The Linguistic Frame and Semantic Roles: plant fixed expressions in Chinese and English

This study presents plant fixed expressions in Mandarin Chinese and in English. We present the compositionality of core meanings of tea, melon, and apple and propose that to understand PFEs needs the understanding of a linguistic plant frame. This study supports the assumption of cognitive grammar (Langacker 1987, 1991) through the analysis of plant fixed expressions, and resumes Pustejovsky’s (1993, 1995) mechanism of type coercion from a syntactic coercion to a broader package-semantic operation. Este estudio presenta expresiones hechas de plantas en chino mandarín y en inglés. Presentamos la composicionalidad de los significados centrales de té, melón y manzana y proponemos que para entender dichas expresiones de plantas se necesita entender el marco lingüístico planta. Este estudio se apoya en los presupuestos de la gramática cognitiva (Langacker 1987, 1991) a través del análisis de expresiones hechas de plantas, y resume los mecanismos de Pustejovsky (1993, 1995) desde la coerción de tipo hasta una operación más amplia de paquete semántico

Humor in Slogans: Van Helsing Effect in Second Language Learning

The present paper further extends the studies of Eisend (2009), Takahashi and Inoue (2009), and Kohn, et al. (2011), and applies Krishnan & Chakravarti’s (2003) experiment design to examine: 1) whether humor in slogans enhances L2 learners’ memory of the promoted items in advertisements; 2) will Vampire Effect occur in humorous slogans and distract L2 learners’ focus so much that they cannot pay attention to the importance of the promoted item itself? And, 3) is gender a distinguishing feature in terms of the acceptance and sensitivity to the humor in slogans? One pretest, two experiments and one post-test were conducted in this study. In the experiments, the participants’ immediate responses to the questions and their memory of the promoted products and candidates were vital. A follow up face-to-face interview was then conducted. It was found that L2 learners’ familiarity with the promoted items was more important than the level of humor in the slogans. That is, instead of the Vampire Effect, in which the degree of funniness is so high that it overwhelms the significance of the item promoted, the Van Helsing Effect, in which L2 learners’ previous experience is more influential in the process of recognizing the slogans and the promoted items, appears

Time-moving Metaphors and Ego-moving Metaphors: Which Is Better Comprehended by Taiwanese?

PACLIC 21 / Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea / November 1-3, 200

THE LINGUISTIC FRAME AND SEMANTIC ROLES: PLANT FIXED EXPRESSIONS IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH

Abstract: This study presents plant fixed expressions in Mandarin Chinese and in English. We present the compositionality of core meanings of tea, melon, and apple and propose that to understand PFEs needs the understanding of a linguistic plant frame. This study supports the assumption of cognitive gramma

Fictive Motion in Chinese and English Tourist Guidebooks

This study focuses on the usage of fictive motion in tourist guidebooks. The analysis for the study draws on the theories of image schema and metaphorical extension (Johnson, 1987; Lakoff, 1987 & 1989). Fictive motion is often used to depict the features of natural scenery and the movement of time. We concentrate on the spatial description of fictive motion with data taken from official tourist guidebooks for seven National Parks in Taiwan. Both the narrations in Chinese and in English versions are analyzed. From the comparison, we attempt to assist tourist comprehension of the narratives in tourist guidebooks. The research results indicate that fictive motion description is often used in the depiction of linear movement or for the location of scenic spots, as for example with The river starts from the mountain in English and yan2 shi2 huan2 rao4 si4 zhou1 ‘the rock surrounded’ in Chinese. There are varied applications of fictive motion in Chinese and English, but fictive motion in both languages also shares common characteristics in spatial description.Key words: Fictive motion; Tourist guidebooks; Image schema; Metaphorical extension; Spatial descriptio

Emotion and culture of eye-metaphors in Mandarin, Spanish and German

This study attempts to give a cognitive semantic study of eye expressions (EEs) in Chinese, Spanish and German. The majority of the data are collected from corpora and dictionaries. The research questions are: (1) Is the BODY IS STATIC hypothesis proposed by Hsieh and Lu (2012) valid? (2) Do the verbs in EEs showing emotions suggest something? And, (3) what cultural aspects do the EEs in three languages involve? The results show that the analysis of semantic molecules and tenors of the EEs confirm the validity of BODY IS STATIC hypothesis. The verbs of the EEs play an important role in expressing emotion. The verbs that are inherited for other body parts, such as for hand, mouth, are extended to the sight domain and assist such emotion communication effectively. Bodily experiences work in linguistic as a whole as well. Finally, cultural aspects of social behavior and social communication in the specific social groups are shown. They are all revealed through a cross-cultural linguistic comparison

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Ginkgo, apricot, and almond : Change of Chinese words and meanings from the kernel’s perspective

The term /apricot/ is associated with the fleshy part of the fruit in Chinese and European languages, such as English and German, whereas in Chinese /almond/ and /ginkgo/ are associated with a kernel removed from a hard shell and classified as nut-like. Historically, the modern Chinese for ginkgo, commonly translated as silver apricot replacing the older name meaning duck foot, has appeared only since the Song period (960-1279 AD). The apricot, however, has played an important role in Chinese for more than 2000 years. The element apricot which occurs in the contemporary Chinese term for gingko is considered to be derived in a technical terminology from the use in Chinese medicine of unshelled apricot seeds. In contemporary Chinese, the term xingren (unshelled apricot seed) has changed its meaning which now is unshelled almond seed. This change suggests that silver almond is a more adequate modern translation for ginkgo than silver apricot

A semantic and sociolinguistic Study of Animal Metaphors in modern Chinese and German

In der vorliegenden Arbeit ist TM (Tiermetapher) als ein Ausdruck mit einem bis mehreren Tiernamen definiert, der sich sinngemäß nicht auf das entsprechende Tier bezieht, sondern hauptsächlich auf Menschen oder die Gesellschaft. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Herkunft, Bildung, Bedeutung und Anwendung der TMn in den beiden Sprachen sowie die Denkweisen und die kulturellen Besonderheiten der jeweiligen Sprachgemeinschaft zu untersuchen. Eine Vielzahl von TMn läßt sich auf überlieferte Zitate zurückverfolgen: auf Aussprüche berühmter Personen, auf religiöse Schriften und auf literarische Werke. Manche TMn entstanden durch Massenmedien, den Kontakt mit anderen Sprachen und die Sprachübertragung. Ein Großteil der TMn wurde aufgrund der äußeren Erscheinung, des Verhaltens und des Charakters des jeweiligen Tieres geschaffen. Eine andere Art der Bildung besteht darin, daß die Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Tier in Worte gefaßt wird. Manche TMn sind jedoch auch willkürlich gebildet. TMn werden zwar in den meisten Fällen als Abwertung gebraucht, doch gibt es auch zahlreiche positive (Kosenamen, Glückwünsche, Lob, Scherz…) und neutrale (Dingbezeichnungen, Euphemismen, Ausrufe…) TMn. TMn sind ein Wortschatz, der sich aus unseren Wertvorstellungen bildet, die von der Kultur bzw. Gesellschaft beeinflußt sind. Die Sprache ist der Ausdruck der Gedanken des Menschen. Auf Grund von Anthropozentrismus und Kritik am menschlichen Verhalten haben wir TMn geschaffen. Die TMn erfüllen semantische und gesellschaftliche Funktionen in den menschlichen Sprachen. Beim Vergleich von TMn lassen sich kulturelle Unterschiede feststellen, Sprache und Denkweise wirken aufeinander ein. Dabei ist der Einfluß verschiedener Denktraditionen, Mentalitäten, Gewohnheiten und Wertschätzungen relevant.An animal metaphor is defined as an expression containing one or several animal names yet not referring to the animal itself but to a human being or to society. The aim of this dissertation is the study of origins, constructions, meanings and applications of the animal metaphors in Chinese and German. It also includes the ways of thinking and the cultural particularities of the respective societies as implied in the metaphors. Many animal metaphors are quoted from famous persons, religious works and literary works. Some animal metaphors emerged through mass media or the contact with other languages. Most of the animal metaphors are constructed with regard to appearances, and to conduct and character of the respective animal. Another category of animal metaphors mirrors the relationship between people and animals. The rest of the metaphors has been created arbitrarily. Though animal metaphors are often applied as abuse, some of them are used positively (e.g. terms of endearment, benediction, praise, jest…) and neutrally (e.g. objects, euphemisms, exclamatories…). Human language expresses the thoughts of human beings. As part of this expression, we have created animal metaphors based on chauvinism and criticism of the human conduct. Moreover, animal metaphors fulfill semantic and sociolinguistic functions in human languages. Animal metaphors are the vocabulary of our values, which develop from the culture and society, which reflect how we think about individuals, about human relations, and how we assess society’s demands upon us. These values and social structures are manifested in our usage of animal metaphors