Linguistic Criteria Research Articles

Semantic diffuseness in Art History terminology

The aim of the research is to determine the degree of influence of semantic diffuseness on the strength of the Art History terminology system. This paper examines topical issues of Art History. At the moment, the development of diffuseness of Art History terms can lead to the erosion of the Art History terminology system’s borders and even to the loss of the scholarly style of the language of the entire discipline. In this study, the following linguistic methods are used: semantic analysis, definitional analysis, contextual analysis, as well as elements of semasiological and cognitive analysis. The article reveals the specificity of semantic diffuseness, the reasons for diffuseness; violation of the consequences of the development of diffuseness in the terminology and terminological system of Art History. Scientific novelty of the paper lies in identifying ways to strengthen and structure the terminology system of Art History, taking into account the development of diffuseness in the Art History terminology. As a result, the difference between diffuse Art History terms and diffuse terms related to the terminological systems of other scientific disciplines was revealed, the difference between diffuse Art History terms and lexical units of general literary language was established, and linguistic criteria that allow diffuse terms to function in the Art History terminology system without the threat of blurring the boundaries of the Art History terminology system were highlighted.

Playing with accents

While certain ways of speaking or varieties of English – such as American English or British English – evoke associations of modernity, higher education and urbanity in Uganda, others – such as Ugandan English with strong northern or western accents – stand for backwardness, social strata remote from education and ‘village identities’. Yet concepts of backwardness or modernity are not only based on linguistic criteria but also associated with a specific worldview, contributing to complex signs of higher-order indexicality. In contrast, speakers’ practices of enregisterment reveal how fluid and contextual these indices of urbanity and rurality actually are. Considering diverse repertoires of English accents and varieties used in Uganda, I suggest a turn toward a more fluid understanding of contextual practices of English as negotiations of urbanity and rurality, or as ‘indexical play’, instead of hypothesising fixed entities such as ‘Ugandan English’, ‘urban language’, or ‘rural language’.

Evaluación de la producción escrita de estudiantes secundarios haitianos por parte de profesores de Lengua y Literatura en Chile

The goal of this work is to examine the way Language teachers assess their Spanish as a Foreign Language secondary Haitian students’ writing, based both on linguistic criteria and assessment principles. In the framework of interlanguage analysis, texts written in Spanish by secondary Haitian and Spanish speaking students were collected and assessed by both their own Language teachers and external evaluators. Texts written in creole were also collected and assessed by a Haitian teacher. Students were given similar scores by their Language teachers. However, a scheme applied by the external evaluators yielded contradictory results. It was found that principles of assessment were not met, which shows the need to prepare Language school teachers to offer their students useful feedback that contributes to the development of interlanguage and better performance in school subjects.

On the Aramaic Onomasticon in the Cuneiform Text Corpus

Most of the Aramaic onomasticon is not located in extant alphabetic sources, but instead can be found in cuneiform sources. In order to learn more about the reach of Aramaic through the individuals using it as a spoken language during the first half of the first millennium BCE, we must attend to the Aramaic personal names that appear in this much larger corpus of texts and inscriptions. Using a method that considers both linguistic and conceptual criteria, this paper compiles and analyzes possible Aramaic names that appear in the cuneiform text corpus and culminates with an updated list of the genuine Aramaic onomasticon. Ultimately, this paper provides insight that may be used in identifying West Semitic and other foreign onomastica in the cuneiform text corpus. My talk presents the results of this paper, which emerges from a much larger study of Aramaic names in the first millennium BCE.

Reflexiones acerca de la clasificación de las obras lexicográficas (semi)bilingües para el aprendizaje de lenguas

Las obras lexicográficas (semi)bilingües son repertorios híbridos que mezclan características de diccionarios bilingües y monolingües. Por ese motivo, la metalexicografía entiende tales obras lexicográficas como complejas y bajo esa designación insertan diccionarios de características muy diversas, lo que conlleva que esas obras han tenido investigaciones muy escuetas y una producción lexicográfica escasa. Se ha observado que tanto la concepción como también la designación de los diccionarios (semi)bilingües varían mucho, de manera que en ese estudio se los concibe como un nuevo subtipo de obra lexicográfica interlingüe. En ese contexto, los principios clasificatorios que describen esas obras lexicográficas no han sido establecidos de forma satisfactoria, por ello proponemos esa reflexión partiendo de una propuesta taxonómica. La dificultad en elaborar una propuesta de clasificación para las obras (semi)bilingües radica en aunar criterios lingüísticos, históricos y culturales, además del hecho que las obras que existen presentan sistemáticamente una combinación de rasgos de diferentes diccionarios. Aún así, se defiende la importancia de la elaboración de principios clasificatorios para los diccionarios (semi)bilingües por entender que eso aporta conocimientos que refinan los principios de recopilación de esas obras lexicográficas y culminan en la mejoría de su calidad lingüística y lexicográfica.

Invisible Strangers, or Romani History Reconsidered

AbstractThis essay proposes that the invisibility of so-called Gypsies in Middle Eastern and Central Asian historiography derives from two linked phenomena. First, the work of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and North American philologists, medievalists, and ethnographers delegitimized the languages of the “Strangers,” along with the cultures and histories that these languages expressed. The erasure of Strangers from modern historiography was nearly total. Second, the category of Strangers was transformed in the wake of the Holocaust as Roma activists drew on Nazi racial categories to base Roma identity on linguistic criteria.

The sustainability index of the physical mining Environment in protected areas, Eastern Amazon

The application of sustainability principles to mining activities remains challenging. Explorations of non-renewable natural resources are irreversible; however, they can be better compensated for if the profit resulting from extraction is reinvested in social and human well-being and if environmental impacts are repaired. Thus, the evaluation of mining sustainability is necessary and requires efficient indicators to measure economic, social, and environmental performance. Here, we present the composite environmental sustainability index [CESI] of the landscape for iron mines in the Carajás National Forest, a protected site in the Brazilian Amazon. The index integrates 20 individual environmental indicators related to (1) changes in land cover and land use, (2) direct impacts caused by operations, (3) residue disposal and management, (4) energy, water, and soil resources, and (5) compensation for environmental damage. To define the threshold values for classifying individual indicators, we use legal requirements, data from the literature and historical time series. The values obtained for each of the individual indicators were normalized in terms of linguistic criteria, such as unsustainability (1), low sustainability (2) and high sustainability (3). The sustainability index of each of the five categories was calculated and based on these values, we computed the CESI of the physical mining environment. The values presented here represent baselines for further monitoring and evaluating the sustainability of the physical environment, guaranteeing iron ore exploitation in Carajás mining region with minimum environmental impacts. The proposed index can indicate a path towards environmental sustainability, especially in protected areas. • Environmental sustainability evaluation is required for mining in protected areas. • Legal requirements or historical series represent threshold values for evaluation. • Regarding physical environment, Carajás iron mines show moderate-high sustainability. • Values represent baseline for further assessments and comparison with similar projects.

Closed Forms of the Interval Type 2 Fuzzy Sets Additions Based on Archimedean T-norms with Application in Decision Making Aggregation

Fuzzy addition is one of the operations widely used in the application of fuzzy systems. The analytical and closed form expressions of the fuzzy additions of the generalized fuzzy numbers and the interval type 2 fuzzy numbers (IT2FS) are developed. The generalized fuzzy numbers is a non-flat and subnormal fuzzy number with different left and right shape functions. Classical fuzzy operations based on the minimum t-norm could lead to uncontrollable fuzziness. Fuzzy addition based on generalized t-norm can better control ambiguity. In order to control the ambiguity of fuzzy addition, this paper is to develop a general type 1 fuzzy set and interval type 2 fuzzy set (IT2FS) additions based on t-norm. The closed forms of the generalized IT2FS additions based on some popular t-norms are formulated. The specific analytical and closed form expressions based on Archimedean t-norms: e.g. drastic, Łukasiewicz, product and the families of Schweizer-Sklar and Yager t-norms are derived. The IT2FS are widely used to characterize the natural words, e.g. the decision making linguistic judgments, the fuzzy real time control systems with linguistic rules. Furthermore, based on the analytical T1FS additions results, the application to the linguistic multiple criteria decision making aggregation of the IT2FS additions based on t-norms is introduced. A comparative MCDM numerical example is demonstrated for the verification of the developed closed form expressions.

Neural-fuzzy controller configuration design for an electro-optical line of sight stabilization system

This paper presents a Neural-fuzzy model structure to improve the disturbance attenuation performance of a gimballed Line of Sight (LOS) stabilization system. Initially, a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) based on prior qualitative information about system dynamics and linguistic performance criteria is developed. Next, proposed Neural-fuzzy model architecture is constructed, which overcome the difficulties and limitations of each isolated methodology. The Neural-fuzzy architecture is developed based on input-output data-sets available from FLC. Fuzzy curve approach is used to determine significant inputs, number of rules, initialization of connecting layers weights, and hence the model structure. Both the controller configurations are tested based on critical performance characteristics such as stability of the loop, responsiveness of the loop and insensitivity to disturbances. Finally, the comparative analysis suggests that the proposed Neural-fuzzy controller completely outperforms the FLC configuration and hence, can be very effective for more precise pointing applications.

Le syndrome psycholinguistique traumatique (SPLIT)

Le syndrome psycholinguistique traumatique (SPLIT)

Cohérences et communautés linguistiques : les adverbes évaluatifsétrangement,curieusementetparadoxalement

Abstract This study aims at comparing three evaluative adverbs in contemporary French, namelyétrangement,curieusementandparadoxalement, in order to contribute by means of linguistic criteria to their semantic categorization as discourse markers, as well as give account of their points of divergence. The corpus is mainly taken from literary texts, online journalism, digitalized archives fromLe Monde Diplomatique, and includes some built up examples. Our study will be based on the Theory of Stereotypes, with special attention paid to the role of genericity and shared knowledge, and aims at building an explanatory model for the above mentioned adverbs. We will also point out the intervention of a criterium of semantic coherence and/or discursive coherence in their respective functions as modal expressions, as well as the role plaid in the background by one or two linguistic communities in deep structure.

O nieujednoliconej semantyce terminów czynność seksualna, inna czynność seksualna i obcowanie płciowe w dyskursie prawnym

This paper discusses three basic legal terms describing forms of sexual activity, i.e. czynność seksualna (sexual act), obcowanie płciowe (sexual intercourse), and inna czynność seksualna (another sexual act). The overview was made against generalised concepts of prawa seksualne (sexual rights) and wolność seksualna i obyczajność (sexual freedom and decency). Consideration was given to pragmatic bipolarity of all terms, which assumed the form of torts or interests protected by law in legal texts and texts of the law. It was also noticed that there was no consistency in the methods of determining the meanings of the examined units in terms of jurisdiction and views of legal academics and therefore the study made an attempt at defining the indicated terms by capturing and interpreting ontological characteristics, which separate each concept semantically. The methodological structure was the linguistic and systemic criterion, which enabled the analysis of the identified terms in accordance with the special pragmatics of legal discourse.

Old Dubrovnik, Young Serbia and Vague Croatia. Mental Maps in the Serb-Catholic Imagination in Dubrovnik

This article describes the experience of the community of Serb-Catholics living in Dubrovnik in the early twentieth century. It is based primarily on an investigation of the literary and cultural periodical Srdj (1902–08). This study focuses, firstly, on the conceptual ambivalence resulting from efforts to apply linguistic criteria to determine Serbian identity and, secondly, on the efforts to construct a mental map that would serve projections of Serbian symbolic territory. While the presence of the Serb-Catholic milieu in the city was short-lived (from the mid-nineteenth century to the First World War), it nevertheless left traces on the urban landscape that typified the ambivalent formation of national identity along religious lines, as Croatians were associated with Catholicism and Serbs with Orthodoxy.

“Como e quando começamos a falar Português?” A história do deslocamento linguístico na Amazônia

José Ribamar Bessa Freire visita línguas indígenas que já se perderam, por meio da história da Língua Geral Amazônica (LGA), a partir do testemunho documental de acervos históricos. Elegendo o campo teórico da História Social da Linguagem, Bessa Freire investiga os aspectos externos que promoveram a hegemonia da Língua Portuguesa e o declínio de centenas de línguas indígenas. Das 1300 línguas faladas no Brasil antes da chegada dos europeus, restam 274 autodeclaradas recenseadas pelo IBGE em 2010, porém, se submetidas a critérios linguísticos, subsistiriam menos de 180 línguas. A situação pandêmica proporcionada pelo Covid-19 faz soar o alerta, visto que indígenas têm perdido suas vidas, em especial os anciãos portadores de saberes inestimáveis.

The Extremist Internet Discourse: Legal, Scientific and Practical Aspects of Forensic Linguistic Analysis

The paper presents a discussion of legal, scientific, and practical aspects of forensic linguistic analysis of the Internet extremist discourse as practiced at present and might be improved in the future. The author states that present experts’ practice in Russian legislation is based on limited knowledge of Internet linguistics properties and is conducted mostly as an empirical art in which the forensic linguist examiner acquires skill through extensive linguistic training and forensic experience. Courtroom cases in which forensic linguists have offered their written reports and testimony on extremist materials distributed on the Internet have got negative critical assessment in mass-media and scientific linguistic society. The judicial responses have varied with rulings, both admitting and rejecting extremist linguistic evidence. To some extent, the various legal viewpoints have reflected various linguistic methodical perspectives regarding the extremist diagnostic criteria to be expected in the examined Internet discourse represented under various forensic and communicative conditions. The necessity to use the unified linguistic criteria of resolving Internet text ambiguity is substantiated in the paper. The author concludes that methodological uncertainties concerning the contemporary expert practice of detecting linguistic signs of extremist statements are so significant as requiting that the forensic applications be approached with great caution.

Interpretation of Grammatical Category of Gender by Fernão de Oliveira

The present research featured the definition of grammatical gender category as it was coined by Fernão’s de Oliveira (1507–1581), a prominent Portuguese linguist that wrote the first Grammar of the Portuguese Language (1536), where he outlaid the main principles of gender classification. The research was based on F. de Oliveira’s works, namely The Grammar of the Portuguese Language, The Art of Sea Warfare, The Voyage of Fernão de Magalhães, and The Book of Shipbuilding. The linguistic data were selected from the above-mentioned works based on linguistic criteria by the method of continuous sampling. The article also describes various gender definition methods, e.g. morphonology, morphology, anaphora, syntax, secondary morphologization, words of one flexion, and vocalic inflexion (alternation of open and closed, pure and nasal vowels). The analysis of Oliveira’s speculations on grammatical gender revealed that the Portuguese grammarian failed to cover the issues of Singularia / Pluralia tantum, grammatical doublets, toponyms, epicenes, possessive pronouns, and participles.

Compound or phrase or in between? Testing linguistic criteria for compoundhood in English

In this paper, we present an empirical study on the definition of compounds in English, the graded nature of the phenomenon and its correlations with the commonly used linguistic criteria for compoundhood. We create a resource that includes a diverse set of nominal compounds identified by two trained independent annotators in sentences from the proceedings of the European Parliament. In addition, the annotators provide ratings on the compoundhood of the identified compounds, and ratings for the applicability of six prominent linguistic criteria of compoundhood for each item. We show the controversy of defining compounds in practice by comparing the annotations of two annotators, and the graded nature of compoundhood. By measuring the correlation between compoundhood and the six diverse linguistic criteria using machine learning techniques, we show that some linguistic criteria are stronger predictors of compoundhood than others.

СОВРЕМЕННЫЙ НЕЙМИНГ В УКРАИНЕ В ЛИНГВОПРАГМАТИЧЕСКОМ ОСВЕЩЕНИИ

Коммерческая номинация в период глобализации, виртуализации, ускорения и симулякризации информационного потока, а также при учете влияния локальных условий становится средством отражения и одновременно активного воздействия на языковую и концептуальную картины мира потребителя, поэтому требует изучения в лингвопрагматическом аспекте, особенно в странах с нестабильной социо-политической ситуацией, к числу которых сегодня относится Украина. Статья посвящена изучению современного русскоязычного нейминга в Украине в аспекте лингвопрагматики. Представлены основные направления изучения нейминга и актуальные лингвистические проблемы в рамках каждого направления. В работе предложены лингвистические критерии создания адекватных неймов с учетом украинских реалий и рассмотрены типичные ошибки в области современного русскоязычного нейминга в Украине. Описаны основные методы определения лингвопрагматической эффективности коммерческих наименований: параметрический, метод факторного анализа, ассоциативного эксперимента, метод мотивационного анализа, социально-психологического анализа, имиджевый метод, метод оценки лояльности потребителей, метод формирования / оценки эмоциональной привязанности потребителя к бренду и другие. С целью определения лингвопрагматического потенциала неймов представлен параметрический анализ номинаций с учетом ряда приемов: определения субъективных ожиданий, выявления зрительных образов, определения субъективных предпочтений.

Formens makt og materialitet: Om studiet av kunnskapens former i katekismer og skipslogger

The article argues that in the emerging field of the history of knowledge, with its focus on the production, circulation and exchange of knowledge, explorations of forms will represent a valuable addition. Form is related to genre. Yet, while the identification of genres is largely based on linguistic, literary or rhetorical criteria, form is also about structures and materiality as well as about practical and institutional preconditions. Form often attracts less attention than contents, although the form makes this content recognizable as knowledge. Our argument builds on the exploration of two different early modern knowledge forms, the catechism and the ship's log respectively. Both demonstrate how form is decisive in defining contents as authoritative knowledge. They also illustrate how form is a prerequisite to enable knowledge to circulate and be part of cultural exchange, and thus to be socially efficient. The forms serve to codify existing knowledge, but also to the production and circulation of new insights. When forms like the log and the catechism are examined historically, however, they can also be seen to live their own lives in a tension between stability and change. The forms themselves become objects of negotiations, change and innovation.

Fuzzy based image edge detection algorithm for blood vessel detection in retinal images

We developed a contour detection based image processing algorithm based on Mamdani (Type-2) fuzzy rules for detection of blood vessels in retinal fundus images. The method uses the green channel data from eye fundus images as input, Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) for contrast enhancement, and median filter for background exclusion. The Mamdani (Type-2) fuzzy rules applied on image gradient value are used for edge detection. The results of experiments on the Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE), STructured Analysis of the Retina (STARE) and CHASEdb datasets show the applicability of the proposed method as a flexible approach which can be adapted to numerous edge detection/contour based applications. We achieved an accuracy of 0.865 for STARE dataset, an accuracy of 0.939 for the DRIVE dataset, and the accuracy of 0.950 for the ChaseDB dataset. In relation to works of other authors, our method offered a similar performance, but it offers an improved dynamics and flexibility in formulation of the linguistic threshold criteria, which can be a leading factor in design of image processing systems with dynamic and flexible rules, such as Type-2 fuzzy rules would allow, offering an interesting alternative to currently widespread deep learning applications.