Do semantic modal maps have a role in a constructionalization approach to modals?

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Closs Traugott
Keyword(s):  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Semantic Maps ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Conceptual Schemas

My aim in this paper is to show that, in modified form, semantic connectivity maps of the kind developed in van der Auwera & Plungian (1998) and van der Auwera (2013) can be useful for showing the development over time of relationships among polysemous constructions. Since these maps pertain primarily to meaning and are intended as contributions to cross-linguistic generalizations rather than to language-specific grammars, their purpose might seem orthogonal to construction grammar, in which form–meaning pairs are the basic units of grammar. I propose that the semantic maps can usefully be rethought as being of two kinds: schema-construction maps that represent relationships between abstract, conceptual schemas linked to underspecified form, and micro-construction maps that represent relationships between specific constructions. These two kinds of maps capture both form and meaning since they represent form–meaning pairings, but at different levels of abstraction. They can also capture direction of changes, as tendencies at the schema level and specific trajectories at the micro-level. My case study is the development of the marginal modals better, rather, sooner (see Denison & Cort 2010, van der Auwera & De Wit 2010). I show that better is significantly different in distribution and meaning from rather and sooner, and that, although they form a family of micro-constructions, they do not form a tight-knit group. This can be captured well by modified semantic maps.

scholarly journals Cryptographic Protocol Verification via Supercompilation (A Case Study)

10.29007/gpsh ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulbasit Ahmed ◽  
Alexei Lisitsa ◽  
Andrei Nemytykh
Keyword(s):  
Program Transformation ◽  
Cache Coherence ◽  
Protocol Verification ◽  
Cryptographic Protocol ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Transformation Techniques ◽  
Program Specialization ◽  
Coherence Protocols ◽  
Different Levels

It has been known for a while that program transformation techniques, in particular, program specialization, can be used to prove the properties of programs automatically. For example, if a program actually implements (in a given context of use) a constant function, sufficiently powerful and semantics preserving program transformation may reduce the program to a syntactically trivial ``constant'' program, pruning unreachable branches and proving thereby the property. Viability of such an approach to verification has been demonstrated in previous works where it was applied to the verification of parameterized cache coherence protocols and Petri Nets models.In this paper we further extend the method and present a case study on its appication to the verification of a cryptographic protocol. The protocol is modeled by functional programs at different levels of abstraction and verification via program specialization is done by using Turchin's supercompilation method.

Engaging with Public Opinion at the Micro-Level: Citizen Dialogue and Participation in German Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Opitz ◽  
Hanna Pfeifer ◽  
Anna Geis
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
German Foreign Policy ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Foreign Office ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Auswärtiges Amt ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Western Democracies

Abstract This article analyzes how and why foreign policy (FP)-makers use dialogue and participation processes (DPPs) with (groups of) individual citizens as a source of public opinion. Taking Germany as a case study and drawing on DPP initiatives by the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt, AA) since 2014, we analyze the officials’ motivation for establishing such processes and find four different sets of motivation: (1) image campaigning, (2) educating citizens, (3) listening to citizens, and (4) changing the citizens’ role in FP. Our article makes three contributions. First, we provide a novel typology of the sources of public opinion upon which FP-makers can draw. Second, our study points to the importance of, and provides a framework for, analyzing how officials engage with public opinion at the micro-level, which has so far been understudied in FP analysis. Finally, our empirical analysis suggests that both carefully assessing and influencing public opinion feature prominently in motivation, whereas PR purposes are of minor importance. Recasting the citizens’ role in FP gains in importance over time and may mirror the increased need to legitimize FP in Western democracies vis-à-vis their publics.

scholarly journals A Framework for Assessment of Micro Level Vulnerability to Climate Variability of Farmers: A Case Study in Kerala, India

2021 ◽  
pp. 204-209
Author(s):  
S. Ajmal ◽  
T. Paul Lazarus ◽  
Aswathy Vijayan ◽  
Brigit Joseph ◽  
R. V. Manju
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Empirical Method ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Different Levels

The vulnerability of farmers to climate variability is an important topic of discussion. It varies depending upon diverse factors that disturbing it, likewise, the extent of vulnerability varies according to different levels, i.e.; from a whole country level to an individual level or in other words from macro to micro level. This study attempts to build a framework for the assessment of the microlevel vulnerability of farmers. A vulnerability index was made from normalized values of three major component indices (sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity), which is made up of a selected number of sub components. The study was conducted by selecting respondents from two districts of Kerala, and it was found that this method can be used as an empirical method to interpret the vulnerability to climate variability, keeping the fact that it is only a constrained measure of risk.

scholarly journals Greenspace to Meet People’s Demand: A Case Study of Beijing in 2005 and 2015

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 4310
Author(s):  
Zhanghao Chen ◽  
Ganlin Huang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Remote Sensing Images ◽  
High Demand ◽  
Socioeconomic Characteristics ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Over Time

Urban greenspace provides essential benefits and often depends on its distribution and spatial relationship with residents. Many cities set ambitious goals to increase the coverage of greenspace. In addition, to increase the total amount of greenspace, spatial patterns of greenspace supply and demand also need to be taken into account to make sure its ecosystem services can reach the residents. While previous research has examined greenspace distribution, its association with various ecosystem services, and its spatial relationship with residents’ socioeconomic characteristics, relatively few studies have considered the spatial pattern of greenspace demand to assess its supply change over time. To fill this gap, we evaluated the greenspace change of Beijing between 2005 and 2015 using 2.5 m and 0.5 m high resolution remote sensing images. We first identified all of the greenspace changes, then evaluated the improvement of greenspace that was accessible to residents, and finally, we examined whether such improvement met different levels of demand estimated by neighborhood population, age structure, and economic status. The results showed a net increase of 1472 ha (7.8%) from 2005 to 2015. On average, percent greenspace within 500 m of the neighborhood boundary increased from 21% to 24%. Areas with low greenspace supply had a significantly higher increase. The standard deviation reduced from 8% to 7%, which indicated a smaller disparity of accessible greenspace. However, results showed that greenspace increase had little variation among neighborhoods with different demand levels. Our findings indicated that the greening efforts improved spatial distribution and reduced inequality in accessibility but failed to address different demand levels among neighborhoods. Furthermore, we identified neighborhoods with low supply/high demand and that lost greenspace between 2005–2015. These neighborhoods need to be given attention in future greening projects.

The syntax–lexicon continuum in Construction Grammar

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 54-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans C. Boas
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
The Status ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Syntactic Frames

This paper offers an alternative analysis of Goldberg’s (1995) account of communication verbs appearing in the ditransitive construction. Based on a more finely-grained frame-semantic analysis of constructional phenomena, it is shown that generalizations over specific syntactic frames are possible at different levels of semantic abstraction. This, in turn, allows us to make across-the-board generalizations that hold not only between lexical units evoking the same frame, but also between lexical units belonging to different frames at different levels of abstraction. The resulting network of constructions combines Goldberg’s proposals regarding the status of abstract-schematic constructions with item-specific knowledge regarding the specific lexical units, with various midpoints in between. This approach has the advantage that there is no need for fusing lexical entries with abstract meaningful constructions, thereby avoiding some of the problems that arise due to the separation of syntax and the lexicon in some constructional approaches.

A Hierarchy of System Descriptions via Atomic Linear Refinement

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 289-336
Author(s):  
Roberto Gorrieri
Keyword(s):  
Proof System ◽  
Weak Equivalence ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Complete Proof ◽  
Transition Systems ◽  
Action Refinement ◽  
Atomic Action ◽  
Description Languages ◽  
Different Levels

The problem of relating system descriptions at different levels of abstraction is studied in the field of Process Description Languages, following the so-called interleaving approach. Since we believe that several different languages should be used profitably during the hierarchical specification process, we investigate the problem of implementing a calculus into another one. As a case study, we introduce a pair of languages which will be increasingly enriched. The basic languages are sequential and nondeterministic; their first enrichment is obtained by adding an operator for asynchrony; then also communication is added, and finally restriction is dealt with. For each pair, the latter language extends the former with atomicity, obtained by adding to the signature of the former an operator of strong prefixing that makes atomic the execution of a sequence of actions. The two languages are intended to be a specification and an implementation language, respectively. To directly relate them, a mapping, called atomic linear refinement, is introduced from actions of the former to atomic sequences (i.e. sequences of actions built with strong prefixing) of the latter. An atomic linear refinement can be homomorphically extended to become a mapping among process terms of the two languages and thus also among the states of their associated transition systems. A notion of implementation, based on a sort of bisimulation (parametric with respect to an atomic action refinement), relates processes of the two languages. Given a specification process p and an atomic action refinement ρ, the refined process ρ(p) is proved to be an implementation of p. Moreover, a complete proof system for strong and weak equivalence are presented for both languages (and thus also for the operator of strong prefixing) and proved consistent with respect to refinement: if p and ρ are congruent processes of the specification language, then ρ(p) and ρ(q) are congruent, too.

scholarly journals Analysis of supply-chains in the circular economy by means of VSM

2021 ◽  
pp. 261-278
Author(s):  
Jeff Mangers ◽  
◽  
Peter Plapper
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Value Stream Mapping ◽  
New Model ◽  
Value Stream ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Holistic Manner

The Circular Economy (CE) concept aims to close resource loops and keep resources in the system for as long as possible at the highest utility level, without neglecting the goals of sustainable development. This paradigm shift from a finite and linear to a circular economy is however only possible if systems can be viewed as holistic overall systems. Thus, preventive problems can be identified and located as early as possible and counteracting measures initiated. This paper presents a new value stream mapping (VSM) model to consider interrelated processes in a holistic manner, regarding the requirements of CE. To do so, one macro-level to consider interrelated company relationships together with a respective micro-level to consider the individual company specific processes are elaborated. The degree of circularity is determined based on the 9R framework and new visualizations and measurement indicators are added at the different levels. This new model helps to mainly identify hurdles at a product's end-of-life, which are preventing a circular flow of resources, worth sharing with the responsible of a product's beginning-of-life. The model itself is validated by an extensive cross-company PET-bottle case study in Luxembourg.

An Incidence Matrix Support for Conceptual Design Based on Port Ontology

2009 ◽  
Vol 419-420 ◽  
pp. 49-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Xing Cao ◽  
Zhan Wei Li ◽  
Hong Lai Li ◽  
Kai Cheng Qi
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Incidence Matrix ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Physical Domain ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Conceptual Design Stage ◽  
Different Levels

Existing conceptual design methods mainly focus on component modeling and representation, which makes them insufficient to help in the conceptual design stage. Port ontology, as an approach to formally expressing product design, has been effectively applied to concept description of a product. An incidence matrix support for product conceptual design based on port ontology is given in this paper. It formally represents and organizes product information in both functional ontology and physical domain in a hierarchy. Port compatibilities are used to map and link the two components. This makes it possible to build incidence matrix and decompose it into an independence matrix, and allow designers from different backgrounds with various interests to access the design ontology. A multilevel matrix is constructed to generate principle schemes of products at different levels of abstraction, which facilitates design decision-making through the whole conceptual design stage. A case study is also given to demonstrate the proposed approach.

scholarly journals WEATHERING OF ROCK AS ARMOURSTONE: A CASE STUDY ON BAHRAIN LIMESTONE

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (32) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Andrea Caricato ◽  
Leo Woods ◽  
Chandra Mohan
Keyword(s):  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Degradation Models ◽  
Loss Of Mass ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Variable Quality

Locally-sourced armourstone is used extensively in the construction of new sea defence structures throughout Bahrain, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes being placed on single reclamation projects. This armourstone is won almost exclusively from the local quarry, which outputs limestone of variable quality. An evaluation has been made into the quality of local rock for usage as armourstone, using observations on sites and at the quarry, as well as compliance test results from various projects undertaken in recent years. Attempts are made to quantify potential losses in-service, by using the two degradation models described in the CIRIA Rock Manual, which give markedly different estimates. The envisaged loss of mass is difficult to predict with great accuracy due to the high sensitivity of the models to material and site parameters. Plots of estimated mass loss over time are presented for different rock sizes and different levels of rock armour mobility.

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