Indefinite Meaning Research Articles

Difficult cases of using the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with affixes -nibud, -libo, -to, koe- with indefinite meaning among the Iranian audience

This article is dedicated to examining the difficult cases of the transmission of the indefinite meaning with the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with the affixes -nibud, -libo, -to, koe- among Iranian audiences. The indefinite pronouns and adverbs are a group of words with a specific meaning and usage that express the category of indefiniteness. This topic is important because among the Iranian students learning Russian the use of indefinite pronouns and adverbs with these affixes is a most difficult problem. It is not due to the grammatical features of the pronouns and adverbs mentioned, but due to their dependence on semantic subtleties and the insufficient number of theoretical works analysing the errors made by foreign, including Iranian, students when using the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with the mentioned affixes. The first problem that Iranian students face is the use of the indefinite pronouns and adverbs in the Russian language when in Persian their formal indicator is the indefinite article. The purpose of this article is to study the complicated cases of using the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with affixes -nibud, -libo, -to, koe- with indefinite meaning in the Iranian class and to consider how this group of the indefinite pronouns and adverbs is used in speech and text. The novelty of this article is in the fact that for the first time in the Russian studies of Iran, the difficult cases that Iranian students often encounter when using the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with affixes -nibud, -libo, -to, koe-, are analyzed and specified. In addition, principles have been developed to optimize the teaching process of this category of pronouns and adverbs among Iranian students. The results of the article can be used to eliminate the mistakes of Iranian students of Russian when using the indefinite pronouns and adverbs with the affixes -nibud, -libo, -to, koe- with the indefinite meaning, as well as to improve teaching Russian as a foreign language in the Iranian audience.

The Expression of Certainty / Uncertainty Using the Word “Odin (One)” in Russian in Comparison with the Chinese Counterpart

Purpose. When discussing the phenomenon of the pronominalization of Russian numerals, the most discussed word is “odin (one)”, which is often used as an indefinite pronoun. However, in fact, the word “odin (one)” is capable of expressing a definitive meaning depending on the context and situation. In this respect, a similar phenomenon is ob served in the Chinese language. Unlike the Chinese word “一 (yi)”, which is used mainly in the function of pronouns and numerals, the Russian word “odin (one)” is able to perform the functions of different parts of speech. Based on a large number of examples, the article examines the semantic features of the opposition “certainty / uncertainty”, reveals the ways of expressing this opposition using the word “odin (one)” in the Russian language in comparison with the Chinese counterpart “一 (yi)”.Results. The pronominalization of the numeral word “odin (one)” is a phenomenon of grammaticalization, as a result of which there is a semantic reduction, a change in grammatical categories and syntactic functions.Conclusion. The similarity of the expression of indefinite meaning in Russian and Chinese is explained by the fact that there is no regular expression of uncertainty in both languages, the category of certainty / uncertainty is realized mainly by lexical means.

On the status of securities in the philosophical history of philosophy H. Grasija

Historical-philosophical debates, which owe their origin to the historical-philosophical context, begin not only with the formulation of certain points of view, but also with the examination of their value, as well as moving towards those that seem acceptable. The attention of our research is focused on issues of value and evaluation of the philosophical past through the given issues within the work „Philosophy and its history“ by Jorge Gracia, while the subject of our attention will be the legitimacy of value statements in the history of philosophy. dealing with truth value. Namely, in addition to careful attention in relation to philosophical sources on the basis of which accurate explanations from the past are obtained, the historical context of positive contribution, not only historical-philosophical, but also historical task, is unavoidable. The historian of philosophy thus makes a strong contribution to historical-value truths that rise from the haze of margins of historical thought, while codifying the points of convergence of scientific-methodological mechanisms and epistemic-axiological interventions - on the one hand - through cognitive-theoretical use of event history. and on the other, - by historical-philosophical reflection on philosophically valued given discourses, to build together the true, - scientifically valuable. If historical truth excludes values that are contrary to its achievement and duration, then the very course and approach to historical and philosophical heritage should be treated through harmonized procedures and norms in solving very complex historical-philosophical and meta-historical-philosophical requirements and tasks inherent only in philosophy, at the same time, - in the value sense, - indeterminate by historical science. In that convergent dialogue, which is often necessary, the methodological paradigm of valuing substantial truths seeks the passability of axiological-value litmus tests of agreement - as much philosophical as historical knowledge and truth. Truth as the objectivity of the validity of a value attitude in the historical-philosophical sense, therefore, can show how a certain value statement is based on the experience of value. This tells us that the quality of value judgments is reflected in the fact that we take a stand with them in relation to historical-cognitive forms of opinion. While in science there are generally accepted criteria for verifying truthfulness, there are no such exact criteria in the domain of values, while it is important to point out that an objective and correct explanation of the past requires certain value statements throughout history, and judgments about true value in the history of philosophy. the significance and role of valuation and truth values within the philosophically oriented hermeneutization of philosophical-historical expressive truths and the possibility that the continuity in the search for truth cannot and should not be interrupted, whereby the theorist Jorge Gracia makes a strong contribution to the interpretation and understanding of these relations, which is the subject of this paper. Searching for reasons for a better understanding of ideas and philosophical views from the past H. Gracia points to the knowledge of what is taken for their truthful value. This refers to the consideration of the validity and correctness of the arguments on which certain teachings are based, and this refers to the texts. Texts are, therefore, the basic means we have for accessing philosophical ideas from the past. Without texts, an approach to ideas from the past is inconceivable, while the job of a historian is to re-establish the indefinite meaning of a text. The most expedient interpretation is the one that makes the most sense from the standpoint of both philosophy and history, because the historian must rely on philosophical teachings from the past that have more meaning. Although it is pointed out that historians and historians consider some masked value statements to be descriptive, with the recognition that many of them include descriptions; what is more important is reflected more in the fact that the historical explanation of the philosophical past necessarily includes and implies value statements, then the task of history implies and encompasses evaluation.

What is a Worldview? Some Suggestions from the History of the Concept

The word “worldview” comes from German philosophy and literally means an all‐inclusive “vision of the world.” Nowadays, the word has a more generic cultural or geopolitical usage, often associated with an equivocal or indefinite meaning. This article looks at the history of the word and clarifies its meaning and implications. For such an analysis, two thinkers, Wilhelm Dilthey and Karl Jaspers, both of whom thematized the concept of Weltanschauung at the beginning of the twentieth century, will be taken into account. What follows is a brief depiction of some peculiar and constitutive traits of the concept: its composite nature; its connection to life; its value in general; and its value for each individual who holds a worldview. The article suggests that the potential conflictuality between contrary or competing worldviews is not accidental; rather, it is an inherent aspect of the concept, at whose core is a delicate balance between internal strength and external challenge, referred to here as “the vitality paradox” of a worldview.

К вопросу об осуществлении органами прокуратуры Российской Федерации профилактической функции

The article examines the normative legal acts on the implementation of the preventive function by the prosecution bodies of the Russian Federation. The correctness of the definition of the preventive function of the prosecution bodies given in Article 9 of Federal Law No. 182-FZ of 23 June 2016, “On the Foundations of the System for the Prevention of Offences in the Russian Federation”, is critically assessed. The need to clarify the content of the preventive function of the prosecutor's office by introducing amendments to a number of existing normative legal acts of the Russian Federation is substantiated. The author notes that the current Russian legislation, scientific community, and law enforcement practice are still uncertain about what the implementation of the preventive function by the prosecution bodies of the Russian Federation means. The author analyzes the norms of Articles 5 and 9 of Federal Law No. 182-FZ. She infers that, at present, based on the existing norms, it is impossible to make an unambiguous conclusion about how the prosecution bodies carry out the preventive function. On the one hand, it can be argued that the analyzed law provides for the implementation of an independent preventive function by the prosecutor's office within the framework of prosecutor's supervision over the implementation of laws. On the other hand, it would be appropriate to suggest that the legislator equates the supervisory function of the prosecutor's office with the preventive one. Federal Law No. 2202-1 of 17 January 1992 (as amended), “On the Prosecutor's Office in the Russian Federation”, does not clarify this issue; it gives two main functions of the Prosecutor's Office: supervision and criminal prosecution, leaving the list of possible functions open. This law does not specifically disclose the preventive function of the prosecutor's office. The function is deducible from the norms of Section III (Prosecutor's Supervision), Article 8 (Coordination of Activities to Combat Crime), and Article 9.1 (Conducting AntiCorruption Expert Examination of Regulatory Legal Acts). The author notes that, given the existing uncertainty in laws, there are also different points of view on this issue in science. The author believes that the prosecution bodies are still not endowed with the competence for the prevention of offenses; therefore, they cannot perform the preventive function in its traditional sense. According to the current Russian legislation, the bodies of the prosecutor's office supervise the implementation of laws on the prevention of offenses. The current legislation has norms that contradict each other and norms with an indefinite meaning, which continues to raise numerous questions from theorists and practitioners, does not contribute to the uniformity and effectiveness of law enforcement practice. In this regard, the author proposes: (1) to clarify the powers of the prosecution bodies of the Russian Federation in the field of crime prevention, separating the supervisory function from the preventive one, in Article 9 of Federal Law No. 182-FZ on the Foundations of the System for the Prevention of Offences in the Russian Federation. The author believes that the supervisory functions are fully regulated by the Federal Law on the Prosecutor's Office in the Russian Federation; therefore, there is no need to duplicate these functions in Federal Law No. 182-FZ; (2) to provide specific preventive powers of officials of the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation in Federal Law No. 182-FZ. For example, instructing and informing in the domain of law (Article 17 of Federal Law No. 182-FZ) are not classified as forms of preventive influence of officials of the prosecutor's office, although the prosecutor's office has always carried out these activities; (3) to provide for the implementation of the preventive function by the prosecutor in the texts of Federal Law No. 2202-1 on the Prosecutor's Office in the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 182-FZ on the Foundations of the System for the Prevention of Offences in the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 120-FZ on the Foundations of the System for the Prevention of Juvenile Neglect and Delinquency of 24 June 1999, and other preventive regulatory legal acts. The function should be specified through describing its content: instructing and informing in the legal domain, as well as coordinating and anti-corruption expert work.

Whatever floats your boat

Abstract The meaning of indefinites of the wh-ever paradigm has been the object of a number of claims regarding its ignorance and indifference readings. These are examined here in the light of a systematic analysis of 2500 occurrences of the wh-ever paradigm in the Brigham-Young-University TV-corpus. Contrary to general assumptions, ignorance and indifference readings are not separate, as they are found jointly in 27 % of occurrences. Each reading is sensitive to contextual cues: ignorance associates with animacy, and is compatible with plural nouns; indifference associates with independent use, subtrigging by modals and singular nouns. Finally, scalarity is not a dominant dimension of the wh-items’ interpretation, being associated with subtrigging by modal expressions and focus stress, and requiring an indifference reading. These items are defined as evoking an unidentified referent requiring identification belonging to an open-ended series of possibilities.

Meaning in Life and Psychological Well-Being in Spanish Emerging Adults

Experiencing meaning in life (MiL) and psychological well-being (PWB) is an important developmental task in emerging adulthood, perhaps more than in any other period in life due to its transitional character and to the nature of its features, in Western societies. This study analyzes the relationship between MiL and PWB, as well as the differences in PWB according to the level of MiL (lack of meaning, indefinite meaning, and presence of meaning), in a sample of 333 Spanish emerging adults (224 women, 109 men), age ranged from 17 to 26 years, M = 21.06, SD = 2.23. Both Spanish versions of the Purpose- In-Life Test and the Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being were used. The Spearman’s coefficient of correlation showed a positive, significant relationship between MiL and PWB (global and dimensions). The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant differences in PWB between lack of meaning, indefinite meaning, and presence of meaning groups, except in Autonomy, in which only the difference between the presence of meaning group and the indefinite meaning group was significant. MiL is associated to the cognitive, emotional, and motivational aspects that directly point to PWB: positive self-worth and self- acceptance, perception and experience of freedom, responsibility and self-determination, positive view of both life as a whole and future, purpose and commitment of significant existential goals, self-trascendence and opening up to the others, integrative but not resigned coping of the adversity, life satisfaction, and self-realization.

Indefinites in Comparatives

The goal of this paper is to explain the meaning and distribution of indefinites in comparatives, focusing on the case of English 'some' and 'any' and German 'irgend'-indefinites. We combine three competing theories of comparatives with an alternative semantics of 'some' and 'any', and a novel account of stressed 'irgend'-indefinites. One of the resulting theories, based on Heim's (2006) analysis of comparatives, predicts all the relevant differences in quantificational force, and explains why free choice indefinites are licensed in comparatives.

Weak Uniqueness: The Only Difference Between Definites and Indefinites

We argue that predicative the is an identity function that is defined for predicates that satisfy weak uniqueness: if there is an F, then there is only one. Predicative definites do not presuppose existence, as evidenced by anti-uniqueness effects, for example the fact that ‘Scott is not the only author of Waverley’ implies that there is more than one author of Waverley. Separating the uniqueness and existence components of definites brings definites and indefinites closer together: The definite and indefinite articles are both argued to be identity functions on predicates, differing only in that the latter lacks the weak uniqueness presupposition. Furthermore, the meaning of argumental definites and indefinites can be derived from the predicative meanings using the same general mechanisms that introduce existence. Existence is generally at-issue with argumental indefinites and presupposed with argumental definites. However, we observe that anti-uniqueness effects arise with argumental definites as well, under conditions described in our ‘Dependence Generalization’. We take this to show that existence can be at-issue with argumental definites, and we derive the Dependence Generalization in terms of relevance to the question under discussion.

Article choice in children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

This study reports on the choice between a definite and an indefinite article by children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). We carried out an elicited production task with 16 Dutch-speaking non-grammatically impaired children with HFA aged 6–13, 16 age-matched Dutch-speaking children with SLI, and 16 typically developing (TD) age controls. The results in the indefinite conditions reveal virtually no errors across groups. However, in the definite condition the HFA group, but NOT the SLI group, incorrectly produces indefinite articles significantly more often than the TD group. A more detailed analysis shows that 38% (6/16) of the children with HFA vs. 13% (2/16) of the children with SLI regularly produce indefinite articles in definite contexts. We propose that these children do not always calculate the additional (pragmatic) meaning of indefinites derived by scalar implicature (Horn 2006). Furthermore, development by age in the SLI group, but NOT in the HFA group, suggests that the failure to draw a scalar implicature is more persistent in children with HFA than in children with SLI. Concluding, our results show that non-grammatically impaired children with HFA are more prone to pragmatic impairments than children with SLI, suggesting a dissociation between grammar and pragmatics.

Indefinites in comparatives

The goal of this paper is to explain the meaning and distribution of indefinites in comparatives, focusing on English some and any and German irgend-indefinites. We consider three competing theories of comparatives in combination with an alternative semantics of some and any, and a novel account of stressed irgend-indefinites. One of the resulting accounts, based on Heim’s analysis of comparatives, predicts all the relevant differences in quantificational force, and explains why free choice indefinites are licensed in comparatives.

On The Absence of Scope Reconstruction in Tough Subject A-Chains

On The Absence of Scope Reconstruction in <i>Tough</i> Subject A-Chains

Weak Uniqueness: The Only Difference Between Definites and Indefinites

We argue that predicative the is an identity function that is defined for predicates that satisfy weak uniqueness: if there is an F, then there is only one. Predicative definites do not presuppose existence, as evidenced by anti-uniqueness effects, for example the fact that ‘Scott is not the only author of Waverley’ implies that there is more than one author of Waverley. Separating the uniqueness and existence components of definites brings definites and indefinites closer together: The definite and indefinite articles are both argued to be identity functions on predicates, differing only in that the latter lacks the weak uniqueness presupposition. Furthermore, the meaning of argumental definites and indefinites can be derived from the predicative meanings using the same general mechanisms that introduce existence. Existence is generally at-issue with argumental indefinites and presupposed with argumental definites. However, we observe that anti-uniqueness effects arise with argumental definites as well, under conditions described in our ‘Dependence Generalization’. We take this to show that existence can be at-issue with argumental definites, and we derive the Dependence Generalization in terms of relevance to the question under discussion.

Split Scope of Negative Indefinites

Negative indefinites, i.e. expressions like English nobody and no boy, give rise to split scope readings where another operator takes scope in between the negative and the indefinite meaning component. Split readings are puzzling under the standard analysis of negative indefinites as negative quantifiers. This article surveys recent approaches to split scope.

Indefinites in Comparatives

The goal of this paper is to explain the meaning and distribution of indefinites in comparatives, focusing on the case of English 'some' and 'any' and German 'irgend'-indefinites. We combine three competing theories of comparatives with an alternative semantics of 'some' and 'any', and a novel account of stressed 'irgend'-indefinites. One of the resulting theories, based on Heim's (2006) analysis of comparatives, predicts all the relevant differences in quantificational force, and explains why free choice indefinites are licensed in comparatives.

Presupposition, perceptional relativity and translation theory

The intertwining of assertions and presuppositions in utterances affects the way a text is perceived in the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). Presuppositions can be thought of as shared assumptions that form the background of the asserted meaning. To translate presuppositions as assertions, or vice versa, can distort the thematic meaning of the SL text and produce a text with a different information structure. Since a good translation is not simply concerned with transferring the propositional content of the SL text, but also its other semantic and pragmatic components, including thematic meaning, a special attention should be accorded to the translation of presupposition. This article examines the intrinsic relation between presupposition and thematic meaning, why the concept is relevant to translation theory, and how presupposition can affect the structure and understanding of discourse. Unshared presuppositions are major obstacles in translation, as cultural concepts may be conveyed through expressions that yield presuppositions. To attain an optimal proximity to the SL text, presupposition needs to be singled out as a distinct aspect of meaning, and distinctions need to be made between definite and indefinite meaning, topic and comment, topic and focus, presupposition and entailment, and presupposition and implicature.

Les indéfinis : variables et quantificateurs

Francis Corblin: Les indéfinis: variables et quantificateurs In the large class of "quantified NPs" some theories distinguish a restricted group of so-called "indefinite NPs" (e.g. in French un N, deux Ns, plusieurs Ns). This paper discusses the empirical properties and theoretical analyses which substantiate this distinction, paying special attention to the contrast between indefinites and modified versions of them (e.g. un au moins, un au plus, un exactement), the latter falling by all relevant criteria, outside the class of indefinites, although most denotational approaches consider that the meaning of indefinites is expressed by some of their modified versions.

SMUTS'S HOLISM AND EVOLUTION SIXTY YEARS ON

SUMMARY The widely-used term ‘holism’ appeared in the literature sixty years ago with the publication of Jan Smuts's Holism and evolution. The somewhat indefinite meaning that Smuts attached to the term has become largely displaced by an idea that was already current with Gestalt theorists when Smuts wrote Holism and evolution: the idea that a whole is more than (or different from) the sum of its parts. This idea does not appear to be central either to original Gestalt theory or to Smuts's holistic theory. The term ‘wholism’ may be applied to this idea, to distinguish it from Smuts's central idea of holism. Holistic thinking (in a broad sense) is currently aligned with systems theory in opposition to reductionist approaches, which is broadly consistent with Smuts's own standpoint. Smuts's process-orientated, hierarchical view of nature, and his non-preformationist, unified interpretation of inorganic and organic evolution, has provided (despite some confused assessments) a rallying point for revolts again...

Organization of research

R ESEARCH has been for years past a term with which to conjure, but one to which often only the vaguest and most indefinite meaning has attached. It is frequently used as though it were a sort of trade name, a label wherewith to mark goods of a certain merchantable character. In point of fact there are at least as many types of research as there are research men-indeed probably more. Research may be good, bad, or indifferent; it may be thorough or careless, fundamental or accessory, substantial or superficial, and while certain of these distinctions are too obvious to be labored, there are others which deserve a word of comment. A distinction often drawn, and having a certain practical validity, is that between research in pure science and research in applied science. It is easy to magnify this distinction quite out of proportion to the actual facts. The objects of research in pure science and the motives inspiring the work may be appreciably different from those encountered in the field of applied science. But the technique of the procedure in the two cases may be all but indistinguishable and either variety of research, if it is to survive the test of scientific criticism, must be based upon absolutely fundamental scientific principles. In the last analysis, the difference reduces almost wholly to the psychological question of motivation. The man working in the field of applied science has before him a concrete specific issue involving some immediate practical exigency. The worker in pure science has quite as definite a -specific problem, but it is not one which has arisen out of, nor which necessarily exists in obvious relation to, an immediate demand. Beyond this I doubt if significant differences exist.

Images of Class in Modern Society: Structure, Sentiment and Social Location

While the sociological importance of popular class imagery has gained considerable attention in recent years, much empirical research continues to interpret class identifications and conceptions of class structure as evidence of fundamental class perspectives. This paper challenges the underlying assumptions of this position by directly examining popular sentiments about class and inequality. The results show that neither nominal class affiliations, nor conceptions of class structure, encompass ideologically homogeneous perspectives. Working and, especially, middle class identifications embrace diverse class sentiments, and these discrepancies within class affiliations are reinforced by differences in political preferences. Similarly, conceptions of a dichotomous class structure are not inevitably associated with particular class sentiments any more so than are conceptions of society as a graded hierarchy. In modern societies, where many traditional, ascriptive class barriers, distinctions and privileges have been eroded, class assumes a more fluid and indefinite meaning in social consciousness, diluting the links between class affiliations, conceptions of social structure, and class sentiments proper. In essence, class sentiments cannot be taken for granted, and require systematic investigation in their own right.