Pub Date : 2023-10-27DOI: 10.3390/languages8040256
Angeliki Alvanoudi
This study takes us to the Greek diasporic community in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. The data analyzed derive from audio-recorded conversations with first-generation Greek immigrants collected during fieldwork in 2013. Drawing on interactional linguistics and contact linguistics, this paper analyzes the prosody of bilingual discourse markers and bilingual repetition in Australian Greek talk-in-interaction. It is shown that the prosodic features of code switches, namely pitch, intensity and duration, shape action formation and ascription. In the case of bilingual discourse markers, pitch serves as a contextualization cue that conveys the speaker’s stance and frames the different functions of the code-switched items. In bilingual repetition, speakers mobilize duration and intensity to prosodically differentiate the first iteration delivered in English from the second iteration delivered in Greek and, thus, frame the interpretation of the code switch as participant-related. This study sheds light on the pragmatic aspects of the phonetics of the Greek variety spoken in Cairns, and demonstrates that prosody shapes the functions of language contact-induced speech behavior in specific interactional contexts.
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Pub Date : 2023-10-26DOI: 10.3390/languages8040255
José Silva Garcés, Gonzalo Espinosa
The main objective in this study is to describe and offer an account of verbal non-local doubling in Patagonian Spanish (PatSp), an understudied non-standard variety of Spanish in Argentina. We focus on data in which there are duplicated verbs surrounding an XP that bears the nuclear accent of the phrase (XPNA). First, our analysis describes the prosodic, semantic, and morphosyntactic behaviour of the data gathered. Second, we present the problems and challenges that doubling phenomena in PatSp pose for approaches that have tried to explain similar data in other Spanish varieties and other languages, such as the copy theory or prosodic cloning. Third, this work explores a biclausal analysis of verbal non-local doubling in PatSp in which each duplicate originates in a different clause, CP1 and CP2. In this approach, duplicated verbs (V1 and V2, according to their linear distribution) are not derivationally related. We also argue that the XPNA moves to the left periphery of CP2. This movement would account for the three typical traits of verbal duplication in PatSp: the mandatory adjacency between the nuclear accent and V2, the non-locality between verbal duplicates, and the semantic value of mirativity.
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Pub Date : 2023-10-25DOI: 10.3390/languages8040254
Catalina Fuentes Rodríguez
This work describes the cooptation/grammaticalization process developed by the expression no veas. The hypothesis it defends, endorsed by previous research, considers that in this process, this expression appears in different constructions, originally integrated in the clause or peripheral, and is involved in a process of fixation towards pragmatic markers. The parenthetical distribution is fundamental to this subjectification and constructionalizationss. In some cases, the cooptation process has not ended, and constructions can act as semi-fixed patterns. These constructions provide procedural content but, at the same time, allow lexical choice in part of their structure. In other cases, we are already dealing with fixed markers. The Spanish structure no veas can appear as a free verbal construction (“No veas tanto la televisión” (don’t watch television so much)), as a semi-free intensification construction (“no veas lo enfadado que está” (you wouldn’t believe how angry he is), “está gritando que no veas” (he’s shouting like you wouldn’t believe)), or as a discourse operator (“El campo está lleno, no veas” (the stadium’s full, unbelievable)). In the latter case, the structure appears peripheral and displays a high degree of mobility (it could be inserted at the beginning of the utterance or appear in an intermediate position, not just at the end) and functions as a modal operator of surprise (a mirative) or a comment with intensifying meaning.
这项工作描述了由表达no veas开发的合作/语法化过程。它所支持的假设得到了先前研究的支持,认为在这个过程中,这种表达出现在不同的结构中,最初整合在小句或外围,并涉及到对语用标记的固定过程。插入式分布是这种主体化和建构化的基础。在某些情况下,合并过程还没有结束,结构可以作为半固定模式。这些结构提供了程序性内容,但同时也允许在其部分结构中选择词汇。在其他情况下,我们已经在处理固定的标记。西班牙语结构no veas可以作为一个自由的动词结构出现(“no veas tanto la televisión”(不要看那么多电视)),也可以作为一个半自由的强化结构出现(“no veas lo enfadado que est”(你不会相信他有多生气),“estgritando que no veas”(他的叫喊让你难以置信),或者作为一个话语操作(“El campo est lleno, no veas”(体育场满得令人难以置信))。在后一种情况下,结构出现在外围,并显示出高度的流动性(它可以插入话语的开头或出现在中间位置,而不仅仅是在结尾),并作为惊喜的模态操作符(一个沉思)或具有强化意义的评论。
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Pub Date : 2023-10-25DOI: 10.3390/languages8040253
Joske Piepers, Ad Backus, Jos Swanenberg
This paper explores the different ways in which speakers of Limburgian think and feel about sociopragmatic pronouns in their dialect, in which women can traditionally be referred to with both ziej ‘she’ and het ‘she’ (lit. ‘it’). Previous research revealed variation between speakers regarding the use of het, which appears to be associated with differences in interpretation and evaluation. This study investigates this further by analyzing how individual speakers evaluate non-feminine pronouns for women. Our data show that many speakers have a relatively high level of awareness, discussing four key themes: (i) how female reference in Limburgian differs from that of Dutch; (ii) the appropriateness of using the pronouns for certain referents and/or in certain social situations; (iii) the various connotations the pronouns may have; and (iv) how they navigate between-speaker differences regarding pronoun evaluation in daily life. Importantly, this high level of awareness is not present in all speakers. These results indicate that the use or non-use of the pronoun het for female referents may be conditioned by cognitive automaticity for some speakers, and by a conscious, emotionally charged consideration about its desirability for others. Our findings, therefore, suggest the importance of integrating cognition and sociality in linguistic theorizing.
本文探讨了林堡语使用者对其方言中社会语用代词的不同思考和感受方式,在这种方言中,女性传统上可以被称为ziej ' she '和het ' she '(字面意思是' it ')。先前的研究揭示了说话者在使用het方面的差异,这似乎与解释和评价的差异有关。这项研究通过分析每个说话者如何评价女性的非阴性代词来进一步调查这一点。我们的数据显示,许多使用者都有相对较高的意识水平,讨论了四个关键主题:(i)林堡语的女性参考与荷兰语的不同之处;(ii)在特定指称物和/或特定社交情境中使用代词的适当性;(三)代词可能具有的各种内涵;以及(iv)日常生活中,他们如何处理说话者之间关于代词评价的差异。重要的是,并不是所有的演讲者都有这种高度的意识。这些结果表明,对女性指称物使用或不使用代词“het”可能受到一些说话者的认知自动性和对他人的可取性的有意识的、情绪化的考虑的制约。因此,我们的研究结果表明,在语言理论中整合认知和社会性的重要性。
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Pub Date : 2023-10-25DOI: 10.3390/languages8040252
Meng Zhang, Na Yi, Dandan Zhou
This article explores the effects of different task repetition schedules on English learners’ oral fluency in terms of speed, breakdown, and repair indices using a PRAAT script to enhance objectivity and consistency in the assessment of learner performances. A total of 90 freshmen participated in the experiment and were divided into three groups: the blocked repetition group, the interleaved repetition group, and a control group. This study adopted a pre- and post-test design. After the learners repetitively practiced the problem-solving tasks for three weeks, their improvement was measured by a new task of the same type. The analyses of speed, breakdown, and repair in learners’ oral performance reported that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in fluency measurement. Specifically, the interleaved repetition group was advantageous compared with the blocked repetition group, except for the silent pause numbers. The findings not only support the interleaving effects and enrich the line of task repetition research but also have pedagogical implications in that introducing interleaved practice in real classrooms is beneficial to L2 speaking enhancement.
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Pub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.3390/languages8040250
Martina Gračanin-Yüksek
In this paper I investigate the ne…ne construction in Turkish, illustrated by Ne Ali ne (de) Esra geldi ‘Neither Ali nor Esra arrived’. The meaning of the ne…ne construction roughly corresponds to the meaning of the neither…nor construction in English, but the syntactic properties of ne…ne are somewhat different from those of neither…nor. I focus on two such differences: one, the fact that ne…ne can, although it doesn’t have to, be accompanied by a negated verb; in fact, a negated verb is slightly dispreferred by speakers (but the presence versus the absence of negation interacts in interesting ways with negative concord); and two, the fact that the ne…ne construction cannot be embedded under a wide-scope question particle –mI except when the verb is negated.
在本文中,我研究了土耳其语中的ne…ne结构,例如ne Ali ne (de) Esra geldi“既不是Ali也不是Esra到达”。ne…ne结构的意思大致相当于英语中neither…nor结构的意思,但ne…ne的句法性质与neither…nor的有些不同。我主要关注两个不同之处:第一,ne可以,虽然不一定要,和否定动词连用;事实上,说话者并不喜欢否定动词(但否定的存在与不存在以一种有趣的方式与否定的和谐相互作用);其次,除非动词被否定,否则ne…ne结构不能嵌入到范围广泛的疑问句-mI中。
{"title":"Negation That Isn’t","authors":"Martina Gračanin-Yüksek","doi":"10.3390/languages8040250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040250","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper I investigate the ne…ne construction in Turkish, illustrated by Ne Ali ne (de) Esra geldi ‘Neither Ali nor Esra arrived’. The meaning of the ne…ne construction roughly corresponds to the meaning of the neither…nor construction in English, but the syntactic properties of ne…ne are somewhat different from those of neither…nor. I focus on two such differences: one, the fact that ne…ne can, although it doesn’t have to, be accompanied by a negated verb; in fact, a negated verb is slightly dispreferred by speakers (but the presence versus the absence of negation interacts in interesting ways with negative concord); and two, the fact that the ne…ne construction cannot be embedded under a wide-scope question particle –mI except when the verb is negated.","PeriodicalId":52329,"journal":{"name":"Languages","volume":"29 9","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135273937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.3390/languages8040249
Elena Felíu Arquiola
In this paper, we study a syntactic construction that has received little attention in the study of Spanish grammar (La masa de pizza congela perfectamente, ‘Pizza dough freezes perfectly’). It is characterized by the presence of a verb in a non-pronominal intransitive variant, with property interpretation. This construction is related to mediopassive sentences or generic middles (Las camisas de algodón se lavan fácilmente, ‘Cotton shirts wash easily’), as well as to the anticausative construction (La camisa se secó al sol, ‘The shirt dried in the sun’), a relationship that has not always been highlighted in previous studies, which are usually based on a short list of verbs. Taking as a point of departure both the verbal classification found in ADESSE and data from Corpus del Español: Web/Dialects, the construction under study is described, paying special attention to the types of verbs found in it in order to check if they coincide with the verbs found in mediopassive sentences or the anticausative construction. In addition, our study provides new data on the linguistic factors (presence of a manner adverb or other modifiers, negation), as well as on the extralinguistic factors (type of text, geographical distribution) involved in this phenomenon.
在本文中,我们研究了一个在西班牙语语法研究中很少受到关注的句法结构(La masa de pizza congela perfectamente,“pizza dough freeze perfect”)。它的特点是动词以非代词不及物形式出现,并带有属性解释。这种结构与中被动句或一般中间句(Las camisas de algodón se lavan fácilmente,“棉质衬衫很容易洗”)以及反否定结构(La camisa se secó al sol,“衬衫在太阳下晒干了”)有关,这种关系在以前的研究中并不总是被强调,这些研究通常基于一个简短的动词列表。以ADESSE中的动词分类和语料库Español: Web/ dialect中的数据为基础,描述了所研究的结构,特别注意其中发现的动词类型,以检查它们是否与中被动句或反动词结构中的动词一致。此外,我们的研究还提供了与这一现象有关的语言因素(语气副词或其他修饰语的存在、否定)以及语言外因素(文本类型、地理分布)的新数据。
{"title":"Non-Pronominal Intransitive Verb Variants with Property Interpretation: A Characterization","authors":"Elena Felíu Arquiola","doi":"10.3390/languages8040249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040249","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we study a syntactic construction that has received little attention in the study of Spanish grammar (La masa de pizza congela perfectamente, ‘Pizza dough freezes perfectly’). It is characterized by the presence of a verb in a non-pronominal intransitive variant, with property interpretation. This construction is related to mediopassive sentences or generic middles (Las camisas de algodón se lavan fácilmente, ‘Cotton shirts wash easily’), as well as to the anticausative construction (La camisa se secó al sol, ‘The shirt dried in the sun’), a relationship that has not always been highlighted in previous studies, which are usually based on a short list of verbs. Taking as a point of departure both the verbal classification found in ADESSE and data from Corpus del Español: Web/Dialects, the construction under study is described, paying special attention to the types of verbs found in it in order to check if they coincide with the verbs found in mediopassive sentences or the anticausative construction. In addition, our study provides new data on the linguistic factors (presence of a manner adverb or other modifiers, negation), as well as on the extralinguistic factors (type of text, geographical distribution) involved in this phenomenon.","PeriodicalId":52329,"journal":{"name":"Languages","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135268088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.3390/languages8040251
Suzanne Quay, Janice Nakamura
Simultaneous bilingual and bicultural children who are schooled in the dominant societal language can acquire literacy in their home language through home literacy practices and weekend school. Twenty-eight Japanese-English bilingual–bicultural children (ages 9 to 14) attending English weekend schools in Japan were assessed using the standardized Test of Written Language (TOWL, 4th ed.). Their overall age-adjusted writing scores showed that most were on a par with same-age US peers. The parents’ responses to parental questionnaires revealed that the children’s regular attendance and enjoyment of weekend school, coupled with parental home support and access to plenty of appropriate English reading materials, helped to establish their English literacy. Nevertheless, the children attained different writing scores. Although many performed within the Average range, some scored either in the Above Average or higher range or the Below Average or lower range. Further analysis of these three groups of children revealed a strong relationship between reading practices and writing scores. Better writers tend to read frequently in English; they enjoy reading independently and voluntarily. These findings underscore the importance of recreational reading as an accessible and affordable means for developing home language literacy in bilingual and bicultural children in Japan.
{"title":"Factors Affecting Home Language Literacy Development in Japanese-English Bicultural Children in Japan","authors":"Suzanne Quay, Janice Nakamura","doi":"10.3390/languages8040251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040251","url":null,"abstract":"Simultaneous bilingual and bicultural children who are schooled in the dominant societal language can acquire literacy in their home language through home literacy practices and weekend school. Twenty-eight Japanese-English bilingual–bicultural children (ages 9 to 14) attending English weekend schools in Japan were assessed using the standardized Test of Written Language (TOWL, 4th ed.). Their overall age-adjusted writing scores showed that most were on a par with same-age US peers. The parents’ responses to parental questionnaires revealed that the children’s regular attendance and enjoyment of weekend school, coupled with parental home support and access to plenty of appropriate English reading materials, helped to establish their English literacy. Nevertheless, the children attained different writing scores. Although many performed within the Average range, some scored either in the Above Average or higher range or the Below Average or lower range. Further analysis of these three groups of children revealed a strong relationship between reading practices and writing scores. Better writers tend to read frequently in English; they enjoy reading independently and voluntarily. These findings underscore the importance of recreational reading as an accessible and affordable means for developing home language literacy in bilingual and bicultural children in Japan.","PeriodicalId":52329,"journal":{"name":"Languages","volume":"39 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135315443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.3390/languages8040247
Zilu Jiang, Zexin Xu, Zilong Pan, Jingwen He, Kui Xie
This study examined the robustness and efficiency of four large language models (LLMs), GPT-4, GPT-3.5, iFLYTEK and Baidu Cloud, in assessing the writing accuracy of the Chinese language. Writing samples were collected from students in an online high school Chinese language learning program in the US. The official APIs of the LLMs were utilized to conduct analyses at both the T-unit and sentence levels. Performance metrics were employed to evaluate the LLMs’ performance. The LLM results were compared to human rating results. Content analysis was conducted to categorize error types and highlight the discrepancies between human and LLM ratings. Additionally, the efficiency of each model was evaluated. The results indicate that GPT models and iFLYTEK achieved similar accuracy scores, with GPT-4 excelling in precision. These findings provide insights into the potential of LLMs in supporting the assessment of writing accuracy for language learners.
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Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.3390/languages8040246
Victor Khachan
The sentence-initial coordinating conjunctions (and, but), referred to in the literature as SIA and SIB, have been well established as discourse markers beyond their syntactic function as connectors of related propositions. In reference to the proof-editing process of The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran’s most internationally acclaimed work in English, records show that Gibran tends to “overuse” “Ands” and “Buts”. In this context, this study traces Gibran’s use of sentence-initial coordinating conjunctions (and, but) in The Prophet and his seven other works in English, attempting to determine whether his use of SIA and SIB can be stylistically characterized. In this context, this study adopts a corpus stylistics approach to look into the frequency of SIA and SIB across Gibran’s English works. The findings of this study reveal that Gibran’s frequent use of SIA and SIB is statistically “meaningful” and his use of SIA and SIB is a “conscious” act of discourse marking, similar in nature to their “unique” use in King James Bible and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Gibran’s most influential and inspirational literary sources). In addition, the collocational networks for both SIA and SIB display that Gibran depends heavily on the coordinating conjunction (and) to verbalize his arguments and points of view, shifting his prose-poetry as close as possible to “orality”—a biblical stylistic feature par excellence
{"title":"The ‘Ands’ and ‘Buts’ in Kahlil Gibran’s English Works: A Corpus Stylistics Perspective","authors":"Victor Khachan","doi":"10.3390/languages8040246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8040246","url":null,"abstract":"The sentence-initial coordinating conjunctions (and, but), referred to in the literature as SIA and SIB, have been well established as discourse markers beyond their syntactic function as connectors of related propositions. In reference to the proof-editing process of The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran’s most internationally acclaimed work in English, records show that Gibran tends to “overuse” “Ands” and “Buts”. In this context, this study traces Gibran’s use of sentence-initial coordinating conjunctions (and, but) in The Prophet and his seven other works in English, attempting to determine whether his use of SIA and SIB can be stylistically characterized. In this context, this study adopts a corpus stylistics approach to look into the frequency of SIA and SIB across Gibran’s English works. The findings of this study reveal that Gibran’s frequent use of SIA and SIB is statistically “meaningful” and his use of SIA and SIB is a “conscious” act of discourse marking, similar in nature to their “unique” use in King James Bible and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience (Gibran’s most influential and inspirational literary sources). In addition, the collocational networks for both SIA and SIB display that Gibran depends heavily on the coordinating conjunction (and) to verbalize his arguments and points of view, shifting his prose-poetry as close as possible to “orality”—a biblical stylistic feature par excellence","PeriodicalId":52329,"journal":{"name":"Languages","volume":"82 12","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135405291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}