The Tool Noun and Tool Verb Alternation in Gesture

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suwei Wu

Abstract In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to investigating what aspects of grammar in spoken language are coordinated with gesture. However, previous studies have focused on gesture use in relation to other grammatical categories rather than the basic grammatical categories of nouns and verbs. Against this background, this study, taking the tool noun and tool verb alternation as a starting point, considers to what extent gesture relates to the tool frame and to what extent it relates to the choice of nouns or verbs and accordingly the means of construal afforded by nouns and verbs. It is found that the number of gestures produced and the dominant gesture mode are largely dependent on the tool frame, but some other aspects in gesture do vary depending on the choice of nouns or verbs in speech, and these differences in gesture seem to correlate with the difference between how speakers conceptualize nouns and verbs, as hypothesized in the theory of cognitive grammar: nouns profile THINGS while verbs profile PROCESSES. This finding adds to previous studies about which aspects of grammar relate to gesture and how they do so, thereby furthering our understanding of the integrated nature of speech and gesture.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN CIENKI

abstractAs an explicitly usage-based model of language structure (Barlow & Kemmer, 2000), cognitive grammar draws on the notion of ‘usage events’ of language as the starting point from which linguistic units are schematized by language users. To be true to this claim for spoken languages, phenomena such as non-lexical sounds, intonation patterns, and certain uses of gesture should be taken into account to the degree to which they constitute the phonological pole of signs, paired in entrenched ways with conceptual content. Following through on this view of usage events also means realizing the gradable nature of signs. In addition, taking linguistic meaning as consisting of not only conceptual content but also a particular way of construing that content (Langacker, 2008, p. 43), we find that the forms of expression mentioned above play a prominent role in highlighting the ways in which speakers construe what they are talking about, in terms of different degrees of specificity, focusing, prominence, and perspective. Viewed in this way, usage events of spoken language are quite different in nature from those of written language, a point which highlights the need for differentiated accounts of the grammar of these two forms of expression taken by many languages.


Author(s):  
Viacheslav Tsyba

The article deals with three patterns for interpretation of language in its relation to the cultural hegemony, i.e. Gramscian, Voloshinian, and Pasolinian. As was shown, the analysis of the language problem is the necessary precondition for justifying the unity of theoretical and practical elements within Marxist philosophy. A common feature for the aforementioned patterns was an attempt to answer a fundamental question: how it is possible to make explicit the relationship between ideology and relations of production by means of the materialist dialectics. A refusal to fetishize language as a particular essence, a revealing that any sign systems are mediated by ideologies, and elaboration of a nonSaussurian structure of language are the core results of the proposed analysis. The starting point for the reflections of the mentioned thinkers was a tenet that communication in the state is determined by how much the institutions of power are able to bring the interests of society under control without disturbing the balance between the political body and the existing social forces. Thus, an ideology plays in two guises: as a symbolic order of legitimation on the society’s part and as a framing the growth of cultural forms. A distinction between the written and the spoken language becomes a politically significant tool to undermine the hegemony, for a balance between the political and the social, between the coercion and the approval, is widely open to fluctuations. Hence is the problem Marxist theorists have tried to solve: how can it be found out, with an examination of statements in non-political contexts, what someone talks of is a part of her political interest. The Marxist thinkers solved it in various ways. For instance, Gramsci focused himself on the reasons of making of the Italian literary canon; Voloshinov considered the proposition that in linguistics a formalism, as well as psychologism, following from a claim that semantics and means of expression are politically independent; and Pasolini sketched the difference between the spoken language, the spoken-written language, and the purely oral language, with unequal subjects of them.


Corpora ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Durán-Muñoz

This paper attempts to shed some light on the importance of adjectives in the linguistic characterisation of tourism discourse in English in general and in adventure tourism in particular as well as to prove how significant the difference in usage is compared to the general language. It seeks to understand the role that adjectives play in this specific subdomain and to contribute to the linguistic characterisation of tourism discourse in this respect. It also aims to confirm or reject previous assumptions regarding the use, and frequency of use, of adjectives and adjectival patterns in this specialised domain and, in general, to promote the study of adjectivisation in domain-specific discourses. To do so, it proposes a corpus-based study that measures the keyness of adjectives in promotional texts of the adventure tourism domain in English by comparing their usage in the compiled corpus to the two most relevant reference corpora of English (coca and the bnc).


Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Sergei Alexandrov ◽  
Elena Lyamina ◽  
Yeong-Maw Hwang

The present paper concerns the general solution for finite plane strain pure bending of incompressible, orthotropic sheets. In contrast to available solutions, the new solution is valid for inhomogeneous distributions of plastic properties. The solution is semi-analytic. A numerical treatment is only necessary for solving transcendent equations and evaluating ordinary integrals. The solution’s starting point is a transformation between Eulerian and Lagrangian coordinates that is valid for a wide class of constitutive equations. The symmetric distribution relative to the center line of the sheet is separately treated where it is advantageous. It is shown that this type of symmetry simplifies the solution. Hill’s quadratic yield criterion is adopted. Both elastic/plastic and rigid/plastic solutions are derived. Elastic unloading is also considered, and it is shown that reverse plastic yielding occurs at a relatively large inside radius. An illustrative example uses real experimental data. The distribution of plastic properties is symmetric in this example. It is shown that the difference between the elastic/plastic and rigid/plastic solutions is negligible, except at the very beginning of the process. However, the rigid/plastic solution is much simpler and, therefore, can be recommended for practical use at large strains, including calculating the residual stresses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-361
Author(s):  
Philippe Del Giudice

Abstract A new project has just been launched to write a synchronic, descriptive grammar of Niçois, the Occitan dialect of Nice. In this article, I define the corpus of the research. To do so, I first review written production from the Middle Ages to the present. I then analyze the linguistic features of Niçois over time, in order to determine the precise starting point of the current language state. But because of reinforced normativism and the decreasing social use of Niçois among the educated population, written language after WWII became artificial and does not really correspond to recordings made in the field. The corpus will thus be composed of writings from the 1820’s to WWII and recordings from the last few decades.


Author(s):  
Paul Cliteur

This chapter discusses the difference between a nonsecular or religious critique of religious ethics and politics and a specifically secular critique. It introduces the central notion of a secular critique, autonomy, and its two types, moral and political. Moral autonomy entails the separation of religion from ethics. The ideal of making that separation is called “moral secularism.” The opposite of moral autonomy is “moral heteronomy.” An extreme case of moral heteronomy is discussed: Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son when God commanded him to do so. Next, the importance of political autonomy and political secularism is illustrated with reference to the conflict between the king Ahab (the model of a secular ruler) and the prophet Elijah (the model of a religious leader). Some stories in the holy scriptures of the monotheist religions held in common by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are unfavorable toward secularism (both moral and political).


2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Kovacs

It has long been known that in some relatively simple reinforcement learning tasks traditional strength-based classifier systems will adapt poorly and show poor generalisation. In contrast, the more recent accuracy-based XCS, appears both to adapt and generalise well. In this work, we attribute the difference to what we call strong over general and fit over general rules. We begin by developing a taxonomy of rule types and considering the conditions under which they may occur. In order to do so an extreme simplification of the classifier system is made, which forces us toward qualitative rather than quantitative analysis. We begin with the basics, considering definitions for correct and incorrect actions, and then correct, incorrect, and overgeneral rules for both strength and accuracy-based fitness. The concept of strong overgeneral rules, which we claim are the Achilles' heel of strength-based classifier systems, are then analysed. It is shown that strong overgenerals depend on what we call biases in the reward function (or, in sequential tasks, the value function). We distinguish between strong and fit overgeneral rules, and show that although strong overgenerals are fit in a strength-based system called SB-XCS, they are not in XCS. Next we show how to design fit overgeneral rules for XCS (but not SB-XCS), by introducing biases in the variance of the reward function, and thus that each system has its own weakness. Finally, we give some consideration to the prevalence of reward and variance function bias, and note that non-trivial sequential tasks have highly biased value functions.


1979 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Corder

It is perhaps natural that in the early years of emergence of a new field of study and research its practitioners should from time to time ask themselves what is the nature of the activity they are engaged in. The need to do so may stem from a number of different causes: philosophical, sociological and psychological. The practitioners may feel the need to establish a personal identity, that is, some accepted place for themselves in the social structure of the academic world, to achieve respect and recognition as workers in the field of scholarship, a role in the institution of higher studies. They may feel that the discipline they profess is not properly recognised within the scholarly domain, its place not clearly determined in the structure of science or scholarship, its value to society not appreciated; and that consequently it does not attract research funds in its own name, permit the establishment of courses and programmes which lead to academic degrees or qualifications bearing its name, or of learned societies devoted to discussing its problems and disseminating its notions. All of these factors I believe play a part in the motivations for the constantly renewed discussion of WHAT IS APPLIED LINGUISTICS? None of them is in any way reprehensible or unworthy. The intensity or frequency with which these discussions occur is a response to the prevailing orthodox views about the discipline itself and its relation to neighbouring disciplines found in the society where the discussions take place, and to the degree to which its practitioners (i.e. people who call themselves applied linguists) feel oppressed, unrecognised or undervalued by the members of the institution in which they work and with whom they interact. This is a whole field of investigation open to the sociologist of science to describe and explain.


2005 ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordana Djeric

The article deals with the explanatory relevance of the concept of stereotype in one of its original meanings - as a "mental image". This meaning of the term is the starting point for further differentiations, such as: between linguistic and behavioral stereotypes (in the sense of nonverbal, expected responses); universal and particular stereotypes; self representative and introspective stereotypes; permanent and contemporary stereotypes; and finally, what is most important for our purposes, the difference between silent and audible stereotypes. These distinctions, along with the functions of stereotype, are discussed in the first part of the paper. In the second part, the relations of silent and audible stereotypes are tested against the introduction of "innovative vocabularies" in popular lore. In other words, the explanatory power of this differentiation is checked through an analysis of unconventional motives in Serbian epic poems. The goal of the argument is to clarify the procedure of self creation of masculinity as a relevant feature of the "national character" through "tactic games" of silent and audible stereotypes. The examination of these "poetic strategies" serves a twofold purpose: to illustrate the process of constructing particular features of the "ethno type", on one hand, and to check hypotheses and models which are taken as frameworks in analyzing stereotypes, on the other.


Bioderecho.es ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chahinaze Sarah Hasnaoui

Se analiza el reconocimiento del perjuicio ecológico en Francia como resultado de un largo proceso deconstrucción jurisprudencial y doctrinal. Para ello se toma como punto de partida el desastre del Erika, un petrolero cargado de 31 000 toneladas de fuel que se partió en las aguas bretonas, causando una marea negra que alcanzó más de 400 kilómetros de costafrancesa. Se estudian las distintas decisiones de los tribunales implicados en el juicio de esta catástrofe y las distinciones que se establecen entre perjuicios subjetivos (intereses patrimoniales y extrapatrimoniales de las personas) y objetivos (daños al ambiente natural). The recognitionof the ecologic damage in France is analysed as a result longprocessof jurisprudential and doctrinal construction. For that, the Erika disasteris taken as a starting point, an oil tanker loaded with 31,000 tons of fuel which broke offin Breton waters, causing an oil slick which affected more than 400 kilometres of French coast.The different court’sdecision involved in the trial of this catastrophe, as well as the difference established between subjective damages (patrimonial and extra patrimonialinterest of the people) and objective damage (environmental damage)have been studied.


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