Dialect syntax in construction grammar

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Morin ◽  
Guillaume Desagulier ◽  
Jack Grieve

Abstract This squib focuses on two main issues. Firstly, it examines the ways in which constructionist approaches to language can bring about an improved theoretical understanding of Double Modals (DMs) in dialects of English. DMs have proved to be a long-lasting, notorious puzzle in formal linguistics, and have not received any general solution today, with much analysis devoted to their constituent structure and their postulated layers of derivation, especially in generative models of language. Usage-based strands of Construction Grammar (CxG) appear to naturally overcome such problems, while conveying a more cognitively and socially realistic picture of such dialect variants. Secondly, and more importantly, we argue that such an improved, constructional understanding of DMs can also contribute to advances in the modeling of dialect syntax in CxG, both theoretically and methodologically. In particular, DMs constitute an interesting case of relatively rare and restricted syntactic constructions in the dialects they appear in, and they are likely to exhibit different rates of entrenchment and network schematicity cross-dialectally. Moreover, the empirical challenges surrounding the measurement of DM usage invite us to refine the methodological concept of triangulation, by sketching a two-step approach with a data-driven study of new types of corpora on the one hand, and a hypothesis-driven experimental account of acceptability in relevant geographical locations on the other.

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1084
Author(s):  
Stefano Garlaschi ◽  
Anna Fochesato ◽  
Anna Tovo

Recent technological and computational advances have enabled the collection of data at an unprecedented rate. On the one hand, the large amount of data suddenly available has opened up new opportunities for new data-driven research but, on the other hand, it has brought into light new obstacles and challenges related to storage and analysis limits. Here, we strengthen an upscaling approach borrowed from theoretical ecology that allows us to infer with small errors relevant patterns of a dataset in its entirety, although only a limited fraction of it has been analysed. In particular we show that, after reducing the input amount of information on the system under study, by applying our framework it is still possible to recover two statistical patterns of interest of the entire dataset. Tested against big ecological, human activity and genomics data, our framework was successful in the reconstruction of global statistics related to both the number of types and their abundances while starting from limited presence/absence information on small random samples of the datasets. These results pave the way for future applications of our procedure in different life science contexts, from social activities to natural ecosystems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 15-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Ludwig ◽  
Daniel König ◽  
Nestor D. Kapusta ◽  
Victor Blüml ◽  
Georg Dorffner ◽  
...  

Abstract Methods of suicide have received considerable attention in suicide research. The common approach to differentiate methods of suicide is the classification into “violent” versus “non-violent” method. Interestingly, since the proposition of this dichotomous differentiation, no further efforts have been made to question the validity of such a classification of suicides. This study aimed to challenge the traditional separation into “violent” and “non-violent” suicides by generating a cluster analysis with a data-driven, machine learning approach. In a retrospective analysis, data on all officially confirmed suicides (N = 77,894) in Austria between 1970 and 2016 were assessed. Based on a defined distance metric between distributions of suicides over age group and month of the year, a standard hierarchical clustering method was performed with the five most frequent suicide methods. In cluster analysis, poisoning emerged as distinct from all other methods – both in the entire sample as well as in the male subsample. Violent suicides could be further divided into sub-clusters: hanging, shooting, and drowning on the one hand and jumping on the other hand. In the female sample, two different clusters were revealed – hanging and drowning on the one hand and jumping, poisoning, and shooting on the other. Our data-driven results in this large epidemiological study confirmed the traditional dichotomization of suicide methods into “violent” and “non-violent” methods, but on closer inspection “violent methods” can be further divided into sub-clusters and a different cluster pattern could be identified for women, requiring further research to support these refined suicide phenotypes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 09 (07) ◽  
pp. 737-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEN SEKIMOTO

We briefly review the recent theoretical understanding of the first order phase transition undergone by gels with an emphasis on physical concepts, deliberately excluding details of modeling and analytic methods. The density of a gel changes discontinuously at the transition point. A variety of features of the transition result from the basic fact that the inhomogeneity of the density of the gel inevitably causes shear deformation. This deformation, on the one hand, reflects the geometry of the sample and, on the other hand, may alter the transition temperature.


2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
PIETER A. M. SEUREN

William Croft,Radical Construction Grammar: syntactic theory in typological perspective. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Pp. xxviii+416.My reason for writing this review article is that I want to highlight a particular basic opposition in linguistic theory and methodology. On the one hand, we have what is usually called COGNITIVISM, represented in the book under review by the new theory of Radical Construction Grammar, henceforth RCG. On the other hand, there is a variety of schools, together forming a large majority in the field, whose theoretical overlap may be characterized by the term MODULARITY. I argue against cognitivism and in favour of the modularity view, and I am using the book under review as an opportunity to define the issue and put forward the arguments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-217
Author(s):  
FRANK VAN EYNDE

Sign-Based Construction Grammar (sbcg) is, on the one hand, a formalized version of Berkeley Construction Grammar (bcg), and, on the other hand, a further development of constructionist Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (hpsg). The volume edited by Hans Boas and Ivan Sag is the first book length presentation of the framework. Its centerpiece is a 130-page synopsis of the theory by Ivan Sag. The other contributions to the volume provide background, justification, case studies, an extension to diachronic syntax and a presentation of the FrameNet Constructicon. This review gives a guided tour of the framework, explaining its central notions and assumptions, as well as the notation in which they are cast. It also compares the sbcg framework with other types of Construction Grammar and with hpsg. The case studies are summarized and briefly evaluated.


2000 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-44
Author(s):  
Tünde Éva Polonyi

A két- és többnyelvuek információtárolása és  feldolgozása vitatott téma: egyes kutatók szerint ez olyan kognitív alrendszerek segítségével történik, amelyek tartalmazzák az emlékezeti képzeteket is és beszélt nyelveikkel állnak kapcsolatban, viszont funkcionálisan függetlenek egymástól (a függetlenség hipotézise); egy másik modell szerint (az egymástól való függés hipotézise) a különálló lingvisztikai rendszerek funkcionálisan kötodnek egy olyan közös fogalmi rendszerhez, ami egyben a megosztott memóriatároló is. Kísérletem célja az volt, hogy egyetlen vizsgálatban, különbözo bevésési stratégiákat és elohívási feladatokat alkalmazva olyan teljesítménymintákat mérjek fel, amelyeket egyik vagy másik modell alátámasztására szoktak felhozni; ezenkívül a fejlodési hipotézist is vizsgálom.Magyar–román–angol háromnyelvuek vettek részt a vizsgálatban két csoportba osztva. Hipotézisem szerint az angolt nehézkesebben beszélok teljesítménye egy adatvezérlésu szókiegészítési feladatnál a függetlenégi hipotézist kell hogy alátámassza, azonban eredményeim azt mutatták, hogy az adat vezérlésu és fogalmi vezérlésu feldolgozás itt együtt jelentkezik; a szabad felidézési feladat ered ményei a nyelvtol való függetlenség hipotézisét támasztották alá, a felismerési feladat eredményei pedig szintén a két típusú feldolgozás kombinációját mutatták. Az angolt folyékonyabban beszélo alanyok esetében nem találtam szignifikáns különbségeket a különbözo bevésési stratégiák között, ami újabb bizonyítékot jelent Kroll és Stewart (1994) modellje mellett. A nehézkesebben beszélo háromnyelvuek tehát a lexikális- és fogalmi közvetítés kombinációját mutatták, és csak a gyakorlott beszélokre jellemzo a tiszta fogalmi közvetítés. Általános következtetésem az, hogy a leghasznosabb kutatási paradigma egy olyan transzfer-központú szemlélet lenne, amelyben a megorzési próbákon való teljesítmény olyan mértékben javul, amilyen mértékben a teszt által megkövetelt eljárások megismétlik a bevésési eljárásokat.Bilinguals’ information-representation and -processing is a controversial theme among psycholinguists: According to some researchers bilinguals have cognitive subsystems linked to their known languages, which include the memory stores, as well, but they are functionally independent from each other (independence position). On the other hand, the interdependence position maintain that bilinguals represent words in a supralinguistic code, possibly based on the meanings of the words, that is independent of the language in which the words occurred. According to the developmental hypothesis second language learners start only with lexical associations, but gradually develop direct links between the second language lexicon and concepts.The aims of my study were: 1) to measure performance patterns, which are usually taken to reflect the one or the other model, in one experiment, using different retrieval tasks under identical encoding conditions; 2) to examine the developmental hypothesis by using less fluent and more fluent trilinguals.        The subjects of my study were Hungarian–Romanian–English trilinguals, divided into two groups. According to my hypothesis, in the case of the less fluently speakers of English, a mostly data-driven task such as word fragment completion would depend on the matching of language at study and test, thus supporting the independence hypothesis. However, my results showed that in the case of this task both the data-driven and conceptually-driven processing is present: not only the language of study was important, but the increasing elaborate processing during study, as well. The results of the free recall task, as predicted, revealed evidence for interdependence effects. Finally, the recognition task showed again the combination of the two kind of processing: data-driven and conceptually-driven processing. The more fluent subjects, in turn, could face all the conditions and all the tasks almost equally well, suggesting that they mediate their languages entirely conceptually. In sum, we can tell that in the mind of the multilingual words are organised on the basis of meaning, not language. At very early stage of language acquisition, however, language specific cues intrude, even when subjects are concentrating upon meaning.My general conclusion is that the most useful research paradigm would be a transfer appropriate approach, according to which the performance on the retention tasks benefit to the extent to which procedures demanded by the task repeat those employed during encoding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-289
Author(s):  
Benoît Leclercq

Abstract The goal of this paper is to investigate the possibility of a cross-theoretical understanding of coercion, a “kind of contextual enrichment/adjustment” (Lauwers & Willems 2011: 1220), by combining insights from Construction Grammar and Relevance Theory. In Construction Grammar, coercion has mostly been discussed in terms of the semantics of the linguistic items that occur in the sentence and how these interact with each other. Relevance Theory, on the other hand, does not distinguish cases of coercion from other instances of lexical adjustment, and discusses them in terms of the pragmatic principles involved during utterance interpretation. In order to highlight the complementarity of the two perspectives, this paper particularly consists in pinning down their respective explanatory limits. It will be shown that coercion is better described in terms of a linguistically required pragmatic process. Therefore, it will be suggested that coercion might actually instantiate a particular type of saturation.


2019 ◽  
pp. 147-173
Author(s):  
Johannes Lenhard

This chapter distinguishes two fundamental but opposing conceptions of simulation. The first conception conceives simulations as numerical solutions of equations. The second approach does not involve the concept of solution, but takes simulation as the imitation of the behavior of a complex system by a computer model. This chapter claims that simulation modeling combines both conceptions. Large parts of the sciences involve a compromise (in one way or another) between two diverging forces. Theoretical understanding and epistemic quality stand on the one side; applicability and tractability on the other. What is interesting about simulation is the way in which a balance is achieved—that is, how the conflicting types are combined. The chapter analyzes the relationship between the simulation pioneers John von Neumann, who advocated the solution, and Norbert Wiener, who advocated the imitation concept.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huumo ◽  
Jaakko Leino

In many formal theories of grammar, pairs of expressions such as the active and the passive are treated as variants of each other — the passive typically being a secondary construction derived from the active by operations that change the syntactic structure. Recent accounts based on Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar have questioned the validity of such an analysis, arguing that these “variants” are actually independent constructions with their own usage conditions and meaning. An important piece of evidence comes from so-called split constituents, discussed by Croft (2001: 191), who argues that expressions like A guy who I hadn’t seen since high school came in vs. A guy came in who I hadn’t seen since high school differ in their grammatical structure and usage. In this paper we discuss the Finnish split genitive construction where the assumed genitive modifier is separated from its head by intervening material, typically the finite verb. In many respects, the split genitive resembles constructions of external possession, but its range of usage is relatively limited, and in the grammatical system of Finnish it can be seen in an intermediate position between adnominal genitive constructions, on the one hand, and productive external possessor constructions based on local cases, on the other hand. Traditionally, the split genitive has been taken to be a discontinuous variant of a contiguous NP where the genitive is positioned next to its head. However, this study shows that the two constructions differ in pragmatic, semantic and grammatical terms. The split genitive construction is more limited in its usage, and it serves more specific semantic functions such as the topicalization of the genitive-marked element that carries the role of an experiencer. As in many external possessor constructions cross-linguistically, these constraints restrict the types of genitive modifiers that are available in the split genitive construction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-190
Author(s):  
Tim Clarke

This essay frames Djuna Barnes’s 1936 novel Nightwood as an attempt to overcome an impasse between the discourses of hope and the discourses of despair in an interwar period in many ways preoccupied with questions of mortality. Synthesizing Decadent aesthetics and elements of Spinoza’s vitalist philosophy, Barnes produces a “morbid vitalism,” exemplified by Dr. Matthew O’Connor, by which life and death are conceived as variant expressions of a single force, and the subject is modeled as an assemblage of affects, impersonal but inherently social, that can be understood primarily through its pursuit of what Jack Halberstam has called “generative models of failure.” In exploring this mode of subjectivity, Barnes seeks to undermine a host of ostensible oppositions (hope and fear, ascendence and decadence, success and failure, morbidity and vitality), opening up a conceptual and affective space for thinking through—if not necessarily beyond—the ubiquity of despair in twentieth-century modernity. Ultimately, morbid vitalism points a way toward a broader conversation between life-oriented modernist scholarship on vitalism and affect, on the one hand, and ongoing inquiries into the relationship among death, Decadence, and modernism, on the other.


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