Pub Date : 2025-08-22DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104025
Chuntao Liu
The correspondence patterns between phonological structures and ancestral languages are crucial criteria for determining the genetic classification of Chinese dialects. As a Mandarin dialect, Xiaoling Junhua has undergone changes in the initials [tʰ] and [x] due to contact with Hainan Min dialects. The original [x] initial splits by imitating the phonetic values of neighboring dialects, challenging the phonological structure. Consequently, the related phonemes in the initial system underwent reorganization and the reestablishment of contrast patterns, ultimately preserving the Mandarin phonological framework. The structural adjustments in Xiaoling Junhua were influenced by both internal and external factors. Internally, they were constrained by the phonological rules of Mandarin, while externally, the dialect’s relatively high social status and the speakers’ self-identity played a role. These dual factors prompted Xiaoling to maintain its Mandarin phonological structure, thereby ensuring the stability of its genetic classification.
{"title":"The motivations and limits of Mandarin contact-induced evolution: A case study of Xiaoling Junhua in contact with Min dialects in Hainan","authors":"Chuntao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The correspondence patterns between phonological structures and ancestral languages are crucial criteria for determining the genetic classification of Chinese dialects. As a Mandarin dialect, Xiaoling Junhua has undergone changes in the initials [tʰ] and [x] due to contact with Hainan Min dialects. The original [x] initial splits by imitating the phonetic values of neighboring dialects, challenging the phonological structure. Consequently, the related phonemes in the initial system underwent reorganization and the reestablishment of contrast patterns, ultimately preserving the Mandarin phonological framework. The structural adjustments in Xiaoling Junhua were influenced by both internal and external factors. Internally, they were constrained by the phonological rules of Mandarin, while externally, the dialect’s relatively high social status and the speakers’ self-identity played a role. These dual factors prompted Xiaoling to maintain its Mandarin phonological structure, thereby ensuring the stability of its genetic classification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104025"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104023
Gong Cheng , Hai Xu , Xian Zhang
Recent findings on English L1 speakers’ visual recognition of noun-noun compounds suggest that competitive mechanisms are triggered by potential conceptual relations associated with these compounds. While relation-based semantic composition in compound processing has been found in English L2 speakers (specifically Chinese speakers), the role of relational competition remains unclear. This study employed a lexical decision task manipulating word type and relational competition to examine the processing of noun-noun compounds among 60 Chinese EFL learners at intermediate and advanced proficiency levels. Results indicate that processing speed was influenced by the conceptual relations involved in compound processing. Moreover, processing speed was closely linked to the degree of relational competition, with stronger competition leading to longer response times. In addition, English proficiency significantly influenced processing efficiency, as higher-proficiency learners responded more quickly. Furthermore, qualitative differences between the two proficiency groups emerged when both relational competition and compound frequency were considered.
{"title":"Examining the role of relational competition and English proficiency in noun-noun compound recognition among Chinese EFL learners","authors":"Gong Cheng , Hai Xu , Xian Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent findings on English L1 speakers’ visual recognition of noun-noun compounds suggest that competitive mechanisms are triggered by potential conceptual relations associated with these compounds. While relation-based semantic composition in compound processing has been found in English L2 speakers (specifically Chinese speakers), the role of relational competition remains unclear. This study employed a lexical decision task manipulating word type and relational competition to examine the processing of noun-noun compounds among 60 Chinese EFL learners at intermediate and advanced proficiency levels. Results indicate that processing speed was influenced by the conceptual relations involved in compound processing. Moreover, processing speed was closely linked to the degree of relational competition, with stronger competition leading to longer response times. In addition, English proficiency significantly influenced processing efficiency, as higher-proficiency learners responded more quickly. Furthermore, qualitative differences between the two proficiency groups emerged when both relational competition and compound frequency were considered.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104023"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144827038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper reports on an empirical investigation of regional pragmatic variation in the use of conventional expressions in Spanish at three sites: two in Spain (in the Barcelona and Extremadura areas) and one on the US-Mexico border (El Paso/Ciudad Juárez). Conventional expressions are multi-morphemic expressions and one type of pragmalinguistic resource. They are inherently social in nature and characterize language use within speech communities. Conventional expressions are associated with specific pragmatic situations and are the preferred expression of L1 speakers in those contexts. Data were elicited via computer-delivered oral production tasks from 107 L1 speakers of Spanish in the Barcelona (N = 38), Extremadura (N = 33), and El Paso/Ciudad Juárez (N = 36) areas. The tasks were regionally adapted so that speakers would feel that they were speaking to interlocutors from their respective speech communities. Conventional expressions were identified as occurring in at least 50% of the responses in any one community. Speakers in some sites used more conventional expressions than others. Some situations elicited the same expressions at all three sites, some show agreement at two sites, and some yield a different expression from each site. The sites show substantial overlap in expressions, although not in contexts of use (exhibiting variety-preferential variation rather than variety-specific variation).
{"title":"Regional pragmatic variation in the use of conventional expressions at three Spanish-speaking sites","authors":"Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig , Llorenç Comajoan-Colomé , Sabrina Mossman , Enrique Rodríguez Sánchez","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper reports on an empirical investigation of regional pragmatic variation in the use of conventional expressions in Spanish at three sites: two in Spain (in the Barcelona and Extremadura areas) and one on the US-Mexico border (El Paso/Ciudad Juárez). Conventional expressions are multi-morphemic expressions and one type of pragmalinguistic resource. They are inherently social in nature and characterize language use within speech communities. Conventional expressions are associated with specific pragmatic situations and are the preferred expression of L1 speakers in those contexts. Data were elicited via computer-delivered oral production tasks from 107 L1 speakers of Spanish in the Barcelona (N = 38), Extremadura (N = 33), and El Paso/Ciudad Juárez (N = 36) areas. The tasks were regionally adapted so that speakers would feel that they were speaking to interlocutors from their respective speech communities. Conventional expressions were identified as occurring in at least 50% of the responses in any one community. Speakers in some sites used more conventional expressions than others. Some situations elicited the same expressions at all three sites, some show agreement at two sites, and some yield a different expression from each site. The sites show substantial overlap in expressions, although not in contexts of use (exhibiting <em>variety-preferential variation</em> rather than <em>variety-specific variation</em>).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104021"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144779920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104019
Veronica D’Alesio , Anna Teresa Porrini , Matteo Greco , Andrea Moro
This work aims to investigate the elaboration of (nominal) copular sentences in three different experimental paradigms involving a reading task: an acceptability judgment, a self-paced reading and an eye-tracking experiment. Nominal copular sentences (NCs), such as [DP1 The picture of the wall] is [DP2 the cause of the riot], represent a challenging phenomenon for, at least, two reasons: (i) they can be distinguished in two subtypes, namely canonical and inverse NCs, related to the different order of the DPs (respectively, [DPsubjectis DPpredicate] in canonical form vs. [DPpredicateis DPsubject] in inverse form); (ii) these two subtypes are associated with one and the same type of string [DP is DP], although their underlying structure is completely different. Our results show that no differences emerge in the off-line paradigm, i.e. in the acceptability judgments. On the other hand, the self paced-reading task and the eye-tracking experiments show an asymmetry between these two types of NCs, with higher processing costs for inverse NCs. More specifically, the DPsubject is looked at more often and for longer times in inverse NCs. Moreover, when comparing the DPsubject to the DPpredicate in postverbal position in the eye-tracking experiment, sentence structure resulted as a good predictor for total reading time and regression path duration, even after taking into account the length and frequency of the words used. These results strongly support the hypothesis that syntactic structure is a primary factor in generating a different reading pattern between the same string of lexical types of items.
{"title":"An investigation of nominal copular sentences in three reading paradigms: Acceptability judgments, self-paced reading, and eye-tracking","authors":"Veronica D’Alesio , Anna Teresa Porrini , Matteo Greco , Andrea Moro","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work aims to investigate the elaboration of (nominal) copular sentences in three different experimental paradigms involving a reading task: an acceptability judgment, a self-paced reading and an eye-tracking experiment. Nominal copular sentences (NCs), such as <em>[<sub>DP1</sub> The picture of the wall] is [<sub>DP2</sub> the cause of the riot],</em> represent a challenging phenomenon for, at least, two reasons: (i) they can be distinguished in two subtypes, namely <em>canonical</em> and <em>inverse</em> NCs, related to the different order of the DPs (respectively, [DP<sub>subject</sub> <em>is DP</em><sub>predicate</sub>] in canonical form vs. [DP<sub>predicate</sub> <em>is DP</em><sub>subject</sub>] in inverse form); (ii) these two subtypes are associated with one and the same type of string [DP is DP], although their underlying structure is completely different. Our results show that no differences emerge in the off-line paradigm, i.e. in the acceptability judgments. On the other hand, the self paced-reading task and the eye-tracking experiments show an asymmetry between these two types of NCs, with higher processing costs for inverse NCs. More specifically, the DP<sub>subject</sub> is looked at more often and for longer times in inverse NCs. Moreover, when comparing the DP<sub>subject</sub> to the DP<sub>predicate</sub> in postverbal position in the eye-tracking experiment, sentence structure resulted as a good predictor for total reading time and regression path duration, even after taking into account the length and frequency of the words used. These results strongly support the hypothesis that syntactic structure is a primary factor in generating a different reading pattern between the same string of lexical types of items.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104019"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104020
Zhaoxia Liu
As the “third code”, translated language differs from native language in terms of syntactic features. Translations from different source languages can exhibit syntactic variation due to the source language shining-through effect. This study investigates the impact of linguistic proximity on dependency distance and dependency direction of translated English from various source languages. A corpus of native English and translated English from 35 languages was constructed and annotated for analysis. The findings are: (1) Compared to native English, translated English from 17 languages exhibits shorter mean dependency distances (MDD), while translations from 18 languages exhibit longer MDD. Translations from 13 languages are more head-final, while translations from 22 languages are more head-initial. (2) The dependency distance of translated English correlates positively with the linguistic proximity between source language and English, while the clustering of dependency directions is associated with the linguistic proximity of source languages within language families. (3) For languages spoken in countries where English is an official language alongside the native language, the dependency distance and dependency direction of translated English are influenced more by English than by the native language. These differences arise because dependency distance reflects the cognitive demand involved in processing dependency relations, whereas dependency direction functions as a typological marker distinguishing languages.
{"title":"The effects of linguistic proximity on dependency distance and dependency direction of translated English from 35 languages","authors":"Zhaoxia Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104020","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104020","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the “third code”, translated language differs from native language in terms of syntactic features. Translations from different source languages can exhibit syntactic variation due to the source language shining-through effect. This study investigates the impact of linguistic proximity on dependency distance and dependency direction of translated English from various source languages. A corpus of native English and translated English from 35 languages was constructed and annotated for analysis. The findings are: (1) Compared to native English, translated English from 17 languages exhibits shorter mean dependency distances (MDD), while translations from 18 languages exhibit longer MDD. Translations from 13 languages are more head-final, while translations from 22 languages are more head-initial. (2) The dependency distance of translated English correlates positively with the linguistic proximity between source language and English, while the clustering of dependency directions is associated with the linguistic proximity of source languages within language families. (3) For languages spoken in countries where English is an official language alongside the native language, the dependency distance and dependency direction of translated English are influenced more by English than by the native language. These differences arise because dependency distance reflects the cognitive demand involved in processing dependency relations, whereas dependency direction functions as a typological marker distinguishing languages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104020"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144738550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104008
Tohru Seraku
A communicator is sometimes unable or unwilling to produce a particular expression. One of the lexical resources for overcoming such word-formulation difficulties is the use of placeholders like whatchamacallit and you-know-what. Whilst recent years have seen a proliferation of research on placeholders across diverse languages, prior studies have largely focussed on spoken language, with little attention paid to their use in writing. This paper reveals that Japanese has placeholders that appear almost exclusively in written language, predominantly in legal texts. First, we describe the distributional and grammatical properties of the placeholders kō and otsu through a theory-neutral analysis of data retrieved from The Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese. Second, building on this descriptive foundation, we propose a cognitive account of their semantic and pragmatic aspects within the framework of Relevance Theory. We argue that kō and otsu encode procedural meaning and demonstrate how specific interpretations, both explicit and implicit, arise from the interaction among procedural meaning, contextual assumptions, and pragmatic principles. The present work advances the scholarship of placeholders by providing the first detailed account of placeholders in written language and by developing a semantic–pragmatic integrated approach to their contextual interpretation.
{"title":"Placeholders in written language: The case of Japanese kō and otsu","authors":"Tohru Seraku","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A communicator is sometimes unable or unwilling to produce a particular expression. One of the lexical resources for overcoming such word-formulation difficulties is the use of placeholders like <em>whatchamacallit</em> and <em>you-know-what</em>. Whilst recent years have seen a proliferation of research on placeholders across diverse languages, prior studies have largely focussed on spoken language, with little attention paid to their use in writing. This paper reveals that Japanese has placeholders that appear almost exclusively in written language, predominantly in legal texts. First, we describe the distributional and grammatical properties of the placeholders <em>kō</em> and <em>otsu</em> through a theory-neutral analysis of data retrieved from <em>The Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese</em>. Second, building on this descriptive foundation, we propose a cognitive account of their semantic and pragmatic aspects within the framework of Relevance Theory. We argue that <em>kō</em> and <em>otsu</em> encode procedural meaning and demonstrate how specific interpretations, both explicit and implicit, arise from the interaction among procedural meaning, contextual assumptions, and pragmatic principles. The present work advances the scholarship of placeholders by providing the first detailed account of placeholders in written language and by developing a semantic–pragmatic integrated approach to their contextual interpretation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"325 ","pages":"Article 104008"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-23DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104018
Jeahong Kim , Sung Bum Pyun , Kichun Nam
This study explored the neural mechanisms involved in processing noun-based- and predicate-Eojeols, morphologically complex word forms in the Korean language. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a lexical decision task, we examined brain activation patterns for these two word types. The results indicated both shared and distinct neural activation patterns: shared regions, including the lingual gyrus and precentral areas, were associated with primary visual processing and higher-order cognitive functions. Distinct activation was observed in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, particularly for predicate Eojeols, which may be related to their greater morpho-syntactic complexity and increased cognitive load. Behavioral data aligned with these findings, showing slower reaction times and lower accuracy for predicate Eojeols. In discussion, we suggest that morphological complexity contributes to differences in how predicate- and noun-based-Eojeols are processed, which could offer insights into language processing beyond Indo-European languages.
{"title":"Brain activation in noun-based- and predicate-Eojeol processing during Korean visual word recognition","authors":"Jeahong Kim , Sung Bum Pyun , Kichun Nam","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explored the neural mechanisms involved in processing noun-based- and predicate-Eojeols, morphologically complex word forms in the Korean language. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a lexical decision task, we examined brain activation patterns for these two word types. The results indicated both shared and distinct neural activation patterns: shared regions, including the lingual gyrus and precentral areas, were associated with primary visual processing and higher-order cognitive functions. Distinct activation was observed in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, particularly for predicate Eojeols, which may be related to their greater morpho-syntactic complexity and increased cognitive load. Behavioral data aligned with these findings, showing slower reaction times and lower accuracy for predicate Eojeols. In discussion, we suggest that morphological complexity contributes to differences in how predicate- and noun-based-Eojeols are processed, which could offer insights into language processing beyond Indo-European languages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104018"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144696421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-19DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104017
Yuanmeng Liu , Na Liu , Fuyin Thomas Li
This study uses a quantitative approach to examine the constructional variation and constructional network of Mandarin extreme degree resultatives, focusing on [VP/AP-SI/TOU/HUAI]. In these constructions, SI ‘die’, TOU ‘penetrate’ and HUAI ‘go bad’ are categorized as extreme complements of degree. Although sharing general form and meaning, they exhibit distinct collocational preferences. The findings reveal a shift in the prototype of extreme degree resultatives, with [VP/AP-TOU-le] and [VP/AP-HUAI-le] expanding their collocational scopes, while [VP/AP-SI-le] shows the lowest productivity along with its higher degree of grammaticalization. Additionally, the study extends the network of extreme complements of degree to include 55 new members and explores the interactions between complements and constructions. The results suggest a developmental trajectory for extreme degree resultatives and highlight the need for further research on their diachronic relationships and the influence of original meanings on predicate selection.
本研究以[VP/AP-SI/TOU/HUAI]为研究对象，采用定量分析的方法对汉语极端程度结果语的结构变异和结构网络进行了研究。在这些构式中，SI“死”、TOU“透”和淮“坏”被归类为程度的极端补语。虽然具有一般的形式和意义，但它们表现出不同的搭配偏好。结果表明，极端程度结果语的原型发生了变化，[VP/ ap - toui -le]和[VP/ ap - huaie -le]扩展了它们的搭配范围，而[VP/AP-SI-le]表现出最低的生产力和更高的语法化程度。此外，本研究将极端程度补语网络扩展到55个新成员，并探讨了补语与结构之间的相互作用。结果表明了极端程度结果语的发展轨迹，并强调需要进一步研究极端程度结果语的历时关系和原意对谓词选择的影响。
{"title":"Constructional variation, grammaticalization, and constructional network of extreme degree resultatives in Mandarin: A quantitative analysis","authors":"Yuanmeng Liu , Na Liu , Fuyin Thomas Li","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study uses a quantitative approach to examine the constructional variation and constructional network of Mandarin extreme degree resultatives, focusing on [VP/AP-SI/TOU/HUAI]. In these constructions, SI ‘die’, TOU ‘penetrate’ and HUAI ‘go bad’ are categorized as extreme complements of degree. Although sharing general form and meaning, they exhibit distinct collocational preferences. The findings reveal a shift in the prototype of extreme degree resultatives, with [VP/AP-TOU-<em>le</em>] and [VP/AP-HUAI-<em>le</em>] expanding their collocational scopes, while [VP/AP-SI-<em>le</em>] shows the lowest productivity along with its higher degree of grammaticalization. Additionally, the study extends the network of extreme complements of degree to include 55 new members and explores the interactions between complements and constructions. The results suggest a developmental trajectory for extreme degree resultatives and highlight the need for further research on their diachronic relationships and the influence of original meanings on predicate selection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 104017"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144662133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-18DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104010
Yanyan Zhang , Ruoyan Cui
Karma is commonly understood as the belief that morally relevant actions lead to proportionate consequences. By adopting a corpus-based approach, this study examines cultural conceptualisations of karma in American, Indian, and Hong Kong varieties of English from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. It has been found that cultural schemas of karma mainly involve four themes: creation, operation, effect, and transformation/removal. In American English, karma typically arises from bad secular actions, results in negative secular outcomes, and is transformed or removed through secular practices. In contrast, in Indian and Hong Kong Englishes, karma often links spiritual actions to commensurate outcomes, operates through reincarnation, and is addressed through dharmic practices. Cultural metaphors of karma conceptualise it in both non-agentive and agentive terms. While non-agentive metaphors conceptualise karma in terms of causation, accounting, journey, and contagion, demonstrating cross-varietal similarities and differences, the agentive metaphor – karma is a supernatural agent– is almost exclusively found in American English. A diagram has been proposed to illustrate the interrelationships among the cultural schemas and metaphors of karma, highlighting its multifaceted, procedural, and dynamic nature. This study demonstrates the viability of a cultural-linguistic approach to studying English varieties by focusing on a specific cultural concept.
{"title":"Cultural conceptualisations of karma in American, Indian, and Hong Kong varieties of English","authors":"Yanyan Zhang , Ruoyan Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><span>Karma</span> is commonly understood as the belief that morally relevant actions lead to proportionate consequences. By adopting a corpus-based approach, this study examines cultural conceptualisations of <span>karma</span> in American, Indian, and Hong Kong varieties of English from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. It has been found that cultural schemas of <span>karma</span> mainly involve four themes: <span>creation</span>, <span>operation</span>, <span>effect,</span> and <span>transformation/removal</span>. In American English, <span>karma</span> typically arises from bad secular actions, results in negative secular outcomes, and is transformed or removed through secular practices. In contrast, in Indian and Hong Kong Englishes, <span>karma</span> often links spiritual actions to commensurate outcomes, operates through reincarnation, and is addressed through dharmic practices. Cultural metaphors of <span>karma</span> conceptualise it in both non-agentive and agentive terms. While non-agentive metaphors conceptualise <span>karma</span> in terms of <span>causation</span>, <span>accounting</span>, <span>journey,</span> and <span>contagion</span>, demonstrating cross-varietal similarities and differences, the agentive metaphor – <span>karma is a supernatural agent</span> <span>–</span> is almost exclusively found in American English. A diagram has been proposed to illustrate the interrelationships among the cultural schemas and metaphors of <span>karma</span>, highlighting its multifaceted, procedural, and dynamic nature. This study demonstrates the viability of a cultural-linguistic approach to studying English varieties by focusing on a specific cultural concept.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"325 ","pages":"Article 104010"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144662500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-14DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2025.104007
Yu-Ching Tseng
This study examines homophonous ambiguity in Mandarin adverbs, particularly their ability to function as speaker-oriented, subject-oriented, and manner modifiers. The ambiguity arises when an adverb can be interpreted in multiple ways within the same sentence. In neutral contexts, these interpretations can coexist without contradiction; however, when contextual information highlights conflicts between them, sentences often become semantically incoherent. By analyzing sentence acceptability ratings and interpretation consistency provided by native Mandarin speakers, the data reveal that conflicting contextual cues lead to interpretive conflict and reduced comprehensibility. The study applies Bidirectional Optimality Theory (BiOT) to model how syntactic and semantic constraints interact to produce and interpret ambiguous adverbial structures. BiOT explains how conflicting interpretations compete and how listeners resolve ambiguity by filtering out incoherent readings. The findings suggest that Mandarin speakers rely on lexico-pragmatic association, contextual expansion, and pragmatic inference to navigate ambiguity, and that speaker-oriented adverbs play a crucial role in structuring discourse. This study contributes to linguistic theory by offering a formalized approach to Mandarin adverbial modification and ambiguity resolution, highlighting the role of context and discourse in meaning selection.
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