scholarly journals "All mimsy were the borogoves” – A discriminative learning model of morphological knowledge in pseudo-word inflection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Nieder ◽  
Ruben van de Vijver ◽  
Fabian Tomaschek

Grammatical knowledge of native speakers has often been investigated in so-called wug tests, in which participants have to inflect pseudo-word forms (wugs). Typically it has been argued that in inflecting these pseudo-words, speakers apply their knowledge of word formation processes. However, it remains unclear what exactly this knowledge is and how it is learned.According to one theory, the knowledge is best characterized as abstractions and rules that specify how units can be combined. Another theory maintains that it is best characterized by analogy. In both cases the knowledge is learned by association based on positive evidence alone.In this paper, we model the classification of pseudo-words to Maltese plural classes on the basis of phonetic input using a shallow neural network trained with an error-driven learning algorithm. We demonstrate that the classification patterns mirror those of Maltese native speakers in a wug test. Our results indicate that speakers rely on gradient knowledge of a relation between the phonetics of whole words and plural classes, which is learned in an error-driven way.

Linguaculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-74
Author(s):  
Anna Zaslonkina

The object of the present study is the domain of Greimassian semiotic theory. Several previous findings on supraindividual phenomena have been summarized and theoretical underpinnings of the so-called thymic category have been extended. Investigation of such an object discloses the relation between the experiential (which approximates the sensational) and the cognitive nature of perception. Whereas conceptual universals that bear the information on feelings, senses and emotions such as those inherent in the corporal framework which correspond to the basic level of categorization have already been demonstrated, their iconic efficiency in terms of Peircian semiotics is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of the current analysis is to clarify structural-semantic links between derived and root words constituting the thymic lexical corpus of modern English. This paper emphasizes the importance of understanding how the motivational means conditioned by the classification of associative-figurative and evaluative features of the conceptual triad SENSE : FEELING : EMOTION are exteriorised within the thymic category. These characteristics can be developed and enhanced through the iconic reflection of the correlation between the native speakers’ evaluation of the sign acting as a motivator and the expressive as well as gnoseological functions of perception.


Linguaculture ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Anna Zaslonkina

The object of the present study is the domain of Greimassian semiotic theory. Several previous findings on supraindividual phenomena were summarized and theoretical underpinnings of the soi-disant thymic category were extended. Investigation of such an object discloses the relation between the experiential (which approximates sensational) and cognitive nature of perception. Whereas conceptual universals that bear the information on feelings, senses and emotions as those inherent in the corporal framework and correspond to the basic level of categorization have already been demonstrated, their iconic efficiency in terms of Piercian semiotics is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of the current analysis is to clarify structural-semantic links between derived and root words constituting the thymic lexical corpus of modern English. This paper emphasizes the importance of understanding how the motivational means conditioned by the classification of associative-figurative and evaluative features of the conceptual triad SENSE: FEELING: EMOTION are exteriorised within the thymic category. These characteristics can be developed and enhanced through the iconic reflection of the correlation between the native speakers’ evaluation of the sign acting as a motivator and expressive as well as gnoseological functions of perception.


Author(s):  
Heike Baeskow

Denominal verbs are verbs formed from nouns by means of various word-formation processes such as derivation, conversion, or less common mechanisms like reduplication, change of pitch, or root and pattern. Because their well-formedness is determined by morphosyntactic, phonological, and semantic constraints, they have been analyzed from a variety of lexicalist and non-lexicalist perspectives, including Optimality Theory, Lexical Semantics, Cognitive Grammar, Onomasiology, and Neo-Construction Grammar. Independently of their structural shape, denominal verbs have in common that they denote events in which the referents of their base nouns (e.g., computer in the case of computerize) participate in a non-arbitrary way. While traditional labels like ‘ornative’, ‘privative’, ‘locative’, ‘instrumental’ and the like allow for a preliminary classification of denominal verbs, a more formal description has to account for at least three basic aspects, namely (1) competition among functionally similar word-formation patterns, (2) the polysemy of affixes, which precludes a neat one-to-one relation between derivatives displaying a particular affix and a particular semantic class, and (3) the relevance of generic knowledge and contextual information for the interpretation of (innovative) denominal verbs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Zaheer

Short Message Service (SMS) language can be classified in itself as a variety of written language. The classification of SMS as a distinct variety is based on the uniqueness of the way it is written, since this variety is based only on written form and not speech. This article examines the Word Formation Processes that are used in SMS language by the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students of University of Management and Technology (UMT), Pakistan. The article also explores the choices of Word Formation Processes (WFPs) that are made by males and females. The data was collected from 50 male and 50 female students enrolled in the BBA program of a private university of Lahore. The research questions were related to the use of Word Formation Processes and the research hypotheses were tested to distinguish WFPs as a marker of Gender identity. The results revealed that Standard Word Formation Processes are used more in the SMS language as compared to non-standard WFPs and it also revealed that there is a significant difference in the choices of males and females.


Neophilology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 645-652
Author(s):  
Zifa K. Temirgazina

In the news language as a special media genre, changes in the lexical and semantic system of the language are very quickly manifested, reflecting the dynamics of social, political, and economic life. The research of news texts in critical eras is very relevant in terms of identifying trends in new vocabulary functioning. The pandemic is created a “pandemic” discourse in which new words are an important part of the lexical and semantic level of discourse. The study of neologisms in the active phase, at the very peak of functioning, allows us to comprehend the linguistic mechanism of new words formation, the external generation factor of which is extralinguistic reality. We establish that new words in the pandemic discourse appear in several ways: intralingual borrowing from highly specialized terminology (herd immunity, “cytokine storm”), foreign borrowing (coronavirus), as a result of metaphorization (wave, cover, crowned) and word-formation processes (corona, coronacrisis). Coronavirus is personified, it is presented as the evil of global and planet dimension, as a threat to humanity. We also reveal that the general emotional-expressive negativization of discourse determines the choice of native speakers from potentially possible extensions of the word semantics of meanings with negative evaluative connotations (crowned, burst). Semes of suddenness and intensity dominate in synonyms describing the coro-navirus spread. The metaphor of wave contains a predictability component, which predicts the possibility of the next coronavirus wave, its timing, and the degree of danger to people. The enrichment of common words with highly specialized medical terms can be named as a specific tendency of the “pandemic” discourse.


Author(s):  
В.Е. Замальдинов

Цель статьи - выявить особенности образования и функционирования графиксатов-эргонимов салонов красоты Нижнего Новгорода и Нижегородской области. Для достижения поставленной цели в работе использовались следующие методы и приёмы исследования: приём сплошной выборки, общенаучный метод с использованием приёмов обобщения, интерпретации и классификации материала, словообразовательный и прагматический виды анализов. Методологической базой исследования являются работы таких учёных, как И.В. Бугаева, В.А. Крыжановская, И.В. Крюкова, И.Н. Пономаренко, Т.В. Попова, Е.Н. Ремчукова, Т.П. Соколова и др. Отмечается, что для привлечения внимания адресата номинаторы выбирают креативное рекламное имя. Его разновидностью являются эргонимы - собственные наименования организаций различного функционального профиля. Анализируются только те названия, в которых адресанты используют графо-орфографическую игру. Подобные единицы мы называем графиксатами. Показано, что номинаторы активно используют такой вид графиксации, как монографиксация. Данный тип графического словообразования реализуется в капитализации, архаизации написания и апострофизации. При создании названий салонов красоты Нижегородского региона имядатели используют ещё такой вид графиксации, как полиграфиксация. Данный тип графико-орфографической игры реализуется в латинографиксации и кириллизации иноязычного слова. Кроме того, графиксация в нашем материале представлена кодографиксацией. Она реализуется в основном в нумерографиксации. Делается вывод о том, что графиксаты-эргонимы привлекают внимание потребителей, повышают эрудированность горожан, вызывают положительные ассоциации, актуализируют специфику заведения. Среди основных функций подобных номинаций отмечены аттрактивная, эстетическая, информативная и декоративная. Для оказания эффективного воздействия на носителей языка адресанты создают многофункциональные эргонимы. The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the formation and functioning of graphsats-ergonyms of beauty salons in Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region. To achieve this goal, the following research methods and techniques were used: the method of continuous sampling, general scientific method using methods of generalization, interpretation and classification of material, word-formation and pragmatic types of analysis. The methodological basis of the research is the work of such scientists as I.V. Bugaeva, V.A. Kryzhanovskaya, I.V. Kryukova, I.N. Ponomarenko, T.V. Popova, E.N. Remchukova, T.P. Sokolova and others. It is noted that to attract the attention of the recipient, nominees choose a creative advertising name. Its variety is ergonyms-proper names of organizations of various functional profiles. Only those names in which the addressees use a graph-spelling game are analyzed. These units we call graphicsati. It is shown that nominator actively use this kind of graphically as monografiksaciya. This type of graphical derivation is implemented in capitalization, the archaism of writing and apostrophizes. When creating names of beauty salons in Nizhny Novgorod region imedately used this kind of graphically as poligrafiksaciya. This type of graph-spelling game is implemented in latin and cyrillization of a foreign language word. In addition, the graphization in our material is represented by kodografiksaciej. It is implemented mainly in numerografiksacii. It is concluded that graphsats-ergonyms attract the attention of consumers, increase the erudition of citizens, cause positive associations and actualize the specifics of the institution. Among the main functions of such categories are marked attractive, aesthetic, informative and decorative. To provide effective impact on native speakers, the sender creates a multifunctional ergonyms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
JACK GRIEVE ◽  
ANDREA NINI ◽  
DIANSHENG GUO

This article introduces a quantitative method for identifying newly emerging word forms in large time-stamped corpora of natural language and then describes an analysis of lexical emergence in American social media using this method, based on a multi-billion-word corpus of Tweets collected between October 2013 and November 2014. In total 29 emerging word forms, which represent various semantic classes, grammatical parts-of-speech and word formation processes, were identified through this analysis. These 29 forms are then examined from various perspectives in order to begin to better understand the process of lexical emergence.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Baeskow

For many decades there has been a consensus among linguists of various schools that derivational suffixes function not only to determine the word-class of the complex expressions they form, but also convey semantic information. The aspect of suffix-inherent meaning is ignored by representatives of a relatively new theoretical direction – Neo-Construction Grammar – who consider derivational suffixes to be either purely functional elements of the grammar or meaningless phonological realizations of abstract grammatical morphemes. The latter view is maintained by adherents of Distributed Morphology, who at the same time emphasize the importance of conceptual knowledge for derivational processes without attempting to define this aspect. The purpose of this study is first of all to provide support for the long-standing assumption that suffixes are inherently meaningful. The focus of interest is on the suffixes -ship, -dom and -hood. Data from Old English and Modern English (including neologisms) will show that these suffixes have developed rich arrays of meaning which cannot be structurally derived. Moreover, since conceptual knowledge is indeed an important factor for word-formation processes, a concrete, theory-independent model for the representation of the synchronically observable meaning components associated with -ship, -dom and -hood will be proposed.


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