Using prototype theory to determine the ordinary meaning of words

The interpretation of words in case law is often a central focal point, especially when the ordinary meaning of words is contested. One of the more popular ways to determine the ordinary meaning of words is by looking it up in a dictionary. Even though dictionaries are valid resources for this task, alternative resources should also be considered. Prototype theory is a well-known linguistic approach whereby a category’s best exemplar or typical member is identified. Meaning can be found on three different levels, that is the superordinate, the basic level and the subordinate. We find prototypes mostly on the basic level and it is also on this level that we often find ordinary meaning. Therefore, it should be equally helpful to determine and study the prototypicality of contested words. Furthermore, by studying a contested word’s proximity in relation to the prototype, we can tell to what extent we are dealing with that word’s ordinary meaning and what this ordinary meaning consists of. In this note, the authors want to introduce South African legal scholars and practitioners to prototype theory and they will demonstrate two possible methods to determine the prototypes of concrete categories.Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

'n Taalkundige perspektief op woordeboekgebruik in die hof: die woordeboek as toevlugsoord

One of the most important functions of a court of law is to interpret statutes. The interpretation of statutes can be a difficult task, especially when a court has been given the responsibility to address words or phrases which have led to disputes. The interpretation of the disputed word or phrase may even challenge the statute relevant to the issue that the specific court has to deal with. Courts often find their solution for semantic problems in a dictionary. The use of dictionaries by courts is standard practice and an international phenomenon. However, what may seem to be a trustworthy aid can easily be used incorrectly and even abused to confirm premeditated opinions. As has been argued by the likes of Thumma and Kirchmeier, dictionaries may become a fortress, which on the one hand means that presiding officers may hide behind dictionary definitions and on the other hand means that dictionaries may be seen as sacrosanct. The use of dictionaries is closely related to the theories of statutory interpretation, especially textualism and intentionalism. A textualist focuses on the letter of the law. The textualist holds that the true meaning of a legal text, such as an act of parliament, should be derived from the ordinary wording (ipsissima verba). Only when the language of the law leads to absurd or diverse conclusions may a court go beyond that language; this is the so-called golden rule, sanctified by Venter v R. The intentionalist approach sees the focus moving away from the central position of language and concentrating on the intention of the legislator. In doing so, the court moves away from the golden rule and concentrates on what the legislator is trying to achieve. This intention is, nevertheless, still communicated through ordinary language. Both theories, along with the rules set out by the Interpretation Act, instruct courts to interpret statutes according to the ordinary meaning of words. Scholars in the discipline of law do not always agree on what truly constitutes the “ordinary meaning” of words. Most see it as the language of the masses, the non-technical language of Joe Soap. As such, the ordinary meaning of words can be looked up in a dictionary. But how ordinary can words really be? Who determines the ordinariness of words? The concept of the ordinary meaning of words does not agree with the type of language in which the law is formulated. Legal language is technical and often difficult. Scholars like Labuschagne argue that there is no such thing as an ordinary meaning of words and that an “ordinary meaning” should be seen as ordinary within the legal sphere. Furthermore, the meaning of words is affected by the context in which they are used. Considering the theoretical approaches to the interpretation of statutes, which include the notion of an ordinary meaning of words, the use of a dictionary does not seem problematic. However, the problem with dictionary use can be linked to a number of issues. First of all it is a misconception that just because a word seems ordinary, its meaning will be straightforward and unproblematic. Words are notorious for the fact that they are polysemous and ambiguous. Secondly, dictionaries come in different shapes and sizes, which means that they are made for specific target groups to fulfil specific goals and needs. Dictionaries do not contain the same set of words and they do not define the words they have in common in the same way. A third issue is the fact that dictionaries are limited to available space, which means that lexicographers have to decide which words and lexicographical information to include and what to leave out. The fourth concern is context. Some dictionaries may provide examples of how words may be used in different contexts, but they will not be able to predict unique legal contexts. Dictionaries are often a-contextual. Though dictionaries are often compiled by extracting available corpora, dictionaries are also limited when it comes to unique collocations and phrases. Lastly, dictionaries tend to get outdated quickly. Not only is it impossible for any dictionary to be all-encompassing, but it is also not the purpose of any dictionary to be that. To try to determine to what extent dictionaries are used within South African courts we did a survey on the Jutastat database. We surveyed a 150 court cases of 1945–2012 that were decided within the borders of South Africa. All of these cases were heard on appeal. We paid attention to the types of dictionaries that were used by presiding officers, the number of dictionaries they used in one case, the number of times dictionaries were used as well as the words that were looked up. In some cases the presiding officer used as many as 16 dictionaries to look up words, whereas others used as few as one dictionary to define a word. The most popular dictionaries are theOxford Dictionary, the Shorter English Dictionary, the Webster’s Third International Dictionary and the Verklarende Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (HAT). According to our survey South African courts sometimes make use of old and outdated dictionaries, they consult dictionaries meant for school children and, surprisingly, they often make use of American dictionaries instead of local English dictionaries. Keeping with the tradition of interpreting so-called ordinary words, South African courts use defining dictionaries much more often than technical dictionaries. We found it disconcerting that some presiding officers used compact dictionaries as the only aids to confirm the meaning of words. There are also court cases where words are defined without stating the name of the dictionaries consulted. In quite a few court cases the presiding officers made it clear that they found dictionaries confusing, dated and lacking when trying to solve semantic problems. Sometimes the words were unique to South Africa and were not recorded in (especially foreign) dictionaries. What must a court do when dictionaries leaves presiding officers dissatisfied and uncertain? We propose that dictionaries be used according to fixed guidelines which should ideally form part of the Interpretation Act. We furthermore propose that courts look into alternative, linguistic ways to deal with the meaning of words. Two possible alternatives might be the use of available corpora and the study of prototypes. Searching for the meaning and use of a given word in a corpus might provide many results of authentic language use, especially if the researcher uses a corpus representative of common parlance. Alternatively the study of prototypes focuses on the relation between words and concentrates on the concepts lexicalised by those words. The prototype approach is very close to our actual knowledge of words and the way we grade meaning. The courts’ use of dictionaries is not wrong, but presiding officers should be careful not to make a fortress out of a dictionary. Dictionaries should rather be the point of departure than the authority on lexical meaning.Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

Callous-unemotional traits moderate the relation between prenatal testosterone (2D:4D) and externalising behaviours in children

Children who exhibit callous-unemotional (CU) traits are identified as developing particularly severe forms of externalising behaviours (EB). A number of risk factors have been identified in the development of CU traits, including biological, physiological, and genetic factors. However, prenatal testosterone (PT) remains un-investigated, yet could signal fetal programming of a combination of CU/EB. Using the 2D:4D digit ratio, the current study examined whether CU traits moderated the relationship between PT and EB. Hand scans were obtained from 79 children aged between 5 and 6 years old whose parents completed the parent report ICU (Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits) and SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). CU traits were found to moderate the relationship between PT and EB so that children who were exposed to increased PT and were higher in CU traits exhibited more EB. Findings emphasize the importance of recognising that vulnerability for EB that is accompanied by callousness may arise before birth

Met kerse op met-konstruksies1: ’n Verwysingspuntperspektief

This article analyses the usage of the Afrikaans preposition met (‘with’). The analysis is done within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics and more specifically within the model proposed by Langacker (1993) and Van Hoek (1992, 1995, 1997) regarding reference point phenomena within Cognitive Grammar. This leads to a more comprehensive analysis and extends the description given by Ponelis. A thorough overview of the applicable literature is given, both classic and recent. Using real usage data, the article classifies the usage of met into six categories and shows that more than one prototype exists. A systematic extension of the metaphor ASSOCIATED ENTITIES ARE is proposed and shown to exist in the data. The research shows that a reference point interpretation leads to a comprehensive analysis that brings out the richness involved in the patterned and motivated use of this preposition in Afrikaans.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2011, 29(1): 97–11

Tattooing amongst youth in Bloemfontein: skin-deep communicative signs of a minority group?

This article reports on a research project that was undertaken to determine both the scope and communicative value of tattoos mainly among students of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The owner of the tattoo shop on the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS was interviewed, while clients of the tattoo shop as well as undergraduate Communication Science students, a larger random group of students and young working adults of the same age completed a questionnaire anonymously. The expectations were that tattoos among the four groups mentioned (i) would not be predominantly culturally determined, nor (ii) visible all the time; nor (iii) chosen specifically to communicate a rebellious message. In a follow-up study on the same campus, Communication Science students requested fellow students to complete a slightly adapted questionnaire as part of a class assignment. The findings of the analysis are evaluated in terms of both incremental and entity theories, against the background of a brief history of tattoos as a means of expressing identity. This study contributes to the understanding of the role tattoos play in expressing the identities of communities. The findings indicate that the participants choose tattoos for different reasons than a few decades ago in other parts of the world. It can also be concluded that tattoos are by no means skin-deep communicative signs. Given that the majority of respondents have tattoos, the tattoos cannot be considered the signs of a minority group

The role that composition plays in determining how a viewer looks at landscape art

Viewing artworks may be subject to the same processes as everyday scene selection in respect of gaze behaviour. However, artists may employ carefully constructed composition in their paintings to lead the eyes of viewers along a predetermined path. This paper investigates whether composition is successful through comparison of expected scanpaths (constructed using the known intention of the artist) and actual scanpaths (as captured using an eye-tracker) based on a loci and sequence similarity index. The findings suggest that composition is successful in leading the eye, although the order of fixations can vary. It could thus be concluded that composition is largely successful in terms of salient elements, but less so for guiding elements. Furthermore, using Cognitive Linguistics theories and applying it to the paintings with reference to the statistical results, the Art Creation Continuum that captures the role of composition on a spectrum is proposed

Ideals of rings of differential operators on algebraic curves (with an appendix by George Wilson)

Let X be a smooth affine irreducible curve over C and let D=D(X) be the ring of global differential operators on X. In this paper, we give a geometric classification of left ideals in D and study the natural action of the Picard group of D on the space of isomorphism classes of such ideals. Our results generalize the classification of left ideals of the first Weyl algebra A1(C) given in Berest and Wilson (2000, 2002) [15,16]