scholarly journals Communicative efficiency and differential case marking: a reverse-engineering approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Levshina
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Conditional Probabilities ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Poisson Models ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Cue Reliability ◽  
Communicative Efficiency ◽  
Cue Availability ◽  
Probabilistic Measures ◽  
Better Than

Abstract The use of differential case marking of A and P has been explained in terms of efficiency (economy) and markedness. The present study tests predictions based on these accounts, using conditional probabilities of a particular feature given the syntactic role (cue availability), and conditional probabilities of a particular syntactic role given the feature in question (cue reliability). Cue availability serves as a measure of markedness, whereas cue reliability is central for the efficiency account. Similar to reverse engineering, we determine which of the probabilistic measures could have been responsible for the recurrent cross-linguistic patterns described in the literature. The probabilities are estimated from spontaneous informal dialogues in English and Russian (Indo-European), Lao (Tai-Kadai), N||ng (Tuu) and Ruuli (Bantu). The analyses, which involve a series of mixed-effects Poisson models, clearly demonstrate that cue reliability matches the observed cross-linguistic patterns better than cue availability. Thus, the results support the efficiency account of differential marking.

Ambiguity avoidance as a factor in the rise of the English dative alternation

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Zehentner
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Cue Reliability ◽  
History Of ◽  
Potential Impact

Abstract This paper discusses the role of cognitive factors in language change; specifically, it investigates the potential impact of argument ambiguity avoidance on the emergence of one of the most well-studied syntactic alternations in English, viz. the dative alternation (We gave them cake vs We gave cake to them). Linking this development to other major changes in the history of English like the loss of case marking, I propose that morphological as well as semantic-pragmatic ambiguity between prototypical agents (subjects) and prototypical recipients (indirect objects) in ditransitive clauses plausibly gave a processing advantage to patterns with higher cue reliability such as prepositional marking, but also fixed clause-level (SVO) order. The main hypotheses are tested through a quantitative analysis of ditransitives in a corpus of Middle English, which (i) confirms that the spread of the PP-construction is impacted by argument ambiguity and (ii) demonstrates that this change reflects a complex restructuring of disambiguation strategies.

scholarly journals The Effect of Gender on the Bilingual and Bicultural Identity of the Iraqi EFL Learners' Recognition and Production of Request

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. p32
Author(s):  
Mohammed Jasim Betti ◽  
Zainab Kadhim Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Bicultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Culture Influence ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Better Than

This study examines the effect of gender on students' bilingual and bicultural identity in their recognition and production of request is studied. This means that it investigates to what extent the learners’ mother tongue and culture influence their recognition and production of request in the EFL and the effect of gender on such an identity. The study aims at exploring and identifying the linguistic patterns of request in English used by Iraqi EFL learners, those patterns of request transferred from Iraqi EFL learners’ mother tongue, and the Iraqi EFL learners’ cultural patterns and cultural realization of request transferred from Arabic culture into the EFL. Some hypotheses of the study state that there is a bilingual and cultural identity in using request by Iraqi EFL learners, females are better than males in request perception and production and they are worse in Arabic monolingualism and monoculturalism, students are better in English monolingualism and monoculturalism than in the other request features, students’ English monolingual and monocultural identity is more apparent in request perception than in production. To validate or refute its hypotheses, a test comprising recognition and production has been constructed and applied to fifty Iraqi EFL learners at fourth year, Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Thi-Qar at the academic year (2020-2021). After data analysis, some conclusions are arrived at. The study concludes that Iraqi EFL learners are pragmatically incompetent and they have a bilingual and bicultural identity because of their mother tongue and culture interference.

scholarly journals Modeling Input Factors in Second Language Acquisition of the English Article Construction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Zhao ◽  
Jason Fan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Cue Reliability ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Cue Availability

Based on the Competition Model, the current study investigated how cue availability and cue reliability as two important input factors influenced second language (L2) learners' cue learning of the English article construction. Written corpus data of university-level Chinese-L1 learners of English were sampled for a comparison of English majors and non-English majors who demonstrated two levels of L2 competence in English article usage. The path model analysis in structural equation modeling was utilized to investigate the relationship between the input factors and L2 usage (frequency and accuracy of article cue production). The findings contribute novel and scarce empirical evidence that confirms a central claim of the Competition Model, i.e., the changing importance of cue availability and cue reliability in the frequency and accuracy of production. Cue availability was found to determine L2 production frequency regardless of level of L2 competence. Cue reliability was the input factor that differentiated competence levels. When learners stayed at a relatively lower L2 proficiency, cue reliability played an important role in influencing L2 frequency of usage rather than accuracy of usage. When learners developed increased exposure to and stronger competence in the target language, cue reliability played a significant role in determining learners' success of cue learning. The study is methodologically innovative and expands the empirical applicability of the Competition Model to the domain of second language production and construction learning.

Numerically Imperfect Reasoning Among the Highly Numerate

2020 ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Ellen Peters
Keyword(s):  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Bayes Theorem ◽  
Heuristics And Biases ◽  
Conditional Probabilities ◽  
Numeric Information ◽  
Better Than

This chapter, “Numerically Imperfect Reasoning Among the Highly Numerate,” highlights the highly numerate as imperfect number crunchers. They are surprisingly prone to some of Chapter 3’s heuristics and biases. Their use of conditional probabilities (e.g., Bayes’ Theorem) is suboptimal at best, as is their ability for nonlinear numeric thinking, such as when calculating cumulative odds. Additionally, the highly numerate, like the less numerate, can be susceptible to motivated reasoning. In fact, when numeric accuracy is not their primary goal, they seem to be “better” than the less numerate at creating understandings of numeric information that are more in line with what they want to believe.

Reverse Engineering of Cam Design Based on BP NN

2014 ◽  
Vol 1039 ◽  
pp. 476-483
Author(s):  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Li Xin Lu ◽  
Gui Qin Li ◽  
Zheng Li ◽  
Xiao Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Curve Fitting ◽  
Demand Curve ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Cam Design ◽  
Cubic Curve ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Model Fits

A three layer BP NN is created to design the cam. The data of cam contour ,which can be measured by CMM, has been used for the training where back propagation method is used.Advantage of solving nonliner problems gives BP netwok the ability to make out a more demand curve of cam. Taking advantage of its learning ability,NN model fits the actual cam contour gradually until the error fulfil the demand.Cam contour is ploted by Matlab,the result of which is better than cubic curve fitting,especially in the aspects of precise and velocity.

scholarly journals The use of pronominal case in English sentence interpretation

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUKI YOSHIMURA ◽  
BRIAN MacWHINNEY
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Reliability Measures ◽  
English Sentence ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Cue Reliability ◽  
Sentence Interpretation

ABSTRACTThis study examined adult English native speakers' processing of sentences in which pronominal case marking conflicts with word order. Previous research has shown that English speakers rely heavily on word order for assigning case roles during sentence interpretation. However, in terms of cue reliability measures, we should expect English pronominal case to be nearly as strong a cue as word order. The current study examined this issue by asking subjects to interpret grammatical and ungrammatical sentences in which case competes with word order. The results indicated that word order remains the strongest cue in English, even when the case-marking cue is available. However, for noncanonical word orders, the case-marking cue had a strong effect on sentence interpretation.

Time and Latitude in South Africa

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
J. Hers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Astronomical Observations ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Astronomical Determination ◽  
Limited Accuracy ◽  
Better Than

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

Localization of immunolabels by electron microscopy and image averaging

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 282-283
Author(s):  
J. Frank ◽  
P.-Y. Sizaret ◽  
A. Verschoor ◽  
J. Lamy
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Single Particle ◽  
Attachment Site ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Limulus Polyphemus ◽  
Resolution Limit ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Image Averaging ◽  
Top View ◽  
Better Than

The accuracy with which the attachment site of immunolabels bound to macromolecules may be localized in electron microscopic images can be considerably improved by using single particle averaging. The example studied in this work showed that the accuracy may be better than the resolution limit imposed by negative staining (∽2nm).The structure used for this demonstration was a halfmolecule of Limulus polyphemus (LP) hemocyanin, consisting of 24 subunits grouped into four hexamers. The top view of this structure was previously studied by image averaging and correspondence analysis. It was found to vary according to the flip or flop position of the molecule, and to the stain imbalance between diagonally opposed hexamers (“rocking effect”). These findings have recently been incorporated into a model of the full 8 × 6 molecule.LP hemocyanin contains eight different polypeptides, and antibodies specific for one, LP II, were used. Uranyl acetate was used as stain. A total of 58 molecule images (29 unlabelled, 29 labelled with antl-LPII Fab) showing the top view were digitized in the microdensitometer with a sampling distance of 50μ corresponding to 6.25nm.

Closing the GAP—A 5Å Scanning Microscope

1969 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
A. V. Crewe
Keyword(s):  
Normal Form ◽  
The Other ◽  
Resolving Power ◽  
Scanning Microscope ◽  
Conventional Microscope ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
Thermal Sources ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Transmission Microscope

We have become accustomed to differentiating between the scanning microscope and the conventional transmission microscope according to the resolving power which the two instruments offer. The conventional microscope is capable of a point resolution of a few angstroms and line resolutions of periodic objects of about 1Å. On the other hand, the scanning microscope, in its normal form, is not ordinarily capable of a point resolution better than 100Å. Upon examining reasons for the 100Å limitation, it becomes clear that this is based more on tradition than reason, and in particular, it is a condition imposed upon the microscope by adherence to thermal sources of electrons.

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