scholarly journals Portioning-Out and Individuation in Mandarin Non-interrogative wh-Pronominal Phrases: Experimental Evidence From Child Mandarin

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aijun Huang ◽  
Francesco-Alessio Ursini ◽  
Luisa Meroni
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Individual Classifier ◽  
The Individual ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Child Mandarin

Portioning-out and individuation are two important semantic properties for the characterization of countability. In Mandarin, nouns are not marked with count-mass syntax, and it is controversial whether individuation is encoded in classifiers or in nouns. In the present study, we investigates the interpretation of a minimal pair of non-interrogative wh-pronominal phrases, including duo-shao-N and duo-shao-ge-N. Due to the presence/absence of the individual classifier ge, these two wh-pronominal phrases differ in how they encode portioning-out and individuation. In two experiments, we used a Truth Value Judgment Task to examine the interpretation of these two wh-pronominal phrases by Mandarin-speaking adults and 4-to-6-year-old children. We found that both adults and children are sensitive to their interpretative differences with respect to the portioning-out and individuation properties. They assign either count or mass readings to the bare wh-pronominal phrase duo-shao-N depending on specific contexts, but only count readings to the classifier-bearing wh-pronominal phrase duo-shao-ge-N. Moreover, the portioning-out and individuation properties associated with the individual classifier ge emerge independently in the course of language development, with the portioning-out property taking precedence over the individuation property. Taken together, the present study provides new evidence for the view that the portioning-out and individuation properties in Mandarin are encoded in classifiers rather than in nouns, and these two semantic properties are two distinct components in our grammar.

scholarly journals A within-subjects comparison of the acquisition of quantity-related inferences

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 558
Author(s):  
Alicia Parrish ◽  
Ailís Cournane
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Individual Response ◽  
Scalar Implicature ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Rating Task ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Individual Subject ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
The Individual

This study directly compares quantity inferences from scalar implicatures (‘Some of the ducks are black’) and uniqueness presuppositions in definites (‘the duck is black’) to exhaustivity inferences in English it-clefts (‘It’s the duck that’s black’) for which the theoretical literature disagrees on the source of inference – pragmatic (like scalar implicatures), or semantic (like presuppositions). We investigate whether within-subjects correlations in acquisition can inform us about the source of exhaustivity inferences. Assuming comprehension is achieved once the necessary basis for meaning is acquired, it-clefts should pattern with presupposition judgments if computing a presupposition is involved and should pattern with scalar implicature judgments if computing an implicature is involved. We conduct three experiments to test how closely it-cleft judgments pattern with other quantityrelated inferences, keeping materials maximally similar. The first two experiments test adult participants using a Truth Value Judgment Task and then a 3-point Rating Task; we find that adults’ response patterns to under-informative uses of these constructions differ both across individuals and across inference types, with the Rating Task giving more informative results. In the third experiment, we use the 3-point Rating Task with 4-, 5-, and 6- year olds to characterize response patterns across the three inference types for each individual subject. We find that the individual response patterns children exhibit are consistent with the theory that it-cleft exhaustivity shares an underlying cognitive source with the computation of presupposition inferences, but not with scalar implicature inferences.

The L2 acquisition of aspectual properties in Spanish

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Target Performance ◽  
Adult Immigrants ◽  
Semantic Properties

AbstractThis study examines the L2 acquisition and LI attrition of preterite versus imperfect aspectual distinctions in Spanish among English-speaking L2 learners and long-term Spanish-speaking immigrants. Results from an acceptability judgment task and a truth value judgment task demonstrate significantly lower levels of target performance by both groups when compared to the control participants. The L2 learners outperform the native speakers undergoing attrition in some aspectual contexts, while in others both experimental groups show similar difficulties. To the extent that L2 learners and adult immigrants demonstrate comparable difficulties, L2 learners’ deficits cannot be directly related to impairment reasons. LI transfer of the semantic properties of tense heads offers a better explanation for the difficulties L2 learners often show in the aspectual domain.

scholarly journals Finding one’s meaning: A test of the relation between quantifiers and integers in language development

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Barner ◽  
Katharine Chow ◽  
Shu-Ju Yang
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Semantic Function ◽  
Truth Value ◽  
Grammatical Number

We explored children’s early interpretation of numerals and linguisticnumber marking, in order to test the hypothesis (e.g., Carey, 2004) thatchildren’s initial distinction between one and other numerals (i.e., two,three, etc.) is bootstrapped from a prior distinction between singular andplural nouns. Previous studies have presented evidence that in languageswithout singular- plural morphology, like Japanese and Chinese, childrenacquire the meaning of the word one later than in singular-plural languageslike English and Russian. In two experiments, we sought to corroborate thisrelation between grammatical number and integer acquisition within English.We found a significant correlation between children’s comprehension ofnumerals and a large set of natural language quantifiers and determiners,even when controlling for effects due to age. However, we also found that2-year-old children, who are just acquiring singular-plural morphology andthe word one, fail to assign an exact interpretation to singular nounphrases (e.g., a banana), despite interpreting one as exact. For example,in a truth value judgment task, most children judged that a banana wasconsistent with a set of two objects, despite rejecting sets of two for thenumeral one. Also, children who gave exactly one object for singular nounsdid not have a better comprehension of numerals relative to children whodid not give exactly one. Thus, we conclude that the correlation betweenquantifier comprehension and numeral comprehension in children of this ageis not attributable to the singular-plural distinction facilitating theacquisition of the word one. We argue that quantifiers play a more generalrole in highlighting the semantic function of numerals, and that childrendistinguish between numerals and other quantifiers from the beginning,assigning exact interpretations only to numerals.

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Glucose-6-Phosphatase System1

2002 ◽  
Vol 227 (8) ◽  
pp. 601-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Foster ◽  
Robert C. Nordlie
Keyword(s):  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Glycogen Storage Disease Type ◽  
Glycogen Storage ◽  
The Past ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
The Individual ◽  
New Evidence

Progress has continued to be made over the past 4 years in our understanding of the glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) system. The gene for a second component of the system, the putative glucose-6-P transporter (G6PT), was cloned, and mutations in this gene were found in patients diagnosed with glycogen storage disease type 1b. The functional characterization of this putative G6PT has been initiated, and the relationship between substrate transport via the G6PT and catalysis by the system's catalytic subunit continues to be explored. A lively debate over the feasibility of various aspects of the two proposed models of the G6Pase system persists, and the functional/structural relationships of the individual components of the system remain a hot topic of interest in G6Pase research. New evidence supportive of physiologic roles for the biosynthetlc functions of the G6Pase system in vivo also has emerged over the past 4 years.

scholarly journals When pragmatics matters more for truth-value judgments: An investigation of quantifier scope ambiguity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Scontras ◽  
Lisa S. Pearl
Keyword(s):  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Cognitive Modeling ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Computational Cognitive Modeling ◽  
Truth Value ◽  
The Individual

Investigations of linguistic meaning rely crucially on truth-value judgments, which assess whether a sentence can truthfully describe a given scenario. In investigations of language acquisition, truth-value judgments are used to assess both the target knowledge adults have and the developing knowledge children have at different ages. On the basis of truth-value judgments, researchers have concluded that differences between how children resolve ambiguous utterances and how adults do so persist until at least age five. Current explanations compatible with the experimental data attribute these differences to both grammatical processing and pragmatic factors. Here, we use computational cognitive modeling to formally articulate the ambiguity-resolution process that underlies child and adult judgments in a truth-value judgment task; crucially, the model can separate out the individual contributions of specific grammatical processing and pragmatic factors to the resulting judgment behavior. We find that pragmatic factors play a larger role than grammatical processing factors in explaining children’s non-adult-like ambiguity resolution behavior, and the computational modeling framework allows us to understand exactly why that is. Interestingly, the model predicts qualitative similarity between child and adult ambiguity resolution. Given this prediction, we then extend our model to show how the same processes are active in adult ambiguity resolution. This result supports continuity in the development of ambiguity resolution, where children do not qualitatively change how they resolve ambiguity in order to become adult-like. We discuss the implications of our results for acquisition more generally, including both theories of development and methods for assessing that development.

Language in mental retardation: Individual and syndromic differences, and neurogenetic variation 1Based on a keynote presentation at the Third European Conference on Psychological Theory and Research in Mental Retardation, Geneva, September 1st, 2000.

2001 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean A. Rondal
Keyword(s):  
Mental Retardation ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Genetic Syndromes ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Keynote Presentation ◽  
Genetic Origins ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
The Individual

Predominantly non-etiological conceptions have dominated the field of mental retardation (MR) since the discovery of the genetic etiology of Down syndrome (DS) in the sixties. However, contemporary approaches are becoming more etiologically oriented. Important differences across MR syndromes of genetic origin are being documented, particularly in the cognition and language domains, differences not explicable in terms of psychometric level, motivation, or other dimensions. This paper highlights the major difficulties observed in the oral language development of individuals with genetic syndromes of mental retardation. The extent of inter- and within-syndrome variability are evaluated. Possible brain underpinnings of the behavioural differences are envisaged. Cases of atypically favourable language development in MR individuals are also summarized and explanatory variables discussed. It is suggested that differences in brain architectures, originating in neurological development and having genetic origins, may largely explain the syndromic as well as the individual within-syndrome variability documented. Lastly, the major implications of the above points for current debates about modularity and developmental connectionism are spelt out.

Separation and Characterization of Standard Propoxyphene Diastereomers and Their Determination in Pharmaceutical and Illicit Preparations

1981 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-883
Author(s):  
Shiv K Soni ◽  
Daniel Van Gelder
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Optical Isomers ◽  
Gold Chloride ◽  
Melting Points ◽  
Eutectic Melting ◽  
Racemic Mixtures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Isomeric Mixtures ◽  
Asymmetric Carbon

Abstract Due to the existence of 2 asymmetric carbon atoms in: the propoxyphene molecule, there are 4 diastereomers: alpha dextro, alpha levo, beta dextro, and beta levo. Only α-d-propoxyphene is included under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Baseline separations of propoxyphene from various incipients (aspirin, caffeine, phenacetin, and acetaminophen) present in pharmaceutical and illicit preparations, and between the alpha and beta diastereomers, were achieved by high pressure liquid chromatography. The column eluant was collected and propoxyphene was extracted. The optical isomers were differentiated and characterized by melting points and by chemical microcrystalline tests. Using hot stage thermomicroscopy, the eutectic melting points of binary isomeric mixtures of propoxyphene bases and salts were found to be depressed about 10° and 15-30°C, respectively, below the individual isomer melting points. The characteristic microcrystals formed with the alpha racemic mixtures by using a glycerin-aqueous gold chloride reagent were not produced by the beta racemic mixtures.

scholarly journals Does higher education properly prepare graduates for the growing artificial intelligence market? Gaps identification using text mining

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Lamiae Benhayoun ◽  
Daniel Lang
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Text Mining ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Academic Training ◽  
Market Requirements ◽  
Job Advertisements ◽  
The Individual

BACKGROUND: The renewed advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is inducing profound changes in the classic categories of technology professions and is creating the need for new specific skills. OBJECTIVE: Identify the gaps in terms of skills between academic training on AI in French engineering and Business Schools, and the requirements of the labour market. METHOD: Extraction of AI training contents from the schools’ websites and scraping of a job advertisements’ website. Then, analysis based on a text mining approach with a Python code for Natural Language Processing. RESULTS: Categorization of occupations related to AI. Characterization of three classes of skills for the AI market: Technical, Soft and Interdisciplinary. Skills’ gaps concern some professional certifications and the mastery of specific tools, research abilities, and awareness of ethical and regulatory dimensions of AI. CONCLUSIONS: A deep analysis using algorithms for Natural Language Processing. Results that provide a better understanding of the AI capability components at the individual and the organizational levels. A study that can help shape educational programs to respond to the AI market requirements.

Intra-individual variation in adults and children: measuring and conceptualizing individual dialect–standard repertoires

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irmtraud Kaiser ◽  
Andrea Ender
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Standard Language ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Standard Spectrum ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

Abstract This paper explores intra-individual variation as a manifestation of language-internal multilingualism in the Central-Bavarian Austrian context. Based on speech data from children and adults in different contexts, we discuss different methods of measuring and analyzing inter-situational variation along the dialect and standard language spectrum. By contrasting measures of dialectality, on the one hand, and proportions of turns in dialect, standard language or intermediate/mixed forms on the other, we gain complementary insights not only into the individual dialect-standard repertoires but also into the consequences of different methodological choices. The results indicate that intra-individual variation is ubiquitous in adults and children and that individual repertoires need to be taken into account from the beginning of the language acquisition process. We suggest that while intra-individual variation can be attested through the use of various methods, the revealed level of granularity and the conclusions that can be drawn as to the individual repertoires on the dialect-standard spectrum largely depend on the measures used and their inherent assumptions and intrinsically necessary categorizations.

scholarly journals Characterization of Retinal Function using Microperimetry-Derived Metrics in both Adults and Children with RPGR-Associated Retinopathy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgenia Anikina ◽  
Michalis Georgiou ◽  
James Tee ◽  
Andrew R Webster ◽  
Richard G Weleber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinal Function ◽  
Adults And Children
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