scholarly journals Construction Grammar: Basic Principles and Concepts

2019 ◽  
pp. 94-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Wasserscheidt

The article provides an overview of Construction Grammar. First, a general survey of the basic principles and major strands of the grammatical theory is given. The main assumptions include the recognition that all linguistic knowledge is of the same type as knowledge in general and follows the same principles such as categorization, abstraction and generalization. In the second part, the presentation focuses on two important elements of construction grammar research: the concept of the construction as complex sign and the abandoning of the distinction between lexicon and grammar. Using examples from Ukrainian, the different relationships between constructions of different complexity and schematicity in the so-called constructicon – the common space of both lexical and grammatical knowledge – are described. It is shown, how abstract constructions offer slots for other elements and how these are constrained regarding form and meaning. In addition, the status of constructions as complex signs is assessed from the perspective of semantics and compositionality. It is highlighted that Construction Grammar rejects the assumption of compositionality and rather conceptualizes meaning as determined by the construction itself. At the same time, semantics is understood in an encyclopaedic sense, which renders the description of constructions highly detailed and language-specific.

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 100237
Author(s):  
Luise J. Fischer ◽  
Heini Wernli ◽  
David N. Bresch

Mammalia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 70 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brugière ◽  
Bakary Magassouba ◽  
Amidou Sylla ◽  
Halimou Diallo ◽  
Mamadou Sow

AbstractThe Republic of Guinea is thought to contain the largest population of common hippopotamus in West Africa. However, no systematic field survey has been carried out recently and the information available is limited to informal observations. To clarify the status of the common hippopotamus in Guinea, we carried out a biannual population survey along the section of the Niger River (the largest river in Guinea) within the Haut Niger National Park. We counted 93 hippopotamuses in 28 groups in the dry season and 77 hippopotamuses in 23 groups in the wet season. Mean group size and number of neonates did not change between the seasons. Hippopotomuses were more numerous along the river sections bordering uncultivated floodplains. This underlines the significance of this habitat (which is used as a grazing area) for conservation of this species. Haut Niger National Park is the most important protected area in Guinea for conservation of the common hippopotamus. Hippopotamus-human and -cattle conflicts in terms of floodplain use in the park's buffer zone should be closely monitored. Floodplain conversion to rice fields represents one of the most important threats to the long-term conservation of hippopotamus populations in Guinea.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Höder

Usage-based CxG approaches share the central assumption that any grammar has to be acquired and organised through input-based abstraction and categorisation. Diasystematic Construction Grammar (DCxG) is based on the idea that these processes are not sensitive to language boundaries. Multilingual input thus results in multilingual grammars which are conceived of as constructicons containing language-specific as well as language-unspecific constructions. Within such systems, phonological structures play an important part in the identification of schematic constructions. However, the status of phonology in DCxG, as in CxG in general, yet remains unclear. This paper presents some arguments for including phonological elements systematically in the construction-based analysis of (multilingual) constructional systems.


2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 1255-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Leible

National legislators approach European law very differently. The reason for these differences lies partly in the historical development of their individual legal cultures. If one pursues a broad interpretation of the term ‘legal culture’ one takes especially into account the style of law and the attitude toward it. Thus legal culture can be defined as the Continental civil law countries’ ideal of a “concise, but comprehensive codification by which the judge can derive solutions for all possible cases through teleological interpretation;” whereas the common law rather limits this concept to “special laws which are interpreted very narrowly by the courts and accordingly are designed by the legislator to the last detail”. Furthermore, one could include the status of a judge, the nature of legal discourse, or the training of legal professionals, as well as the respect accorded to the law by the population when defining the concept of ‘legal culture'.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-23
Author(s):  
Maricica Munteanu

The present article explores the collective imaginary of the cenacle, referring to the case of Viața românească literary group from Iași, focussing on the bodily community and its representations in the common space, understood as space-in-common. This approach shifts the interest from the ideological component that is the ‘poporanism’, as promoted by Viața românească revue, to the ethical and social aspects of the community. This does not mean that the bodily community is “more real” than the ideological community, or that it translates with fidelity the common practices of the cenacle; the bodily community is in fact another form of representation, a phantasm of the living-together, analysed through Roland Barthes’s theory as the space where solitude and sociability coexist. The corporal representations of the community, always engaged in an ethical debate, is further discussed through two manners of the living-together: the gesture and the rhythm. The theoretical reference of this analysis is Marielle Macéʼs book Styles. Critique de nos formes de vie, which proposes a formal approach of life, concentrating on the ethical implications. The issues derived from this sort of reading state the relation between the body and the environment, the vicinities and the somatic interactions between the members of the cenacle, the adjustment of distances, and the maintenance of solitude inside the community. The gestures, attitudes, behaviour, verbal and non-verbal tics, clothing, the manners of speech or the rhythm of doing certain things are seen not as marks of personal identity that positions itself inside the spaces of power, but as collective signs, as form of encounter and interaction, of exposure to the others but also responsiveness of the others, of expropriation as well as appropriation, of affirmation as well as alteration of the forms of life.


Author(s):  
Oluwaseun Babalola ◽  
Ajoke Raji

Remnant or by-products of pesticides arising from the field or storage pest applications sometimes find their ways into the final food produce. They are called pesticide residues. Studies have shown the occurrence of these residues in various food produce including tea, fruits, vegetables, beverages and even baby and infants food. With about 800 pesticides permitted for use globally, residue becomes almost inevitable. For the infants, and young children, the health effects at that critical developmental phase could be severe and irreversible. This is because quantitative and qualitative differences in pesticides absorption, metabolism, detoxification and excretion relative to adults, make the children more susceptible due to much higher kg per body weight. This study assessed the pesticide residues in the common baby food and compared with international maximum residual limits. Using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, five infant and baby’s food tagged A, B, C, D and E were analyzed. In all, multiple residues involving various twenty five pesticides were detected in the five food products. Fifteen of the pesticides including resmethrin (0.0002 µg/g), chlorpyrifos (0.0002 µg/g), allethrin (0.0004 µg/g), piperonyl butoxil (0.0003 µg/g), cyfluthrin (0.0001 µg/g), chlorpyrifos methyl (0.0002 µg/g), diclorovos (0.0001 µg/g), fluridane (0.0002 µg/g), fludioxonil (0.0002 µg/g and 0.0001 µg/g), lindane (0.0002 µg/g), daminozide (0.0002 µg/g), methy paraoxon (0.0001 µg/g) and DDE.p.p (0.0002 µg/g and 0.0001 µg/g) were above the WHO and USEPA maximum residual limits. The potential interaction of different mixtures for those pesticides that are below international residual limits as well as the occurrence of those at concentrations above these standards called for serious concerns, giving their critical effects on nervous, endocrine and immune systems. Further studies must be encouraged to determine the status of residue in other foods and the elimination of these residues, particularly in the infants and baby’s food.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Ravi Kumar ◽  
Rohini Sajjan

Investment mistakes happen for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that decisions made under conditions of uncertainty that are irresponsibly downplayed by market gurus and institutional spokespersons.  Losing money on an investment may not be the result of a mistake, and not all mistakes result in monetary losses. But errors occur when judgment is unduly influenced by emotions, when the basic principles of investing are misunderstood, and when misconceptions exist about how securities react to varying economic, political, and hysterical circumstances. Proper planning and using of techniques, strategies can come as rescue to the investor and help in reaping profits and avoiding the blunders that are commonly observed. The paper investigates the basis for investment patter by the investor, their techniques and strategies adopted and guidelines to be followed to avoid the common blunders made by them leading to fewer losses they would face otherwise.


Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Huiping Jiang ◽  
Demeng Wu ◽  
Rui Jiao ◽  
Zongnan Wang

Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measurement of neuronal activity in different areas of the brain through the use of electrodes. As EEG signal technology has matured over the years, it has been applied in various methods to EEG emotion recognition, most significantly including the use of convolutional neural network (CNN). However, these methods are still not ideal, and shortcomings have been found in the results of some models of EEG feature extraction and classification. In this study, two CNN models were selected for the extraction and classification of preprocessed data, namely, common spatial patterns- (CSP-) CNN and wavelet transform- (WT-) CNN. Using the CSP-CNN, we first used the common space model to reduce dimensionality and then applied the CNN directly to extract and classify the features of the EEG; while, with the WT-CNN model, we used the wavelet transform to extract EEG features, thereafter applying the CNN for classification. The EEG classification results of these two classification models were subsequently analyzed and compared, with the average classification accuracy of the CSP-CNN model found to be 80.56%, and the average classification accuracy of the WT-CNN model measured to 86.90%. Thus, the findings of this study show that the average classification accuracy of the WT-CNN model was 6.34% higher than that of the CSP-CNN.


2018 ◽  
pp. 17-36
Author(s):  
Tomasz Brańka

Pursuant to the Constitution of 1953, the Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary state. How- ever, the status of the Faroe Islands and Greenland actually defies the uniform character of this state. In its broader aspect, this situation undermines the widespread myth of Nordic unity. The official standpoint, explaining the Danish policy of aiding the Faroe Islands and Green- land, points to the long-standing tradition that links Denmark with her overseas territories and the common values that bind them. The Danish responsibility for the development of these territories is also emphasized and financial aid is treated as an expression of the solidarity pol- icy. The paper analyzes the benefits and costs related to maintaining the insular possessions of Denmark.


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