Semantic Principles Research Articles

Rethinking lexical semantic fields: relevance and local holism

Abstract This paper aims to single out some pathologies of current lexical semantics, which suffers from both the trauma of immanence and the opposite anxiety of rooting all knowledge in the pre-semiotic dimension, or entrusting sense-making entirely to context. To untangle these pitfalls, the dialogue with a phenomenological cognitive semiotics may prove fertile to focus on the lexicon as a type of storage and a type of memory; that is, a type of accumulated and sedimented knowledge based on the dynamical re-pertinentization of invariants. In particular, the perspective developed by Sonesson shows striking coincidences with De Mauro’s semiotic semantics, which already provides a solid foundation for rethinking the notion of lexical field drawing on an “authentic” Humboldtian and Saussurean heritage. Therefore, I will briefly review some principles of lexical structural semantics, with the aim of showing how these notions, once emancipated from the Saussurean vulgata, can not only be compatible with a cognitive phenomenological approach, but also facilitate the rehabilitation of a theoretical apparatus still valuable for both (lexical) semantics and semiotics. Although focused on lexical fields, some of the issues addressed can be extended to language and languages, as well as to other types of semiotic systems, to shed light on controversial themes such as the embodiment of signs and the autonomy of linguistics and semantics.

The controller-first constraint beyond the Basic Variety: how do instructed learner varieties solve contexts of competition?

Abstract The Basic Variety has been described as a fully fledged system that is developed in second-language acquisition. It is guided by a small number of interacting phrasal, semantic, and pragmatic constraints. This article is devoted to the semantic controller-first constraint, which says that “the NP-referent with highest control comes first” in discourse contexts where this constraint comes into conflict. The Basic Variety, as described by Klein and Perdue, relates to migrant learners that were exposed to target languages in naturalistic contexts and situations outside the classroom. Our study also deals with learners living in the target language’s country at the time of the data collection, but our learners were benefiting from foreign language teaching at university. The goal of this study is twofold. The first part of the article discusses the origins of the key notion of ‘controller’ and introduces related theoretical underpinnings, such as argument hierarchies of transitive verbs and crucial factors determining argument realization. Our analysis shows that the controller-first constraint overlaps with two key concepts of the description of L1 functional grammars – i.e., control asymmetry and the Actor-Undergoer Hierarchy – suggesting that it does not only pertain to the Basic Variety but broadly speaking to the human language capacity. The second part of this study presents some preliminary results on the L2 grammars of Spanish-speaking learners of French in a context of ‘competition’. Our results show the pervasiveness of the controller-first constraint on L2 grammars beyond initial, non-instructed learner varieties, suggesting that this semantic principle is not totally independent of (a) the specifics of the source language and (b) the target constructions of the foreign language classroom.

SOCIOPRAGMATIC REPRESENTATION OF GRATITUDE SYMBOLS

This article examines how politeness plays a role in the theme of gratitude, and examines how this theme manifests itself in various contexts, using a literary text as an example. The researcher analyzes the theme of gratitude as a high sign of culture and a high view of morality, based on examples of its effective use in language. Gratitude is a multifaceted semantic principle; its social purpose is to strengthen trust, sincerity, friendship, and closeness between people, as well as its communicative category, which shows the nation’s culture as a symbol of politeness.

The Category Of Emotivity In Context Of Modern Cognitive Linguistics

This article explores the category of emotivity within the framework of modern cognitive linguistics, focusing on its anthropocentric aspects. Cognitive linguistics, often debated regarding its relevance as a field, is considered in this study through the lens of linguistic emotivity, particularly how humans process emotions in communication. The methodology builds on semiotic principles of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics to analyze emotive language's conceptual, evaluative, and functional parameters. The study delves into the interconnectedness between cognitive linguistics and pragmalinguistics, tracing its roots to historical figures like Z. Freud and E. Sepir. The research also highlights the impact of emotions on language perception and categorization, offering insights into the emotive nature of human communication.

Semantics of light as a tool for shaping the architecture of the modern era

The semantics of light is considered through the prism of a cultural phenomenon, as an object of research, as well as a tool for the formation of visual and spatial characteristics of architecture from ancient times to the architecture of the modern era. It is emphasized that light, as a tool, is semantically perceived in mythological representations, aesthetic and philosophical treatises, in the theory of architecture. An analysis of the use of light in the formation of an artistic image in the architecture of the latest era is provided from the point of view of physical-spatial, aesthetic-emotional and figurative-semantic aspects according to the levels of scale: macro-scale, meso-scale, micro-scale. The perception of architecture is revealed through the semantics of using natural light as speech, which conveys meaning through light-spatial plasticity and generates certain emotions and feelings. Spaces, objects, exhibits, parts of structures illuminated in one way or another reveal the semantic meaning of light as a powerful tool and show the external (physical) and internal (sensory) beauty and aesthetics of the object. The semantics of light in architecture affects the formation of design and general atmosphere, contributes to the creation of emotional depth and cultural significance of buildings and structures. The following semantic principles of light are highlighted in the work: the interaction of light with the urban context – the lighting design of buildings and structures is integrated into the existing urban environment to convey one or another message; conveying the symbolic meaning of light through metaphor and narrative – light is used to reinforce a key idea or theme of buildings and structures, and its meaning influences cultural identity by reflecting local features and national symbols; emotional impact and creation of an atmosphere - a variety of lighting techniques contributes to the enrichment of emotional and personal experience.

“Lunar New Year” by A. Parkau: cultural memory

This article considers the Russian émigré literature in China in the aspect of implementing the principles of intercultural communication and interaction between the cultures of Russia and China. Scholars began to study it in the 1990s, and currently the work of many Russian writers from Harbin and Shanghai remains unexplored. Features of the interaction of national traditions are analyzed in the poem “Lunar New Year” (Chinese New Year) by the poet of the Russian diaspora — A. Parkau, published in the poetic book Unquenchable Fire. Her artistic world still is not in the focus of the scholars. The poem “Lunar New Year,” included in the Bitter Paths cycle, is the artistic description of the Chinese holiday. Its content is determined by Chinese culture, and its artistic form is determined by the Russian poetic tradition. The article traces the connections of the poem with Chinese culture and philosophy, on the one hand, and with the contexts of the Russian poetry of the 19th century, expressed in poetic meters, on the other. The authors of the article examine the compositional and semantic principles of organizing a book of poems and come to the conclusion that the analyzed poem is included simultaneously in several cycles — calendar, reflecting the life of nature, and social, expressing the existential ideas of emigrants, expressed with the motives of loneliness, and fear of death, among others.

Methods of Modelling Electronic Academic Libraries: Technological Concept of Electronic Libraries

Abstract The relevance of examining modelling methods in academic electronic libraries is justified by the need to understand the library’s structure and ensure its operation in technological terms. The purpose of this study is to analyse the applied modelling methods for electronic libraries serving Kazakhstani and international higher education institutions. The study employed basic (structural, comparative-comparative) and additional (analytical-synthetic, graphical) methods. During this study, it was found that the main modelling methods for modern electronic libraries include the following: conceptual with the establishment of a clear hierarchy between objects of the electronic library and attributes of search queries, logical using search categorisation, informational employing the semantic principle of material construction and systemic-functional ensuring a balance between functions, structure, technologies and the management system. In particular, after modelling the structure of Kazakhstani, British and American digital libraries at universities, it was determined that the Yale University Electronic Library Collection is built on the method of logical modelling, the Electronic Library at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University uses the systemic-functional method, the Cambridge University Electronic Library employs the informational method and the Al-Farabi Library uses the conceptual method.

Reshaping Smart Cities through NGSI-LD Enrichment.

The vast amount of information stemming from the deployment of the Internet of Things and open data portals is poised to provide significant benefits for both the private and public sectors, such as the development of value-added services or an increase in the efficiency of public services. This is further enhanced due to the potential of semantic information models such as NGSI-LD, which enable the enrichment and linkage of semantic data, strengthened by the contextual information present by definition. In this scenario, advanced data processing techniques need to be defined and developed for the processing of harmonised datasets and data streams. Our work is based on a structured approach that leverages the principles of linked-data modelling and semantics, as well as a data enrichment toolchain framework developed around NGSI-LD. Within this framework, we reveal the potential for enrichment and linkage techniques to reshape how data are exploited in smart cities, with a particular focus on citizen-centred initiatives. Moreover, we showcase the effectiveness of these data processing techniques through specific examples of entity transformations. The findings, which focus on improving data comprehension and bolstering smart city advancements, set the stage for the future exploration and refinement of the symbiosis between semantic data and smart city ecosystems.

ГЕОПОЛІТИЧНА СВІДОМІСТЬ УКРАЇНЦІВ ЯК ЕКЗИСТЕНЦІЙНИЙ ФЕНОМЕН

The article is devoted to the study of the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians as an existential phenomenon based on the Ukrainian studies approach. Emphasis is placed on the need for a value-semantic distinction between the geopolitical consciousness of Russians and the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians, which is a determining prerequisite for Ukrainian studies of this problem. It is claimed that the geopolitical consciousness of Russians is based on aggressive expansionist values and semantic principles. In turn, the opinion that the basis of the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians is based on humanistic existential value-meaning principles is substantiated. Thus, in particular, on the basis of the analysis of the geopolitical ideas of Ukrainian philosophers, it is shown that the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians is based on the archetypes of the Ukrainian mentality, is connected with the idea of harmony in arranging the geopolitical space of existence of the Ukrainian ethnic group and the Ukrainian nation, and also bears the imprint of the geopolitical injuries associated with the need for Ukraine to overcome civilizational challenges at key stages of its development. It is emphasized that the problem of the transformation of geopolitical science in the direction of postmodernism, which is a topic of modern Western European humanitarianism, is also actualized by the awareness of the need to modernize the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians. So, in particular, the article emphasizes the newest, integrative possibilities of the Ukrainian studies approach for further research. It is substantiated that the geopolitical consciousness of the Ukrainian community is one of the fundamental factors for the establishment of the geopolitical subjectivity of Ukraine and the modernization of its geopolitical priorities and values in the conditions of countering the global challenges of war. Aspects of further research into the geopolitical consciousness of Ukrainians in the context of the need to affirm its geopolitical subjectivity are proposed.

Pragmatic Semantics in Football Fans’ «Banner» Communication
 in the German Language

The article deals with utterances of German football fans written on banners used by them during matches as a means of communication. Football fans’ discourse is a distinctive linguistic semiotic form that reflexes the world view of representatives
 of this subculture. Despite the diversity of discourses it intersects with and a variety of concepts it exchanges with, it is the fan communication that provides the sports discourse with uniqueness and allows us to regard it as an integral part of the sports linguistic view of the world. Football fans’ discourse is formed by a number of subdiscourses, the so-called banner communication is one of them, possessing a prominent
 perlocutionary effect. The classification of utterances is based upon the theory of speech acts by J. Austin and G. Searle, but it also takes into consideration the latest achievements in this field as well as contemporary principles of pragmatic semantics.
 The article reveals the most effective techniques and mechanisms of building utterances to achieve the required pragmatic effect (metaphor, play on words, precedence, etc.),

Les discours de la mémoire en Europe. La représentation de la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans le discours des manuels français et polonais. Causalité et agentivité

This paper deals with the educational discourse used in French and Polish history textbooks addressed to adolescents and published in a so-called modern-day model of textbooks. The study falls under the continuity of the French discourse analysis in a contrastive dimension, the object of which is the description of different “discursive cultures” based on their verbal productions. The hypothesis developed in this study is that French and Polish textbooks diff er in their representation of causality and agentivity, which contributes, through discourse infl ections, to the construction of two different memories of the course of events. The two concepts mentioned are, indeed, organizing principles of the educational discourse analysed, since indicating explanatory causes and links between phenomena, anticipating and providing an understanding of consequences are an integral part of the educational activity supported by the popularization discourse we analyse. Our analysis is based on the principles of discourse semantics in a comparative perspective.

Communicative and semantic guidelines in professional education for future foreign language teachers for aviators

Relevance. Communicative competence is considered a vital skill of the 21st century in the professional education of future foreign language instructors for aviators, given the processes of internationalisation and globalisation of the global society.Purpose. The purpose of the study is to analyse the features of the development of intercultural and communicative competencies of students in the educational environment, considering the specifics of the aviation industry.Methodology. To achieve this purpose, the following methods were used: deductive, experiment with the use of a survey, and comparative.Results. The results revealed that the incorporation of educational methodologies guided by communicative and semantic principles leads to more effective learning and skill development, which future specialists can actively apply in their professional activities. According to the conducted experiment and survey, it was determined that the experimental group of graduates showed better results in mastering and promoting intercultural and communicative language skills than the control group, causing high motivation and effectiveness in the practical application of abilities. Language learning within the context of communicative and semantic guidelines is presented as a process of consciousness manifestation, forming connections with other knowledge when reflecting on real-world issues. Furthermore, it was established that aviation English language proficiency entails international and specific requirements aimed at ensuring safety and mutual understanding among professionals during their operations. To effectively inform and teach this language within educational programmes, various methodological tools and materials are necessary to consistently enhance and develop language skills in line with the high demands of the field and contemporary society.Conclusions. The practical value of this study lies in its application by academics studying thematic aspects of foreign language within the aviation industry, and educators and specialists in the pedagogical field.

«Тихая жизнь»: вещи и вести в поэтических натюрмортах Светланы Кековой

The article deals with the poetry oeuvre of the modern Russian poet Svetlana Kekova. The goal of this research is to examine texts created in the genre of poetic still life (Tikhaya zhizn (Quiet life), Po reke pechalnoy luna proplyvaet ryboy… (The moon is floating down the sad river like a fish...), Pomme de terre, V starom barake, gde tvoy poyavlyaetsa vrag… (In the old barrack hut where your enemy appears...), Ogon’ veshchey (Fire of things), Sredi nadezhd, raskayanja i strakhov (Among hopes, repentance and fears)). Still lifes in S. Kekova’s poetry is a particular case of the manifestation of a “religious ekphrasis”, due to which the described series of objects acquire a second symbolic meaning. The main place in the article is given to a detailed analysis of the poetic diptych Tikhaya zhizn (Quiet life). Two parts of the cycle address Dutch and Flemish still lifes, though the author’s intentions are connected with the comprehension of a sacred plot that goes back to the New Testament history. The mirror structure of this text has been revealed, the semantic principles underlying the compositional structure of the cycle have been shown. If the “Dutch still lifes” consecutively reflect the key events of the New Testament (The Last Supper, Crucifixion and Resurrection), and all the three poems are united by the idea of the victory of light over darkness and the possibility of salvation, then in the “Flemish still lifes” the author speaks about the sinfulness of the earthly life. The Dutch and Flemish still lifes in Tikhaya zhizn (Quiet life) are contrasted as worlds of salvation and death, which are being infinitely attracted and repelled. Together they represent a complex dialectic of the Christian history. This study pays special attention to the problem of ekphrasis, as it has been found that one of the possible pretexts of the “Flemish still lifes” is the painting “The Meat Stall” by Pieter Aertsen. The article concludes that the main sense-generating mechanism of S. Kekova’s writing is the ability of the author’s view to transfigure earthly things so that you can see echoes of the higher News in them.

A new grounding problem for presentism

The presentist — if she wants her thesis to be consistent with venerable logical–semantic principles, namely, bivalence and excluded middle — must provide a convincing answer to the grounding problem. Given the idea — already present in classical antiquity — that truth supervenes on being, the grounding problem is used by the eternalist to accuse the presentist of not being in a position to offer an adequate ground for truths that concern the past or future. To address this problem, many thinkers evoke metaphysical doctrines regarding abstract object — a truth about Socrates does not include Socrates himself but only his essence or haecceity. Others seek present grounds for future or past truths — nomic presentism — while still others deny the semantic traditions in question or deny that truth supervenes on being. In this article, I present a new grounding problem to the presentist. Under the assumption that time is infinite, I claim that the presentist does not have at her disposal the foundations for truths that concern infinitely distant objects in the future. Moreover, I present a similar argument to refute 'temporalism', the thesis that at least some truths are temporally indexed. To conclude the argumentative phase, I evaluate the traditional presentist perspective that was advanced in some of the above responses to the typical versions of the problem. The objective is to show that the usual answers cannot address the new grounding problem. Accordingly, I conclude that eternalism is better positioned to provide a ground for some truths if time is infinite.

Applications and goals of bioeconomy: a synthesis of the scientific literature

We are living in a time of expanding awareness that natural resources are finite and tend to become increasingly scarce if their uses continue to be made in a disorderly and inconsequential manner. In this sense, this study aimed to make a brief and consistent survey of the literature on the bioeconomy, focusing on its applications and objectives of these applications. To this end, it applied the four stages of the scientific-technological method: formulating guiding research questions, collecting data in scientific databases, organizing it following semantic principles, and generating responses. The results showed that a) bioeconomy is seen in seven different and integrated ways, b) ten distinct forms are well cataloged by science, and c) the objectives of these applications vary by the bioeconomic purpose. The conclusion shows that the bioeconomy is a system that converts natural resources into products by the principles of sustainability, which can be seen in all applications in the literature.

РОЗРОБЛЕННЯ МОВНО–ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОГО ІНСТРУМЕНТАРІЮ АВТОМАТИЗОВАНОГО ЕКСТРАГУВАННЯ З ТЕКСТУ СЕМАНТИЧНОЇ І КОГНІТИВНОЇ ІНФОРМАЦІЇ

The article deals with the role of semantic research for the creation of intelligent systems for automated processing of language information. An approach to the development of linguistic and informational tools for automated extraction of semantic and cognitive information from the text is outlined. The issue of increasing the efficiency of high-quality and fast processing of digital information, the creation of highly intelligent, fast-acting information systems was raised. The theoretical basis of the research is the lexicographic theory of symbolic semantic systems developed by academician V. A. Shyrokov and the theory of semantic states of natural language units built within it, which is based on the principles of lexical semantics and is oriented towards the use of computer technologies in semantic research. An integrated lexicographic system created in the Ukrainian Language and Information Fund of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was selected as the source base of the study, the core component of which is the computer version of the «Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language» in 20 volumes, which is the most representative source of semantic information that provides a description of the lexical meaning of a word according to many parameters with the involvement of pragmatic, connotative, syntagmatic and linguistic contexts. In the study, the formalism of the theory of semantic states is used to build a linguistic and informational toolkit for automatic recognition of semantic and cognitive information in texts written in natural languages. The proposed semantic classifier provides an explicit presentation of the information extracted from the text, which enables its further software processing thanks to the unified interpretation of the operators of the semantic state formula and the results of the semantic indexing of the text. The expediency of using the developed language and information toolkit for solving such important tasks of computer linguistics as determining formal criteria for distinguishing lexical homonyms and LSV of a polysemous word, correct establishment of structural contrasts «meaning — shades», «lexeme — lexical-semantic variants» in interpreting the meaning of the latter, the task of unifying the description of the lexical meaning of words of one semantic field.

Semanticity of Akan Proverbs Promoting Unity and Development

This paper examined the semantic principles of the Akan proverbs that are meant to be applicable to all regardless of nationality, heritage, or social standing. Akan proverbs are more than wise sayings. They have a wide range of uses and show, principally, that the user is wise and well-educated in the customs of the Akan people. The ability to use language enriched by proverbs is considered sage and is the hallmark of great public speaking. The design of the study was qualitative and the instruments used for the data collection were interview and direct observation. The investigation was conducted with thirty (30) native speakers in Goaso Municipality. Purposive sample was used to elicit significant information for the analysis. Ethnography of communication theory underpinned the study. In the Ghanaian Akan traditional set up, proverbs are used to express emotions, convey ideas, and provide inspiring, celebratory, and advisory messages. The analysis revealed that proverbs, as linguistic, cultural and spiritual knowledge, are deeply embedded in Ghanaian life and may function as excellent culturally relevant tools for a localized approach to Ghana and for that matter African development. The results again demonstrated that, some Akan proverbs really promote unity and development as well as norms that regulate the individual activities.
 Much has been done about Akan proverbs in the areas of emotion regulation, situation selection, child upbringing, anger and sadness, caution, peace, etc., all in the domain of pragmatics. However not much has been done about Akan proverbs in terms of semanticity towards promotion of unity and development. According to contemporary youth it is pointless associating proverbs with development and unity. However, aged embraced the concept as one of the fundamental tools that ensures the development of every community. Because of these two ideologies the researchers have decided to bridge the gap. Proverbs provide one snapshot into contemporary Ghanaian society. This investigation will support the existing literature on proverbs. The paper will decondition mindset of youth which will consequently lead to appreciation of proverbs in Akan setting.

Quranic Lexical Semantics of Izutsu and ʻAllāmah Ṭabātabāʼī: a Comparative Appraisal

This study evaluates the principles and methods of Izutsu and ʻAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʼī in the semantics of Quranic concepts, using a comparative analysis. Looking at his semantic principles, it becomes clear that ʻAllāmah believed in more flexibility for the meaning of each word in the text, and this flexibility could bring him closer to the various messages incorporated into the text by the words used by the author, although he did not make full use of this capacity in practice. In contrast, Izutsu emphasized the principle that the meanings of words change in relation to individuals’ changing worldview. Although this principle facilitated better semantics of the Quranic concepts, it also abandoned the basic core meaning of words, replacing them with alternative, false meanings. Additional-ly, it did not specify the principles of sentence semantics and had an ineffective method of analyzing conflicts in the meanings of a word in the text, especially in a religious text. The semantic principle used by Allāmah appears to be more efficient in understanding the real message of the text. Therefore, a fusion of his method with Izutsu’s ‘semantic fields’ would be a big step towards achieving a correct understanding of the meanings of Quranic words.

Procedural generation of semantically plausible small-scale towns

Procedural techniques have been successfully utilized for generating various kinds of 3D models. In this study, we propose a procedural method to build 3D towns that can be manipulated by a set of high-level semantic principles namely security, privacy, sustainability, social-life, economy, and beauty. Based on the user defined weights of these principles, our method generates a 3D settlement to accommodate a desired population over a given terrain. Our approach firstly determines where to establish the settlement over the large terrain which is followed by iteratively constructing the town. In both steps, the principles guide the decisions and our method generates natural looking small-scale 3D residential regions similar to the cities of pre-industrial era. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach to build semantically plausible town models by presenting sample results over real world based terrains.

PRINCIPLES OF ANTONYMOUS LEXEMIC COMBINATION IN INDONESIAN

This article deals with Indonesian lexemic combination whose elements consisting of lexemes having antonymous meaning. By using data collected introspectively whose grammaticality and acceptability are tested with other Indonesian native speakers, it is found that the combinations are governed by three main principles, i.e. formal, semantic, and stylistic principles. The formal principle can further be classified into rhyming, phonological, and length principle. While, the semantic principle can be differentiated into marked, diametric and chronological, equity, idiomatic, and gender principle. Those principles seems to be hierarchical whose dominance has not been revealed in this research. Therefore, the more serious research concerning this matter is urgently needed.