Predictive Processing in Poetic Language: Event-Related Potentials Data on Rhythmic Omissions in Metered Speech

Predictions during language comprehension are currently discussed from many points of view. One area where predictive processing may play a particular role concerns poetic language that is regularized by meter and rhyme, thus allowing strong predictions regarding the timing and stress of individual syllables. While there is growing evidence that these prosodic regularities influence language processing, less is known about the potential influence of prosodic preferences (binary, strong-weak patterns) on neurophysiological processes. To this end, the present electroencephalogram (EEG) study examined whether the predictability of strong and weak syllables within metered speech would differ as a function of meter (trochee vs. iamb). Strong, i.e., accented positions within a foot should be more predictable than weak, i.e., unaccented positions. Our focus was on disyllabic pseudowords that solely differed between trochaic and iambic structure, with trochees providing the preferred foot in German. Methodologically, we focused on the omission Mismatch Negativity (oMMN) that is elicited when an anticipated auditory stimulus is omitted. The resulting electrophysiological brain response is particularly interesting because its elicitation does not depend on a physical stimulus. Omissions in deviant position of a passive oddball paradigm occurred at either first- or second-syllable position of the aforementioned pseudowords, resulting in a 2-by-2 design with the factors foot type and omission position. Analyses focused on the mean oMMN amplitude and latency differences across the four conditions. The result pattern was characterized by an interaction of the effects of foot type and omission position for both amplitudes and latencies. In first position, omissions resulted in larger and earlier oMMNs for trochees than for iambs. In second position, omissions resulted in larger oMMNs for iambs than for trochees, but the oMMN latency did not differ. The results suggest that omissions, particularly in initial position, are modulated by a trochaic preference in German. The preferred strong-weak pattern may have strengthened the prosodic prediction, especially for matching, trochaic stimuli, such that the violation of this prediction led to an earlier and stronger prediction error. Altogether, predictive processing seems to play a particular role in metered speech, especially if the meter is based on the preferred foot type.

Poetic Diction and Standard Language: Predictive Aspect

The article deals with the interdiction convergence on the example of evolutionary changes in lexical semantics of poetic language. The current study contributes to the development of the methodology for studying the language evolutionary processes. The paper describes certain trends of dynamic changes and their specifics; it gives some prediction about the further lexis convergence of different types of functional styles. The findings contribute to the development of lexicography which is going to reflect not only static but also dynamic characteristics of lexical units including stylistic ones. The subjectivity of labeling poetic vocabulary in dictionaries can be partially removed through the analysis of corpus data by comparing frequency indices in different subsections, however this method is not always accurate, moreover, it doesnt effectively trace evolutionary changes. The data from the psycholinguistic experiments can help reveal the dynamics of changes. On the one hand, the results of scaling show the extent of poetry in connotative meanings; on the other hand, the open-response associative experiment allows us to calculate the archaization index of a lexeme through summing up the numerical values of certain selected parameters. The research gives obvious evidence of active archaization of some specific poetic lexemes. The findings also prove that the dynamic changes in stylistic connotation are not synchronous with the changes in the denotative layer of a lexical unit.

In a strange other world. Urszula Kochanowska by Bolesław Leśmian translated into English

The article focuses on English translations of Bolesław Leśmian’s Urszula Kochanowska, especially those by Marian Polak-Chlabicz and Krzysztof Bartnicki. The author of the article aims to achieve a critical comparison between different translation strategies ventured to conquer the diffi culties associated with translating this verse, which is strongly connected with Polish culture and literature. The close-reading of the translations is accompanied by a short outline of Leśmian’s existence in English language along with an attempt to answer the question of whether translating his poetic language is at all possible or is Leśmian’s work an evident proof (as many critics say) of the phenomenon known as untranslatability.

O cotidiano do verso (in-verso): revoluções poéticas em Ana Cristina César e Paulo Leminski / The daily life of the verse (in-verse): poetic revolutions in Ana Cristina César and Paulo Leminski

Resumo: Este artigo propõe uma leitura de poemas de Ana Cristina César e Paulo Leminski escritos sob os ecos da ditadura militar da década de 1970. Esses poetas representaram, com seus traços peculiares, a dicção própria da geração mimeógrafo. Neste percurso, considera-se o contexto político-social em que surgiu a poesia marginal e suas feições particulares, além das características próprias do gesto literário de Ana C. e Paulo Leminski. Em tempos de silenciamento, a poesia busca novos caminhos para expressão do eu, reelaborando a linguagem poética e propondo novos vieses de expressão e divulgação artística.Palavras-chave: Ana Cristina Cesar; Paulo Leminski; ditadura militar; literatura marginal; violência.Abstract: This article proposes a reading of poems by Ana Cristina César and Paulo Leminski written under the echoes of the military dictatorship of the 1970s. These poets represented, with their peculiar features, the diction proper to the mimeograph generation. In this way, we consider the political-social context in which marginal poetry and its particular features emerged, in addition to the characteristics of the literary gesture of Ana C. and Paulo Leminski. In times of silence, poetry seeks new ways to express the self, reworking the poetic language and proposing new biases of expression and artistic dissemination.Keywords: Ana Cristina Cesar; Paulo Leminski; military dictatorship; marginal Literature; violence.

Metaphor: Meanings and Humanbecoming Metaphorical Truths

The purposes of this paper are to briefly describe the meaning of metaphor from a variety of sources, to show its ubiquitous and creative nature, to share some examples used in common parlance and scholarly works, and to elaborate the meaning of metaphor from a humanbecoming perspective with three metaphorical truths—semantic resonance, coherent integrity, and magical transfiguring. Metaphor is a linguistic way of conveying an idea in poetic language with words and phrases articulated as complete ideas with the use of unusual words that normally have different meanings. Metaphor has been used often in literary narratives and poetry to clarify meaning. Many authors offer ideas about what a metaphor is and how it should be used. Some of those are presented in this article.

"(In)distinct Languages": Revisiting the Dualism of Literal and Literary Meaning in Roman Jakobson and Donald Davidson

(In)distinct Languages: Revisiting the Dualism of Literal and Literary Meaning in Roman Jakobson and Donald Davidson The paper traces the relationship between the literal and literary language that is found in structuralism and analytic philosophy. The paper’s gist provides a comparative account of Roman Jakobson’s and Donald Davidson’s notions of poetic language and their relation to the general idea of language as it is given in their work. In reconsidering Jakobson’s and Davidson’s arguments, I propose abandoning the dualistic hypotheses of the oppositions between literal and non-literal language, and between literal and literary language. I contend that the notions of first and literal meanings are necessary for other types of interpretation. The dualistic hypothesis requires the cascade model, which displays a bottom-top transition across hierarchically arranged levels of meanings. Instead, I outline the multilayered structure of language with two thresholds: mimetic and semiotic. Therefore, the cascade model should be replaced with the palimpsest model of concurring, merging, and blending layers of meanings. Języki (nie)odrębne. Jeszcze raz o dualizmie znaczeń, dosłownego i literackiego, u Romana Jakobsona i Donalda DavidsonaW artykule poddano analizie relacje między językiem dosłownym a językiem literackim, występujące w strukturalizmie i filozofii analitycznej. W rozważaniach istotna była konfrontacja koncepcji języka poetyckiego Romana Jakobsona i Donalda Davidsona oraz ich związku z ogólną ideą języka, jaką można znaleźć w ich pracach. Rozważając ponownie argumenty Jakobsona i Davidsona, autor proponuje porzucić dualistyczne hipotezy, zasadzające się na opozycji między językiem dosłownym a językiem niedosłownym oraz między językiem dosłownym a językiem literackim. Twierdzi, że pojęcia znaczenia pierwszego i dosłownego są niezbędne w innych typach interpretacji. Hipoteza dualistyczna wymaga modelu kaskadowego, który ukazuje przejście od dołu do góry przez hierarchicznie ułożone poziomy znaczeń. Zamiast tego autor zarysowuje wielowarstwową strukturę języka z dwoma poziomami: mimetycznym i semiotycznym i wskazuje na konieczność zastąpienia modelu kaskadowego palimpsestowym modelem współbieżności, łączenia i mieszania warstw znaczeniowych.

Portrayal of Social Vices in Obasa’s Poetry

Tis essay examines sub-themes of social vices like wickedness, disobedience, stubbornness, jealousy, deception, greed, laziness, corruption, treachery, foolishness and ignorance, extremism etc. in Obasa’s poetry. ́ The study shows that Obasa ̩ was a renowned and seasoned poet who used poetic language as a ́ tool to convey Yoruba perspectives and philosophy to his readers. The study further shows that Obasa’s poetry series are ever relevant as they address current issues on human relations, socio-cultural, and socio-economic situations of the present-day Nigeria. Tis work concludes that Obasa ̩ ́ was a teacher of morals and ethics who used poetry as a medium of waging war against societal ills.

Colors In Al-Sayyab's Selected Poems: A Semiotic Analysis

Colors are used in different cultures and texts. They are used for many purposes by people. The meaningful aspects of the colors are created by community to reflect their ideas. The study will focus on the colors that are mentioned in Al-Sayyab's poems. The study aims to find how these colors are functioned in such poems through semiotic analysis. The colors are four, green, white, black and yellow. These colors have been tackled through semiotic analysis by using three signs: icon, index, and symbol. The study has reached to the conclusions that the use of these colors is stable in some contexts, while it varies among other. Those colors within the poetic language poems are stable if there is a reference to nature and the occurrence of these in different view of life. In others context varies according to the context and the theme of the poem, colors may reflect different signs out the color itself.

Time as the Rhythm of Theoretical Practices

Many scholars would agree today that no theory is timeless. But they would probably mean the historicity of theoretical thinking, including the concepts and preconceptions of time propagated by theoretical literary studies. In this paper, I will investigate a usually ignored but unavoidable problem: the rhythmic dimension of theorising. How do those practices, to which different theoretical attempts are linked, influence their orientation in time(s)? Gathering positive data of the past in positivism, revealing the work of formal devices of poetic language in formalism, following a rhetorical change in postmodernism or reducing every kind of change to historical construction are not only ideological patterns but practical rhythms considered as paradigmatic for other – and sometimes for all – happenings. Based on practice-oriented physics, I propose research of time projections by which literary reading and writing are transposed to the kinetic spaces of certain theoretical practices.