The semantics of comparatives: a degree nominal analysis

Tomioka, SatoshiThis dissertation focuses on comparative constructions in Jordanian Arabic. In particular, we identify three main types of comparatives. We investigate commonly raised questions in the literature on the semantics of comparatives. Specifically, we examine the underlying structure of JA comparatives and what that might entail for the semantic type of the SOC for each type of comparative, and investigate to what extent degree abstraction and a degree based semantics may be available for JA comparatives. The three main types of comparatives investigated differed with respect to the semantic tests of Negative Island Effects and the availability of Subcomparatives. This research concludes that JA is a language that only allows for underlyingly phrasal comparatives, but that crucially is not degree-less in that one type (the Degree ma comparative type) makes use of Degree Nominal constructions. The result is a language that does not have underlyingly clausal comparatives, but that still allows for degree to be manifest by means of Degree Nominals. We attribute the main difference between the strategy used to manifest degree between English and JA to the selectional properties of the JA preposition min which acts as the semantic Standard Marker in the language.University of Delaware, Department of Linguistics and Cognitive SciencePh.D

Resilience and self-efficacy in a study abroad context: A case study

AbstractThis descriptive study aims to examine English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ experiences in a study abroad context and the adaptation strategies they use to deal with academic and socio-cultural challenges. It also aims to show how the students’ experiences and resilience affect their self-efficacy. The data are collected from nine Algerian female students who were enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Jordan at the time of data collection. Face-to-face interviews and a self-efficacy scale were used to collect data from the participants. The findings reveal that the student participants faced many academic and socio-cultural challenges in the target context but managed to overcome them using adaptation strategies such as familiarizing themselves with the new teaching context and developing their self-efficacy. The results obtained from the self-efficacy scale show that most of the students developed a sense of self-efficacy, and that their study abroad experiences positively affected their level of self-efficacy

On English translation variation of similar plural nouns in the Holy Quran

AbstractThis study aims to explore the difficulties involved in translating similar plural nouns in the Holy Quran from Arabic into English. It specifically investigates 21 plural nouns derived from seven singular nouns in the Holy Quran and discusses their exegetic contexts and translation into English. To achieve this aim, the study tracks singular nouns where three plurals are derived from each of them. The meaning of each singular noun is looked up in Al-Mu’jam Al-Waseet, typically the most reliable Arabic dictionary. These meanings are also checked in Ibn Katheer’s explication, an accredited Islamic exegesis. The study also compares the translation of these nouns into English in two translations: Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English language by Al-Hilali and Khan (1983) and The meaning of the Holy Qur’an by Ali (1999). The findings show that broken plurals which derive from the same root or singular noun are slightly different in meaning. This nuance is a result of the morphological pattern of the plural. These patterns may denote abundance, rarity, size, form, or time. These differences are actually ignored in translation, i.e. similar broken plurals are rendered into English as if they were synonyms in Arabic, which is not the case