Language Sciences最新文献

Dimensions of Respect in Mapuzugun: A Preliminary Ecolinguistic analysis 马普祖贡语中尊重的维度：初步生态语言学分析

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2026-01-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101790

Ingrid A. Gavilan Tatin , George M. Jacobs , Italo Cantarutti Arias

This study explores the multifaceted concept of respect within Mapuzugun, the language of the Mapuche people who live in the southern part of South America. The researchers examined how respect encodes ecological ethics and reflects a profound and holistic interconnection between nature and humans. The study adopts a qualitative ecolinguistic framework, eco-discourse analysis, and a model of the cyclical flow between ecosophy, discourse, and behavior. Lexical data were collected through güxamkawün (Mapuche dialogue) and from bilingual dictionaries and other Mapuzugun learning materials. Findings reveal that Mapuzugun distinguishes two primary dimensions of respect: ekun for solemn respect toward nature and non-human beings and yamün for respect toward humans. These expressions construct moral and ecological narratives that emphasize reciprocity, interdependence, and the agency of more-than-human beings. This study also documents the reduced everyday use of terms such as ekun, reflecting broader processes of linguistic and ecological erosion. The study concludes that mapun kimün (ancestral Mapuche knowledge) holds essential ecosophy and worldviews that offer profound guidance for confronting 21st-century environmental crises. Because Mapuche knowledge emerges from a worldview that conceives humans and nature as mutually dependent, it provides valuable guidance for rethinking contemporary environmental challenges. Accordingly, revitalizing Mapuzugun becomes essential not only for cultural continuity but also for restoring the ecological ethics and relational practices embedded in the language.

本研究探讨了生活在南美洲南部的马普切人的语言马普祖贡语中关于尊重的多方面概念。研究人员研究了尊重如何编码生态伦理，并反映了自然与人类之间深刻而全面的联系。本研究采用定性生态语言学框架、生态话语分析和生态-话语-行为循环流动模型。词汇数据通过g xamkaw（马普切语对话）、双语词典和其他马普祖贡语学习材料收集。研究结果表明，Mapuzugun区分了尊重的两个主要维度：对自然和非人类的庄严尊重和对人类的尊重。这些表达构建了道德和生态叙事，强调互惠、相互依存和超越人类的代理。这项研究还记录了诸如“昆”等词汇的日常使用减少，反映了更广泛的语言和生态侵蚀过程。该研究的结论是，马普切人祖先的知识（mapun kim）拥有重要的生态哲学和世界观，为应对21世纪的环境危机提供了深刻的指导。因为马普切人的知识来源于一种认为人与自然是相互依赖的世界观，它为重新思考当代环境挑战提供了宝贵的指导。因此，振兴马普祖贡语不仅对文化的连续性至关重要，而且对恢复语言中嵌入的生态伦理和相关实践也至关重要。

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引用次数: 0

Ecolinguistic perspectives on multimodal metaphors: a comparative analysis of Chinese and American children’s climate change picture books 多模态隐喻的生态语言学视角：中美儿童气候变化绘本对比分析

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2026-01-09 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101791

Anxue Yuan

Given the significance of climate change on the global agenda, children’s climate change picture books (CCCPBs) are increasingly emerging as a vital educational medium, warranting in-depth investigation into their multimodal metaphors. This study integrates Critical Metaphor Analysis with an Ecolinguistics framework, employing MIPVU and VISMIP to examine the distribution and frequency of multimodal metaphors across six Chinese and American CCCPBs. It also provides exemplifications of anthropomorphic metaphors constructed through image-text synergy and explores their distinct ecological value orientations. I develop an explanation for the social context in which the analysed metaphors appear. It is found: (1) there are significant distribution differences—nine metaphor types in Chinese CCCPBs versus eleven in American counterparts, with divergent frequency in core metaphors; (2) multimodal metaphors are mainly beneficial, occasionally ambivalent and rarely destructive; (3) one multimodal metaphor may manifest divergent ecological value orientations, influenced by cross-domain mapping, context, and ecosophy; (4) educational values of multimodal metaphors are contingent on cognitive frames and ecological value orientations (5) the usage of multimodal metaphors is driven by a confluence of factors, including embodied cognition, cultural influences, and ideological considerations.

鉴于气候变化在全球议程上的重要性，儿童气候变化绘本（CCCPBs）日益成为一种重要的教育媒介，有必要对其多模态隐喻进行深入研究。本研究将批判性隐喻分析与生态语言学框架相结合，采用MIPVU和VISMIP对6个中美合作伙伴关系中多模态隐喻的分布和频率进行了研究。本文还举例说明了通过图像-文本协同构建的拟人隐喻，并探讨了其独特的生态价值取向。我对所分析的隐喻出现的社会背景进行了解释。研究发现：(1)中美两国商业合作伙伴语的隐喻类型分布差异显著，中国商业合作伙伴语有9种隐喻类型，美国商业合作伙伴语有11种隐喻类型，但核心隐喻的使用频率存在差异；(2)多模态隐喻主要是有益的，偶尔是矛盾的，很少是破坏性的；(3)受跨域映射、语境和生态哲学的影响，一个多模态隐喻可能表现出不同的生态价值取向；(4)多模态隐喻的教育价值取决于认知框架和生态价值取向。(5)多模态隐喻的使用受到多种因素的影响，包括具身认知、文化影响和意识形态考虑。

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引用次数: 0

A cognitive semantic model of Chinese character representation 汉字表征的认知语义模型

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2026-01-07 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101792

Jing Liu

This study investigates the representation of Chinese characters by examining the relationship among their orthographic structures, phonological features, and semantic functions. It adopts a conceptual approach and proposes a cognitive semantic model. To evaluate the model’s predictions, the study compiles and analyzes a corpus consisting of all characters included in the Xinhua Dictionary (10th edition, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2004). The findings support the assumptions of the cognitive semantic model, showing that both orthographic structures and phonological features contribute to the semantic functions of Chinese characters. The way Chinese characters structure space is regarded as a specific instance of the broader system through which meaning is conveyed. At the fine-structural level, a defining feature of spatial representation is its schematic nature: each character encodes a metaphorical mapping from spatial to conceptual structure, giving rise to five primary static image schemas—FIGURE–GROUND, LEFT–RIGHT, UP–DOWN, ENCLOSED, and HIERARCHICAL. In addition, the linguistic-cognitive system in which these characters operate is characterized by the windowing of attention. Overall, the proposed cognitive semantic model makes a tentative contribution to understanding the typological features of Chinese characters, highlighting them as a unique reading and writing system.

本研究从汉字的正字法结构、语音特征和语义功能三者之间的关系来探讨汉字的表征。采用概念方法，提出认知语义模型。为了评估该模型的预测，本研究编制并分析了《新华词典》（第10版，中国社会科学院语言学研究所，2004年）中所有汉字的语料库。研究结果支持认知语义模型的假设，表明正字法结构和语音特征都对汉字的语义功能起作用。汉字构造空间的方式被视为传达意义的更广泛系统的一个具体实例。在精细结构层面，空间表征的一个决定性特征是它的图式本质：每个字符都编码了从空间到概念结构的隐喻映射，从而产生了五种主要的静态图像图式——图-地、左-右、上-下、封闭和分层。此外，这些文字运行的语言认知系统具有注意窗口的特征。总的来说，所提出的认知语义模型为理解汉字的类型学特征做出了初步贡献，突出了汉字作为一种独特的阅读和书写系统。

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引用次数: 0

Linguistic fingerprinting: current status, development, and future directions 语言指纹：现状、发展与未来方向

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2026-01-03 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101789

Noé Xiu , Yuan Wang , Wenmei Li , Rudolph Sock , Béatrice Vaxelaire , Zhenhua Ling

Similar to the human fingerprints left on the surface of objects, each individual's textual output and speech expression also contain a unique identifier known as “linguistic fingerprint.” To some extent, this “linguistic fingerprint” reflects the uniqueness and relative stability of an individual's language. This article reviews the research outcomes of linguistic fingerprinting both domestically and internationally, elaborating on the implementation methods, operational principles, advantages, and limitations of linguistic fingerprinting. Building upon this foundation, we combine practical case studies to analyze the specific applications of linguistic fingerprinting in various fields such as authorship attribution, forensic investigation, and public opinion monitoring. Addressing the challenges that the current development of linguistic fingerprinting faces, the article further proposes a series of feasible innovative points, envisioning the future direction of linguistic fingerprinting.

与人类在物体表面留下的指纹类似，每个人的文本输出和语音表达也包含一个唯一的标识符，称为“语言指纹”。在某种程度上，这种“语言指纹”反映了个体语言的独特性和相对稳定性。本文综述了语言指纹识别的国内外研究成果，阐述了语言指纹识别的实现方法、工作原理、优势和局限性。在此基础上，我们结合实际案例分析语言指纹在作者归属、司法调查和舆论监测等各个领域的具体应用。针对当前语言指纹识别技术发展面临的挑战，文章进一步提出了一系列可行的创新点，展望了语言指纹识别技术的未来发展方向。

引用次数: 0

A corpus-based study of the Chinese comparative correlative construction yuè X yuè Y 基于语料库的汉语比较关联结构研究yuè X yuè Y

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-12-11 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101781

Shuqiong Wu , Yue Ou

This study investigates the Chinese comparative correlative construction yuè X yuè Y within the framework of usage-based construction grammar. Drawing on the data from the BCC corpus and employing collostructional analysis, this study examines the syntactic and semantic properties of this construction and its hierarchical network. Syntactic analysis shows that both slots accommodate a wider variety of filler types than previously identified, including adjectival, verbal, prepositional, nominal phrases, and fixed expressions, with the Y slot demonstrating higher productivity than the X slot. Semantic analysis reveals five semantic categories in each slot. The X slot conveys a broad range of meanings, whereas the Y slot primarily encodes degrees of properties or actions. The construction exhibits both positive and negative alignment, with positive alignment being more frequently. Covarying collexeme analysis demonstrates strong syntactic and semantic associations between yuè X and yuè Y, which suggests the presence of entrenched meso-constructions in speakers’ mental grammar. Based on these findings, a hierarchical network is proposed for yuè X yuè Y, illustrating inheritance relations across macro-, meso-, and micro-construction levels. As the first large-scale corpus study of Chinese comparative correlative construction, this research provides empirical evidence that syntactic and semantic correlations jointly shape cognitive representation of constructions within usage-based grammar, thereby contributing to cross-linguistic studies of comparative correlative constructions.

本研究在基于用法的构式语法框架下对汉语比较关联构式yuè X yuè Y进行了研究。本研究利用BCC语料库的数据，采用结构分析方法，研究了该结构及其分层网络的句法和语义特性。句法分析表明，这两个槽所容纳的填充类型比之前确定的更广泛，包括形容词、动词、介词、名义短语和固定短语，其中Y槽比X槽显示出更高的生产率。语义分析揭示了每个槽的五个语义类别。X槽传达了广泛的含义，而Y槽主要编码属性或动作的程度。结构呈现正向和负向对齐，正向对齐更为频繁。共变体素分析表明，yuè X和yuè Y之间存在很强的句法和语义关联，这表明在说话者的心理语法中存在根深蒂固的中观结构。基于这些发现，提出了yuè X yuè Y的分层网络，说明了宏观、中观和微观结构水平上的继承关系。作为对汉语比较关联结构的首次大规模语料库研究，本研究提供了经验证据，证明句法和语义关联共同塑造了基于用法的语法中结构的认知表征，从而有助于比较关联结构的跨语言研究。

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引用次数: 0

‘The end of civilisation’: Exploring children's eco-narratives through an analysis of visual grammar “文明的终结”：通过视觉语法分析探索儿童的生态叙事

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-12-11 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101779

Helen Sauntson, Clare Cunningham

This article reports on findings from a study investigating how a sample of 40 children aged 5–11 perceive and represent environmental issues through multi-modal eco-narratives (n = 40) that they have produced in response to a visual stimulus. Using a multimodal discourse analysis framework, the research explores the discursive and semiotic strategies children employ to express their knowledge, attitudes, and emotions about climate change and ecological harm. Findings reveal that children demonstrate a strong awareness of environmental degradation, particularly its impact on animals, often portraying humans as either passive observers or heroic saviours, but rarely as contributors to environmental harm. The visual elements of the eco-narratives frequently depict environmental damage as agentless events, suggesting a gap in children's understanding of the causal role of human activity. We interpret these elements as naturalising environmental harm and softening human culpability at an age where socialisation into responsibility is formative. The study highlights the emotional weight of children's responses, with sadness and eco-anxiety emerging as dominant themes. These insights underscore the importance of integrating multimodal approaches in climate education and suggest that future curricula should more explicitly address human agency and empower children with actionable knowledge to confront environmental challenges. The study also makes a methodological contribution to the field of ecolinguistics in exploring the ways in which the analytic tools of visual grammar and multimodal discourse analysis can be used to further understandings about how ecological discourses are constructed in texts.

本文报告了一项研究的结果，该研究调查了40名5-11岁的儿童如何通过多模态生态叙事（n = 40）来感知和代表环境问题，这些叙事是他们在视觉刺激下产生的反应。本研究采用多模态语篇分析框架，探讨了儿童在表达他们关于气候变化和生态危害的知识、态度和情感时所采用的语篇和符号学策略。调查结果显示，儿童对环境退化，特别是其对动物的影响表现出强烈的认识，往往将人类描绘成被动的观察者或英雄的救世主，但很少将其描绘成环境危害的贡献者。生态叙事的视觉元素经常将环境破坏描述为无主体事件，这表明儿童对人类活动因果作用的理解存在差距。我们将这些因素解释为环境危害的自然化和在社会责任形成的时代软化人类的罪责。该研究强调了儿童反应的情感分量，悲伤和生态焦虑成为主要主题。这些见解强调了在气候教育中整合多模式方法的重要性，并建议未来的课程应更明确地强调人类的作用，并赋予儿童应对环境挑战的可操作知识。本研究还对生态语言学领域做出了方法论上的贡献，探索了如何利用视觉语法和多模态语篇分析的分析工具来进一步理解生态语篇是如何在文本中构建的。

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引用次数: 0

Reconciling inclusion and accessibility: Solutions for non-binary linguistic strategies in grammatical gender languages 调和包容与可及性：语法性别语言中非二元语言策略的解决方案

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-11-21 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101778

Martina Giovine

The ongoing debate concerning gender-fair language in grammatical gender languages reveals a profound philosophical tension between the principles of inclusivity and accessibility. Specifically, certain linguistic strategies designed to ensure equity for non-binary individuals appear to impede accessibility, raising questions about potential trade-offs between these two ideals. This article investigates the nature of this apparent conflict by exploring the conceptual foundations of both accessibility and inclusion. I analyse specific linguistic strategies as a case study and argue that, although they may pose obstacles to accessibility, these tensions are not insurmountable. I conclude that, to reconcile accessibility and inclusion, it is crucial to understand the nature of accessibility challenges. Once these challenges are identified, appropriate solutions can be implemented to overcome them.

关于语法性别语言中性别公平语言的持续争论揭示了包容性原则与可及性原则之间深刻的哲学张力。具体来说，某些旨在确保非二元个体平等的语言策略似乎阻碍了可访问性，这引发了关于这两种理想之间潜在权衡的问题。本文通过探索可访问性和包容性的概念基础来研究这种明显冲突的本质。我分析了具体的语言策略作为案例研究，并认为，尽管它们可能对可访问性构成障碍，但这些紧张关系并非不可克服。我的结论是，为了协调可访问性和包容性，理解可访问性挑战的本质是至关重要的。一旦确定了这些挑战，就可以实施适当的解决方案来克服它们。

引用次数: 0

Impact of word predictability on metrical alignment in English verse 词的可预见性对英语诗歌格律对齐的影响

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-11-20 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101777

Michael H. Kelly

Predictable, less informative words are reduced in duration in conversational speech. This study extends this pattern to the rhythmic structure of English verse. Study 1 shows that monosyllabic content and function words are more likely to appear in weak positions in Shakespeare's verse when they are relatively predictable (e.g., high in frequency, high in conditional probability given the following word, and/or high in conditional probability given the previous word). Similar patterns appear in Milton's verse in study 2, indicating that the patterns generalize beyond works like Shakespeare's which were typically composed for live spoken performance. Similar to findings with conversational speech, the conditional probability of word given the following word is the most consistent predictor of metrical alignment in verse, reinforcing the importance of anticipatory processes in language production. These patterns in written verse provide one case where word predictability effects cannot readily be interpreted through ease of access and associated facilitation of articulatory planning and execution, a common explanation for their presence in speech. Exemplar-based lexical models are discussed as an alternative, including further predictions about verse structure if correct. This study aligns with other research showing that the rhythmic structure of verse follows the same principles as spoken prosody, but extends the parallels to contextually-driven variation. It also adds to other research suggesting that, across domains, information value in a message is encoded by variables associated with prominence.

可预测的、信息较少的单词在会话演讲中的持续时间会缩短。本研究将这种模式扩展到英语诗歌的节奏结构中。研究1表明，单音节的内容词和虚词在相对可预测的情况下更有可能出现在莎士比亚诗歌中的弱位置（例如，频率高，下一个词的条件概率高，和/或上一个词的条件概率高）。研究二中弥尔顿的诗中也出现了类似的模式，表明这种模式的普遍性超越了莎士比亚的作品，这些作品通常是为现场表演而创作的。与对话性言语的研究结果类似，给定下一个词的词的条件概率是诗中韵律一致性的最一致的预测因素，这加强了语言产生中预期过程的重要性。书面诗歌中的这些模式提供了一种情况，即单词可预测性效应不能轻易地通过易于获取和相关的发音计划和执行的促进来解释，这是它们在演讲中存在的常见解释。基于范例的词汇模型作为一种替代方法进行了讨论，包括对诗歌结构的进一步预测，如果正确的话。这项研究与其他研究一致，表明诗歌的节奏结构遵循与口语韵律相同的原则，但将相似之处扩展到上下文驱动的变化。该研究还与其他研究相结合，表明跨领域的信息价值是由与显著性相关的变量编码的。

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引用次数: 0

Why are group chats so toxic?: A view from cognitive ecology 为什么群聊如此有害？认知生态学的观点

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-11-20 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101776

Andrey S. Druzhinin , Diego A. Ramírez

There is hardly any form of social media interaction more inflammatory and emotionally distressing than the so-called online group chats reportedly associated with such negative experiences as anxiety, hate speech, violence and even homicide. Adopting a cognitive ecolinguistic approach, we view an act of media use as a functional systemic unity between the media user's bodily “ways of meaning” and the affordable environmental resources on which she draws in these ways for meaning to emerge. As human ways of meaning are based on skillful enactment of mutually orientational behaviors across timescales, everything that a media user does is in and through language. The problem arises when such doings fail to be properly distinguished, namely, the two ontologically different and semiotically autonomous activities – those of text(ing) and talk – become enmeshed. We argue that the colloquial term ‘group chat’ is a complete misnomer for what (corpo)really happens in every act of media use because the user interacts with the digital technology rather than with the help of it. While natural group chat is a locally constrained and emplaced mutually orientational behavior, virtual group messaging is a technologically constrained realization of literacy skills by a media user who imagines/assumes the others to exist in a certain way and place. Semiotically, when we engage with the group via messaging, we are texting instead of talking. To think that we are talking through texting or that we are texting as if talking is a fallacy that results in a dysfunctional human-environment cognitive ecology.

几乎没有任何形式的社交媒体互动比所谓的在线群聊更具有煽动性和情感上的痛苦，据报道，这些群聊与焦虑、仇恨言论、暴力甚至杀人等负面经历有关。采用认知生态语言学的方法，我们将媒介使用行为视为媒介使用者的身体“意义方式”与她以这些方式产生意义的可负担的环境资源之间的功能系统统一。由于人类的意义方式是基于跨时间尺度的相互定向行为的熟练制定，媒体用户所做的一切都是在语言中并通过语言进行的。当这样的行为不能被恰当地区分时，问题就出现了，也就是说，两种本体论上不同的、在符号上自主的活动——文本和谈话——变得纠缠在一起了。我们认为，口语中的“群聊”完全是对每一个媒体使用行为中真正发生的事情的误称，因为用户与数字技术互动，而不是借助它。自然群聊是一种局部性约束和相互定向的行为，而虚拟群聊是一种技术约束下的读写能力实现，由媒体用户想象/假设其他人以某种方式和地点存在。从符号学上讲，当我们通过短信与群体交流时，我们是在发短信而不是说话。认为我们是在通过发短信交谈，或者我们是在发短信好像在交谈，这是一种谬误，会导致人类环境认知生态的失调。

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引用次数: 0

On the elusive nature of AGENT and agentive diagnostics: lessons from causee 论AGENT和代理诊断的难以捉摸的本质：来自因果的教训

IF 1.1 2区文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Sciences

Pub Date : 2025-11-14 DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2025.101773

Zhuosi Luo

This paper explores the nature of AGENT and agentive diagnostics commonly employed in linguistic research by investigating the thematic interpretation of the causee. It argues that the concept of AGENT, a central category in linguistic analysis, is elusive and multifaceted, drawing on both linguistic and philosophical perspectives. The study highlights a tension between oversimplified linguistic explanations of agency and the more complex, nuanced insights offered by philosophy. Through a case study of the cross-linguistic non-agentive interpretation of the causee—an understudied event participant in agency literature—and its varying compatibility patterns with nearly twenty diagnostics in Teochew, an underexplored Southern Min language, this paper distinguishes between grammatical AGENT and intuitive AGENT. It challenges the traditional view that agent-oriented modifications universally target a single, monolithic agentive property, arguing instead that agency is a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon. Ultimately, the paper advocates for a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates insights from both linguistics and philosophy, offering a more comprehensive understanding of how agency is encoded in language and conceptualized in cognition.

本文通过对原因的主题解释来探讨语言研究中常用的AGENT和AGENT诊断的本质。本文认为AGENT概念是语言学分析中的一个核心范畴，它是一个难以捉摸的、多方面的概念，从语言学和哲学的角度进行了探讨。这项研究强调了对能动性过于简化的语言解释与哲学提供的更复杂、细致入微的见解之间的紧张关系。本文通过对动因（代理文献中未被充分研究的事件参与者）的跨语言非代理解释的案例研究，及其与近20种未被充分开发的闽南语潮州语诊断的不同兼容模式，区分了语法动因和直觉动因。它挑战了传统观点，即面向代理的修改普遍针对单一的、整体的代理属性，而是认为代理是一个复杂的、多方面的现象。最后，本文主张采用一种跨学科的方法，将语言学和哲学的见解结合起来，对代理如何在语言中编码并在认知中概念化提供更全面的理解。

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引用次数: 0