Empty Word Research Articles

Durability through discord – debating parliamentary procedure in Europe around the turn of the twentieth century

ABSTRACT During recent decades, the role and legitimacy of national parliaments have become increasingly topical and disputed. Parliaments seem to be on the constant defensive against criticism and challenges coming from multiple directions. New populist parties have entered the debating scene, framing parliaments as elite playgrounds and using them as stages for polarized politics. Not only mirrors of social unrest, debates in national assemblies may also be considered catalysts of social upheaval. Both stable and young democracies have been backsliding, and elected autocrats have concentrated power to small elites, harnessing public institutions for their power politics. At the same time, parliamentary democracy appears slow, short-sighted, inefficient and incapable of resolving the great dilemmas of our time. Democratic innovators are calling for more direct, deliberative and participatory forms to support, or even replace traditional parliamentary decision-making and representative democracy. 1 1 For example, D. van Reybrouck, Against Elections: The Case for Democracy, translated from Dutch by L. Waters (London, 2016); H. Landemore, Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century (Princeton NJ, 2020). Accused of being ‘all talk, no action’, ‘political theater’ and arenas for ‘empty words’, ‘idle talk’ and ‘useless debate’, parliaments and their practices that long seemed self-evident, are now debated, abused, put aside or even neglected.

The Relationship of Word-Finding Behaviors and Naming in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia of Alzheimer’s Type

Objectives: Anomia, a fundamental language difficulty, presents in various forms of wordfinding behaviors in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Dementia of Alzheimer’s Type (DAT). This study aims to compare the rates of word-finding behavior among these groups and determine the correlation between these rates and the results of naming tests. Methods: This study included 101 participants, consisting of forty-one healthy elderly adults, thirty individuals with MCI, and thirty individuals with DAT. Spontaneous speech data were collected using a picture description task. For the naming tests, we used the confrontation naming test (K-BNT) and the generative naming test (KCOWAT). Results: First, significant differences were observed in the rates of word-finding behavior among the three groups, especially in the global index, which indicates the overall rate of word-finding behaviors. Second, the correlation analysis results showed a significant negative correlation between the ratios of the global index, word reformulations, empty words, and performance on the confrontation naming test. Finally, there was a significant negative correlation between the ratios of the global index, word reformulations, repetitions, delays, insertions, and performance on the generative naming tests. Conclusion: These results suggest the necessity of developing a naming evaluation scale based on spontaneous speech to effectively assess anomia in individuals with MCI and DAT. The study found significant differences in the rates of word-finding behavior among healthy elderly adults, individuals with MCI, and individuals with DAT, and a correlation between the rates of word-finding behavior and naming tests.

Українська національно-правова ідея: виклики сьогодення

It was found that the Ukrainian national-legal idea is the driving force for the preservation and development of Ukrainian identity and statehood based on social and legal ideals, which are formed through the value beliefs, attitudes and orientations of conscious, socially active citizens. Today’s challenges for the national-legal idea of Ukrainians are, first of all, Russia’s military aggression, when the enemy disregards all international and general civilizational rules of human coexistence and tries to destroy our identity, sovereignty and independence. The challenge is not simply the preservation of Ukrainian identity, but, in fact, democracy in the center of Europe. It was emphasized that it is important, despite complex social, political, economic and legal realities, to form a holistic understanding and perception of citizens from an early age, themselves and their nation, traditions, customs, culture as the highest value of national self-identity and the basis of selfaffirmation of a person. Today poses new challenges for Ukraine. Challenges, perhaps the most extensive in the history of the modern development of our state, which are connected not only with the threat to our national identity, but also with the physical destruction of Ukrainians. We are choosing the right to life and our own thousand-year history in the twenty-first century, in the center of Europe. In these challenges of Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is important to preserve our national values, ideals, and ideas, because it is precisely them that the enemy is fiercely destroying, trying to erase our history and the future of Ukrainians. It is noted that the legal ideology, as a component of the legal idea, personifying the law and its essence, establishes the principles of democracy, equality and justice as the main directions of the development of the state and society. Today, we observe Ukrainians realizing the value of the legal ideology of our state, which is aimed at recognizing, observing and realizing the rights, freedoms and duties of a person and a citizen, at the development of a democratic society and a social and legal state. Citizens realized that these are not empty words and that these factors determine the vector of development of our society. Attention is focused on the fact that legal ideology, as a component of the legal idea, personifying the law and its essence, consolidates the principles of democracy, equality and justice, together with the national idea, it accumulates national values, progressive initiatives.

Characteristics of Word-Finding Behaviors in Healthy Elderly Adults according to the Type of Spontaneous Speech Task

Objectives: Spontaneous speech is known to be a task that can efficiently assess communication problems in the healthy elderly adults. In this study, we aimed to investigate the differences in word-finding behaviors according to three types of spontaneous speech tasks (picture description, story telling, and topic telling) in healthy elderly adults. In addition, this study aimed to investigate the differences in word-finding behaviors by gender and age group in healthy elderly adults. Methods: One hundred sixty-seven healthy elderly adults were asked to perform three tasks: picture description, story telling, and topic telling. Word-finding behaviors were analyzed using global index and word reformulations, repetitions, empty words, time fillers, insertions, and delays. Results: First, the main effects of gender and task type were significant for the number of words, with women producing more utterances in topic telling. Second, the main effects of gender and task type were significant for global index, with males showing higher global index in topic telling. Third, men produced higher rates of word reformulations and repetitions than women in the word-finding behavior. Among the word-finding behaviors, the production rates of word reformulations, empty words, insertions, and delays were significant by task type, and the difference between age groups was significant only for empty words. Conclusion: This study is significant because it examined the differences in the rate of word-finding behaviors across types of spontaneous speech tasks and also analyzed differences across gender and age groups.

Means of creating colloquiality in Russian poetry of the second half of the 20th century

RELEVANCE. The purpose of the study is a linguo-stylistic analysis of the means of creating сonversationality in the lyrics of A.A. Voznesensky, E.A. Yevtushenko, R.I. Rozhdestvensky. The specifics of the individual author’s use of сonversationality indicators in Russian poetry of the 2nd half of the XX century have not been studied enough.MATERIALS AND METHODS. To achieve this goal, the methods of linguistic stylistic and contextual analysis were used. The multilevel means of creating сonversationality in the poetic texts of A.A. Voznesensky, E.A. Yevtushenko, R.I. Rozhdestvensky served as the material for linguistic and stylistic analysis.RESULT AND DISCUSSION. The following means of creating a category of сonversationality in the lyrics of A.A. Voznesensky, E.A. Yevtushenko, R.I. Rozhdestvensky are analyzed: words with colloquial or colloquially reduced coloration, colloquial vocabulary, substitute words, empty words; ellipsis; incomplete, incomplete and non-union sentences; relatives-communicatives; pronominal correlates in the form of nominative case and others. The characterological function of lexical indicators of сonversationality in the language of poetry is revealed (speech portraits of the lyrical hero and other participants of communication are created).CONCLUSION. The results of the study complement the information available in the scientific literature on the means of creating colloquialism in monological speech and can be used as part of the philological analysis of the text.

Wordiness in academic writing: a systematic scoping review

Background: Excessive use of empty words in academic texts is a significant impediment to effective communication, often complicating the clarity and reducing the comprehensibility of scholarly writing. Purpose: This systematic scoping review investigates the nature, causes, and consequences of excessive use of empty words, alongside strategies for mitigating this issue in academic writing, differentiating between the nuanced connotations of ‘verbosity’ and ‘wordiness’. Methods: Employing a detailed search strategy, the review engaged two electronic databases – Scopus and Google Scholar, initially identifying 256 studies. Employing the PRISMA-ScR protocol and the ‘PCC’ mnemonic (Population, Context, Concept) for inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 English-language studies directly addressing the excessive use of empty words and strategies for reduction were included. Results: The synthesis of the selected research revealed that while the excessive use of empty words is widely recognized as a challenge for authors and academics, the problem remains underexplored. The analysis clarified the distinction between ‘verbosity’ and ‘wordiness’– terms often used interchangeably but with distinct implications for academic writing. Key factors contributing to this issue include complex sentence structures, unnecessary nominalizations, and the use of redundant phrases or overly complex vocabulary. Effective strategies for reducing excessive wordiness involve simplifying sentence constructions, employing more direct language, eliminating redundancy, and strategically using verbosity for positive rhetorical effects. Conclusion: The review emphasises the importance of awareness and strategic management of empty word usage in academic texts to enhance readability and engagement. By adopting a critical approach to the elimination of unnecessary verbiage, authors can significantly improve the quality of academic writing.

基于语料库的英美大学招生简章比较分析

Enrollment prospectus is an important basis for applicants to know about the school and to apply or register. Based on the corpus, TagAnt, AntConc and WordSmith, this study uses specific examples to compare the enrollment prospectus of the top ten universities in the United Kingdom and the United States from the aspects of type/token ratio, lexical density, high frequency words, subject words, collocations, word length and average sentence length. The study finds that the high frequency words of the enrollment prospectus in two countries both focus on empty words, while the subject words and collocations are different. In terms of the word use, US universities are more diversified, while the sentences of the enrollment prospectus in UK universities are longer and more complex, which reflects the different language culture between the two countries.

Concept of THO in Korean Grammatical Tradition

In the article the author examines the specific concept of tho in Korean grammatical tradition basing on the analysis of the Korean scholars’ publications since the early 20th century up to now. According to Russian bilingual dictionaries, this Korean linguistic term means formal morphemes and syntactic words though various authors define its specific meaning differently. This concept can be traced back to the term of ‘empty words’ of medieval Chinese linguistics and was originally used to name Korean grammatical elements inserted into hanmun (Koreanized literary Chinese wenyan) texts for better understanding by speakers of the Korean language, which is typologically different from Chinese. This approach was partly inherited at the end of the 19th century after the transition of the literary language in Korea from hanmun to native Korean. The grammatical categories covered by tho have changed over time. Today in the DPRK, it includes any grammatical postfix formants (which in Russian Koreanology are form-building endings and suffixes) and even word-formative markers of voice. This approach follows the tradition of the last work of 1914 by Chu Sigyeong, the founder of modern Korean linguistics. The majority of the South Korean linguists, influenced to a certain extent by the Japanese language grammar, refer to postfixes of predicatives as endings, and to postfixes of nouns as particles, i.e. a syntactic part of speech. But at the same time, they do not reject completely the term tho. This interpretation follows the ideas of Choi Hyeonbae, dating back to the 20-30s of the last century. The author is inclined to support the opinion that tho is a Korean term for naming specific Korean agglutinative postfixes and considers it quite a logical approach to be viable. In conclusion, the approaches to the description of the Korean language grammar may be different, i.e. several variations are possible. However, the most important thing is that the systematic character of the description is observed, and the features of the object of the study – the Korean language of the agglutinative type – are taken into consideration. Besides, for the teaching purpose logicality and rational simplicity of grammar structure are also important if they do not contradict the language material.

18 Automatically calculated lexical and sentential context features of connected speech predict cognitive impairment

Objective:Early detection is critical to the effective management of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other forms of dementia. Existing screening assessments are often costly, require substantial expertise to administer, and may be insensitive to mild changes in cognition. A promising alternative is automatically measuring features of connected speech (c.f., Ostrand & Gunstad, 2021, Journal Geriatric Psych & Neurol) to predict impairment. Here, we built on prior work examining how well speech features predicted cognitive impairment. Unique to the current work, we attempted to capture more holistic effects of cognitive impairment by examining the relevance of linguistic features that measure sentential or discourse context properties of speech, including the context in which filler words (e.g., um) occur, and the predictability of individual words within their sentence context, computed from a large computational language model (GPT-2).Participants and Methods:Participants completed the Cookie Theft picture description task, with data available in the DementiaBank corpus (Becker et al., 1994, Arch Neurol). Descriptions that contained at least 50 words (N = 214) were submitted to an automatic feature calculation pipeline written in Python to calculate various part-of-speech counts, lexical diversity metrics, and mean lexical frequency, as well as multiple metrics related to lexical surprisal (i.e., how surprising a word is given its context).Surprisal of individual words was computed using the pre-trained GPT-2 transformer language model (Radford et al., 2019, Comput. Sci.) by computing word probability given the previous 12 words. Multiple linear regression was performed using 17 linguistic features jointly as predictors, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score as the outcome variable. Simple regressions were calculated between each feature and MMSE scores to examine the predictability of each linguistic feature on cognitive decline.Results:A multiple linear regression model containing all linguistic features plus demographic information (age, sex, education) significantly predicted MMSE scores (Adjusted R2 = 0.41, F20, 193 = 8.37, p < .001), and explained significantly more variance in MMSE scores than did demographic variables alone (F17193 = 6.85, p < .001). Individual predictors that were significantly correlated with MMSE score included: how unexpected an individual’s word choices were, given the preceding context (median surprisal: r = -0.33, p < 0.001; interquartile range: r = 0.18, p < 0.02), mean lexical frequency (r = -0.50, p < .001), and usage of definite articles (r = 0.31, p < 0.001), nouns (r = 0.26, p < .001), and empty words (r = -0.25, p < 0.001).Conclusions:Participants with lower MMSE scores, indicating greater impairment, used more frequent, yet more surprising, words, and produced more empty words and fewer definite articles and nouns. These results suggest that measures of semantic specificity and coherence of speech could be meaningful predictors of cognitive decline, and can be computed automatically from speech transcriptions. The results also provide novel evidence that computational approaches to estimating lexical predictability may have value in predicting the degree of decline, motivating future work in other speech elicitation tasks and differing clinical groups.

On the swap move of letters in words and the forbidden moves in virtual diagrams

In the theory of topology of words, the move to swap two adjacent letters in words is a simple operator that makes an [Formula: see text]-homotopy class of a nanoword into the [Formula: see text]-homotopy class of the empty word. In this paper, we study the relation between the swap move of letters and the forbidden moves of virtual diagrams, that is, local moves of virtual diagrams which unknot any virtual knot.

The Lexicographically Least Square-Free Word with a Given Prefix

The lexicographically least square-free infinite word on the alphabet of non-negative integers with a given prefix $p$ is denoted $L(p)$. When $p$ is the empty word, this word was shown by Guay-Paquet and Shallit to be the ruler sequence. For other prefixes, the structure is significantly more complicated. In this paper, we show that $L(p)$ reflects the structure of the ruler sequence for several words $p$. We provide morphisms that generate $L(n)$ for letters $n=1$ and $n\geq3$, and $L(p)$ for most families of two-letter words $p$.

Linguacultural aspects of the value and semantic attitude to the speech act of promise in Russian

The study develops the speech acts theory in terms of the “condition of sincerity” (Searle 1965). It aims to identify the attitude to the speech act of promise in the Russian communicative culture. The article analyzes the statistically significant consolidation of the value and semantic attitude to the speech act of promise considered as a specific action. The data were drawn from the Russian-language corpus ruTenTen11, provided by the research resource Sketch Engine. The corpus linguistics methods were applied to extract a subcorpus of occurrences of the query “promise” (311,365 occurrences) which was used to identify the value and semantic attitude to it. The results showed that in the Russian language, the speech act of promise is perceived mainly negatively. The word “promise” is fused with the lexical and semantic field of the “empty word”. This contradicts the normatively fixed meanings of the word “promise” itself, as well as the essence of the speech act of promise. The “condition of sincerity” in relation to the speech act of promise is marginalized and becomes meaningless. The study showed that the methods of corpus linguistics open the prospect of clarifying the features of not only modern word usage, but also the linguistic and ethnocultural context of such large groups of statements as speech acts. The article contributes to the theory of speech acts in terms of identifying the essential features of the “common ground” (Clark Carlson 1982) of the participants in communication, as well as contributing to the development of linguistic axiology. The proposed methods can be used to identify the attitude to other speech acts in Russia and other linguistic communities. The results can be used in teaching Russian as a second language.

Using a q-shuffle algebra to describe the basic module V(Λ_0) for the quantized enveloping algebra Uq(sl^2)

We consider the quantized enveloping algebra Uq(sl^2). and its basic module V(Λ0). This module is infinite-dimensional, irreducible, integrable, and highest-weight. We describe V(Λ0) using a q-shuffle algebra in the following way. Start with the free associative algebra V on two generators x, y. The standard basis for V consists of the words in x, y. In 1995 M. Rosso introduced an associative algebra structure on V, called a q-shuffle algebra. For u, v ∈ {x, y} their q-shuffle product is u ⋆ v = uv + q(u,v)vu, where (u,v) = 2 (resp. (u,v) = − 2) if u = v (resp. u ≠ v). Let U denote the subalgebra of the q-shuffle algebra V that is generated by x, y. Rosso showed that the algebra U is isomorphic to the positive part of Uq(sl^2). In our first main result, we turn U into a Uq(sl^2).-module. Let U denote the Uq(sl^2).-submodule of U generated by the empty word. In our second main result, we show that the Uq(sl^2).-modules U and V(Λ0) are isomorphic. Let V denote the subspace of V spanned by the words that do not begin with y or xx. In our third main result, we show that U = U ∩ V.

Quantifying three types of abnormal language in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia

AbstractBackgroundPatients with the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA) experience a gradual loss of semantic memory, impairing word retrieval and word comprehension. As such, svPPA patients often use superordinate, vague, and empty words. These patients often use language that refers to one’s own experience (“self‐referential”), one’s language impairments (“inability”), and/or contains tangents (“tangential”). These forms of aberrant language were identified previously as distinguishing svPPA from the other canonical variants of PPA (Gallee et al., 2021).MethodSpeech samples of the WAB picnic scene from 15 svPPA patients were analyzed by counting words and categorizing three forms of aberrant language at two timepoints (30 samples total), baseline and follow‐up (at least 12 months post baseline). Words were identified as self‐referential, inability, or tangential. Quantitative analyses were conducted to look for relationships between total word count and each of the three forms of aberrant language.ResultPreliminary results showed a strong correlation (r = .97) between the total number of aberrant words and the total number of words in the picture description transcriptions. At T1, 40% (6/15) used self‐referential words, 87% (13/15) used inability words, and 53% (8/15) used tangential words. At T2, 67% (10/15) used self‐referential words, 100% (15/15) used inability words, and 67% (10/15) used tangential words. Inability is the most prominent type of aberrant language. Longitudinal analyses are ongoing to investigate consistency or inconsistency within patients and relationship to aphasia severity.ConclusionPreliminary findings suggest patients with svPPA produce distinct types of aberrant language in a picture description task. The prominent use of inability words may be due to its scripted nature in that svPPA patients use these phrases repeatedly and may be related to disinhibition. Further, it is notable that several components of language not analyzed in this study, including grammar, syntax, and content units, are potentially informative. Using this method provides an efficient way to characterize speech of svPPA patients, which may lead to early subtyping, prognostication, and targeted treatment goals.Reference: Gallée,J.;Cordella,C.; Fedorenko, E.; Hochberg, D.; Touroutoglou, A.; Quimby, M.; Dickerson, B.C. Breakdowns in Informativeness of Naturalistic Speech Production in Primary Progressive Aphasia. Brain Sci. 2021,11, 130.

Tunnel Parsing with Ambiguous Grammars

Abstract The article proposes an addition to the tunnel parsing algorithm that enables it to parse grammars having countable repetitions and configurations of grammar elements generating empty words without refactoring the grammar. The equivalency of trees built by the use of ambiguous grammar is discussed. The class of the ε-ambiguous grammars is defined as a subclass of the ambiguous grammars relative to these trees. The ε-deterministic grammars are then defined as a subclass of the ε-ambiguous grammars. A technique for linearly parsing on the basis of non-left recursive ε-deterministic grammars with the tunnel parsing algorithm is shown.

Assessment tools for systemic lupus erythematosus

A systematic assessment is critical for taking advantage of the current options for optimizing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) management. Without regular SLE activity measurements, treat to target and remission are empty words, and the EULAR recommendations therefore insist on these assessments. They rely on activity scores, such as SLEDAI, ECLAM and BILAG or more recently, EasyBILAG and SLE-DAS. Assessment is completed by organ-specific measurement methods and the evaluation of damage. In the study setting the classification criteria and combined endpoints for clinical testing are crucial, as is measurement of the quality of life. This review article provides an overview of the current state of SLE assessments.

Is cheap talk just empty words? The signalling value of voluntary promises for loan repayment

ABSTRACT When a loan applicant voluntarily makes a repayment promise, is it a valuable signal of his/her future repayment behaviour? Cheap talk models have demonstrated the informativeness of promises. We use a unique dataset from a direct lender in China to show that such cheap talk is informative: among new borrowers, those making voluntary promises are more likely to repay than those making no promises, whereas among returning borrowers, those making voluntary promises have a higher likelihood of default than those making no promises.

Mixing properties of erasing interval maps

AbstractWe study the measurable dynamical properties of the interval map generated by the model-case erasing substitution $\rho $ , defined by $$ \begin{align*} \rho(00)=\text{empty word},\quad \rho(01)=1,\quad \rho(10)=0,\quad \rho(11)=01. \end{align*} $$ We prove that, although the map is singular, its square preserves the Lebesgue measure and is strongly mixing, thus ergodic, with respect to it. We discuss the extension of the results to more general erasing maps.

Phraseology “without meaning”: Politics of emptiness

We have heard many times expressions such as: ?empty words?, ?empty talk?, ?hot air?, but is there really an empty ?phraseology?, one that does not mean anything, i.e., that does not have a clear referent (the idea it refers to)? Showing the possibilities of such phraseology without meaning, the paper examines its use in politics, focusing on bureaucratic language that shapes our political reality, and can be found in many constitutional documents of the EU, US, or even UN. Namely, we will try to show that between general and particular meaning, there is a huge gap, an emptiness, which is used by a certain type of speech, in order to absorb every other language and its performative powers. Our criticism will move in two directions: the first has the task of showing the meaning(less) character of political bureaucratic phraseology as such, and its passivizing or non-affirmative effects. The other one comes down to examining the ideological background of Eurocentrism, detecting the hegemonic character of the idea of Europe (and Western civilizations) embedded in its political language. Starting from Ernesto Laclau?s understanding of the ?empty signifier? and the necessary function it has in the foundation of the system (especially a hegemonic one), through the history of the discourse of the idea of Europe, we will show the possibility and use of ?emptiness? in meaning, especially when it comes to core values that are set for the foundation of one?s politics.

The Adaptation of Western and Chinese Categories to the Description of Manchu

Summary Frequent contacts between European countries and China during the Qing period kindled interest in the languages spoken in the Qing empire and led to the publication of numerous Western books on Chinese varieties but also on the Manchu language. To describe the features of these distant languages, most of these works adapted Western linguistic categories and terminologies. This was the case of the earliest Western grammar of Manchu, Verbiest’s Elementa linguae tartaricae (1682). However, some Western works progressively integrated elements of the Chinese linguistic tradition. For instance, the grammars of Kaulen (1856) and Harlez (1884) refer to the Chinese categories “full words” (content words) and “empty words” (function words). Other Western works translated or drew on Chinese-Manchu bilingual primers, which in turn adapted the methodology and categories of Chinese philology to the description of Manchu, such as in the textbooks by Shěn (1682) and Wǔ-gé (1730). Their western translations (Domenge n.d.; Wylie 1855; Hoffman 1883) resulted in interesting examples of circulation of linguistic knowledge and amalgamation of descriptive categories.