Classroom code-switching among postgraduate EFL students in Saudi Arabia: Attitudes, reasons, and perceptions.

Norm, the formal theoretical linguist, and Claudette, the computational language scientist, have a lovely time discussing whether modern language models can inform important questions in the language sciences. Just as they are about to part ways until they meet again, 25 of their closest friends show up - from linguistics, neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, and computer science. We use this discussion to highlight what we see as some common underlying issues: the String Statistics Strawman (the mistaken idea that LMs can't be linguistically competent or interesting because they, like their Markov model predecessors, are statistical models that learn from strings) and the As Good As It Gets Assumption (the idea that LM research as it stands in 2026 is the limit of what it can tell us about linguistics). We clarify the role of LM-based work for scientific insights into human language and advocate for a more expansive research program for the language sciences in the AI age, one that takes on the commentators' concerns in order to produce a better and more robust science of both human language and of LMs.

Although psycho‐/neuro‐linguistics has assumed a distinction between morphological and syntactic structure building as in traditional theoretical linguistics, this distinction has been increasingly challenged by theoretical linguists in recent years. Opposing a sharp, lexicalist distinction between morphology and syntax, non‐lexicalist theories propose common morpho‐syntactic structure‐building operations that cut across the realms of “morphology” and “syntax,” which are considered distinct territories in lexicalist theories. Taking advantage of two pairs of contrasts in Mandarin Chinese with desirable linguistic properties, namely, compound versus simplex nouns (the “morphology” contrast, differing in morphological structure complexity per lexicalist theories) and separable versus inseparable verbs (the “syntax” contrast, differing in syntactic structure complexity per lexicalist theories), we report one of the first pieces of evidence for shared neural responses for morphological and syntactic structure complexity in language comprehension, supporting a non‐lexicalist view where shared neural computations are employed across morpho‐syntactic structure building. Specifically, we observed that the two contrasts both modulated neural responses in left anterior and centro‐parietal electrodes in an a priori 275:400 ms time window, corroborated by topographical similarity analyses. These results serve as preliminary yet prima facie evidence toward shared neural computations across morphological and syntactic structure building in language comprehension.

Arsen Aytinian (1825–1902), a prominent representative of European Armenian studies, a theorist of linguistics and a practical researcher of the history of the Armenian language. He left an indelible mark on the advancement of Armenian studies in the field of linguistics and philology in general. The activity of the Vienna Mekhitarist Congregation in the second half of the 19th century is fully connected with his name. He was an authority in the field of Armenian language in the context of general and theoretical linguistics of his time - a field that has broadly illuminated the development of Armenian studies from the very beginning and to this day.

This article explores the symbiotic relationship between scientific-research activity and pedagogical proficiency among university English language tutors. The author argues that research is not merely an administrative requirement but a foundational component of modern academic labor that informs classroom practice, enhances student outcomes, and facilitates professional growth. By bridging the gap between theoretical linguistics and practical methodology, tutors can integrate innovative technologies and evidence-based strategies to ensure high-quality educational results. Drawing on the concept of "Action Research," the study posits that educators who systematically investigate their own practices exhibit higher levels of adaptabi-lity and job satisfaction. Research serves as the engine for adopting cutting-edge frameworks such as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Flipped Classrooms, and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). Professional Competencies: Engagement in research fosters lifelong learning, cognitive development regarding sociolinguistic shifts (e.g., English as a Lingua Franca), and analytical skills for diagnosing learning gaps. Institutional Impact: Beyond the classroom, research contributions through publications and conferences elevate institutional rankings and ensure curriculum rigor. The article catego-rizes 25 priority areas for research, emphasizing: AI & digital innovation; cognition & instruction; socio-cultural pedagogy; specific purposes; critical skills for the researcher-tutor. The author outlines essential competencies required to bridge the research-teaching gap: traditional skills; pedagogical-specific skills; modern adaptive skills in particular ICT literacy for evaluating AI tools and collaborative networking across intercultural perspectives. The study concludes that scientific-research work moves the teaching profession from "intuition-based" to "evidence-based," reducing pedagogical burnout by transforming repetitive tasks into ongoing scientific inquiry. Future exploration is recommen-ded regarding institutional support systems and the use of AI tools for "Micro-Research" within the classroom.

ABSTRACT A major current approach in theoretical linguistics proposes that there is only a partial, defeasible correspondence between syntax and semantics: meaning and grammar are autonomous, parallel components in the architecture of language. This fact still lacks a satisfactory account. One type of explanation could be provided in terms of computational capability: architectures that separate out meaning and grammar into two processing streams might perform better in tasks that require the system to attend to syntactic vs semantic aspects of sentences. We compare single-stream vs dual-stream transformer architectures, which we train and test on data sets from two event-related brain potential (ERP) studies, with a variety of syntactically and semantically challenging sentences. The single-stream model showed greater sensitivity (the probability that a given sentence s from set S is labelled as belonging to S) with syntactic anomalies, whereas the dual-stream model showed greater sensitivity with semantic anomalies. However, overall, the two models classified sentences with similar accuracy: there were no general advantages for either architecture. Our results are a counterexample to the notion that the functional separation of meaning and grammar in the architecture of human language can be explained in strictly computational terms.

The article addresses the issue of Anglicisation of the Ukrainian language, a process significant both for theoretical Ukrainian linguistics and for its applied aspects, particularly in the field of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language. Anglicisms enrich the Ukrainian linguistic space in a distinctive way, yet lexicons of Anglicisms do not always respond swiftly to new linguistic phenomena. As a result, dictionary compilers often overlook certain aspects, which manifests in the representation of lexico-semantic variants, the explanation of their adaptation features, and the indication of their semantic extension. The analysis highlights: (1) the need to unify the terminology used to denote linguistic units borrowed from English linguoculture, recommending the popularisation of the term anglizm (Anglicism); and (2) the interpretation of this process as a moderate phenomenon (moderate Anglicisation). This process exhibits several features, in particular: (3) Anglicisms generally have two borrowing forms – the actualisation of Latin script and their simultaneous transformation using Ukrainian orthography. In addition, (4) orthographic variability is observed, motivated by different principles of rendering English sounds with Ukrainian equivalents. (5) Anglicisms demonstrate semantic and word-formation potential, which manifests in the modelling of new derivatives (through the formation of derivational pairs, chains, and nests) and the expansion of semantic structures based on relevant extralinguistic factors. (6) By actualising national distinctiveness, borrowed Anglicisms form diminutives and comparative adjective forms, including those that deviate from existing norms, thereby activating the evaluative potential of borrowed forms. Moreover, Anglicisms contribute to the refinement of paradigmatic relations by modelling synonymic series and antonymic pairs, although their necessity is not always linguistically motivated. A drawback of Anglicisation is the increase in the number of paronyms. The prospects for further research lie in identifying and characterising pseudo-Anglicisms.

Common ground is the information that the participants in a conversation treat as background information for the purposes of their interaction. We review two traditions of research on common ground. The formal tradition, consisting mainly of theoretical linguists and philosophers of language, has developed increasingly sophisticated formal models of common ground to generate predictions about an expanding range of empirical phenomena. Meanwhile, the psycholinguistic tradition has focused on a narrower range of phenomena while developing more realistic theories of the psychological mechanisms that allow us to select and represent common ground. After summarizing these two traditions, we consider several reasons why they should be reintegrated, and we argue that the best way to bring them back together would be to adopt a cognitive-pluralist approach, whereby language users have access to a variety of mechanisms for managing background information, which are more or less available and efficient depending on the communicative situation and the kind of information mentally represented as well as the cognitive demands of each mechanism.

This study preliminarily explores the relationship between the use of ChatGPT as an AI tool and Moroccan university students’ linguistic argumentation, taking syntax as a case study. This research project aims to better understand how tools like ChatGPT may influence students’ reasoning and argumentative skills in the field of syntax. A quantitative research design was adopted, using questionnaires distributed to 91 Moroccan EFL students from various educational levels (B.A., Master’s, and doctoral studies). Our main finding is that the majority of students used ChatGPT to solve issues related to theoretical linguistics. Nevertheless, the majority either stayed neutral or had negative attitudes towards ChatGPT improving their ability to critically analyze syntactic data and are confident to analyze data without ChatGPT. The implication behind this research is the cautious attitude towards using ChatGPT: It is used as a means but never a replacement for the traditional learning process.

Abstract- Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī represents one of the earliest and most sophisticated formal descriptions of a natural language, predating modern linguistic theory by over two millennia. This paper examines the Aṣṭādhyāyī as a formal grammar system, analyzing its rule-based architecture, meta-rules, and derivational mechanisms through the lens of contemporary formal linguistics and computational grammar. We argue that Pāṇini’s use of concise sūtras, ordered rule application, and interpretive principles such as anuvṛtti (rule inheritance) and vipratiṣedha (conflict resolution) constitute a generative system with properties comparable to modern formal grammars. The study highlights parallels between the Aṣṭādhyāyī and later developments in automata theory, context-sensitive grammars, and algorithmic rule systems, while also emphasizing features that exceed or differ from standard Western models of grammar. By situating Pāṇini’s work within the framework of formal systems, this paper demonstrates its relevance to theoretical linguistics, the history of logic, and computational approaches to natural language, underscoring the Aṣṭādhyāyī as a foundational and still-influential model of formal grammatical theory.

This study investigates the complex relationship between semantic polysemy and syntactic structures in contemporary English. Semantic polysemy refers to the phenomenon in which a single word carries multiple related meanings, with interpretation shifting according to syntactic and pragmatic context. This variability reflects the flexibility of language and the cognitive mechanisms that allow speakers to adapt meaning to diverse communicative situations. By analyzing how polysemous words function across different syntactic environments, the research shows that meaning is not static but dynamically shaped by grammatical structure and contextual usage. The methodology is qualitative, focusing on detailed examination of polysemous words in literature, academic discourse, and online media. Each occurrence was analyzed to determine how syntactic variation influences interpretation. This approach provides a comprehensive view of the mechanisms through which syntax interacts with semantics to generate multiple layers of meaning. The findings reveal that structures such as subordination, repetition, and inversion play significant roles in activating specific semantic nuances, underscoring the importance of syntax in shaping interpretation. The study also adopts a comparative perspective, drawing on examples from contemporary English poetry, particularly the works of Carolyn Forché. Her innovative use of syntax illustrates how polysemy can be enriched through poetic language, inviting readers to explore multiple interpretations and enhancing the emotional and thematic depth of her texts. The analysis shows that syntactic devices such as repetition and variation are not merely stylistic ornaments but essential mechanisms for constructing meaning and guiding interpretive processes. Beyond theoretical linguistics, the implications of this research extend to applied fields. In natural language processing and artificial intelligence, a nuanced understanding of polysemy and its syntactic conditioning is crucial for improving systems that aim to approximate human communication. In language pedagogy, insights into the relationship between syntax and semantic variability can inform teaching strategies that help learners navigate complexities of meaning. The study highlights that awareness of syntactic interplay can enhance learners’ ability to interpret texts more flexibly and creatively. In conclusion, this research contributes to the broader field of linguistics by demonstrating that semantic polysemy cannot be fully understood without considering its syntactic environment. By integrating qualitative, corpus-based, and comparative approaches, the study offers valuable insights into the dynamic nature of language, its cognitive foundations, and its expressive potential. The findings emphasize that syntax is not only a structural framework but also a key factor in the construction and interpretation of meaning.

In recent decades, theoretical linguistics has produced a number of successful studies, and the investigation of modern linguistics together with its newly emerging fields has become a focal point of scholarly attention. Within this context, cognitive linguistics – derived from cognitive science – treats language as the primary material through which the mind is studied. The present article examines the conceptualization of the human inner world through the concepts of happiness, love, and friendship, with special attention to their linguistic realization in Uzbek and English discourse. The notion of concept is discussed as a multi-layered cognitive formation whose scope exceeds that of a dictionary “notion,” since it encodes culturally shared knowledge and evaluative experience. Love is approached as an empirical emotion and an evaluative attitude, and its interpretations are described through everyday, general-philosophical, and artistic manifestations. The analysis draws on Uzbek literary material (including examples associated with Abdulla Qahhor’s Muhabbat) and paremiological data, while also engaging English-language evidence. Happiness is further explored through etymological and lexical-semantic observations, including synonymic clusters and culturally salient associations. Friendship is discussed as an affective and ethical construct interconnected with love and “heart/soul” lexemes, revealing conceptual overlap and pragmatic nuance. Overall, the study argues that inner-world concepts are shaped by cultural models, lexical-semantic fields, and discourse patterns, and that cross-linguistic comparison helps reveal both universal and culture-specific conceptual features.

Introduction:This study investigates sentence comprehension in Mandarin-English bilinguals, focusing on whether the widely reported, yet contested, subject-relative processing advantage extends to bilingual speakers. We evaluate which theoretical accounts, based on syntactic structure and canonicity, best explain cross-linguistic patterns of sentence processing.Methods:Using a sentence-picture matching task, we examined the comprehension of canonical (e.g., actives) and non-canonical (e.g., passives) sentence structures in English and Mandarin for bilingual speakers of varying ages and Mandarin and English proficiency levels across two separate studies (n = 18 and n = 35).Results:In English, bilingual participants exhibited a robust canonical sentence advantage across studies, with better comprehension of subject-relative over object-relative sentences and active over passive sentences, mirroring monolingual processing patterns. However, in Mandarin, comprehension patterns were less robust and more variable. While subject-relative and object-relative comprehension did not significantly differ at the group level, passive vs. active sentences consistently posed greater difficulty and increased performance variability across both studies, particularly among lower-performing individuals.Discussion:These results suggest that sentence comprehension is shaped by language-specific constraints rather than a universal subject-relative advantage. Findings align with unified theoretical accounts that incorporate canonicity-based and structural factors, including word order, syntactic structure, and experience-, usage-, and frequency-based influences. Our results highlight the complex interplay between the aforementioned factors that differ across languages, with implications for both theoretical linguistics and clinical applications.

Applied Linguistics is an interdisciplinary research discipline which brings together theoretical linguistics and practice and aims to find solutions to practical language problems in different contexts. The scope and significance of Applied Linguistics are elaborated in this article with the help of three broad subfields: Language and Education, Translation Studies, and Forensic Linguistics. It begins by defining applied over theoretical linguistics and continues to describe how applied linguistics works in classrooms, cross-cultural settings, and legal inquiries. Language and Education is the study of second language acquisition and teaching, specifically within multilingual contexts. Translation Studies concerns the transfer of meaning across languages and the cultural sensitivity, linguistic equivalence involved in it. Forensic Linguistics is a new field that deals with the ways language functions as legal evidence, authorship identification, and discourse analysis in the courtroom. Even though each of the three fields has a distinct focus, they all they share a common basis in applying linguistic knowledge in managing actual communication issues, interpreting spoken and written texts, and assisting in the evolution of society. Practical applications demonstrate how the same sentence could be interpreted differently by teachers, translators, or interpreters of law and thereby emphasize the subject’s flexibility and contextual nature. The article concludes by pointing out that applied linguistics cannot be divorced from human experience - from education to justice - thus making it an essential tool in the design and development of societal interaction. Hence, applied linguistics not only enhances communication but also increases inclusion, equity, and cross-cultural understanding..

ABSTRACT The formal semantic analysis of African languages is still a young subfield within theoretical linguistics. Starting with general overviews of the quantifier systems of individual African languages around two decades ago, there now exists a substantial body of fieldwork‐based and autochthonous formal semantic research conducted by both African and non‐African scholars. A major objective of these studies is to describe and analyse semantic phenomena in under‐researched African languages. A second important aim is to examine the extent to which leading semantic theories—mostly developed on the basis of European languages—can be applied to non‐European languages, and to determine what broader theoretical insights can be gained from formal semantic analyses of African languages. Research in this field has fostered the emergence of a new generation of African semanticists who will carry this enterprise forward. This is the second of two articles on formal semantics of African languages. The central aim of these articles is to provide scholars with a background in formal semantics with a general overview of semantic research activities focused on African languages. At the same time, the two articles will also be valuable to readers with a broader interest in African languages, offering them a range of empirical and theoretical questions as well as diagnostic tools to begin their own semantic investigations in the languages of their choice. This sequel article discusses formal‐semantic approaches to interpretive phenomena associated with the extended verbal and the clausal domain (VP, TP, CP), such as exceed ‐based comparatives, serial verb constructions, tense‐aspect phenomena, modality, focus exhaustivity, focus particles, and clause embedding.

Compositional aspect is an extremely important cross-language and universal language phenomenon discovered by Henk Verkuyl, a Dutch linguist and logician, in 1971, published a year later. Compositional aspect appears to exist in all natural languages, and proof is being accumulated lately in favor of this thesis. In contrast to verbal aspect as found in the Slavic languages, Greek, Georgian, Chinese, etc., where it resides in verbs as lexical entries but is grammaticalized, compositional aspect exists at the level of the sentence. The paper discusses some major notions that, on the one hand, underlie the correct understanding of compositional aspect and, on the other, constitute at least some of the reasons for the absence of the article-aspect interplay, an important phenomenon, in English grammars and in the literature on English language teaching. Publications in these two fields are practically silent about a phenomenon that has otherwise been discussed in theoretical linguistics for decades. Theoretical linguistics itself, although cognizant of the article-aspect interplay, also abounds in misconceptualizations about aspect in general, reigning in it from as early as when compositional aspect was discovered. English grammars and the overall literature on English language teaching continue to remain silent on the article-aspect interplay even lately, despite the appearance in recent years of a couple of publications – successfully addressing the issue but isolated, including two revolutionary papers dealing with articles, determiners, quantifiers and similar elements taking part in the compositional effectuation of aspect.

The article explores the evolution and contemporary relevance of syntax within linguistic theory, with a particular focus on functional approaches that prioritize communicative functions over abstract formal rules. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics and functional discourse grammar, the study examines how syntactic choices are systematically motivated by discourse context, communicative purpose, and meaning-making. Core arguments highlight a paradigm shift from prescriptive, formal traditions to models that situate syntax as a resource for constructing meaning in social interaction and across diverse genres. The manuscript synthesizes theoretical distinctions between formal (generative) and functional frameworks, analyzes applications of functional syntax in language pedagogy, professional communication, translation, and computational linguistics, and underscores the practical implications for promoting textual coherence, inclusivity, and effective information structure. By bridging theoretical linguistics and real-world communication needs, this review demonstrates the capacity of functional syntax to enhance interdisciplinary understanding and applied practices in language education, translation studies, and digital communication. The findings highlight opportunities for advancing linguistic research and pedagogical design by foregrounding functional principles in syntactic analysis and curriculum development.

ABSTRACT The formal semantic analysis of African languages is still a young subfield within theoretical linguistics. Starting with general overviews of the quantifier systems of individual African languages around two decades ago, there now exists a substantial body of fieldwork‐based and autochthonous formal semantic research conducted by both African and non‐African scholars. A major objective of these studies is to describe and analyse semantic phenomena in under‐researched African languages. A second important aim is to examine the extent to which leading semantic theories—mostly developed on the basis of European languages—can be applied to non‐European languages, and to determine what broader theoretical insights can be gained from formal semantic analyses of African languages. Research in this field has fostered the emergence of a new generation of African semanticists who will carry this enterprise forward. This is the first of two articles on formal semantics of African languages. The central aim of these articles is to provide scholars with a background in formal semantics with a general overview of semantic research activities focused on African languages. At the same time, the two articles will also be valuable to readers with a broader interest in African languages, offering them a range of empirical and theoretical questions as well as diagnostic tools to begin their own semantic investigations in the languages of their choice. This first article begins with a brief historical sketch of semantic research on African languages and then introduces formal‐semantic approaches to interpretive phenomena associated with the nominal domain (NP, DP), such as definiteness, indefiniteness, universal quantification, and number.

This study explores the influencing mechanisms of time-space-interest (TSI) factors on readers’ reading behaviors in the field of language and literature, with a specific focus on the mediating role of interest category scope and the moderating effect of interactions among these factors. Data were derived from nine-year (2016–2024) borrowing records of H-category books (language and philology) from the Library of Nanjing Normal University, encompassing a sample of 15,312 unique readers, 27,151 distinct books, and 129,643 valid borrowing transactions. Principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to extract two key factors: TSI and Spatial Interest (SI) factor. SPSS PROCESS Model 4 was then employed to test the mediating effect of interest category scope. The results indicate that interest category scope exerts a partial mediating effect on the relationship between the TSI factor and total borrowing volume—with the indirect effect accounting for approximately 10.5% of the total effect, which was validated through bootstrap analysis. Notable differences in reading preferences were observed across reader groups: undergraduate students prioritize practical foreign language learning (corresponding to H3 category), graduate students emphasize theoretical linguistics (H0 category) and advanced Chinese studies (H1 category), while staff members demonstrate scattered interests in applied and interdisciplinary areas. Subject word clustering analysis identified eight core academic categories (e.g., language teaching, literary studies, historical linguistics), shedding light on the thematic focuses and interdisciplinary connections within language and literature research. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how time, space, and interest interact to shape reading behaviors. It also provides actionable insights for library resource management, the optimization of reader services, and the design of academic research in the domains of language and literature.

This paper investigates the degree of semantic precision in derivational processes, a crucial yet underexplored aspect of word-formation semantics that influences our understanding of compositionality, competition, and polysemy in derivation. The study focuses on the case of verb-to-noun derivation in French, using both manual analysis and computational techniques to determine the level of semantic granularity that best captures the semantic properties of derivational processes. A sample of 2,190 derived nouns formed with 30 deverbal processes is manually analyzed, distinguishing between ontological and relational semantic types, with three levels of granularity applied to each. The various combinations of semantic types and granularities are tested against computational representations of derivational processes generated from distributional semantic models. The results indicate that not only relational but also ontological types participate in the semantics of derivational processes, and that derivation operates at a fine level of semantic granularity. More broadly, the study illustrates how expert analysis of large datasets can be fruitfully associated with computational methods to address key research questions in theoretical linguistics. It also advocates for a close integration of lexical semantics and derivational morphology in the study of complex words.