Expressing the GIVE event in Papuan languages: A preliminary survey

The linguistic expression of the GIVE event is investigated in a sample of 72 Papuan languages, 33 belonging to the Trans New Guinea family, 39 of various non-TNG lineages. Irrespective of the verbal template (prefix, suffix, or no indexation of undergoer), in the majority of languages the recipient is marked as the direct object of a monotransitive verb, which sometimes involves stem suppletion for the recipient. While a few languages allow verbal affixation for all three arguments, a number of languages challenge the universal claim that the `give' verb always has three arguments

Hinsides post-Big Brother-syndromet. Produktion og reception af Big Brother i Nederland

Big Brother er den hidtil største succes inden for reality-soap-genren, og det første tv-format der aktivt benyttede de nye medier i forbindelse med tv-udsendelserne. Artiklen beskriver, hvordan idéen til programmet opstod, og hvordan programmet blev udviklet op til den første transmission i Neder- land i 1999. Desuden skitserer forfatteren de forskellige måder, hvorpå pro- grammet blev italesat i pressen op til og under den første udsendelses- række

TRIXcell+, a new long-term boar semen extender containing whey protein with higher preservation capacity and litter size

It was the aim of the present study to test whey as protective protein for the sperm cell in the long-term boar semen preservation medium TRIXcell. Analyses of sperm cell motility using computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) indicated that the whey protein Porex has a similar protective effect as bovine serum albumin (BSA) in maintaining viability of stored boar sperm. Boar sperm diluted in TRIXcell+ maintains commercially acceptable motility (>60%) for 10 days, while swine sperm diluted in the semen preservation medium Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS) maintains commercially acceptable motility (>60%) for 3-5 days for most boars. To test the on-farm fertility performance of TRIXcell+ compared to BTS, inseminations were started on 35 commercial pig production farms in the summer of 2006. During the period of July 2006 until July 2012 for each farm and each calendar year the mean farrowing rate and litter size for semen diluted in TRIXcell+ and stored for 3-5 days was found higher than that of semen stored for 1-2 days in BTS. Based on data gained from a total of 583.749 sows inseminated through the years 2006-2012, the mean farrowing rate for semen diluted in TRIXcell+ and BTS was 90.4 ± 4.0 and 87.9 ± 3.6, respectively, which is not significantly different. Based on the same data, the mean total number of piglets born alive for semen diluted in TRIXcell+ and BTS was 14.2 ± 0.7 and 13.6 ± 0.6, respectively, which is significantly different. We conclude that whey protein can effectively be used in the long-term preservation medium TRIXcell resulting in a higher litter size

The difference a word makes

This paper offers some thoughts on the question what effect language has on the understanding and hence behavior of a human being. It reviews some issues of linguistic relativity, known as the “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,” suggesting that the culture we grow up in is reflected in the language and that our cognition (and our worldview) is shaped or colored by the conventions developed by our ancestors and peers. This raises questions for the degree of translatability, illustrated by the comparison of two poems by a Dutch poet who spent most of his life in the USA. Mutual understanding, I claim, is possible because we have the cognitive apparatus that allows us to enter different emic systems