These periphrases have been associated with several negated constructions. On the one hand, the negative particle <em>no</em> ‘not’ can precede the auxiliary verb (&lt;<em>no estar</em> ‘not to be’ + participle&gt; and &lt;<em>no estar</em> ‘not to be’ + gerund&gt;); on the other hand, we have the structure &lt;<em>estar sin</em> ‘to be without’ + infinitive&gt;. Contrary to what has been suggested in the literature, I will show that these negative constructions have a different interpretation and develop a semantic analysis of them. Furthermore, I will offer new evidence in favor of the existence of negative events.

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