The prosody of focus: non-contrastive, contrastive and verum focus in Slovenian, English and Russian

The article presents an approach to information structure that marks focused or topicalized syntactic constituents with the features [foc] and [top], and assumes that the assignment of these information structure features is reflected in prosody. The experimental study measures the fundamental frequency of various Slovenian sentences to identify the characteristic contours of the non-contrastive, contrastive, and verum focus. The findings are compared to those in studies on English and Russian. The results show that the most relevant prosodic characteristics of such structures are the pitch range, the pitch changes on the focus exponent, and the duration of the focus exponent

Desemantizacija glagolske konstrukcije fail to x: kontrastivno korpusno istraživanje

The English verbal construction fail to x allows two interpretations: in the first, the verb has the full lexical meaning of not being successful in what you are trying to achieve, whereas in the second, it shows signs of semantic bleaching, and is thus interpreted as a grammaticalized marker of negation. Taking into account the syntactic and semantic properties of the construction fail to x, the present analysis examines its distribution in two types of corpora. General corpora (the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English) are used to examine the distribution of both – the non-bleached and bleached – meanings in English. To further elaborate the findings and contrast them on a cross-linguistic level, the parallel English-Slovenian corpus (European Commission’s DGT Translation Memory) is used to observe the translations of the construction fail to x into Slovenian. The parallel corpus of legislative language demonstrates the impact of register on the use of fail to x, and addresses the claims that the bleached fail is characteristically found in more formal registers.Engleska glagolska konstrukcija fail to x može biti protumačena na dva načina: prema prvom glagol nosi puno leksičko značenje ne uspijevanja u onome što se pokušava učiniti, dok prema drugom pokazuje znakove desemantizacije te se smatra gramatikaliziranim niječnim obilježivačem. Uzimajući u obzir sintaktička i semantička svojstva konstrukcije fail to x, ovo istraživanje ispituje njezinu distribuciju u dvjema vrstama korpusa. Za analizu distribucije obaju tipova u engleskome – s punim leksičkim značenjem i desemantiziranog – korišteni su opći korpusi (Britanski nacionalni korpus ‘BNC’ i Korpus suvremenog američkog engleskog ‘CoCA’). Za daljnju razradu dobivenih rezultata i njihovu usporedbu na međujezičnoj razini korišten je usporedni englesko-slovenski korpus (DGT Prijevodna memorija Europske komisije) kako bi se istražili prijevodi konstrukcije fail to x na slovenski. Usporedni korpus jezika pravne struke pokazuje utjecaj registra na uporabu konstrukcije fail to x te podupire tvrdnje da je desemantizirani glagol fail uobičajeno prisutan u formalnijim registrima

PERCEPCIJA JEDNOGLASNIKA STANDARDNOGA ENGLESKOG JEZIKA U SLOVENSKIH STUDENATA KOJIMA JE ENGLESKI STRANI JEZIK

The paper presents an experimental study on the perception of the Gen-eral British monophthongs that was conducted in three stages in 2014–2018. The vowels observed are studied by (i) comparing the vowel sys-tems of General British and Slovene, and (ii) by conducting an experi-ment on their perception. The analysis focuses on the participants’ over-all performance, their most frequent misperceptions, and their progress over the course of one semester. The results indicate: that the previously observed production difficulties mirror perception difficulties; that the discriminative failures of FL vowels are not entirely predictable by com-paring vowel systems; that new sound contrasts are assimilated in differ-ent ways; and that the participants’ perception of foreign language pho-nemes can benefit from explicit instruction.Rad predstavlja eksperimentalno istraživanje o percepciji jednoglasnika standardnoga engleskog jezika, koje je provedeno u trima etapama, u razdoblju od 2014. do 2018. godine. Promatrani vokali istraženi su (i) usporedbom engleskoga i slovenskoga vokalskog sustava te (ii) provođenjem eksperimenta u njihovoj percepciji. Raščlambom se u središte pozornosti stavlja ukupna izvedba sudionika, najučestalije neusklađenosti u poimanju te njihovo napredovanje tijekom nastave unutar jednoga semestra. Rezultati ukazuju na činjenicu: da se promatrana izvedba iz prethodnih istraživanja odražava i u poteškoćama u percepciji jednoglasnika, da usporedbom vokalskih sustava nije u potpunosti moguće predvidjeti diskriminacijske pogreške kod vokala stranoga jezika, da se opreke kod novih vokala usvajaju / izjednačavaju na različite načine te da se percepcija fonema stranoga jezika prema jasno izloženim uputama može poboljšati

MORFO-LEKSIKALNE ZNAČILNOSTI ANGLEŠKIH IN SLOVENSKIH MOŠKIH/ŽENSKIH SAMOSTALNIKOV ZA POKLICE

The article presents an analysis of masculine and feminine nouns denoting professions in English and Slovenian. The researched expressions are first discussed from the point of view of word-formation (derivation and compounding), then corpora are employed to examine the frequency of the forms in both languages. The corpus data are complemented with an analysis of collocators with the purpose of identifying the semantic preferences and associative meanings of gender-marked expressions for professions. The results reveal that some feminine nouns for professions are stylistically unmarked (especially in Slovenian), whereas others co- occur (in English and Slovenian) with words that reflect the societal attitudes to gender roles, appearance and character.predstavi kontrastivno analizo moških in ženskih samostalnikov za poklice na jezikovnem paru angleščina-slovenščina. Obravnavani izrazi so najprej predstavljeni z besedotvornega vidika, prek izpeljave oziroma zlaganja. Prispevek nato s pomočjo korpusov preverja pogostnost opazovanih oblik v obeh jezikih. Zbrane korpusne podatke razčleni tudi s pregledom njihovih kolokatorjev, s čimer opredeli semantične preference in pomenske asociacije obravnavanih feminativov in maskulinativov. Rezultati pokažejo, da so feminativi za poklice lahko nezaznamovani (sploh v slovenščini) ali pa se pojavljajo z izrazi, ki (v angleščini in v slovenščini) odsevajo družbeni odnos do spolnih vlog, videza in osebnostnih lastnosti

Lectura para una prueba: El efecto de los exámenes de alto riesgo en las estrategias de lectura

This paper presents a study which investigates the reading strategies employed by Slovenian EFL students whose classroom context is influenced by a high-stakes, curriculum-aligned national examination. The findings show that there are only minor differences between strong and weak students in their use of reading strategies. The results are discussed in light of the washback effect and the development of the reading skill/strategies in the classroom. The discussion suggests that educators should be aware of the limitations of high-stakes examinations, and introduce reading tasks not directly linked to such examinations, in order to minimise their potential negative effect in the classroom.Este artículo presenta un estudio sobre las estrategias de lectura de los estudiantes eslovenos de ILE cuyo contexto del aula está influido por el examen nacional de alto impacto, añadido al currículo. Los resultados muestran que hay solo diferencias mínimas entre los estudiantes competentes y los incompetentes en el uso de las estrategias de lectura. Los resultados se discuten a la luz del efecto rebote y el desarrollo de la habilidad/las estrategias de lectura en clase. La discusión propone que los educadores deberían ser conscientes de las limitaciones de los exámenes de alto impacto e introducir tareas de lectura indirectamente relacionadas con tales exámenes para minimizar su potencial efecto negativo

Subsurface modeling of eastern part of Drava depression : master's thesis

U okviru ovog diplomskog rada digitalizirani su i obrađeni podatci iz prijašnjih strukturnih karata istočnog dijela Dravske depresije, dobivenih na temelju dotadašnjih dubinsko – geoloških i geofizičkih istraživanja, bušenja, površinskih geoloških istraživanja i njihove interpretacije. Strukturne karte napravljene su po plohama pet elektrokarotažnih repera i markera koji dijele litostratigrafske jedinice, a to su: A, B, G, H, Tg. Područje se nalazi u istočnom dijelu Hrvatske, najvećim dijelom u Osječko - baranjskoj županiji. Digitalizacija i obrada podataka napravljena je pomoću računalnih programa ArcMap 10.1 te Schlumberger PetrelTM 2014. Prikazan je procesizradbe geomodela te pogreške koje mogu nastati prilikom njegove4 izradbe. Model jasno pokazuje odnose između glavnih i sporednih rasjeda, geološke strukture, strukturne zamke te utjecaj rasjeda na oblikovanje površina u prostoru. Napravljeni trodimenzionalni prikazi strukturnih odnosa, razvoja geoloških struktura po različitim plohama EK – markera i repera te pomaci terena uzorkovani rasjedima uvelike obogaćuju sliku i razumijevanje dijela podzemlja zapadnog dijela istočno Dravske depresije. Računanjem prosječne vrijednosti odstupanja modela od ručno izrađenih strukturnih karata koja iznosi 0,787% utvrđena je velika točnost i preciznost same obrade podataka.Abstract: The main goal was the accurate digitalization and subsurface modelling of the paper-based geological maps. The research area is located in Croatian part of Pannonian Basin System, Drava Depression. Data input for the structural analysis were from structural maps which were previously made in the 1980’. Set included four structural maps based on regional E-log markers and one map of pre-Neogene top. All were digitalized in program ArcGIS. Structural contours and 43 faults were exported into Petrel software where they were further processed and regrouped. From such digitalized and processed data the digital geological model (geomodel) was made using fault framework modelling process. The study concerned the advantages and errors that occur during creation of such geomodel. It clearly displays relations between major and minor faults and fault slips, geological structures and structural traps in 3D. Another advantage is multicolored presentation of depths and faults, which enables easier recognition of geological structures and potential traps for hydrocarbons. Errors and issues can occur during digitalization of contour lines, selection of the appropriate algorithm and those ones that arise when model is created

Desemantizacija glagolske konstrukcije fail to x: kontrastivno korpusno istraživanje

The English verbal construction fail to x allows two interpretations: in the first, the verb has the full lexical meaning of not being successful in what you are trying to achieve, whereas in the second, it shows signs of semantic bleaching, and is thus interpreted as a grammaticalized marker of negation. Taking into account the syntactic and semantic properties of the construction fail to x, the present analysis examines its distribution in two types of corpora. General corpora (the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English) are used to examine the distribution of both – the non-bleached and bleached – meanings in English. To further elaborate the findings and contrast them on a cross-linguistic level, the parallel English-Slovenian corpus (European Commission’s DGT Translation Memory) is used to observe the translations of the construction fail to x into Slovenian. The parallel corpus of legislative language demonstrates the impact of register on the use of fail to x, and addresses the claims that the bleached fail is characteristically found in more formal registers.Engleska glagolska konstrukcija fail to x može biti protumačena na dva načina: prema prvom glagol nosi puno leksičko značenje ne uspijevanja u onome što se pokušava učiniti, dok prema drugom pokazuje znakove desemantizacije te se smatra gramatikaliziranim niječnim obilježivačem. Uzimajući u obzir sintaktička i semantička svojstva konstrukcije fail to x, ovo istraživanje ispituje njezinu distribuciju u dvjema vrstama korpusa. Za analizu distribucije obaju tipova u engleskome – s punim leksičkim značenjem i desemantiziranog – korišteni su opći korpusi (Britanski nacionalni korpus ‘BNC’ i Korpus suvremenog američkog engleskog ‘CoCA’). Za daljnju razradu dobivenih rezultata i njihovu usporedbu na međujezičnoj razini korišten je usporedni englesko-slovenski korpus (DGT Prijevodna memorija Europske komisije) kako bi se istražili prijevodi konstrukcije fail to x na slovenski. Usporedni korpus jezika pravne struke pokazuje utjecaj registra na uporabu konstrukcije fail to x te podupire tvrdnje da je desemantizirani glagol fail uobičajeno prisutan u formalnijim registrima

Perception of Foreign Phonemes: The Case of Slovene Students of English

The study focuses on assessing the state of foreign phoneme acquisition by foreign language (FL) students at the end of their undergraduate studies. To determine whether they prioritise vowels over consonants, a perception experiment was devised that focuses on the phonemes in Standard Slovene and General British reported as most problematic for Slovene learners of English. Thirty-three Slovene students of English were tested, along with a positive and a negative control group (CG). A set of stimuli was tested using the AX discrimination method; the participants listened to 60 phonemic contrasts, played in a pseudo-randomised order. The results foregrounded the most problematic phonemes which act as perceptual magnets. Analysis shows that the students can discriminate foreign phonemes well, and that they consistently perform better in discriminating vocalic contrasts

The Sounds of English: Introduction

Introduction to the special issue of ELOPE (Vol. 16, No. 1) "The Sounds of English"

Dendrochronologycal analysis of the radial growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) In its natural and secondary stands in Slovenia

Z dendrokronološkimi metodami smo analizirali debelinsko priraščanje smreke na osmih lokacijah v Sloveniji. Med njimi je bilo pet naravnih smrekovih združb, v druge je bila smreka umetno vnesena v preteklosti, oziroma je bil povečan njen naravni delež. Na vsaki ploskvi smo s prirastoslovnim svedrom odvzeli izvrtke najmanj 20 dreves. V dendrokronološkem laboratoriju smo jih posušili in zbrusili do visokega sijaja, nato pa skenirali s pomočjo sistema ATRICS ter izmerili širine branik v programih CooRecorder in CDendro. Ugotovili smo, da med naravnimi in antropogenimi rastišči ni značilnih razlik v debelinskem priraščanju. Na lokacijah Sorško polje, Ravnik in Mašun smo opazili spremembe v debelinskem priraščanju, ki kažejo, da se vpliv temperature zraka (toplejša poletja) in padavin (pogostejši pojav suše) na rast povečuje. Analiza značilnih let je pokazala, da so le-ta v zadnjih 30 letih pogostejša in da se pojavljajo na več lokacijah hkrati, predvsem pa se je povečalo število negativnih značilnih let, t.j. nadpovprečno toplih in suhih let.A dendrochronological analysis of the spruce\u27s radial increment at eight different plots was conducted throughout Slovenia. The plots selected were diverse: five of them were natural spruce standsin others, the spruce was introduced anthropogenically in the past for economic reasons, or its natural share in stands was increased. We took samples of at least 20 trees per plot and examined them in the dendrochronological laboratory using Advanced Tree-Ring Image Capturing System (ATRICS) and specialized dendrochronological software. We compared the growth in natural spruce stands with the secondary (anthropogenic) ones and found no statistical differences in growth patterns between these two groups. However, we found some evidence for climate change effect on radial increment at locations Sorško polje, Ravnik and Mašun, which indicates that air temperature and precipitation now have stronger effect on spruce growth than in the past. Analysis of pointer years suggests that extreme events (exceptionally warm and dry years) are more common and widespread in the last 30 years