Token-based typology and word order entropy: A study based on universal dependencies

The present paper discusses the benefits and challenges of token-based typology, which takes into account the frequencies of words and constructions in language use. This approach makes it possible to introduce new criteria for language classification, which would be difficult or impossible to achieve with the traditional, type-based approach. This point is illustrated by several quantitative studies of word order variation, which can be measured as entropy at different levels of granularity. I argue that this variation can be explained by general functional mechanisms and pressures, which manifest themselves in language use, such as optimization of processing (including avoidance of ambiguity) and grammaticalization of predictable units occurring in chunks. The case studies are based on multilingual corpora, which have been parsed using the Universal Dependencies annotation scheme

Interpretation at the controller's edge: designing graphical user interfaces for the digital publication of the excavations at Gabii (Italy)

This paper discusses the authors’ approach to designing an interface for the Gabii Project’s digital volumes that attempts to fuse elements of traditional synthetic publications and site reports with rich digital datasets. Archaeology, and classical archaeology in particular, has long engaged with questions of the formation and lived experience of towns and cities. Such studies might draw on evidence of local topography, the arrangement of the built environment, and the placement of architectural details, monuments and inscriptions (e.g. Johnson and Millett 2012). Fundamental to the continued development of these studies is the growing body of evidence emerging from new excavations. Digital techniques for recording evidence “on the ground,” notably SFM (structure from motion aka close range photogrammetry) for the creation of detailed 3D models and for scene-level modeling in 3D have advanced rapidly in recent years. These parallel developments have opened the door for approaches to the study of the creation and experience of urban space driven by a combination of scene-level reconstruction models (van Roode et al. 2012, Paliou et al. 2011, Paliou 2013) explicitly combined with detailed SFM or scanning based 3D models representing stratigraphic evidence. It is essential to understand the subtle but crucial impact of the design of the user interface on the interpretation of these models. In this paper we focus on the impact of design choices for the user interface, and make connections between design choices and the broader discourse in archaeological theory surrounding the practice of the creation and consumption of archaeological knowledge. As a case in point we take the prototype interface being developed within the Gabii Project for the publication of the Tincu House. In discussing our own evolving practices in engagement with the archaeological record created at Gabii, we highlight some of the challenges of undertaking theoretically-situated user interface design, and their implications for the publication and study of archaeological materials

Expressing the GIVE event in Papuan languages: A preliminary survey

The linguistic expression of the GIVE event is investigated in a sample of 72 Papuan languages, 33 belonging to the Trans New Guinea family, 39 of various non-TNG lineages. Irrespective of the verbal template (prefix, suffix, or no indexation of undergoer), in the majority of languages the recipient is marked as the direct object of a monotransitive verb, which sometimes involves stem suppletion for the recipient. While a few languages allow verbal affixation for all three arguments, a number of languages challenge the universal claim that the `give' verb always has three arguments

Experimental setup for light-to-heat NIR conversion measurements of gold nano-particles\u2019 solutions

In recent years, there is a constantly increasing interest in the application of nanoparticles for cancer diagnosis and cancer therapy. In this respect, the most promising nano-objects at present are the gold nanoparticles. A very convenient and powerful property of these objects is their ability to increase their temperature under electro-magnetic irradiation with certain wavelength. In our research we have directed our efforts toward particular nano-objects specifically sensitive to electromagnetic radiation in the near-infrared region (NIR). In order to study the photothermic properties of the solutions of gold nanoparticles in the NIR we constructed a specific electronic setup consisting of a laser system with interchangeable laser diodes with different wavelength NIR light, a thermally-insulated cuvette-holder compartment with temperature measuring probes and a NIR spectrometer to control the stimulated fluorescence emission of the nanoparticles\u2019 solutions. The temperature measurement compartment with the thermal-insulated cuvette holder was designed to maintain the solutions\u2019 temperature at a fixed value right before the moment of laser irradiation. To maintain the measurement setup at a fixed temperature before the irradiation we used a thermal stabilized system based on two Peltier cells with electronic temperature control. The temperatures of the ambient air and the temperature of the cuvette walls were continuously measured in order to make corrections about the temperature dissipation during the irradiation

Community-driven approaches to open source archaeological imaging

No abstract available

Speaking of clans: language in Awyu-Ndumut communities of Indonesian West Papua

The place of language in Awyu-Ndumut speech communities of the Indonesian province of West Papua is investigated from the point of view of the parallel but interconnected worlds of clan lands and nation-state sponsored settlements, with institutions such as schools and churches. First, language and identity, language names, multilingualism, linguistic ideologies and special speech registers are discussed from the perspective of clan-based cultural and linguistic practices. Second, the relationship between Papuan languages and Indonesian is investigated from the perspective of the dynamics of the clan land/settlement opposition. Indonesian is talked about by Awyu-Ndumut speakers both positively and negatively. Positively, they speak of it as an interethnic lingua franca. Negatively, they speak of it as the language of "demons", that is people outside the boundaries of Awyu-Ndumut social personhood

Double or nothing: Deconstructing cultural heritage

This paper draws on the deconstruction(ist) toolbox and specifically on the textual unweaving tactics of supplementarity, exemplarity, and parergonality, with a view to critically assessing institutional (UNESCO’s) and ordinary tourists’ claims to authenticity as regards artifacts and sites of ‘cultural heritage’. Through the ‘destru[k]tion’ of claims to ‘originality’ and ‘myths of origin’, that function as preservatives for canning such artifacts and sites, the cultural arche-writing that forces signifiers to piously bow before a limited string of ‘transcendental signifieds’ is brought to full view. The stench of the aeons is thus forced to evaporate through a post-transcendentalist opening towards originary myths’ original doubles