Analysis Of Linguistic Data Research Articles

The Vocabulary Richness of Children’s Television in Ireland: A Cross-generational Comparison

This research investigates whether the vocabulary richness of children’s programming has changed over one generation, and therefore compares the programmes offered in 1992 to those offered in 2017. Three hours of programming were sourced, transcribed and coded using the Computerised Language Analysis (CLAN) software (MacWhinney, 1984). CLAN is a language analysis software originally developed for the purpose of analysing child language which allows for the detailed transcription and analysis of linguistic data, including statistical measures of lexical diversity (Pye & MacWhinney, 1994).
 The total words, words per minute, vocabulary diversity, total object, action, attribute and affective-state words as well as the total object, action, attribute and affective-state words spoken in the presence of a referent were calculated and compared for the programming.
 The vocabulary richness of children’s television has decreased over time. The number of words spoken in the presence of referents in the programming has increased over time, with this increase being significant for action and attribute words. This pattern of findings reflects a trend in children’s television towards the production of programmes of reduced lexical complexity which may facilitate children’s word learning.

Exploiting microvariation: How to make the best of your incomplete data

In this article we discuss the use of big corpuses or databases as a first step for qualitative analysis of linguistic data. We concentrate on ASIt, the Syntactic Atlas of Italy, and take into consideration the different types of dialectal data that can be collected from similar corpora and databases. We analyze all the methodological problems derived from the necessary compromise between the strict requirements imposed by a scientific inquiry and the management of big amounts of data. As a possible solution, we propose that the type of variation is per se a tool to derive meaningful generalizations. To implement this idea, we examine three different types of variation patterns that can be used in the study of morpho-syntax: the geographical distribution of properties (and their total or partial overlapping, or complementary distribution), the so-called leopard spots variation, and the lexical variation index, which can be used to determine the internal complexity of functional items.

VERTa: a linguistic approach to automatic machine translation evaluation

Machine translation (MT) is directly linked to its evaluation in order to both compare different MT system outputs and analyse system errors so that they can be addressed and corrected. As a consequence, MT evaluation has become increasingly important and popular in the last decade, leading to the development of MT evaluation metrics aiming at automatically assessing MT output. Most of these metrics use reference translations in order to compare system output, and the most well-known and widely spread work at lexical level. In this study we describe and present a linguistically-motivated metric, VERTa, which aims at using and combining a wide variety of linguistic features at lexical, morphological, syntactic and semantic level. Before designing and developing VERTa a qualitative linguistic analysis of data was performed so as to identify the linguistic phenomena that an MT metric must consider (Comelles et al. 2017). In the present study we introduce VERTa’s design and architecture and we report the experiments performed in order to develop the metric and to check the suitability and interaction of the linguistic information used. The experiments carried out go beyond traditional correlation scores and step towards a more qualitative approach based on linguistic analysis. Finally, in order to check the validity of the metric, an evaluation has been conducted comparing the metric’s performance to that of other well-known state-of-the-art MT metrics.

A utilização de that-clauses em abstracts escritos por alunos-pesquisadores brasileiros

A escrita de abstracts tem sido estudada por pesquisadores de diferentes áreas (BATHIA, 1993; SWALES; FEAK, 2009) para que seja possível observar quais padrões são mais utilizados por autores de revistas de impacto internacional a fim de preparar pesquisadores para a escrita deste gênero textual. Neste artigo, demonstraremos, por meio de análises de corpus, como as that-clauses são utilizadas em produções acadêmicas de abstracts de aprendizes, especificamente quando almejam demonstrar suas descobertas, resultados e conclusão de pesquisa (movimentos retóricos 4 e 5 de Swales e Feak (2009)). Além disso, contamos com uma base teórica que permeia a Linguística de Corpus (LC), voltada para a aplicação no ensino e aprendizagem de Inglês para Fins Acadêmicos (IFA). Após coleta e compilação do corpus, utilizamos o programa computacional Sketch Engine (KILGARRIFF et al, 2014) para criar linhas de concordância com a palavra that e, a partir dos resultados, observamos que na escrita dos aprendizes, as estruturas mais utilizadas para reportar as descobertas, resultados e conclusões de pesquisa, foram: sujeito + verbo no passado simples + that e sujeito + verbo no presente simples + that, se alinhando com resultados de pesquisa de Biber et al. (2007) e Glasman-Deal (2010). O resultado final demonstrou que é possível utilizar a LC para o ensino e aprendizagem de IFA e também para o desenvolvimento de atividades didáticas e obter um desfecho positivo, pois a LC é uma área abrangente que permite diversos tipos de aplicações, visando análises de dados linguísticos para os mais diversos fins.

Alongamento em fronteira de frase entoacional no Português do Brasil

Este artigo investiga o fenômeno do alongamento pré-fronteira em dados do Português Brasileiro. Para tanto, apresenta um experimento de produção delineado para verificar a ocorrência do fenômeno a partir de sentenças em contraste, caracterizadas pela mesma cadeia segmental, mas por fraseamentos prosódicos diferentes. A fronteira de frase entoacional foi eleita para o presente estudo, uma vez que se trata de uma fronteira mais robusta no interior da hierarquia prosódica e, por consequência, porque apresenta a tendência de carregar mais pistas fonéticas para sua demarcação. Não obstante, a referida fronteira foi também selecionada pela sua relevância no fraseamento prosódico e por seu consequente papel de importância no processamento da fala. Como principal resultado, o estudo apresenta amparo estatístico que permite afirmar a ocorrência do alongamento pré-fronteira nos dados analisados, resultado que é contrastado com achados anteriores para o Português. Com os resultados apresentados, o presente artigo propõe uma breve discussão sobre o papel desempenhado pelo método na análise de dados linguísticos, especialmente na área de fonética e fonologia.

Bilingualism and Access to the Spanish Language by Russian-Romanian Bilinguals

SummaryBilingualism is a complex process involving a variety of characteristics, among which we can distinguish a particular system of a language, as well as the ability to use it in communication. Apart from the mere fact of acquiring the knowledge of a second language, bilingualism also implies the development of specific linguistic structuring and brain functioning different from those of a monolingual individual. This fact is crucial at the time of comprehension and, consequently, learning of a third language and this is why it has been studied by analysing the understanding ability of bilingual informants to refer to a third language without the prior learning of this language and the comparison of the results with those obtained for monolingual individuals presenting each language. Thus, the hypothesis involved considers individuals presenting bilingualism between two different language families (on the example of Russian-Romanian bilingualism) manifesting better understanding of a language from one of the language families they speak natively (on the example of the Spanish language) in comparison with monolingual people presenting one of the languages considered in bilingual individuals (i.e. Russian and Romanian monolinguals). This difference between bilingual and monolingual people in the access to a third language mainly involves the difference in the way of thinking and analysing the acquired linguistic data, resulting in a more effective capacity for understanding. The specification of brain organization and the analysis of linguistic data are due to the creation of specific psycholinguistic strategies by the bilingual individual.

A relevância da noção de perspectivação conceptual (construal ) no âmbito dos estudos do texto e do discurso: teoria e análise

Objetiva-se, neste artigo, por um lado, discutir teoricamente a noção de perspectivação conceptual e sua tipologia de operações e, por outro, mostrar sua aplicabilidade e pertinência para a análise de dados linguísticos orientados para o exame dos processos de produção e, especialmente, de interpretação do sentido no âmbito dos estudos discursivo-textuais. Para isso, expor-se-ão pressupostos teóricos das abordagens corporeadas de cognição e, posteriormente, noções fundamentais da Linguística Cognitiva relevantes para a textualidade, para somente então serem debatidas, com exemplificação analítica, variadas operações de perspectivação conceptual, como esquematização, metaforização, categorização, focalização, quadro de visualização, granularidade e proximização.

BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2.

We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF) permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists) and relevant domain experts.

The Hanzi Writing System Adopted in both Old Korean and Old Japanese

This study was intended to investigate rules of Hanzi adopted in old Korean (OK) and old Japanese (OJ). To accomplish this purpose, this study established two major premises: 1) The nature of graphic syllables corresponds to that of speech syllables, and 2) the way of forming the borrowed writing systems utilized in OK and OJ was based on speech syllables. According to an in-depth analysis of linguistic data, it is probable that conceptually and systematically, the graphic syllable is the crucial unit of the writing system which corresponds to the speech syllable. Moreover, when a morphographemic writing system is adopted for another language, the structure of its speech syllables could imply when the system was made. In OK, the structure of graphic syllables reflects that of speech syllables, CVC, whereas in OJ, the structure of graphic syllables corresponds to that of speech syllables, V and CV. Finally, adopted for sounds and meanings of OK and OJ, Chinese characters could be read in multiple ways in OK and OJ. The multiple ways in both Korean and Japanese will be sustained.

Language contact in the German-Danish border area in the twenty-first century

AbstractThis paper presents a qualitative linguistic analysis of data from bi- and multilingual persons who grew up in the German-Danish border region. The present paper will present language practices on social network sites and compare them to informal oral data from the same groups of bi- and multilingual friends. The core part of this article presents a subset of the written and oral data, i. e. a case study of two micro-groups of on- and off-line friends whose linguistic practices index a specific stand towards the macro community (two autochthone national minority groups) to which the speakers/writers belong.

Directionality of cross-linguistic influence: Which referring choices do bilingual Ukrainian–English children make?

Aims and research questions: This paper presents a new study addressing the issue of cross-linguistic influence in acquisition of referring expressions. The main research question is how to predict directionality of this influence in a dual language development. Methodology: The method is an elicited production task. We consider the phenomenon of direct object referring choices, i.e. noun, pronoun and null element, in a ‘null-object’–‘overt-object’ language pair (Ukrainian and English). Data and Analysis: Participants of the experiment are 4–6-year-old Ukrainian–English bilinguals (N20) and Ukrainian monolinguals (N21). The data are analyzed in the statistical program R, utilizing the R-library function lme4. The results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) of each direct object type. Findings: Our data reveal that while there is no significant difference in Ukrainian object types in most of the age groups, there is a considerable amount of null object usage in English at the ages of four to five. Originality: The innovative nature of this study lies in: (i) the consideration of a licit object omission at a later stage of language development (from 4 to 6 years of age); (ii) the examination of an under-investigated language combination (i.e. English and Ukrainian); and (iii) the innovative approach to linguistic data analysis (e.g. comparing OR values). Implications: Our findings suggest that the directionality of influence in dual language acquisition depends on the developmental stage, language-specific means of syntax–pragmatics interaction, and extra-linguistic input-related factors. At the early stages of development, the null-object language is likely to influence the overt-object language, especially under conditions of limited exposure to the latter.

Language Variation Suite: A theoretical and methodological contribution for linguistic data analysis

In recent years there has been growing interest in quantitative methods for analyzing linguistic data. Advanced multifactorial statistical analyses, such as inferential trees and mixed-effects logistic regression models, have become more accessible for linguistic research as a result of the availability of an open source programming environment provided by the statistical software R. In the present paper, we introduce a novel toolkit, Language Variation Suite, a software program that offers a friendly environment for conducting quantitative analyses. We demonstrate how theory built on traditional monofactorial analysis can be extended to macro and micro multifactorial approaches allowing for a deeper understanding of language variation. The focus of the analysis is based on intervocalic /d/ deletion in Spanish from the Diachronic Study of the Speech of Caracas 1987 and 2004-2010. In contrast to traditional methodological approaches we have treated intervocalic /d/ as a continuous dependent variable according to the intensity ratio measurements obtained. Furthermore, we have integrated various syntactic, phonetic and sociolinguistic factors. Non-parametric and fixed-effects regression models revealed that overall age (younger speakers), sex (male speakers), phonetic context (low vowels), token frequency and morphosyntactic category (past participles) have a significant effect on the lenition of intervocalic /d/. In contrast, the mixed-effects model selected only phonetic context, frequency and category, showing that individual speaker variation is higher than group variation.

Metaphor in culture: LIFE IS A SHOW in Chinese

AbstractThis study analyzes the linguistic patterns via both qualitative and quantitative data that manifest the underlying conceptual metaphorlife is a showin Chinese. It starts with an analysis of theperforming artsframe as the source domain of theshowmetaphor. The frame comprises three major aspects:people, performance, andvenue, and each of them has a focal element, respectivelyrole, opera, andstage. It argues that the second one,opera, which refers to “Chinese opera”, a prominent form of performing arts in traditional Chinese culture, is the central element that dominates the whole frame. A systematic qualitative analysis of linguistic data shows that, because its source domain centers onChinese opera, thelife is a showmetaphor generates a large number of culture-specific linguistic instantiations in Chinese. A quantitative perspective supported by corpus data reinforces the argument that this metaphor plays a central role in the Chinese conceptualization of events and phenomena in various domains of life, constituting a core component of the Chinese cultural model of life. The study concludes that theshowmetaphor has a salient subversionlife is an operain Chinese, in contrast with its sisterlife is a playfound salient in English.

Southeast Asia in the Ancient Indian Ocean World BAR International Series S2580 TOM HOOGERVORST pp., 157 including Linguistic Appendix, 60 b&w figures, 8 tables British Archaeological Reports, 122 Banbury Rd, Oxford, OX2 7BP, 2013, £31 (sbk), ISBN 978-140

Southeast Asia in the Ancient Indian Ocean World BAR International Series S2580 TOM HOOGERVORST pp., 157 including Linguistic Appendix, 60 b&w figures, 8 tables British Archaeological Reports, 122 Banbury Rd, Oxford, OX2 7BP, 2013, £31 (sbk), ISBN 978-140

Joseph Chamberlain and the Third Reform Act: A Reassessment of the “Unauthorized Programme” of 1885

AbstractThis article provides the first major analysis of the impact of Joseph Chamberlain's “Unauthorized Programme” on the General Election of 1885 in sixty-five years. Instead of focusing on high politics, it investigates the constituencies. Using quantitative analysis of linguistic data, it contends that historians have underestimated the program's impact on the speaking campaign, especially in the countryside, where its proposals of land reform, church disestablishment, and free education emerged as the dominant issues. That the “Unauthorized Programme” became so important so quickly in rural regions such as East Anglia, where radicalism had historically been weak, owed much to the underestimated importance of the enfranchisement of the agricultural laborer in 1884. Chamberlain's remarkable success in immediately setting the post-reform political agenda and in being seen as the chief threat by Conservative opponents fearful of the recently expanded democracy, arguably placed him in a significantly stronger position in the immediate aftermath of the 1885 election than historians—and perhaps he himself—imagined.

Children, Mathematics, and Videotape

Despite the increased use of video for data collection, most research using assessment interviews in early childhood education relies solely upon the analysis of linguistic data, ignoring children’s bodies. This trend is particularly troubling in studies of marginalized children because transcripts limited to language can make it difficult to analyze embodied power relations between majority researchers and minority children. This article responds to this problem by outlining a theoretical position on power and bodies, describing multimodal analysis strategies, and using these strategies to analyze the subject positions available during a mathematical assessment interview for three African American preschool child-participants and the European American adult researcher. This study draws attention to the complexity of human interactions during assessment interviews by describing the ways children positioned themselves as willing (or not), attentive (or not), and competent (or not) as well as describing the ways the researcher sought to position herself.

The Hungarian colour termspirosandvörös

A number of studies have been written on the Hungarian colour terms piros and vörös, both denoting ‘red’, focusing on either one of the following questions: (1) disambiguating the meanings of the two terms; or (2) their status in Hungarian as basic colour terms. The present paper attempts to resolve these issues in one go by adopting a combined approach of corpus and cognitive linguistics. The paper makes the following three hypotheses: (1) as vörös had more time to undergo idiomatization, there will be significant differences and systematic trends between the type/token ratios of the two terms; (2) piros is a more generic term used for a larger and looser range of concepts, while vörös is associated with a more limited range of concepts; and (3) piros is mostly used in its primary, literal sense, while vörös is more inclined to be used in a figurative sense. After a thorough corpus and cognitive linguistic analysis of data extracted from the updated Hungarian National Corpus, the paper comes to the general conclusion that vörös is not a basic colour term of Hungarian.

A critical look at software tools in corpus linguistics

Corpora are often referred to as the ‘tools’ of corpus linguistics. However, it is important to recognize that corpora are simply linguistic data and that specialized software tools are required to view and analyze them. The functionality offered by software tools largely dictates what corpus linguistics research methods are available to a researcher, and hence, the design of tools will become an increasingly important factor as corpora become larger and the statistical analysis of linguistic data becomes increasingly complex. In this paper, I will first discuss how separating the data from the tools resolves various issues that are hotly debated within the field. Next, I will offer a critical look at the development of four generations of corpus tools, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Then, I will discuss the role of programming in corpus linguistics tools creation and present a model for the development of future corpus tools. Finally, I will show a real-world example of a next-generation corpus tool that was developed for use in language learning.

A Comparative Study of Emotion Metaphors between English and Chinese

Different from traditional linguistics which views metaphor as a means of rhetoric, cognitive linguistics holds that metaphor, instead of being a deviant phenomenon of normal language, is a way of thought and a powerful instrument of cognition. Because of the reason that the traditional linguistics failed to explain the essence of metaphor, the modern linguists began to do research on it from the perspective of language and philosophy. Metaphor has become an essential part in people’s cognitive mechanism instead of being perceived as language phenomenon ever since the publication of masterpiece Metaphor We Live By contributed by Lakeoff and Johnson. In this thesis, cognitive linguistics approach is used to make a comparative analysis between the Chinese and English emotion conceptual metaphors. Conceptual metaphor, as an important concept in cognitive linguistics, refers to something internal, opening deep in human thought, such as ARGUMENT IS WAR and TIME IS MONEY. Emotions, as an important aspect of human experience, have been among the focuses of cognitive linguistics. Emotions are conceptualized and expressed in metaphorical terms. This thesis takes up emotion conceptual metaphors as its topic to study, trying to conduct a cross-linguistic research into the conceptualization of emotion concepts. Based on the analysis of linguistic data from English and Chinese, it tends to explore the similarities and differences between Chinese and English in terms of conceptual metaphors of the two most basic emotions including happiness and sadness.

Creating an interoperable language resource for interoperable linguistic studies

There are two different levels of interoperability for language resources: operational interoperability and conceptual interoperability. The former refers to the standardization of the formal aspects of language resources so that different resources can work together. The latter refers to the standardization of the notional representation of the semantic content of the analysis. This article addresses both issues but focuses on the latter through a description of the annotation and analysis of the International Corpus of English, which is a corpus for the study of English as a global language. The project is parameterised by component, regional sub-corpora and a set of pre-defined textual categories. The one-million-word British component has been constructed, grammatically tagged, and syntactically parsed. This article is first of all a description of steps taken to ensure conformity within the project. These include corpus design, part-of-speech tagging, and syntactic parsing. The article will then present a study that examines the use of adverbial clauses across speech and writing, illustrating the imminent necessity for interoperable analysis of linguistic data.