Social changes through the lens of language: A big data study of Chinese modal verbs

Leech’s corpus-based comparison of English modal verbs from 1961 to 1992 showed the steep decline of all modal verbs together, which he ascribed to continuing changes towards a more equal and less authority-driven society. This study inspired many diachronic and synchronic studies, mostly on English modal verbs and largely assuming the correlation between the use of modal verbs and power relations. Yet, there are continuing debates on sampling design and the choices of corpora. In addition, this hypothesis has not been attested in any other language with comparable corpus size or examined with longitudinal studies. This study tracks the use of Chinese modal verbs from 1901 to 2009, covering the historical events of the New Culture Movement, the establishment of the PRC, the implementation of simplified characters and the completion and finalization of simplification of the Chinese writing system. We found that the usage of modal verbs did rise and fall during the last century, and for more complex reasons. We also demonstrated that our longitudinal end-to-end approach produces convincing analysis on English modal verbs that reconciles conflicting results in the literature adopting Leech’s point-to-point approach.

Orthographic Learning

This chapter discusses orthographic learning, i.e., how children learn the relation between their spoken language and writing system. The process is discussed for children learning to read and write in one language, as well as for multilingual children acquiring literacy in more than one language. In both cases, the developmental course is mapped from children's first insights into the form and function of their writing systems to the development of word-specific mental representations that code for multiple linguistic forms (i.e., sound, spelling, and meaning). The chapter concludes with instructional recommendations for supporting children's orthographic learning throughout development.

The Role of Computers in the Development of Odia Language

Any language computer can be useful if the above two requirements are met. But we can only accept such behavior as a modern writing system. In other words, in the past we used to write with palm leaves and pencils, then we used to write on paper, then we used typewriters and typewriters. Now we can write via computer. This is the best way to write and print. This requirement is available in almost all languages, this requirement has been met by the Odia language since the 180s, which means that this year we have been able to type the letters of the Odia language on the computer and print it on the printer. This is the first step in using a computer language. The second step in making a language useful to a computer is: understanding the computer. Computers understand a language through a variety of programs. This requires connecting the operating system to a new language. It is imperative that the language be integrated into the Unicode system. Unicode has provided a code for the scripts of the world's most computer-friendly languages. This code can be understood by the operating system. As a result, it is possible to Unicode the computer by naming that language, sorting it from scratch, searching for a file or folder named in that language, deleting any incorrect word koji, and so on. Fortunately, the Odia language scripts were included in the Unicode in 2006. Odia is the third largest Indian language in this regard. Keywords: typewriters, computer, languages, Unicode, folder, deleting, scripts, Odia, Indian language,

Latino o cirillico? Le proposte di un alfabeto misto nelle visioni di unità jugoslava del periodo interbellico

This paper discusses the context of script choice (Latin and Cyrillic) in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the late 1920s and early 1930s, focusing on bialphabetism and biliteracy as official policies of the country. I place the topic in the framework of Latinization in the interwar period and examine three texts by Yugoslav authors that propose a ‘hybrid’ writing system containing the characters of both alphabets as a solution to digraphia. It then explores some reactions to such proposals, including the one of Aleksander Belić. The article is based on the analysis of previously unknown sources found in the Matica Srpska Library in Novi Sad.

Social media and the reading culture revolution among digital natives

Reading is one of the intellectual activities that only humans have that develops along with the writing system. The culture of reading does not just grow, because human history records the development of the writing system through a very long journey. The study, which involved 41 respondents aged 17-21 years who were randomly selected, showed a shift in the reading culture from print media to online media, related to reading patterns, gender aspects, reading frequency, and duration. From a gender aspect. The shift in the reading culture among young people is also greatly influenced by the characteristics of online media that print media lacks. The practicality and mobility of online media as well as easy access are some of the advantages that attract young media users. Books, newspapers/tabloids, and magazines do not have this characteristic. required Greater effort is more expensive to access print media which is incompatible with the characteristics of the digital natives. Although it has a number of advantages, online media is still considered to have a number of weaknesses compared to print media. One of the weaknesses of online media is the inaccuracy of the information, because the writing often does not apply the principle of cross-checking and confirmation, and contains more subjective opinions. The survey results reinforce the tendency of new media audiences to be not merely positioned as objects that are the target of messages. The tendency to change in reading culture is closely related to audiences and changes in media technology and the meaning of media have renewed the role of audiences to become more interactive with messages, and new media consumers who are dominated by young people can determine how to access according to their wants and needs.

The Suitable Symbol for Arabic Phoneme (‘Ayn) in Roman Writing System

Arabic romanization systems consist of written symbols that have been approved by international organizations, to represent Arabic phoneme in Latin alphabet. These systems aim to enable people pronounce Arabic phoneme without depending on Arabic letters. Despite of the international recognition on these systems, there are some clashes on the symbols used to represent phoneme ‘Ayn in Arabic, as there are four different symbols to represent phoneme ‘Ayn which are (ʿ), (‘), (ʕ) and (3). Therefore, this study aims to identify the suitable symbol for Arabic phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system based on Arabic for International Communication’s students’ perception, that might ease the process of teaching students at beginner level. This study applies qualitative research method, by using questionnaire to find out the most suitable symbol for phoneme ‘Ayn among the students. Results of the study shows that there are three aspects that affect students’ perception toward suitable symbol for Arabic phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system. The findings suggest that the symbol used by the student for phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system is (‘) whereas the most suitable symbol for phoneme ‘Ayn is (3). This study is hope to benefit Arabic language learners to overcome difficulties in writing Arabic phoneme in Roman writing system, especially phoneme ‘Ayn.

Ibiebe Alphabet and Ideograms as Motifs for Fabric Embellishment

The invented Bruce Onobrakpeya’s Ibiebe alphabet and ideogram (writing system) have not been explored maximally and redesigned as recurring motifs to embellish contemporary fabric. These are artistic codified graphical images that represent the visual translation of myths, legends, ideal concepts, and the philosophies of the Urhobo cultural heritage from Delta State. They are mostly explored in paintings and sculptural pieces for aesthetic and refinement purposes. Whereas, it is pertinent to encourage the integration of the creative potential of indigenous culture as visual concepts into contemporary works, since art is a potent medium for cultural dialogue. Therefore, this paper seeks to redesign the versatility and ingenuity embedded in Bruce Onobrakpeya’s formation as a recurring motif for fabric embellishment. It is essentially to provoke creativity, the development of knowledge, skills, in-studio experimentation/exploration, and the creation of new design possibilities with a diverse visual relationship. The Aesthetic theory propounded by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-1762) and the Modern Creativity theory by Kanematsu, H. and Barry, D. M. (2016) were adopted. The approach is exploratory and descriptive and relies on literal information. It will serve as an encyclopedia of redesigned motifs that cut across visual history.

Ad astra: Graphic Signalling in the Acrostic Hymn of Nebuchadnezzar II (BM 55469)

This article examines two orthographic features in the Acrostic Hymn of Nebuchadnezzar II. It aims to show that the text makes use of the possibilities of the cuneiform writing system to create various levels of meaning. The first example clarifies structure and content with regard to a difficult passage in the fourth and last stanza of the text, in which a possible change of actors is indicated by an orthographic feature. The second example shows how orthography is used in the first stanza of the text to augment its message. These examples demonstrate how structural elements and micro-features such as orthography were used creatively to enhance the message of the hymn.