On the Rise and Diffusion of New Intensifiers: This and That in Some Asian Varieties of English

The intensifiers this and that acquired their intensifying function as a result of a grammaticalization process by means of which deictic demonstratives became degree adverbs with the meaning “to this or that extent, so much, so.” The phenomenon spread in the early nineteenth century as a typical resource of spoken English, and since then these intensifiers have found a niche in the written domain by imposing a scalar construal on adjectives for which scale is not the default. Even though these intensifiers are observed in practically all the varieties of English around the world, they predominate in American English, with its use in all the other inner circle varieties lagging well behind. In the outer circle varieties, the construction is also subject to some geographical preferences. The present article has two objectives: to evaluate the role and distribution of this and that as intensifiers in selected Asian varieties of English and to analyze the lexicosemantic structure of their right-hand collocates in terms of word class and mode of construal. The study demonstrates, firstly, the existence of different stages of grammaticalization of this and that, the latter having a wider repertoire of collocates; and secondly, an ongoing process of colloquialization and Americanization of the phenomenon, which is contributing to its growing diffusion in the outer circle varieties of English. The evidence comes from the Indian, Hong Kong, Singaporean and Philippines components of the Corpus of Global Web-based English.

Studying insecurity from relative safety — Dealing with methodological blind spots

Qualitative empirical enquiries into dynamics of security and insecurity often include a blind spot that bear theoretical ramifications because only those areas and respondents that allow for relatively safe fieldwork are studied. To transparently articulate the spheres of projection that creep into our knowledge production, we propose a distinction between inner and outer circles as highly fluid but separate geographical, socio-political and methodological spaces. Drawing on fieldwork in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, we discuss the risks posed by incomplete data and subsequently flawed inferences. We argue that the perceptions of fear projected onto the outer circle shape people’s behaviour more than measurable insecurity incidents and that increased interaction between actors in both circles reduces the perceived threats coming from the outer circles. We demonstrate how studying insecurity from inner circles risks securitizing outer circles while further centralizing the inner ones. We thus urge transparency in data collection and the related inferences that underpin our knowledge production.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SAGO FROND SAP FROM TWO SELECTED GROWTH STAGES; ANGKAT PUNGGUNG AND UPONG MUDA PALMS

Sago frond is produced in abundance upon harvesting of the sago palms for starch extraction, hence need to be utilized and developed into beneficial products. In this study, the sap which contains sugars and starch is obtained by roller crushing the skinned frond for use as fermentation medium. Fronds from different growth stages (namely Angkat punggung and Upong muda) and different positions within the rosette (inner and outer circle) of the sago palm were studied. Based on the results, the outer circle frond of Upong muda palm gave the highest volume of sap at 290mL/kg which equivalent to 1600 mL/frond. On top of that, sago frond sap has an acidic pH, with glucose as major sugar component and contained various kinds of minerals like calcium, potassium and manganese. All fronds from different growth stages contain glucose between 28-68 g/L and xylose 21-29 g/L, respectively. After 21 days of storage, it can be concluded that the amount of reducing sugars and starch in all samples obtained from different growth stages remained almost unchanged from the original. Subsequently after this study, both fresh and stored sago frond sap can be used as a fermentation substrate without any modification.

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Acute of Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

Background Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) is divided into arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AAION) which accounts for 15% and Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) which accounts for 85% of cases. Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is an ischemic change involves the 1 mm thickness of the optic nerve head (optic disc). It affects around 10 cases per 100,000 per year in the age group over 50. Objective To assess the optical coherence tomography angiography peripapillary area pattern in diagnosed non-arteritic acute ischemic optic neuropathy patients within a period from one week to 3 weeks during (acute stage while the disc is still edematous) of acute painless diminution of vision. Patients and Methods We enrolled 20 patients in cases group and 10 patients in control group were enrolled to assess the OCTA peripapillary area pattern in diagnosed NAAION patients within a period from one week to 3 weeks during (acute stage while the disc is still edematous) of acute painless diminution of vision compared to the pattern seen in the normal control group OCTA, FFA and VF (centralized 30-2 SITA strategy) were done to the cases group. But FFA and VF were excluded in the control group. Results The results of our study show statistically significant difference found between the two studied groups regarding central circle perfusion density, middle circle perfusion density (superior, inferior and nasal) and outer circle perfusion density (superior and temporal) while no statistically significant difference found between them regarding middle circle (temporal) and outer circle (inferior and nasal). Conclusion So according to this study in cases of NAION (acute stage), we can depend on perfusion density within the middle and outer circle of Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid put on the disc and peripapillary area. As, these are the areas affected by decreased perfusion density. While, there is increased perfusion density within the central and middle circles, which could be due to, diffuse disc edema.

Marginalization In Hussain's The Desolate City: A Postcolonial Critique

This study amalgamates the subjects of World Englishes, Postcolonial Literature and Trauma Literature. Colonization results in restraining the locals on their own homeland, depriving them of the basic necessities and their social, economic and religious rights. The current study has attempted at finding such elements in Indo-Pak Postcolonial Literature of post War of Independence 1857 from the manuscript of The Desolate City by Intizar Hussain translated by Mujahid Eshai, where the plight of the locals of the city of Delhi is accounted. This study has incorporated the textual method utilizing multi-model analysis through the lens of the proposition of Edgar W. Schneider's Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Outer Circle Englishes (2018) and Edward Said's Orientalism (1979). The study has found that despite being in their own homeland, the British power has marginalized the locals either linguistically, economically, religiously or socially. Moreover, apart from the locals being affected, this plight has also affected the former ruling family and royalty.

Hypercorrection in English: an intervarietal corpus-based study

This article aims to provide a fresh approach to the study of hypercorrection, the misguided application of a real or imagined rule – typically in response to prescriptive pressure – in which the speaker's attempt to be ‘correct’ leads to an ‘incorrect’ result. Instead of more familiar sources of information on hypercorrection such as attitude elicitation studies and prescriptive commentary, insights are sought from quantitative and qualitative data extracted from the 2-billion-word Global Web-based English corpus (GloWbE; Davies 2013). Five categories are investigated: case-marked pronouns, -ly and non-ly adverbs, agreement with number-transparent nouns, (extended uses of) irrealis were, and ‘hyperforeign’ noun suffixation. The nature and extent of hypercorrection in these categories, across the twenty English varieties represented in GloWbE, are investigated and discussed. Findings include a tendency for hypercorrection to be more common in American than in British English, and more prevalent in the ‘Inner Circle’ (IC) than in the ‘Outer Circle’ (OC) varieties (particularly with established constructions which have been the target of institutionalised prescriptive commentary over a long period of time).

Computational Model of Outer Circle and Inner Ellipse Shield Tunnel Lining Structure

Subway tunnels are mostly located in strata with an uneven pressure. This uneven pressure is usually manifested by lateral pressure coefficients less than 1. To adapt to the unevenness of the stratum load, in this study, we propose a new shield tunnel lining structure—outer circle and inner ellipse shield tunnel lining structure—whose outer contour remains circular and the inner contour shape of the structure is designed according to the load conditions. We used the stiffness step discounting method to obtain the calculation coefficients used in the force method formulas and established the calculation model of the outer circle and inner ellipse shield tunnel linings. The force method was then used to determine the force distribution characteristics of the outer circle and inner ellipse shield tunnel lining structure. During the verification, it was sufficient to analyze whether the waist structure rigidity met the safety conditions. This simplifies the design elements. The internal space area of our proposed design is expanded by 0.86 m2 compared to the internal space area of the equal stiffness shield tunnel lining design.

Iris Location Algorithm Based on Union-Find-Set and Block Search

In view of the problem of unstable recognition effect and low robustness of a traditional iris location algorithm, an iris location algorithm based on union-find-set and block search is proposed. Firstly, the inner circle of the iris is roughly positioned by the method of retrieval, and then, the Hough transform is used to accurately locate the pupil. After that, the convolution operation is used to roughly locate the outer circle, and then, the original image is partitioned to search. And the grayscale change in the gray histogram of the screenshot is observed to accurately locate the outer circle. The obtained iris and the iris obtained by the traditional localization algorithm are processed by the same iris recognition algorithm. The results show that the proposed image is more effective in image recognition and has good robustness.

MOVE STRUCTURES AND THEIR RHETORICAL VERBS OF RESEARCH ARTICLE ABSTRACTS ACROSS ENGLISHES

Genre-based studies on the move structure of research article (RA) abstracts have established variations across cultures. However, previous studies included at most two countries for comparisons of abstracts written by native against non-native speakers. With the advent of World Englishes, it is deemed more practical to examine abstracts across Englishes to determine the writing conventions of the L1, L2 and EFL speakers of English. Consequently, the present study is a structural move analysis of RA abstracts focusing on the macro-structural moves across the Englishes and the lexical verbs employed used in each move. It examined 36 RA abstracts from linguistics and language and education fields, consisting of 12 abstracts each from the Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles of English by Kachru (1992). Each abstract was segmented into moves using the Five-Move Model of Santos (1996), which includes moves: (1) Situating the Research (STR); (2) Presenting the Research (PTR); (3) Discussing the Methodology (DTM); (4) Summarizing the Findings, (STF), and (5) Discussing the Research (DTR). The study found that the Inner Circle of English has the structure: Abstract  (STR) + PTR + DTM + (STF) + (DTR). The Outer Circle has the structure: Abstract  (STR) + PTR + (DTM) + STF + DTR. The Expanding Circle has the structure: Abstract  (STR) + PTR + DTM + (STF) + (DTR). The formulaic structures of abstract moves revealed that the only common move across Englishes is PTR. Following the approach of Musa et al. (2015), the lexical verbs realizing the purpose of each of the rhetorical moves were listed in order to come up with lists of rhetorical verbs which can be used in structuring an RA abstract. The study concludes with implications for academic writing instruction that calls for future abstract analyses that are world Englishes-inspired.

Higher Education Regionalism in Europe: from Bologna Process to Sorbonne

In 2017, the launch of Sorbonne process aimed at the creation of European Education Area by 2025 in parallel to the Bologna process existing since 1999 led to the emergence of two regional initiatives sharing mandate and membership. This study presents new empirical and conceptual insights into the ways in which a higher education regionalism can emerge and nest within another one as well as and their interplay. To this end, the paper compares the constellation of actors, competences, membership and driving forces of the two overlapping projects in higher education. It investigates plausible impact of the changes in European educational integration on Russia as a participant of the Bologna process. The results suggest that while the intergovernmental Bologna process was launched in the context of EU enlargement and embodied Pan-European vision, the EU-coordinated Sorbonne process was brought forth in the wake of multiple crises in the EU. It prioritizes the deepening of integration among a delineated group of EU members and candidates. Hence, the European regionalism in higher education is structured in concentric circles: the inner core of EU countries pursuing deeper integration and an outer circle comprising the rest of the Bologna countries, representing a geopolitical dimension for the core. The emergence of the inner core might lead to the shift in Bologna rationale towards diffusion of EU norms among countries of the outer circle. Although Russia find itself in the outer circle, there a low probability of substantial negative changes in the conditions of its participation in EU programmes, because some restrictive measures are already in force since 2014 and their expansion is unlikely due to the „selective engagement‟ in cooperation between the EU and Russia.