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The review of: “Narracja i jej zaburzenia w otępieniu alzheimerowskim/Narration and its disorders in Alzheimer's dementia” by Aneta Domagała; Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej. Lublin 2015, s. 575
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Emoticons are considered to be a useful way to express non-verbal information in electronic discourse. However, detailed analysis of the usage of emoticons has not been done by Lithuanian linguists so far. The aim of the research is to identify emoticons that are used in internet discussions most frequently and to determine their functions in a text. The research material consists of 450 comments from the internet forum Draugas.lt, all comments were written during the period of the year 2010–2015. Comments were taken from the discussions about diseases, nutrition, movies, religion, spirituality, studies, sports, cars, computer games, finances. The overall length of the texts of each topic is 1300–1600 words. The method of the research is corpus linguistics. The analysis of comments revealed that there are six emoticons used in internet discussions most frequently: :), :D, ;), :P, :/ and :(. They can: a) strengthen or repeat emotional content of written information; b) reveal writer’s attitude or evaluation of written information which could be difficult to identify without emoticons; c) function as markers at the end of sentence. Emoticons ;) and :) have wider meaning: they can also be used with phrases of politeness or help to connect with other participants of discussion as well as soften negative information.
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Our paper is an attempt to indicate the relevance of information theoretical accounts to understand word recognition and morphological processing in Hungarian, along with other studies using more traditional predictors like linear position and morphological composition. The first two experiments were gating studies. The effect of the decision points was only evident in frequent words. The correct recognition means for the recognition points differ from the means for one-before-recognition points, indicating that the recognition point follows a sudden drop of the entropy value. This shows how entropy measures can be used to predict word recognition in actual language performance. The next two experiments examined the word reconstruction effect. A clear bathtub effect (Aitchison, 1987) was obtained: reconstruction was highest in the cases where both the beginning and the end were correct. The last, lexical decision based study used four basic morphological types of markers (plural, second and first possessive) and three types of case (-nak,-ban-,-ra ‘DAT, INSIDE, ONTO). The main effect of the frequency and the error type was significant. Frequent words were judged faster but less accurately, suggesting a trade-off. The later the mistake is, the faster and easier its rejection was.
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In Serbian, lexical decision latencies to words composed of letters that exist in both the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets (some of which have different phonemic interpretations in each) are slower than for the unique alphabet transcription of those same words. In this study, we use the effect of phonological ambiguity to explore the time course of semantic facilitation. Targets are either the phonologically ambiguous forms (e.g., PETAK meaning “Friday” when pronounced as a Roman string /petak/ but without meaning when pronounced in Cyrillic as /retak/) or the unique alphabet transcription of the same word (ПETAK). We manipulate alphabet match and semantic relatedness of prime to target. In addition to replicating slowing due to phonological ambiguity, we show 1) greater alphabet switch cost for bivalent then for unambiguous targets as well as for unrelated then for related prime-target pairs and 2) greater semantic facilitation as the number of shared common letters between prime and target increases. Results reveal the interaction of phonological and semantic processes in Serbian. The findings are discussed in terms of a triangle model of language processing, which hypothesizes a division of labor between an orthography-to-semantics, and an orthographyto-phonology-to-semantics route and their simultaneous contribution to activation of meaning.
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In the current paper we discuss the mechanisms that underlie the processing of inflectional and derivational complexity in English. We address this issue from a neurocognitive perspective and present evidence from a new fMRI study that the two types of morphological complexity engage the language processing network in different ways. The processing of inflectional complexity selectively activates a left-lateralised frontotemporal system, specialised for combinatorial grammatical computations, while derivational complexity primarily engages a distributed bilateral system, argued to support whole-word, stem based lexical access. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of the processing and representation of morphologically complex words.
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We modified classical mental exploration task introducing verbal modality. Consequently, we could test robust effects from lexical processing in an attempt to understand whether the underlying mental representation is strictly propositional. In our three experiments, in addition to map modality (visual or verbal), lexical frequency, concreteness and visual frequency were also varied. The symbolic distance effect was replicated, regardless of map modality. Exploration of distances was regularly faster on pictorial maps. Effects of lexical frequency and concreteness were not significant for verbal maps. However, when visual frequency was introduced on pictorial maps both type of frequencies generated measurable effects. Our findings directly contradict the assumptions of propositional theories (1) subjects were faster in the visual modality, which would be difficult to explain if the perceptual code had to be transformed into propositional, (2) word frequency and concreteness did not contribute as would be expected if propositional code were a default.
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In this research we investigate the relevance of phonological parameters in acquisition of Serbian language. Implementation of British Test of Phonological Screeing (TOPhS, van der Lely and Harris, 1999) has revealed that phonological complexity (syllabic and metrical structure) influences accuracy in non-word repetition task and could be used in assessment of phonological development of typically developing children, as well as of children with Grammatical Specific Language Impairment (G-SLI) (van der Lely and Harris, 1999; Gallon, Harris & van der Lely, 2007). Having in mind phonological properties of Serbian language (Zec, 2000, 2007), we hypothesized that several parameters can be used in assessment of phonological development in Serbian: a. onset (consonants cluster at the beginning of syllable; b. rime (consonant at the end of syllable). c. word of three syllables, and d. placement of stressed syllable in a word. Combination of these parameters gave us a list of 96 pseudo words of different levels of complexity. Participants were 14 adults and 30 children from kindergarten divided into three age groups (3, 4 and 5 years). Task for the participants was to loudly repeat every pseudo-word, and their reproduction was recorded. Transcription of their answers and coding of errors allowed us to analyze impact of different parameters on accuracy of phonological reproduction in children of different ages. The results indicate that the ability for reproduction of Serbian phonological properties develops in early preschool period. The most difficult is cluster of consonants at the beginning of syllable, and consonant at the end of syllable. These two parameters are even more difficult for reproduction in three-syllable words or in words that have more than one parameter marked. Placement of stress in a word is acquired even before 3 years. In other words, the results have shown that investigated features could be good indicators in assessment of early phonological development of typically developing children. Delay in their acquisition could reveal possible developmental difficulties.
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In this work, we explored cognitive status of suffix allomorphy of the masculine nouns in instrumental singular in Serbian language (eg. mišom-mišem; pužom-pužem). Allomorphy represents distinct variations in form of the morpheme which does not influence it’s function and meaning (cf. Lyons, 1968). Despite it’s frequent appearance in speech and language production, it has rarely been a subject of psycholinguistic explorations. First goal of this research was to determine whether the cognitive processing of allomorphic nouns has it’s specificities and second goal was to create the base for making and testing hypothesis regarding morphological and/or phonological factors that influence suffix alternation in forming of instrumental singular of masculine nouns. We conducted visual lexical decision experiment and applied a questionnaire created for the needs of investigating allomorphy in language production. Results showed that at least two processes influence cognitive processing of masculine nouns in instrumental singular: (a) certain morpho-phonological restrictions that influence appearance of the suffix –em, and (b) allomorphy - variations in suffix in instrumental singular. In addition, the findings indicate that allomorphy could be the consequence of the tendency to use more frequent suffix (-om), that eases the processing, and blocks the influence of the morpho-phonological restrictions.
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The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a systematic distinction between associate pairs that constitute categories of lexical relations (e.g. synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms etc.) and categories of associate pairs that have no obvious lexical relation. Proportion of categories of associates were estimated on 80 nouns from “Associative Dictionary of Serbian Language” (Piper, Dragićević & Stefanović, 2005), while frequencies of associates were estimated from “Frequency Dictionary of Contemporary Serbian Language” (Kostić, Đ., 1999). Categories of associates were divided into two groups: group of categories that included standard lexical relations and group that included idiosyncratic associates. Proportions of categories were analyzed with respect to a) frequency of a noun to which associates were generated and b) whether it was an abstract or concrete noun. Three measures were used to estimate proportion of categories: a) number of associates, b) sum frequency of associates and c) the average frequency per associate. When estimated with respect to number of associates and sum frequency of associates proportion of categories that included standard lexical relations were negligible (6% and 18%), but they become dominant when estimated with respect to the average frequency per associate. Such an outcome suggests that categories that include standard lexical relations are characterized by small number of associates (due to the fact that they are closed classes) with high frequency associates. Distinction between abstract and concrete nouns did not affect number of associates per category, which was not the case when proportions were estimated with respect to sum frequency of associates. Frequency of a noun to which associates were generated has no effect on productivity of associates, nor does it affects sum frequency per category. However, it has significant effect on the average frequency per associate within a given category.
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Processing of Serbian inflected verbs was investigated in two lexical decision experiments. In the first experiment subjects were presented with five forms of future tense, while in the second experiment the same verbs were presented in three forms of present and future tense. The outcome of the first experiment indicates that processing of inflected verb is determined by the amount of information derived from the average probability per congruent personal pronoun of a particular verb form. This implies that the cognitive system is not sensitive to verb person per se, nor to the gender of congruent personal pronoun. Results of the second experiment show that for verb forms of different tenses, presented in the same experiment, the amount of information has to be additionally modulated by tense probability. Such an outcome speaks in favor of cognitive relevance of verb tense.
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This article is a summary of a language urban game entitled Following the Russian traces in Cracow. There were 80 participants in the game and 41 of them filled out a voluntary questionnaire providing feedback. The purpose of the questionnaire was to examine to what extent students were aware of the group processes they partici¬pated in and how those processes affected their motivation to learn a foreign lan¬guage. Our research results have shown that the group members’ interactions are directly related to the students’ motivation to achieve better results. The awareness of the group processes’ impact on an individual is crucial as skilful management of these processes can be used while planning work strategies with student groups in order to increase their effectiveness in achieving the set goals. Creation of the right space for learning is well supported by exercises using elements of competition, fun or game mechanics. The influence exerted by a group on an individual and facili¬tation are not new issues, however, they are very timely matters and still require extensive research.
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This article focuses on the importance of early intervention as far as language development.This paper proposes an approach which focuses on the importance of the early assessment of toddlers’ language skills development in order to identify possible delays or disorders.High quality early assessment and intervention services can change a child’s developmental trajectory and improve outcomes for children, families, and communities
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This article presents a case study regarding Down syndrome and the difficulties that appear due to pragmatic communication disorder in the day to day life of persons with Down syndrome. Having difficulties in the area of pragmatic communication suggests the lack of functional communication, with impact on an individuals social life, human interractions, establishing and maintaining significant relationships, along with having difficulties in understanding speech, waiting for one`s turn, listening, starting, maintaining or ending a conversation.Through specific speech therapy interventions, we can see in this case study how pragmatic communication can be trained by focusing on communication skills, articulation and pronuntiation exercises, with significant impact on the individuals self-esteem issues and the diminuation of dezadaptative behaviours characteristic to Down Syndrom
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Income per capita was previously found to be sometimes negatively, and sometimes positively, associated with helping across cultures. These opposite effects may result from a type of reversal of helping across the perceived contexts of cultures. The possibility in a language to highlight actors’ responsibility in events through antipassive sentences (cf. “I will help”) predicted higher, and the possibility to decrease the responsibility through passive sentences (“The needy will be helped”) predicted lower levels of charitable behaviors in countries with lower levels of power distance and uncertainty avoidance, and higher levels of income, a set of societal characteristics, which were previously found to positively impact helping. The results highlight the role of sentence voice presumably linked with perceived autonomy in contexts of helping across cultures, ultimately reversing the cultural effects on charitable behaviors.
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Literary text reading has long been a subject of empirical research. Various measures of reader differences and reader typologies were suggested, with the most prominent being studies of literary expertise, and studies employing Literary Response Questionnaire (LRQ; Miall & Kuiken, 1995). Literary expertise is difficult to define and fails to account for potential differences within non-experts. LRQ and similar dimensional approaches neglect the possibility that a salient reader typology does exist. The main goal of this study is to test whether a salient reader classification can be formed based on participant responses to questionnaires and to test how this classification corresponds to self-reported reader expertise. Based on responses from 741 participants (78.41% female, mean age = 24.31), we test the factor structure of LRQ in its Serbian translation and find moderate, acceptable fit. We also present our own Receptiveness to Literature Questionnaire (UPK) with two factors named Thorough Reading and Reading for Pleasure. Finally, we discuss relations between LRQ and UPK, offer classifications of readers formed on participant factor scores, and test the congruence between these classes and self-reported participant expertise. Our results indicate that a dimensional approach should be favored over forming categories of readers.
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Today, linguistics studies focus on people's perception of the events around them, their culture, social status and gender. Political Linguistics has emerged as a result of such studies. Before political linguistics was accepted as a science, political communication studies were considered as a different aspect of rhetorical or stylistic research. In later research, studies on the superior and inadequate aspects of the politician were done. Rhetoric and stylistic approaches are dominant in political language analysis. Political linguistics includes intuitive discourse analysis and cognitive methods. Political linguistics can be divided into four relatively independent directions; critical analysis, content analysis, rhetoric analysis, cognitive analysis.
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This paper is a study in the domains of developmental psycholinguistics and lexical competence of Lithuanian children as first language learners. In the research that follows the author has attempted to see whether and how the negative structures develop and mature in very young children as they learn their native language as well as to set up rules for changes in each stage. The data were processed by means of the generative, conversational and comparative methods of analysis.
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The article discusses the tenets of comparative semantic research on the names of emotions in the domain of joy. The author follows Renata Grzegorczykowa’s idea of a subjective nature of emotions and their dependence on particular languages and cultures. She then proposes to ground the research not in concepts associated with specific lexical items in a given language (e.g. the English happiness) but in a general conceptual invariant around which lexicosemantic fields of emotions terms are organized. To justify this approach, the author refers to the difficulties in comparing the results of research on different languages as well as the problems involved in translation. It is necessary to distinguish and address various levels of abstraction in understanding lexical concepts of emotions; it is also crucial to analyze their modelling in discourse. Therefore, apart from lexicographic data, which show what is possible, use is made of texts, which contain realizations of these potentialities. A combination of the structural linguistic approach with the cognitive linguistic approach facilitates a fuller understanding of the phenomena being investigated, which is illustrated with a schematic characterization of selected portions of the linguistic view of the Polish radość (joy).
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In Croatian, as a highly inflected language, morphology plays an important role in words of some word classes, especially those carrying the most important semantic information. This strong morphological encoding gives the speakers of Croatian relative freedom in choosing the word order enabling them to use the word order in emphasizing particular elements in the sentence. Croatian language does not have a long history in studying SLI. The profiles ofSLI children have been described in some segments but the relative poorness of the existing data on regular language development makes it difficult to give the precise description of SLI. The morphological component of the language is the one that is most affected by the SLI. Seven cases and two numbers of the noun and adjective declension and three persons, two numbers and six tenses of the verb conjugation represent the biggest challenges for the Croatian children with the SLI. If the morphology does not function, the syntax does not necessarily provide the additional redundant grammatical information. Eight well documented subjects which all met the criteria for SLI diagnosis were followed during the one year period. The study was designed with guiding principle of possible classification of errors but at the same time with awareness that the sample is too small to generalize. The subjects’ conversations and narrative episodes were recorded. The episodes were transcribed and analyzed to get insight in one particular segment of children language - neologisms.
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The purpose of the article is to define the term mental identity, to find out the difference between the concepts of mentality and mentality by tracing their etymology, as well as to examine the essence of the influence of linguistic and cultural factors on the formation of mental identity. The methodology is based on an anthropocentric approach to the problem of studying the dialectic mutual influence between language, thinking and mental self-identification of a person within certain ethnolinguistic communities. Scientific novelty lies in the definition of mentality as a subjective, implicit, often non-reflective worldview-cognitive attitude of a person determined by the linguistic and cultural background, which sometimes has a conscious, but most often the spontaneous character of manifestation, in particular through stereotypical assessments and behavioral models, latent impulses and automatisms. Conclusions. Mental identity is built by identifying oneself with the mentality of a certain ethnolinguistic community. Its construction and determination are carried out by conscious or subconscious collective creative efforts of many generations during the centuries-old historical and cultural development under the direct influence of the linguistic and cultural factors of this ethnolinguistic community.
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