Correlates of Reticulation in Linguistic Phylogenies

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Holman ◽  
Robert Walker ◽  
Taraka Rama ◽  
Søren Wichmann
Keyword(s):  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Similarity Judgment ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Adequate Measure ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Phylogenetic Data ◽  
Size Number ◽  
The Status ◽  
Two Measures

AbstractThis paper discusses phylogenetic reticulation using linguistic data from the Automated Similarity Judgment Program or ASJP (Holman et al., 2008; Wichmann et al., 2010a). It contributes methodologically to the examination of two measures of reticulation in distance-based phylogenetic data, specifically the δ score of Holland et al. (2002) and the more recent Q-residuals of Gray et al. (2010). It is shown that the δ score is a more adequate measure of reticulation. Our empirical analyses examine possible correlations between δ and (a) the size (number of languages), (b) age, and (c) heterogeneity of language groups, (d) linguistic isolation of individual languages within their respective phylogenies, and (e) the status of speech forms as dialects or recently emerged languages. Among these, only (d) is significantly correlated with δ. Our interpretation is that δ is a realistic measure of reticulation and sensitive to effects of socio-historical events such as language extinction. Finally, we correlate average δ scores for different language families with the goodness of fit between ASJP and expert classifications, showing that the δ scores explain much of the variance.

Faith as Taking the Risk

1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyatt T. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
The City

“Then Elisha said to those people who were assembled in the main square, in the midst of a terrible famine, with the Syrian army at the gate: ‘In about twenty-four hours you will be able to buy a measure of fine flour for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel.’ And the captain upon whose arm the king leaned looked at him and spoke in derision: ‘Ha! What's God going to do? Open up a hole in the sky and pour out food upon all of these hungry people?’ And Elisha turned to him and said: ‘You have a big mouth. You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat thereof.’ And there were four lepers sitting at the entering in of the gate of Samaria, and they held a conversation amongst themselves that had to do with what the future might hold for them. And they said one to another: ‘What good is it for us to sit here until we die? If we go into the city, there is a famine there, and we shall die. If we sit here, if we maintain the status quo, if we hold what we've got, we shall die also. Come on, let us go out to meet the Syrian hosts, let's try something that we never tried before, and perhaps we shall be taken prisoners of war, and, if so, at least we'll survive. And if not, what have we got to lose?’” (II Kings 7: 1–20; the “Walker” translation).

scholarly journals Comparison of Behavioral and Physiological Measures of the Status of the Cochlear Nonlinearity

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 233121652110161
Author(s):  
Michal Fereczkowski ◽  
Torsten Dau ◽  
Ewen N. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Otoacoustic Emissions ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Good Correspondence ◽  
Cochlear Nonlinearity ◽  
Temporal Masking ◽  
The Status ◽  
Peripheral Compression ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Peripheral Nonlinearity ◽  
Fitting In

While an audiogram is a useful method of characterizing hearing loss, it has been suggested that including a complementary, suprathreshold measure, for example, a measure of the status of the cochlear active mechanism, could lead to improved diagnostics and improved hearing-aid fitting in individual listeners. While several behavioral and physiological methods have been proposed to measure the cochlear-nonlinearity characteristics, evidence of a good correspondence between them is lacking, at least in the case of hearing-impaired listeners. If this lack of correspondence is due to, for example, limited reliability of one of such measures, it might be a reason for limited evidence of the benefit of measuring peripheral compression. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between measures of the peripheral-nonlinearity status estimated using two psychoacoustical methods (based on the notched-noise and temporal-masking curve methods) and otoacoustic emissions, on a large sample of hearing-impaired listeners. While the relation between the estimates from the notched-noise and the otoacoustic emissions experiments was found to be stronger than predicted by the audiogram alone, the relations between the two measures and the temporal-masking based measure did not show the same pattern, that is, the variance shared by any of the two measures with the temporal-masking curve-based measure was also shared with the audiogram.

Beyond Common Sense in Bilingual Education

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vernacular Literacy ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Initial Literacy ◽  
Single Statement

It is assumed that by now the widely known UNESCO statement about the value of vernacular literacy has achieved the status of “common sense” knowledge among those interested in the schooling of minority language groups. The term “common sense” here implies that although there is much that is sound in a common sense view, there is also the danger of oversimplification. Although strongly in favour of bilingual education, both educationally and in terms of the ethics of racial contact, I see a number of areas where an oversimplified approach to it can bring either some harm with the good or at least lessen the effectiveness of the use of the vernacular language in education. The “initial literacy in the vernacular” approach is not a panacea for all minority group educational problems. The article by Joy Kinslow-Harris (1968), probably the best single statement made on the value of vernacular education for Australian Aboriginals, was a profound call for a basic change in attitude towards the education of Aboriginals, and outlined sound starting procedures. While this paper strongly supports Kinslow-Harris’s statement, it wishes also to extend understanding of some important theoretical issues.

scholarly journals THE STATUS QUO IN DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENTS: IS IT RELEVANT?

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (02) ◽  
pp. 507-532
Author(s):  
WAN NORHIDAYAH W MOHAMAD ◽  
KEN WILLIS ◽  
NEIL POWE
Keyword(s):  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Environmental Economics ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Mixed Logit ◽  
Choice Experiments ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Discrete Choice Experiments ◽  
Conditional Logit ◽  
The Status ◽  
Simulated Market

An issue in environmental economics is how respondents make choices in discrete choice experiments (DCEs), and whether different strategies impact on the reliability of willingness-to-pay (WTP) results. Do individuals make choices with reference to their status quo (SQ) position, or can they make simulated market choices amongst only hypothetical scenarios? This study uses a split sample to test whether the inclusion or exclusion of the SQ on a choice card in DCEs affects the WTP estimates, based on visitors’ preferences for tourist facilities at Kenyir Lake, Malaysia. The results indicated little difference between both the samples in terms of goodness-of-fit, size and significance of the attribute coefficients, and WTP estimates for the Conditional Logit (CL) and Mixed Logit (MXL) models.

scholarly journals Validation of the Turkish version Power of the Food Scale (PFS) for determining hedonic hunger status and correlate between PFS and body mass index

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-377
Author(s):  
Akçil Ok Mehtap ◽  
◽  
Hayzaran Melisa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Turkish Version ◽  
Hedonic Hunger ◽  
Turkish Culture ◽  
The Status

Introduction: This study was carried out to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish culture-adapted version of “Power of the Food Scale” (PFS), which was originally developed by Lowe et al. (2009). In addition, associations between body mass index (BMI) and PFS scores were assessed. Methods: The study sample consisted of a total of 363 volunteering students aged >18 years, who were studying at the Bas¸kent University in Turkey. Validity and reliability analyses were conducted for the Turkish version of the PFS. Results: The correlations of each item in the PFS with the total score were found to be positive and >0.30. The Cronbach’s alpha value was determined as 0.85. The construct validity of the scale was analysed with confirmatory factor analysis. The Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index was 0.97 and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation was 0.07. These fit indices of the model confirmed the construct validity of the PFS. A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between BMI values of the students and the total score of the scale (r=0.157; p=0.003). Conclusion: The findings obtained in this study have laid out that the Turkish Power of Food Scale (T-PFS), which was adapted to Turkish culture from PFS, is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be applied in Turkey. Thus, T-PFS is thought to be likely to contribute to studies aiming to determine the status of hedonic hunger.

scholarly journals Psychometric Comparison of the Persian Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale and Emotional Eater Questionnaire Among Iranian Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Ghafouri ◽  
Abbas Abdollahi ◽  
Maryam Hagi ◽  
Ali Ganbari ◽  
Aleiia J.N. Asmundson
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Emotional Eating ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Fit Indices ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Average Variance ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Validity Tests

Abstract Background: The Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale (SEES) and the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) are self-reported measures developed to evaluate emotional eating in adults in Western countries. To date, the psychometric properties of the SEES and the EEQ have not been studied among Iranian adults. The aim of the current study is to translate the SEES and the EEQ from English to Persian and examine the psychometric properties of the SEES and EEQ.Method: The sample of this study comprised of 489 Iranian adults who completed the SEES and the EEQ questionnaires online. Results: Findings of face, content, and construct validity tests confirmed that the SEES and the EEQ had acceptable validity and appropriate reliability. The results from confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable goodness-of-fit indices for two measures. Conclusion: Results of Average Variance Extracted, Construct Reliability, and goodness-of-fit indices showed that the SEES was better for evaluating emotional eating among Iranian adults than the EEQ.

scholarly journals REFUSAL STRATEGY PERFORMED BY INDONESIAN EFL LEARNER

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Nenden Sri Rahayu
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Interlanguage Pragmatics ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Similar Range

The research investigates the speech act recognition of refusing as made by Indonesian learners of English as a foreign language, native Indonesian, and native English. It involves three groups: 13 Indonesian EFL Learners (IELs), 13 Indonesian Native Speakers (INSs), and 13 American Native Speakers (NSs) of English. They were asked to respond to ten different situations, in which they carry out the speech act of refusal. Their strategies in refusing were compared one another in order to find out whether the refusal performed by Indonesian EFL Learner (IELs) correspond more closely with those of the Indonesian Native Speakers (INSs) or with speakers of the target language, the American Native Speakers (NSs). The data, collected from a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) which was developed by Blum-Kulka, were analyzed and categorized based on Azis�s categories (2000). Results indicated that although a similar range of refusal strategies were available to the two language groups, cross-cultural variation still exists. The data involved some contextual variables, which include the status of interlocutors (higher, equal, or lower status) and eliciting acts, i.e., requests, invitations, offers, and suggestions.Keywords: Indonesian EFL Learners; interlanguage pragmatics; refusal strategy; speech�act.

scholarly journals Bearing Witness: Maoism as Religion

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 5-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Apter
Keyword(s):  
State Power ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Bearing Witness ◽  
Central Figure ◽  
Political Religion ◽  
Political Myth ◽  
Agnes Smedley ◽  
The Status ◽  
Communist Revolution

The role of foreign witnesses in describing exceptional historical events can contribute to the way those events unfold. Three examples serve to illustrate this: Edgar Snow, Anna Louise Strong and Agnes Smedley. At the start of the Chinese communist revolution each of these commentators offered personal testimony to and validation of what became a political myth and was elevated to the status of a state political religion with Mao the central figure. This paper discusses the differences between political religion and religion tout court. It suggests that the former is more ephemeral while the latter is more capable of self-replenishment, leading to the ritualization of the first in the exercise of state power. It also deals with the question of socialism as proto-religion and the problems posed by its disappearance.

scholarly journals L1 phonological effects on L2 (non-)naïve perception: A cross-language investigation of the oral–nasal vowel contrast in Brazilian Portuguese

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110449
Author(s):  
Ruth Maria Martinez ◽  
Heather Goad ◽  
Michael Dow
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Vowel Systems ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Caribbean Spanish ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Cross Language

Feature-based approaches to acquisition principally focus on second language (L2) learners’ ability to perceive non-native consonants when the features required are either contrastively present or entirely absent from the first language (L1) grammar. As features may function contrastively or allophonically in the consonant and/or vowel systems of a language, we expand the scope of this research to address whether features that function contrastively in the L1 vowel system can be recombined to yield new vowels in the L2; whether features that play a contrastive role in the L1 consonant system can be reassigned to build new vowels in the L2; and whether L1 allophonic features can be ‘elevated’ to contrastive status in the L2. We examine perception of the oral–nasal contrast in Brazilian Portuguese listeners from French, English, Caribbean Spanish, and non-Caribbean Spanish backgrounds, languages that differ in the status assigned to [nasal] in their vowel systems. An AXB discrimination task revealed that, although all language groups succeeded in perceiving the non-naïve contrast /e/–/ẽ/ due to their previous exposure to Québec French while living in Montréal, Canada, only French and Caribbean Spanish speakers succeeded in discriminating the naïve contrast /i/–/ĩ/. These findings suggest that feature redeployment at first exposure is only possible if the feature is contrastive in the L1 vowel system (French) or if the feature is allophonic but variably occurs in contrastive contexts in the L1 vowel system (Caribbean Spanish). With more exposure to a non-native contrast, however, feature redeployment from consonant to vowel systems was also supported, as was the possibility that allophonic features may be elevated to contrastive status in the L2.

scholarly journals “The Dude Abides”: How "The Big Lebowski" Bowled Its Way from a Box Office Bomb to Nation-Wide Fests

Text Matters ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 76-93
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Małecka
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Mistaken Identity ◽  
Cultural Event ◽  
Box Office ◽  
The Status

Since Blood Simple, the first film they wrote and directed together, the Coen Brothers have been working their way up in the film world and, in spite of their outside-the-mainstream taste for the noir and the surreal, have earned a number of prestigious prizes. After Fargo, one of their most critically acclaimed films, expectations were high, and when the Brothers released their next bizarre venture, most critics rushed to measure it against Fargo’s success. Consequently, The Big Lebowski, the Coens’ 1998 neo-noir detective comedy, was considered an incoherent, “unsatisfactory” medley of genres and styles and a box office bomb, and nothing hinted that this unorthodox story of mistaken identity, featuring a pot-smoking, unemployed character named the Dude as its “hee-ro,” would gain a following. Yet, since its 1998 DVD release, The Big Lebowski has been hailed as the first cult film of the Internet, continuously inspiring versatile cultural phenomena as nonconformist in their nature as the movie itself. This essay examines particular factors which initially might have been responsible for alienating the audience only to help The Big Lebowski become a peculiar cultural event in later years. It looks at The Big Lebowski’s characters, the historical time and place of the film’s action as well as at various external historical events, phenomena, places and people such as, for example, the Port Huron Statement, the Reagan-Bush era, Los Angeles and its immigration issues, racial minorities, civil rights activists, the Western genre and, last but not least, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reflecting the film’s oddities, this bag of cultural idiosyncrasies appears to provide some plausible explanations for The Big Lebowski’s unexpected, against-all-odds rise from the marginal position of a critical and commercial failure to the status of a cult classic and cultural landmark.

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