On agency and affiliation in second assessments : German and Swedish opinion verbs in talk-in-interaction

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 John Benjamins Publishing Company.In this chapter, we discuss design features of second assessments in German and Swedish conversation. We focus on opinion-verb constructions (finden, tycka) in full and reduced clausal formats. The study shows that reduced formats are followed by sequence closure while full formats are followed by more talk on the topic. We explain this finding by arguing that by using reduced formats, second speakers claim less agency and display low affiliation with the first assessment, whereas full formats work in the opposite way. The full and reduced opinion-verb constructions represent standardized action patterns with recognizable implications, leading to predictable interactional trajectories and coordinated intersubjective behavior.Peer reviewe

Left/right asymmetries and the grammar of pre- vs. post-positioning in German and Swedish talk-in-interaction

In this paper, we argue that the suggested mirror-equivalence of "left-" and "right-" adjoined or-positioned constituents in syntax is misleading from the point of view of Interactional Linguistics and needs to be replaced by a positionally sensitive grammatical analysis, in which pre- and post-positioning is seen in the context of the sequential unfolding of conversation in time. We show this on the basis of various examples from conversational German and Swedish. Our main empirical focus is on pre- and post positioned verba sentiendi expressions of the type ich denke ... or jag tror ... (cf. English I think). A quantitative analysis shows that these expressions have an uneven distribution in pre- and post-position, as well as in different discourse genres. In a sequential analysis, we can see a positionally dependent differentiation with respect to syntactic integration and interactional meaning, especially with reference to the dynamics of stance taking and turn taking: post-position is more attuned to deal with local contingencies of turn-taking and next-speaker uptake, whereas pre-position establishes a contextualizing frame for the upcoming action. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Causal Consistent Databases

Many consistency criteria have been considered in databases and the causal consistency is one of them. The causal consistency model has gained much attention in recent years because it provides ordering of relative operations. The causal consistency requires that all writes, which are potentially causally related, must be seen in the same order by all processes. The causal consistency is a weaker criteria than the sequential consistency, because there exists an execution, which is causally consistent but not sequentially consistent, however all executions satisfying the sequential consistency are also causally consistent. Furthermore, the causal consistency supports non-blocking operations; i.e. processes may complete read or write operations without waiting for global computation. Therefore, the causal consistency overcomes the primary limit of stronger criteria: communication latency. Additionally, several application semantics are precisely captured by the causal consistency, e.g. collaborative tools. In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art of causal consistent databases, discuss the features, functionalities and applications of the causal consistency model, and systematically compare it with other consistency models. We also discuss the implementation of causal consistency databases and identify limitations of the causal consistency model

Eventual Consistent Databases: State of the Art

One of the challenges of cloud programming is to achieve the right balance between the availability and consistency in a distributed database. Cloud computing environments, particularly cloud databases, are rapidly increasing in importance, acceptance and usage in major applications, which need the partition-tolerance and availability for scalability purposes, but sacrifice the consistency side (CAP theorem). In these environments, the data accessed by users is stored in a highly available storage system, thus the use of paradigms such as eventual consistency became more widespread. In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art database systems using eventual consistency from both industry and research. Based on this review, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of eventual consistency, and identify the future research challenges on the databases using eventual consistency

Pseudo-cleft constructions in Swedish talk-in-interaction : Turn projection and discourse organization

In this study we present an interactional linguistic analysis of pseudoclefts in Swedish based on audio and video recordings of everyday and institutional conversations, resulting in a collection of 100 instances. There is variation in the degree to which pseudo-cleft constructions are syntactically integrated: from fully integrated biclausal constructions (cleft clause + copula verb + main clause) to non-copular variants and further to variants in which the cleft-clause is followed by an indeterminate stretch of discourse. The construction's functional properties have to do with projecting actions and generating discourse events, e.g. showing that the initial part has an important turn-projecting function by disclosing the speaker's stance towards the issue at hand. Pseudo-cleft constructions are recurrently employed for marking discourse shifts, e.g. from a positive to a negative stance. Prosodic organization brings unity to the overall construction of clefts and visual cues can be used to convey significant processing activity by the speaker during the production of a pseudocleft. Our data from institutional interaction shows that pseudoclefts are heavily used by the expert rather than lay participant, thus contributing to the creation of institutional roles and social order. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Subjective and intersubjective "nog" : On grammaticalization and use in the light of Paul Sinebrychoffs letters around 1900

"Nog" is a common clausal adverbial or modal particle in Swedish. The word had historically a meaning of ‘enough’, but has developed into an epistemic marker of subjective certainty which can also be used intersubjectively, for example, to ask for the hearer’s consent. In this article we investigate how the particle was used around the turn of the last century in correspondence between the Finland-Swedish art collector Paul Sinebrychoff and various people in Sweden from whom he bought art pieces. Our study shows that there are no referential uses (corresponding to ‘enough’) in the material, even though we can still find them today (as we show in examples from dramatic dialogue from the 1990s in the corpus Svensk Dramadialog). We have mainly found subjective modal uses, and we see that there are slightly more intersubjective uses in the Finland-Swedish letters. However, we claim that this is not likely to be due to a difference in the varieties; rather, this is the result of the participation framework. It is the Finland-Swedish art collector who is seeking agreement, concessions and services from his addressees, and this outward orientation shades into the functions of nog in his letter writing.Peer reviewe

Fish swimming in schools save energy regardless of their spatial position

For animals, being a member of a group provides various advantages, such as reduced vulnerability to predators, increased foraging opportunities and reduced energetic costs of locomotion. In moving groups such as fish schools, there are benefits of group membership for trailing individuals, who can reduce the cost of movement by exploiting the flow patterns generated by the individuals swimming ahead of them. However, whether positions relative to the closest neighbours (e.g. ahead, sided by side or behind) modulate the individual energetic cost of swimming is still unknown. Here, we addressed these questions in grey mullet Liza aurata by measuring tail-beat frequency and amplitude of 15 focal fish, swimming in separate schools, while swimming in isolation and in various positions relative to their closest neighbours, at three speeds. Our results demonstrate that, in a fish school, individuals in any position have reduced costs of swimming, compared to when they swim at the same speed but alone. Although fish swimming behind their neighbours save the most energy, even fish swimming ahead of their nearest neighbour were able to gain a net energetic benefit over swimming in isolation, including those swimming at the front of a school. Interestingly, this energetic saving was greatest at the lowest swimming speed measured in our study. Because any member of a school gains an energetic benefit compared to swimming alone, we suggest that the benefits of membership in moving groups may be more strongly linked to reducing the costs of locomotion than previously appreciated

The repair marker "eiku" ('no but') in Helsinki Swedish : Conversational function and language contact

I den här artikeln tar jag upp en specifik lexikal markör för ersättande reparation, nämligen partikeln "eiku" som kan påträffas i ledigt helsingforssvenskt samtalsspråk. Denna partikel härstammar från finskan och kan anses vara en kombination av negationen "ei" och konjunktionen "kun", i princip ’nej utan’. Partikeln är mycket vanlig i reparationer på finska och tycks inte ha direkta motsvarigheter i andra språk. Därför kan den antas fylla ett slags lucka speciellt i tvåspråkiga helsingforssvenskars språk. I denna studie ska jag först kort redogöra för ersättande reparation på svenska samt tidigare observationer av "eiku" i finska samtal och i finländsk svenska. Efter denna bakgrund övergår jag till att visa och diskutera exempel ur ett helsingforssvenskt samtalsmaterial. Här utgår jag från en samtalsanalytisk sekvensanalys, där reparationssekvenserna står i fokus, och i synnerhet hur partikeln "eiku" placeras i sekvenserna. I slutet av artikeln dryftar jag partikelns betydelse för svenskan i Helsingfors som språkkontaktfenomen och vad vi kan säga om dess etableringsgrad i en tvåspråkig talgemenskap, där olika inlåningsmekanismer ofta är förankrade i social interaktion.I den här artikeln tar jag upp en specifik lexikal markör för ersättande reparation, nämligen partikeln eiku som kan påträffas i ledigt helsingforssvenskt samtalsspråk. Denna partikel härstammar naturligtvis från finskan och kan anses vara en kombination av negationen ei och konjunktionen kun, i princip ’nej utan’. Partikeln är mycket vanlig i reparationer på finska och tycks inte ha direkta motsvarigheter i andra språk (Sorjonen & Laakso 2005). Därför kan den antas fylla ett slags lucka speciellt i tvåspråkiga helsingforssvenskars språk. I det följande ska jag först kort redogöra för ersättande reparation på svenska samt tidigare observationer av eiku i finska samtal och i finländsk svenska. Efter denna bakgrund övergår jag till att visa och diskutera exempel ur ett helsingforssvenskt samtalsmaterial. Här utgår jag från en samtalsanalytisk sekvensanalys, där reparationssekvenserna står i fokus, och i synnerhet hur partikeln eiku placeras i sekvenserna. I slutet av artikeln dryftar jag partikelns betydelse för svenskan i Helsingfors som språkkontaktfenomen och vad vi kan säga om dess etableringsgrad i en tvåspråkig talgemenskap, där olika inlåningsmekanismer ofta är förankrade i social interaktion.Peer reviewe