scholarly journals Similarities and differences in categorization behavior by Brazilian Portuguese and American English native speakers

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-481
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Pelosi Silva de MACÊDO
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Describing Functions ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Feature Overlap ◽  
The Way

The present paper presents a brief account of the nature and formation of categories. It also reports on some of the findings obtained by investigating the way native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and American English organize their semantic categories. Eleven semantic categories taken from the Battig and Montague (1969) category response norms were used in the study. The way the Brazilians and the Americans behave, in ranking the various category members is statistically analyzed by assessing levels of agreement within and between groups. The results of the analysis indicate that, although, there exists some correspondence in the way the two groups behave in ranking and in describing functions and attributes associated with category members, culturally specific constraints also exist and these will influence ranking decisions. Additionally, subjects’ performance suggests that categorization behaviors appear to be motivated by two broad approaches to category structure: a prototypical approach based on feature overlap and a schema-directed approach based on instantiations prompted by the individual’s world knowledge.

The role of cross-linguistic stress pattern frequency and word similarity on the acquisition of English stress pattern by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Post Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
American English ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English As Second Language ◽  
Word Similarity ◽  
L1 Transfer

This is a preliminary study in which we investigate the acquisition of English as second language (L2[1]) word stress by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP, L1[2]). In this paper, we show results of a multiple choice forced choice perception test in which native speakers of American English and native speakers of Dutch judged the production of English words bearing pre-final stress that were both cognates and non-cognates with BP words. The tokens were produced by native speakers of American English and by Brazilians that speak English as a second language. The results have shown that American and Dutch listeners were consistent in their judgments on native and non-native stress productions and both speakers' groups produced variation in stress in relation to the canonical pattern. However, the variability found in American English points to the prosodic patterns of English and the variability found in Brazilian English points to the stress patterns of Portuguese. It occurs especially in words whose forms activate neighboring similar words in the L1. Transfer from the L1 appears both at segmental and prosodic levels in BP English. [1] L2 stands for second language, foreign language, target language. [2] L1 stands for first language, mother tongue, source language.

Symbols Without Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Smith
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
Machine Translation ◽  
Real World ◽  
Language Translation ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Meaningful Difference ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Words And Images ◽  
The Way

Humans have invaluable real-world knowledge because we have accumulated a lifetime of experiences that help us recognize, understand, and anticipate. Computers do not have real-world experiences to guide them, so they must rely on statistical patterns in their digital data base—which may be helpful, but is certainly fallible. We use emotions as well as logic to construct concepts that help us understand what we see and hear. When we see a dog, we may visualize other dogs, think about the similarities and differences between dogs and cats, or expect the dog to chase after a cat we see nearby. We may remember a childhood pet or recall past encounters with dogs. Remembering that dogs are friendly and loyal, we might smile and want to pet the dog or throw a stick for the dog to fetch. Remembering once being scared by an aggressive dog, we might pull back to a safe distance. A computer does none of this. For a computer, there is no meaningful difference between dog, tiger, and XyB3c, other than the fact that they use different symbols. A computer can count the number of times the word dog is used in a story and retrieve facts about dogs (such as how many legs they have), but computers do not understand words the way humans do, and will not respond to the word dog the way humans do. The lack of real world knowledge is often revealed in software that attempts to interpret words and images. Language translation software programs are designed to convert sentences written or spoken in one language into equivalent sentences in another language. In the 1950s, a Georgetown–IBM team demonstrated the machine translation of 60 sentences from Russian to English using a 250-word vocabulary and six grammatical rules. The lead scientist predicted that, with a larger vocabulary and more rules, translation programs would be perfected in three to five years. Little did he know! He had far too much faith in computers. It has now been more than 60 years and, while translation software is impressive, it is far from perfect. The stumbling blocks are instructive. Humans translate passages by thinking about the content—what the author means—and then expressing that content in another language.

A comparative Analysis of apology Speech acts between American English and Iraqi Kurdish

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Rawshan Ibrahim Tahir ◽  
Ambigapathy Pandian
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Explicit Expression ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
New Strategies

The present study is a comparative analysis of apology speech acts in both native speakers of Kurdish and native speakers of American English. It aims at finding out the similarities and differences in the strategies used to apologize in both languages. Therefore, a Discourse completion Task (DCT) questionnaire consisted of 15 situations was used to collect the data from 50 native speakers of English and 50 native speakers of Kurdish language. The findings revealed that both languages used similar five main strategies to apologize which confirm the universality of speech acts. However, the differences came out in the use of sub-strategies of an explicit expression of apology; native speakers of English used more an expression of regret strategy to perform an apology while native speakers of Kurdish used offer of an apology strategy more to apologize. Furthermore, the differences occurred in the frequency of strategies used to apologize in both languages. The study also revealed the occurrence of other new strategies in Kurdish Language that did not exist in English languag

scholarly journals Voicing and devoicing English alveolar fricatives: an investigation of Brazilian learners’ production

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
Mayara Tsuchida Zanfra ◽  
Rosane Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Final Position

This study examined the occurrence of voicing change in English alveolar fricatives produced by Brazilian-Portuguese (BP) speakers in different phonological contexts. The participants were 23 native speakers of BP and 4 native speakers of American English, and all of them recorded 54 English sentences containing the target sounds. The results showed that the phonological context that triggered higher rates for devoicing with /z/ were a pause and a voiceless consonant, and the phonological context that triggered higher rates of voicing with /s/ were a voiced consonant and a vowel. In addition, the presence of the <e> grapheme in word-final position influenced the production of voicing change.

scholarly journals Why are you late?: cross-cultural pragmatic study of complaints in American English and Ukrainian

2008 ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Prykarpatska
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Communication Behaviour ◽  
Pragmatic Study ◽  
The Way

This article examines culture-specific differences in the way a sample of native speakers of American English and Ukrainian make a complaint to their friends. The communication behaviour of both groups of respondents is analyzed within the models of their respective cultures. The research is based on empirical data collected with the help of a questionnaire.

Through the Lens of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: In comparison between Amina Wadud’s and Mohammed Talbi’s Interpretations of Q. 4:34

SUHUF ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214
Author(s):  
Afifur Rochman Sya'rani
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Married Couple ◽  
Contextual Approach ◽  
The Status ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Muslim Scholars ◽  
The Way

Most of traditional Muslim exegetes interpret Q. 4:34 in terms of maintaining the superiority of men over women. Some progressive Muslim scholars then insist a contextual approach to the verse to criticize gender inequality. Among some progressive Muslim scholars, this article comparatively examines the interpretations of Amina Wadud and Mohammed Talbi of Q. 4:34. Although both of them propose a contextual reading of the verse, they have different intellectual background, approach and method in interpreting the Qur’ān. The questions are to what extent the similarities and differences of both Wadud’s and Talbi’s interpretation of Q. 4:34 and how far their interpretations reflect their respective intention and perspective? Applying Gadamer’s hermeneutical approach, the article concludes that [1] Both Wadud and Talbi argue that the verse does not establish the superiority of men over women, but acknowledges duties division among married couple; [2] the difference among their interpretations is on the status of relationship among married couple; [3] Wadud’s and Talbi’s interpretations represent their respective hermeneutical situations and the way they define ontologically the nature of  interpretation and Qur’anic hermeneutics affect on producing the meanings of the verse.

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Study on the Use of the Logical Connector ‘Thus’ in the Academic Writing of Turkish EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Serpil Ucar ◽  
Ceyhun Yukselir
Keyword(s):  
Likelihood Ratio ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Log Likelihood ◽  
Log Likelihood Ratio ◽  
Effect Relation ◽  
Academic Genre

This research was conducted to investigate how frequently Turkish advanced learners of English use the logical connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose and to investigate whether it was overused, underused or misused semantically in comparison to English native speakers. The data were collected from three corpora; Corpus of Contemporary American English and 20 scientific articles of native speakers as control corpora, and 20 scientific articles of Turkish advanced EFL learners. The raw frequencies, frequencies per million words, frequencies per text and log-likelihood ratio were measured so as to compare varieties across the three corpora. The findings revealed that Turkish learners of English showed underuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’ in their academic prose compared to native speakers. Additionally, they did not demonstrate misuse in the use of the connector ‘thus’. Nevertheless, non-native learners of English tended to use this connector in a resultative role (cause-effect relation) more frequently whereas native speakers used it in appositional and summative roles more as well as its resultative role. Furthermore, the most frequent occurrences of ‘thus’ have been in academic genre.

Underlying representation of [w]-final words in Brazilian Portuguese: Evidence from morphological derivation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Carlos Schwindt
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Underlying Representation

AbstractThis paper deals with the underlying representation of [w]-final words in Brazilian Portuguese, usually spelled with <l> and pronounced as [w] and occasionally as [ɫ] (e.g., papel / [paˈpɛw] ~ [paˈpɛɫ] ‘paper’). It focuses on non-verbs derived by a vowel-initial suffix preceded by [l] (e.g., papel+eiro ‘paper+suffix’ / [papeˈlejɾʊ] ‘papermaker’; cliente+ismo ‘client+suffix’ / [kliẽnteˈlizmʊ] ‘patronage’). The results from a pseudoword task answered by 219 participants contrasted to lexicon data from Corpus Brasileiro show that native speakers associate such derived forms with bases already containing [l] in the last syllable, either in the onset or the coda position. This observation is interpreted in a constraint-based approach, with the assumption that a demand for alignment between vowel-initial suffixes and roots closed by /l/, along with the requirement for phonological correspondence between base and derivative, is highly ranked in a grammar that accounts for learning morphophonological representations in the language.

scholarly journals Semantic Categories and Gender Assignment in Contact Spanish: Type of Code-Switching and its Relevance to Linguistic Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osmer Balam
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Semantic Domains

The present study examines two aspects of determiner phrases (dps) that have been previously investigated in Spanish/English code-switching; namely, the openness of semantic domains to non-native nouns and gender assignment in monolingual versus code-switched speech. The quantitative analysis of naturalistic, oral production data from 62 native speakers of Northern Belizean Spanish revealed both similarities and notable differences vis-à-vis previous findings for varieties of Spanish/English code-switching in theu.s. Hispanophone context. Semantic domains that favoured non-native nouns in Spanish/Englishdps included academia, technology, work/money-related terms, abstract concepts, linguistics/language terms and everyday items. In relation to gender assignation, assignment patterns in monolingualdps were canonical whereas an overwhelming preference for the masculine default gender was attested in mixeddps. Biological gender was not found to be deterministic in switcheddps. The analysis highlights the important role that type of code-switching has on contact outcomes in bi/multilingual communities, as speech patterns are reflective of the status and resourcefulness that code-switching is afforded at a societal and idiolectal level.

scholarly journals Fuel Station Valuation under Polish and RICS Standards

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Mirosława Czaplińska ◽  
Małgorzata Rymarzak ◽  
Dariusz Trojanowski
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Market Structure ◽  
Comparison Analysis ◽  
Specific Approach ◽  
Valuation Methods ◽  
Property Valuation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Income Approach ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Way

Abstract In the last few years, there has been a visible change in the structure of the fuel station market in both Poland and the United Kingdom. The changes taking place both in the fuel station market structure and the management forms of fuel stations, along with the increasing significance of convenience goods sales, result in the necessity of verifying the existing Polish valuation standards of the income approach. Moreover, there is an urgent need to develop specific fuel station valuation guidelines. Fuel station valuation requires both the specific approach and profits method adjustment to be able to account for the specificity of the valuation. The universal character of property valuation in Poland cannot result in ignoring the specificity of fuel station valuation and the market where it operates. Property valuers undertaking valuations of this type of facilities must be familiar with the rules operating on the fuel station market. This paper focuses on the comparison analysis of the fuel station market structure in Poland and the United Kingdom along with the specificity of the way fuel stations operate. Its emphasis is on the comparison analysis of fuel station valuation methods under Polish and RICS standards in order to show their similarities and differences. The aim of the paper is to present the methods of fuel station valuation in Poland and the United Kingdom, though mainly to show the areas of changes in the Polish valuation standards with regards to the profits method under the income approach that would take into account the specificity of fuel stations and their market.

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