scholarly journals “Appropriate” Meanings and American Traits in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Virginia Meirelles
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Royal Academy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Universal Theory ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The World ◽  
Divine Origin ◽  
Different Origins ◽  
National Languages

During the eighteenth century, many philosophers were attempting to determine the origin of language and to develop a universal theory of linguistics, but a debate at the Prussian Royal Academy questioned the endeavour by claiming that languages have different origins and that it is impossible to explain the progress of human thought by studying them because national languages influence the way their speakers see the world. In answer to that, Webster proposes that all modern languages have a common divine origin and that the universal truth could be accessed by studying etymology. He claims that words have an “absolute” significance, which, due to the development of the different languages, assumed meanings that are “appropriate” to each individual language. This article proposes that nationalism in the American Dictionary of the English Language is not represented by a substantial number of Americanisms, but by giving “appropriate” meaning that evidences how “absolute” significances evolved and came to characterize the United States. The article provides evidence to support that Webster’s lexicographic contribution is constituted by the new organization he gives to the entries and by definitions that show how old terms came to represent new concepts when compared to those in Samuel Johnson’s dictionary.

The Oxford History of the Novel in English

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
English Language ◽  
Book History ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
History Of The Novel ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Volume Nine of this series traces the development of the ‘world novel’, that is, English-language novels written throughout the world, beyond Britain, Ireland, and the United States. Focusing on the period up to 1950, the volume contains survey chapters and chapters on major writers, as well as chapters on book history, publishing, and the critical contexts of the work discussed. The text covers periods from renaissance literary imaginings of exotic parts of the world like Oceania, through fiction embodying the ideology and conventions of empire, to the emergence of settler nationalist and Indigenous movements and, finally, the assimilations of modernism at the beginnings of the post-imperial world order. The book, then, contains chapters on the development of the non-metropolitan novel throughout the British world from the eighteenth to the mid twentieth centuries. This is the period of empire and resistance to empire, of settler confidence giving way to doubt, and of the rise of indigenous and post-colonial nationalisms that would shape the world after World War II.

scholarly journals (Re)claiming English Language Today

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Nadežda Stojković
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

In the huge and most diverse discussion on the influence of the English language as a second, international, or bridge language, there are distinctive voices drawing attention to the fact that this language as nowadays so widely used in innumerable contexts, is no longer ‘owned’ by the community of speakers to whom it is mother language, those primarily of the countries from where English language originates. Moreover, the number of people speaking, or rather using English language today either as their second or foreign language, by far outnumbers people to whom it is native. Situation being such, it is further claimed the concept of ‘standard English’ reflects inherent inequality stance, for if it belongs to everyone speaking it, then insisting on the supremacy on only one of its variants means placing all those speakers of it in a subdued position, and this possibly being yet another facet of English an agent of neocolonialism and globalization (Pennycook 1998, Phillipson 1992). The spread of the English language has been much investigated as oppressive to the formation and expression of personal and collective identities, degrading national languages and through globalization diminishing the impact of local cultures (Bhaba 1990), that it challenges cultures and discourses, being the impetus for continuous re-codification and re-colonisation (Foucault 1980). However, equally significant in relevance and number, the opposing views claim English today offers an expanded community of users enabling new ways of expressing, changing, negotiating voices that offer chances for cultural renewal and exchange around the world, that the awareness of this brings “decolonizing of the colonizers mind” (Penycook 2013). Taking the flip side of the situation, English language natives are noted to be in a paradoxical situation of being expatriates from their own language, themselves “co-victims” (Bratlinger 1990). This insurgent knowledge of the status of English language today is certainly to instigate further investigation, ‘writing back’ of what ontology this language now embodies.

XXIII.—The Development of Brief Narrative in Modern French Literature: A Statement of the Problem

PMLA ◽  
1917 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-597
Author(s):  
Horatio E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Henry James ◽  
French Literature ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modern Literature ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
The World ◽  
Bret Harte

Brief narrative, at first thought, connotes the abridged fiction of low grade with which American magazines are now saturated; but as soon as the term is used to cover the whole field in modern literature, it calls to mind a genre which, under various names, has risen to a position of dignity in many places in the world and has worthily engaged the attention of literary historians, particularly in America and in Germany.The chief features in the development of the form in the United States and England have been discussed at length, and there is now a definitive record, with abundant bibliographical apparatus, of its evolution. Poe is looked upon as the pioneer, and his perpetually quoted definition (1842) has set a standard for the majority of the practitioners of the art in the English language. The form suggests, for America, such experts as Hawthorne, Bret Harte, and Henry James; in England it does not gain the attention of writers of the first magnitude until near the end of the century, in the persons of Stevenson and Kipling.

The terminology fund and features of the translation of the military Chinese sublanguage

2020 ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Maksim V. Mozharov ◽  
Roman D. Lopatin
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Language ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Technical Base ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Technical Vocabulary ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Military ◽  
Technical Revolution

Nowadays, at the time of rapid growth of various branches of science and technology, the evolution of national languages is also observed. Each separate language expands its vocabulary through the inclusion of new terms, words and expressions that appeared in the language with the beginning of the technical revolution in the military and civilian spheres. As a result of the process impact of production modernization and updating the technical base around the world, completely new concepts and terms have appeared that have a narrow specialization, complexity, and are professionally oriented. As a result of this, natural difficulties and peculiarities arise in the translation of technical vocabulary lead to the question of the need for streamlining and in-depth analysis, and comparison of polysyllabic lexical units of the terminological fund of the Chinese language for further reproduction of an adequate translation into English or Russian. We determine lexical features of the terminology of the military Chinese sublanguage, study the composition of its terminological fund and ways of replenishing vocabulary, as well as study the main features of the military Chinese sublanguage translation and analyze the lexical, stylistic and syntactic features of the translation of the military Chinese sublanguage.

scholarly journals CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE PUBLIC AND POLITICAL ROLE OF MEMES IN MEDIA DISCOURSE

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
E.V. Troshchenkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
The World

The article is aimed at identifying and analyzing the main frames for conceptualizing the socio-political role of memes and the models of their linguistic representation in the newspaper articles (16 articles, mainly 2019-2020, in English) on the relevant topic. In other words, this is an attempt from a scientific standpoint to represent how modern media, which are becoming the source and means of the viral spread of Internet memes, meta-represent an element of their own communication processes. Methodologically, the study is based on examining media texts about Internet memes in the broad context of socio-political transformations emerging from the active development of forums, social networks, instant messengers, and other tools. It proceeds from analyzing the thematic grid in each article, identifying the key, repetitive lexical elements, including metaphors, associated with interpreting memes popularity and their functions, as well as taking into account some iconic components of these multimodal texts. Then I review the entire article mini-corpus to identify repetitive patterns of meme representation and study their evaluative component. These models that can be viewed as coordination patterns are further compared with the way Internet memes are considered in academic studies. As a result, it is shown that although in modern journalism the conceptualization of memes in many respects correlates with what the experts of technologically mediated communication say, the article’s appraisal of the importance for various aspects meme usage is different. Journalists are less concerned with the precise definition of the phenomenon, meme classification in terms of structural types or according to component relations in them. They do recognize that going viral is an important feature for memes, but journalists, as opposed to scholars, are less interested in what makes these information products popular and widely shared, often taking it for granted. At the same time, journalists (compared to ordinary users) nowadays are less inclined to view memes just as an entertainment. However, it should be borne in mind that changes in the functionality of memes, apparently, occur unevenly around the world and in a number of countries are less noticeable for objective reasons, and journalists may be well aware of the differences between the English-language socio-political discourse, especially in the United States, and the European one “lagging behind”. The more indicative is the desire to anticipate the inevitable future transformations and take into account the experience of the countries that are more “advanced” in terms of using memes for public and political purposes. Thus, the focus of attention in newspapers is shifted towards two frames, both of which are viewed as reflecting situations that are potentially problematic for society. One is associated with the ideas of domestic alt-right radicalism and international “information terrorism”. The second frame is also based on the concept of the world plunging into information wars which are aggravated by economic problems, social tensions, and uncertainty about future. Against this background, memes are seen as coping method, a way to let off steam and get emotional relief from tension.

scholarly journals Research Roundup: Diversity through International Youth Literature

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Y. Goldsmith ◽  
Betsy Diamant-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
English Language ◽  
Multicultural Literature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
The World ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Youth Literature

What Is International Youth Literature? Why Does It Matter?International youth literature—translated books and English-language imports first published outside of the United States—can be the missing link in diversifying collections. Our diversity discussions tend to focus on multicultural literature that is originally published in the United States. At first glance diverse books from here and abroad can seem indistinguishable since they may have a similar focus or setting—that is, by race, ethnicity, ability, socioeconomic status, etc.—so it is not surprising that international books are often mistaken for multicultural books. Sometimes only a close look will reveal that a book has been translated or was first published in English abroad. Reading international youth literature moves us to the margins for a change and is an opportunity to see what the rest of the world thinks. By paying attention to this literature, we broaden our perspectives and validate international voices.

scholarly journals Screening of grapevine red blotch virus in two European ampelographic collections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Sébastien Reynard ◽  
Justine Brodard ◽  
Nathalie Dubuis ◽  
Isabelle Kellenberger ◽  
Anne-Sophie Spilmont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Vitis Vinifera ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dna Viruses ◽  
Unintentional Movement ◽  
Host Jump ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Origins

AbstractGrapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) is a recently identified virus that infects grapevine and has a severe impact on the grape industry in North America. Since the first description of the virus 8 years ago, clear progress has been made regarding our understanding of the GRBV pathosystem. However, questions remain regarding the origin of this pathogen and its spread outside North America, especially in Europe. In this study, we present the results of a large-scale GRBV survey in two European repositories; we targeted Vitis spp. accessions with diverse geographical origins. Of 816 accessions from different origins (50 different countries around the world), six accessions were infected by GRBV, all of which originated from the United States. We investigated the DNA virome of 155 grapevine accessions from the Swiss grapevine collection using high-throughput sequencing. We observed that virome of the Swiss grapevine collection was composed of several RNA viruses. In contrast, we did not detect any DNA viruses in the 155 Swiss grapevine accessions. This finding suggests that the abundance of DNA viruses infecting grapevines in Switzerland is either very low or non-existent. Our results and the findings of studies published since 2008 show that GRBV most likely originated in North America and subsequently spread to other viticultural areas in the world via unintentional movement of infected cuttings. According to our data, the most plausible scenario for the origin of GRBV is that the virus evolved from non-Vitis vinifera hosts and underwent a host jump to Vitis vinifera after its introduction to North America in the 1600s.

Japanese Cinema

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Nygren
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Film History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Half Century ◽  
Japanese Cinema ◽  
Japanese Film ◽  
The World ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
A Site

Japanese film became a major area of English-language film study in the 1960s, after the publication of Anderson and Richie’s groundbreaking work, The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, in 1959 (see Anderson and Richie 1982, cited under Film History). Although Japanese cinema is one of the oldest continuous traditions of filmmaking in the world, with films by Japanese filmmakers dating back as early as 1898–1899, Japanese films were only rarely screened outside of Japan until after Kurosawa’s Rashomon won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. Before then, international cinema effectively included only Europe and the United States, and all other cinemas were restricted to regional exhibition. Afterward, other non-Western cinemas also gained international recognition and distribution. Accordingly, English-language study of Japanese film coincides with the recognition of non-Western cinemas as a crucial part of world cinema, marking a fundamental break with the Eurocentric model of the world that dominated cinema’s first half century. Over the last half century, a rich and diverse body of work has emerged both in topics and approaches. Japanese film has become a model in cinema studies for understanding film history outside the grand narrative of a Eurocentric tradition and has been a site for the emergence of innovative approaches to issues of cultural context and identity, the limits of language, the problem of missing films, and of modernization outside the West. Strategies continue to proliferate, with many new books and approaches appearing in the last decade. Moreover, some important books exist only in French or translation into French, and these are included below when no comparable text exists in English.

Protestant English-Language Bible Publishing and Translation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C. Gutjahr
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Printing Presses

After the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776, the English Royal copyright on the Bible no longer held sway in the newly formed United States. Beginning in 1777, American publishers began to produce English-language Bibles. Over the next two and half centuries, four distinct waves of American Bible publishing moved from the use of hand-powered printing presses to computers to produce billions of copies of the scriptures that have been distributed around the world. This chapter examines the publishing technologies, the distribution methods, and the key social and religious developments that have been critical in shaping the production and distribution of the Protestant Bible in the United States.

scholarly journals Southeast Asian Press Coverage of Terrorism and the Bali Bombing

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Ambrosio De Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
English Language ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
The United States ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
Economic Constraints

The war against terrorism is being carried out not only in Afghanistan where it was first declared but also in the media around the world. Southeast Asia became a focus of international attention after the U.S. administration identified the region as the second front in the fight against terrorism following the attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001. The perception that the region is a cradle for terrorism was reinforced by the Bali bombing in October 2002. The event was the first major terrorist attack after 11 September, and the worst act of violence against foreigners in Indonesia, a country that has been under continuous international pressure to be decisive in the fight against terrorism. Although the media can function as the source of people's information, it can provide interpretations of the social construction of ideas and images. Like the media in all parts of the world, the media in Southeast Asia function within some form of governmental, societal, and economic constraints. Journalists are encouraged to support their governments' efforts to develop the nation and instil a sense of national identity. In such a setting journalists, consciously or not, end up not only reflecting but also spreading the dominant view of the society's elite. This transnational comparative study involving three mainstream English-language newspapers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore examines the reportage of the Bali bombing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document