The nice-of-you construction and its fragments

Linguistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-318
Author(s):  
Adele E. Goldberg ◽  
Thomas Herbst
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Unique Function ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Modal Verbs ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Function

Abstract This article argues that a usage-based construction (a conventional pairing of form and function) is required to account for a certain pattern of English exemplified by e.g., it’s nice of you to read this. Contemporary corpus and survey data reveal that the construction is strongly associated with certain adjectives (e.g., nice, good) over others, while diachronic data demonstrate that the construction’s overall frequency has systematically waxed and waned over the past century. The construction’s unique function – namely to concisely convey a judgment regarding how an action reflects on the agent of the action – enables us to predict many observations about its distribution without stipulation. These include restrictions on the interpretation of adjectives that occur in the construction, its infinitive complement, the modal verbs that may appear in it and its ability to be embedded. We further observe that certain conventional fragments of the construction evoke the semantics of the entire construction. Finally, we situate the construction within a network of related constructions, as part of a speaker’s “construct-i-con”.

scholarly journals Adolescent and adult laryngotracheal stenosis: a review

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Johan Klopper ◽  
Oladele Vincent Adeniyi ◽  
Kate Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Laryngotracheal Stenosis ◽  
Airway Protection ◽  
Interventional Pulmonology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Airway Emergency ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Function

Abstract Background The larynx has multiple composite functions which include phonation, airway protection, and sensory control of respiration. Stenosis of the larynx and trachea were first recorded by O’Dwyer in 1885 and by Colles in 1886, respectively. Initially, the aetiology of laryngotracheal stenosis was predominantly infective. Currently, the leading cause is iatrogenic injury to the laryngotracheal complex secondary to prolonged ventilation in an intensive care unit. Main body Laryngotracheal stenosis is a complex and diverse disease. It poses a major challenge to the surgeon and can present as an airway emergency. Management typically demands the combined involvement of various disciplines including otorhinolaryngology, cardiothoracic surgery, anaesthesiology, interventional pulmonology, and radiology. Both the disease and its management can impact upon respiration, voice, and swallowing. The incidence of iatrogenic laryngotracheal stenosis has reflected the evolution of airway and intensive care whilst airway surgery has advanced concurrently over the past century. Correction of laryngotracheal stenosis requires expansion of the airway lumen; this is achieved by either endoscopic or open surgery. We review the relevant basic science, aetiopathogenesis, diagnosis, management, and treatment outcomes of LTS. Conclusion The choice of surgical procedure in the management of laryngotracheal stenosis is often dictated by the individual anatomy and function of the larynx and trachea, together with patient factors and available facilities. Regardless of how the surgeon chooses to approach these lesions, prevention of iatrogenic laryngotracheal damage remains of primary importance.

Molecular Paleontology and Biochemical Evolution

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Gaines ◽  
Geoffrey Eglinton ◽  
Jürgen Rullkötter
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cambrian Explosion ◽  
Microbial World ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Unicellular Algae ◽  
Almost All ◽  
And Function ◽  
Multicellular Organisms ◽  
Molecular Paleontology

Carl Woese’s drive for a unified system of biological classification didn’t just open the microbial world to exploration: it reshuffled the entire taxonomic system and revolutionized the way that biologists study evolution, reigniting interest in preanimal evolution. Studies of evolution from the mid-nineteenth through most of the twentieth century relied on the comparison of forms in living and fossil organisms and were limited to the complex multicellular organisms that developed over the past 550 million years. In other words, much was known about the evolution of animals and land plants that left distinctive hard fossils, and very little was known about the unicellular algae and microorganisms that occupied the seas for most of the earth’s history. Woese’s Tree of Life, derived from nucleic acid sequences in ribosomal RNA, has revealed ancestral relationships that form and function don’t even hint at, allowing biologists to look beyond the rise of multicellular life and link it with less differentiated, more primal forms—which was precisely Woese’s intention. But evolution is a history, not just a family tree of relationships. If the information stored in the genes of extant organisms is to provide true insight into that history, it needs to be anchored in time, linked to extinct organisms and to past environments. Ultimately, we must look to the record in the rocks and sediments, just as paleontologists and biologists have been doing for the past two centuries. In Darwin’s time, that record comprised rocks from the past 550 million years, a span of time that geologists now call the Phanerozoic eon, based on Greek words meaning visible or evident life. The eon began with the rocks of the Cambrian period, in which nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century paleontologists discovered a fabulous assortment of fossils—traces of trilobites, anemones, shrimp, and other multicellular animals that were completely missing from any of the earlier strata. Thousands of new animals and plants, including representatives of almost all contemporary groups, as well as hundreds of now-extinct ones, appeared so suddenly between 542 and 530 million years ago that paleontologists refer to the phenomenon as the Cambrian “explosion.”

Indigenous approaches to the past: ‘Creative histories’ at the Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiera Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Visual Art ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cultural Responses ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Way

This article discusses a recent art project created by the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathon Jones, which was commissioned to commemorate the opening of the revitalized Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney in early 2020. Jones’ work involves a dramatic installation of red and white crushed stones laid throughout the grounds of the barracks, merging the image of the emu footprint with that of the English broad convict arrow to ‘consider Australia’s layered history and contemporary cultural relations’. This work was accompanied by a ‘specially-curated programme’ of performances, workshops, storytelling and Artist Talks. Together, these elements were designed to unpack how certain ‘stories determine the ways we came together as a nation’. As one of the speakers of the Artist Talk’s programme, I had a unique opportunity to experiment with what colleagues and I have been calling ‘Creative histories’ in reference to the way some artists and historians are choosing to communicate their research about the past in ways that experiment with form and function and push disciplinary or generic boundaries. This article reflects upon how these two distinct creative history projects – one visual art, the other performative – renegotiate the complex and contested pasts of the Hyde Park Barracks. I suggest that both examples speak to the role of memory and creativity in shaping cultural responses to Australia’s colonial past, while Jones' programme illustrates how Indigenous artists and academics are making a profound intervention into contemporary understandings of how history is ‘done’ in Australia.

scholarly journals Taiwan’s Mythological Theme Parks: Mnemonic Guardians and Uncanny Imaginaries

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian G. Brereton
Keyword(s):  
Filial Piety ◽  
Theme Park ◽  
Theme Parks ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Cornell University ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
And Function

Cornell University This paper analyzes the mnemonic roles of mythological theme parks in contemporary Taiwan. I investigate two popular theme parks, Madou’s “Prefecture that Represents Heaven” (代天府) and its single Taiwanese precedent, the “Palace of Southern Heaven” (南天宮) in Zhanghua. I term these sites “mythological theme parks” because they differ significantly in form and function from other popular religious temples throughout Taiwan and China. Though both theme park and temple are loci of social production and reproduction, the nature of interaction at mythological theme parks resembles in many ways that which occurs at the imaginary realms manufactured by secular theme parks. These mythological theme parks feature moral imaginaries displayed in sculptural and animatronic depictions of the afterlife and acts of filial piety. My study addresses both textual sources and ethnographic data, collected while conducting fieldwork during the summers of 2004 and 2005, to evaluate how these mythological theme parks culturally convey the past into the present.

scholarly journals Evolution of the share capital function, as a tool for overcoming economic turmoil

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
Luigi Lai
Keyword(s):  
Limited Liability ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Share Capital ◽  
Financial Autonomy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Formal Element ◽  
Additional Burden ◽  
Legitimate Expectations ◽  
Fresh Starts ◽  
And Function

The paper aims at showing that a lower share capital in limited liability companies can be a successful tool for overcoming the consequences of an economic crisis. In a period of economic turmoil insolvency is more than a simple risk. For such a reason the limited liability company shareholders, thanks to the complete financial autonomy given by the share capital, have a shield from the legitimate expectations of the creditors. The share capital protects the entrepreneur and at the same time allows faster fresh starts; nevertheless, in order for that to happen, the share capital cannot be an additional burden, instead has to be a simple formal element. The article demonstrates that in the last 50 years is visible a shift in the concept and function of the share capital. During the 50’s of the past century, the share capital was considered as a guarantee for the company’s creditors. Nowadays the European legislators across Europe are heading to consider the share capital as a mere formal element disconnected by any due quantity.

scholarly journals The Form and Function of PIEZO2

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 507-534
Author(s):  
Marcin Szczot ◽  
Alec R. Nickolls ◽  
Ruby M. Lam ◽  
Alexander T. Chesler
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
Ion Channels ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Sensory Biology ◽  
Mechanical Stimuli ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Function ◽  
Sense Of Touch

Mechanosensation is the ability to detect dynamic mechanical stimuli (e.g., pressure, stretch, and shear stress) and is essential for a wide variety of processes, including our sense of touch on the skin. How touch is detected and transduced at the molecular level has proved to be one of the great mysteries of sensory biology. A major breakthrough occurred in 2010 with the discovery of a family of mechanically gated ion channels that were coined PIEZOs. The last 10 years of investigation have provided a wealth of information about the functional roles and mechanisms of these molecules. Here we focus on PIEZO2, one of the two PIEZO proteins found in humans and other mammals. We review how work at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels over the past decade has transformed our understanding of touch and led to unexpected insights into other types of mechanosensation beyond the skin.

scholarly journals “Like the Flame of Fire”

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-29
Author(s):  
Ilona Katzew ◽  
Rachel Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
Visual Language ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
Rock Crystal ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Function ◽  
Synoptic Approach

The so-called Hearst Chalice at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is widely regarded as one the most significant works of Mexican silversmithing from the sixteenth century. Its style, technique, and above all its unique combination of materials—including precious metals, feathers, wood carvings, and rock crystal—have led scholars to describe it as the perfect fusion of European and Ancient American (or pre-Columbian) traditions. Surprisingly, despite the consensus about the chalice’s importance, the cultural and artistic conditions that led to the creation of this singular object have not been thoroughly analyzed. By closely examining the different material components of the imposing artifact—which though carefully assembled also stand as independent units—we can better understand its uniqueness and symbolic potential. This essay espouses a synoptic approach by considering a range of agencies, perspectives, and sources—documentary and material—to restore the “Hearst” Chalice to its rightful context, without aspiring to a totalizing view of the past or a definitive decoding of its system of meaning. Categorizing its form and function as purely Indigenous and European poses a distinct set of challenges and limits its hermeneutic possibilities. The work—like many others created during the volatile period following the fall of Tenochtitlan—encodes a new visual language that reveals the highly subtle process of negotiation of these two cultures in a particular space and time. Moving away from the reductive concept of syncretism, the essay offers a fresh look at this impressive contact period work and its shifting values over time.

Nasr’s development as a writer in his second language

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marietta Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
School Year ◽  
Pause Length ◽  
Most Significant Change ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Way

Abstract During the first 6 months of the school year of 1985, at Brunswick Language Centre, I observed Nasr as he was learning to write in his second language. The most significant change which occurred is that Nasr gained an appreciation of the way in which English written anguage is different from spoken language. That is, rather than merely recording his spoken language, Nasr became a writer in English. The changes manifested themselves not only in the product, namely the texts themselves, but also in the processes by which they were produced. These processes can be both directly observed, as recorded on videotape or in the observational diary, which was kept once weekly, or inferred from the product. The major ways in which the last piece is more “developed” is that Nasr has chosen a more “advanced” genre, and the piece conforms more strictly to one genre, rather than also containing elements of other genres. Nevertheless, the earlier pieces mark important, transitional stages and I have therefore chosen to call these intermediate forms “intertext”. Nasr gains mastery over linking mechanisms more characteristic of written than of spoken language he moves from co-ordination to subordination, and through the use of reference and ellipsis, he gradually eliminates the various forms of redundancy. Acquisition of form and function of the past tense Is regarded as essential for the production of sustained narrative and, as such, can also be viewed as a form of cohesion. In Nasr’s case the changes in the writing behaviour include an increase in pause length and a reduction in the number of pauses, changes in the number and type of revisions made, and differences in the way in which input from the teacher is generated.

Individual and Collected Lives in Antiquity

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Beneker
Keyword(s):  
Life Writing ◽  
Political Biography ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Function ◽  
Of Greece

This chapter examines the implications of writing about individuals in the context of collections. A biography is, by definition, the written account of a person’s life, and therefore every biography is focused fundamentally on an individual. Nonetheless, the major biographers of Greece and Rome whose writings are extant—Cornelius Nepos, Plutarch, and Suetonius—all wrote Lives as parts of collections, and these collections influenced the form and function of their writings. All three authors, moreover, make use of the juxtapositions of Lives inherent in their collections to encourage comparative readings, and, in the case of Nepos and Plutarch, they expect readers to reflect on their own lives and societies as they read about statesmen, generals, and kings from the past. The chapter also studies early traces of the collection and comparison of Lives, taking Herodotus as a primary example to show that the ‘life-writing’ found in ancient political biography has been a part of the historiographical tradition from the beginning.

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