scholarly journals HEDGE APPROXIMATORS AS PROFESSIONAL TOOLS OF GERMAN MASS MEDIA DISCOURSE

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Shubina
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Semantic Class ◽  
Word Combination ◽  
Dative Case ◽  
Abstract Nouns ◽  
Erroneous Statement ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
Main Component

The purpose of this paper is the analysis of German mass media texts to investigate into hedge approximators. Synonymous analytical constructions eine Art … (a kind of); so etwas wie …; (so) etwas Ähnliches wie … are used to achieve certain pragmatic purposes the discourse of mass media. The most frequent word combination is eine Art... . The structural organization of such combinations is regulated by specific rules. The majorities of nominal groups of the eine Art N type without an attribute preceding the main component (eine Art Glück) do not allow to determine the case of the second noun in modern German. Nouns of all three genders, including noun of the weak type of declination, do not have inflexions. The case form of the main word in the phrase is revealed by expanding the cluster with an attribute. The basic types of such constructions are constructions with the genitive case (eine Art gemeinsamen Traums), construction with the preposition von and a noun in the dative case (eine Art von gemeinsamem Traum) and constructions with the case agreement between the two parts of the nominal group (in einer Art gemeinsamem Traum). The distribution of these types of constructions in the contemporary German language is determined in essence by grammatical factors, namely by the oblique form of the “auxiliary” noun and also by the number and by the semantic class of the second noun. All three synonymous clusters are used both with concrete and abstract nouns. These hedge markers make possible for authors of articles to limit the degree of confidence or doubt about the authenticity of the described fact, since sometimes there is no information about the nominated object, the risks of an erroneous statement being significantly minimized. Hedge markers show that the author is detached, careful, diplomatic and aims at avoiding conflictual situations.

scholarly journals Syntactic ambiguity of (complex) nominal groups in technical English

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Mirjana Borucinsky ◽  
Jana Kegalj
Keyword(s):  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Steam Engine ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguity ◽  
Engineering Process ◽  
Reciprocating Engine ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Lexical Density ◽  
Marine Engineering

Complex nominal groups are common in technical English (i.e. English for Specific Purposes, ESP) as they allow lexical items to be tightly packed into a clause. This leads to increased lexical density and syntactic ambiguity. In this paper we analyze (complex) nominal groups in technical English, assuming that it is not only the context and extralinguistic knowledge (i.e. shared technical background that the ESP teacher does not necessarily possess) that help solve the syntactic ambiguity, but that the structure of the nominal group, or more precisely the position of modifiers within the group can help disambiguate the meaning. Thus, modifiers standing farthest from the head have the least specifying potential and are followed by those which restrict the meaning of the entire nominal group. In the example steam reciprocating engine (vs.*reciprocating steam engine) the participle reciprocating has a more specific meaning and is thus closer to the head of the nominal group. The results show how the type of modification (linear or non-linear) can help disambiguate complex nominal groups. The main contribution of the paper is to help the ESP teacher, who is not a specialist in the field of (marine) engineering, process, understand and successfully teach complex nominal groups.

scholarly journals A Functional Study of zhi 之 in the Chinese Nominal Group

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Weiwei Zhang ◽  
Manliang Li
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Character ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Functional Study ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Shed Light

Over the past decades, subjects concerned with the Chinese character “zhi之”, i.e. grammatical structure, in ancient Chinese language, have been widely explored. This paper conducts a research from a new dimension: the Cardiff Grammar, an integral part of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) which is famous for its “problem-oriented theory”. In order to shed light on the semantics and syntactic functions of “zhi之” in the Chinese nominal group, this study examines five distinctive nominal groups involving “zhi之” with elaborate tree diagrams which are presented in each of the following sections. Through the contrastive study, we find that the Chinese character “zhi之” has some various functions in different situations: as genitive element (g), as modifier trigger (mtr), as selector (v), as qualifier introducer (qint) and as deictic determiner (dd).

A NEW MODEL OF THE LEARNING PROCESS FOR INNOVATION TEAMS: NETWORKED NOMINAL PAIRS

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (04) ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT DEW ◽  
GREG HEARN
Keyword(s):  
Group Structure ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Structural Type ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Innovation Teams ◽  
Group Structures

This paper examines how to structure resource-constrained innovation teams in order to maximise learning and creativity within organisations. Past research suggest that nominal groups (based on independent operations by individuals) outperform interactive groups. The results of this study suggest hybrid group structures based on independent operating pairs can be as effective as nominal groups. The study segmented 672 business managers and university post-graduate students into nominal, hybrid and interactive groups of six members. Three groups (one of each structural type) were pitted against each other to solve 4 related puzzles as quickly as possible. The results of these 28 problem-solving task races were aggregated to determine which group structure was most productive. Overall, the results confirmed that nominal groups of six significantly outperform interactive groups of the same size. More importantly, however, the results showed no significant difference between the productivity of nominal groups of six and hybrid groups comprised of three interactive pairs, where each pair operated separately to complete the same puzzle in parallel with the rest of the group. This suggests that structuring innovation teams into networked, nominal pairs may be just as productive as purely nominal group structures. This significantly extends the existing research on nominal groups versus interactive groups as it suggests that completely eliminating interactivity is not the optimal management approach.

scholarly journals Relational clauses in English technical discourse

Pragmatics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Group Structure ◽  
World View ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Equivalence Relations ◽  
Degree Of Equivalence ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
One To One ◽  
Technical Discourse ◽  
Practical Implications

This paper reports on patterns of verb choice in identifying relational clauses (e.g. ‘X is Y, Y is X’) in English technical manuals. While it is obvious that specific lexical verbs will feature in identifying clauses of different functions, e.g. mean (defining), call (naming), exemplify (exemplifying), less transparent is the distribution of these more specific verbs and the general or neutral verb be. The findings suggest that verb choice in (technical) identifying clauses is strongly associated with the degree of equivalence constructed between the two central nominal groups in the clause (the Token and Value). Equivalence relations are one-to-one (rather than one-to-many) and exhaustive (rather than semantically open). Major grammatical influences on equivalence include nominal group structure, ergativity of the clause, and the inclusion of features (e.g. interpersonal, logical or textual) that undermine the privileging of an experientially homogeneous world-view. The results challenge the notions that be and specific verbs are interchangeable and that be is an unmarked choice. On the contrary, the data reveal that under certain conditions be is the more marked choice. The results have practical implications for teachers and students of English (in particular, students of English for Academic and/or Specific Purposes) as well as translators.

scholarly journals IDENTIFYING PSYCHOLOGICAL SUBJECT AS A THEME: FOCUSING ON ENGLISH DECLARATIVE CLAUSES

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-78
Author(s):  
Puspita Sari ◽  
Diana Anggraeni
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Usual Form ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Medical Book ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Descriptive Method

This research discusses one of the types of subjects functioning as a theme proposed by Halliday (1985) in the English Declarative Clause which is called the Psychological Subject. Halliday claims the interpretation of Psychological subject into as something which is the concern of the message. It is the first constituent which becomes a ‘subject-matter’ of the clause. The data are taken from two kinds of books. The first one is an autobiography book and the second one is a medical book. The aim of this research is to identify the kinds of the theme found in psychological subjects in the English Declarative Clause and also categories found in psychological subjects functioning as a theme. The method used is a descriptive method and the technique employed is paraphrasing. The descriptive method was used to depict the empirical data discovered in those sources. Meanwhile, the paraphrasing technique was employed in order to explore the characteristics of psychological subject functioning as a theme, types of theme and categories of syntactic units. The study shows that Psychological Subject (PS) functioning as a theme can be filled by words and groups which could be realized by nominal groups (nouns and pronouns), nominal group complexes, adverbial groups or prepositional phrases. Nominal groups (nouns and pronouns) and nominal group complexes can be identified as unmarked themes which are ordinary, expected, and usual form according to Deterding (2001), Gerot and Wignel (1994) identified as the subject of the sentence. Meanwhile, adverbial groups and prepositional phrases could be identified as marked themes because they become the first constituents which perform the point of the departure of the message in the clause.

scholarly journals THE MASS MEDIA’S LANGUAGE STYLES: ITS POWER AND APPROPRIATENESS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Sukma Septian Nasution
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
National Geographic ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Language Styles ◽  
Clause Complex

The role of mass media is inevitably significant for people’s everyday life. As one of mass media, newspaper is very effective not only in informing the readers but also in influencing their principles and belief regarding to certain issues. However, texts published in newspapers potentially goes unsuitable for the targeted readers making its significance in informing and influencing less optimal. Accordingly, it is necessary to research the language styles of newspapers to optimize its power of significance in influencing the potential or targeted readers. This is a descriptive analysis study employing systemic functional linguistics (SFL) in analyzing the language styles of texts published by two popular mass media; The Jakarta Post and National Geographic. The analysis tools underpinned by SFL used in this study are the lexical system of congruency, lexicogrammar of complex-simplex clauses, conjunctive relations, and complexity of verbal and nominal groups of the news. The results show that (1) the targeted readers of the news are adult; (2) the use of incongruent lexis, internal conjunction, simple clause, complex group both verbal and nominal, and generic participant are more frequently employed; accordingly (3) written style is employed more often than spoken style. The findings drive to the conclusions that most of the news’ language styles go appropriate to the targeted readers. It means that its power to inform and influence the readers goes optimal. However, the linguistic techniques need improving in order the texts sound more intelligible to the targeted readers.

COGNITIVE AND EYE-MOVEMENT TECHNIQUES IN INDIRECT NOMINAL GROUPS ENTRENCHMENT

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
M.I. Kiose ◽  
◽  
T.G. Kharlamova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Load Distribution ◽  
Parametric Analysis ◽  
Fixation Duration ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Changing Roles ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Group Form ◽  
System Of Parameters

The study reveals the reading and construal techniques employed in the process of textual entrenchment of indirect nominal groups. Entrenchment is characterized by the conventionalization of the nominal group form and the repeated referent construal scheme. The research discloses whether any repeated indirect nominal group use contributes to its entrenchment which is assessed in the oculographic experiment. It traces the eye-movement techniques and the reference identification index variations signifying the changes in the cognitive load distribution. To define the construal differences occurring in the first and repeated indirect nominal group use, we apply the system of parameters of focusing and process the parametric analysis of the text fragments. We initially hypothesized that the repeated indirect nominal group use will employ defocusing and repeated focusing schemes, however it also employed new focusing schemes. The changing roles of focusing and defocusing were evaluated oculographically and revealed the techniques of both cognitive load decrease and increase, with fixation duration decrease and stable reading regimes correlating with defocusing / repeated focusing, and identification index decrease and longer fixation duration correlating with new focusing. The results give evidence that textual entrenchment is in most cases accompanied by novel construal, and is constrained not solely by the number of repeated indirect nominal group uses but by its new roles in the text and referent construal.

A Meta-Analysis of Group Size Effects in Electronic Brainstorming

2011 ◽  
pp. 250-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan R. Dennis ◽  
Michael L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Size Effects ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
Relative Benefit ◽  
Electronic Brainstorming ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Group Brainstorming

Electronic brainstorming (EBS) has been a focus of academic research since the 1980s. The results suggest that in most—but not all—cases, groups using EBS produce more ideas than groups using verbal brainstorming. In contrast, the results comparing groups using EBS to groups using nominal group brainstorming have been mixed: sometimes EBS group produce more ideas, while in other cases, nominal groups produce more. This article examines the effects of group size on EBS, verbal brainstorming, and nominal group brainstorming. We found that group size is a significant factor in predicting the performance of EBS relative to verbal brainstorming, and nominal group brainstorming. As group size increases, the relative benefit of EBS increases. EBS groups outperform verbal groups when group size reaches four people. EBS groups outperform nominal groups when group size reaches 10 people.

The nominal group, possessive agreement, and nominal sentences in the Transeurasian languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 587-603
Author(s):  
Irina Nevskaya ◽  
Lina Amal
Keyword(s):  
Nominal Group ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Demonstrative Pronouns ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
Semantic Types ◽  
Accusative Constructions ◽  
Semantic Properties

This chapter deals with some of the most salient syntactic features of nominal groups and nominal sentences in Transeurasian languages; e.g. agreement in person and number between the heads and the modifiers expressed by adjectives, numerals, and demonstrative pronouns within nominal groups; formal and semantic properties of the “possessive noun + noun” adnominal possession construction; the morphology and syntax of reflexive possessive constructions. Special attention is paid to the inalienable/alienable possession split, observed in the existence of specialized possessive morphology, or of the double nominative and double accusative constructions of “external possession” in individual Transeurasian subbranches or languages. The chapter also describes the main types of Transeurasian nominal sentences, correlation of their formal and semantic types, and agreement between their subjects and predicates.

scholarly journals A Contrastive Study of Word Sequence of English and Chinese Nominal Groups: A Systemic Functional Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Guichao Zhang ◽  
Manliang Li
Keyword(s):  
Functional Approach ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Nominal Group ◽  
General Description ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Word Sequence ◽  
Nominal Groups ◽  
The One ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Shed Light

Nominal group is always a heating study object for linguists. There are many scholars who have shed light on this field. However, among the current studies, most of them are just confined into the language of English. The contrastive study of nominal groups in English and Chinese, especially the study of the word sequence of modifiers, is rarely to be found. This paper, adopting a systemic functional approach, mainly conducted under the guidance of Halliday’s interpretation of nominal groups from the experiential point of view, attempts to make a contrastive study of the similarities and differences between Chinese and English nominal groups with respect to the word sequence of their modifiers. On the one hand, this paper is a tentative study of word sequence of the modifiers both in Chinese nominal groups and English nominal groups, aiming to make a general description of them; on the other hand, through the contrast, we are trying to enable the readers to have a better understanding of the mechanism of the modifiers in nominal groups in both languages.

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