27,423 research outputs found

    Linguistic complexity: English vs. Polish, text vs. corpus

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    We analyze the rank-frequency distributions of words in selected English and Polish texts. We show that for the lemmatized (basic) word forms the scale-invariant regime breaks after about two decades, while it might be consistent for the whole range of ranks for the inflected word forms. We also find that for a corpus consisting of texts written by different authors the basic scale-invariant regime is broken more strongly than in the case of comparable corpus consisting of texts written by the same author. Similarly, for a corpus consisting of texts translated into Polish from other languages the scale-invariant regime is broken more strongly than for a comparable corpus of native Polish texts. Moreover, we find that if the words are tagged with their proper part of speech, only verbs show rank-frequency distribution that is almost scale-invariant

    Degrees of Propositionality in Construals of Time Quantities1

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    The paper investigates the possible conceptual bases of differences between seemingly synonymous and easily definable temporal expressions. Looking at the usage patterns of nominal temporal phrases in reference corpora of English and Polish we attempt to relate these subtleties to the different granularity of the cognitive scales on which construals of time quantities in general are based. More specifically, we focus on a subset of nominal temporal expressions which adhere to the “number + time unit” pattern, matching what Haspelmath (1997: 26) describes as “culture-bound artificial time units”. Using the British National Corpus (BNC) and the National Corpus of Polish (NCP), we first analyse both the variation and the regularity found in naturally-occurring samples of Polish and English. Finally, we compare the patterns of use emerging from the two corpora and arrive at cross-linguistic generalisations about the conceptualisation of time quantities

    VP-fronting in Czech and Polish : a case study in corpus-oriented grammar research

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    Fronting of an infinite VP across a finite main verb - akin to German "VP-topicalization" - can be found also in Czech and Polish. The paper discusses evidence from large corpora for this process and some of its properties, both syntactic and information-structural. Based on this case, criteria for more user-friedly searching and retrieval of corpus data in syntactic research are being developed

    MODALNOŚĆ EPISTEMICZNA – ANALIZA KORPUSOWA WYKŁADNIKÓW MODALNOŚCI EPISTEMICZNEJ W WYROKACH UNIJNYCH I KRAJOWYCH

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    The aim of this paper is to establish the repertoire and distribution of verbal and adverbial exponents of epistemic modality in English- and Polish-language judgments passed by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and non-translated judgments passed by the Supreme Court of Poland (SN). The study applies a model for categorizing exponents of epistemicity with regard to their (i) level (high-, medium- and low-level of certainty, necessity or possibility expressed by the markers; primary dimension), (ii) perspective (own vs. reported perspective), (iii) opinion (based either on facts or beliefs) and (iv) time (the embedding of epistemic markers in sentences relating to the past, present or future) (contextual dimensions). It examines the degree of intra-generic convergence of translated EU judgments and non-translated national judgments in terms of the employment of epistemic markers, as well as the degree of authoritativeness of judicial argumentation, and determines whether the frequent use of epistemic markers constitutes a generic feature of judgments. The research material consists of a parallel corpus of English- and Polish-language versions of 200 EU judgments and a corpus of 200 non-translated domestic judgments. The results point to the high salience and differing patterns of use of epistemic markers in both EU and national judgments. The frequent use of high-level epistemic markers boosts the authoritativeness of judicial reasoning.Celem pracy jest ustalenie zasobu i dystrybucji czasownikowych i przysłówkowych wykładników modalności epistemicznej w angielsko- i polskojęzycznych tłumaczeniach wyroków Trybunału Sprawiedliwości UE (CJEU) i nietłumaczonych wyrokach Sądu Najwyższego RP (SN). W badaniu wykorzystano model kategoryzacji wykładników modalności epistemicznej pozwalający na ich klasyfikację ze względu na (i) intensywność (wysoką, średnią bądź niską, tj. stopień pewności, konieczności albo prawdopodobieństwa wyrażany przez poszczególne wykładniki; wymiar podstawowy), (ii) perspektywę (własną bądź przytaczaną), (iii) opinię (opartą na faktach albo przekonaniu), a także (iv) czas (przeszły, teraźniejszy, przyszły) (wymiary kontekstowe). Badanie miało na celu ustalenie wewnątrzgatunkowego stopnia dopasowania tłumaczonych wyroków unijnych do nietłumaczonych wyroków krajowych pod względem występowania wykładników modalności epistemicznej, określenie stopnia autorytatywności argumentacji sędziowskiej oraz stwierdzenie, czy częste występowanie wykładników stanowi cechę gatunkową wyroków. Materiał badawczy obejmuje równoległy korpus 200 wyroków unijnych przetłumaczonych na język angielski i polski oraz korpus 200 wyroków krajowych. Wyniki badania wskazują na istotną wagę wykładników o wysokiej intensywności zarówno w wyrokach unijnych, jak i krajowych. Stwierdzono, że częste użycie wykładników modalności epistemicznej o wysokiej intensywności podnosi poziom autorytatywności argumentacji sędziowskiej

    Gloomy Images of Yellow and Żółty in a Corpus-Based Cognitive Study

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    The outcomes confirm a conceptual proximity reflected in the semantics of these colour terms, which seems to be - perhaps surprisingly - incongruous with the popular association of yellow/żółty with the sun. As the evidence provided by the British National Corpus and the Polish Scientific Publishers' corpus (PWN) reveals, the central and peripheral readings are inspired by the imagery of autumnal and physiological changes, while the semantics of both yellow and żółty reflect the significant influence of cultural factors, unparalleled in the polysemies of the other five basic colour terms

    A Multivariate Study of T/V Forms in European Languages Based on a Parallel Corpus of Film Subtitles

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    The present study investigates the cross-linguistic differences in the use of so-called T/V forms (e.g. French tu and vous, German du and Sie, Russian ty and vy) in ten European languages from different language families and genera. These constraints represent an elusive object of investigation because they depend on a large number of subtle contextual features and social distinctions, which should be cross-linguistically matched. Film subtitles in different languages offer a convenient solution because the situations of communication between film characters can serve as comparative concepts. I selected more than two hundred contexts that contain the pronouns you and yourself in the original English versions, which are then coded for fifteen contextual variables that describe the Speaker and the Hearer, their relationships and different situational properties. The creators of subtitles in the other languages have to choose between T and V when translating from English, where the T/V distinction is not expressed grammatically. On the basis of these situations translated in ten languages, I perform multivariate analyses using the method of conditional inference trees in order to identify the most relevant contextual variables that constrain the T/V variation in each language

    Partial Perception and Approximate Understanding

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    What is discussed in the present paper is the assumption concerning a human narrowed sense of perception of external world and, resulting from this, a basically approximate nature of concepts that are to portray it. Apart from the perceptual vagueness, other types of vagueness are also discussed, involving both the nature of things, indeterminacy of linguistic expressions and psycho-sociological conditioning of discourse actions in one language and in translational contexts. The second part of the paper discusses the concept of conceptual and linguistic resemblance (similarity, equivalence) and discourse approximating strategies and proposes a Resemblance Matrix, presenting ways used to narrow the approximation gap between the interacting parties in monolingual and translational discourses
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