Linguistic Hybrid Research Articles

Fuzzy ordered distance measures

Xu and Chen (J Syst Sci Syst Eng 17:432---445, 2008) introduced a type of ordered weighted distance measures called ordered weighted distance (OWD) measures whose fundamental aspect is the reordering step, which can be used in many actual fields, including group decision making, medical diagnosis, data mining, and pattern recognition, etc. The OWD measures are very suitable to deal with situations where the input data are expressed in exact numerical values. In this paper, we consider situations with linguistic, interval or fuzzy preference information, and develop some fuzzy ordered distance measures, such as linguistic ordered weighted distance measure, uncertain ordered weighted distance measure, linguistic hybrid weighted distance measure, and uncertain hybrid weighted distance measure, etc. After that, based on hybrid weighted distance measures, we establish a consensus reaching process of group decision making with linguistic, interval, triangular or trapezoidal fuzzy preference information.

Uncertain linguistic harmonic mean operators and their applications to multiple attribute group decision making

In this paper, some uncertain linguistic aggregation operators called uncertain linguistic weighted harmonic mean (ULWHM) operator, uncertain linguistic ordered weighted harmonic mean operator and uncertain linguistic hybrid harmonic mean (ULHHM) operator are proposed. An approach to multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) with uncertain linguistic information is developed based on the ULWHM and the ULHHM operators. Finally, a practical application of the developed approach to MAGDM problem with uncertain linguistic information is given.

Linguistic harmonic mean operators and their applications to group decision making

Harmonic mean is the reciprocal of arithmetic mean of the reciprocal, which is a conservative average to be used to provide for aggregation lying between max and min operators. In this paper, we develop some new aggregation operators such as linguistic harmonic mean (LHM) operator, linguistic weighted harmonic mean (LWHM) operator, linguistic ordered weighted harmonic mean operator, and linguistic hybrid harmonic mean (LHHM) operator, which can be utilized to aggregate preference information taking the form of linguistic variables and then study some desirable properties of the operators. Based on the LHM and the LHHM operators, we propose a practical method for group decision making with linguistic preference relations and also give an illustrative example. Furthermore, based on the LWHM and LHHM operators, we develop a multiple attribute decision making applied in the group decision making to improving advanced manufacturing technology selection process.

The multiple-attribute decision making method based on the TFLHOWA operator

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method for solving multiple-attribute decision making (MADM) problems with trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables. To begin with, this paper reviews the concepts of the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables and the possibility degree matrix. Then, some operators and their characteristics are introduced, for aggregating the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables, such as the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic averaging (TFLA) operator, the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic weighted averaging (TFLWA) operator, and the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic ordered weighted averaging (TFLOWA) operator. On the basis of the disadvantages of these operators, the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic hybrid ordered weighted averaging (TFLHOWA) operator is proposed. Furthermore, a new method for solving MADM problems with the trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables is proposed, based on the TFLHOWA operator. Finally, an illustrative example is given, to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the method developed.

DMLHFLC (Dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller) for an isolated wind–diesel hybrid power system with BES (battery energy storage) unit

Abstract Design of DMLHFLC (dual mode linguistic hedge fuzzy logic controller) for an isolated wind–diesel hybrid power system with BES (battery energy storage) unit is proposed in this paper. The design methodology is a hybrid model based on the concepts of linguistic hedges and hybrid genetic algorithm-simulated annealing algorithms. Dual-mode concept is also incorporated in this proposed controller because it can improve the system performance. The system is simulated and the results are compared with proportional plus integral controller and FLC (fuzzy logic controller). Sensitivity analysis and robustness of the controller is tested. The results prove the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

LINGUISTIC AGGREGATION OPERATORS FOR LINGUISTIC DECISION MAKING BASED ON THE DEMPSTER-SHAFER THEORY OF EVIDENCE

In this paper, we develop a new approach for decision making with Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence by using linguistic information. We suggest the use of different types of linguistic aggregation operators in the model. We then obtain as a result, the belief structure — linguistic ordered weighted averaging (BS-LOWA), the BS — linguistic hybrid averaging (BS-LHA) and a wide range of particular cases. Some of their main properties are studied. Finally, we provide an illustrative example that shows the different results obtained by using different types of linguistic aggregation operators in the new approach.

UNCERTAIN LINGUISTIC HYBRID GEOMETRIC MEAN OPERATOR AND ITS APPLICATION TO GROUP DECISION MAKING UNDER UNCERTAIN LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT

In this paper, we propose an uncertain linguistic hybrid geometric mean (ULHGM) operator, which is based on the uncertain linguistic weighted geometric mean (ULWGM) operator and the uncertain linguistic ordered weighted geometric (ULOWG) operator proposed by Xu [Z. S. Xu, "An approach based on the uncertain LOWG and induced uncertain LOWG operators to group decision making with uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations", Decision Support Systems41 (2006) 488–499] and study some desirable properties of the ULHGM operator. We have proved both ULWGM and ULOWG operators are the special case of the ULHGM operator. The ULHGM operator generalizes both the ULWGM and ULOWG operators, and reflects the importance degrees of both the given arguments and their ordered positions. Based on the ULWGM and ULHGM operators, we propose a practical method for multiple attribute group decision making with uncertain linguistic preference relations. Finally, an illustrative example demonstrates the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Fuzzy Linguistic Hybrid Harmonic Mean Operator and Its Application to Software Selection

With respect to multiple attribute group decision making problem with triangular fuzzy linguistic information, in which the attribute weights and expert weights take the form of real numbers, and the preference values take the form of triangular fuzzy linguistic variables, some operators for aggregating triangular fuzzy linguistic variables, such as the fuzzy linguistic harmonic mean (FLHM) operator, fuzzy linguistic weighted harmonic mean (FLWHM) operator, fuzzy linguistic ordered weighted harmonic mean (FLOWHM) operator, and fuzzy linguistic hybrid harmonic mean (FLHHM) operator are proposed. Based on the FLWHM and FLHHM operators, a practical method is developed for group decision making with triangular fuzzy linguistic variables. Finally, an illustrative example about software selection is given to verify the developed approach.

Qaddish: Untersuchungen zur Entstehung und Rezeption eines rabbinischen Gebetes (review)

Reviewed by: Qaddish: Untersuchungen zur Entstehung und Rezeption eines rabbinischen Gebetes Ra‘anan S. Boustan Andreas Lehnardt. Qaddish: Untersuchungen zur Entstehung und Rezeption eines rabbinischen Gebetes. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 87. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002. Pp. xiv + 386. The ubiquity and elasticity of the Kaddish (alt. Qaddish) within Jewish liturgical practice has made this brief, but enigmatic prayer a perennial object of both scholarly and popular interest. It is our great fortune that we now have a study that has done justice to the complexity and specificity of the historical development of the Kaddish. In a monograph that is focused and sweeping in equal measure, Andreas Lehnardt sets out to explain both how and why the Kaddish emerged as a major structuring element within the Jewish liturgy at the same time that it attracted a diverse range of liturgical applications. Lehnardt's study is grounded in the methodological insight that the histories of (Jewish) prayers such as the Kaddish, with their fluctuating textual identities and heterogeneous liturgical functions, must integrate text-historical, literary-historical, and reception-historical considerations. Studies of early Jewish worship in particular are constrained by the decentralized nature of Jewish religious practice as well as the complex process of Jewish textual transmission. By employing such tools, Lehnardt turns obstacles into opportunities for illuminating key moments in the dynamic history of the Kaddish, while acknowledging the epistemological limits imposed by the evidence. It is thus no coincidence that his account begins in the Middle Ages with the oldest extant textual witnesses for the Kaddish, then backs up into Late Antiquity to explore earlier, indirect testimonies about its language and function, and finally moves forward in time again to describe the various medieval appropriations of this late antique prayer. Lehnardt argues in chapter one (pp. 15–77) that the Kaddish, in both its earliest and its fully crystallized forms, is characterized by generic and linguistic hybridity. Despite this high degree of textual variation, all versions of the Kaddish are characterized by a distinctive admixture of Hebrew and Aramaic juxtaposed within single sentences and even clauses. Numerous earlier scholars suggested that this peculiar linguistic feature reflects the process of translation from a Hebrew original to an [End Page e65] artificial Aramaic "school language." Through careful linguistic comparison of the Kaddish with contemporaneous Hebrew and Aramaic sources, especially Targumic Aramaic, Lehnardt concludes that the prayer cannot be assigned to a specific linguistic-institutional context, but exhibits the general (Hebrew and Aramaic) linguistic features of rabbinic literature. Moreover, the Hebrew units of the Kaddish, which are interwoven with its Aramaic building-blocks, cannot be accounted for as mere back-borrowings. The inseparability of Hebrew and Aramaic within the Kaddish indicates that it was a linguistic hybrid ("ein Mischprodukt") from its earliest stages of development and never existed in a "pure" linguistic form in either Hebrew or Aramaic. According to Lehnardt, the bilingual character of the Kaddish has its counterpart in the prayer's hybrid generic form. The Kaddish resists generic definition, although it employs doxological formulae (i.e. yehe sheme raba mevarakh) and formally resembles certain features of prayers linked to public Scriptural reading (e.g., the 'al ha-kol prayer and the Yekum purkan). Lehnardt rejects the findings of Joseph Heinemann's form-critical method, which placed the Kaddish squarely within the rabbinic study-house (bet ha-midrash). Instead, he argues that, from a formal perspective, the Kaddish cannot be assigned to a single Sitz-im-Leben, and proposes that its generic and linguistic hybridity result from its shifting application in various institutional settings—synagogue as well as study-house. In chapter two (pp. 79–142), Lehnardt analyzes rabbinic sources that provide evidence for the liturgical function of the Kaddish or illuminate the ways in which its meaning and power were conceived in Late Antiquity. The linguistic and formal flexibility of the Kaddish corresponds to its varied reception within classical rabbinic literature. The Kaddish did not develop along a single, linear trajectory from pre-rabbinic prayers such as the Lord's Prayer found in the New Testament, but emerged through an unsystematic process of expansion, reinterpretation, and redeployment. Indeed, the Kaddish is nowhere attested as a fully crystallized...

A Note on Linguistic Hybrid Arithmetic Averaging Operator in Multiple Attribute Group Decision Making with Linguistic Information

In this paper, we propose a linguistic hybrid arithmetic averaging (LHAA) operator, which is based on linguistic weighted arithmetic averaging (LWAA) operator and extended ordered weighted averaging (EOWA) operator, and study some desirable properties of the LHAA operator. The LHAA operator can not only reflect the importance degrees of both the given argument and its ordered position, but also relieve the influence of unfair arguments on the decision results by weighting these arguments with small values. Based on the LWAA and LHAA operators, we develop a practical approach to multiple attribute group decision making under linguistic environment. The approach first aggregates the individual linguistic preference values into a collective linguistic preference value for each alternative by using the LWAA and LHAA operators (it is worth pointing out that the aggregation process does not produce any loss of linguistic information), and then orders the collective linguistic preference values to obtain the best alternative(s). Finally, an illustrative example is also given to verify the approach and to demonstrate its feasibility and practicality.

Uncertain linguistic aggregation operators based approach to multiple attribute group decision making under uncertain linguistic environment

In this paper, two uncertain linguistic aggregation operators called uncertain linguistic ordered weighted averaging (ULOWA) operator and uncertain linguistic hybrid aggregation (ULHA) operator are proposed. An approach to multiple attribute group decision making with uncertain linguistic information is developed based on the ULOWA and the ULHA operators. Finally, a practical application of the developed approach to the problem of evaluating university faculty for tenure and promotion is given.

A method based on linguistic aggregation operators for group decision making with linguistic preference relations

In this paper, we define some operational laws of linguistic variables and develop some new aggregation operators such as linguistic geometric averaging (LGA) operator, linguistic weighted geometric averaging (LWGA) operator, linguistic ordered weighted geometric averaging (LOWGA) operator and linguistic hybrid geometric averaging (LHGA) operator, etc., which can be utilized to aggregate preference information taking the form of linguistic variables, and then study some desirable properties of the operators. Based on the LGA and the LHGA operators, we propose a practical method for group decision making with linguistic preference relations. The method is straightforward and has no loss of information. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is also given.

From Russian to Hebrew via HebRush : Intergenerational Patterns of Language Use among Former Soviet Immigrants in Israel

The immigrant family is the principal domain where cultural and linguistic heritage can be preserved and transferred to the younger generation. This paper explores how the macro-level sociolinguistic processes in Israel – the increasing ethnic power of Russian speakers during the 1990s and the ensuing higher status of the Russian language – have shaped intra-familial linguistic patterns among former Soviet Jewish immigrants. My analysis is based on participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted with members of three-generational immigrant families who arrived in Israel during the 1990s and in the earlier wave of the 1970s. The study shows that bilingualism of the last-wave immigrants often manifests as a linguistic hybrid known as HebRush – a lingo that is used both in public and private realms. Conversely, among veteran immigrants of the 1970s the dismissed Russian has made a comeback into private family usage after years of oblivion, reflecting its recent upsurge as the main 'minority language' of Jewish Israel. The language choices of bilingual immigrants and the use of Russian between immigrant parents and children are shaped by their dominant sociolinguistic milieu, core cultural values, and the perceived status of this minority language in Israel. In conclusion, I offer some reflections on the interface between core cultural values, family roles and language maintenance among recent immigrants.

The Limits of Legitimacy: Language Ideology and Shift in Contemporary Senegal

Current sociolinguistic patterns in Dakar, Senegal, suggest that the French language shares its position as legitimate language, in the sense suggested by Bourdieu, with a mixed Wolof/French code that enjoys no official recognition. This contradiction is explored through the examination of a historic public speech delivered by Senegal's president in 1988 and the linguistic ideologies that the various reactions to this speech represent. It will be seen that the growing use of "Urban Wolof" during the last decade in the informal economic sector, the mass media, and advertising both reflects and reinforces the emergence of a new ideology that attributes an "alternative legitimacy" to this linguistic hybrid.

The Homosexual Question

What happens now that that Love has dared to name its name? Actually, several names have been named, and none of them provides any grounds for enthusiasm. Homosexual? A linguistic hybrid and monstrosity, as Edward Carpenter long ago pointed out. And one, as we may point out today, that can only give rise to other linguistic monstrosities, like homophobe. And more serious than the linguistics is the suggestibility of the word: no heterosexual thinks himself defined by the heterosexual label, whereas we homosexuals are considered to be defined by nothing else, we are those strange — yes, queer — people who, in bed, perform antics A, B, and C. The word gay is less clinical but hardly more flattering. While it conveys the salutary notion — to be elaborated below — that it is very important not to be earnest, it also, alas, comes down to us in an aura of curly blonde hair, blue eyes and prettily vacuous laughter.