The Ambiguous Oracle: narrative configuration in Acts

This paper outlines the way in which a plot-device, which for the sake of convenience we shall call the ‘ambiguous oracle’ in Acts 1.6–8, controls and influences the narrative, creating coherence and enabling interpretation. The paper begins by looking at the current interpretation of the verses, and argues that it is not sufficient to explain the narrative configuration at various points, before going on to suggest an alternative interpretation, in which the misinterpretation of the oracle by the Apostles leads to the fulfillment of the Divine will. This interpretation finds strong support in literature contemporary to Acts

Measurements from "per" without complex dimensions

To what extent is the compositional structure of quantity terms in natural language aligned with the structure of the quantity calculus commonly used in scientific practice, a calculus that critically relies on mathematical operations like division and the computation of quotients? In pioneering work, Coppock (2021) addresses this general question through a case study on the English preposition "per", as in "0.9 grams per milliliter". Coppock proposes that "per" expresses the operation of quantity division, an operation that forms quantities like 0.9g/mL by using ratios of measurements from different dimensions. Here we show that this “division theory” of "per" makes the wrong prediction with respect to statements about measures of density and concentration. We argue that these types of expressions call for an “anaphoric theory” ofper. On this analysis, anaphora allows for the composition to invoke multiple measurements in basic dimensions, creating the appearance of reference to complex quantities like 0.9g/mL, even though no such quantities are actually composed nor denoted in the formal semantics

Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance at A Pump Supplier

The study aimed to investigate the impact of employee engagement on performance at a South African pump supplier. The research adopted a qualitative study and a non-probability purposeful sampling technique with a target population of ten employees at the company. It examined the factors that contributed to the development of employees’ engagement and the effect of engagement on employee performance. The research instrument used interview and was analyzed qualitatively. Key findings revealed that the employees at the company are disengaged due to ineffective leadership, poor communication between management and employees, lack of a recognition system, inadequate employee participation in decision-making, and an absence of a strategic and coordinated approach to the employees’ well-being. Recommendations were that the organization should allow its workforce to provide input in the decision-making of the organization, improve effective and transparent internal communication, employee development and empowerment, and an effective recognition system. Leaders should support the effective utilization of employee skills and capabilities. The study showed that there is a relationship between employee engagement and performance due to the lack of employee engagement that lowered employee capability and affected the organization's bottom line. Designing and implementing an effective employee engagement strategy is, therefore, desirable to the employee and organizational performance

Quantifiers, "Again" and the Complexity of Verb Phrases

No abstract

Conjuntos, reglas y clases naturales: [ ] frente a { }

We discuss a set-theoretic treatment of segments as sets of valued features and of natural classes as intensionally defined sets of sets of valued features. In this system, the empty set { } corresponds to a completely underspecified segment, and the natural class [ ] corresponds to the set of all segments, making a feature ± Segment unnecessary. We use unification, a partial operation on sets, to implement feature-filling processes, and we combine unification with set subtraction to implement feature-changing processes. We show how unification creates the illusion of targeting only underspecified segments, and we explore the possibility that only unification rules whose structural changes involve a single feature are UG-compatible. We show that no such Singleton Set Restriction can work with rules based on set subtraction. The system is illustrated using toy vowel harmony systems and a treatment of compensatory lengthening as total assimilation.Discutimos en este trabajo el tratamiento teórico conjunto de los segmentos entendidos como agrupaciones de rasgos especificados, y de las clases naturales entendidas como agrupaciones definidas intensionalmente de grupos de rasgos especificados. En este sistema, el conjunto vacío { } se corresponde con un segmento completamente inespecificado, y la clase natural [ ] se corresponde con el conjunto de todos los segmentos, lo que hace innecesario el rasgo ± Segmento. Nos servimos de la unificación –una operación parcial sobre los conjuntos– para implementar los procesos de rellenado de rasgos, y combinamos la unificación con la sustracción de todo el conjunto para llevar a cabo los procesos de cambio de rasgos. Mostramos cómo la unificación afecta aparentemente solo a los segmentos subespecificados, y exploramos la posibilidad de que únicamente sean compatibles con la GU las reglas de unificación cuyos cambios estructurales implican a un único rasgo. Comprobamos que la Restricción de un Conjunto Unitario no puede funcionar con reglas basadas en la sustracción de todo el conjunto. Como ilustración del sistema nos servimos de sistemas de prueba sobre la armonía vocálica así como del tratamiento del alargamiento compensatorio como una asimilación completa

Cross-linguistic representations of numerals and number marking

Inspired by Partee (2010), this paper defends a broad thesis that all modifiers, including numeral modifiers, are restrictive in the sense that they can only restrict the denotation of the NP or VP they modify. However, the paper concentrates more narrowly on numeral modification, demonstrating that the evidence that motivated Ionin & Matushansky (2006) to assign non-restrictive, privative interpretations to numerals -- assigning them functions that map singular sets to sets containing groups -- is in fact consistent with restrictive modification. Ionin & Matushansky (2006)'s argument for this type of interpretation is partly based on the distribution of Turkish numerals which exclusively combine with singular bare nouns. Section 2 demonstrates that Turkish singular bare nouns are not semantically singular, but rather are unspecified for number. Western Armenian has similar characteristics. Building on some of the observations in section 2, section 3 demonstrates that restrictive modification can account for three different types of languages with respect to the distribution of numerals and plural nouns: (i) languages where numerals exclusively combine with plural nouns (e.g., English), (ii) languages where they exclusively combine with singular bare nouns (e.g., Turkish), (iii) languages where they optionally combine with either type of noun (e.g., Western Armenian). Accounting for these differences crucially involves making a distinction between two kinds of restrictive modification among the numerals: subsective vs. intersective modification. Section 3 also discusses why privative interpretations of numerals have trouble accounting for these different language types

Using Technology to Bridge the Gap between Speakers, Learners, and Linguists

We describe two free, open-source applications developed as language-independent aids for linguists and language revitalization workers of all sorts. The first application, LingSync, is a linguistic database application which facilitates collaboration and encourages openness between linguists and the speakers they work with; the second, Learn [Language] is a language-teaching and language-learning aid geared towards learners of heritage minority languages who may still have speakers in their lives. Résumé Nous décrivons deux applications gratuites et open source développées comme auxiliaires indépendants de la langue pour les linguistes et les travailleurs de revitalisation linguistique de toutes sortes. La première application, LingSync, est une application de banque de données linguistique qui facilite la collaboration et encourage l’ouverture entre linguistes et les locuteurs avec lesquels ils travaillent, la seconde, Learn [langue] est une aide à l’enseignement des langues et l’apprentissage des langues orientée vers les apprenants de langues minoritaires qui ont encore des locuteurs dans leur vie

Early life programming and neurodevelopmental disorders.

For more than a century, clinical investigators have focused on early life as a source of adult psychopathology. Early theories about psychic conflict and toxic parenting have been replaced by more recent formulations of complex interactions of genes and environment. Although the hypothesized mechanisms have evolved, a central notion remains: early life is a period of unique sensitivity during which experience confers enduring effects. The mechanisms for these effects remain almost as much a mystery today as they were a century ago. Recent studies suggest that maternal diet can program offspring growth and metabolic pathways, altering lifelong susceptibility to diabetes and obesity. If maternal psychosocial experience has similar programming effects on the developing offspring, one might expect a comparable contribution to neurodevelopmental disorders, including affective disorders, schizophrenia, autism, and eating disorders. Due to their early onset, prevalence, and chronicity, some of these disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia, are among the highest causes of disability worldwide according to the World Health Organization 2002 report. Consideration of the early life programming and transcriptional regulation in adult exposures supports a critical need to understand epigenetic mechanisms as a critical determinant in disease predisposition. Incorporating the latest insight gained from clinical and epidemiological studies with potential epigenetic mechanisms from basic research, the following review summarizes findings from a workshop on Early Life Programming and Neurodevelopmental Disorders held at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009

The football fan and the pub: An enduring relationship

This paper draws on qualitative interviews with a sample of English football fans to explore their relationship with one enduring site for fandom practice, the pub. In doing so, the work discusses the significance of structuration processes as a means of explaining the transcendent nature of this relationship across time and space. The findings complement existing ethnographic observations to illustrate that a progressive and multifaceted relationship exists between the institution (the pub) and its customers (football fans), based on historical reference to fan culture, emotive connection to the pub as a football space, associated sociability and the perception of cultural stability