94 research outputs found
Iconicity in Language and Speech
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit dem groĂen Oberthema der IkonizitĂ€t und ihrer Verbreitung auf verschiedenen linguistischen Ebenen. IkonizitĂ€t bezeichnet die Ăhnlichkeit zwischen der sprachlichen Form und ihrer Bedeutung (vgl. Perniss und Vigliocco, 2014). So wie eine Skulptur einem Objekt oder einer Person Ă€hnelt, kann auch der Klang oder die Form von Wörtern der Sache Ă€hneln, auf die sie verweisen. FrĂŒhere theoretische AnsĂ€tze betonen, dass die ArbitraritĂ€t von sprachlichen Zeichen und deren Bedeutung ein Hauptmerkmal menschlicher Sprache ist und IkonizitĂ€t fĂŒr die Sprachevolution eine Rolle gespielt haben mag, jedoch in der heutigen Sprache zu vernachlĂ€ssigen ist. Im Gegensatz dazu ist das Hauptanliegen dieser Arbeit, das Potenzial und die Bedeutung von IkonizitĂ€t in der heutigen Sprache zu untersuchen. Die einzelnen Kapitel der Dissertation können als separate Teile betrachtet werden, die in ihrer Gesamtheit das umfassende Spektrum der IkonizitĂ€t sichtbar machen. Von der sprachevolutionĂ€ren Debatte ausgehend wird in den einzelnen Kapiteln auf die unterschiedlichen Ebenen der IkonizitĂ€t eingegangen. Es werden experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Lautsymbolik, am Beispiel der deutschen PokĂ©mon-Namen, zur ikonischen Prosodie und zu ikonischen Wörtern, den sogenannten Ideophonen, vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse der einzelnen Untersuchungen deuten auf die weite Verbreitung der IkonizitĂ€t im heutigen Deutsch hin. DarĂŒber hinaus entschlĂŒsselt diese Dissertation das kommunikative Potenzial der IkonizitĂ€t als eine Kraft, die nicht nur die Entstehung der Sprache ermöglichte, sondern auch nach Jahrtausenden bestehen bleibt, sich immer wieder neu entfaltet und uns tagtĂ€glich in mĂŒndlicher, schriftlicher Form und in Gesten begegnet.This dissertation is concerned with the major theme of iconicity and its prevalence on different linguistic levels. Iconicity refers to a resemblance between the linguistic form and the meaning of a referent (cf. Perniss and Vigliocco, 2014). Just like a sculpture resembles an object or a model, so can the sound or shape of words resemble the thing they refer to. Previous theoretical approaches emphasize that arbitrariness of the linguistic sign is one of the main features of human language; iconicity, however, may have played a role for language evolution, but is negligible in contemporary language. In contrast, the main point of this thesis is to explore the potential and the importance of iconicity in the language nowadays. The individual chapters of the dissertation can be viewed as separate parts that, taken together, reveal the comprehensive spectrum of iconicity. Starting from the language evolutionary debate, the individual chapters address iconicity on different linguistic levels. I present experimental evidence on sound symbolism, using the example of German PokĂ©mon names, on iconic prosody, and on iconic words, the so-called ideophones. The results of the individual investigations point to the widespread use of iconicity in contemporary German. Moreover, this dissertation deciphers the communicative potential of iconicity as a force that not only enabled the emergence of language, but also persists after millennia, unfolding again and again and encountering us every day in speech, writing, and gestures
The sound effect: a study in radical sound design
This research project combines a theoretical intervention into sound ontology, with an empirical investigation into listening experience, in parallel with two technologically focused, research-led creative practice projects. The design follows an iterative cycle of research and creative practice that integrates theory, practice and empirical approaches. The research makes an initial contribution to the field of sound studies by re-appraising the work of pioneers in the fieldâPierre Schaeffer and R. Murray Schaferâin light of the concept of the sonic effect. This concept is developed as an effective tool for both sound studies and sound design. This theoretical work attempts to critically and creatively examine the ontology or mode of existence of sonic phenomena and is informed by the post-structural theory of the effect. The theory of the sonic effect is empirically investigated by examining verbal accounts of listening experience elicited by semi-structured interview. Finally, having deconstructed sonic phenomena in terms of their potential to be actualised in diverse contexts, sonic effects are interrogated as a creative strategy in the field of sound design for performance and installed sonic art. Two projects are documented. One is a hybrid live performance installation utilising a novel software design for sound composition and projection. The other is a sound installation work demonstrating a novel loudspeaker design for the creation of very dense sound fields. In this context, design occurs as an effect at the intersection of new technologies of sound production and the production of audible sense. This approach enacts a radical pragmatism that underlies the radical sound design strategy outlined in the thesis
(Dis)connections between specific language impairment and dyslexia in Chinese
Poster Session: no. 26P.40Specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia describe language-learning impairments that occur in the absence of a sensory, cognitive, or psychosocial impairment. SLI is primarily defined by an impairment in oral language, and dyslexia by a deficit in the reading of written words. SLI and dyslexia co-occur in school-age children learning English, with rates ranging from 17% to 75%. For children learning Chinese, SLI and dyslexia also co-occur. Wong et al. (2010) first reported on the presence of dyslexia in a clinical sample of 6- to 11-year-old school-age children with SLI. The study compared the reading-related cognitive skills of children with SLI and dyslexia (SLI-D) with 2 groups of children âŠpostprin
Uncovering the myth of learning to read Chinese characters: phonetic, semantic, and orthographic strategies used by Chinese as foreign language learners
Oral Session - 6A: Lexical modeling: no. 6A.3Chinese is considered to be one of the most challenging orthographies to be learned by non-native speakers, in particular, the character. Chinese character is the basic reading unit that converges sound, form and meaning. The predominant type of Chinese character is semantic-phonetic compound that is composed of phonetic and semantic radicals, giving the clues of the sound and meaning, respectively. Over the last two decades, psycholinguistic research has made significant progress in specifying the roles of phonetic and semantic radicals in character processing among native Chinese speakers âŠpostprin
Sunken II Chords and Inwardness: A Correspondence Complex in Robert Schumannâs \u3ci\u3eLiederjahr\u3c/i\u3e Songs
This dissertation advances a new approach to text-music relationships with a view to identifying and exploring a specific, recurring text-music relationship in Schumanâs Liederjahr songs. Chapter 1 proposes to update and restructure the taxonomy of possible text-music relationships. I argue that there are four categories of text-music relationships: two conjunctions, viz., correspondences and WidersprĂŒche; and two disjunctions, viz., GleichgĂŒltigkeiten and EigenstĂ€ndigkeiten. I am principally interested in exploring how structures and tonal archetypes native to Schenkerian theory may function as musical metaphors for themes, ideas, and imagery in the text; a survey of extant literature reveals that Schenkerian analysts typically assert such correspondences using the linguistic formulations of metaphor (some variation on âM in the music IS T in the textâ) or analogy (some variation on âm1 IS TO m2 in the music AS t1 IS TO t2 in the textâ). A novel feature of my approach is that text-music relationships are formally expressed using a special symbolic notation. Symbolic definitions often collapse the distinction between metaphorical and analogical prose definitions, allowing analysts to compare seemingly disparate relationships on a level playing field.
In response to Agawuâs criticism that musico-poetic analyses of Lieder are usually ad hoc and one-off (1999), I argue for the possibility of families of recurring text-music relationships, which I call text-music complexes (we may further distinguish between correspondence and Widerspruch complexes). Text-music complexes are archetypes for how some element in the text is mapped onto some element in the music for the creation of musico-poetic meaning in song; text-music relationships are their individual instantiations. As text-music relationships are to individual songs, text-music complexes are to sets of songs whose membership is circumscribed in some predetermined manner (e.g., the songs in a collection or cycle, songs by a specific composer, songs written during a specific historical era, etc.).
Chapter 2 investigates the hermeneutical implications of passages where major V is followed, and prolonged, by minor II. The seeming breach of tonal syntax creates a perceived ebb in the tonal flow and gives the impression that V has somehow turned inward. By analogy to origami, I call this family of V prolongations a dominant sink fold; the Oberquintteiler here is called a sunken II chord. Because of their special voice-leading properties and inward affect, sunken IIs possess unique potential for creating text-music correspondences.
The central claim of this dissertation is for the existence of a correspondence complex in Schumannâs Liederjahr songs that is bound up with a sense of inwardness. This correspondence complex (â) takes sunken II as its musical element (), and any form of involution in the semantic dimension of the text as its textual element (); in symbolic notation, it is formally defined by the expression âInwardness = Sunken II â Inwardness. As evidence for an inwardness correspondence complex, Chapters 3â5 present analyses of three Schumann Lieder in which a sunken II in the music is meaningfully coordinated with some form of inward turn, introspection, or heightened subjectivity in the text. The three songs are âDer Nussbaumâ (op. 25, no. 3), âIch habâ in mich gesogenâ (op. 37, no. 5), and âBergâ und Burgen schauân herunterâ (op. 24, no. 7)
In the spirit of engagement: memories and the sensorium in Algonquin canoe building
This project develops cross-cultural ontologies of memory that are explored dynamically through multimodal sensory pathways. Considering the vast and varying theories on memory, the near universal adoption of storage-and-retrieval metaphors, such as the memory trace, which posits that memories are embodied âinsideâ in our central nervous system or embedded âout thereâ in our material environment, remains problematic. Using Material Engagement Theory (MET) as an experimental research model in cognitive archaeology, I conduct collaborative ethnographic fieldwork building birch bark canoes with the Algonquin First Nations. Together we investigate the mnemonic flow that occurs between sensing bodies and living geographies. I propose the possibility that the human mind may possess underdeveloped sensory pathways involved in the transmission of transgenerational memories and the recovery of long-lost wisdoms. I excavate the sensorium through the archaeoacoustics of forest listening to uncover the ways in which memories are deeply sedimented in the sonic worlds of nature. With the helpful concept of mimesis, this ethnography encourages multiple forms of listening, where natural sounds are fully canvased for what they are capable of teaching us about how to live. An examination of the haptic dimensions of the mocataugan (crooked knife) presents a compelling case for how material inheritances provide sensuous similarities that cohabite past and present moments of our cognitive becoming. These sensory attunements challenge the popular belief that memories are imprinted and stored. The ethnographic findings suggest ancestral memories are imminent, temporally persistent, actively participating and ready-at-hand to be enacted through our material engagements and our skillful dealings with the world. Understanding the ways traditional territory and natural resources sustain cultural memory over vast periods of time is of vital importance to the Algonquin. This research encourages us to think about how to sensibly take our place in the larger ecology of mind that sustains us and is increasingly under considerable strain
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Fortunato Depero and Depero futurista 1913â1927
This thesis examines Depero futurista 1913â1927, the so-called âbolted bookâ created in 1927 by Futurist artist Fortunato Depero (1892-1960). Although Depero and his book have already been the subject of artistic re-evaluation, the literature relating to this work neglects a number of key aspects pertaining to the figure of the artist, still failing to provide a detailed account of Depero futurista 1913â1927.
In order to address these gaps, this study is divided into two distinct parts: the first, composed of chapters 2, 3 and 4, takes an analytical approach intended to give a detailed description of the book and its context. Chapter 2 examines the graphic and artistic context in order to understand the circumstances in which Depero futurista 1913â1927 was published. Chapter 3 analyses Deperoâs correspondence with the publisher Azari and the professional relationship between Depero and the Mercurio printing works, in order to understand the design methodologies adopted by Depero during the process of creating the book. In chapter 4, the analysis moves onto the book as an object, focusing on its content and formal features â its structure, layout and typefaces.
The second part of this research, comprising chapters 5, 6 and 7, uses Depero futurista 1913â1927 as an index from which to extrapolate areas of research related to Fortunato Depero, highlighting pages that refer to certain themes and presenting critical discussion of them. Chapter 5 analyses the political context in which the book was created and how it is inextricably linked with the institutions of the Italian Fascist regime. Given Depero futurista 1913â1927âs function as a self-promotional tool, chapter 6 examines Fortunato Deperoâs interest in the field of advertising. Finally, chapter 7 reflects on Depero futurista 1913â1927 as a particular kind of book object and the extent to which it can be considered a work of art in terms of the discourse on artistsâ books
Are abstract concepts like dinosaur feathers?
Ewolucja ludzkiego ukĆadu nerwowego pozwoliĆa nam na wykonywanie niezwykle skomplikowanych czynnoĆci takich jak obliczenia matematyczne, analizy gospodarcze czy choÄby napisanie tej ksiÄ
ĆŒki. Mimo to wciÄ
ĆŒ nie jesteĆmy pewni jak i dlaczego czĆowiek nabyĆ zdolnoĆÄ abstrakcyjnego myĆlenia. Jedna z teorii sugeruje, ĆŒe myĆlenie abstrakcyjne i konkretne opierajÄ
siÄ na tym samym mechanizmie: doĆwiadczeniu. WedĆug tej teorii, nazwanej teoriÄ
ucieleĆnionego poznania, Ćwiat rozumiemy dziÄki doĆwiadczeniom fizycznym. Kiedy opisujemy jakiĆ argument jako "chwiejny" albo poglÄ
d jako "bezpodstawny" to korzystamy z doĆwiadczeĆ, ktĂłre zdobyliĆmy bawiÄ
c siÄ kolckami jako dzieci. W tej ksiÄ
ĆŒce zadajÄ postawione przez psychologa Daniela Casasanto pytanie: âczy pojÄcia abstrakcyjne sÄ
jak piĂłra dinozaurĂłwâ. Jakie procesy ewolucyjne doprowadziĆy do tego, ĆŒe jesteĆmy w stanie opisaÄ nawet bardzo abstrakcyjne zagadnienia w odniesieniu do konkretnych zjawisk? PrzedstawiajÄ
c wyniki badaĆ nad mowÄ
i gestem osĂłb widzÄ
cych, sĆabowidzÄ
cych oraz niewidomych, staram siÄ pokazaÄ, ĆŒe podstawy zrozumienia wielu pojÄÄ abstrakcyjnych szukaÄ moĆŒna w geĆcie
Tides of voice : nation language as political resistance in the work of Kamau Brathwaite and Bill Griffiths
This thesis connects two poets, Barbadian Kamau Brathwaite (1930â2020) and Englishman Bill Griffiths (1948â2007), both noted for use of subaltern speech. Brathwaite is a celebrated practitioner and theorist of ânation languageâ, his term for Caribbean speech-forms. Griffithsâ poetry and research explore numerous marginalised communitiesâ voices, but particularly North East English dialect. Both poets employ nation language or dialect to subvert centralised, metropolitan politics associated with standard English, and both experiment with performance techniques, visual layout, and community formation. However, there was virtually no contact between the two during their lifetimes, and little between their respective milieus as poets. By bringing these bodies of work into conversation, new routes can open for English dialect poetry to learn from Caribbean innovations.
âTidalecticsâ, Brathwaiteâs theory of cultural interchange that allows communities to share ideas without colonialist hierarchies emerging, offers a framework for such learning. Indeed, Caribbean nation languageâs historical development was a tidalectic process. Brathwaite himself identifies tidalectic features in North East Englandâs history and culture, licensing a view of North East dialect as nation language, with the subversive politics that this entails. Griffithsâ work is well-suited to be read in this light, given his own interest in Black and Caribbean cultures.
I survey and compare the two poetsâ experiments with nation language: live performance, alternative lexicons and syntax, innovative wordplay, richly visual text formats, documentary poetics, and responses to new technologies. Throughout, Brathwaiteâs example helps to identify underappreciated innovations in Griffiths, and to suggest new directions for English nation language writing. Through increased awareness of each otherâs shared difference from standard English and the political orthodoxy that it furthers, Caribbean and English nation language communities (poetic and otherwise), as well as similar groups worldwide, will be better able to support one anotherâs political and aesthetic struggles
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