Different Conceptions Of Language Research Articles

AltDiffusion: A Multilingual Text-to-Image Diffusion Model

Large Text-to-Image(T2I) diffusion models have shown a remarkable capability to produce photorealistic and diverse images based on text inputs. However, existing works only support limited language input, e.g., English, Chinese, and Japanese, leaving users beyond these languages underserved and blocking the global expansion of T2I models. Therefore, this paper presents AltDiffusion, a novel multilingual T2I diffusion model that supports eighteen different languages. Specifically, we first train a multilingual text encoder based on the knowledge distillation. Then we plug it into a pretrained English-only diffusion model and train the model with a two-stage schema to enhance the multilingual capability, including concept alignment and quality improvement stage on a large-scale multilingual dataset. Furthermore, we introduce a new benchmark, which includes Multilingual-General-18(MG-18) and Multilingual-Cultural-18(MC-18) datasets, to evaluate the capabilities of T2I diffusion models for generating high-quality images and capturing culture-specific concepts in different languages. Experimental results on both MG-18 and MC-18 demonstrate that AltDiffusion outperforms current state-of-the-art T2I models, e.g., Stable Diffusion in multilingual understanding, especially with respect to culture-specific concepts, while still having comparable capability for generating high-quality images. All source code and checkpoints could be found in https://github.com/superhero-7/AltDiffuson.

Conceptualization of “happy-like” feelings in Japanese and its relevance to a semantic typology of emotion concepts

ABSTRACT Emotions play a crucial role in human lives, often influencing behaviour. Among others, the feeling expressed by the word happy in English has received particular attention. If, on the one hand, the concept seems basic and likely to exist across languages and cultures, on the other hand, cross-linguistic semantics has shown that even close equivalents in genetically related languages, such as the German glücklich or French heureux, do not exactly correspond in meaning. Although the cross-linguistic differences in the conceptualization of “happy-like” feelings have been emphasized, focus on the cross-linguistic commonalities is insufficient. This study focuses on Japanese “happy-like” concepts, namely ureshii, tanoshii and shiawaseda to examine the question: to what extent are the conceptualizations of “happy-like” feelings similar or different across languages? It describes the meanings of candidates for Japanese near-equivalents of happy in a way that is comparable to other languages by combining the findings from Japanese linguistic studies with the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. Though none of them exactly correspond to the English happy in meaning, investigating “happy-like” concepts from a broader perspective reveals the conceptualizations underlying these concepts in different languages. It implies that although “happy-like” concepts in different languages provide different conceptualizations of emotions, cross-linguistic commonalities may lie beneath them.

ФИТОНИМДЕР ЛИНГВИСТИКАНЫН ОБЪЕКТИСИ КАТАРЫНДА

In this article, the author analyzes the scientific and anthological significance of the name of the plant world and comprehensively investigates the linguo-conceptual content of phytoonyms as the basis of the carrier's understanding of the world as such. At the same time, specific examples show the relationship between the historical development of the national linguistic consciousness and the formation of a linguistic picture of the landscape, i.e., a phytonymic area. At the same time, the opinions of linguists regarding the cognitive and categorical foundations of phytonyms as such are being updated. Since these language units contain not only the mental characteristics of these peoples, but also at the same time most clearly reflect the typological forms of expressing concepts in different languages.

Проектирование терминологического учебного словаря таможенной сферы: корпусный подход

The article discusses the principles of designing of a multilingual educational terminological dictionary in the customs sphere for the Russian-Belarusian-Kazakh-Kirghiz-Armenian language pairs. The dictionary is planned in electronic format and is intended for the University of Tyumen’s students majoring in Customs. A review of the existing dictionaries of the customs subject area is made. The prerequisites for compiling such a dictionary are analyzed: both in the professional customs domain and from a linguistic point of view. The thematic criteria for determining the boundaries of the discourse of the named subject area are described, the principles of modeling the elements of discourse are listed. The corpus-based study (AntConc, SketchEngine) describes the qualitative and quantitative principles of determining the coverage of discourse, algorithms for the formation of the general population and the sample size, the selection of relevant terminological units for the dictionary. Lexicographic work involves the consideration of different types of sources: (a) official documents (standards, program documents of the EAEU, regulatory legal acts, agreements on international treaties, protocols of meetings of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council); (b) official websites of the customs services of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan; (c) scientific/educational texts (summary monographs, articles in relevant specialized journals, new research in the field of customs studies); (d) dictionaries and encyclopedias. Each term has been selected on the basis of importance and usage within an area of the customs sphere. This dictionary will include various types of information: multilingual equivalents of terms, references to synonyms, antonyms, hypohyperonyms, and abbreviations. An ideographic dictionary - built using the corpus approach - will allow (a) analysing and structuring key concepts and trends in a simplified form using equivalents, pointers and links that reflect the subject area of the customs sphere; (b) collecting the minimum number of terminological units of real usage that are most effective in professional communication. (c) solving the problems posed by the different lexicalization of the same concepts in different languages. Quantitative and systemic criteria were used for this purpose. The learner’s dictionary can help students to understand and translate terminological texts, perform more effectively in a multilingual workplace, and advance knowledge in professional communication. The results can be applied not only to terminology representation, but also to terminography, documentation and translation. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

ТҮРК ТИЛДЕРИНДЕГИ ФИТОНИМДИК СЕМАНТИКАНЫН ДИАХРОНИЯСЫ

In this article, the research of leading scientists of the world and Russia in the field of phytonymic semantics in general, and the names of the plant world in particular, is subjected to a comprehensive analysis. At the same time, the opinions of linguists regarding the cognitive and categorical foundations of phytonyms as such are being updated. Since these language units contain not only the mental characteristics of these peoples, but also at the same time most clearly reflect the typological forms of expressing concepts in different languages. From this point of view, first of all, the author emphasizes the general linguistic meanings of phytoonyms as important structural units.

Representation Features in the National Cultural Content of Concepts Good and Evil

This article is devoted to the analysis of verbal representations in the concepts of good and evil in Russian and Kyrgyz linguocultures. Proverbs, as one of the basic units of the culture of the people, allow analyzing basic concepts, which precisely explain concepts of good and evil. In most occasions, the concepts of good and evil are same among all people understanding in the world. Some differences can arise in the cultural and historical traditions of the ethnos: lifestyle, historical development, religion, culture and mentality. These differences make it possible to explore specifics in a particular ethnic group, to penetrate mentality, to determine priorities and stereotypes. Of course, this is revealed only in comparison with the linguistic material of other people. The conceptual analysis allows us to make detailed descriptions of concepts in different languages. We believe that a person is initially inclined to do good, about which paremias in all nations are talking about. Humankind can create evil under the influence of any circumstances or difficulties. The borderline between good and evil is rather arbitrary: what is good for one person may turn out to be evil for other people. We believe that good and evil are not two opposed concepts, but one antonymic concept, where the corresponding concepts are not always strictly delimited. Most of the proverbs based on people’s ideas are about good and evil. Over time, new values appear in the consciousness of a person and society. What was good a hundred years ago may be evil today. Each person has his scale of values, which is determined by belonging to a particular nation’s mentality. The values and priorities of nomadic people often do not coincide with the values of sedentary tribes. Proverbs can also become outdated. The basic fund of paremias remains unchanged since universal human concepts of good and evil are one and eternal, they are dictated to us by the concepts of culture, religion and ethics.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BIBLICAL PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH BLUE AND GREEN COLOUR COMPONENTS (on the example of English, Russian and Georgian)

Language as an important part of culture reflects our reality and interprets it, creating the reality in which we live. It expresses mentality of the nation, views of peoples in the world and is closely related to the history, culture and traditions of different countries.The study of language is provided within many different disciplinary areas and from different theoretical angles, all of which inform modern approaches to linguistics.Echoes of previous years remain today in proverbs, sayings, phraseological units, metaphors, culture symbols, etc. Lan- guage learning is a natural creative process.A study and analysis of words cannot be done without the consideration of various features and linguistic theories. Language attracts people’s attention because of the wealth literature and knowledge enshrined in it. As is known EnglishRussian and Georgian are considered as one of the most vital universal languages in the world. Nothing defines a culture as distinctly as its language, and the element of language that best encapsulates a society’s values and beliefs is its proverbs. Proverbial expressions are still very much alive in everyday languages, and the daily conversation would seem rather dull without them. Biblical proverbs and sayings are the wisdom of thought.Although English, Russian and Georgian belong to a family of different languages and systematically differs from each other, it is interesting to make comparative analysis of different lexical and phraseological units.There are countless colours in nature. Colour is a physical, psychological, and linguistic phenomenon and a subject of analysis in many sciences, a component of many arts playing a great role in the life of society. The lexical group of colour designation is significant in creation and expression of a language picture.The notion of colour is multifaceted, complex in its structure. It expresses not only visual perception but also connotative meanings. The diversity of the meanings of colors is due to the history of the development of states, religions and traditions. A colour palette has been reflected in mythology, legends, fairy tales, customs and various religious or mystical teachings.In this paper, we aimed at discussing the phenomenon of blue and green colours, which has a wide range of nominal po- tential and semantic ambiguity. They are the most conservative colours in the spectrum, perceived in both human consciousness and languages with a wide range of symbolic meanings.In linguistics, the study of colour concepts in different languages has a long tradition, presented by lots of publications. People can look at the same subject but perceive its colour differently. Colour terms differ across languages and the differences have been viewed through the prism of culture.A phraseological unit is more complex and multi-dimensional space, as far as the language reveals its possibilities most in phraseological units. As language is a meaning of expressing thoughts, any linguistic unit (a word, phrase, saying ...) should be considered in context.In our paper we have attempted to present phraseological units in three languages adapting bible words and expressions that made them own language property. Thus, it should be noted that phraseological units make the concentrated wisdom of all nations. They have certain pure linguistic features showing powerful universal and actually national culturological and lan- guage capacity. As far as we understand, phraseological units have their own connotative fields, analysing expressions with the above mentioned colours in the given languages, we can see that the connotative fields of the colours are not always integral. Life of biblical expressions in the modern European languages convincingly testifies to imperishability of spirit and a letter of the Book of books.Comparative approach allows receiving information on similarity or distinction of colour concepts in different languages, national and specific, lingvocultural peculiarities, conceptual models of vision of the world and interpretations in separate languages.

In Search of a New Paradigm for Functional Magnetic Resonance Experimentation With Language.

Human language can convey a broad range of entities and relationships through processes that are highly complex and structured. All of these processes are happening somewhere inside our brains, and one way of precising these locations is through the usage of the functional magnetic resonance imaging. The great obstacle when experimenting with complex processes, however, is the need to control them while still having data that are representative of reality. When it comes to language, an interactional phenomenon in its nature, and that integrates a wide range of processes, a question emerges concerning how compatible it is with the current experimental methodology, and how much of it is lost in order to fit the controlled experimental environment. Because of its particularities, the fMRI technique imposes several limitations to the expression of language during experimentation. This paper discusses the different conceptions of language as a research object, the hardships of combining this object with the requirements of fMRI, and what are the current perspectives for this field of research.

К ПРОБЛЕМЕ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ ПОНЯТИЙНОГО СОДЕРЖАНИЯ КОНЦЕПТА

The study of concepts can be considered one of the current directions in modern linguistics. This is evidenced by numerous theoretical studies of the concept, as well as a significant number of works devoted to describing specific concepts in different languages. This article discloses the notional content of the concept "robot," revealed by the analysis of Russian-speaking and English-speaking lexicographic sources.

A intrínseca relação entre concepções de língua e atividades didáticas de leitura: contribuições para a formação do professor de língua materna

Dada a relação intrínseca entre concepções de língua e trabalho com a leitura em língua materna, discutimos, como objetivo amplo, as principais concepções de língua e como elas afetam as atividades de leitura. Especificamente, analisamos, sob o viés da Linguística Aplicada, exercícios baseados em livros didáticos, para fornecer subsídios aos educadores no processo de avaliação do material que têm em mãos e que vierem a elaborar. Defendemos que pressupostos de diferentes concepções de língua podem se complementar, tendo em vista os objetivos pedagógicos. Assim, um trabalho em sala de aula a partir de uma abordagem discursiva da língua, que parece, a nosso ver, melhor atender à pretensão de formação do leitor crítico, não exclui, necessariamente, atividades de análise linguística de tendência estruturalista. Concluímos que concepção de língua e atividade de leitura têm relação inerente, e que, portanto, o professor precisa conhecer tais teorias para que sua prática docente seja mais coerente e consciente, de acordo com cada realidade pedagógica.

КУЛЬТУРНЫЕ КОДЫ В АНГЛИЙСКИХ И ДАРГИНСКИХ ПАРЕМИЯХ О ГЛУПОСТИ

Цель. В статье в сопоставительном аспекте анализируются культурные коды в английских и даргинских паремиях о глупости, выявляются общие и национально-специфические черты данных паремий.Методология проведения работы. Исследование проводилось с использованием сравнительно-сопоставительного, интерпретационного и описательного методов.Результаты. Результаты работы показали, что в паремиях английского и даргинского языков о глупости реализуются культурные коды, как универсальные для обоих языков, так и характерные для одного из изучаемых языков. В паремиях вербализованы соматический, зооморфный, фитоморфный, пищевой, духовный и предметный коды культуры. При этом зооморфный код шире представлен в английских паремиях, а пищевой и предметный – в даргинских. Природно-ландшафтный код в исследованных паремиях реализуется только в даргинском языке.Область применения результатов. Результаты исследования могут быть использованы при изучении универсальных, национально-специфичных культурных кодов и концептов в разноструктурных языках.

Para além da questão: (não) ensinar gramática?

Este texto apresenta reflexões sobre o que, para que e como ensinar gramática, (i) abordando diferentes concepções de linguagem, língua e gramática;(ii) discutindo a necessidade ou não de o professor de Língua Portuguesa guiar-se por determinada concepção; e (iii) discorrendo sobre qual a finalidade do ensino de gramática e qual a maneira mais adequada de tratá-la no âmbito escolar. Seu desenvolvimento é norteado pelas seguintes questões: 1) É necessário que o professor da Educação Básica tenha conhecimento de diferentes concepções de linguagem, de língua e de gramática? 2) É necessário que o professor assuma uma dada concepção de gramática, de linguagem e de língua e paute suas aulas exclusivamente por essa concepção? As reflexões são desenvolvidas no sentido de responder afirmativamente a primeira questão, e negativamente a segunda. Ao final, sugerimos uma abordagem ampla de gramática do uso, que agregue aspectos conceituais de diferentes teorias linguísticas, contemplando a língua como sistema heterogêneo sócio-historicamente constituído, a tensão entre estabilidade e instabilidade nas relações entre formas e funções, e o ensino de gramática contextualizada, mediante atividades linguísticas, epilinguísticas e metalinguísticas. Consideramos que tal abordagem atenta para o desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa do aluno, tendo em vista a formação do sujeito-cidadão. Para dar conta da tarefa proposta, buscamos respaldo na voz de linguistas e de gramáticos com formação linguística e/ou filológica que têm se voltado, direta ou indiretamente, a esse assunto; levamos em consideração, também, alguns documentos oficiais e discussões com professores do Ensino Fundamental no âmbito do PROFLETRAS.

Wikipedia-based cross-language text classification

This paper presents the application of a Wikipedia-based bag of concepts (WikiBoC) document representation to cross-language text classification (CLTC). Its main objective is to alleviate the major drawbacks of the state-of-the-art CLTC approaches – typically based on the machine translation (MT) of documents, which are represented as bags of words (BoW). We propose a technique called cross-language concept matching (CLCM), to convert concept-based representations of documents from one language to another using Wikipedia correspondences between concepts in different languages and thus not relying on automated full-text translations. We describe two proposals: the first proposal consists in the use of the WikiBoC representation in conjunction with the CLCM technique (WikiBoC-CLCM) to classify documents written in a language L1 by using a SVM algorithm that was trained with documents written in another language L2; the second proposal consists of a hybrid model for representing documents that combines WikiBoC-CLCM with the classic BoW-MT approach. To evaluate the two proposals we conducted several experiments with three cross-lingual corpora: the JRC-Acquis corpus and two purpose-built corpora composed of Wikipedia articles. The first proposal outperforms state-of-the-art approaches when training sequences are short, achieving performance increases up to 233.33%. The second proposal outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in the whole range of training sequences, achieving performance increases up to 23.78%. Results obtained show the benefits of the WikiBoC-CLCM approach, since concepts extracted from documents add useful information to the classifier, thus improving its performance.

Terminological Dictionaries in ESP Training of Engineer Physicists

Abstract The article is devoted to the actual task of creating learners’ dictionaries. It defines the general objectives in creating of such dictionaries as well as the principles of their formation, namely the harmonization of concepts in different languages and the availability of definitions for a deeper understanding of the term semantics. The authors analyze English terminology of physics in terms of some of its characteristics influencing the process of assimilation by students. They distinguish terminological difference in features for IT-specialty being a new scientific field. The examples of dictionaries for physicists and IT-specialists are provided.

Linguagem e ensino de sociologia: reflexões sobre a apropriação da linguagem sociológica

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1806-5023.2016v13n1p141Neste artigo proponho uma reflexão sobre o aprendizado da Sociologia no Ensino Médio, tendo a linguagem questão central. Considero alguns aspectos da dimensão linguística do ensino e procuro caracterizar a linguagem sociológica e suas relações com o desenvolvimento do olhar sociológico. Recorro às contribuições de Wittgenstein e Vigotski sobre as relações entre pensamento, linguagem e conhecimento, pois apesar de apresentarem concepções de linguagem distintas, e em alguma medida conflitantes, é possível aproximar as implicações que essas duas perspectivas têm para compreender o processo de apropriação da linguagem sociológica. 

Reusing metamodels and notation with Diagram Definition

It is increasingly common for language specifications to describe visual forms (concrete syntax) separately from underlying concepts (abstract syntax). This is typically to enable interchange of visual information between graphical modeling tools, such as positions of nodes and routings of lines. Often overlooked is that separation of visual forms and abstract concepts enables languages to define multiple visual forms for the same underlying concepts and for the same visual form to be used for similar underlying concepts in different languages (many-to-many relationships between concrete and abstract syntax). Visual forms can be adapted to communities using different notations for the same concepts and can be used to integrate communities using the same notation for similar concepts. Models of concrete syntax have been available for some time, but are rarely used to capture these many-to-many relationships with abstract syntax. This paper shows how to model these relationships using concrete graphical syntax expressed in the Diagram Definition standard, examining cases drawn from the Unified Modeling Language and the Business Process Model and Notation. This gives definers of graphical languages a way to specify visual forms for multiple communities.

The Scopes of Word Semantics

<p>The article investigates the scopes of word semantics. Firstly, the author gives general information about the term concept. The author investigates the thoughts of linguists about the concepts in different languages. For instance, A.Abdullayev writes: “Concepts are inside representatives of the aspects, fragments of the environment in a human’s psychology. We can say they are inside us” (Abdullayev, 2011). N. Chomiski writes: “The concepts that are created in the human’s minds define the form and the meaning of a great number of sentences, and it means that our knowledge and opinions are endless” (Bickerton, 2010). The author underlines the fact that concepts belong to human conscious, and they purely have typically mind characters.Investigating the article we observe that the author stands on the meanings of the wordsespecially on the meanings of the words denoting life and death. Saying literally, a man can be considred to be a walking dictionary created by God. Each of the individuals has its own word stock in its mind. There exist a lot of words with various meanings, and the article deals with the meanings of the words denoting death and life. The author gives their translations both in the English language and in the Azerbaijani language, and it helps us to catch the similar and different meanings that they form inside the contexts. The author comes to the conclusion that the meanings that the people want to express and the meaning that the words express are different. The article gives the list of the meanings of the words suggested by J. Lyons.</p>

Two Conceptions of Language

Two different conceptions of language dominate philosophical reflection on the nature of human language and of human linguistic powers. The first is the conception of language as a calculus of meaning, and of understanding as computational interpretation. This conception is rooted in the exigencies of function-theoretic logic. The notions pivotal to this conception are truth, truth-condition, sense and force, naming and describing (representation), and theory of meaning for natural languages. The alternative conception is an anthropological one, which conceives of language above all as a form of human communicative behaviour, constituted by human practices and manifest in human action. The notions pivotal to this conception are practice, language-game, use and rule of use as given by explanations of meaning, understanding and criteria of understanding. The fundamental principles that inform each of these conceptions are explained. The radical flaws of calculus conceptions of language are laid bare.

Una política lingüística en el callejón: hacer la nación, unificar la lengua en argentina (1890-1900)

El nacionalismo argentino de las dos primeras décadas del siglo XX, al delimitar el marco hegemónico de una sociedad fuertemente homogénea, hizo de la educación y de la lengua castellana el instrumento privilegiado de esta acción estatal. Sin embargo, es en el período 1890-1900 donde se observa la conformación de un disciplinado nacionalismo lingüístico que, de manera emergente, diseñará la política pública posterior. En este trabajo nos proponemos relevar la génesis de este proceso a través del debate parlamentario que acompañó el tratamiento del Proyecto de ley relativo a la enseñanza en idioma nacional, entre el 4 y el 9 de septiembre de 1896 en el Congreso Nacional. Allí se inscribe el enfrentamiento entre dos concepciones de nacionalismo que hacen de la lengua un elemento nodal para definir un tipo específico de sociedad, de ciudadanía y de educación. Las representaciones sobre la lengua exponen, de este modo, una compleja red de sentidos que precisan tanto los sujetos sociales y nacionales (clase obrera / oligarquía, argentinos / extranjeros), como las acciones a ser implementadas en un contexto sociopolítico caracterizado por la emergencia de los nacionalismos, las luchas sociales y la presencia de la inmigración masiva.

Meaning in Gender Theory: Clarifying a Basic Problem from a Linguistic-Philosophical Perspective

The author investigates the notion of linguistic meaning in gender research. She approaches this basic problem by drawing upon two very different conceptions of language and meaning: (1) that of the logician Gottlob Frege and (2) that of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Motivated by the controversial response the Anglo-American sex/gender debate received within the German context, the author focuses on the connection between this epistemological controversy among feminists and two discursive traditions of linguistic meaning (analytic philosophy and poststructuralism), to show how philosophy of language can contribute to current feminist debates.