Language Contact in Early Medieval Britain: Settlement, Interaction, and Acculturation

2020 ◽  
pp. 62-89
Author(s):  
Martin Findell ◽  
Philip A. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Written Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
English Spelling

This chapter explores language contact in early medieval Britain, focusing on the methodological problems involved in studying historical language contact in situations where records of the languages involved are sparse. Two case studies then look at linguistic evidence for contact situations, one addressing the uses of the term wealh in Old English and especially in the Laws of Ine, while the other explores the influence of Latin on the development of Old English spelling. The first case study argues that the term wealh in early Old English (as in Continental Germanic) usage identified groups and individuals as Roman, as distinct from the identification with Celtic languages that developed later in the period. The second case study shows how spellings of the reflex of pre-Old English *[ɡɡj] developed through the engagement of Old English speakers with Latin, demonstrating the interactions between developments in the spoken and written language.

Scales and Units

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. de Luna
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
The North ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
River Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter uses two case studies to explore how historians study language movement and change through comparative historical linguistics. The first case study stands as a short chapter in the larger history of the expansion of Bantu languages across eastern, central, and southern Africa. It focuses on the expansion of proto-Kafue, ca. 950–1250, from a linguistic homeland in the middle Kafue River region to lands beyond the Lukanga swamps to the north and the Zambezi River to the south. This expansion was made possible by a dramatic reconfiguration of ties of kinship. The second case study explores linguistic evidence for ridicule along the Lozi-Botatwe frontier in the mid- to late 19th century. Significantly, the units and scales of language movement and change in precolonial periods rendered visible through comparative historical linguistics bring to our attention alternative approaches to language change and movement in contemporary Africa.

Multilingualism in eastern Indonesia: linguistic evidence of a shift from symmetric to asymmetric multilingualism

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Francesca Romana Moro
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Modelling Language ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Eastern Indonesia ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Bilingual Communities

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: The Alorese in eastern Indonesia are an Austronesian community who have inhabited two Papuan-speaking islands for approximately 600 years. Their language presents a paradox: contact with the neighbouring Papuan languages has led to both complexification and simplification. This article argues that these opposite outcomes of contact result from two distinct scenarios, and formulates a hypothesis about a shift in multilingual patterns in Alorese history. Design/Methodology/Approach: To formulate a hypothesis about the discontinuity of multilingual patterns, this article first sketches the past and present multilingual patterns of the Alorese by modelling language contact outcomes in terms of bilingual optimisation strategies. This is followed by a comparison of the two scenarios to pinpoint similarities and differences. Data and Analysis: Previous research shows that two types of contact phenomena are attested in Alorese: (a) complexification arising from grammatical borrowings from Papuan languages, and (b) morphological simplification. The first change is associated with prolonged child bilingualism and is the result of Papuan-oriented bilingual strategies, while the latter change is associated with adult second language (L2) learning and is the result of universal communicative strategies. Findings/Conclusions Complexification and simplification are the results of two different layers of contact. Alorese was first used in small-scale bilingual communities, with widespread symmetric multilingualism. Later, multilingualism became more asymmetric, and the language started to undergo a simplification process due to the considerable number of L2 speakers. Originality: This article is innovative in providing a clear case study showing discontinuity of multilingual patterns, supported by linguistic and non-linguistic evidence. Significance/Implications: This article provides a plausible explanation for the apparent paradox found in Alorese, by showing that different outcomes of contact in the same language are due to different patterns of acquisition and socialisation. This discontinuity should be taken into account by models of language contact.

scholarly journals Translating the Gospel in Viking Age England: The Evidence from Two Old Norse Loan Translations from Old English

2019 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-560
Author(s):  
Nikolas Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Speech Communities ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Biblical Translation

Abstract A recent resurgence of interest in Old Norse linguistic borrowings in Old English has greatly expanded our knowledge of the contact situation between these two speech communities in the early medieval period and beyond. However, there are a significant number of words that have been considered borrowings in the “other” direction, i. e. from Old English to Old Norse, which have not attracted the same amount of attention in current scholarship. Much of this material requires reassessment and this paper provides a case study of two parallel compound formations in both languages – OE bærsynnig [mann]/ON bersynðugr [maðr] (‘one who is openly sinful; publican’), and OE healsbōc/ON hálsbók (‘phylactery, amulet’, lit. ‘neck-book’) – that have traditionally been considered loan translations from Old English to Old Norse with little evidence other than their formation from cognate elements. In the absence of clear-cut linguistic criteria for identifying loan translations between these two closely related languages, this paper draws on a range of literary evidence to argue for a strong likelihood of a relationship between the two compounds. Both words offer important evidence for biblical translation practices, and contribute to our knowledge about the Christianisation of Norse speaking peoples and Anglo-Norse language contact in Viking Age England.

Land, People and Power in Early Medieval Wales: The cantref of Cemais in comparative perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhiannon Comeau
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Seasonal Activity ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Habitual Activity ◽  
Activity Cycles

A study of seasonal activity cycles in a pre-urban society, examined through the lens of an early medieval Welsh case study. It examines how these cycles shaped patterns of power and habitual activity, defining spaces and structuring lives. Its multidisciplinary, comparative analysis identifies focal zones and challenges commonly applied interpretations.

Talking about MOTION in Middle English

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Other ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Contact Situation ◽  
Analysis Of Motion

Chapter 6 begins with an overview of the language contact situation with (Anglo-) French and Latin, resulting in large-scale borrowing in the Middle English period. The analysis of 465 Middle English verbs used to express intransitive motion shows that there are far more French/Latin loans in the path verbs than in the other motion verbs. The range of (new) manner of motion verbs testifies to the manner salience of Middle English: caused motion verbs are also found in intransitive motion meanings, as are French loans which do not have motion uses in continental French. Their motion uses in Anglo-Norman are discussed in terms of contact influence of Middle English. The analysis of motion expression in different texts yields a picture similar to the situation in Old English, with path typically expressed in satellites, and neutral as well as manner of motion verbs being most frequent, depending on text type.

Applications of random graphs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.C.C. Coolen ◽  
A. Annibale ◽  
E.S. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Random Graphs ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Power Grids ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Topological Features ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction Network

This chapter reviews graph generation techniques in the context of applications. The first case study is power grids, where proposed strategies to prevent blackouts have been tested on tailored random graphs. The second case study is in social networks. Applications of random graphs to social networks are extremely wide ranging – the particular aspect looked at here is modelling the spread of disease on a social network – and how a particular construction based on projecting from a bipartite graph successfully captures some of the clustering observed in real social networks. The third case study is on null models of food webs, discussing the specific constraints relevant to this application, and the topological features which may contribute to the stability of an ecosystem. The final case study is taken from molecular biology, discussing the importance of unbiased graph sampling when considering if motifs are over-represented in a protein–protein interaction network.

Investigating the potential of redundant manipulators in narrow channels

2020 ◽  
pp. 095440622096451
Author(s):  
Ashish Singla ◽  
Jyotindra Narayan ◽  
Himanshu Arora
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Fuzzy Inference ◽  
Redundant Manipulators ◽  
Redundancy Resolution ◽  
Inference System ◽  
Narrow Channels ◽  
First Case ◽  
Task Priority ◽  
Patient Side

In this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate the potential of redundant manipulators, while tracking trajectories in narrow channels. The behavior of redundant manipulators is important in many challenging applications like under-water welding in narrow tanks, checking the blockage in sewerage pipes, performing a laparoscopy operation etc. To demonstrate this snake-like behavior, redundancy resolution scheme is utilized using two different approaches. The first approach is based on the concept of task priority, where a given task is split and prioritize into several subtasks like singularity avoidance, obstacle avoidance, torque minimization, and position preference over orientation etc. The second approach is based on Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), where the training is provided through given datasets and the results are back-propagated using augmentation of neural networks with fuzzy logics. Three case studies are considered in this work to demonstrate the redundancy resolution of serial manipulators. The first case study of 3-link manipulator is attempted with both the approaches, where the objective is to track the desired trajectory while avoiding multiple obstacles. The second case study of 7-link manipulator, tracking trajectory in a narrow channel, is investigated using the concept of task priority. The realistic application of minimum-invasive surgery (MIS) based trajectory tracking is considered as the third case study, which is attempted using ANFIS approach. The 5-link spatial redundant manipulator, also known as a patient-side manipulator being developed at CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh is used to track the desired surgical cuts. Through the three case studies, it is well demonstrated that both the approaches are giving satisfactory results.

scholarly journals Sensitivity analysis for interpretation of machine learning based segmentation models in cardiac MRI

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus J. Ankenbrand ◽  
Liliia Shainberg ◽  
Michael Hock ◽  
David Lohr ◽  
Laura M. Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Cardiac Mri ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Images ◽  
Model Interpretation ◽  
First Case ◽  
Segmentation Models

Abstract Background Image segmentation is a common task in medical imaging e.g., for volumetry analysis in cardiac MRI. Artificial neural networks are used to automate this task with performance similar to manual operators. However, this performance is only achieved in the narrow tasks networks are trained on. Performance drops dramatically when data characteristics differ from the training set properties. Moreover, neural networks are commonly considered black boxes, because it is hard to understand how they make decisions and why they fail. Therefore, it is also hard to predict whether they will generalize and work well with new data. Here we present a generic method for segmentation model interpretation. Sensitivity analysis is an approach where model input is modified in a controlled manner and the effect of these modifications on the model output is evaluated. This method yields insights into the sensitivity of the model to these alterations and therefore to the importance of certain features on segmentation performance. Results We present an open-source Python library (misas), that facilitates the use of sensitivity analysis with arbitrary data and models. We show that this method is a suitable approach to answer practical questions regarding use and functionality of segmentation models. We demonstrate this in two case studies on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The first case study explores the suitability of a published network for use on a public dataset the network has not been trained on. The second case study demonstrates how sensitivity analysis can be used to evaluate the robustness of a newly trained model. Conclusions Sensitivity analysis is a useful tool for deep learning developers as well as users such as clinicians. It extends their toolbox, enabling and improving interpretability of segmentation models. Enhancing our understanding of neural networks through sensitivity analysis also assists in decision making. Although demonstrated only on cardiac magnetic resonance images this approach and software are much more broadly applicable.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document