On the origins of the epistemic, evidential, and subjectivity meanings in the mental state predicates

This paper aims to contribute to the debates about the nature of the speaker-related meanings of the mental state predicates, on the basis of a diachronic corpus study into the semantic evolution of five such verbs in Dutch. The analyses show that each of these verbs develops its own spe-cific profile in terms of a limited set of clearly distinguishable speaker-related meanings, viz. epistemic modality, evidentiality, and ‘subjectivi-ty’. Each of these meanings is moreover characterized by a distinctive di-achronic path. The study thus also demonstrates the independent status of ‘subjectivity’ as a meaning category.

Form and Use of Euphemisms in Hoax

This study aims to describe the form and use of euphemisms in hoax texts by meaning category. The data used is document entirely collect from the website cekfakta.com and turnbackhoax.id. The data was verified, classified and then analyzed and then was presented descriptively. The results of this study found as much as 18 forms of euphemisms, they are figurative expressions, metaphors, flippancy, remodeling, circumlocution, clippings, acronyms, abbreviations, omission, one word replacing one other word, general to specific, part to whole, hyperbole, meaning outside the statement, jargon, colloquial, borrowing, and foreign language forms. It is used in hoax for composing better speech, as if to convey facts with hyperbolic expressions, to tease or criticize others smoothly, in a political, religious, and health context.

Meaning and Affecting Factors of Spirituality in Adolescents

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of adolescents about spirituality via semistructured, in-depth interviews. Method/Design: A qualitative research design using interviews was performed with 17 adolescents in a mostly Muslim region in Turkey. Interviews were conducted via five open-ended questions. Findings: Three main categories and eight themes emerged from the analysis. The “Spirituality Meaning” category included five themes, such as mind, emotions, mind/emotions, ethical principles, and religion. Personal practices and environmental factors as well as mind, emotions, ethical principles, and religion themes were in the “Factors That Increase Spirituality” category. The theme living negativity was in the “Factors That Decrease Spirituality” category. Most of the adolescents (58.8%) stated that the meaning of spirituality was love, respect, and the ability to think, analyze, and synthesize. Conclusion: It is important to determine and evaluate the perceptions and experiences of children about spirituality in different cultures to improve the quality of care.

Against stored abstractions: A radical exemplar model of language acquisition

The goal of this article is to make the case for a radical exemplar account of child language acquisition, under which unwitnessed forms are produced and comprehended by on-the-fly analogy across multiple stored exemplars, weighted by their degree of similarity to the target with regard to the task at hand. Across the domains of (1) word meanings, (2) morphologically inflected words, (3) n-grams, (4) sentence-level constructions and (5) phonetics and phonology, accounts based on independently-represented abstractions (whether formal rules or prototype categories) fail for two reasons. First, it is not possible to posit abstractions that delineate possible and impossible form; e.g. that (1) rule in pool tables and data tables, but rule out chairs, (2) rule in the past-tense forms netted and bet but rule out * setted and * jet, (3) rule in the bigram f+t but rule out (probabilistically) v+t, (4) rule in both John feared Bill and John frightened Bill but rule out * John laughed Bill, (5) rule in Speaker A but rule out Speaker B as the person who produced a particular word (e.g. Sa’urday). Second, for each domain, empirical data provide evidence of exemplar storage that cannot be captured by putative abstractions: e.g. speakers prefer and/or show an advantage for (1) exemplar variation even within word-meaning ‘category boundaries’, (2) novel inflected forms that are similar to existing exemplars, (3) n-grams that have occurred frequently in the input, (4) SVO sentences with he as SUBJECT and it as OBJECT and (5) repeated productions of ‘the same’ word that are phonologically similar or, better still, identical. An exemplar account avoids an intractable lumping-or-splitting dilemma facing abstraction-based accounts and provides a unitary explanation of language acquisition across all domains; one that is consistent with models and empirical findings from the computational modelling and neuroimaging literature.

Expectations and needs of relatives of critically ill patients in the emergency department

Background:The care of critically ill patients is a strong indicator of service quality provided in the emergency department. Since families are the major social support sources, assessing the family members’ needs may reduce their anxiety and depression owing to the acute situation of their loved ones while improving the patients’ recovery.Objective:We aimed to evaluate the expectations and needs of relatives of critically ill patients to formulate solutions to improve the quality of emergency department service.Methods:We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional survey of 873 relatives of nontraumatic, critically ill patients who completed the Turkish version of the Critical Care Family Needs Inventory in the emergency department of a university hospital in Turkey. The needs statements were evaluated under five subheadings: meaning, proximity, communication, comfort, and support.Results:In total, 249 (28.5%) participants were females and 624 (71.5%) were males (mean age, 41.79 years). The “meaning” category was given the highest priority, followed by “communication,” with average points of 3.75 and 3.57, respectively. The most important needs were being informed regularly about the patient’s condition and being assured that the patient is under the best possible care, whereas personal, physical, and emotional needs were the least important.Conclusion:Relatives of critically ill patients primarily focus on the quality of patients’ care. Creating a positive rapport based on trust and providing a healthcare environment where the expectations and needs of relatives are met should be prioritized by emergency department physicians, nurses, and other staff while caring for critically ill patients.

Against stored abstractions: A radical exemplar model of language acquisition

The goal of this paper is to make the case for a radical exemplar account of child language acquisition, under which unwitnessed forms are produced and comprehended by on-the-fly analogy across multiple stored exemplars, weighted by their degree of similarity to the target with regard to the task at hand. Across the domains of (1) word meanings, (2) morphologically inflected words, (3) n-grams, (4) sentence-level constructions and (5) phonetics and phonology, accounts based on independently-represented abstractions (whether formal rules or prototype categories) fail for two reasons. First, it is not possible to posit abstractions that delineate possible and impossible form; e.g., that (1) rule in pool tables and data tables, but rule out chairs, (2) rule in the past-tense forms netted and bet but rule out *setted and *jet, (3) rule in the bigram f+t but rule out (probabilistically) v+t, (4) rule in both John feared Bill and John frightened Bill but rule out *John laughed Bill, (5) rule in Speaker A but rule out Speaker B as the person who produced a particular word (e.g., Sa’urday). Second, for each domain, empirical data provide evidence of exemplar storage that cannot be captured by putative abstractions: e.g. speakers prefer and/or show an advantage for (1) exemplar variation even within word-meaning “category boundaries”, (2) novel inflected forms that are similar to existing exemplars, (3) n-grams that have occurred frequently in the input, (4) SVO sentences with he as SUBJECT and it as OBJECT and (5) repeated productions of “the same” word that are phonologically similar or, better still, identical. An exemplar account avoids an intractable lumping-or-splitting dilemma facing abstraction-based accounts and provides a unitary explanation of language acquisition across all domains; one that is consistent with models and empirical findings from the computational modelling and neuroimaging literature.