Semantics and pragmatics of the double modal ‘might could’

The paper presents an analysis of semantic and pragmatic features of the double modal ‘might could’ which proves to be the most common of combinations of modal auxiliaries observed in modern English. Although at first glance combinations of two modal verbs might seem to be cases of grammatical distortion, their use is scientifically recognised. The first instances of double modals date back to the seventeenth century. While previous research has focused primarily on formal, pragmatic and sociolinguistic aspects of double modality, this study aims to describe the functional potential of double modal combinations by looking into the semantics of their components. The distinction between epistemic, deontic and dynamic modalities forms the basis for the analysis. It is generally assumed that in the case of ‘might could’ the first-tier component is normally used in the epistemic meaning of supposition implying uncertainty, whereas ‘could’ is either deontic or dynamic. Close analysis of situations where ‘might could’ was used by native speakers of English enabled us to conclude that although the epistemic value of ‘might’ prevailed in the majority of the analysed examples, in about one third of them its use was not purely epistemic. With the deontic ‘could’ the first-tier ‘might’ was clearly a politeness marker, whereas in the case of the dynamic ‘could’ it manifested possible lack of commitment. While the double modal is not recognised as standard British or American English, it does exist as a dialectal feature in both Britain and the US, and this article discusses the use of double modals as a popular dialectal variety of English used in regions of the US and Great Britain

Grammatical interference in written papers translated by Russian and American students

Language interference is one of the most common problems in foreign language teaching. Language learners inevitably apply knowledge of their native language to a second language, which leads to linguistic interference. The more differences there are between the two languages, the more prominent the interference between them will be. This paper examines the key issues faced by Russian students learning English and English-speaking students learning Russian and suggests key areas of teaching needed in both disciplines

Diffusive dynamics and jamming in ensembles of robots with variable friction

In the present paper, we experimentally study the diffusive dynamics in ensembles of self-propelled and self-rotating bristle-bots. Considering the dependence of the system dynamics on the packing density of robots as well as on the friction between individual robots, we show that the friction slightly affects the diffusive dynamics but leads to a significant change in the jamming transition corresponding to the formation of rigid clusters of robots

Cerebral structural characteristics in children with unilateral amblyopia: A mri study

Objective. To study the mechanism of the development of amblyopia using the analysis of brain grey matter parameters. The areas primarily associated with visual cortex in children with amblyopia were analyzed. Material and methods. The study group comprised 8 right-handed children with left-sided amblyopia. MRI images were obtained by 1.5T Toshiba scanner with 3D MP-RAGE. Т1-images were processed with FreeSurfer (5.3.0 version, http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/). Results and conclusion. No significant interhemisphere differences by cortical thickness were identified in all tested regions of interest. In correlation analysis, only the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left pericalcarine as well as the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left V1 area obtained using another anatomical atlas survived multiple comparison correction. The findings support the hypothesis that pathological ontogenetic processes in children with amblyopia lead to the structural abnormalities of the primary visual cortex. © 2018, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Cerebral structural characteristics in children with unilateral amblyopia: A mri study

Objective. To study the mechanism of the development of amblyopia using the analysis of brain grey matter parameters. The areas primarily associated with visual cortex in children with amblyopia were analyzed. Material and methods. The study group comprised 8 right-handed children with left-sided amblyopia. MRI images were obtained by 1.5T Toshiba scanner with 3D MP-RAGE. Т1-images were processed with FreeSurfer (5.3.0 version, http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/). Results and conclusion. No significant interhemisphere differences by cortical thickness were identified in all tested regions of interest. In correlation analysis, only the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left pericalcarine as well as the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left V1 area obtained using another anatomical atlas survived multiple comparison correction. The findings support the hypothesis that pathological ontogenetic processes in children with amblyopia lead to the structural abnormalities of the primary visual cortex. © 2018, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved