Linguistic Theory Research Articles

The Coherence Relations of "Mollie" in Animal Farm under Segmented Discourse Representation Theory(SDRT)

This paper delves into the coherence relations of Mollie, a character from George Orwell's "Animal Farm," utilizing the Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) to analyze her role within the narrative. The study reviews the current research on "Animal Farm," highlighting the scarcity of in-depth analysis of Mollie's character, which is often overlooked in favor of more prominent characters. The paper introduces SDRT, a linguistic theory that dissects discourse into smaller segments to examine logical connections and coherence, providing a fresh perspective to explore Mollie's actions and their implications in the novel. The application of the SDRT framework to Mollie's character reveals how her individual desires and actions contrast with the collective ethos of the farm, symbolizing the broader themes of individualism versus collectivism. It also underscores her reactions to the power structures, which are indicative of the farm's societal dynamics. The analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of Mollie's role and her interactions with other characters, offering insights into the underlying social and political commentary of "Animal Farm." The paper concludes that SDRT not only enriches our comprehension of Mollie's character but also enhances the interpretation of the novel's overall message, shedding light on the complexities of power, freedom, and loyalty within the context of a totalitarian regime.

How Chinese Doctors Do Things With Discursive Strategies in Palliative Care Family Meetings: A Genre Theory Analysis

ABSTRACT Palliative care family meetings (PCFMs) can be conceivably endorsed as helpful means for bettering end of life (EOL) communication with terminally ill patients and their families. Relevant scholarship in China remains emerging and youthful, with many avenues left to explore. Few studies have delineated the structure and specified the strategies for conducting PCFMs in the Chinese context. To address this gap, this study gathered data from audio-recorded family meetings held in palliative care wards in China. Within the theoretical framework of genre theory in functional linguistics (FL) that defined genres as staged, goal-oriented social processes, utilizing thematic analysis and discourse analysis, the twofold generic structure of PCFMs was delineated, consisting of four genre stagings in the upper stratum and fourteen elemental genres in the lower stratum, with the identified attributes of elemental genres, their sequence and possibility of iteration. Doctors’ discursive strategies in terms of semantics and lexicogrammar were specified as they serve to achieve communicative goals regarding knowledge, identity, and emotion. It is hoped that the results will improve the context for growing palliative care practices and positive clinical outcomes in China and provide insights into the structurization and discursiveness of practices in EOL settings.

The Influence of Social Media on Language Evolution: A Linguistic Analysis of Emerging Internet Slang

This study investigates the influence of social media on language evolution, focusing specifically on the emergence and spread of internet slang. Using a qualitative, literature review-based approach, this research analyzes existing studies and linguistic theories to explore how platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram contribute to the creation, dissemination, and standardization of new forms of expression. By employing library research, the study examines the dynamics of internet slang, its social and cultural contexts, and the role of social media in accelerating linguistic changes. The findings indicate that social media not only fosters the rapid development of slang but also blurs the boundaries between informal and formal language use, as online expressions often cross into mainstream communication. Key linguistic features of internet slang, such as abbreviations, acronyms, and non-standard spelling, are analyzed to understand their function in digital communication. Additionally, the study highlights the global nature of social media platforms, which allows for the rapid globalization of slang, transcending regional and linguistic boundaries. The research concludes that social media plays a crucial role in shaping modern language use, contributing to the continual evolution of language in a digital era. This study offers insights into how language changes in the age of social media, with implications for linguistics, sociolinguistics, and communication studies.

LANGUAGE CONTESTATION AT BOROBUDUR TEMPLE, THE WORLD’S LARGEST BUDDHIST TEMPLE

This study aims to explore various types of public signs with different uses, designs, and materials to determine the contestation of local, national, and international languages in the Borobudur Temple area, particularly in relation to ideology and identity. Public signs were photographed on December 20, 2022. A total of 299 photos were analysed using linguistic landscape theories based on a qualitative descriptive method with techniques of quantification of qualitative data and interpretive descriptions. The results showed 28 types of signs. The most common public signs are of the Top-down type, with Indonesian being the most widely used language. This represents a solid national identity because Indonesian is the language of unity and the lingua franca of the entire Indonesian nation. English is the second most frequently used language at the Borobudur Temple, a well-known international tourist site. Other than Indonesian and English, Javanese language and script, which reflect local identities, are little used on public signs. The findings suggest that local language seems to be marginalised.

Semantic Classification of Phraseological Units

This study explores the semantic classification of phraseological units and its significance in language learning and teaching. Phraseological units, including idioms, enrich linguistic expression by conveying figurative, metaphoric, symbolic, and ironical meanings. However, their complexity poses challenges for learners due to the disconnect between literal and figurative interpretations. By categorizing idioms into semantic groups, such as figurative or symbolic, this research simplifies their understanding and usage, enabling learners to enhance their linguistic and cultural competence. The study integrates linguistic theories, corpus linguistics, and practical teaching techniques, such as conceptual mapping and comparative analysis, to examine idioms’ structural and cultural nuances. Findings highlight the importance of semantic classification in improving comprehension, retention, and cross-cultural communication. Recommendations for future idiom pedagogy emphasize the integration of innovative methods and cross-linguistic comparisons to address learners' evolving needs.

Promoting the Use of African Indigenous Languages among the Youth in Kenya: An Argument for E-Inclusivity

This paper looks at the use of African indigenous languages in social media as a positive mechanism to decolonise the Internet. Specifically, the study analysed the use of Gikuyu language as an indigenous language to establish whether Kenyan youths use indigenous languages on social media platforms, with an aim of highlighting the need to promote African languages on social media as a means to decolonise the Internet. The case-based study used a mixed-method research design. Using purposive sampling, the study employed focus group discussions to gather qualitative data, while employing stratified sampling to conduct a survey using a questionnaire for quantitative data. Random sampling was used to identify 300 high school participants aged between 15 and 25 years in a public school in rural Kenya. Using Herman Batibo’s African Linguistic Dynamism Theory to capture the diversity and dynamism in language use and Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications Theory to account for the strategic use of language to meet one’s needs, the study found that Gikuyu language is rarely used by the youth on social media. This prompts the need to promote the use of African languages through policy, electronic media, publishing of fictional books and adoption of youth speaks fora.

Structuralism’s Other Saussure

This article attempts to place the psychoanalyst Raymond de Saussure (son of Ferdinand de Saussure and an analysand of Freud) within the history of structuralism, by emphasizing the linguistic dimensions of his early psychoanalytic thought. With reference to numerous unpublished letters, and other archival material, it reconstructs in detail three pivotal moments in the young de Saussure’s early career. First, it locates a preliminary attempt to combine Freudian psychoanalysis with the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure in Raymond de Saussure’s correspondence with the linguist Charles Bally and his review of Antoine Meillet. An attempt is then made to situate Saussure within the context of an early Swiss interest in the relationship between linguistics and psychoanalysis through a study of the papers presented by his colleagues Jean Piaget and Sabina Spielrein, at the 1922 International Psychoanalytic Congress in Berlin. The article then shifts its focus to 1940s New York, to explore how Saussure assisted his close friends and collaborators Roman Jakobson and, to a lesser extent, Claude Lévi-Strauss in establishing the fundamental coordinates of the structuralist movement. The article aims to call attention to an earlier Freudo-Saussurean synthesis that has been overshadowed by Jacques Lacan’s later, more elaborate, application of Saussurean linguistics to psychoanalysis.

Exploring Syntactic Ambiguity and Deep Structure Transformations in the translations Rumi's Mystical Poetry: A Generative Grammar Perspective

This paper aims at understanding how the element of mysticism in the selected work of Rumi can be explored via linguistic theory principles such as generative grammar and syntactic ambiguity. By deconstructing surface and deep structures, this study unveils the intricate interplay between language and meaning in six poems: “The Guest House”, “The Marriage of True Minds”, “Where There is Ruin”, “Silence is the Language of God”, “Only Breath” and “Out Beyond Ideas”. These poems are analyzed to decode the mystical meanings hidden in linguistic ambivalences. In “The Guest House”, the metaphor that applies to human life as a ‘guest house’ is studied under the view of syntactic doublet, which corresponds to Sufi conceptions of tenderness and receptiveness. In “The Marriage of True Minds”, love and unity are aligned, which shows how conditional syntax accords with the Sufism perspective of love. This research demonstrates how Rumi’s syntactical creativity supports the theoretical frameworks of multiple readings under the light of mystic wisdom. The insights established in this research yield the concept of analyzing the structure of Rumi’s poem, as well as the relation between language and spirituality.

Framing in media and communication studies: A bibliometric analysis

This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of framing and frame theory in media and communication studies, utilizing Web of Science (WOS) data from 2014 to 2023. Framing, as a critical concept in media discourse, shapes public perception by highlighting specific aspects of information while downplaying others. Despite its central role in political communication, news framing, and social media research, there is a notable gap in better incorporating linguistic perspectives, particularly metaphor framing, within the existing literature. Using VOSviewer, this study analyzes co-occurrence networks and thematic clusters to map the evolving landscape of framing research. The results reveal key areas of focus, including political communication, science communication, and identity politics on social media platforms, while also highlighting the underrepresentation of linguistic approaches. This analysis not only identifies influential authors and institutions but also underscores the need for further integrating cognitive linguistic theories, such as metaphor framing, to deepen our understanding of how media discourse constructs reality. The paper concludes by suggesting directions for future research, calling for more interdisciplinary studies to explore the complex mechanisms underlying media framing.

Between role and expression: Conjunction analysis and its pedagogical implication in teaching writing

This qualitative study used a combination of linguistic and rhetorical analysis to look at how conjunctions are used in Donald Trump and Joe Biden's victory speeches. Grounded in a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory, this article examined the functional features of language in the social context of political speech. The result of analysis shows distinctive patterns in conjunction choices that include locative, additive, contrastive, purpose-driven, simultaneous, sequential, conditional, and causal roles. While Trump's speech stresses additive and simultaneous structures, reflecting his dynamic and emotive rhetorical approach, Biden's speech lens toward purposeful conjunction, in line with a policy-oriented communication style. In the meantime, some types of conjunctions are absent prompts a reflection on implicit messages. Overall, by raising students' awareness of conjunction usage and its rhetorical impact in persuasive discourse, this study offers a nuanced exploration of language choices and advances our understanding of how conjunctions function within the larger context of political communication. This has potential pedagogical implications for ELT, particularly in the teaching of writing.

Manner implicatures in large language models

In human speakers’ daily conversations, what we do not say matters. We not only compute the literal semantics but also go beyond and draw inferences from what we could have said but chose not to. How well is this pragmatic reasoning process represented in pre-trained large language models (LLM)? In this study, we attempt to address this question through the lens of manner implicature, a pragmatic inference triggered by a violation of the Grice manner maxim. Manner implicature is a central member of the class of context-sensitive phenomena. The current work investigates to what extent pre-trained LLMs are able to identify and tease apart different shades of meaning in manner implicature. We constructed three metrics to explain LLMs’ behavior, including LLMs-surprisals, embedding vectors’ similarities, and natural language prompting. Results showed no striking evidence that LLMs have explainable representations of meaning. First, the LLMs-surprisal findings suggest that some LLMs showed above chance accuracy in capturing different dimensions of meaning, and they were able to differentiate neutral relations from entailment or implications, but they did not show consistent and robust sensitivities to more nuanced comparisons, such as entailment versus implications and equivalence versus entailment. Second, the similarity findings suggest that the perceived advantage of contextual over static embeddings was minimal, and contextual LLMs did not notably outperform static GloVe embeddings. LLMs and GloVe showed no significant difference, though distinctions between entailment and implication were slightly more observable in LLMs. Third, the prompting findings suggest no further supportive evidence indicating LLM’s competence in fully representing different shades of meaning. Overall, our study suggests that current dominant pre-training paradigms do not seem to lead to significant competence in manner implicature within our models. Our investigation sheds light on the design of datasets and benchmark metrics driven by formal and distributional linguistic theories.

Aspectual Pair Formation in Russian Verbs: A Cognitive Approach

Aspectual pair formation in Russian verbs represents a core grammatical feature that governs the temporal and contextual framing of actions. Traditional approaches to aspect focus on morphological mechanisms such as prefixation, suffixation, and suppletion, yet they often fail to address irregularities and semantic nuances. This study adopts a cognitive linguistic perspective, exploring how conceptual metaphors, image schemas, and mental mappings underpin aspectual distinctions. By analyzing patterns of pair formation, including both regular and irregular verbs, the research highlights the cognitive processes that align with bounded and unbounded conceptualizations of actions. The findings contribute to linguistic theory by integrating semantic and cognitive frameworks, while practical applications offer innovative strategies for teaching aspect to learners through mental imagery and contextualized learning. Challenges and unanswered questions, such as the treatment of suppletive forms and cross-linguistic comparisons, underscore the need for further interdisciplinary research to refine this approach.

On the relation between negation and phases

Abstract This research article provides evidence from Jordanian Arabic (JA) that negation is syntactically bound to the projection of a phasal head, wherein NegP is structurally licensed to project exclusively within phase-bound configurations. Therefore, NegP can project separately in CP and v*P, offering support to the multi-locus view (Alqassas 2012. The morpho-syntax and pragmatics of Levantine Arabic negation: A synchronic and diachronic analysis. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University) that NegP in Arabic is not restricted to one structural position in the clause structure. NegP can rather project separately above TP or below TP. However, as we argue for in this article the projection of NegP is correlated with the presence of a phasal head (Chomsky 2007. Approaching UG from below. In Uli Sauerland & Hans-Martin Gärtner (eds.), Interfaces+recursion=language? Chomsky’s minimalism and the view from syntax-semantics, 1–30. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter). Our evidence comes from two interrelated phenomena in JA: (1) the possibility of negating the past tense copula ka:n independently from the negation of the main verb in transitive and passive sentences and (2) the impossibility of independently negating the verb and the past-tense copula ka:n in unaccusative clauses. Following Jarrah’s (2023. Passive vs. unaccusative predicates: A phase-based account. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 41. 1397–1424) assumption that unaccusative predicates, unlike passive or transitive verbs, do not project phases in JA grammar, we propose that the use of two NegPs in the same clause with unaccusative clauses is prohibited as these unaccusative predicates do not project phases. This assumption is significant as phases, local domains, are not only found to be independent in terms of their Φ-content (their head bears an independent set of unvalued Φ-features) but also in terms of negation.

The Emergence of Chunking Structures with Hierarchical HRNN

Abstract In Natural Language Processing (NLP), predicting linguistic structures, such as parsing and chunking, has mostly relied on manual annotations of syntactic structures. This paper introduces an unsupervised approach to chunking, a syntactic task that involves grouping words in a non-hierarchical manner. We present a Hierarchical Recurrent Neural Network (HRNN) designed to model word-to-chunk and chunk-to-sentence compositions. Our approach involves a two-stage training process: pretraining with an unsupervised parser and finetuning on downstream NLP tasks. Experiments on multiple datasets reveal a notable improvement of unsupervised chunking performance in both pretraining and finetuning stages. Interestingly, we observe that the emergence of the chunking structure is transient during the neural model’s downstream-task training. This study contributes to the advancement of unsupervised syntactic structure discovery and opens avenues for further research in linguistic theory.

The Fundamental Role of Binary Oppositions in Linguistic Theory

The Fundamental Role of Binary Oppositions in Linguistic Theory

Integrating Pop Music in English Language Teaching to Enhance Listening, Vocabulary, and Cultural Awareness Among Learners

This study explores the efficacy of using popular music as a pedagogical tool in English language classrooms. Drawing from linguistic theory and empirical evidence, the study examines how integrating pop songs can enhance students' listening skills, vocabulary acquisition, pronunciation, and cultural awareness. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, observational studies, and comparative analysis, we evaluate the impact of pop music on language retention and learner engagement. Findings suggest that students who engage with music show improved comprehension and increased motivation in language learning.

High and low level constructions in dictionaries and constructiCons: the interplay between lexical and syntactic information in CASA|Con

Abstract After outlining the concept of a constructiCon and discussing the relationship of lexicography and constructicography, the focus of this article lies on the CASA ConstruCtiCon project for the English language. The treatment of different types of constructions in CASA|Con is discussed such as argument structure constructions, sentence type constructions, and tense and aspect constructions. In contrast to such constructions at a high level of abstraction a few examples involving a low level of abstraction are being discussed and it is argued that such seemingly unidiomatic constructions constitute an important element of idiomatic language use. Finally, it is shown that the vast majority of constructions are related to lexical material and that thus bringing together what used to be separated into lexical and grammatical phenomena makes a lot of sense not only in terms of linguistic theory but also with respect to works of reference.

The Postmodern Transformation of Language through Social Media, Memes, Emojis, and GIFs: A Study Among Selected North Indian University Students

This study explores how digital communication technologies—a consequence of late capitalism—have changed language usage. The study looks at how GIFs, memes, emojis, and social media language have evolved and how postmodern cultural logic is embodied in these forms of communication. Based on Fredric Jameson's theory that postmodernism is the cultural logic of late capitalism, the study highlights the digital forms' inherent fragmentation, intertextuality, and pastiche. It focuses on how language has evolved to reflect postmodern society's hyperreal and dispersed structure by becoming more context-dependent, expressive, and visual. The study employs a mixed-methods approach to examine how social media content is analyzed and to obtain perspectives on various communicative forms from 300 university students in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana. The findings imply that, in addition to changing language, digital communication technologies have also introduced new forms of expression that combine text, image, and emotion, challenging established linguistic theories. This study advances our knowledge of language in the digital era and has implications for the larger cultural shifts these developments signify.

NEGATIVE POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN ANDREA HIRATA’S NOVEL LASKAR PELANGI

This research delves into the intricate portrayal of negative politeness strategy in Andrea Hirata's novel Laskar Pelangi. Employing linguistic politeness theory by Brown and Levinson and a structuralism approach, the study aims to elucidate the connection between linguistics and literature within the novel's context. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, the text is analyzed, focusing on instances of negative politeness strategies employed by characters in various social interactions. Through a descriptive qualitative approach, 53 instances of negative politeness strategies are identified in the novel. The literature review underscores the significance of negative politeness for maintaining rapport and respect in social interactions, particularly in contexts prone to imposition or conflict. Extracted examples from the novel illustrate how characters utilize negative politeness to navigate complex social dynamics and preserve harmonious relationships within their community. The findings reveal cultural nuances embedded in politeness strategies, reflecting Indonesian societal norms and values. Characters in Laskar Pelangi employ indirect speech acts, hedging language, and deferential expressions to mitigate threats to others' autonomy or comfort, contributing to the narrative's tone of warmth and sincerity. Overall, this research highlights the integral role of negative politeness strategies in shaping character interactions and reflecting cultural values in Laskar Pelangi. By employing these strategies, characters negotiate social hierarchies and navigate interpersonal relationships while demonstrating respect and consideration for others.

Linguistic Landscapes of Social Media Discourse: Exploring Language Practices and Identities on Jordanian Online Platforms

The present research is designed to investigate the language practices and identities of Jordanian users on the selected social media platforms of Facebook and Twitter. A total of 400 posts and tweets were selected from both social media platforms. Based on the Systemic Functional Linguistics theory, the study found that the users demonstrated various language practices on social media like code-switching, emojis, localized expressions, and identity affiliations like racism, patriotism, and feminism. Consequently, the study established that Jordanian Arabic is the most frequently-used language style, while the use of English and MSA as secondary language styles was considerably less popular. Additionally, code-switching was the most prevalent language practice. The study recommended educational policies to advocate bilingualism, while for social media, the strategies need to reflect linguistic characteristics to increase reach and engagement.