Function Symbols Research Articles

The Nature and Function of Languages

Several studies in philosophy, linguistics and neuroscience have tried to define the nature and functions of language. Cybernetics and the mathematical theory of communication have clarified the role and functions of signals, symbols and codes involved in the transmission of information. Linguistics has defined the main characteristics of verbal communication by analyzing the main tasks and levels of language. Paleoanthropology has explored the relationship between cognitive development and the origin of language in Homo sapiens. According to Daniel Dor, language represents the most important technological invention of human beings. Seemingly, the main function of language consists of its ability to allow the sharing of the mind’s imaginative products. Following language’s invention, human beings have developed multiple languages and cultures, which, on the one hand, have favored socialization within communities and, on the other hand, have led to an increase in aggression between different human groups.

The benefits of role play in the development of drawing in preschool children.

The purpose of our study was to demonstrate the benefits of role play based on a Historical-Cultural perspective with the implementation of symbolic elements generated by the development of drawing of preschool children from suburban origin in a group of normal Mexican preschool children. We predict that the quality of the drawings will be improved after the preschoolers participate in such a role play program. A pre-experimental study was carried out, with pre-test and post-test assessments. The drawings were assessed with quantitative (frequencies of the quality of the parameters) and qualitative (characteristics of the children's drawings) methods. The role play program was based on Elkonin's method, activity theory, and P. Ya Galperin's formation by stages of mental actions. The program encouraged the use of graphic signs and symbols, with the intention of representing situations, actions, objects, and/or contents. Twenty-six preschool children participated in our study. To know the effect of the role play program with symbolic elements on the drawing of preschool children, we performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis, a Wilcoxon test contrast between the initial and final assessment. Both analyses showed a significant increase in the scores in all the tasks with a medium-large effect size, being the largest "Pictograms" and "Drawing of the route"; and in the analysis of the qualitative parameters, specifically in "Maintains the objective," a significant increase was found in all the tasks. Role play, being the main activity in preschool age, develops all aspects of the child's psychic life. The importance of role play in a preschool child makes it possible to work in the zone of proximal development with the regulatory function of language, with the planning, execution, and control of playful activity and, most importantly, with the use of various materials and perceptual-graphics tools. These findings showed an improvement in the development and complexity of the symbolic function in the drawings. Role play, as a work methodology in preschool age, leads to the use of new meaning systems that prepare the child to carry out present and future complex symbolic actions.

Commodification and Shifting of Functions in the Tradition of Ngadatangkeun in Sundanese Society

This article discusses the shift in functions and forms of tradition in society. One of the essential functions of tradition for society is a symbolic function. This symbolic function is found through community involvement in traditional processions where they find meaning in solidarity and togetherness. However, the symbolic function of the tradition can actually be used to obtain non-symbolic interests such as achieving economic benefits. This research is focused on the Ngadatangkeun tradition in the Sundanese people in the Majalengka region, West Java. By using qualitative research methods with data collection techniques through participatory participation, interviews and literature review, this study argues that commodification has changed traditions' form and function from being symbolic to being materialistic. This commodification process has altered the symbolic social exchange in tradition into an economic function in the context of exchanging material (objects). This happens because the traditional procession has strongly emphasized aspects of material gain and private ownership as a form of materialistic attitude. This change is the background for the emergence of a new function in the Ngadatangkeun tradition, namely the economic function. However, the combination of symbolic functions and the development of new financial functions of tradition encourages tradition's duality, which complements each other rather than negates these functions.

Soviet Visual Symbols in Internet Memes

The article analyzes Soviet symbols that are present in Internet memes — an important, developing part of modern communication. Despite the fact that the Internet meme has many definitions, the article presents a clear, heuristic view that considers the Internet meme as an element of the emerging metalanguage. Such an understanding is possible due to the structure of an Internet meme, which contains an unchangeable part (language) and a changing part in every new picture (speech). This optics allows us to consider an Internet meme as a saying available for analysis.Using this provision, the article examines the existence and functioning of Soviet symbols in Internet memes. They are usually the subject of various studies of cultural and historical memory. Despite the great attention paid to the Soviet memory discourse, researchers mainly focus on the confrontation of positive and critical memory about the Soviet experience and on the construction of such memory. The author puts forward the thesis about the presence of Soviet symbols outside this discourse and its consolidation in cultural memory and everyday communication on the Internet. The involvement of Soviet symbols can be found outside the paradigm of memory construction and any explicit political discourses. At the same time, Soviet symbols regularly appear in new Internet memes, acting as a universal, understandable code of culture. Symbols such as the hammer and sickle, the red star, the May Day demonstration, figures of leaders and many others serve as a matrix of understanding for everyday communication, purified from purely historical discourses.Using various examples, the article demonstrates symbols, seemingly irrelevant to a young audience, which are successfully used in Internet memes that play out a variety of situations. This approach makes it possible to implement the interdisciplinary paradigm in the studies of cultural memory in the digital environment, using the methods of cultural theorists and the methods of media researchers.

Exploring Linguistic Landscapes of Pesantren: Their Patterns and Functions

This study investigates a language phenomenon known as Linguistic Landscape, which consists of linguistic signs that are widely used in public spaces, one of which is as exposed in pesantren. Pesantren has unique Islamic environment combines with religious atmosphere and Islamic education that convey information to the public. The aims of this study are to investigate the patterns of language use in the Linguistic Landscape and to identify the function of language use in the pesantren environment. The present study is a qualitative in nature. The sites of the research were pesantren Nurul Falah, Surabaya and pesantren Bahrul Ulum, Tambakberas, Jombang. The data was collected through documentation and direct observation. The research stages include data collection, data analysis, and drawing conclusion. The findings of this research revealed that the patterns of language used in the observed pesantren vary, including monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual signs. The use of language signs in the pesantren environment serves as signboard markers, warning signs, and information signs. The functions of Linguistic Landscape in pesantren surveyed demonstrate the use of informational and symbolic functions.

Символика желтого цвета в японской и якутской поэзии (на примере стихотворений Такамуры Котаро и Ивана Гоголева)

The paper is devoted to the issue of colour symbolism in poetic texts. Colour perception is an important part of world perception, which is reflected in traditional colour symbolism in different cultures. Colour epithets can acquire an additional or figurative meaning in literary works. The aim of the study is to identify the symbolism of the colour yellow in Japanese and Yakut poems. The study is novel in that it is the first to consider the symbolic realisation of the colour epithet “yellow” in the context of the linguocultural specifics of poetic texts by the Japanese poet Takamura Kotaro and the Yakut poet I. Gogolev. As a result of the study, it can be argued that the colour epithet “yellow” performs a certain symbolic function peculiar to the Japanese and the Yakut mentality in the texts of poems by the Japanese and the Yakut poets. In the poems of the Japanese poet, the symbolism of the colour yellow acquires an additional meaning of the “sad charm of things”, one of the basic aesthetic principles characteristic of Japanese culture as a whole. In the poems of the Yakut poet, the colour epithet “yellow” prevails in the traditional meanings for the Yakuts “old/withered”, “precious”, “warm”.

Between structure and agency: the use of conditional welfare through the lens of social capital

ABSTRACT This article assumes that the theory of social capital can contribute to explaining some of the processes behind decision-making independence and the informal aspects of relationship in the implementation of social policies. To support this theoretical proposition by means of case-based empirical evidence, the article focuses on the implementation of the principle of welfare conditionality, which links the access to income support benefits on the acceptance of job search activities and training. Three comparative cases show that its implementation varies significantly in the different contexts: conditionality embodies a very weak principle in Barcelona, which is not applied in practice; in Lyon it has a symbolic function representing a formality that provides access to an unconditional right; in Gothenburg it is implemented as a stringent and effective proof of activation. Among the many institutional and structural factors that help explain these differences, the article shows that there are also specific forms of trust, group identity and mutual recognition that motivate civil servants’ agency and discretionary choices.

Tension in the linguistic landscape: the implications of language choices for diversity and inclusion in multilingual museums representing minorities

ABSTRACT Globalisation has led to increasingly more languages being commodified to boost profit; this is particularly evident in museums in areas with a regional or minority language. There is, however, limited research on the implications of language use in multilingual museums for visitors and the (minority) cultures being represented. Based on a critical discourse analysis of 124 photographs, this study explores the linguistic landscape of a museum in a minority context (the Fries Museum, Friesland, the Netherlands) and how the language choices and functions observed may result in tension regarding diversity and inclusion. The findings revealed that the minority language Frisian has a largely symbolic function, whereas the majority language Dutch and the lingua franca English are used to facilitate wider communication and highlight the museum's modernity. Although the linguistic landscape reflects diversity and inclusion, it reinforces (inter)national language ideologies that may negatively impact the museum experience and vitality of Frisian. Further research that employs a mixed-methods comparative approach, which explores, among others, museum visitors’ and staff's awareness and views of multilingualism and minority languages, is needed to provide deeper insights into other possible areas of tension arising from language use that may hinder the development of more inclusive, multilingual museums.

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Aided Cooperative NOMA with p-CSI Fading Channel toward 6G-Based IoT System.

Addressing the challenges of internet-based 5G technology, namely increasing density through micro-cell systems, frequency spectrum, and reducing resource costs, is needed to meet the use of IoT-based 6G technology with the goal of high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency communication. In this research, we considered the coverage performance and ergodic capacity of the Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS)-aided cooperative nonorthogonal multiple-access network (NOMA) of an IoT system. This enables the upgrading of 5G- toward 6G-technology-based IoT systems. We developed a closest-form formula of near and far user coverage probabilities as a function of perfect channel statistical information (p-CSI) using only a single-input single-output (SISO) system with a finite number of RIS elements under the Nakagami-m fading channel. We also define ergodic capacity as a simple upper limit by simplifying the use of symbolic functions and it could be used for a sustained period. The simulation findings suggest that RIS-assisted NOMA has a reduced risk of outage than standard NOMA. All of the derived closed-form formulas agree with Monte Carlo simulations, indicating that the distant user’s coverage probability outperforms the nearby user. The bigger the number of RIS parts, however, the greater the chance of coverage. They also disclose the scaling law of the number of phase shifts at the RIS-aided NOMA based on the asymptotic analysis and the upper bound on channel capacity. In both arbitrary and optimum phase shifts, the distant user’s ergodic capacity outperforms the near user.

Exploring the concept of non-violent resistance amongst healthcare workers.

Non-violent resistance which has involved healthcare workers has been instrumental in securing a number of health-related gains and a force in opposing threats to health. Despite this, we know little about healthcare workers who have engaged in acts of non-violent resistance. Amongst a sample of healthcare workers who had engaged in acts of resistance this study sought to explore their understanding of non-violent resistance and how or whether they felt healthcare workers made a distinct contribution to such action. Cross-sectional survey. Healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, academics and others) from the UK and Europe who had engaged in acts of non-violent resistance. Ethical approval for this study was granted by the University of Greenwich Human Research Ethics Committee (UREC/20.5.6.11). Most participants spoke about the nature of non-violent resistance, its oppositional, didactic and symbolic functions and the role of violence or harm. While most people understood non-violent resistance as a public, oppositional and collective act, many identified more subtle everyday acts in the workplace that undermined policy or procedures they saw as harmful. When asked about distinctions in non-violent resistance carried out by healthcare workers, most participants referred to their standing in society, noting that healthcare works were a trusted and authoritative source. Some identified an ethical imperative to act while others identified the risks that came with such action, noting their accountability and responsibility they had to patients. About a quarter of participants felt that such action was no different to others carrying out non-violent resistance or dependent on the issue or nature of the action. These findings speak to the complex and multifaceted nature of non-violent resistance. Additionally our findings suggest healthcare workers have a distinct role to play in leading and supporting non-violent actions.

Iconic 21st Century Activist "T-Shirt and Tote-Bag" Combination Is Hard to Miss These Days!

Iconic 21st Century Activist "T-Shirt and Tote-Bag" Combination Is Hard to Miss These Days!

Voice of the Silenced Peoples in the Global Cold War: The Assembly of Captive European Nations, 1954–1972

Voice of the Silenced Peoples in the Global Cold War: The Assembly of Captive European Nations, 1954–1972

Iconographic Approach: A Study in Langkawit Strip Cartoon

This research aims to analyze the function of images in linking current issues through Langkawit's cartoons. This study only focuses on studying two strip cartoons that contain images of animals drawn by Langkawit. This research uses the theory of Erwin Panofsky (1955) to understand the meaning of Langkawit's cartoon strips. This theory includes the level of pre-iconography, iconography analysis and iconological interpretation in assessing the diversity of animal imagery symbols expressed by Langkawit's strip cartoon. A semi-structured interview is conducted by interviewing Langkawit about the cartoon publication. Secondary data is obtained through printed materials such as library references, journals, theses, books, reports, newspapers and articles. This study found that the images of animals in strip cartoons have a symbolic function of giving or criticizing the social and political issues, as performed by Langkawit through his cartoons.

Centers of value and the quest for meaning in faith development: A measurement approach.

James Fowler’s model of faith development conceptualized “faith” as the quest for and maintenance of meaning oriented around centers of value which may or may not be religious or spiritual in nature. Although this model foreshadowed later work in meaning in life, substantial bodies of literature have developed in each area, almost entirely independently of the other. Integration has been hindered by measurement difficulties in faith development work. Fowler’s stages of faith development and their reformulation as Streib’s religious styles are usually measured through either a lengthy Faith Development Interview or short measures that do not assess the breadth of domains covered in the interview. These short measures are in many cases oriented around religious faith and impossible for a non-believer to answer. Embedded within the original model and the interview are aspects of faith development including perspective taking, social horizon, morality, locus of authority, form of world coherence, and symbolic function. A new Centers of Value and Quest for Meaning Scale is proposed to assess the aspects, allow non-believers to respond, tap centers of value that are not religious, and eventually address the theoretical assumption of structural wholeness across aspects. In a series of exploratory factor analyses, factors for each adult stage/style emerged for most of the aspects. This supports the potential importance of assessing the aspects and allows for more than one methodology to assess them.

KAYIP BİNYIL: İSLAM DÜNYASINDA HİYEROGLİFLER VE ESKİ MISIR-Okasha el-Daly(Ukâşe ed-Dâlî)

The Arab study of Ancient Egypt was the result of a universal understanding of history rather than the narrow purpose of verifying scriptures. They were critical of pre-Islamic written sources and did not accept even texts based on eyewitnesses uncritically. The Arabs' work, which included accurate descriptions of ancient monuments, was aimed at understanding their symbolic value and function. They noticed the relationship of the ancient Egyptian language to Coptic, the phonetic value of hieroglyphs, and that some were grouped like alphabets. Arab writers interested in deciphering Egyptian script were primarily alchemists and often Sufis. Access to Ancient Egyptian texts written in Demotic and Coptic – often in Greek translations – has helped Arab scholars better understand the complex nature of Egyptian religion.
 
 Studies of the origin of Sufism tend to concentrate on India and Persia, without mentioning the Egyptian sources. However, for example, Akhenaten's comparison of Suhrawardi- Illuminationism (Ishraqiyya) with sun hymns and studies on Mandaeanist/ Sabianist religious traditions in Iraq and Iran will shed light on the similarities between Egyptian religion and especially rituals and beliefs. 
 Medieval writers tried to find common ground between Islamic teachings and Ancient Egyptian religion.
 Studies of Arabic philosophy can shed light on the problems of Ancient Egyptian philosophy. Because some basic concepts of Ancient Egyptian philosophy formed the basis of later Arab and Greek philosophy. Arab writers, like their classical predecessors, thought that this country had been home to science and wisdom since Hermes of Egypt, to whom they attributed the invention of writing, alchemy and medicine. They knew that the pharaoh Moses was dealing with was not a typical pharaoh but an exception. Pharaohs were portrayed as skilled rulers, knowledgeable and pious figures who cared for the welfare of the people.
 Cleopatra is described in Arabic sources as a philosopher and scholar, without reference to her physical attractiveness.
 Despite more than two centuries of domination of Egyptology by the Eurocentric view that ignored the thousand-year Arab contribution, archaeologists working in other parts of the Near East have also begun to realize the problem of Western dominance among them. But we also owe much to our Western colleagues for their invaluable contributions.

Relationship between cognitive function in individuals with diabetic foot ulcer and mortality

BackgroundDiabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common diabetes mellitus (DM) complication. Individuals with DM and a DFU achieved significantly lower scores in cognitive tests than those without a DFU. We investigated whether baseline cognitive function in individuals with a DFU is a determinant of mortality.MethodsA prospective study using data collected during a case–control study conducted in 2010–2012 whereby 90 participants with a DFU (mean age at baseline 58.28 ± 6.95 years, 75.6% male) took the paper and pencil and the NeuroTrax battery of cognitive tests. Depression was assessed, and the DFU status was evaluated. In 2020, information pertaining to participants’ vital status (dead/alive) was collected and the relationship between baseline cognitive status and vital status was assessed.ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 6.8 years (range 0.2–9.5), 39 participants died (43.3%). Individuals alive vs. those who had died during follow-up had a higher global cognitive score at baseline (92.16 ± 10.95 vs. 87.18 ± 12.24, p = 0.045), but increased risk was not found. Individuals who were alive vs. those who had died during follow-up had statistically significantly higher baseline executive function, reaction time and digit symbol substitution test results. However, after adjustment for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), microvascular and macrovascular complications, no relationship between cognitive tests and mortality remained significant.ConclusionsThe higher mortality rate among people with type 2 DM and a DFU was not significant after adjustment for HbA1c, micro- and macrovascular complications. There may be common pathophysiological pathways to both DM complications and cognitive impairment, which may contribute to increased mortality. Further studies are warranted.

Applying Functional Animation to Pictorial Symbols for Supporting P300–Brain–Computer Interface Access to Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices by Children

Motion techniques, such as highlighting communication items via flip and/or zoom motion, may support BCI-AAC success and comfort for those using P300 brain–computer interface techniques for augmentative and alternative communication device access (BCI-AAC). However, the utilization of motion in P300-BCI-AAC for children is largely unexplored. Therefore, the aims of this investigation are to provide initial insights into the impacts of functional pictorial symbol animation on (a) event-related potentials underlying P300-BCI-AAC performance and (b) children’s user experience. Participants completed two conditions: (1) a static item condition, and (2) a functional animation condition. Following completion, participants completed Likert scale ratings of factors like visual appeal. Animation significantly increased parieto-occipital P200/P300 amplitudes and delayed parieto-occipital N200, P200/P300, and N400 latencies. Further, animation raised ratings of visual appeal to a level approaching significance. Static highlighting significantly increased N400 amplitudes. Findings provide early insights into neural activity underlying P300-BCI-AAC highlighting of pictorial symbols via animation in children and justify further evaluation.

Evidence from sperm whale clans of symbolic marking in non-human cultures

Culture, a pillar of the remarkable ecological success of humans, is increasingly recognized as a powerful force structuring nonhuman animal populations. A key gap between these two types of culture is quantitative evidence of symbolic markers-seemingly arbitrary traits that function as reliable indicators of cultural group membership to conspecifics. Using acoustic data collected from 23 Pacific Ocean locations, we provide quantitative evidence that certain sperm whale acoustic signals exhibit spatial patterns consistent with a symbolic marker function. Culture segments sperm whale populations into behaviorally distinct clans, which are defined based on dialects of stereotyped click patterns (codas). We classified 23,429 codas into types using contaminated mixture models and hierarchically clustered coda repertoires into seven clans based on similarities in coda usage; then we evaluated whether coda usage varied with geographic distance within clans or with spatial overlap between clans. Similarities in within-clan usage of both "identity codas" (coda types diagnostic of clan identity) and "nonidentity codas" (coda types used by multiple clans) decrease as space between repertoire recording locations increases. However, between-clan similarity in identity, but not nonidentity, coda usage decreases as clan spatial overlap increases. This matches expectations if sympatry is related to a measurable pressure to diversify to make cultural divisions sharper, thereby providing evidence that identity codas function as symbolic markers of clan identity. Our study provides quantitative evidence of arbitrary traits, resembling human ethnic markers, conveying cultural identity outside of humans, and highlights remarkable similarities in the distributions of human ethnolinguistic groups and sperm whale clans.

Learning in, about and from the field? Symbolic functions of EU knowledge production on Central Asia

ABSTRACT Examining the European Union’s (EU) engagement with Central Asia since the early 1990s, we see an increased commitment to context sensitivity. Arguably, in order to design ‘better’ interventions, the EU needs to know more about this region. This article explores three means of EU learning: in the field – through EU officials’ first-hand experience of working at EU Delegations in Central Asia; about the field – through programmed channels of external expert knowledge, and in particular think tanks; and from the field – during institutionalized consultations with multiple local actors, such as academics, journalists and non-governmental organizations. It is argued that despite this complex learning infrastructure, EU knowledge production on Central Asia has a predominantly performative character. Rather than leading to changes in its relations with Central Asia, new knowledge produced by the EU aims at legitimizing this organization’s pre-existing frameworks of engagement and practices of interactions with the region, and substantiating existing policy priorities.

A mathematical model on function innovation mechanism of consumer products driven by design in China

Calculating source composition of consumer products’ utility, appearance and symbolic function innovations driven by design, and verifying acting routes of design-driven function innovations with heterogeneity, have important theoretical and practical value for the transformation and upgrading of Chinese manufacturing industry. The theoretical framework of Chinese design-driven innovation had been reconstructed, and data were obtained through questionnaire survey to complete the structural equation modeling and hypothesis test. The algorithm of Bootstrap mediating effect was applied to calculate and reveal that the quality of design organizations’ relationship and the diversity of network resource both have direct or indirect effects on utility, appearance and symbolic function innovations of consumer products. Among them, joint problem solving has the largest effect on utility and appearance function innovations indirectly, and information sharing has the secondary effect on utility function innovation directly, and the diversity of network resource has the largest effect on symbolic function innovation directly. Strengthening relationship quality is more favorable for improved design innovation, and acquiring diversified network resources is relatively suitable for breakthrough design innovation.