scholarly journals Humorous and Non-Humorous Effects in Sitcoms: a Relevance-Theoretic Perspective

Author(s):  
Magdalena Wieczorek

Humorous utterances can be divided into those which are created for their own sake (that is, to amuse others), dubbed autotelic humour, and those which communicate truthful and/or untruthful meanings germane to the ongoing conversation, dubbed speaker-meaning-telic humour (Dynel 2018). The present paper carries out a qualitative analysis of humorous units in sitcom discourse with a view to delineating a number of propositional meanings, which can be potentially derived by the TV recipients. Special attention is confined to one of the most powerful tools used to explain humour in various humorous manifestations, i.e. weak implicatures (Sperber and Wilson 1986 [1995]; Wilson and Sperber 2004). It is believed here that pragmatic COMPREHENSION mechanisms proposed within Relevance Theory and the notion of weakly communicated assumptions are two sides of the same coin since these account not only for the viewer’s recovery of a humorous interpretation but also of an array of non-humorous propositional meanings. Moreover, the participatory framework has been employed as an additional parameter to show the difference in the reception of a dialogue by fictional characters and the viewers.

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 2104-2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Suuronen ◽  
Russell B. Millar

A twin codend trawl was fished in the northern Baltic to study the size selectivity of square mesh and diamond mesh codends of 36-mm nominal mesh size. For each codend, 15 hauls were completed with a small mesh (20 mm) codend deployed on the other side of the trawl. The relative size of the catches in the two sides of the trawl varied considerably from haul to haul (the separator section was not operating properly) and selection curves were estimated from each individual haul using a method that incorporated the differences in catching efficiency of the two sides. The length of 50% retention decreased with increased catch for both the diamond and square mesh codends, although in neither case was this relationship statistically significant. Selection curves fitted to the combined haul data were asymmetric. The square mesh codend retained significantly less small herring than the diamond mesh codend, and for larger herring the two codends had similar selectivity. In both codends, most escapes occurred at the front of the catch bulge, from the upper side of the codend. At high catch rates, mesh blockage was observed for several metres ahead of the catch bulge during the later part of the tow.


Current understanding of the formation of circumstellar discs as a natural accompaniment to the process of low-mass star formation is briefly reviewed. Models of the thermal emission from the dust discs around the prototype stars a Lyr, a PsA, P Pic and 8 Eri are discussed, which indicate that the central regions of three of these discs are almost devoid of dust within radii ranging between 17 and 26 AU, with the temperature of the hottest dust lying between about 115 and 210 K. One possible explanation of the dust-free zones is the presence of a planet at the inner boundary of each cloud that sweeps up grains crossing its orbit. The discs have outer radii that range between about 250 and 800 AU and have dust masses that are unlikely to exceed about 300 Earth masses. Assuming a gas: dust ratio of 100:1 for the pre-mainsequence disc this corresponds to a mass of ca. 0.1 M Q comparable to that of the premain-sequence star HL Tau. The colour, diameter and thickness of the optical image of P Pic, obtained by coronagraphic techniques, have provided further information on the size, radial distribution of number density and orbital inclination of the grains. The difference in surface brightness on the two sides of the disc is puzzling, but might be explained if the grains are elongated and aligned by the combined effects of a stellar wind and a magnetic field of spiral configuration. Finally, we discuss the orbital evolution and lifetimes of particles in these discs, which are governed primarily by radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson drag and grain-grain collisions. Although replenishment of these discs may be occurring, for example by grains ejected from comets, discs of initial radius ca. 1000 AU can survive Poynting-Robertson depletion over the stellar age and there is no prima facie evidence as yet in favour of a balance between sources and sinks of dust.


2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 503-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Chandran ◽  
Z. Hu ◽  
B.F. Smets

Several techniques have been proposed for biokinetic estimation of nitrification. Recently, an extant respirometric assay has been presented that yields kinetic parameters for both nitrification steps with minimal physiological change to the microorganisms during the assay. Herein, the ability of biokinetic parameter estimates from the extant respirometric assay to adequately describe concurrently obtained NH4+-N and NO2−-N substrate depletion profiles is evaluated. Based on our results, in general, the substrate depletion profiles resulted in a higher estimate of the maximum specific growth rate coefficient, μmax for both NH4+-N to NO2−-N oxidation and NO2−-N to NO3−-N oxidation compared to estimates from the extant respirograms. The trends in the kinetic parameter estimates from the different biokinetic estimation techniques are paralleled in the nature of substrate depletion profiles obtained from best-fit parameters. Based on a visual inspection, in general, best-fit parameters from optimally designed complete respirograms provided a better description of the substrate depletion profiles than estimates from isolated respirograms. Nevertheless, the sum of the squared errors for the best-fit respirometry based parameters was outside the 95% joint confidence interval computed for the best-fit substrate depletion based parameters. Notwithstanding the difference in kinetic parameter estimates determined in this study, the different biokinetic estimation techniques still are close to estimates reported in literature. Additional parameter identifiability and sensitivity analysis of parameters from substrate depletion assays revealed high precision of parameters and high parameter correlation. Although biokinetic estimation via automated extant respirometry is far more facile than via manual substrate depletion measurements, additional sensitivity analyses are needed to test the impact of differences in the resulting parameter values on continuous reactor performance.


Author(s):  
Yelena I. Barysheva

The article is devoted to the problem of studying the worldview and features of its components change under extremal conditions. The author studies features of the attitude to the inner world of people involved in a war confl ict, their ideas about good and evil. The sample of the study is 95 men and women of mature age. The article describes results of the qualitative analysis of the experiment participants’ answers. A content analysis of the respondents’ answers gave a representation of the substantial characteristics of the perception and understanding of the world, about the feeling of a comfortable or uncomfortable presence in the world. The statements of the respondents refl ected the characteristics of the value-semantic sphere of personality. The study notes the difference and specifi city in the presentation of the material by men and women, which is consistent with ideas about the characteristics of motionality, the dynamics of experiences, the specifi cs of the reality refl ection by men and women. The transformations that took place in the picture of the world of a person under the infl uence of an extreme situation of a military confl ict show that the experiences have led not only to traumatising the psyche but also to the understanding of the important existential meanings, awareness about the global values. During the study of the substantial features of the picture of the world, a connection was found with the characteristics of the hardiness of a person.


Dialogue ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessy Giroux

ABSTRACT: In this paper, I distinguish between two families of theories which view moral norms as either “inputs” or “outputs.” I argue that the most plausible version of each model can ultimately be seen as the two sides of the same model, which I call Moderate Nativism. The difference between these two apparently antagonistic models is one of perspective rather than content: while the Input model explains how emotional dispositions constrain the historical evolution of moral norms, the Output model explains how these same dispositions naturally give rise to corresponding moral judgments in individuals.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155541202110618
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Burgess ◽  
Christian Jones

Video games such as the successful Assassin’s Creed series allow consumers to engage with various historical contexts and to explore them in engaging and influential ways. However, it is unclear what consumers understand as the difference between the historical authenticity and historical accuracy used by developers in these games. Therefore, this research explored players of Assassin’s Creed games’ understanding of these two concepts and how they expected developers to utilize them. The study used a qualitative analysis of 959 online forum comments and an online survey with 88 respondents. While it was found that players understood historical accuracy and valued it in video games, historical authenticity prompted confusion with 43% describing it as the same as historical accuracy. The results were used to develop a new player-centric definition of historical authenticity to clarify player understandings and present useful and practical implications for developers and publishers.


Author(s):  
David M. Kaplan

Environmental philosophy and philosophy of technology have a lot in common. Both fields explore the positive and negative aspects of human modifications of the world. Both question the limits of technology in relation to natural environments, animals, plants, and food. Both examine if human making and doing is compatible with nature or wholly different from it. And both examine the difference between what is considered to be natural and artificial. Technology and the environment further intersect in a number of issues, such as climate change, sustainability, geo-engineering, and agriculture. The reason for the overlap is fundamental: Environmental issues inevitably involve technology, and technologies inevitably have environmental impacts. Technology and the environment are like two sides of the same coin: Each is fully understood only in relation to the other. Yet, despite the ample overlap of questions concerning technology and the environment, the two philosophical fields have developed in relative isolation from each other. Even when philosophers in each field address themselves to similar concerns, the research tends to be parallel rather than intersecting, and the literatures remain foreign to one another. These divergent paths are unfortunate. Philosophers from each field have a lot to contribute to the other....


2002 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Matić ◽  
C. E. M. Pearce ◽  
J. Pečarić

AbstractWe refine Shannon's inequality, in its discrete and integral forms, by presenting upper estimates of the difference between its two sides.


2010 ◽  
Vol 121-122 ◽  
pp. 832-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Jun Zhang ◽  
Ji Tao Zhong ◽  
Li Li He ◽  
Rui Zhen Gao

Modal analysis, which is applied to verify the vibration characteristic of structures, is the basis of various dynamic analyses. In this paper, firstly, a cable-stayed space truss, consisting of stay cables, columns and space truss, is built in ANSYS. Secondly, modal analysis is performed to confirm the natural frequencies of the structure and 10 modes are extracted. Thirdly, a modal neutral file including all necessary information of flexible bodies is generated by ANSYS and then imported into ADAMS for further modal analysis. Finally, comparison of results between ANSYS and ADAMS are summarized and qualitative analysis is carried out aiming at the difference of natural frequencies between ANSYS and ADAMS. The simulation results indicate that the interface between the two tools has strong compatibility regardless of minor errors in it.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-306
Author(s):  
Daniel Wedgwood

AbstractRelevance theorists have claimed that successful communication need result only in similarity, not identity, of mental representations across communicator and addressee. Cappelen and Lepore have criticised this stance, partly on the basis that any definition of similarity must make reference to identity. Accepting this point, Kjøll (2010) argued in this journal that Relevance Theory has an appropriate notion of identical "shared content", in the shape of relevant contextual implications. While this is convincing on a technical level, Relevance Theory owes no such concessions to Cappelen and Lepore, and Kjøll's observations would in any case fail to meet their theoretical requirements. This relates to an important but under-appreciated distinction in analytical perspective that is instantiated in the difference between the cognitive pragmatics of Relevance Theory and the philosophical-semantic approach of Cappelen and Lepore – a distinction that is worthy of further reflection, having significant implications for linguistic theory, within and beyond pragmatics.


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