Bare nominals and number in brazilian portuguese

2021 ◽  
pp. 496-521
Author(s):  
Marcelo Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Free Distribution ◽  
Bare Nominals ◽  
Analytical Tools

The chapter bears on the distribution and interpretation of bare nominals in Brazilian Portuguese, paying special attention to bare singulars and the number neutrality that seems to characterize them. Brazilian Portuguese displays overt plural morphology and a full range of definite and indefinite determiners, which makes the relatively free distribution of bare singulars an intriguing topic from a typological perspective. The chapter discusses some proposals and analytical tools that have been employed to account for their behaviour, as well as their theoretic implications for issues related to singular–plural, mass–count, and generic–episodic distinctions.

Interspike interval distributions of spiking neurons driven by fluctuating inputs

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 361-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srdjan Ostojic
Keyword(s):  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Interspike Interval ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Spiking Neurons ◽  
Neuron Models ◽  
Integrate And Fire ◽  
Gamma Distributions ◽  
Spiking Neuron Models ◽  
Analytical Tools

Interspike interval (ISI) distributions of cortical neurons exhibit a range of different shapes. Wide ISI distributions are believed to stem from a balance of excitatory and inhibitory inputs that leads to a strongly fluctuating total drive. An important question is whether the full range of experimentally observed ISI distributions can be reproduced by modulating this balance. To address this issue, we investigate the shape of the ISI distributions of spiking neuron models receiving fluctuating inputs. Using analytical tools to describe the ISI distribution of a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron, we identify three key features: 1) the ISI distribution displays an exponential decay at long ISIs independently of the strength of the fluctuating input; 2) as the amplitude of the input fluctuations is increased, the ISI distribution evolves progressively between three types, a narrow distribution (suprathreshold input), an exponential with an effective refractory period (subthreshold but suprareset input), and a bursting exponential (subreset input); 3) the shape of the ISI distribution is approximately independent of the mean ISI and determined only by the coefficient of variation. Numerical simulations show that these features are not specific to the LIF model but are also present in the ISI distributions of the exponential integrate-and-fire model and a Hodgkin-Huxley-like model. Moreover, we observe that for a fixed mean and coefficient of variation of ISIs, the full ISI distributions of the three models are nearly identical. We conclude that the ISI distributions of spiking neurons in the presence of fluctuating inputs are well described by gamma distributions.

Bare Nominals in Brazilian Portuguese: more on the DP/NP analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 471-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Cyrino ◽  
M. Teresa Espinal
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Bare Nominals

scholarly journals Estudo da interlíngua de surdos usuários de Língua de Sinais Brasileira na aquisição de português (L2): nominais nus e definidos genéricos (Study of the interlanguage of deafs, users of Brazilian Sign Language, in the acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese )

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heloisa Maria Moreira Lima-Salles ◽  
Adriana Cristina Chan-Vianna
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Linguistic Development ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Bare Nouns ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Bare Nominals

O estudo examina a interlíngua de surdos (usuários de Língua de Sinais Brasileira) aprendizes de português como segunda língua, considerando, em particular, a manifestação de definidos genéricos (no singular e no plural) e de nominais nus (no singular). A alta frequência de nominal nu no singular é analisada como transferência de L1, já que a LSB não possui artigos. Partindo-se da hipótese de que a categoria de número é interpretável no DP definido genérico, propõe-se que o desenvolvimento linguístico ocorre mediante o mapeamento de propriedades morfo(fono)lógicas do artigo definido (plural) na projeção do núcleo funcional Número. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Aquisição de língua. Língua de sinais brasileira. Português L2. Definido genérico. Nominal nu.ABSTRACT The study examines the interlanguage of deafs (users of the Brazilian Sign Language) learning Portuguese as a second language. In particular, the manifestation of bare nominals (in the singular) and definite generics (in the singular and in the plural) is taken into consideration. The high frequency of singular bare nouns is analysed as L1 transfer, given that LSB does not have (definite) articles. Assuming that number is an interpretable feature on the generic definite DP, it is proposed that the linguistic development takes place through the syntactic mapping of morpho(phono)logical properties of the (plural) definite article on the functional head Number. KEYWORDS: Language acquisition. Brazilian Sign Language. L2 Portuguese. Definite generics. Bare noun.

scholarly journals Constraints on the usage of verbal negation in Brazilian portuguese– Evidence from a spoken corpus

Káñina ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Luis Filipe Lima e Silva ◽  
Heliana Mello
Keyword(s):  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Illocutionary Force ◽  
Speech Corpus ◽  
Free Distribution

The verbal negation system of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) presents three forms: preverbal, double and postverbal negation, as can be seen in the following examples: *MIC: [91] mas / Michael / eunãofalonessesentido // (ii) *DOM: [101] cêsnũlêemissomaisnão // (iii) *RUT: [220] participanão / minhafilha //. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is any kind of prosodic-informational restriction to the distribution and use of the above-mentioned negation forms in BP through the spontaneous speech corpus C-ORAL-BRASIL BRASIL (Raso& Mello, 2012). Through the analysis of the data collected from C-ORAL-BRASIL, we propose that double and postverbal negation can only occur in illocutionary information units (COM, CMM, COB), whereas preverbal negation has free distribution, occurring in both illocutionary and non-illocutionary textual units. This indicates that non-canonical negation forms depend on illocutionary force in order to be fully realized. 

Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques

2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Control Fish ◽  
Patch Occupancy ◽  
Statistical Framework ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Fish Distributions

<em>Abstract</em>.—One of the central goals of aquatic ecology is to understand how natural and human-induced processes control fish distributions. Species assemblages are regulated by both local and large-scale processes, but most studies have failed to tackle the full range of relevant geographic scales at which fish communities are organized. As a result, we have little understanding of how key variables such as local and regional habitat filters and the dynamics of dispersal, together with local colonization and extinction events, interact to structure freshwater fish metacommunities. Although dispersal in metapopulations can be modeled using a variety of statistical and stochastic patch-occupancy methods, these frameworks are designed for single species and preclude the analysis of metacommunities. We introduce a synthetic quantitative framework that considers local and regional factors, as well as spatial predictors and patch isolation, to estimate the relative importance of different factors in determining the distribution of fish metacommunities. The framework is illustrated using a data set of fish distributions from northern Wisconsin. Our results suggest that isolation is of relatively low importance in structuring fish metacommunities in Wisconsin, with both local and regional habitat playing a more important role. More generally, our framework offers some powerful analytical tools while also highlighting some of the challenges that lie ahead. Questions of phenotypic plasticity and individual dispersal remain difficult to resolve in a largely statistical framework, and the difficulties associated with quantifying microhabitat features over very large landscapes may make it hard to adequately test for local influences. Nonetheless, careful selection and analysis of multiscale, spatially explicit variables and their relationships to community composition can offer valuable insights into the forces that structure metacommunities.

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