Semantic Organization Research Articles

СИНКРЕТИЗМ ЗНАЧЕНИЙ В СЕМАНТИЧЕСКОЙ СТРУКТУРЕ ПРЕДЛОЖЕНИЯ

The article discusses separate definitions of syncretic semantics, which are analyzed from the standpoint of an integral description of lexical-semantic and morphological-syntactic features that ensure the formation of the meaning of a sentence. A comprehensive analysis combining semantic and formal-grammatical features of linguistic units makes it possible to identify essential systemic features of sentences with separate definitions of syncretic semantics. Constructions with separate definitions of syncretic semantics are considered taking into account the interaction of different sides of the sentence organization – formal, semantic and communicative. At the same time, the main attention is paid to the content side of the proposals. The work is based on the method of synchronous description, aimed at identifying semantic relations in the structure of a sentence. The research also uses elements of the component analysis of lexemes and the transformation method. The aim of the article is to determine the factors that form the syncretism of meanings in separate definitions; trace the relationship between the semantic and formal organization of such structures. The author has come to the conclusion that additional adverbial relations in sentences with separate definitions of syncretic semantics arise on the basis of the correlation of the semantics of propositions indicated by a separate attribute and the main part of a sentence. The structure of isolated definitions at the semantic level is potentially isomorphic to the structure of a sentence, which leads to the semantic complexity of constructions with isolation and determines their semantic-syntactic asymmetry. There is a semantic "deployment" of a monopredicative unit into a polypropositive one.

Image of the Human World and Semantic Organization of Lexicon in Interdisciplinary Linguistics

The article deals with the issues related to the development of principles and methods of semantic organization of lexicon in order to create linguistic resources of various types: dictionaries, databases, corpora, etc. Different techniques of semantic organization of lexicon are viewed as methodological bases for interdisciplinary approaches to investigation of the human image of the world. The issues are studied with reference to different approaches that concern fundamental contradictions between the language and conceptual models of representing the world. Using the reverse dictionary of the associative-verbal database SIBAS, the author conducts a statistical macro-level analysis to stratify the verbal units (the nodes of the SIBAS associative-verbal network) according to the intensity and extension of their incoming links. Thus identified at different levels of stability, SIBAS associative-verbal dominants are matched with the frequency ratings of the relevant lexical items in the textual basis of the Russian National Corpus; they are also matched with the associative dimensions of the Russian language personality, which were discovered earlier on the model of the Russian associative-verbal network in the epoch of perestroika. The author analyzes the part-of speech statistics of the associative dominants, their correlations with the ontogenetically basic concepts, as well as with the glottochronologically basic lexical meanings. Against this background, the author assesses the methodological significance and heuristic potential of the techniques of analysis on the experimentally obtained Russian associative-verbal network, where the conceptual and linguistic models of the world are balanced naturally as a spontaneous (instinctive) manifestation of the intentionality of the Russian language personality.

Semantic Organization Development of Chinese Preschool Children from a Dynamic Semantic Network Perspective

Semantic Organization Development of Chinese Preschool Children from a Dynamic Semantic Network Perspective

Textual Coherence and Language Means of Its Expression in German

This article addresses the textual category of coherence and discusses verbal means of its expression. The paper analyzes textual connections that mirror systemic relations between objects, phenomena and processes of a "primary" reality. The paper argues that language units of different levels can be addressed as markers of textual connections which contribute to the semantic organization and shaping the text's formal structure. The paper distinguishes the following types of textual connections: lexical, grammatical, word-forming, stylistic, structural-compositional, etc. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon of word-forming textual connections. The paper highlights patterns of the said units' repetition and interaction within the text. The paper focuses on the binary semantics of derivatives and argues that it is responsible for both explicit and implicit representation of textual connections. In particular, derived nouns employing suffixes -ung and -tion are identified as language markers responsible for explicating diverse textual connections. Text-forming and text-binding functions of suffixed derivatives depend on their systemic characteristics i.e. their semantic motivation, a certain isomorphism of their word-forming structure and semantics, as well as semantic correlations of suffixes -ung and -tion in the language system and in the text. Linear unfolding of the text determines the respective arrangement of text's components. This unfolding of the textual space as a surface structure is determined by the components' local micro-arrangements and quantitative representation of different types of connections in the text field. The paper regards these phenomena as both functional and stylistic characteristics of the text.

The semantic organization of the entry γίνομαι in Greek New Testament lexicons. A comparativestudy

After consulting the entry γίνομαι in the Louw-Nida (L-N) and Bauer-Danker (BDAG) Greek New Testament dictionaries, it is found that these dictionaries do not explain why γίνομαι changes in meaning and translation in the different contexts and which criteria are followed for the organization of this entry. In the first part of this paper we present an abbreviated entry of what will appear in the sixth fascicle of the Diccionario Griego-Español del Nuevo Testamento (DGENT) in process of publication, and a new organization of it is proposed considering the various aspectual values of γίνομαι that cause the changes in meaning and translation in context. After that we present a brief criticism of this entry in the cited dictionaries to finish comparing their definitions –when given– with those of the DGENT.

КОНЦЕПЦИЯ МЕЖТЕКСТОВЫХ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЙ М. Г. АРАНОВСКОГО В СОВРЕМЕННОМ МУЗЫКОЗНАНИИ УРАЛА

The article discusses some of the notable and promising ideas of M. G. Aranovsky, developed into a theory of intertextual interactions. Having independent scientific and applied significance, this theory has found a continuation in a number of studies by the Ural musicologists of the last decade. These works, aimed at exploring the semantic organization of musical text by composers of different eras and styles, are based on the methodology of the outstanding scientist, whose unique theory as a result receives further life and development. The article attempts to determine the value and prospects of these works and, in this regard, analyzes the main provisions, observations and generalizations presented in some of the most interesting studies, carried out using the tools of intertextual interactions analysis and solving the problem of comprehending the processes of textual meaning making. In assessing the prospects for the concept of intertextual interactions, the application of M. G. Aranovsky's theory provides an opportunity to answer questions about the meaning of composers' appeal to "alien" musical material, about the ways and principles of forming a new text, about the specificity of artistic thinking, in general. At the same time, the study of intertextual interactions opens perspectives for comprehending the processes of intercultural exchange.

ARTISTIC AND EXPRESSIVE MEANS IN THE LANGUAGE AND POETIC PALETTE OF THE AHATANHEL KRYMSKY: TYPOLOGY AND FUNCTIONS

In the offered article it is noted that one of the most important problems of the Ukrainian linguistic stylistics – revealing of features of realization of language units in works of art, in particular and in poetic. A. Krymskyi’s poetry is full of stylistic figures that express the artist’s opinion embodied in verse. These stylistic devices provided a background sound image that brightened the depicted pictures of nature or images from the life of society, portrait descriptions or inner experiences of the lyrical hero. Stylistic and syntactic expanses of A. Krymskyi’s poetry are distinguished by sophistication and diversity. The author resorts to homeothelium, gradation, polysyndeton, parallelism, anaphora, epistrophe. The article considers the stylistic figures realized in the poetic works of Ahatanhel Krymskyi. The expediency of the analysis confirms that the linguistic and poetic practice of this artist has been overlooked by researchers so far. The author of the article concludes that in the structural-compositional and semantic organization of poetic works of the important role is played by means of sound recording (assonance, alliteration, equiphony, metaphony, onomatopoeia), lexical and grammatical techniques units of linguistic and artistic expression (parallelism, anaphora, homeoteleut, gradation, polysyndeton, inversion, chiasm). The characterized pictorial and expressive means rhythmize the poetic system, shade the hidden meanings, harmonize the content of the work in accordance with the author’s intentions. From the above it is concluded that in the structural-compositional and semantic organization of the poetic works of Ahatanhel Krymskyi play an important role stylistic figures, which are based on different levels of language units. Selected and described pictorial and expressive means rhythmize the poetic system, shade the hidden meanings, harmonize the content of the work in accordance with the author’s intentions.

Crystallisation of meaning as a technique for forming intercultural communicative competence within the real–virtual dichotomy

The article explores the formation of intercultural communicative competence within the framework of the “real – virtual” dichotomy. The principal instrument of formation is the meaning crystallisation technique based on the material of media discourse as well as computer and art-specific types of discourse. The discourse is viewed as a complex structural and semantic formation, an axiological system that has a definite functional perspective; it represents itself as a domain for realisation of specific values or their facets depending on the situational context, as actualisation of interaction between textual structures and extra-linguistic factors. The discourse is based on the system of concepts relevant for intercultural communication. The concept is a totality of meanings representing an axiological category that is important within the space of a particular discourse. Language is social and pragmatic in its core; therefore, the substantive and semantic aspects of linguistic units are connected with socio-cultural factors, the ways of vision and comprehension of objects. The relevance of research in this sphere is determined by: 1) the growing interest in the problems of dialogue of cultures and intercultural communication; 2) the attention of researchers to the structural and semantic organisation of discursive spheres; 3) the specificity of communication types that have a significant impact on the social worldview; 4) the importance of identification and formation of axiological benchmarks in the society; 5) the features related with extension of the virtual interaction sphere. Crystallisation is principally a process in which interpretation is used to trace the semantic content of words that, in the context of thinking or art, becomes independent of the norm fixed by dictionary definitions. The study of crystallisation processes involves the analysis of concepts in terms of dialogue of cultures. Concepts are verbalised in accordance with the nature and uniqueness of material, spiritual and social culture, in close connection with linguistic and pragmatic components. The research results can be used in courses on foreign language teaching methodology, theory and practice of intercultural communication, discourse theory, stylistics, and interpretation of texts.

Syncretism of the New Year’s Greetings Genre: Bilingual Ranking and Strategic Intentions

The article covers issues related to the New Year’s addresses of Vyacheslav Zelimkhanovich Bitarov, the head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, and the Anatoly Ilyich Bibilov, President of the Republic of South Ossetia. as the specifics of political communication small form genre. The genre features and cultural and historical characteristics of the New Year’s address of the head of state are identified and described. The study is based on the methodological platforms of genre analysis, approaches to typologization of speech genres, methods of communication strategies analyzing, methods and techniques of cognitive analysis, methods of conceptological analysis, methods of contextual analysis. The authors identified the typologically inherent characteristics in this political discourse genre based on the multidimensional classification criteria. A detailed analysis of the structural and semantic organization of the New Year address has been carried out. Variants of language codes switching are revealed, namely parity messages duplication, summarization in the Ossetian language, circular bilingual representation of the text. An optical mode of ritual appeal, represented by prayer formulas, has been determined. The types of performativity realized through etiquette congratulations and generally accepted wishes, ethnic well-wishes and clichéd fragments of Ossetian toast-prayers are considered. . The basic concepts of the of New Year’s messages cognitive space are described, including ethnospecific Ossetian concepts «куывд»”(kuyvd”), «фарн» (“farn), «бæркад» (“bаrkad”) and universal concepts “values”, “past”, “future”, “achievements”. The originality of the appeal texts targeting is indicated, it consists in the native land – Ossetia (Iriston) personification and the ethnos differentiation into the North and South Ossetians. According to the study results, it was established that the congratulation texts of the North and South Ossetias leaders are generated on the basis of a stable model, which possesses the genre in political discourse institutional features and ethnic features of traditional Ossetian communication.

К проблеме музыкальной самоорганизации эпического искусства (на примере азербайджанского героического эпоса)

The article analyzes a number of discursive features of the epos “Kitabi Dede Korkud” and the supposition is brought forward that the basic forms of the Turkic syllabic versification and the musical types corresponding to them have crystallized themselves in the nonlinear environment of the alliterative system. The nonlinear processes of development are also characteristic for the traditional tunes of the “Kyoroglu” epos. Some of the regularities of the musical rhythmical organization of the Kyoroglu tunes may be explained by their genetic connection with the metro- rhythmic features of the “Kitabi Dede Korkhud” epos. The author arrives at the conclusion that the specific features of the self-organization of the heroic epos manifest themselves not only in epic monuments, but also in the works of Azerbaijani composers, in particular, in the opera “Kyoroglu” written by the founder of the Azerbaijan compositional school Uzeir Gadzhibeili. The author brings out the assumption that such foundational concepts for the semantic organization of the early Turkic epos as the panegyric, lamentation, heroic struggle, etc. carried out the functions of separate attractors during the course of the subsequent development of epic art. Keywords: Turkic epos, self-organization, attractor, “Kitabi Dede Korkud,” Uzeir Gadzhibeili, the opera “Kyoroglu.”

Multimedia metadata modeling

In recent years, there is a significant growth of semantically related and distributed data on the Web. In this context, metadata standards recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium have been used to describe and represent multimedia resources, making it possible to expand access points and improve the management, organization and recovery of digital resources on the network. A problem commonly found in institutional databases is the integrated treatment of heterogeneous data and the lack of standardization in description formats. The description of numerous items is generally carried out independently, with idiosyncratic standards of description, emphasizing different characteristics to be described and different terminologies to describe them, disregarding interoperability requirements between communities. The present research sought to advance in the forms of representation of multimedia documents with texts, videos, images, 3D models, audios, proposing an Ontological Model of Multimedia Reference capable of semantically organizing types of metadata to describe multimedia content in different contexts and needs. Methodologically, the modeling proposal was based on multimedia ontologies better placed in a ranking obtained from the NeOn Methodology guide, which ensured the selection of adequate knowledge resources in light of functional and non-functional requirements. The Ontological Model of Multimedia Reference proposed fundamental ontological classes and relationships from mappings and semantic alignments between reused ontologies, promoting a comprehensive architecture for the semantic organization of multimedia metadata addressed mainly to applications that deal with information resources on the Web.

Pretend Play and Early Language Development—Relationships and Impacts: A Comprehensive Literature Review

This article reviews pretend play and its impact on and association with children’s language. Studies have shown the significant relationship between the two domains; however, more intervention research needs conducting to validate the causal impact of pretend play. Nevertheless, several studies exploring its effects on early language reported that pretend play is connected with children’s semantic diversity and semantic organization development; their level of using syntax and combining words in a creative way to fulfill the needs of fantasy as well. During pretend play, children practice and show advanced competence of using certain speech acts being appropriate with different contexts.

Age-Specific Effects of Lexical-Semantic Networks on Word Production.

The lexical–semantic organization of the mental lexicon is bound to change across the lifespan. Nevertheless, the effects of lexical–semantic factors on word processing are usually based on studies enrolling young adult cohorts. The current study aims to investigate to what extent age‐specific semantic organization predicts performance in referential word production over the lifespan, from school‐age children to older adults. In Study 1, we conducted a free semantic association task with participants from six age‐groups (ranging from 10 to 80 years old) to compute measures that capture age‐specific properties of the mental lexicon across the lifespan. These measures relate to lifespan changes in the Available Richness of the mental lexicon and in the lexical–semantic Network Prototypicality of concrete words. In Study 2, we used the collected data to predict performance in a picture‐naming task on a new group of participants within the same age‐groups as for Study 1. The results show that age‐specific semantic Available Richness and Network Prototypicality affect word production speed while the semantic variables collected only in young adults do not. A richer and more prototypical semantic network across subjects from a given age‐group is associated with faster word production speed. The current results indicate that age‐specific semantic organization is crucial to predict lexical–semantic behaviors across the lifespan. Similarly, these results also provide cues to the understanding of the lexical–semantic properties of the mental lexicon and to lexical selection in referential tasks.

ТИПОЛОГИЯ СТРУКТУРНОСЕМАНТИЧЕСКОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ФРАЗЕОЛОГИЗМОВ В БЛОКЕ ПРИ ИХ КОНЦЕНТРИРОВАННОМ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИИ В ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННОЙ ПРОЗЕ М.А. ШОЛОХОВА

The artistic prose of M. A. Sholokhov is characterized by a large number of phraseological locutions, their concentrated use in the text, as well as non-trivial compatibility of phraseological locutions among themselves. Concentrated used phraseological locutions make in units. Differences in the structural and semantic organization of them in the unit are the basis for their typology. By similarity / difference of the structural organization of phraseological locutions in the unit there are similar structural phraseological units, phraseological locutions with different structure, and locutions that are members of the same phraseological nest. According to the type of paradigmatic relations between phraseological locutions synonymic, antonymic, hyper-hyponymic and syncretic units of phraseological locutions are distinguished in the unit. The number of phraseological units in a block can vary from two to five (sometimes more). In the text of a complex syntactic whole phraseological units can be located contact or distant. By syntactic organization units of phraseological locutions with common conjugation relations and phraseological units with complex syntactic organization are distinguished. Due to the concentrated use of phraseological locutions, the writer intensifies the imagery and expressiveness of phraseological locutions, actualizes certain semes of meanings, increases their aesthetic value.

Aphorism as a Holistic Text: Mechanisms of Structural and Semantic Organization

Aphorism as a Holistic Text: Mechanisms of Structural and Semantic Organization

Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Cognitive Training and Transfer Effects in Stroke Patients.

Stroke lesions are frequently followed by cognitive impairments. Cognitive training is a non-pharmacological intervention that can promote neural compensation mechanisms and strategies to remediate cognitive impairments. The aims of this study were: (1) To investigate the cognitive performance, generalization effects, and neural correlates of semantic organization strategy training (SOST) in patients with chronic left frontoparietal stroke and healthy controls (HC); and (2) to compare the behavioral effects and neural correlates of SOST with an active control psychoeducation intervention (PI). In this randomized controlled study, all participants were randomly allocated into two groups, one group received SOST, and the other received PI intervention. Participants underwent two fMRI sessions, one prior and the other, after intervention. In each fMRI session, images were obtained during memory encoding task using a list of semantically related words. We found improved post-intervention memory performance in participants that received SOST (both patients and controls), indicated by number of words recalled, word clustering scores, and performance in a generalization task. The fMRI analysis revealed negative correlation between task performance and regions of the default-mode network. These results suggest that cognitive training using semantic organization strategy can improve episodic memory performance and promote potential functional neuroplasticity in patients with ischemic stroke lesions.Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03644290.

The Role of Co-Occurrence Statistics in Developing Semantic Knowledge.

The organization of our knowledge about the world into an interconnected network of concepts linked by relations profoundly impacts many facets of cognition, including attention, memory retrieval, reasoning, and learning. It is therefore crucial to understand how organized semantic representations are acquired. The present experiment investigated the contributions of readily observable environmental statistical regularities to semantic organization in childhood. Specifically, we investigated whether co-occurrence regularities with which entities or their labels more reliably occur together than with others (a) contribute to relations between concepts independently and (b) contribute to relations between concepts belonging to the same taxonomic category. Using child-directed speech corpora to estimate reliable co-occurrences between labels for familiar items, we constructed triads consisting of a target, a related distractor, and an unrelated distractor in which targets and related distractors consistently co-occurred (e.g., sock-foot), belonged to the same taxonomic category (e.g., sock-coat), or both (e.g., sock-shoe). We used an implicit, eye-gaze measure of relations between concepts based on the degree to which children (N=72, age 4-7years) looked at related versus unrelated distractors when asked to look for a target. The results indicated that co-occurrence both independently contributes to relations between concepts and contributes to relations between concepts belonging to the same taxonomic category. These findings suggest that sensitivity to the regularity with which different entities co-occur in children's environments shapes the organization of semantic knowledge during development. Implications for theoretical accounts and empirical investigations of semantic organization are discussed.

Sleep, sleep spindles, and cognitive functions in drug-naive patients with first-episode psychosis.

Various lines of clinical findings have suggested abnormalities in macro- or microstructural parameters of sleep in patients with schizophrenia. Meanwhile findings are inconclusive due to some confounding factors, such as the heterogeneity of the disorder, drug regimen, and duration of the illness. There are a few studies in the literature that have been conducted on drug-free patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Based on this knowledge, we aimed to explore sleep characteristics, sleep spindles, and neuropsychological profiles of the drug-naive patients with FEP. The study sample consisted of 21 drug-naive patients with FEP and 21 healthy participants. Polysomnography recordings were conducted for 2 subsequent nights. A neuropsychological test battery was administered for assessing cognitive functions. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was applied to measure symptom severity of the patients. Spindle detection was performed visually. According to the results of the study, the patient group's percentage of stage N2 sleep and sleep efficiency index was lower than in the control group. Among sleep spindle parameters, spindle density was found to be reduced in the patient group. The results of neuropsychological tests measuring executive functions, learning, and memory support the idea that there is a global cognitive deterioration from the early course of the disorder. In the psychotic group, negative symptoms were negatively correlated with verbal memory, learning, verbal fluency, and semantic organization. We found that the percentage of stage N3 sleep decreased while negative symptom severity increased. In addition, the percentage of stage N1 sleep increased as negative symptom severity increased. Reduction in stage N3 sleep was associated with an impairment in learning, verbal fluency, and response inhibition. The sleep spindle density and cognitive functions did not show any associations. Taken together, these findings suggest that patients with FEP show global cognitive impairment (except for attention and processing speed), which is associated with changes in sleep architecture and higher score in a scale assessing negative symptoms. We conclude that cognitive function and spindle parameters differ nonlinearly among patients with FEP.

Semantic Studies of Organisation and Functioning of Mental Lexicon

The review article discusses the key problems of semantic organization of the mental lexicon. It is understood as a dynamic, cognitively organized semantic network of lexical units. The paper presents the characteristics of the main models of semantic organization of mental vocabulary, highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. It is noted that currently connectionist models are developing most actively. Among them there are the following: the small world network, which considers a certain fragment of the lexicon; thesaurus models that combine all units of the lexicon; computational and distributive models that build relationships between a large number of units based on corpus data about shared usage. The author analyses the sources of information about the organization of the mental lexicon, among which the leading position is occupied by the results of associative experiments and priming. It is revealed that research is also carried out on the subjects’ intuitive assessments of word similarity, analysis of unintentional speech errors. Neuropsychological technologies are used to study the mental lexicon. The problem of semantic relations in the mental lexicon, which are described using a “spatial” metaphor, is discussed separately: semantic proximity is considered as a distance or a vector.

Язык научно-профессионального общения в системе лингвокоммуникативной подготовки специалиста технического вуза

The article describes the linguodidactic foundations of the course on teaching culture of scientific speech for graduate students of a technical university. The article presents the content structure of this course and its accompanying textbook, aimed at familiarizing students with the specifics of the language of science, the subfields and genres of scientific speech, the features of the compositional and semantic organization and language design of the scientific text.