The Semantics of Evaluational Adjectives: Perspectives from Natural Semantic Metalanguage and Appraisal

We apply the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach (Goddard & Wierzbicka 2014) to the lexical-semantic analysis of English evaluational adjectives and compare the results with the picture developed in the Appraisal Framework (Martin & White 2005). The analysis is corpus-assisted, with examples mainly drawn from film and book reviews, and supported by collocational and statistical information from WordBanks Online. We propose NSM explications for 15 evaluational adjectives, arguing that they fall into five groups, each of which corresponds to a distinct semantic template. The groups can be sketched as follows: “First-person thought-plus-affect”, e.g. wonderful; “Experiential”, e.g. entertaining; “Experiential with bodily reaction”, e.g. gripping; “Lasting impact”, e.g. memorable; “Cognitive evaluation”, e.g. complex, excellent. These groupings and semantic templates are compared with the classifications in the Appraisal Framework’s system of Appreciation. In addition, we are particularly interested in sentiment analysis, the automatic identification of evaluation and subjectivity in text. We discuss the relevance of the two frameworks for sentiment analysis and other language technology applications

On Being Negative

This paper investigates the pragmatic expressions of negative evaluation (negativity) in two corpora: (i) comments posted online in response to newspaper opinion articles; and (ii) online reviews of movies, books and consumer products. We propose a taxonomy of linguistic resources that are deployed in the expression of negativity, with two broad groups at the top level of the taxonomy: resources from the lexicogrammar or from discourse semantics. We propose that rhetorical figures can be considered part of the discourse semantic resources used in the expression of negativity. Using our taxonomy as starting point, we carry out a corpus analysis, and focus on three phenomena: adverb + adjective combinations; rhetorical questions; and rhetorical figures. Although the analysis in this paper is corpus-assisted rather than corpus-driven, the final goal of our research is to make it quantitative, in extracting patterns and resources that can be detected automatically

Exploring quantitative modelling of semantic factors for content marketing

Developments in business analytics as well as an increased availability of data has allowed digital marketers to better understand and capitalize on consumer behavior to maximize the engagement with marketing materials. However, because most previous studies in this field have focused on consumer behavior theory, they have been largely limited in scope due to small datasets and reliance on human-labeled data. This study aims to explore the potential of using a machine-learning language model to generate vector embeddings, representing the semantics in text, to model engagement in a quantitative way. By clustering the semantic vector embeddings, the study was able to generate datasets on different topics, on which regression models were estimated to gauge the impact of the represented variables. Many of the parameters in the models were shown to be significant, implying both explanatory potential in text semantics, as well as the presented methods’ ability to model these. This expands on theories in the literature regarding how semantic factors affect consumer perception, as well as highlighting that text semantics contains information that can help inform marketing decision-making. The paper contributes a methodology that can allow academics and marketers alike to model these semantics and thus gain insights relating to how topics and language affect consumer engagement. Further investigation into similar methods might allow digital marketers to improve their understanding how different consumers perceive and engage with their marketing content

Ratings of self and others as a function of expectations and evaluations

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University.Effects of two independent variables -- expectations of liking or disliking other individuals, and evaluative reactions about self from these others on self concept and liking for others, were experimentally studied, as an application of Heider's theory of balanced states. Heider has postulated a tendency for individuals to reach a state in which interpersonal cognitions are balanced, or consistent, with one another. Several hypotheses were generated by applying balance theory to the relationships among these variables [TRUNCATED

The Semantic Derogation of Female

As Schulz (1975) observed decades ago, terms of reference can reflect a range of underlying ideological assumptions. One of her examples of this phenomenon is the lexical choice between freedom fighter and terrorist (p. 64), with the former reflective of positive appraisals and the latter a far more negative one. Schulz goes on to discuss the phenomenon she labels “the semantic derogation of women” whereby once neutral terms of reference undergo pejoration; part of the discussion compares terms like lady with its male counterpart gentleman, with the former undergoing pejoration in many contexts but not the latter. I first became aware of this phenomenon sometime during 2020, with regard to terms of reference for women when I observed people replying to online posts which described women as females with entirely textless responses consisting solely of pictures of an alien race from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. These aliens are caricatures of capitalism and misogyny, and they themselves refer to women as females. I interpreted these interactions to mean those who posted these pictures of the fictitious aliens were signalling shared gender ideology with the Star Trek aliens. However, “terminally online” behaviour like this often does not necessarily translate into real-world discursive patterns. I next asked many of the women in my life their reactions to hearing women referred to as female(s). While there was some variation in response, quite a few reported that this was a red flag for them, and men who did this, in their experience, were either dangerous or toxic. I followed up on these observations with an informal sampling of friends and coworkers, and the results were suggestive of female as a lexical variant which had undergone semantic derogation. Later in 2021, I conducted a qualitative analysis of the online communications of a misogynistic online Pickup Artist community which utilized this lexical variant frequently. However, while some findings were suggestive of such an analysis, they were ultimately inconclusive as within that insular community, one manner of referring to women seemed as hostile as any other. The present study continues this examination of what I have come to refer to as the conspicuous female. Specifically, I characterise it as a lexical variant for women which, when it occurs outside of clinical contexts, seems to carry ideological baggage. To this end, I approach the question from a different direction than my earlier project, which was small in scale and purely qualitative in analysis. First, I re-administer an earlier survey on attitudes towards this lexical variant with a larger sample and a wider age range than in my previous research. Secondly, I mine Twitter using keyword searches for a reasonably large corpus of tweets containing the targeted variant, female, and a variant which is less negatively charged, woman. The choice of this second, more innocuous variant, was decided based on results from the attitudinal survey. The Twitter data are analyzed using the tools of critical discourse analysis (van Dijk 2005), for content which indexes prejudicial ideologies as well as quantitative variationist methodology (Bayley 2019)

An NSM-based cultural dictionary of Australian English: from theory to practice

This thesis is a 'thesis by creative project' consisting of a cultural dictionary of Australian English, and an exegesis which details the theoretical basis and decisions made throughout the creative process of this project. The project aims to produce a resource for ESL teachers on teaching the invisible culture of Australian English to migrants, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) (e.g. Wierzbicka, 2006) as a theoretical and methodological basis. The resource takes the form of an encyclopaedic dictionary focussing on Australian values, attitudes, and interactional norms, in response to the need for education resources describing the cultural ethos embodied in Australian English (Sadow, 2014). Best practice for teaching intercultural communicative competence and related skills is to use a method for teaching which encourages students to reflect on their experience and analyse it from an insider perspective (Tomlinson and Masuhara, 2013). This thesis takes the position and demonstrates that an NSM-based descriptive method can meet these practical requirements by providing a framework for describing both cultural semantics and cultural scripts. In response to teacher needs for a pedagogical tool, I created Standard Translatable English (STE) - a derivative of NSM specifically designed for language pedagogy. The exegesis part of this project, therefore, reports on the development of STE and the process, rationale, and results of creating a cultural dictionary using STE as a descriptive method. I also discuss the theoretical grounding of teaching invisible culture, the best-practice requirements for creating teaching materials and dictionaries, my methods for conducting user needs research, and the results, and the ultimate design choices which have resulted in a finished product, including supplementary materials to ensure that teachers are well prepared to use an NSM-based approach in pedagogical contexts. The main body of this project, however, is the cultural dictionary - The Australian Dictionary of Invisible Culture for Teachers - comprising approximately 300 entries which describes, in STE, essential aspects of the values, attitudes, interactional norms, cultural keywords, and culture-specific language of Anglo-Australian English. The cultural dictionary is formatted as an eBook to enhance accessibility and practicality for teachers in classroom contexts. Drawing on previous dictionaries and on lexicography, the entries include a range of lexicographical information such as examples, part-of-speech, and cross-referencing. This innovative cultural dictionary represents the first targeted work into the applications of NSM and NSM-derived frameworks. It is the first dictionary of invisible culture in Australian English in this framework, and the only current resource which is aimed at maximum translatability for the English language education context

Consumer Assessment of Residential Energy Conserving Innovation

This research is the product of the researcher\u27s development in the realm of environmental design and planning and her conviction that energy conservation is an interdisciplinary challenge. The study consists of three parts: 1) a theoretical study in which writings from multi-disciplines were examined for their potential to make a contribution to the conservation of energy; 2) a methodological study to develop an instrument to evaluate consumer acceptance of energy conserving innovation, INOVAC; and 3) an experimental field study, in which an energy conservation education program was delivered to consumers and whereby they were evaluated on the meanings they then attributed to energy conserving innovative window designs as a result of the education experience. The research was conducted as the second of four evaluation strategies within a larger study, ENERSENSE, a project undertaken jointly by The University of Tennessee Energy, Environment, and Resources Center (EERC) and the Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service (TAES), to deliver and evaluate a multi-media program within the State of Tennessee. This project was carried out under the United States Department of Energy contract No. DOE EY 76-5-05-5049. In the fall of 1978, a subsample of 100 was selected from the TAES clientele who had responded to the questionnaire administered as Strategy I of ENERSENSE. Equal-sized control and treatment groups were interviewed using the INOVAC instrument, which combined simulations of five innovative window concepts with semantic differential scales representative of the vernacular of the region, and question items on 1) experience with the concepts and 2) the consumer\u27s intention to use those concepts. Comparisons among and overall the innovative concepts were made both within each group and between the two groups. Contextual variables data supplied by both the interview and the questionnaire were examined in respect to an INOVAT index, an overall index of innovation acceptance. Space models were constructed and trends in the meaningfulness of concepts were illustrated in three-dimensional form. The treatment group indicated that it found more variety of meaningfulness among concepts; concept relationships between-groups were not uniform. The differences, however, were not found to be statistically significant. Selected attributes (k=15) and three dimensions common to all concepts were analyzed. A limited number of attributes, which were seen as being closely associated with the conservation of energy, were found to be rated more positively by the treatment group. Ratings over the three dimensions: Aesthetic Appeal, Performance Evaluation, and Economic Novelty were not significantly different between-groups, while the control group rated more within-group concept comparisons as significantly different. The two groups did not differ significantly on the INOVAT index. Exposure to the concepts, a contextual variable, was the only variable to contribute significantly to the index. All contextual variables examined in relation to the acceptance of each window concept contributed equally to its acceptance. The importance of this research lies both in its methodological and experimental results. INOVAC, in addition to its reliability and behavioral validity, exhibited a potential for identifying descriptive features of energy-conserving innovations. These, plus the INOVAT index, provided a multivariant means of consumer evaluation. The INOVAC included also a capacity to compare experimental groups for statistically significant differences and for relationships to contextual variables which characterize segments of consumers and their reaction to energy conserving innovation. The research findings support using the INOVAC in field experiments and acknowledge the value of the instrument as an objective means of evaluating a current and practical environmental subject, which has a definite subjective component. Further research, however, must be undertaken. Suggestions for this are discussed along with the implications for the use of the INOVAC in relation to: 1) energy policy and education; 2) design evaluation; 3) innovation diffusion; and 4) environmental planning