Roots, stems and word classes

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 546-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Specific Structure ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Yucatec Maya ◽  
Linguistic Sign ◽  
Static View ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Linguistic Activity

The assignment of a linguistic sign to a word class is an operation that must be seen as part of the overall transformation of extralinguistic substance into linguistic form. In this, it is comparable to such processes as the transitivization of a verbal base, which further specifies a relatively rough categorization. Languages differ both in the extent to which they structure the material by purely grammatical criteria and in the level at which they do this. The root and the stem are the lowest levels at which a linguistic sign can be categorized in terms of language-specific structure. Further categorization is then achieved at the level of the syntagm. An empirical investigation comparing the categorization of roots and stems in a sample of six languages (English, German, Latin, Spanish, Yucatec Maya, Mandarin Chinese) turns up far-reaching differences. These differences in the amount of categorization that languages apply to linguistic signs at the most basic levels throw into doubt any thesis claiming universal categoriality or acategoriality for roots. Such a static view must be replaced by a dynamic one which asks for the role of categorization in linguistic activity. At the same time, these differences raise the issue of the amount of structure — or of grammar — that is necessary for a human language.1

scholarly journals An investigation into metaphor use in learner language: the interaction of word class and L1

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Yaser Hadidi ◽  
Nastaran Behshad
Keyword(s):  
Word Class ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Metaphor Use ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Novice Writers ◽  
Learner Language

This study aims at investigating the use of metaphor in learner language with a focus on interaction of word class and L1. The findings of previous studies on metaphor use in learner language point to the fact that metaphor is found in all word classes in learners’ written production, but that some word classes clearly favor metaphorical usage more than others. In similar fashion, the present investigation looked into the interaction between metaphor, word class, and L1, although within a single register and text type, i.e. argumentative essays produced by 20 novice writers. The model underlying the current study was Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). Identification of metaphors was carried out based on MIP (Metaphor Identification Procedure) (Pragglejaz Group, 2007), a reliable and explicit tool for marking and identifying metaphorically used words. The hypothesis, based on previous research establishing this finding, was that prepositions top the list in this regard, being by far the most metaphorical word class. The cognitive predispositions made available by the student’s L1 are also of importance in this equation. Similar research would advance our understanding of the role of metaphor teaching, and in what form and to what degree it should be explicitly carried out.

scholarly journals Metaphor in communication: the distribution of potentially deliberate metaphor across register and word class

Corpora ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Gudrun Reijnierse ◽  
Christian Burgers ◽  
Tina Krennmayr ◽  
Gerard J. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Special Role ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Metaphor Use

There is renewed interest in the special role that metaphor can have in its communicative status as metaphor between language users. This paper investigates the occurrence of such deliberate metaphors in comparison with non-deliberate metaphors. To this end, a corpus of 24,762 metaphors was analysed for the presence of potentially deliberate (versus non-deliberate) metaphor use across registers and word classes. Results show that 4.36 percent of metaphors in the corpus are identified as potentially deliberate metaphors. News and fiction contain significantly more potentially deliberate metaphors, while academic texts and conversations exhibit significantly fewer potentially deliberate metaphors than expected. Moreover, nouns and adjectives are used relatively more frequently as potentially deliberate metaphors, while adverbs, verbs and prepositions are used relatively less frequently as potentially deliberate metaphors. These results can be explained by referring to the overall communicative properties of the registers concerned, as well as to the role of the different word classes in those registers.

scholarly journals Cross-linguistic activation in bilingual sentence processing: The role of word class meaning

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
KRISTOF BATEN ◽  
FABRICE HOFMAN ◽  
TOM LOEYS
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Recognition Performance ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Critical Words

This study investigates how categorial (word class) semantics influences cross-linguistic interactions when reading in L2. Previous homograph studies paid little attention to the possible influence of different word classes in the stimulus material on cross-linguistic activation. The present study examines the word recognition performance of Dutch–English bilinguals who performed a lexical decision task to word targets appearing in a sentence. To determine the influence of word class meaning, the critical words either showed a word class overlap (e.g. the homograph tree [noun], which means “step” in Dutch) or not (e.g. big [adj], which is a noun in Dutch meaning “piglet”). In the condition of word class overlap, a facilitation effect was observed, suggesting that both languages were active. When there was no word class overlap, the facilitation effect disappeared. This result suggests that categorial meaning affects the word recognition process of bilinguals.

Historical change of word classes

Diachronica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Gerner
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Temporal Parameter ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Asian Languages ◽  
Typical Process

This paper isolates four parameters that guide the historical change of word classes: the quantificational parameter, the directional parameter, the preservative parameter and the temporal parameter. These parameters are involved in the organization of seven case studies in East Asian languages. Based on these case studies I define four diachronic tendencies that apply to East Asian languages and perhaps beyond: (1) the greater the size of the target word class, the lower the number of new acquired meanings; (2) if a word class engages on a path of change, then the greater its size, the more likely it is that the process of change in which it engages will be lexicalization; (3) in a typical process of grammaticalization relatively more meanings are generated than in a typical process of lexicalization; (4) processes of grammaticalization represent temporally short processes more often than processes of lexicalization.

Institutions, Models of Capitalism and Inequality in Income Distribution: An Empirical Investigation

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilberto Antonelli ◽  
Pinuccia P Calia ◽  
Giovanni Guidetti
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Econometric Evidence ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Statistical Indicators ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract The article analyses the role of institutions in the determination of income inequality in a sample of OECD countries. Basing on the seminal approach by Amable, the article discusses the theoretical definition of model of capitalism. The basic idea is that each model of capitalism is defined by the cobweb of complementary relationships established among different institutions. Using a set of statistical indicators of the operation of institutions in two different years, 1995 and 2010, the empirical analysis points out five models of capitalism and exhibits how their composition has changed in this lapse of 15 years. In the following sections of the article, we investigate the role played by the model of capitalism in the determination of income distribution, measured through a standard Gini index. After controlling for a set of variables, the econometric evidence shows that different models of capitalism present significantly different levels of income inequality.

Predictability and phonology: past, present and future

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Shaw ◽  
Shigeto Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Human Language ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
Sound Patterns

AbstractMany papers in this special issue grew out of the talks given at the Symposium “The role of predictability in shaping human language sound patterns,” held at Western Sydney University (Dec. 10–11, 2016). Some papers were submitted in response to an open call; others were invited contributions. This introduction aims to contextualize the papers in the special issue within a broader theoretical context, focusing on what it means for phonological theory to incorporate gradient predictability, what questions arise as a consequence, and how the papers in this issue address these questions.

scholarly journals Learning how: Body techniques, skill acquisition and the consumption of experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Murphy ◽  
Maurice Patterson ◽  
Lisa O’Malley
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Subject Formation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Body Techniques ◽  
And Diffusion

Although the skilful body has been ever-present in research accounts of consumption experiences, no sustained attention has been given to the acquisition of skills necessary for successful engagement with those experiences. In the present study, we report an empirical investigation of the acquisition and diffusion of embodied competencies among high-speed motorcyclists. In doing so, we mobilize the concept of reflexive body techniques in order to unpack the social, physical and mindful aspects of skilled embodiment. We demonstrate that skill acquisition is a necessary precursor to successful immersion into certain kinds of consumption experiences offered by the marketplace. Further, we underline the role of skill acquisition in subject formation.

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