Single-clause when-defining models in English monolingual pedagogical dictionaries

Author(s):  
Bartosz Ptasznik

Abstract The paper is concerned with the single-clause when-definition, which is a common folk-defining style that has been established by lexicographers in English monolingual learners’ dictionaries (the Big Five), especially the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. In brief, the single-clause when-definition format can be applied to explain the meaning of abstract nouns and it closely resembles the double-clause (full-sentence) definition, which can also begin with a subordinating conjunction such as when or if. However, the when-definition does not include the word which is being defined (definiendum) and it is formed out of a single, subordinate clause. This definition-type has received metalexicographers’ attention as it appears to, in general, limit the effectiveness of correct extraction of word class information from abstract noun entries in contrast to the traditional defining model – the analytical definition. In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate two types of single-clause when-defining models: (1) when + personal pronoun; and (2) when + indefinite pronoun (someone/something).1 The collected evidence from the Linear Mixed-effects Modelling analysis indicates that the effect of when-definition type on syntactic class identification accuracy is statistically significant at the 8% level of significance, with the when + personal pronoun defining style being the superior defining model.

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-137
Author(s):  
Lina Dubikaltytė-Raugalienė

Scientists studying personal identifiers in French scientific discourse incorporate the personal indefinite pronoun “on” into the paradigm. The semantics of the pronoun depends on the genre of scientific discourse. The pronoun “on” can acquire four meanings denoting or including the author. The current paper, based on two databases of native French and Lithuanian authors’ articles, aims at comparing the tendencies of the pronoun “on” usage and its functions in scientific discourse. The analyses has shown that the Lithuanian authors use the personal pronoun almost twice less frequently to mark an author or authors’ denotative or inclusive meaning. In the articles of Lithuanian authors, the pronoun “on” performs fewer pragmatic functions than in scientific discourse of French authors.


Author(s):  
Soliuk M.M.

This scientific research deals with a topical linguistic and translation problem – the category of definiteness / indefinitenessand ways of its reproduction in the German- Ukrainian translations of modern fiction. The purposeof this articleis to determine the ways one can employ to convey different meanings of German articles and other determinants into Ukrainian, as they are used to express the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the German language. To achieve this goal, there has been employed comparative and descriptive methodsof linguistic research as they allow to consider different ways of expression of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the Ukrainian translation. The objectof this research is the translation of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness which leads to a strictly defined subject. The subjectof the study are explicit means of expression of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in German (in the novel “Breathing Swing” by H. Muller) and implicit means of its expression in Ukrainian (in the Ukrainian translation of the respective novel).Results.The comparative analysis of the original and translated texts makes it possible to determine the main linguistic means of reprodution the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the Ukrainian translation. The analyzed material contains examples where the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the original text is expressed by a definite article which is translated by a pronominalized numeral “some of”, an indefinite-personal pronoun “someone”, or an indefinite pronoun; an indefinite article which is translated by pronouns; zero article is reproduced by a more detailed translation; pronouns are reproduced by their equivalents, as well as other pronouns; other cases of translation include a periphrasis, a descriptive, inaccurate or non-literal translation. Conclusions:Definite, indefinite, zero articles and pronouns serve as the main, most consistent, and regular means of realization of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the German language. While there are no certain morphological means of expression of this category in the Ukrainian language, the translator uses lexical and syntactic means for reproduction of the category definiteness / indefiniteness. The context also plays an essential role.Key words: category of determination, the definitness / indefinitness, article, pronoun, translation. У дослідженні порушується актуальна перекладознавча проблема – особливості відтворення категорії означеності / неозначеності на матеріалі німецько-українських перекладів творів сучасної художньої літератури. Метоюданої статті є визначення способів передачі українською мовою значень німецьких артиклів та інших детермінативів, за допомогою яких вира-жається категорія означеності / неозначеності в німецькій мові. Для досягнення поставленої мети застосовуються зіставний та описовий методи лінгвістичного дослідження, що дозволяють розглянути різні способи передачі засобів вираження катего-рії означеності / неозначеності в українському перекладі. Об’єктом дослідження постає категорія означеності / неозначеності, що виступає засобом позначення певного предмета. Предметом вивчення є експліцитні засоби вираження вищевказаної кате-горії в німецькій мові (в романі Г. Мюллер «Гойдалка дихання») та імпліцитні в українському перекладі зазначеного твору. За допомогою результатів, досягнутих внаслідок зіставного аналізу текстів оригіналу та перекладу, вдалося встановити основні мовні засоби відтворення категорії означеності / неозначеності в українському перекладі.Зокрема, зафіксовано такі випадки вираження категорії означеності / неозначеності в мові-оригіналі, а також засоби та способи їх відтвореня в мові перекла-ду: неозначений артикль перекладений прономіналізованим числівником «один із/з», неозначено-особовоим займенником «якийсь», вказівним займенником; означений артикль – за допомогою займенників; нульовий артикль відтворено деталізованим перекладом; детермінативи – їх відповідниками, а також іншими детермінативами; в деяких випадках перекладач вдається до перифрази, описового, неточного чи недослівного перекладу. Висновки:в німецькій мові означеність / неозначеність виражається за допомогою артиклів (означеного, неозначеного або нульового), а також інших детермінативів, якими часто виступають займенники. В той час як в українській мові певних морфологічних засобів вираження цієї категорії нема, перекладач вдається до використання лексичних та синтаксичних засобів, важлива роль при цьому відводиться контексту. Ключові слова: категорія детермінації, означеність / неозначеність, артикль, займенник, переклад.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089124322110579
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Saguy ◽  
Juliet A. Williams

Singular they has emerged as a key term in contemporary gender politics, reflecting growing usage of they/them as nonbinary personal pronouns. Drawing on interviews with 54 progressive gender activists, we consider how singular they can be used to resist and redo aspects of the prevailing gender structure. We identify three distinct usages of singular they: (1) as a nonbinary personal pronoun, (2) as a universal gender-neutral pronoun, and (3) as an indefinite pronoun when a person’s self-identified gender is unknown. While previous research on singular they as a gender-inclusive language practice has focused primarily on its usage as a nonbinary personal pronoun, our findings point to the relevance for gender politics of all three usages. Our analysis offers new insight into how nonbinary they challenges dominant gender norms and practices beyond incorporating additional gender categories. Given our findings, we propose further investigation of how using gender-neutral pronouns for everyone in specific contexts can advance progressive activists’ goals. Finally, we argue that the longstanding usage of singular they as an indefinite pronoun has new importance today in affirming gender as a self-determined identity.


Al-Lisan ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
WINANTU KURNIANINGTYAS SRI AGUNG ◽  
Aries Fitriani

Central determiner is as the main component in constructing noun phrase element as subject, objects, and complement in writing compositions. Meanwhile, determiner affects the meaning of noun. This research investigates the constructions of central determiners in abstracts of Journal Al-Tahrir Volume 17 No.1 Tahun 2017 and the reasons in applying those determiners in that journal. In gaining related information, types of central determiners, three diagram and table bracket were used. Qualitative research and syntactical analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The research finding revealed that central determiners were used in sentences of the abstracts. The terms of central determiners in subject were constructed through 7 determiners such demonstrative article, personal pronoun, possessive pronoun, indefinite pronoun, demonstrative article, definite article, and indefinite article. Having the function of object, central determiners were defined in 5 terms namely possessive pronoun, indefinite pronoun, demonstrative article, definite and indefinite article. Then, they were also used in sentences of the abstracts as complement. Here, central determiners were defined in terms of reflective pronoun, personal pronoun, possessive pronoun, indefinite pronoun, interrogative pronoun, definite and indefinite article.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel S. Fenton ◽  
Ulrike Baranowski ◽  
Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo ◽  
Hannah Cheales ◽  
Lyndsey Fox ◽  
...  

Abstract. Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in biostratigraphic, palaeoceanographic and evolutionary studies, but the strength of many study conclusions could be weakened if taxonomic identifications are not reproducible by different workers. In this study, to assess the relative importance of a range of possible reasons for among-worker disagreement in identification, 100 specimens of 26 species of macroperforate planktonic foraminifera were selected from a core-top site in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Twenty-three scientists at different career stages – including some with only a few days experience of planktonic foraminifera – were asked to identify each specimen to species level, and to indicate their confidence in each identification. The participants were provided with a species list and had access to additional reference materials. We use generalised linear mixed-effects models to test the relevance of three sets of factors in identification accuracy: participant-level characteristics (including experience), species-level characteristics (including a participant's knowledge of the species) and specimen-level characteristics (size, confidence in identification). The 19 less experienced scientists achieve a median accuracy of 57 %, which rises to 75 % for specimens they are confident in. For the 4 most experienced participants, overall accuracy is 79 %, rising to 93 % when they are confident. To obtain maximum comparability and ease of analysis, everyone used a standard microscope with only 35× magnification, and each specimen was studied in isolation. Consequently, these data provide a lower limit for an estimate of consistency. Importantly, participants could largely predict whether their identifications were correct or incorrect: their own assessments of specimen-level confidence and of their previous knowledge of species concepts were the strongest predictors of accuracy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 2054-2069
Author(s):  
Brandon Merritt ◽  
Tessa Bent

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate how speech naturalness relates to masculinity–femininity and gender identification (accuracy and reaction time) for cisgender male and female speakers as well as transmasculine and transfeminine speakers. Method Stimuli included spontaneous speech samples from 20 speakers who are transgender (10 transmasculine and 10 transfeminine) and 20 speakers who are cisgender (10 male and 10 female). Fifty-two listeners completed three tasks: a two-alternative forced-choice gender identification task, a speech naturalness rating task, and a masculinity/femininity rating task. Results Transfeminine and transmasculine speakers were rated as significantly less natural sounding than cisgender speakers. Speakers rated as less natural took longer to identify and were identified less accurately in the gender identification task; furthermore, they were rated as less prototypically masculine/feminine. Conclusions Perceptual speech naturalness for both transfeminine and transmasculine speakers is strongly associated with gender cues in spontaneous speech. Training to align a speaker's voice with their gender identity may concurrently improve perceptual speech naturalness. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12543158


Author(s):  
Xu Xu ◽  
Chunyan Kang ◽  
Kaia Sword ◽  
Taomei Guo

Abstract. The ability to identify and communicate emotions is essential to psychological well-being. Yet research focusing exclusively on emotion concepts has been limited. This study examined nouns that represent emotions (e.g., pleasure, guilt) in comparison to nouns that represent abstract (e.g., wisdom, failure) and concrete entities (e.g., flower, coffin). Twenty-five healthy participants completed a lexical decision task. Event-related potential (ERP) data showed that emotion nouns elicited less pronounced N400 than both abstract and concrete nouns. Further, N400 amplitude differences between emotion and concrete nouns were evident in both hemispheres, whereas the differences between emotion and abstract nouns had a left-lateralized distribution. These findings suggest representational distinctions, possibly in both verbal and imagery systems, between emotion concepts versus other concepts, implications of which for theories of affect representations and for research on affect disorders merit further investigation.


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