3,439 research outputs found

    A critical analysis of the strategies of terminology creation in the context of a multilingual Namibia: the case of ruManyo

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    This study examines the strategies used to develop terms in the language ruManyo. The study focuses on existing strategies used by language practitioners to construct analogous key-concept terms in ruManyo for application in various fields. The sample was taken through purposive sampling, and the investigation was carried out in Namibia's Kavango East region, in domains such as education, radio, agriculture, law, hospital, bank, and church. The data for this report was collected using a case study, which included document analysis, participant observations and interviews with ruManyo language practitioners. The findings of the study indicate that ruManyo language practitioners lack the skills and information needed to build appropriate terminology solutions for specific domains. Furthermore, it appears that linguistic competence is not guiding word-generation efforts in certain disciplines. The study re-evaluated the evolution of multilingual word-generation techniques, and discovered that specific domains necessitate specific tactics, based on the context in which terms are employed. Based on the findings of this study, the recommendation is to design unambiguous wordinvention strategies for specific domains that are consistent with the terminology development guidelines for indigenous African languages. Due to the deficiencies in African indigenous language terminologies highlighted in this study, the researcher proposes the creation of a manual for ruManyo, detailing each method for application in different domains

    Learning probabilistic patterns: influence of homophony, L1 and frequency

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    In this thesis, I investigate whether learners’ avoidance of alternation and neutralization, as well as learners’ exposure to their native language (L1), affect how they learn new morpho-phonological patterns. While the effect of individual factors on morpho-phonological learning has been widely studied, whether these factors have a collective effect on learning and interact with the frequency of variants in the input has been understudied. To explore whether there are any interactive effects of these factors, I modify the type of alternations, learners’ native languages, and relative frequency of variants across several repetitions of an experiment. I exposed adult English speakers to an artificial language in which plural forms were probabilistically marked by one of two prefixes. One of the prefixes triggered either a non- neutralizing or neutralizing alternation that could create homophony. I found that English speakers generally matched the relative input frequency to their output. However, learners avoided the construction that resulted in a phonological alternation, but only when it was infrequent. This finding suggests that though there is a tendency to avoid alternations, it depends on how frequent the relative variants are in the input. Moreover, English speakers were poorer at learning the neutralizing alternation than the non-neutralizing alternation, showing their bias against neutralization that can create homophony. Additionally, I replicated the same experiments with Korean speakers because there is abundant exposure to neutralization in their L1. I found that Korean speakers were successful at learning both neutralizing and non-neutralizing alternations, suggesting that having abundant exposure to neutralization can make new neutralization easier to learn. Finally, I argue for a model which implements the avoidance effect as a discounting of observations that trigger homophony in the training data, rather than requiring a special constraint penalizing neutralization in the grammar. This Discount model correctly predicts the different learning results between English and Korean speakers and provides a straightforward explanation for learners’ bias against neutralization and homophony. This approach places the locus of the bias in the learning process rather than in the grammar

    Paraguayan GuaranĂ­ reduplication: a novel prosodic analysis

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    In contexts of reduplication in Paraguayan Guaraní [gug, Tupí-Guaraní, Paraguay], two syllables are copied.The position of the reduplicant is variable, but morphophonologically conditioned. With data from apparentbase-reduplicant mismatches, I evaluate three possible analyses of reduplication. Contrary to previousaccounts of reduplication in Tupí-Guaraní (Everett & Seki, 1985; Rose, 2005; Hamidzadeh, 2013), I arguethat the reduplicant in Paraguayan Guaraní is best analyzed as an infix: specifically, a suffix to the stressedvowel. Reduplication in Paraguayan Guaraní is sensitive to stress assignment, which is determined by theprosodic structure, and the reduplicant is a disyllabic suffix to a stressed vowel. The vowel to which thereduplicant attaches may lie within any prosodic word: therefore, both attested and unattested types ofvariability in reduplicant position fall out from this account. I additionally propose that synchronic variationis evidence of an ongoing reanalysis of the position of the reduplicant in Paraguayan Guaraní from a suffix tothe stressed vowel towards a suffix to the prosodic word, in line with free suffix order in the language

    Revitalising Gija: Developing Genre-based Documentation and Description for Community Language Programs

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    Gija is a language spoken in the east Kimberley region of Western Australia. Based on a number of indicators of language vitality, it has been classified as Severely Endangered or Moribund. This research undertakes description of Gija, applying Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) typology and genre theory in the context of supporting the maintenance of this endangered Australian language. Many linguists now agree that if linguistic scholarship is to contribute directly to language revitalisation processes, it must consider language in use and in its cultural context. SFL, in its orientation towards meaning and its metafunctionally diversified, stratified model of language provides theoretically informed principles for making such a contribution. This study takes texts highly valued in the Gija community and used in language education as its data. It recognises three significant genres - the Ngarranggarni story, plant usage report and mantha. Applying a stratified model of text in context, the analyses investigate the patterns of language choice from a ‘top-down’ perspective. That is, chapters begin with genre, looking at how texts are staged to fulfill their social purpose and what configurations of register variables (known as field, mode and tenor) underpin each text. Within genre stages meanings are realised as unfolding phases, realised in turn as patterns of choice from discourse semantic systems. Finally, each genre becomes the way in to discussing how the verbal group in Gija contributes to ideational, textual and interpersonal meaning at clause, group and word rank. By taking these insights and recontextualising them in teacher training, Gija educators can be supported to bring their knowledge about Gija to consciousness, supporting their growing confidence as teachers of their own language. This study could also be utilised to develop linguistically informed resources for school and community-based Gija language teaching programs in the future

    Haplology and local dislocation in Turkish: Evidence from associative plural constructions

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    In Turkish, a possessed kinship term (e.g. anne-m ”mother-pos.1sg”) can serve as a base to the associative plural suffix. However, forms where (i) an associative plural suffix follows a plural agreement suffix or (ii) the associative plural suffix -lAr follows the possessive marker -(s)I are ungrammatical. This study investigates the source of these gaps and argues that, in the first group, the ungrammaticality of the forms arises from the structural adjacency of two [+plural] features; and, in the second group, the ungrammaticality of forms is due to a ban on the suffix order *-(s)I+lAr, which is repaired as -lAr+(s)I. It is argued that while the first grammatical constraint applies at the level of abstract features, i.e., morphosyntax, the second constraint applies at the form level, i.e., morphophonology

    Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV

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    Collection of papers “Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV” is devoted to issues of methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, to issues of linguistics and literary science and includes papers related to the use of online tools and resources in teaching Russian. This collection of papers is a result of the international scientific conference “Current issues of the Russian language teaching XIV”, which was scheduled for 8–10 May 2020, but due to the pandemic COVID-19 took place remotely

    Jacob, the Torah, and the Abrahamic Promise : Studies on the Use and Interpretation of the Jacob Story in the Book of Jubilees

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    I denna avhandling forskar jag i den tidiga judiska receptionshistorian av Genesis (Första Moseboken). Fokus ligger pa Jubileerboken (c. 170–150 f.Kr.), ett verk som har ofta kallats ett parallelexempel pĂ„ fenomenet ”omskriven bibel” (”Rewritten Bible”). Det handlar mest om ett antikt (och modernt) fenomen dĂ€r man berĂ€ttar och skriver om bibliska berĂ€ttelser med hjĂ€lp av olika tolkningstraditioner som Ă€r anknutna till den bibliska texten. Genom att undersöka Jubileerboken och jĂ€mföra den med Genesis kan man avslöja hur berĂ€ttelserna i Genesis har anvĂ€nts och tolkats under det andra Ă„rhundradet f.Kr. Eftersom patriark Jakob stĂ„r i fokus i Jubileerboken, har jag fokuserat pĂ„ honom som huvudgestalt och undersökt hur JakobberĂ€ttelsen har tolkats och anvĂ€nts. Avhandlingen bestĂ„r av fyra delar. I det första kapitlet inleder jag studiet genom att diskutera Jubileerbokens mĂ„ngfacetterade texthistoria. Den etiopiska texttraditionen har bevarat hela texten, sĂ„ dĂ€rför stĂ„r den i fokus. Den Ă€r ocksa tillrĂ€ckligt tillförlitlig för att sĂ€ga nĂ„got om den tidiga judendomen i andra Ă„rh. f.Kr. trots att manuskriptevidensen hĂ€rstammar frĂ„n medeltiden. DĂ€rutöver diskuterar jag olika möjliga redaktioner som boken kan ha haft och kommer till den slutsatsen att den ursprungligen varit en helhet som dock kan ha redigerats mer i Qumrankretsen, Ă„tminstone för delen Jub 1:15b–25. SjĂ€lva avhandlingen innehĂ„ller tre studier, av vilka tva (kap. 2 och 3) handlar om förhĂ„llandet mellan Jakob och Toran, och ett (kap. 4) handlar om förhĂ„llandet mellan Jakob och Abrahamslöftet. Med Abrahamslöftet menas i detta studium de löften som Gud gav Ă„t Abraham i Genesis 12:1–3 och paralleltexter, nĂ€mligen (1) land, (2) sĂ€d/avkomlingar, (3) stort namn samt (4) vĂ€lsignelsen. I det andra kapitlet behandlar jag hur psalm 78 har tolkats i Jubileerboken. Som utgĂ„ngspunkt har jag Ps 78:5 dĂ€r det stĂ„r att Gud har ”placerat sitt testimonium i Jakob, och satt sin Tora i Israel.” Jubileerbokens författare har tolkat versen att tyda pĂ„ att patriark Jakob har fĂ„tt lagen. SjĂ€lva termerna ”testimonium” (ŚȘŚąŚ•Ś“Ś” /ŚąŚ“Ś•ŚȘ ) och ”Tora” (ŚȘŚ•ŚšŚ” ) Ă€r viktiga för författaren, som hela tiden hĂ€nvisar till ”testimoniet” som har skrivits pĂ„ himmelska tavlor. Av allt att döma har författaren anvĂ€nt det tidiga gezera shava -tolkningssĂ€ttet, dĂ€r ovanliga ord och uttryck i olika texter tolkas i ljuset av varandra. Nu har författaren anvĂ€nt Ps 78:5 och kombinerat den med Jes 8:16, 20 och Rut 4:7 och kommit till den slutsatsen att Jakob har fĂ„tt Toran som helhet, och att uppenbarelsen angĂ„ende lagen eller halakha har fullbordats i Jakobs tid. Jakob ger budskapet vidare till sin son Levi, som ska förkunna det för Israels folk (Jub 45:16). Denna transmittering av materialet som Jakob gör med Levi Ă€r annorlunda Ă€n det som sker med patriarkerna före Jakob, men sjĂ€lva traditionsförmedlingen Ă€r nĂ„got som ocksĂ„ Ps 78:5–8 betonar och som Ă€r viktigt för författaren till Jubileerboken. Tredje kapitlet handlar om hur författaren har kombinerat patriark Jakob med Deuteronomium (Femte Moseboken). Deuteronomium har skrivits som tilltal till Israel. I tilltalet förekommer andra person singularis och pluralis vĂ€xelvis. I studien lyfter jag fram Jub 30–32 (jfr. Gen 34–35) som utgĂ„ngspunkt och visar hur författaren har kombinerat deuteronomiska bud med Jakobs liv. Jakob heter ocksa Israel. I den omskrivna versionen av Jubileerboken Ă€r Jakob en perfekt israelit, som uppfyller de deuteronomiska lagarna in i minsta detalj och som redan fĂ„tt alla lagar. NĂ€r det under författarens tid förekom risken att man trodde att patriarkerna inte kĂ€nde Toran, sĂ„ anser författaren tvĂ€rtom. De kĂ€nde dem, och uppfyllde dem sĂ„ bra som möjligt. Under Jakobs=Israels tid blev allt klart, och dĂ€rför ska alla följa författarens lagtolkning. FjĂ€rde kapitlet Ă€r ett studium om Abrahamslöftet och dess reception i Jubileerboken. Det visade sig att löftet spelar en vĂ€ldig stor roll i Jubileerboken. Löftet tolkas pa konditionellt sĂ€tt: Redan frĂ„n början (Jub 12) Ă€r Abraham den aktiva parten som tar första initiativet, och patriarkernas aktiva roll betonas i hela boken. Författaren har ocksĂ„ lagt in flera betydelsefulla tillĂ€gg som inte har nĂ„gon parallel i Gen. Dessa inkluderar Abrahams tal till Rebecka (Jub 19), hans testament till sina söner (Jub 20), till Isak (Jub 21), Jakob (Jub 22), Rebeckas tilltal till Jakob (Jub 25) samt Rebecka och Isaks testamente till Jakob och Esau (Jub 35–36). Gen 18:18–19 fungerar som hermeneutisk nyckel till löftet. BĂ„de de omskrivna delarna och de tillĂ€gg, av vilka nĂ„gra vĂ€l kan hĂ€rstamma frĂ„n tidigare tolkningstraditioner, visar att löftet om Abrahams sĂ€d har tolkats att hĂ€nvisa till Jakob. Jakob repsenterar sĂ„ledes en typos, förebild av en ideal israelit, som följer Toran enligt författarens halakha. Samtidigt har denna tolkning kombinerats med tanken pa Jakob som ”helig sĂ€d” och representant av ”resten” som Ă€r ocksa viktiga termer i Jes och Esra-Neh. Inte alla etniska judar hör till Jakob/Israel, utan Esau fungerar ocksĂ„ som typos av en apostat som inte Ă€rver löftet. Löftet om landet har tolkats pĂ„ tvĂ„ olika sĂ€tt: Ă„ ena sidan handlar det Ă€nnu om det utlovade landet, men Ă„ andra sidan har det ocksĂ„ tolkats som att gĂ€lla hela vĂ€rlden. Detta kan systematiseras pĂ„ sĂ„dant sĂ€tt att det lovade landet stĂ„r som högkvarteret till Israels hegemoni, som sedan sprids Ă„t hela vĂ€rlden. Levi som typos till leviter/prĂ€ster samt Juda som typos till (messiansk) kung Ă€r huvudaktörer i det hur hegemonin blir realitet. Genom dessa tvĂ„ söner och de institutioner och individer som de representerar blir ocksĂ„ Abrahams namn stort, sĂ„som löftet om stort namn lovade. NĂ€r Jakob/Israel följer lagen enligt författarens halakha, sĂ„ blir de ocksa vĂ€lsignade. Denna vĂ€lsignelse har bĂ„de partikularistiska och universalistiska drag. Å ena sidan kan andra folk endast begĂ€ra samma slags vĂ€lsingelse (Jub 20:9, en tolkning av nif’al/hitpa’el-formen av Ś‘ŚšŚš “vĂ€lsigna” i Gen 12:3 par.), Ă„ andra sidan reparerar dessa vĂ€lsignelser vĂ€rlden (Jub 19:25). Patriark Jakob stĂ„r sĂ„ledes som ett exempel pĂ„ hur alla sanna israeliter ska bete sig. De ska uppfylla lagen. NĂ€r lagen Ă€r uppfylld, kan de ocksa Ă€rva de löften som gavs Ă„t Abraham. I slutet av avhandlingen visar jag att Jubileerboken kan fungera som viktigt parallelmaterial bl.a. för forskare av Nya testamentet och sĂ€rskilt i Paulusforskning, eftersom Pauli syn pĂ„ bĂ„de Abrahamslöftet och Toran stĂ„r i motsats till den som finns i Jubileerboken. Patriark Jakob har ocksĂ„ kopplats intimt ihop med Deuteronomium i senare rabbinska tolkningstraditioner (t.ex. Sifre Deuteronomium), men sjĂ€lva tolkningstraditionen Ă€r mycket Ă€ldre Ă€n vad forskarna har tidigare trott
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