METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS OF RUSSIAN-HEBREW BILINGUAL PRESCHOOLERS (BASED ON THE DEFINITION TEST)

Our study of Russian-Hebrew bilingual preschoolers’ metalinguistic awareness is based on the results of the definition test with 56 children. The results uncover six strategies to generate a definition of concrete nouns in two languages. The preschoolers preferred to how an object functions while explaining the word meaning in both languages. References to the category by hypernyms, synonyms or co-hyponyms cover 10% of Russian definitions and 5% of those in Hebrew. The bilinguals often failed to define a noun in Hebrew. They could not find a relevant hypernym, overcoming the difficulty by generating descriptive definitions with a specific qualification of the object. Manipulating the L2 structure, they showed their metalinguistic awareness.

Normative ratings for 111 Swedish nouns and corresponding picture stimuli

Normative ratings are a means to control for the effects of confounding variables in psycholinguistic experiments. This paper introduces a new dataset of normative ratings for Swedish encompassing 111 concrete nouns and the corresponding picture stimuli in the MultiPic database (Duñabeitia et al. 2017). The norms for name agreement, category typicality, age of acquisition and subjective frequency were collected using online surveys among native speakers of the Finland-Swedish variety of Swedish. The paper discusses the inter-correlations between these variables and compares them against available ratings for other languages. In doing so, the paper argues that ratings for age of acquisition and subjective frequency collected for other languages may be applied to psycholinguistic studies on Finland-Swedish, at least with respect to concrete and highly imageable nouns. In contrast, norms for name agreement should be collected from speakers of the same language variety as represented by the subjects in the actual experiments.

Demonstratiivpronoomenid ja -adverbid määratlejatena. Miks me oleme siin ilmas, selles olukorras?

Kokkuvõte. Artiklis analüüsime eesti keele demonstratiivide referentsiaalseid omadusi sellistes konstruktsioonides, kus demonstratiivid kuuluvad definiitse määratlejana nimisõnafraasi koosseisu. Otsime vastust küsimusele, mille poolest erinevad demonstratiivadverb (nt siin, seal) ning demonstratiivpronoomen (see, too), kui need esinevad määratlejana koos kohakäändes nimisõnafraasiga (vrd siin koolis ja selles koolis). Oleme püstitanud hüpoteesi, et demonstratiivadverbid seostuvad ruumitähendust väljendavate substantiividega, demonstratiivpronoomenid esinevad aga nende substantiividega, mille referent on mitteruumiline. Uurimuse andmestik pärineb 2017. aasta eesti keele ühendkorpusest, kust oleme võtnud 100 lauset iga demonstratiivi kohta igas kohakäändes, seega kokku 2400 lauset. Materjali analüüsime kvantitatiivselt (tingimuslike otsustuspuude ja juhumetsadega) ning kvalitatiivselt. Uurimuse tulemused kinnitavad, et substantiivi semantilised omadused, täpsemalt substantiivi semantiline klass ning konkreetsus, on seotud määratleja valikuga. Kohatähenduses substantiividega esineb määratlejana sagedamini demonstratiivadverb, mittekoha tähenduses substantiivide määratlejana kasutatakse aga demonstratiivpronoomenit. Mittekohta tähistavate substantiivide korral mõjutab määratleja valikut omakorda sõna konkreetsus. Seega on võimalik demonstratiivseid määratlejaid eesti keeles kasutada referenti looval viisil. Abstract. Helen Hint, Piia Taremaa, Maria Reile, Renate Pajusalu: Demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adverbs as determiners in Estonian: why are we in “here world” in “this situation”? We investigate the variation of definite determiner constructions in Estonian: noun phrases with a demonstrative pronoun (see ‘this’, too ‘that’) or demonstrative adverb (siin ‘here’, seal ‘there’) as a determiner are contrasted. The question is what differentiates the use of a demonstrative pronoun and a demonstrative adverb if used in a determiner position in an NP. The data from Estonian National Corpus 2017 were tagged for semantic class of a noun, noun concreteness, and verb type. We collected 100 clauses for each sub-construction (six spatial cases crossed with four determiner forms), 2400 clauses in total. For statistical analysis, we used conditional random forests and inference trees. We show that nouns expressing spatial meaning prefer demonstrative adverbs as determiners, while non-spatial nouns combine with demonstrative pronouns. Spatiality-wise polysemous nouns exhibit more varied preferences. Adverbial determiners are more probably used with concrete nouns, and abstract nouns co-occur with pronominals. Overall, the frequency of demonstrative adverbs as NP attributes confirms that demonstrative adverbs are productive determiners in Estonian.

A Short Research on the use of Selectional Restriction Violations among Lyrics

Songs, along with poetry, short stories, novels, and dramas, belong to the language of humanity (literary language). As an art form that began to be popular in the last century, it has come into the view of linguists more frequently today.Between its lines, vivid expressions such as “city can sleep”, “animals can talk to each other” and “memory can dance” often appear. This abnormal writing skill refers to a unique linguistic phenomenon ------ Selective Restriction Violation(SRV) explained by Noam Chomsky and is often associated with “metaphor” according to generative grammarians and cognitive linguists. In this research article, 10 representative sentences from popular musics’ list in recent years were selected in order to explore more about this phenomenon in music field. After a detailed analysis, it is found that it appears frequently and The author prefers to use the technique of “replacing concrete nouns with abstract nouns”(9 from all 10 sentences) although it is a special linguistic phenomenon. The underlying reason for writing in this way might be that metaphorical expressions can not only make the sentence more vivid, but also help readers more accurately understand the ideas which authors want to express.

METAFORA DAN METONIMI SEBAGAI PEMBENTUK POLISEMI

AbstrakSalah satu cara untuk mengembangkan kosakata tanpa menciptakan kata baru adalah dengan membuat kata yang sudah ada menjadi polisemi. Penelitian kecil ini bertujuan untuk mengamati peran metafora dan metonimi dalam pembentukan makna kata. Data penelitian ini diambil dari kamus Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek [Nederlands als Tweede Taal] (2003) dan dibatasi pada entri nomina. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan dengan mengamati nomina konkret yang berpolisemi dan menentukan apakah makna baru disebabkan oleh metafora atau metonimi. Acuan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Knowles Moon (2006) dan Kövecses (2010). Temuan penelitian ini adalah kata bougie ‘spark plug', rooster ‘jadwal’, and tak ‘cabang' dibentuk oleh metafora, kata glas ‘gelas’, doek ‘kain’ dibentuk oleh metonimi, dan kata apotheek ‘apotek’ dibentuk oleh metafora dan juga metonimi.Kata kunci: kamus, metafora, metonimi, polisemi. AbstractOne of many ways to extend vocabulary without adding new words is by making existed words polysemous. This small research aims to observe the roles of metaphors and metonymies in the formation of words meaning. The data of this research is the dictionary Van Dale Pocketwoordenboek [Nederlands als Tweede Taal] (2003) and it is limited to the noun entries. This research was conducted by observing polysemy on concrete nouns and determining the cause of new meaning whether based on metaphor or metonymy. The main references used to support this research were Knowles Moon (2006) and Kövecses (2010). The finding of this research is that the words bougie ‘sparks', rooster ‘schedule’, and tak ‘branch' are formed by metaphors and glas ‘glass’, doek ‘cloth’ are formed by metonymy. The word apotheek ‘pharmacy’ is formed by metaphor and metonymy as well.Keywords: dictionary, metaphor, metonymy, polysemy.

Crafting Words and Sentences

This chapter provides general advice for strengthening science writing. This advice includes how to trim phrases, write in a straightforward manner, and use an active voice and concrete nouns. Additionally, the chapter examines how to write from a higher level by, e.g., balancing between specific information and general statements, and smoothly transitioning between paragraphs and sections to improve the reading experience and provide a road map for the reader. Finally, also provided is a list of common grammatical errors to watch out for.

SEMANTICS OF UNREALITY IN THE WORKS OF V. PELEVIN: THE PERCEPTUAL ASPECT

Введение. Представлено исследование семантики восприятия, возникающей в процессе описания ирреальности как объекта чувственного опыта в творчестве В. Пелевина. Языковые единицы с перцептивной семантикой, обладая функционально-эстетической нагрузкой, играют важную роль в реализации формальных и смысловых аспектов организации художественного текста. Цель – изучить особенности языковой репрезентации феномена ирреальности в творчестве В. Пелевина на основе структурно-семантических моделей высказывания и лингвистических средств выражения семантики восприятия. Материал и методы. Исследование осуществляется при помощи метода лингвистического моделирования, нацеленного на изучение базовых компонентов структуры высказывания, и лингвостилистического анализа. В качестве материала выбран постмодернистский текст, который отражает активные процессы, происходящие в языковой системе, в частности романы В. Пелевина «Чапаев и Пустота» и «Generation „П“» (1990-е гг.). Результаты и обсуждение. Установлено, что семантика восприятия реализуется на различных уровнях организации художественного текста. На структурно-семантическом уровне высказывания, помимо базовой модели перцептивной ситуации, выявлены модели, позволяющие актуализировать ирреальные объекты, которые становятся доступными чувственному восприятию персонажей. Для замещения позиции объекта чаще используются абстрактные и конкретные имена существительные и местоимения. Имена прилагательные и причастия, выступающие в качестве квалификатора, описывают разнообразные характеристики воспринимаемого. На уровне формальной организации текста репрезентация семантики ирреального обусловила усложнение синтаксического строя произведения (использование различных типов сравнительных конструкций, сопоставительных и противительных бессоюзных предложений, сложноподчиненных предложений с придаточными места и времени и др.). На стилистическом уровне семантику ирреальности реализуют средства художественной выразительности (метафора, метонимия, сравнение, персонификация и др.), в состав которых входят языковые единицы с перцептивным значением. Заключение. Репрезентация семантики ирреальности в творчестве В. Пелевина тесно связана с изображением перцептивных процессов. Особая роль отводится объектам восприятия, которые, обладая необычными качественными характеристиками, становятся предметом языковой актуализации на разных уровнях художественного текста. Introduction. The article presents the study of the semantics of perception, which is observed in the process of describing unreality as an object of sensory experience in the works of V. Pelevin. Language units with perceptual semantics having a functional and aesthetic meaning play an important role in the implementation of formal and semantic aspects of the organization of a literary text. The purpose of the article is to study the linguistic features of the representation of the semantics of unreality in the work of V. Pelevin on the basis of the identified structural and semantic models of the statement and linguistic means of expressing the semantics of perception. Material and methods. The research is carried out using the method of linguistic modeling aimed at identifying the main components of the utterance structure and linguistic and stylistic analysis. The material chosen is a postmodern text that reflects the active processes taking place in the language sys-tem in particular V. Pelevin’s novels «Chapaev and the Void» and «Generation “P”» which relate to the mature period of the writer’s work (the 1990s). Results and discussion. In the course of the research, it was revealed that the semantics of perception is implemented at various levels of the organization of a literary text. In addition to the basic model of the situation of perception at the structural-semantic level of the utterance, there are models that make it possible to actualize unreal objects. In such circumstances, these objects become accessible to the sensory perception of characters. Abstract and concrete nouns and pronouns are more often used to replace the position of an object. Adjectives and participles that act as qualifiers describe various char-acteristics of the perceived. At the level of the formal text organization, the representation of the se-mantics of the unreal caused the complexity of the syntactic structure of the work (the use of various types of comparative sentences, complex sentences, adverbial clauses of place and adverbial clauses of time, etc.). At the stylistic level of the text, the semantics of unreality are implemented by stylistic devices and expressive means which include language units with perception meaning. Conclusion. The study allows us to conclude that the representation of unreality semantics in the work of V. Pelevin is closely related to the image of perceptual processes. A special role is assigned to perception objects with unusual qualitative characteristics which become the subject of language actualization at different levels of the literary text.

Morphological Criterion for Distinguishing between Abstract and Concrete Nouns: An Experimental Approach

In this paper, the problem of using a morphological criterion for distinguishing between abstract nouns and other lexico-grammatical categories of the Russian language was studied. The experimental data were obtained as part of the work on compiling an electronic semantic dictionary of Russian abstract nouns with the help of the methodology used to create a similar dictionary for the English language. To date, the dictionary has had 1000 entries, each provided with the abstractness/concreteness index number. During the study, the nouns with the highest degree of abstractness (from 3.5 to 5) were selected. Based on the Large Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by S.A. Kuznetsov and the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by D.N. Ushakov, the plural forms of these nouns and their usage were analyzed. It was revealed that the plural forms of the nouns under consideration can be used in at least one meaning. It was also discovered that the morphological criterion for distinguishing between the lexico-grammatical categories of concreteness/abstractness is not stable and, therefore, turns out to be inapplicable to a number of words.

A Corpus Stylistic Analysis of Abulhawa's the Blue between Sky and Water

Palestinian literature received significance after Nakba (1948 Palestine-Israel war) and Naksa (1967 Arab-Israel war) and it laid an impact on Palestinian writers and there emerged a new form of literature called Palestinian American literature which got recognition in the 1990s internationally. After Nakba and Naksa many Palestinian families migrated to America. These Palestinians wrote literature in English that is called Palestinian-American literature. The aim of the stylistic analysis of Abulhawa's work to trace out how the writer constructs reality through lexical categories. This thesis also analyzes the work of Palestinian-American writer Abulhawa's novel, The Blue between Sky and Water, and focuses specifically on how the writer achieves her aims. At the same time, this stylistic analysis of The Blue between Sky and Water shed light on the use of Arabic words in English fiction which represent the culture and identity of the Palestinian nation. It explores the dilemma of Palestine that they become a foreigner in their native land. The researcher employed a mixed-method approach to conduct the present study. The researcher used Corpus stylistics tools to analyze the novel. The researcher traced around 6288 concrete nouns and 1634 abstract nouns from the sample respectively. The extensive use of concrete nouns showed that the main purpose of the writer was to get homeland and this piece of writing was not only art for art sake rather art for life's sake. The researcher traced out around 1400 adjectives from the sample of study.