COGNITIVE MODEL OF NONCE-WORDS FORMATION IN INTERNET DISCOURSE (ENGLISH POLITICAL FORUMS)

The aim of the research is to analyze the cognitive mechanism of noncewords formation in the Internet discourse. The material of the studies is English political forums. The methodology of the research is the theory of conceptual integration of G. Fauconnier and M. Turner which makes it possible to study the cognitive mechanism of nonceword meaning generation and describe the properties and structure of its concept. The specific traits of the cognitivesemantic nonceword meaning construction process are: occasionality, occasional recatecorization of the concept, sensegeneration operators, pragmatic factor.

Schaalvergroting in het syntactische alternantieonderzoek : Een nieuwe analyse van het presentatieve er met automatisch gegenereerde predictoren

In this paper, we revisit earlier analyses of the distribution of er ‘there’ in adjunct-initial sentences to demonstrate the merits of computational upscaling in syntactic variation research. Contrary to previous studies, in which major semantic and pragmatic predictors (viz. adjunct type, adjunct concreteness, and verb specificity) had to be coded manually, the present study operationalizes these predictors on the basis of distributional analysis: instead of hand-coding for specific semantic classes, we determine the semantic class of the adjunct, verb, and subject automatically by clustering the lexemes in those slots on the basis of their ‘semantic passport’ (as established on the basis of their distributional behaviour in a reference corpus). These clusters are subsequently interpreted as proxies for semantic classes. In addition, the pragmatic factor ‘subject predictability’ is operationalized automatically on the basis of collocational attraction measures, as well as distributional similarity between the other slots and the subject. We demonstrate that the distribution of er can be modelled equally successfully with the automated approach as in manual annotation-based studies. Crucially, the new method replicates our earlier findings that the Netherlandic data are easier to model than the Belgian data, and that lexical collocations play a bigger role in the Netherlandic than in the Belgian data. On a methodological level, the proposed automatization opens up a window of opportunities. Most important is its scalability: it allows for a larger gamut of alternations that can be investigated in one study, and for much larger datasets to represent each alternation.

Why is Locke's Linguistic Theory Still Current and Interesting Today?

In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), Locke set out to offer an analysis of the human mind and its acquisition of knowledge still very current and important today. Locke offered also an empiricist theory according to which we acquire ideas through our experience of the world. The article examines Locke’s views on language and his principal innovation in the field of linguistic theory, represented by the recognition of the power of language with respect to the classification of the world, and its relative independence from reality. In particular the following topics are discussed: a) the polemical contrast with Cartesian philosophy b) the criticism that Locke levels against innatism c) the function of abstraction of the mind d) the concept of semiotics as a theory of thought and its expression e) the radical concept of arbitrariness f) the pragmatic factor intrinsic to Locke’s linguistics described as “communicational scepticism”.

A Study on Metaphor as Part of Critical Discourse Analysis

This article discusses the use of metaphorical studies as a more general way of contributing to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which shows how the recognition of some metaphorical linguists as a basic tool of concept and the formation of arguments can add to the meaning of the constitution in a social context. Then discusses the difference between the metaphorical concept model and the empirical data, that the discursive-pragmatic factor and sociolinguistic Variations must be taken into account to make empirical and relevant cognitive analysis. In conclusion, we sketched a cognitive approach modified and informed by the theory of relevance.

L’accord du participe passé dans les langues romanes

This study aims at describing past participle agreement rules in the Romance languages. These are mainly considered as being an arbitrary set of rules; however, this study is based on the hypothesis that this kind of agreement has primarily a pragmatic function. Indeed, based on the hypothesis that past participle agreement is an example of verb-argument agreement, such as the subject-verb one, we will demonstrate that this agreement is triggered by a subject or a direct object with topic function. The pragmatic factor will be then integrated with those traditionally recognised in the literature, namely nuclear syntactic functions and the auxiliary selected. Finally, we will show why such a variation exists in the Romance languages.

Asking children to ask; an experimental investigation of the pragmatics of relayed questions

ABSTRACTChildren's apparent ‘errors’ in interpreting ask as tell, incidentally uncovered in C. Chomsky's research on syntactic development, and subsequently interpreted in terms of E. Clark's theory of semantic development, are re-interpreted in the framework of pragmatic development. An experiment is reported in which a single coherent discourse framework is imposed and one pragmatic factor is manipulated: children's knowledge of the answers to the questions they are supposed to relay. The results confirm the hypothesis that if the children do not know the information, they relay the question, i.e. ask. If they do know the answer, they supply it, i.e. tell. By literally asking, the children in the ‘don't know’ condition demonstrate that they are capable of decoding ask constructions semantically and syntactically. The tendency of the children in the ‘know’ condition to tell is then interpreted as revealing not semantic confusion but pragmatic skill. The children's responses are discussed in relation to three-person speech acts and indirect requests for information. Children's ability to interpret utterances non-literally has implications for conducting experiments with literal instructions and these are also discussed.