Gradation In Degree Research Articles

Gradations of interpretability in spoken complex word recognition

In an ERP experiment with cross-modal priming, we found evidence for graded interpretability of complex pseudowords, expressed as differences in the degree of priming between a complex pseudoword and its embedded base word. Only pseudowords that were constructed according to the morphological constraints of the language (for instance that nouns ending in {-ung} in German must be derived from a verbal base) led to significant attenuation of the N400 component relative to an unrelated control. Novel formations that consisted of the concatenation of a stem and an incompatible affix (e.g. wirr A.,‘confused’ and {-lein}, which can only add to nouns) did not modulate the N400 component. Moreover, gradations in degree of priming were observed with novel pseudowords that were the result of several morphological operations as a function of the composition of the full sequence of morphological operations. Any positions within the sequence that were filled by possible, but non-existing formations (thus compare hübsch (A., ‘pretty’) > *hübschen (V., ‘beautify’) > *Hübschung (N., ‘beautification’) versus spitz (A., ‘sharp’) > spitzen (V., ‘sharpen’) > *Spitzung (N., ‘sharpening’), whereby in the former the intermediate position is expressed through a possible, but non-existing verb form) led to reduced activation of the base word. These findings corroborate previous behavioural and neuroimaging results in visual word recognition that found support for step-wise morphological decomposition in multi-affixed pseudowords and reveal that the composition of the derivational path can lead to gradations of interpretability in the recognition of spoken complex pseudowords.

Graduierung nicht skalarer Verben

AbstractThe paper deals with degree gradation of verbs in German. Gradation is a process of comparing degrees on a scale but not all gradable verbs lexicalize a suitable gradation scale. In the paper, a definition of ‘lexically scalar predicate’ is proposed and based on that definition, it is argued that some gradable verbs are not lexically scalar. I argue essentially that such verbs require the activation of a gradation scale. The scale is licensed by the lexical semantics of the gradable verb but retrieved from the conceptual knowledge associated with the verb.

Vyrazhenije evidentsial’nosti v severnyh ­dialektah hantyjskogo jazyka [The Expresssion of Evidentiality in Northern Khanty Dialects

The aim of this article is to discuss the functioning of the comparison clitic -džyk in forming the verbal augmentative or intensifying grade and its relation to the inherent properties of the event it modifies in literary Komi. The analysis of an assessment questionnaire proved telicity to be the most prominent factor in determining the gradability of an event. Two semantic types of gradation appeared — degree gradation and extent gradation. In the case of degree gradation (’faster’, ’better’, ’stronger’), telicity determines the openness of the event’s scale. In the case of extent gradation (’more’ or temporal duration), atelic events appear with either a cardinality reading or a temporal duration reading, while telic events appear with a cardinality reading only.

Growth forms and sepal hairs of the purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia: Saxifragaceae) in North America related to chromosome records and DNA information

Growth forms and the presence or absence of hairs on the surfaces of the sepals of Saxifraga oppositifolia L. plants were examined on type specimens and more than 400 herbarium specimens collected from all over North America and Europe. Data were gathered on whether plant growth forms were compact, trailing, or intermediate between the extremes. Specimens were examined for whether or not hairs were present on the surface of the sepals between the long trichomes on the margins, and if so, an estimate was made of the degree of hairiness. While extreme forms of compact and trailing plants do occur, maps indicate that more of the plants collected in North America were intermediate in growth form. The geographic distribution of the presence or absence of hairs on the sepals is mapped, as is the gradation in degree of hairiness of sepals. The type specimen of S. oppositifolia subsp. smalliana (S. pulvinata), from the Yukon, has compact plants and flowers that have sepal surfaces with a few sparse hairs. The flowers have set fruits that have opened. “The smaller turbinate hypanthium” described in the original description may be the result of the structures being dehisced and dried up fruits. The type specimen of S. oppositifolia subsp. glandulisepala , from Alaska, is a relatively trailing specimen with some larger leaves. The sepal surfaces have a few glandular hairs. Whether or not the hairs appear glandular on herbarium specimens may reflect the stage of flowering at the time of collection. No morphological differences are associated with three different chromosome numbers known for S. oppositifolia plants from the area of the North American type specimens, and DNA analyses done mainly on European specimens, but also including a potential candidate for the name “smalliana”, gave inconclusive results. Thus, chromosome and DNA data join these morphological data on growth forms and the occurrence of sepal hairs to discourage recognizing subspecies among plants occurring in North America.

Correcting The Guide to Objective Chance

In his A Subjectivist's Guide to Objective Chance, David Lewis argues persuasively that a certain relationship holds between reasonable credence and objective chance (I 980).l Both items involve varieties of probability: in the case of credence, we use subjective probability to describe gradations in degree of belief; in the case of chance, we use objective probability to describe irreducibly indeterministic processes (e.g., radioactive decay). While these two uses are not to be conflated, Lewis points out an important connection between them: roughly, rationality requires conforming one's subjective credence in a proposition to one's estimate of the objective chance that the proposition will come true. As a precise statement of this connection, Lewis offers his Principle-only to find that it conflicts with his cherished thesis of reductionist metaphysics dubbed Humean Supervenience. So we seem to face a dilemma: either we abandon an attractive and plausible principle relating credence and chance, or we give up the reductionist thesis. Wrong. The Principal Principle (hereafter: the Principle) does not adequately formulate the connection between credence and chance. Close inspection reveals that it embodies a crucial oversight for which there is, happily, a natural repair. Undertaking this repair, we arrive at a New Principle which all parties, regardless of their metaphysical commitments, should find compelling. This New Principle functions much better than the Old: it is more precise, holds without qualification, explains the initial plausibility of the Old Principle while yielding that Principle as an approximation, is perfectly immune to the problem raised in Lewis (1980) and provides an analysis of an important range of cases about which the Old Principle fell silent. In what follows, I rehearse the Old Principle together with familiar problems confronting it, paying special attention to the notion of admissibility required for its formulation. This notion is, ultimately, dispensable: where inadmissible information was taken to break the connection between credence and chance, I show that on the contrary there is a perfectly straightforward way to incorporate such information into the connection. Following this line of thought leads directly to the New Principle. All of which will require some background, which follows.

The relationship between the magnetic and strain fabrics of some haematite-bearing Welsh slates

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and the natural remanent magnetization of haematite-bearing Welsh Cambrian slates, showing a gradation in degree of deformation, have been related to the known strain of these rocks. An approximate quantitative relationship between strain and magnetic susceptibility anisotropy has been deduced, which would allow rapid strain estimation in this region by magnetic analysis.

Tubular transport maxima of PAH and diodrast measured individually in the aglomerular kidney of Lophius, and simultaneously as competitors under conditions of equimolar loading.

The maximal tubular transfer rates (Tm) of both p-aminohippurate (PAH) and diodrast (3,5-diiodo-4-pyridone-N-acetic acid or iodopyracet) were found to be fixed and reproducible when measured separately in Lophius (goosefish) under standard laboratory conditions. Expressed on a molar basis Tm(PAH) was four times Tm(D). However, when these transport competitors were presented simultaneously in equimolar concentrations with the plasma levels of each sufficiently high enough to saturate the carrier system, the relative rates of excretion were reversed with the diodrast transfer rate then four times that of PAH. The combined rate of excretion was far below Tm(PAH) alone, and roughly equal to Tm(D). Interaction with a common carrier was indicated by the gradations in degree of inhibition which resulted when plasma concentration ratios of diodrast to PAH were extended from 0.1 to 3.2, and PAH transfer rates expressed as percentage of Tm(PAH) were correspondingly depressed from 17 to 1.0 per cent respectively. These observations again point up the inverse relationship between transfer rate and competitive effectiveness which exists for members of a series of substances actively transported by a common mechanism. It appears that carrier affinity and dissociation characteristics may be quite different for various compounds in a series, and also that these parameters may vary significantly from species to species.