The affect bias in the metaphorical representation of anticipated events

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Piata ◽  
Cristina Soriano
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Affective Valence ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Affective Bias ◽  
Data Point

Abstract When talking about anticipated events, speakers can conceptualize them either as destinations towards which they are moving or as entities moving towards them, which correspond to the Ego- and the Time-moving metaphors, respectively (cf. ‘We are approaching Christmas’ and ‘Christmas is approaching’). Research in psycholinguistics has shown affective valence, i.e. whether the conceptualized event is perceived as positive or negative, to be one of the factors that modulate metaphor choice; positive anticipation is preferentially associated with Ego-moving expressions, whereas negative anticipation is predominantly associated with Time-moving metaphors. This paper sets out to test if the time-affect association surfaces in naturally-occurring language use when both metaphorical patterns are available. By focusing on the temporal usage of the verb approach, we provide linguistic evidence in favor of such an affective bias in time representations. In addition, the language data point to a semantic preference for a particular type of event (i.e., personal vs social) under each metaphorical pattern. We interpret this finding as preliminary evidence for a possible semantic bias in time representations to be further investigated.

Citizen Sociolinguistics: A Data Collection Approach for Hard-to-capture Naturally Occurring Language Data

Field Methods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-334
Author(s):  
Cindi SturtzSreetharan
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Data Collection Approach ◽  
Lay Public ◽  
Large Corpus

Applying an approach termed “citizen sociolinguistics” offers a unique opportunity to capture a large corpus of naturally occurring language data, especially fleeting interactions. Drawing on citizen science innovations in the natural sciences, citizen sociolinguistics recruits and trains scientists to complete data-related tasks such as data collection. Additional benefits of the approach include inclusivity of diverse speakers and capacity to scale projects. Tested procedures for implementing citizen sociolinguistics are described, ethical challenges are considered, and other potential benefits and limitations to engaging the lay public in scientific research around language use are addressed.

scholarly journals Acquiring markedness constraints

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 188-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen van de Weijer ◽  
Marjoleine Sloos
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Ambient Data ◽  
Made In

This paper questions the assumption made in classic Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993 [2004]) that markedness constraints are an innate part of Universal Grammar. Instead, we argue that constraints are acquired on the basis of the language data to which L1 learning children are exposed. This is argued both on general grounds (innateness is an assumption that should not be invoked lightly) and on the basis of empirical evidence. We investigate this issue for six general markedness constraints in French, and show that all constraints could be acquired on the basis of the ambient data. Second, we show that the order of acquisition of the marked structures matches the frequency of violations of the relevant constraints in the input quite well. This argues in favour of a phonological model in which constraints are acquired, not innate, i.e. a model in which grammatical notions such as constraints are derived from language use.

scholarly journals Self-organising Logic of Structures as a Basis for a Dependency-based Dynamic Semantics Model

2015 ◽  
pp. 25-55
Author(s):  
Maciej Piasecki
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Expressive Power ◽  
Dynamic Semantics ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
Representation Language ◽  
Local Range

Self-organising Logic of Structures as a Basis for a Dependency-based Dynamic Semantics ModelWe present Self-organising Logic of Structures (SLS), a semantic representation language of high expressive power, which was designed for a fully compositional representation of discourse anaphora following the Dynamic Semantics paradigm. The application of SLS to the description of possible meanings of Polish multiple quantifier sentences is discussed. Special attention is paid to the phenomena of: cardinality dependency/independency of Noun Phrase quantifiers and variety of quantification. Semantic representation based on several formal operators is proposed. They can be combined in many different ways, if one takes a purely theoretical perspective. However, in the paper we show that this huge number is practically reduced in the language use and is governed by several constraints motivated by the analysis of Polish language data. The Hypothesis of Local Range of Cardinality Dependency is formulated as an alternative to representations based on quantifier rising technique. SLS provides a multi-layered language description of inter-linked representation of sever antification, reference, presupposition and anaphora.

Temporal-magnitudinal construal coding

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-151
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Deckert ◽  
Marek Molenda
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Major Objective ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Coding Variants ◽  
Linguistic Coding ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract This article looks into the interface of temporality and quantification. Drawing on the principles of Cognitive Linguistics, we use experimental as well as corpus methods to provide evidence on how the conceptual organisation and linguistic coding of content can play a role in meaning construction. With that broad agenda in mind, a major objective is to shed light on the construct of conventionalisation. For that purpose, construal coding variants are examined with a focus on nominal phrases that express time quantities. The examination involves two construal types (termed “cumulative” and “fractional”) that differ primarily in their prominence configurations, across three granularity levels of time conceptualisation. Our main finding – that the fractional and cumulative constructions are asymmetrically conventionalised – is contextualised through a qualitative analysis of naturally-occurring data to identify additional language use patterns and offer explanatory hypotheses.

scholarly journals Ars⪚ne Didn't See It: Coaching, Research and the Promise of a Discursive Psychology

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul K. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Discursive Psychology ◽  
Medical Communication ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Relationship

For twenty five years the discursive psychological perspective has been at the vanguard of innovative research in social psychology, producing highdetail systematic analyses of dynamic, constructive language use in a wide range of practical settings. To date, it has found applications in the study of medical communication, racism, political discourse, emotion and accounts of success and failure in sport, to highlight but a few. Its lack of headway in the specific study of coaching is perhaps, therefore, somewhat surprising given the transparently task-focused character of many naturally-occurring verbal activities in the domain. This article draws on salient literature and two brief case studies in illustrating some of the ways that the perspective can inform an approach to coaching interaction that does not draw on ontologically-problematic cognitivist assumptions regarding the relationship between thought and action. A foundational argument is then made for greater engagement with discursive psychology within the broader realm of coaching science.

Accounting for ELF

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-395
Author(s):  
Ruth Osimk-Teasdale ◽  
Nora Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Pos Tagging ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Different Types

This paper reports on some issues encountered when using various ‘external points of reference’ in the development of POS-tagging guidelines for the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE). VOICE is a corpus of spoken English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) containing naturally occurring, plurilingual data. As in all kinds of natural language use, speakers recorded in VOICE exploit available linguistic resources, often resulting in non-codified language use and language which is difficult to classify unambiguously. However, detailed tagging solutions for such phenomena are rarely reported. We discuss usefulness and limitations of external points of reference with regard to their suitability for POS-tagging VOICE and address methodological as well as practical issues, especially the handling of non-codified language use and different types of ambiguities. We suggest that the solutions found, and the theoretical approach adopted, could be relevant for the tagging of other spoken corpora.

Deontic authority in intervention discourse: Insights from bystander intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 540-560
Author(s):  
Yongping Ran ◽  
Xu Huang
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Bystander Intervention ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Deontic Authority ◽  
Recurrent Patterns ◽  
The Continuum

Our study offers a linguistic–pragmatic examination of instances of bystander intervention, a social action that takes place when a bystander or a group of bystanders intervenes when a wrongdoer abuses a victim or behaves outside socially acceptable norms. We approach this social phenomenon by analyzing data drawn from a database of 11 video-recordings that all involve naturally occurring interactions in public settings in China. The notion of intervention discourse is tentatively introduced in this study to distinguish it from those used to achieve other communicative purposes and to disclose some recurrent patterns of language use in bystander intervention. The data analysis summarizes six categories of intervention discourse along the continuum of strong to weak intervention: terminating, consequence-stating, advising, judging, appealing and stance-taking. Our study demonstrates that the skillful exercise of deontic authority embodied in intervention discourse might have a tangible influence on the outcome of the intervention.

Computational Modeling of Phonological Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaja Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Phonological Learning ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Phonological Knowledge ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Recent Developments

Recent advances in computational modeling have led to significant discoveries about the representation and acquisition of phonological knowledge and the limits on language learning and variation. These discoveries are the result of applying computational learning models to increasingly rich and complex natural language data while making increasingly realistic assumptions about the learning task. This article reviews the recent developments in computational modeling that have made connections between fully explicit theories of learning, naturally occurring corpus data, and the richness of psycholinguistic and typological data possible. These advances fall into two broad research areas: ( a) the development of models capable of learning the quantitative, noisy, and inconsistent patterns that are characteristic of naturalistic data and ( b) the development of models with the capacity to learn hidden phonological structure from unlabeled data. After reviewing these advances, the article summarizes some of the most significant consequent discoveries.

Maryann Overstreet, Whales, candlelight, and stuff like that: General extenders in English discourse. (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics) Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xii + 171. Hb. $39.95.

2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-134
Author(s):  
Catherine N. Ball
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Discourse Functions

Characterizing the discourse functions of linguistic expressions is surely one of the most difficult tasks in linguistic analysis. The starting point for any study of discourse functions is the examination of naturally occurring data; the limiting factor is the lack of well-developed theoretical frameworks for understanding language use. Still, a good descriptive study has lasting value, and empirical claims invite further analysis. Overstreet's study of the “general extenders” or something, and everything, and other members of this class makes a solid contribution on both fronts.

scholarly journals Co-construction of the tourist experience in social networking sites: Two forms of authenticity intertwined

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Pertti Alasuutari
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Tourist Experience

Although social networking sites have become an important outlet for tourists to share their experiences – typically through mobile phones during their trips, communication of tourist experience in the context of social networking sites has been overlooked so far. In this article, we particularly focus on the ways sightseeing oriented tourist experience is communicated in social networking sites. By looking at the naturally occurring data generated by the users, we examine the ways the tourist experience is communicated in this particular context by using the analytical concept of authenticity. Based on the findings of language use strategies and interaction patterns in the data, we propose the concept of experientialisation to understand the tourist experience sharing in social networking sites. In that way, the article makes a contribution to the literature on authenticity.

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