To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Continuous variation of Linguistics.
Journal articles on the topic 'Continuous variation of Linguistics'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 journal articles for your research on the topic 'Continuous variation of Linguistics.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse journal articles on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Paolillo, John C. "Sinhala diglossia: Discrete or continuous variation?" Language in Society 26, no. 2 (June 1997): 269–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0047404500020935.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACTSociolinguists disagree on how to characterize diglossia with respect to the structural relatedness of the H(igh) and L(ow) varieties: Ferguson 1959, 1991 holds that H and L should be distinct but related varieties of language, while others maintain that a continuum model is more appropriate. Both discrete models (Gair 1968, 1992) and continuum models (De Silva 1974, 1979) have been proposed for Sinhala, as spoken in Sri Lanka. In this article, I employ a computer-generated multidimensional graph of relations between varieties of Sinhala to show that the distribution of H and L grammatical features in a sample of naturally occurring texts supports the discrete H and L model more than the continuum model. A rigorous characterization of diglossia as a distinct type of language situation is proposed, based on the notion “functional diasystem.” (Diglossia, Sinhala, Sri Lanka, diasystem, hybridization, continuum, South Asia, standardization)
2
Siirtola, Harri, Tanja Säily, Terttu Nevalainen, and Kari-Jouko Räihä. "Text Variation Explorer." International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 19, no. 3 (September 1, 2014): 417–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19.3.05sii.
Full textAbstract:
This paper reviews the gap between current methods of text visualization and the needs of corpus-linguistic research, and introduces a tool that takes a step towards bridging that gap. Current text visualization methods tend to treat the problem as a data-encoding issue only, and do not strive for interactive, tightly coupled representations of text that would foster discovery. The paper argues that such visualizations should always be linked for effortless movement between the text and its visualization, and that the visualization controls should provide continuous and immediate feedback to facilitate exploration. We introduce a tool, Text Variation Explorer (TVE), to demonstrate the aforementioned requirements. TVE allows visual and interactive examining of the behaviour of linguistic parameters affected by text window size and overlap, and in addition, performs interactive principal component analysis based on a user-given set of words.
3
Dilley, Laura C. "Pitch Range Variation in English Tonal Contrasts: Continuous or Categorical?" Phonetica 67, no. 1-2 (2010): 63–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000319379.
Full text
4
Solon, Megan, Bret Linford, and Kimberly L. Geeslin. "Acquisition of sociophonetic variation." Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 31, no. 1 (August 27, 2018): 309–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/resla.16028.sol.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract This study investigates the acquisition of nativelike variation in the production of Spanish /d/ by English-speaking learners. Specifically, we examine the production of /d/ in word-internal intervocalic position in the speech of 13 highly advanced nonnative speakers (NNSs) and 13 native speakers (NSs) of Spanish in digitally-recorded sociolinguistic interviews. The analysis includes a discrete categorization of /d/ realization based on spectrographic examination (stop vs. spirant vs. deleted) and a continuous intensity difference measure. Tokens were coded for grammatical category, surrounding segments, stress, number of syllables, and lexical frequency. Results indicate that both NNSs and NSs exhibit /d/ spirantization and deletion, but these two processes are affected by different factors both between and across groups: NNS deletion patterns are predicted most significantly by lexical frequency, whereas degree of spirantization is influenced by articulatory/contextual factors of phonetic context and stress. NS patterns for both processes are influenced by most factors in a similar manner.
5
Günther, Christine. "Preposition Stranding vs. Pied-Piping—The Role of Cognitive Complexity in Grammatical Variation." Languages 6, no. 2 (May 18, 2021): 89. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/languages6020089.
Full textAbstract:
Grammatical variation has often been said to be determined by cognitive complexity. Whenever they have the choice between two variants, speakers will use that form that is associated with less processing effort on the hearer’s side. The majority of studies putting forth this or similar analyses of grammatical variation are based on corpus data. Analyzing preposition stranding vs. pied-piping in English, this paper sets out to put the processing-based hypotheses to the test. It focuses on discontinuous prepositional phrases as opposed to their continuous counterparts in an online and an offline experiment. While pied-piping, the variant with a continuous PP, facilitates reading at the wh-element in restrictive relative clauses, a stranded preposition facilitates reading at the right boundary of the relative clause. Stranding is the preferred option in the same contexts. The heterogenous results underline the need for research on grammatical variation from various perspectives.
6
Torres Cacoullos, Rena. "Variation and Grammaticization in Progressives Spanish -NDO Constructions." Studies in Language 23, no. 1 (July 2, 1999): 25–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.23.1.03tor.
Full textAbstract:
This paper presents an account of the variation in Spanish Progressive constructions from the perspective of grammaticization. Retention of features of meaning from the source constructions is reflected in distribution constraints on the different auxiliaries, which, nevertheless, are converging toward continuous meaning. The evidence supports the hypothesis that progressives originate as locative or movement constructions and that the process by which they evolve is semantic generalization (as opposed to metaphor or pragmatic strengthening). An important mechanism in this grammaticization process is frequency of occurrence in certain contexts, in support of the view that frequent repetition plays a role in semantic change (Bybee and Thomspon 1997; Haiman 1994).
7
Ponti, Edoardo Maria, Helen O’Horan, Yevgeni Berzak, Ivan Vulić, Roi Reichart, Thierry Poibeau, Ekaterina Shutova, and Anna Korhonen. "Modeling Language Variation and Universals: A Survey on Typological Linguistics for Natural Language Processing." Computational Linguistics 45, no. 3 (September 2019): 559–601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00357.
Full textAbstract:
Linguistic typology aims to capture structural and semantic variation across the world’s languages. A large-scale typology could provide excellent guidance for multilingual Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly for languages that suffer from the lack of human labeled resources. We present an extensive literature survey on the use of typological information in the development of NLP techniques. Our survey demonstrates that to date, the use of information in existing typological databases has resulted in consistent but modest improvements in system performance. We show that this is due to both intrinsic limitations of databases (in terms of coverage and feature granularity) and under-utilization of the typological features included in them. We advocate for a new approach that adapts the broad and discrete nature of typological categories to the contextual and continuous nature of machine learning algorithms used in contemporary NLP. In particular, we suggest that such an approach could be facilitated by recent developments in data-driven induction of typological knowledge.
8
D'Onofrio, Annette. "Personae and phonetic detail in sociolinguistic signs." Language in Society 47, no. 4 (June 28, 2018): 513–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0047404518000581.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractSocial meaning-based approaches to linguistic variation treat variation as a semiotic system, in which sociolinguistic signs—indexical links between linguistic forms and social meanings—serve as interactional resources that individuals use to project personae. This article explores the perceptual nature of the links between social personae and linguistic forms, examining how information about a speaker's persona can influence a listener's linguistic perceptions of a continuous phonetic feature. Using a phoneme categorization task, this study examines associations between gradient phonetic manifestations on a continuum from /æ/ to /ɑ/ and three social personae. Findings illustrate that the social persona made relevant for a listener influences the ways in which points on this phonetic continuum are categorized phonemically as eithertraporlot. Overall, this shows that the social constructs of personae influence phonetically detailed perceptions of linguistic material. (Sociolinguistic perception, personae, indexicality, sociophonetics, sociolinguistic signs)*
9
Mairesse, François, and Marilyn A. Walker. "Controlling User Perceptions of Linguistic Style: Trainable Generation of Personality Traits." Computational Linguistics 37, no. 3 (September 2011): 455–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00063.
Full textAbstract:
Recent work in natural language generation has begun to take linguistic variation into account, developing algorithms that are capable of modifying the system's linguistic style based either on the user's linguistic style or other factors, such as personality or politeness. While stylistic control has traditionally relied on handcrafted rules, statistical methods are likely to be needed for generation systems to scale to the production of the large range of variation observed in human dialogues. Previous work on statistical natural language generation (SNLG) has shown that the grammaticality and naturalness of generated utterances can be optimized from data; however these data-driven methods have not been shown to produce stylistic variation that is perceived by humans in the way that the system intended. This paper describes Personage, a highly parameterizable language generator whose parameters are based on psychological findings about the linguistic reflexes of personality. We present a novel SNLG method which uses parameter estimation models trained on personality-annotated data to predict the generation decisions required to convey any combination of scalar values along the five main dimensions of personality. A human evaluation shows that parameter estimation models produce recognizable stylistic variation along multiple dimensions, on a continuous scale, and without the computational cost incurred by overgeneration techniques.
10
Sevilla Muñoz, Julia. "Les parémies et leurs variantes intergénérationnelles." Spanish Phraseology 38, no. 2 (December 7, 2015): 213–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/li.38.2.02sev.
Full textAbstract:
Paremiological researches provide new and continuous interesting data for both the scientific and the speakers’ community. In spite of the numerous aspects that have already been studied, there are still many others left to be researched, such as the variations. For this reason, this work analyses the intergenerational variants of paremies, particularly the formal variation of folk paremies utilized by two different generations within the same family. The results obtained will enable a more complete systematisation in the field of linguistic heritage, a better understanding of the current situation of this type of paremies, and, at the same time, they will contribute to design more efficient tasks for the teaching and learning of paremies in the classroom of Spanish language.
11
Bondarenko, Elena, Olga Chernova, Anna Lukhanina, and Valentin Vlasov. "Cultural Linguistics as a Unique Basis for Language Data Interpretation." Revista Amazonia Investiga 9, no. 29 (May 18, 2020): 51–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.34069/ai/2020.29.05.7.
Full textAbstract:
The article is devoted to the solution of several issues. The first one is the consideration of cultural linguistics as a modern science studying features of culture which are reflected in the specific language of the specific country. The second issue concerns studying and analyzing linguistic units used to create the image of V.V. Putin in British, American and Spanish news articles not older than three years. The article presents some cases of cultural influence on linguistic units chosen by the authors to describe V. Putin’s image. The reason for the choice is explained by the high frequency of V. Putin’s name referring in international news agencies, newspapers and magazines and historical and cultural features of two different cultures that have a serious impact on the way of perceiving and describing V. Putin. The article shows some particularities of the variation of the English and Spanish languages used to make the image of V. Putin. The article provides some information on the numbers of English and Spanish native speakers. The research is held by means of modern journalistic English and Spanish languages. Contrastive-comparative and contextual analysis, lingo-stylistical and continuous sampling and content methods were used in the research.
12
Terkourafi, Marina. "The pragmatic variable: Toward a procedural interpretation." Language in Society 40, no. 3 (May 24, 2011): 343–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0047404511000212.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractLabov defined the linguistic variable as “a class of variants which are ordered along a continuous dimension and whose position is determined by an independent linguistic or extralinguistic variable” (1966:15). A precondition for identifying surface forms as variants of a single variable is semantic, or truth-conditional, equivalence. This requirement proves hard to apply beyond (morpho)phonology, and was subsequently relaxed into one of functional equivalence. The focus of this article is pragmatic variation and how we should interpret functional equivalence to account for this. It is proposed that the variants of a pragmatic variable share a common procedural meaning, defined as a set of instructions guiding the inferential phase of utterance interpretation. Recasting the core meaning of pragmatic variables in procedural terms allows us to co-examine alternating forms that may express different referential meanings, remaining true to the spirit of Labov's proposal, who saw linguistic variables as socially motivated clusterings of forms. (Pragmatic variation, functional equivalence, procedural meaning, Relevance Theory)*
13
Grieve,, Jack. "A statistical analysis of regional variation in adverb position in a corpus of written Standard American English." Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 8, no. 1 (May 25, 2012): 39–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2012-0003.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis paper investigates whether the position of adverb phrases in sentences is regionally patterned in written Standard American English, based on an analysis of a 25 million word corpus of letters to the editor representing the language of 200 cities from across the United States. Seven measures of adverb position were tested for regional patterns using the global spatial autocorrelation statistic Moran's I and the local spatial autocorrelation statistic Getis-Ord Gi*. Three of these seven measures were indentified as exhibiting significant levels of spatial autocorrelation, contrasting the language of the Northeast with language of the Southeast and the South Central states. These results demonstrate that continuous regional grammatical variation exists in American English and that regional linguistic variation exists in written Standard English.
14
Gardiner, Shayna. "What's mine is yours: Stable variation and language change in Ancient Egyptian possessive constructions." Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 62, no. 4 (July 4, 2017): 639–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2017.35.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractVariation is described as two or more variants competing for finite resources. In this model, two outcomes are possible: language change or specialization. Specialization can be broken down further: specialization for different functions, and partial specialization – stable variation. In this paper, I analyze the differences between stable variation and language change using the two variables present in Ancient Egyptian possessive constructions. Observing four Egyptian possessive variants, split into two groups with two variants each – clitic possessor variants and full nominal possessor variants – for a total of 2251 tokens, I compare factors affecting variant choice in each possessive group. Results of distributional and multivariate analyses indicate that a) change over time occurs in clitic possession, while stable variation occurs with noun variants; and b) different kinds of factors govern the two sets: the continuous variable phrase complexity affects variant choice in nominal possession, but does not affect the clitic variants.
15
Italia, Magali. "La variation du français parlé au Gabon : transgression ou progression ?" Voix Plurielles 12, no. 1 (May 6, 2015): 225–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.26522/vp.v12i1.1187.
Full textAbstract:
Par le prisme de la variation et de l’appropriation, la transgression des normes langagières prescrites dans les grammaires traditionnelles effectuée par le français parlé au Gabon, devient un processus généralisé et linguistique d’une construction identitaire et sociale. Il s’agit donc d’une progression, d’un développement continu du français parlé au Gabon. La variation engendre la cohésion à une langue et sa cohérence.
Variation of French spoken in Gabon: transgression or progress?
Abstract: By the prism of the variation and the appropriation, the transgression of the linguistic standards prescribed in the traditional grammars made by French spoken to the Gabon, becomes a generalized and linguistic process of an identity and social construction. It is thus about a progress, about a continuous development of French spoken to the Gabon. The variation engenders the cohesion in a language and its coherence.
16
Grieve, Jack, Dirk Speelman, and Dirk Geeraerts. "A statistical method for the identification and aggregation of regional linguistic variation." Language Variation and Change 23, no. 2 (July 2011): 193–221. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s095439451100007x.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis paper introduces a method for the analysis of regional linguistic variation. The method identifies individual and common patterns of spatial clustering in a set of linguistic variables measured over a set of locations based on a combination of three statistical techniques: spatial autocorrelation, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. To demonstrate how to apply this method, it is used to analyze regional variation in the values of 40 continuously measured, high-frequency lexical alternation variables in a 26-million-word corpus of letters to the editor representing 206 cities from across the United States.
17
Solé, Maria-Josep. "New Ways of Analyzing Sound Change." Sound Change 9 (January 1, 1994): 21–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/bjl.9.03sol.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract. Synchronic and diachronic sound change may involve (1) the phonologization of an effect of phonetic implementation, or (2) the lexicalization of phonetic or phonogical processes. This paper seeks to determine the phonologization and lexicalization of phonetic and phonological effects on the basis of their behaviour across different speaking rates. To illustrate the phonologization of phonetic effects, cross-linguistic data on aspiration and vowel nasalization across different speech rates are presented. The data show that phonological effects adjust to variations in speech rate, so as to keep a constant perceptual distance across rates, whereas phonetic effects, which originate at a lower level, remain constant across rates or present rate-correlated changes which can be accounted for by the general principles of speech motor control. Speech rate might also allow us to distinguish between phonetic effects which do not involve a change in the underlying representation, and effects which have been lexicalized. Connected speech processes, such as assimilation, are known to depend on factors such as speaking rate and speaking style. Consequently, low level assimilatory processes are expected to show continuous variation with changes in rate, as a result of increased gestural overlap. On the contrary, if assimilatory processes have been lexicalized as a distinct lexical representation or as an alternative style-dependent form, then the lexicalized form will exhibit a rate-invariant pattern. A variety of experimental data which provide support for this new way of analyzing sound change is presented. It is argued that part of the synchronic variation in present-day speakers is due to sound change, i.e. a discrete, categorical change in the speaker's grammar.
18
Brock, Heike, Iva Farag, and Kazuhiro Nakadai. "Recognition of Non-Manual Content in Continuous Japanese Sign Language." Sensors 20, no. 19 (October 1, 2020): 5621. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20195621.
Full textAbstract:
The quality of recognition systems for continuous utterances in signed languages could be largely advanced within the last years. However, research efforts often do not address specific linguistic features of signed languages, as e.g., non-manual expressions. In this work, we evaluate the potential of a single video camera-based recognition system with respect to the latter. For this, we introduce a two-stage pipeline based on two-dimensional body joint positions extracted from RGB camera data. The system first separates the data flow of a signed expression into meaningful word segments on the base of a frame-wise binary Random Forest. Next, every segment is transformed into image-like shape and classified with a Convolutional Neural Network. The proposed system is then evaluated on a data set of continuous sentence expressions in Japanese Sign Language with a variation of non-manual expressions. Exploring multiple variations of data representations and network parameters, we are able to distinguish word segments of specific non-manual intonations with 86% accuracy from the underlying body joint movement data. Full sentence predictions achieve a total Word Error Rate of 15.75%. This marks an improvement of 13.22% as compared to ground truth predictions obtained from labeling insensitive towards non-manual content. Consequently, our analysis constitutes an important contribution for a better understanding of mixed manual and non-manual content in signed communication.
19
Moore, Alison Rotha. "Progress and tensions in modelling register as a semantic configuration." Language, Context and Text 2, no. 1 (January 29, 2020): 22–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/langct.00020.moo.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Halliday (1978: 111) defines register as “the configuration of semantic resources that the member of a culture typically associates with a situation type.” Elsewhere, however, he stresses that when we talk of “a register” this is a term of convenience: register is more properly theorised as continuous variation along many linguistic dimensions. In this paper I review progress in our capacity to describe register and context of situation and ask whether the tension between discrete and continuous models of register might hinder such progress. I then consider Hasan’s (1983, 2013) contextually-open networked model of message semantics, arguing that in conjunction with context networks it has potential to map register variation but still needs to be tested across a large and varied set of domains. Examples from healthcare interaction ground the discussion.
20
Smirnov, Valentin, Dmitry Ignatov, Michael Gusev, Mais Farkhadov, Natalia Rumyantseva, and Mukhabbat Farkhadova. "A Russian Keyword Spotting System Based on Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition and Linguistic Knowledge." Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering 2016 (2016): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4062786.
Full textAbstract:
The paper describes the key concepts of a word spotting system for Russian based on large vocabulary continuous speech recognition. Key algorithms and system settings are described, including the pronunciation variation algorithm, and the experimental results on the real-life telecom data are provided. The description of system architecture and the user interface is provided. The system is based on CMU Sphinx open-source speech recognition platform and on the linguistic models and algorithms developed by Speech Drive LLC. The effective combination of baseline statistic methods, real-world training data, and the intensive use of linguistic knowledge led to a quality result applicable to industrial use.
21
Jing, Shaoling, Xia Mao, Lijiang Chen, Maria Colomba Comes, Arianna Mencattini, Grazia Raguso, Fabien Ringeval, Björn Schuller, Corrado Di Natale, and Eugenio Martinelli. "A closed-form solution to the graph total variation problem for continuous emotion profiling in noisy environment." Speech Communication 104 (November 2018): 66–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2018.09.006.
Full text
22
Scrivner, Olga, and Manuel Díaz-Campos. "Language Variation Suite: A theoretical and methodological contribution for linguistic data analysis." Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 1 (June 12, 2016): 29. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v1i0.3734.
Full textAbstract:
In recent years there has been growing interest in quantitative methods for analyzing linguistic data. Advanced multifactorial statistical analyses, such as inferential trees and mixed-effects logistic regression models, have become more accessible for linguistic research as a result of the availability of an open source programming environment provided by the statistical software R. In the present paper, we introduce a novel toolkit, Language Variation Suite, a software program that offers a friendly environment for conducting quantitative analyses. We demonstrate how theory built on traditional monofactorial analysis can be extended to macro and micro multifactorial approaches allowing for a deeper understanding of language variation. The focus of the analysis is based on intervocalic /d/ deletion in Spanish from the Diachronic Study of the Speech of Caracas 1987 and 2004-2010. In contrast to traditional methodological approaches we have treated intervocalic /d/ as a continuous dependent variable according to the intensity ratio measurements obtained. Furthermore, we have integrated various syntactic, phonetic and sociolinguistic factors. Non-parametric and fixed-effects regression models revealed that overall age (younger speakers), sex (male speakers), phonetic context (low vowels), token frequency and morphosyntactic category (past participles) have a significant effect on the lenition of intervocalic /d/. In contrast, the mixed-effects model selected only phonetic context, frequency and category, showing that individual speaker variation is higher than group variation.
23
Roebuck, Hettie, Claudia Freigang, and Johanna G. Barry. "Continuous Performance Tasks: Not Just About Sustaining Attention." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 59, no. 3 (June 2016): 501–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-15-0068.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Continuous performance tasks (CPTs) are used to measure individual differences in sustained attention. Many different stimuli have been used as response targets without consideration of their impact on task performance. Here, we compared CPT performance in typically developing adults and children to assess the role of stimulus processing on error rates and reaction times. Method Participants completed a CPT that was based on response to infrequent targets, while monitoring and withholding responses to regular nontargets. Performance on 3 stimulus conditions was compared: visual letters (X and O), their auditory analogs, and auditory pure tones. Results Adults showed no difference in error propensity across the 3 conditions but had slower reaction times for auditory stimuli. Children had slower overall reaction times. They responded most quickly to the visual target and most slowly to the tone target. They also made more errors in the tone condition than in either the visual or the auditory spoken CPT conditions. Conclusions The results suggest error propensity and reaction time variations on CPTs cannot solely be interpreted as evidence of inattention. They also reflect stimulus-specific influences that must be considered when testing hypotheses about modality-specific deficits in sustained attention in populations with different developmental disorders.
24
Molfenter, Sonja M., and Catriona M. Steele. "Use of an Anatomical Scalar to Control for Sex-Based Size Differences in Measures of Hyoid Excursion During Swallowing." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 57, no. 3 (June 2014): 768–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2014_jslhr-s-13-0152.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Traditional methods for measuring hyoid excursion from dynamic videofluoroscopy recordings involve calculating changes in position in absolute units (mm). This method shows a high degree of variability across studies but agreement that greater hyoid excursion occurs in men than in women. Given that men are typically taller than women, the authors hypothesized that controlling for participant size might neutralize apparent sex-based differences in hyoid excursion. Method Hyoid excursion in 20 young (<45) healthy volunteers (10 male), stratified by height, was measured in a tightly controlled videofluoroscopic protocol. Results The study identified an anatomical scalar (C2–C4 length), visible on the videofluoroscopic image, correlated with participant height. This scalar differed significantly between men and women. By incorporating the anatomical scalar as a continuous covariate in repeated measures mixed-model analyses of variance of hyoid excursion, apparent sex-based differences were neutralized. Transforming measures of hyoid excursion into anatomically scaled units achieved the same result, reducing variation attributable to sex-based differences in participant size. Conclusions Hyoid excursion during swallowing is dependent on a person's size. If measurements do not control for this source of variation, apparent sex differences in hyoid excursion are seen.
25
Gerratt, Bruce R., Jody Kreiman, and Marc Garellek. "Comparing Measures of Voice Quality From Sustained Phonation and Continuous Speech." Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 59, no. 5 (October 2016): 994–1001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2016_jslhr-s-15-0307.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose The question of what type of utterance—a sustained vowel or continuous speech—is best for voice quality analysis has been extensively studied but with equivocal results. This study examines whether previously reported differences derive from the articulatory and prosodic factors occurring in continuous speech versus sustained phonation. Method Speakers with voice disorders sustained vowels and read sentences. Vowel samples were excerpted from the steadiest portion of each vowel in the sentences. In addition to sustained and excerpted vowels, a 3rd set of stimuli was created by shortening sustained vowel productions to match the duration of vowels excerpted from continuous speech. Acoustic measures were made on the stimuli, and listeners judged the severity of vocal quality deviation. Results Sustained vowels and those extracted from continuous speech contain essentially the same acoustic and perceptual information about vocal quality deviation. Conclusions Perceived and/or measured differences between continuous speech and sustained vowels derive largely from voice source variability across segmental and prosodic contexts and not from variations in vocal fold vibration in the quasisteady portion of the vowels. Approaches to voice quality assessment by using continuous speech samples average across utterances and may not adequately quantify the variability they are intended to assess.
26
Anthonissen, Lynn. "Cognition in construction grammar: Connecting individual and community grammars." Cognitive Linguistics 31, no. 2 (June 25, 2020): 309–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cog-2019-0023.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis paper examines, on the basis of a longitudinal corpus of 50 early modern authors, how change at the aggregate level of the community interacts with variation and change at the micro-level of the individual language user. In doing so, this study aims to address the methodological gap between collective change and entrenchment, that is, the gap between language as a social phenomenon and the cognitive processes responsible for the continuous reorganization of linguistic knowledge in individual speakers. Taking up the case of the prepositional passive, this study documents a strong community-wide increase in use that is accompanied by increasing schematicity. A comparison of the 50 authors reveals that regularities arising at the macro-level conceal highly complex and variable individual behavior, aspects of which may be explained by studying the larger (social) context in which these individuals operate (e. g., age cohorts, community of practice, biographical insights). Further analysis, focusing on how authors use the prepositional passive in unique and similar ways, elucidates the role of small individual biases in long-term change. Overall, it is demonstrated that language change is an emergent phenomenon that results from the complex interaction between individual speakers, who themselves may change their linguistic behavior to varying degrees.
27
D'Arcy, Alexandra. "Stability, stasis and change." Diachronica 32, no. 4 (December 31, 2015): 449–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/dia.32.4.01dar.
Full textAbstract:
Intensification is prone to invention and renewal, rendering it ideal for delving into mechanisms of variation and change. Recycling (via lexical replacement) is a putative longitudinal constant, yet grammatical change (via grammaticalization) is regularly invoked in the literature. It is not clear how these complement each other. To probe this issue, this paper operationalizes variationist methods to examine intensification in the Origins of New Zealand English Corpus (ONZE; Gordon et al. 2007). The analysis draws on nearly 13,000 tokens across the longue durée (Braudel 1958, 1980), tracing intensification over 130 years of vernacular speech. The picture that emerges extends beyond the distributional waxing and waning of forms. There is evidence for lexical change, but the longitudinal trajectory is not always continuous. Replacement entails reorganization followed by leveling, and grammatical correlates shift across time. Nonetheless, the inherent form/function asymmetry that characterizes the sector also supports periods of ‘fevered’ change.
28
Chen, Aoju, and Lou Boves. "What's in a word: Sounding sarcastic in British English." Journal of the International Phonetic Association 48, no. 1 (April 2018): 57–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025100318000038.
Full textAbstract:
Using a simulated telephone conversation task, we elicited sarcastic production in different utterance types (i.e. declaratives, tag questions andwh-exclamatives from native speakers of the southern variety of British English. Unlike previous studies which focus on static prosodic measurements at the utterance level (e.g. mean pitch, pitch span, intensity), we examined both static prosodic measurements and continuous changes in contour shape in the semantically most important words (or key words) of the sarcastic utterances and their counterparts in the sincere utterances. To this end, we adopted Functional Data Analysis to model pitch variation as contours and represent the contours as continuous function in statistical analysis. We found that sarcasm and sincerity are prosodically distinguishable in the key words alone. The key words in sarcastic utterances are realised with a longer duration and a flatter fall than their counterparts in sincere utterances regardless of utterance type and speaker gender. These results are compatible with previous reports on the use of a smaller pitch span and a slower speech rate in sarcastic utterances than in sincere utterances in North American English. We also observed notable differences in the use of minimum pitch, maximum pitch and contour shape in different utterance types and in the use of mean pitch and duration by male and female speakers. Additionally, we found that the prosody of the key words in sarcastic utterances and their counterparts in sincere utterances has yielded useful predictors for the presence (or absence) of sarcasm in an utterance. Together, our results lend direct support to a key-word–based approach. However, the prosodic predictors included in our analysis alone can achieve only an accuracy of 70.4%, suggesting a need to examine additional prosodic parameters and prosody beyond the key words.
29
Chesnokova, Olga Stanislavovna, and Marija Radović. "Demonyms in the Pacific Alliance countries: morphological and semantic variation." Russian Journal of Linguistics 24, no. 4 (December 15, 2020): 1017–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-2020-24-4-1017-1048.
Full textAbstract:
The existing research on onomastics does not sufficiently reflect upon the relation between cultural codes and demonyms, having in mind that demonyms universally represent linguistic devices for expressing territorial and regional identity. The article focuses on the complex polyparadigmal analysis of the system of demonyms related to the macrotoponymy of the four founding countries of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Each of the four founding countries of the Pacific Alliance is characterised by the uniqueness of its culture, historical development, the specifics of the national variant of Spanish that reflects the indigenous influence of substrates and the collective values of the society. The research tasks of the article consist in systemising the morphological devices and the cultural layers of demonyms connected with the administrative division of given countries, detecting the variation parameters, comparing them from the linguacultural point of view. The main material of the research have been 100 official demonyms of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and 31 variative denominations. The materials for the research are based on the official websites of the administrative units of the four countries, dictionaries data, diverse types of texts and discourse, as well as the notes of the informants speech. The research uses such methods as the continuous sampling method based on Internet sources, the analysis of dictionary definitions, the method of semantic interpretation, the morphological analysis, combined with interviews with informants whose interaction is made possible by the complex polyparadigmal analysis of the material. The authors have determined a series of lexemes that function as demonyms, analysed their form and content from the linguistic point of view. It has been revealed that the main tendency in the formation of suppletive demonyms for macrotoponyms are the terrain features and the assessment of ethnic background or mentality. The analysed demonyms manifest the relations of intralingual, intervariant homonymy, as well as hypo-hyperonymic relations. The complex analysis of the material has provided an opportunity to represent the demonym systems of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru as multidimensional and at the same time inherent to the unified functional continuum of entity in Spanish-speaking countries. The research results have led to the conclusion that demonyms act as independent notions and generators of new meanings and allusions. It is recommended to use transliteration when translating suppletive demonyms, while their decoding amplifies the linguacultural competence of Spanish-language students and harmonises the intercultural dialogue with the native speakers of Chilean, Colombian, Mexican and Peruvian national variants of Spanish in the areas of education and business.
30
Purse, Ruaridh, and Euan McGill. "An Intraspeaker Variation Study of Scottish English /r/ Pharyngealisation." Lifespans and Styles 2, no. 2 (August 5, 2006): 36–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/ls.v2i2.2016.1612.
Full textAbstract:
Pharyngealisation— the retraction of the tongue towards the pharynx— of prepausal and preconsonantal /r/ has been recognised as an emergent strategy of derhoticisation in Scotland’s Central Belt (Stuart-Smith 2007). However, previous studies have focused on the incidence of this phenomenon between speakers, with little attention paid to intraspeaker variation. The question remains: How does Scottish English derhoticisation behave in a situation of style shifting? We explore the intraspeaker variation of comedian Frankie Boyle, a recognisable speaker of Scottish English, comparing his production of apical and pharyngealised /r/ in prepausal and preconsonantal environments in two interview contexts. The acoustic correlates of /r/ pharyngealisation are characterised as a rise in F3 with reduced energy in the formant. This is quite different from the plummeting F3 associated with an apical realisation of /r/, allowing for a binary categorisation of pharyngeal and apical tokens as well as an analysis of F3 frequency as a continuous measure.We present evidence that Boyle makes significantly more frequent use of pharyngealisation when interviewed by Kevin Bridges, a fellow Glasgow native, than by Richard Osman, a Southern Standard British English (SSBE) speaker. Further, a secondary analysis of phonation quality shows that Boyle uses significantly more creaky voice with Osman than with Bridges, allowing for a fuller understanding of Boyle’s style in each context. Attempts to attribute the observed differences in pharyngealisation rate to factors other than interview context (e.g., linguistic factors or discussion topic) yielded insignificant results, further reinforcing the notion that the style shift is due to interview context. Even within the binary categories of pharyngeal vs. apical, an analysis of formant frequency found that, on average, Boyle produced “ more apical” apicals with Osman (lower plummeting F3) and “ more pharyngeal” pharyngeals with Bridges (higher rising F3), suggesting that these forms are dynamic and can be strategically produced to varying degrees. This evident style shift between interview contexts is an ideal platform for a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of various sociolinguistic theories. Ultimately, we conclude that audience design best captures the interactional effects observed, but reference to second order indexicality is required to understand what social meaning Boyle achieves through style shifting.
31
Flatt, Jake, and Laura Esteban-Segura. "A corpus-based study of some aspects of the Notts subdialect." Research in Corpus Linguistics 9, no. 2 (2021): 131–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.32714/ricl.09.02.07.
Full textAbstract:
Rural dialects are slowly disappearing and giving way to larger, more generalised ways of speaking (Trudgill 2004; Kortmann 2008; Beal 2010; Braber 2015). This paper is concerned with the study of the specific subdialect of Nottinghamshire, known as ‘Notts’ or ‘Nottinghamese’, and aims at describing its linguistic features. For the purpose, a personalised corpus of approximately 26,000 words has been compiled. The corpus consists of oral texts, which have been transcribed, from a TV show set in the area. The analysis is focused on three facets of the dialectal variation surrounding the county of Nottinghamshire, namely relating to the linguistic levels of phonology, morphosyntax and lexis. Several conclusions have been reached, including the /æ/ phoneme as an indicator of a northern dialect, the usage of the velar nasal plus cluster, as well as the pronunciation of continuous forms and past tense irregularities. In terms of lexical analysis, a justification for the evolution of language use in the area is provided.
32
Dickens, Andrew. "Ethnolinguistic Favoritism in African Politics." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10, no. 3 (July 1, 2018): 370–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/app.20160066.
Full textAbstract:
African political leaders have a tendency to favor members of their own ethnic group. Yet for all other ethnic groups in a country, it is unclear whether having a similar ethnicity to the leader is beneficial. To shed light on this issue, I use a continuous measure of linguistic similarity to quantify the ethnic similarity of a leader to all ethnic groups in a country. Combined with panel data on 163 ethnic groups partitioned across 35 sub-Saharan countries, I use within-group time variation in similarity that results from a partitioned group's concurrent exposure to multiple national leaders. Findings show that ethnic favoritism is more widespread than previously believed: in addition to evidence of coethnic favoritism, I document evidence of non-coethnic favoritism that typically goes undetected in the absence of a continuous measure of similarity. I also find that patronage tends to be targeted toward ethnic regions rather than individuals of a particular ethnic group. I relate these results to the literature on coalition building and provide evidence that ethnicity is one of the guiding principles behind high-level government appointments. (JEL D72, J15, O15, O17, Z13)
33
Tagliamonte, Sali A., and R. Harald Baayen. "Models, forests, and trees of York English: Was/were variation as a case study for statistical practice." Language Variation and Change 24, no. 2 (July 2012): 135–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954394512000129.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractWhat is the explanation for vigorous variation between was and were in plural existential constructions, and what is the optimal tool for analyzing it? Previous studies of this phenomenon have used the variable rule program, a generalized linear model; however, recent developments in statistics have introduced new tools, including mixed-effects models, random forests, and conditional inference trees that may open additional possibilities for data exploration, analysis, and interpretation. In a step-by-step demonstration, we show how this well-known variable benefits from these complementary techniques. Mixed-effects models provide a principled way of assessing the importance of random-effect factors such as the individuals in the sample. Random forests provide information about the importance of predictors, whether factorial or continuous, and do so also for unbalanced designs with high multicollinearity, cases for which the family of linear models is less appropriate. Conditional inference trees straightforwardly visualize how multiple predictors operate in tandem. Taken together, the results confirm that polarity, distance from verb to plural element, and the nature of the DP are significant predictors. Ongoing linguistic change and social reallocation via morphologization are operational. Furthermore, the results make predictions that can be tested in future research. We conclude that variationist research can be substantially enriched by an expanded tool kit.
34
Ji, Yinglin, and Jill Hohenstein. "English and Chinese children’s motion event similarity judgments." Cognitive Linguistics 29, no. 1 (February 23, 2018): 45–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cog-2016-0151.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis study explores the relationship between language and thought in similarity judgments by testing how monolingual children who speak languages with partial typological differences in motion description (English and Chinese) respond to visual motion event stimuli. Participants were either Chinese- or English-speaking, 3-year-olds, 8-year-olds and adults (32 in each group) who judged the similarity between caused motion scenes in a match-to-sample task. The results suggest, first of all, that the two younger groups of 3-year-olds are predominantly path-oriented, irrespective of language, as evidenced by their significantly longer fixation on path-match videos rather than manner-match videos in a preferential looking scheme. Using categorical measurement of overt choices, older children and adults also showed a shared tendency of being more path-oriented. However, the analysis using continuous measurement of reaction time revealed significant variations in spatial cognition that can be related to linguistic differences: English speakers tended to be more manner-oriented while Chinese speakers were equally manner- and path-oriented. On the whole, our findings indicate a likelihood that children’s non-linguistic thought is similar prior to internalising the lexicalisation pattern of motion events in their native languages, but shows divergences after such habitual use, thus suggesting that the pattern of non-linguistic thought may be linked, among other things, to linguistic structure.
35
Steele, Jeffrey, Laura Colantoni, and Alexei Kochetov. "Gradient assimilation in French cross-word /n/+velar stop sequences." Journal of the International Phonetic Association 49, no. 1 (March 20, 2018): 87–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025100317000573.
Full textAbstract:
Articulatory studies have revealed cross-linguistic variation in the realization of cross-word nasal+stop sequences. Whereas languages such as Italian and Spanish show largely categorical regressive place assimilation (Kochetov & Colantoni 2011, Celata et al. 2013), English and German alveolar nasals are often characterized by gradient assimilation, modulated by the degree of overlap with the following gesture (Barry 1991, Ellis & Hardcastle 2002, Jaeger & Hoole 2011). The lack of comparable instrumental studies for French may be due to the common assumption that the language lacks nasal place assimilation in general. We investigate here the production of French /n/+/kɡ/ sequences via electropalatography. Four female speakers of European and Quebecois French wearing custom 62-electrode acrylic palates read the sentencesC'est une bonne casquette‘That's a good cap’ andC'est une bonne galette‘That's a good tart/cookie’ alongside comparable control sentences involving /n/+/t d/ sequences. For each sequence, assimilation type was determined both qualitatively via visual inspection of the linguopalatal profiles and quantitatively using two contact indices. None of the /n/-tokens exhibited either categorical assimilation (i.e. [ŋk]) or lack of assimilation (i.e. [n(ə)k]). Rather, an intermediate pattern was attested with the nasal involving overlapped coronal and velar gestures ([nn͡ŋ]) and continuous retraction of the constriction. The degree of overlap varied among speakers, extending up to half of the nasal interval. Overall, these French patterns are strikingly different from the categorical processes reported for other Romance languages, yet similar to the gradient assimilation attested in Germanic languages. We conclude by discussing possible sources of these differences.
36
Damulakis, Gean Nunes. "Variação Interlingüística no Tronco Macro-Jê: O Kaingáng e o Parkatêjê (Interlinguistic Variation in Macro-Je Stock: Kaingáng and Parkatêjê)." Estudos da Língua(gem) 4, no. 1 (December 30, 2006): 169. http://dx.doi.org/10.22481/el.v4i1.1031.
Full textAbstract:
Em Damulakis (2005), atestamos no Kaingáng duas restrições da família OCP. Uma impede seqüência de segmentos consonantais adjacentes idênticos em valor de traço [contínuo], eliminando a complexidade em onsets cujos segmentos tenham o mesmo valor para esse traço; a outra impede adjacência de segmentos que tenham em comum os traços [coronal] e [+anterior]. Comparamos os dados obtidos no Kaingáng com os do Parkatêjê, tentando revelar, assim, características da variação interlingüística. Verificamos, por exemplo, se os mesmos traços fonológicos são relevantes na arquitetura da sílaba. Destarte, buscamos semelhanças ou graus de afastamento em termos fonotáticos entre línguas geneticamente aparentadas.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Fonologia. Macro-Jê. Kaingáng. Parkatêjê. Otimalidade.ABSTRACTI attested in Kaingang two constraints of the OCP family. One of them forbids clusters whose segments are identical as for the feature [continuous], eliminating the complexity in onsets whose elements have the same value for that feature; the other one avoids the sequence of two segments with both features [coronal] and [+anterior]. Data from Kaingang are compared with those from Parkatêjê, in order to investigate if the same phonological features are relevant to syllable structure and how the linguistic variation works across languages. Therefore, we (o autor no resumo em portugues usou a terceira pessoa) try to attest similarities and levels of difference concerning phonotatics between related languages.KEYWORDS: Phonology. Kaingáng. Parkatêjê. Optimality. OCP.
37
Carles, Hélène, and Martin Glessgen. "L’élaboration scripturale du francoprovençal au Moyen Âge." Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 135, no. 1 (March 4, 2019): 68–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/zrp-2019-0003.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Francoprovençal has generally been viewed as an oral dialect group with a highly varied character (due to the mountainous regions of the Alps, the Jura and the Massif Central), and with no elaborated written textual tradition. The virtual absence of such a tradition may indeed be observed for the modern period (i.e. the second half of the second millennium). However, this is not the case for the medieval period, during which Francoprovençal underwent a process of elaboration similar to that of the neighbouring Romance languages, at first fragmentary and embedded in Latin. From these beginnings emerged a pure Romance scripta which remained in existence until the end of the 15th century, when it was replaced by French. This process remained incomplete, characterised by the continuous copresence of either Latin or French and essentially limited to legal and administrative documents. Nonetheless, the first half of the second millennium yields a complex written vernacular which displays both diatopic and diachronic variation, and which has never before undergone systematic analysis. The present contribution is based on a corpus of medieval documents from the Francoprovençal regions of France and Switzerland (approx. 700.000 words), digitised as part of the project Documents linguistiques galloromans and presented for the first time here. Taking one of the most salient and frequent phenomena as an example – the outcome of lat. /a/ in tonic free syllables (ˈpratu> Frpr. pra vs Fr. pré) – the authors assess the nature and extent of the presence of Francoprovençal in medieval scripturality, examining a total of 60.000 occurrences. The results thus obtained allow an interpretation of the historical development of Francoprovençal on the basis of entirely new evidence.
38
Tetzloff, Katerina A. "On the Gradient Lenition of Spanish Voiced Obstruents: A Look at Onset Clusters." Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 13, no. 2 (October 25, 2020): 419–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/shll-2020-2036.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractSpanish voiced obstruents are traditionally described as having a stop allophone [b, d, g] and a lenited allophone [β, ð, ɣ]. Despite this binary classification, acoustic data has shown that this variation is continuous or gradient depending on the preceding linguistic context. The goal of this paper is to investigate how the following linguistic context affects the degree of Spanish voiced obstruent lenition. Specifically, this paper reports an acoustic investigation of Spanish voiced obstruent lenition in onset cluster contexts. Nine native Spanish speakers were recorded reading Spanish-like nonce words that included a singleton voiced obstruent or an onset cluster consisting of a voiced obstruent plus [ɾ] or [l]. The relative intensity and the duration of these segments were measured and compared with linear mixed-effects regressions. In line with past work, the results show that the voiced obstruents are the most lenited in intervocalic contexts. However, Spanish voiced obstruents are significantly less lenited when followed by [ɾ] in a complex onset; when followed by [l] in a complex onset, the degree of lenition is much more variable. These results provide further support for the gradient lenition of Spanish voiced obstruents, rather than a dichotomous distribution of stops versus lenited variants.
39
Zhang, Jin-Song, Satoshi Nakamura, and Keikichi Hirose. "Tone nucleus-based multi-level robust acoustic tonal modeling of sentential F0 variations for Chinese continuous speech tone recognition." Speech Communication 46, no. 3-4 (July 2005): 440–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2005.03.010.
Full text
40
Sakamoto, Maki, Yuya Ueda, Ryuichi Doizaki, and Yuichiro Shimizu. "Communication Support System Between Japanese Patients and Foreign Doctors Using Onomatopoeia to Express Pain Symptoms." Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics 18, no. 6 (November 20, 2014): 1020–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/jaciii.2014.p1020.
Full textAbstract:
In medical interviews, Japanese patients often use onomatopoeia, such as ‘zuki-zuki’ and ‘chiku-chiku,’ to express pain symptoms and medical conditions. However, onomatopoeia shows cross-linguistic variation, and thus Japanese onomatopoeia cannot be used effectively to express pain symptoms in medical interviews with foreign doctors who do not speak Japanese. In this study, we developed a system that supports communication between Japanese patients and foreign doctors by putting an onomatopoeia evaluation system to medical use. Our system estimates the quality of pain and other medical conditions based on the sound symbolic meanings expressed by certain onomatopoetic expressions. The relationships between the sound symbolic properties and rating scales were obtained through psychological experiments in which 120 participants evaluated the mental images of 354 Japanese onomatopoeia terms used to express pain symptoms and medical conditions against 35 semantic differential (SD) scales such as “sharp–dull,” “strong–weak,” and “momentary–continuous.” Our system accepts any Japanese onomatopoetic expression input by users and can also respond to any novel onomatopoetic expression. If the rating scales were translated into various languages, foreign doctors all over the world would be able to understand the meaning of Japanese onomatopoeia.
41
Oder, Austin L., Cynthia G. Clopper, and Sarah Hargus Ferguson. "Effects of dialect on vowel acoustics and intelligibility." Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43, no. 1 (April 2013): 23–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025100312000333.
Full textAbstract:
A great deal of recent research has focused on phonetic variation among American English vowels from different dialects. This body of research continues to grow as vowels continuously undergo diachronic formant changes that become characteristic of certain dialects. Two experiments using the Nationwide Speech Project corpus (Clopper & Pisoni 2006a) explored whether the Midland dialect is more closely related acoustically and perceptually to the Mid-Atlantic or to the Southern dialect. The goal of this study was to further our understanding of acoustic and perceptual differences between two of the most marked dialects (Mid-Atlantic and Southern) and one of the least marked dialects (Midland) of American English. Ten vowels in /hVd/ context produced by one male talker from each of these three dialects were acoustically analyzed and presented to Midland listeners for identification. The listeners showed the greatest vowel identification accuracy for the Mid-Atlantic talker (95.2%), followed by the Midland talker (92.5%), and finally the Southern talker (79.7%). Vowel error patterns were consistent with vowel acoustic differences between the talkers. The results suggest that, acoustically and perceptually, the Midland and Mid-Atlantic dialects are more similar than are the Midland and Southern dialects.
42
Männel, Claudia, and Angela D. Friederici. "Pauses and Intonational Phrasing: ERP Studies in 5-month-old German Infants and Adults." Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 21, no. 10 (October 2009): 1988–2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21221.
Full textAbstract:
In language learning, infants are faced with the challenge of decomposing continuous speech into relevant units, such as syntactic clauses and words. Within the framework of prosodic bootstrapping, behavioral studies suggest infants approach this segmentation problem by relying on prosodic information, especially on acoustically marked intonational phrase boundaries (IPBs). In the current ERP study, we investigate processing of IPBs in 5-month-old infants by varying the acoustic cues signaling the IPB. In an experiment in which pitch variation, vowel lengthening, and pause cues are present (Experiment 1), 5-month-old German infants show an ERP obligatory response. This obligatory response signals lower level perceptual processing of acoustic cues that, however, disappear when no pause cue is present (Experiment 2). This suggests that infants are sensitive to sentence internal pause, a cue that is relevant for the processing of IPBs. Given that German adults show both the obligatory components and the closure positive shift, a particular ERP component known to reflect the perception of IPBs, independent of the presence of a pause cue, the results of the current ERP study indicate clear developmental differences in intonational phrase processing. The comparison of our neurophysiological data from German-learning infants with behavioral data from English-learning infants furthermore suggests cross-linguistic differences in intonational phrase processing during infancy. These findings are discussed in the light of differences between the German and the English intonation systems.
43
Arntzenius, Frank, and John Hawthorne. "Gunk and Continuous Variation." Monist 88, no. 4 (2005): 441–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/monist200588432.
Full text
44
Sell, Roger D. "A historical but non-determinist pragmatics of literary communication." Journal of Historical Pragmatics 2, no. 1 (February 28, 2001): 1–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jhp.2.1.02sel.
Full textAbstract:
Despite any appearances to the contrary, literary writing and reading are forms of communicative activity for which a human parity needs to obtain between the different participants. By the same token, literature can also bring about changes in the human world. Literary pragmatics is therefore continuous with the pragmatics of communication in general, and must be strongly historical in its orientation, even if this can never involve a rigid historical determinism. Although human identity is very much a matter of social formation, human beings do have a certain autonomy of imagination, intellect, temperament and choice. It is this relative autonomy which makes possible communication between different positionalities in the first place, and which also helps to explain the processes of personal and social change. When people really communicate, they meet each other half-way. Initiators of communication textualise a model of the communicative situation itself, for instance, and also make rhetorical concessions, which, as the mental distance between the context of sending and the context of receiving varies, can themselves vary in communicative effect. In responding to a communicative gesture, similarly, receivers are humanly obliged to make a hermeneutic effort, which, especially, but not only in the case of literary communication, may have to negotiate variations in text typology and politeness. The net effect of literature, like that of other uses of language, depends on who is processing it, and when and where and how. In principle, the effect can sometimes be deleterious. As always, human beings’ only moral defence lies in their own personal powers of judgement. Equally, some literary writings, like other actions, embody a kind of ethical beauty, not only as significant historical interventions in their own times and places, but also in terms of a continuing, yet quite distinct inspiration they can offer to human beings whose situationality is different. All genuine communication actually tends to override situational difference in the hope of closer communion. A historical pragmatics can itself facilitate rapprochement, by offering a theoretical basis for mediation between different viewpoints, and not least in the form of a mediating literary criticism. Here, though, there can be no suggestion of hegemony. Sociohistorical differences will never completely disappear. Nor will human behaviour ever become completely explicable. If it did, it would no longer be human in the sense understood by a non-determinist pragmatics.
45
Янь, Чжан. "INVARIANCE AND VARIABILITY IN THE PHRASEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF THE RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGES: FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF THE COMPARATIVE LINGUOCULTURAL DESCRIPTION." Tomsk state pedagogical university bulletin, no. 5(211) (September 7, 2020): 9–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.23951/1609-624x-2020-5-9-18.
Full textAbstract:
Введение. Рассмотрены способы реализации языковой вариантности, репрезентированные на уровне фразеологических подсистем русского и китайского языков. Объект научного описания ‒ сфера языковой семантики, получающая концептуальное осмысление в связи с ее исследованием в аспекте межкультурной и межъязыковой коммуникации. Наличие смыслового инварианта в содержании русских и китайских фразеологизмов обусловливается существованием общих тенденций смыслообразования и действием универсальных законов развития любого национального языка. Смысловые варианты возникают в силу своеобразия национальных лингвокультур в результате совокупного действия ряда экстралингвистических и лингвистических факторов. Цель статьи – изучить функциональные проявления теории вариантности на фразеологическом уровне русского и китайского языков в аспекте сопоставительно-лингвокультурологической интерпретации. Материал и методы. В качестве единиц анализа привлечены 54 фразеологизма, функционирующие в современном русском и китайском языках, отобранные путем сплошной выборки из лексикографических источников. Основной метод исследования – сопоставительно-лингвокультурологический. Результаты и обсуждение. Отправной точкой исследования стал тезис о наличии у фразеологизмов не только языкового, речевого, но и лингвокультурологического и лингвокогнитивного статуса. В значении большинства русских фразеологизмов присутствует ярко выраженный национально-культурный компонент смысла. С учетом этого фактора выявлены общие (инвариантные) и частные (вариативные, характерные для конкретной лингвокультуры) смысловые компоненты в семантике фразеологизмов, которые составляют корреляционные семантические пары (эквивалентные, безэквивалентные, неполно эквивалентные). В эквивалентных парных фразеологизмах ядром семантики выступает смысловой инвариант, безэквивалентные отличаются доминированием вариативных смысловых признаков, неполно эквивалентные являются переходным типом. Заключение. Сопоставительные лингвокультурологические исследования вносят значительный вклад в изучение различных лингвистических концепций, в том числе теории языковой вариантности, смысловой интерпретации, перевода, на основании чего делается вывод об их исключительной актуальности для современной научной парадигмы. Introduction. The article is devoted to the consideration of ways of implementing language variability, represented at the level of phraseological subsystems of the Russian and Chinese languages. The object of the scientific description is the sphere of linguistic semantics, which receives conceptual understanding in connection with its study in the aspect of intercultural and interlanguage communication. The presence of a semantic invariant in the content of Russian and Chinese phraseological units is determined by the existence of general tendencies of sense formation and the action of universal laws of development of any national language. Semantic variants arise due to the peculiarity of national linguistic cultures as a result of the combined action of a number of extralinguistic and linguistic factors. Aim and objectives. The aim of the study is to study the functional manifestations of the theory of variation at the phraseological level of the Russian and Chinese languages in the aspect of comparative linguocultural interpretation. Material and methods. 54 phraseological units operating in modern Russian and Chinese languages, selected because of a continuous selection from lexicographic sources, were used as units of analysis. The main one is the comparative linguoculturological research method. Results and discussion. The starting point of the study was the thesis that phraseological units have not only linguistic, speech, but also linguocultural and linguocognitive status. In the meaning of most Russian phraseological units there is a pronounced national-cultural component of meaning. Taking this factor into account, general (invariant) and private (variative, characteristic for a particular linguistic culture) semantic components in the semantics of phraseological units that make up correlation semantic pairs (equivalent, non-equivalent, incompletely equivalent) are identified. In equivalent paired phraseological units, the core of semantics is the semantic invariant, nonequivalent ones are dominated by variable semantic attributes, incompletely equivalent are transitional types. Conclusion. Comparative linguistic and cultural studies make a significant contribution to the study of various linguistic concepts, including the theory of language variability, semantic interpretation, translation, on the basis of which it is concluded that they are extremely relevant for the modern scientific paradigm.
46
Mikulėnienė, Danguolė, and Aušra Pacevičiūtė. "Language shift: The case of the Žeimiai area in the Kaunas-Jonava region." Acta Baltico-Slavica 43 (December 31, 2019): 41–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.11649/abs.2019.008.
Full textAbstract:
Language shift: The case of the Žeimiai area in the Kaunas-Jonava regionAs a result of application of the principles of multidimensional dialectology in Lithuania in the early twenty-first century, the research discourse of Lithuanian dialectologists now covers not only the traditional dialects, but also several local language variations that continuously interact and compete with one another in the same geographical area. The processes of convergence and divergence of language variations are addressed in a more comprehensive manner, not only analysing the linguistic characteristics of a local variation, but also looking into the language environment (or language landscape) and the attitude of the local populace (especially the young generation) towards their linguistic homeland.The linguistic study presented in this article was conducted in the Žeimiai area in the Kaunas-Jonava region in 2015–2017. It involved interviews with 21 members of three generations of one family (15 females and 6 males aged 19 to 95), over 20 hours of audio material in total; the informants also answered a sociolinguistic survey. The description and analysis of collected material involved: (1) analysis of the degree of viability of language variations used in the area on the basis of a model of sociocultural networks of Žeimiai town; (2) description of the linguistic landscape of the region; (3) description of the linguistic behaviour and attitudes towards local variations on the basis of informants’ replies in the sociolinguistic survey; (4) analysis of salient phonetic features of the informants’ speech that best describe the local language variation in use. The collected and processed material allowed the researchers to investigate the competitiveness of local language variations in this area, identifying ones that have greater demand with representatives of different generations compared to others (cf. Inoue, 1997, p. 41).In the opinion of the authors of this article, a local Lithuanian variation has developed in the Kaunas-Jonava region on the basis of the local Polish variation actively used for decades; this variation cannot be seen as a natural continuation of the Western Higher Lithuanian subdialects of the Kaunas or Šiauliai regions. What makes it different from the traditional Lithuanian subdialects is the mixing of ė and ie, o and uo in stressed position, and the processes of neutralisation of intonation in stressed compound and mixed diphthongs.These phonetic features, which, as the analysis shows, have been preserved in the language of all three generations to a greater or lesser extent, were absorbed by the Lithuanian dialectal language from the local Polish subdialect. Consequently, the local Lithuanian variation currently spoken in the Kaunas-Jonava region cannot be considered a direct continuation of the old traditional dialect. Przesunięcie językowe: Okolice Żejm w regionie kowieńsko-janowskim (studium przypadku)Kiedy na początku XXI wieku na Litwie zaczęto stosować metodologię opartą na zasadach dialektologii wielofunkcyjnej (ang. multidimensional dialectology), badania naukowe litewskich dialektologów ukierunkowano nie tylko na opis tradycyjnych gwar, ale też na inne języki współwystępujące na tym samym terenie, oddziałujące na siebie nawzajem i konkurujące ze sobą. Zachodzące procesy konwergencji i dywergencji różnych odmian języka są badane kompleksowo: przy opisie właściwości językowych miejscowej odmiany języka bada się otoczenie językowe (krajobraz lingwistyczny) oraz nastawienie mieszkańców (zwłaszcza najmłodszego pokolenia) do ukształtowanej sytuacji językowej.Badania językoznawcze przedstawione w niniejszym artykule przeprowadzono w okolicach Żejm w regionie kowieńsko-janowskim w latach 2015–2017. Przeprowadzono wywiady z 21 mieszkańcami w wieku od 19 do 95 lat, reprezentującymi trzy pokolenia jednej rodziny; nagrano 20 godzin rozmów i pozyskano dane za pomocą kwestionariusza socjolingwistycznego. Zgromadzony materiał został opracowany w następujący sposób: 1) wykorzystując sporządzony model sieci społeczno-kulturowych miasteczka Żejmy, ustalono stopień witalności używanych na tym terenie odmian języka; 2) zanalizowano krajobraz lingwistyczny regionu; 3) na podstawie odpowiedzi informatorów na pytania kwestionariusza socjolingwistycznego przedstawiono zachowania językowe osób badanych i ich nastawienie do lokalnych odmian języka; 4) dokonano analizy podstawowych cech fonetycznych języka respondentów, które najlepiej oddają właściwości miejscowych odmian języka. Zgromadzony i usystematyzowany materiał pozwolił na bardziej dogłębne zbadanie konkurencyjności odmian języka używanych w tym rejonie, to znaczy na ustalenie, która z odmian cieszy się wyższym prestiżem wśród reprezentantów różnych pokoleń mieszkańców tych okolic.Zdaniem autorek artykułu, w regionie kowieńsko-janowskim, pod wpływem miejscowej odmiany języka polskiego, intensywnie używanej przez wiele dziesięcioleci, ukształtował się lokalny wariant języka litewskiego, którego nie można uznać za typową gwarę dialektu zachodnioauksztockiego, kowieńskiego lub szawelskiego. Różni się on od tradycyjnych dialektów litewskich sposobem realizacji ė oraz ie, o oraz uo w pozycji akcentowanej, jak również zjawiskiem neutralizacji zestrojów akcentowych w dyftongach złożonych i mieszanych, występujących w pozycji akcentowanej.Te cechy fonetyczne, które, jak wynika z przeprowadzonej analizy, w różnym stopniu występują w języku wszystkich trzech pokoleń mieszkańców, zostały przejęte do języka litewskiego z miejscowej gwary polskiej. Dlatego nie można uznać lokalnej odmiany języka litewskiego używanej obecnie w regionie kowieńsko-janowskim za bezpośrednią kontynuację dawnego tradycyjnego dialektu litewskiego.
47
MATHER, K. "THE GENETICAL THEORY OF CONTINUOUS VARIATION." Hereditas 35, S1 (July 9, 2010): 376–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1949.tb03348.x.
Full text
48
Mackay, Dennis. "Continuous variation of agonist affinity constants." Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 9, no. 5 (May 1988): 156–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0165-6147(88)90026-0.
Full text
49
Preston, Dennis R. "Variation linguistics and SLA." Second Language Research 9, no. 2 (June 1993): 153–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/026765839300900205.
Full textAbstract:
Sociolinguistics (here called variationist linguistics) has been misunderstood and misrepresented in second language acquistion (SLA) research. In spite of that, several productive studies (many of which use the VARBRUL statistical program) have made significant contributions to our understandings of variation in SLA data, contributions which touch on the linguistic and not the social concerns of such data. The failure of SLA researchers who belong to the so-called 'dominant paradigm' (or Chomskyan or Universal Grammar (UG) research programme) to realize that belief in a so-called variable competence is not a prerequisite to variation studies has been particularly harmful. On the other hand, the failure of sociolinguists to take psycholinguistic matters seriously has been another serious drawback to interfield co-operation; a summary of a plausible variationist psycholinguistics (within an SLA setting and allowing UG interpretation) is provided.
50
Lukic, Milivoje. "Square-summable variation and absolutely continuous spectrum." Journal of Spectral Theory 4, no. 4 (2014): 815–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.4171/jst/87.
Full text