Logical word learning: The case of kinship

We examine the conceptual development of kinship through the lens of program induction. We present a computational model for the acquisition of kinship term concepts, resulting in the first computational model of kinship learning that is closely tied to developmental phenomena. We demonstrate that our model can learn several kinship systems of varying complexity using cross-linguistic data from English, Pukapuka, Turkish, and Yanomamö. More importantly, the behavioral patterns observed in children learning kinship terms, under-extension and over-generalization, fall out naturally from our learning model. We then conducted interviews to simulate realistic learning environments and demonstrate that the characteristic-to-defining shift is a consequence of our learning model in naturalistic contexts containing abstract and concrete features. We use model simulations to understand the influence of logical simplicity and children’s learning environment on the order of acquisition of kinship terms, providing novel predictions for the learning trajectories of these words. We conclude with a discussion of how this model framework generalizes beyond kinship terms, as well as a discussion of its limitations.

LANGUAGE TOOLS TO INCLUDE OTHERS INTO PERSONAL SPHERE OF THE SPEAKER IN TURKISH

Каждый язык обладает системой средств, отражающих взаимные позиции коммуникантов и характеризующих социальную дистанцию между собеседниками. Цель исследования, проведенного на материале примеров из разговорного турецкого языка (ТЯ), зафиксированных автором, состоит в определении набора языковых средств включения собеседника в личную сферу говорящего в ТЯ. Теоретически значимой задачей является включение соответствующих данных в лингво-типологические исследования. В качестве обращений в ТЯ используются личные имена, апеллятивы и (псевдо)термины родства. В рамках системы языковых средств эгоцентрического структурирования окружающего социального пространства основным средством включения присутствующего в сферу говорящего в ТЯ является использование в обращениях посессивного показателя 1 л. ед. ч. (мой). Обращения к младшим состоят из их личного имени или (псевдо)термина родства и посессивного показателя 1 л. ед. ч. Использование посессивного показателя 1 л. ед. ч. при обращения к старшим возможно при условии использования уменьшительного показателя. Обращение к старшим по возрасту с использованием только личного имени невозможно. Местоимение ты используется в отношении широкого круга лиц и не может считаться средством включения собеседника в личную сферу говорящего. Инструментом сознательного исключения присутствующих из личной сферы говорящего является использование в отношении них указательного местоимения 3 л. şu. Несмотря на специфику набора языковых средств включения окружающих в личную сферу говорящего в ТЯ, общая ситуация полностью соответствует ее определению, предложенному Ю. Д. Апресяном. Each language has a culturally specific system of tools that reflect the mutual positions of communicants, including tools that characterize the social distance between interlocutors. This investigation was conducted on the example material from conversational Turkish Language recorded by the author. Its purpose is to determine a set of linguistic tools that allows the inclusion of the interlocutor in the speaker’s personal sphere in Turkish. Theoretically, it is important to include relevant data in linguistic and typological studies. Personal names, appellatives, and (pseudo) kinship terms are used as addresses in Turkish. Within the system of language tools of egocentric structuring of the surrounding social space, the main tool of including of a person into the sphere of the speaker is the possessive suffix of 1 Pers. Sing. (“my”) in various types of addresses. For younger recipients the suffix “my” is used with their personal name or (pseudo) kinship term. The inclusion of senior recipients in the personal sphere of the speaker using the possessive suffix “my” is possible with the preliminary use of the diminutive suffix. Addressing senior recipients through the usage of their personal names is not possible. The pronoun sen “you” (Sing.) cannot be considered as a tool of including the interlocutor in the personal sphere of the speaker, since it is used in relation to a wide range of people. The tool for deliberately excluding those present from the speaker’s personal sphere is the use of the demonstrative pronoun of 3 Pers. şu. Despite the specific set of language tools of incorporating other persons into a personal field of speaker in Turkish, the overall situation is in line with the definition proposed by Yu. Apresyan.

Noun Form of Address of Characters in the 21 Jump Street Movie

This study is aimed to identify the types of noun form of address and describing the function of noun form of address applied in the movie. The data of this study was taken from a movie entitled 21 Jump Street as the primary data. The data was collected by documentation method and note taking technique. A qualitative method was used to analyze the data. It means the data was described based on theories applied in this study. The theory proposed by Braun was used to analyze the types of noun form of address. Whereas, the theory proposed by Brown and Gilman was used to analyze the function of noun form of address applied by characters in the movie. The results found five types of noun form of address, namely; names term (first name, last name and nickname), kinship term, title, occupational term, terms of endearment. This study does not find any data related to the abstract noun because this movie does not have any scenes which describe the abstract quality of the addressee, such as in the kingdom or court. Moreover, the function of noun form of address terms to show solidarity becomes the highest occurrences in the movie.

Gender stereotypes across the ages: On-line processing in school-age children, young and older adults

© 2015 Siyanova-Chanturia, Warren, Pesciarelli and Cacciari. Most research to date on implicit gender stereotyping has been conducted with one age group - young adults. The mechanisms that underlie the on-line processing of stereotypical information in other age groups have received very little attention. This is the first study to investigate real time processing of gender stereotypes at different age levels. We investigated the activation of gender stereotypes in Italian in four groups of participants: third- and fifth-graders, young and older adults. Participants heard a noun that was stereotypically associated with masculine (preside "headmaster") or feminine roles (badante "social care worker"), followed by a male (padre "father") or female kinship term (madre "mother"). The task was to decide if the two words - the role noun and the kinship term - could describe the same person. Across all age groups, participants were significantly faster to respond, and significantly more likely to press 'yes,' when the gender of the target was congruent with the stereotypical gender use of the preceding prime. These findings suggest that information about the stereotypical gender associated with a role noun is incorporated into the mental representation of this word and is activated as soon as the word is heard. In addition, our results show differences between male and female participants of the various age groups, and between male- and female-oriented stereotypes, pointing to important gender asymmetries.

Gender stereotypes across the ages: On-line processing in school-age children, young and older adults

© 2015 Siyanova-Chanturia, Warren, Pesciarelli and Cacciari. Most research to date on implicit gender stereotyping has been conducted with one age group - young adults. The mechanisms that underlie the on-line processing of stereotypical information in other age groups have received very little attention. This is the first study to investigate real time processing of gender stereotypes at different age levels. We investigated the activation of gender stereotypes in Italian in four groups of participants: third- and fifth-graders, young and older adults. Participants heard a noun that was stereotypically associated with masculine (preside "headmaster") or feminine roles (badante "social care worker"), followed by a male (padre "father") or female kinship term (madre "mother"). The task was to decide if the two words - the role noun and the kinship term - could describe the same person. Across all age groups, participants were significantly faster to respond, and significantly more likely to press 'yes,' when the gender of the target was congruent with the stereotypical gender use of the preceding prime. These findings suggest that information about the stereotypical gender associated with a role noun is incorporated into the mental representation of this word and is activated as soon as the word is heard. In addition, our results show differences between male and female participants of the various age groups, and between male- and female-oriented stereotypes, pointing to important gender asymmetries.

Cultural Interference on the Use of English Second-Person Pronoun by Javanese Students

Learning a language is not only about grammar and vocabulary but also about culture. Understanding culture allows language learners to give the right meaning to each word learned. English has a different culture from Indonesian. This study described the students' problems in using the second - person pronoun "you" in English, by looking at the term of social and cultural variables that are given in written form test. It involved the 40 students in ninth grade of SMP Sriwedari Malang, 80 students of SMA 3 Surabaya and 80 students of SMA 17 Surabaya. To examine the appropriateness of using second - person pronoun “you” the following steps were taken; analyzing the pronominals used by the samples, tabulating the pronominals used and the addressee interactions and the last step was calculating the percentage of pronominals used. The obtaining answer from the test explained that students’ answers were various. There were “you” as kinship term and others form were found to take the place of “you”. Kinship terms are “grandfather”, “aunt”, “uncle”, “mother”, “brother” and “father”. Other forms include “he”, “Herlina” (name), “Herman and “Levina” (names). It was found that 25.3% students used the correct form “you”, 69.05% students used kinship terms and 5.65% students used other forms. The analysis showed that there are some errors made by Javanese students in using the second - person pronoun “you” in English. It indicated that they still have culture interference in using second - person pronoun “you” in English.

ANALYSIS OF ADDRESS TERMS IN JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE

The aim of this research was to analyze the type and reason of address terms in WhatsApp group of Putera Batam University Justice League (2017) movie. This research is descriptive qualitative research. The research used observational method non-participatory technique to collect the data. The data was analyzed by applying the theory of Wardaugh (2010). The results found that the type of address terms were 8 data in first name (FN) in Man, Alfred, Diana, Barry, Howard, Silas, Bruce, Victor, 2 data in last name (LN) in Allen, Lane, 2 data in title (T) in Queen, Soldiers, 1 data in title plus last name (TLN) in Ms. Prince, 4 data in pet name (PN) in Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, Superman and 3 data in kinship term (KT) in Dad, Mother, Child. The research also found the reasons of address term with 12 data in intimacy in Ma, Children, Diana, Man, Victor, Arthur, Barry, Alfred, guys, Bruce, Mom, Superman, 5 data in power differential in Mr. Wilson, Master Wayne, ma'am, insects, Luthor and 3 data in equality in Clark, Steppenwolf and Kal-El. Based on the results, it can be concluded that first name (FN) is the most found type of address term and intimacy is the most in reason of address term.