Contrastive Parallelism in European Portuguese: Prosodic features of a coehesion mechanism

This paper focuses on the encoding of contrast in European Portuguese (EP), specifically by analysing contrastive parallelism structures, which seem to be crucial in the construction of the type of discourse that will be analysed: the argumentative discourse. Hence, my main goal is discussing how contrast is prosodically encoded in these structures and to relate the results with previous ones for other languages. The data show that contrastive parallelism has specific acoustic properties and that there is no one-to-one relation between pitch accents and these structures. Therefore, the results seem to indicate that the prosodic encoding of such structures is gradient.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Paralelismo por contraste em Português Europeu

This study focuses on the encoding of contrast in European Portuguese (EP), by analyzing a corpus built from a political debate. We will analyze contrastive parallelism structures, which, as will be discussed, are crucial in structuring an argumentative discourse. Therefore, our goal is to discuss the prosodic encoding of contrast in EP, in the specific context of contrastive parallelism, and to relate our data with previous results for other languages. Our data reveals that there is no one-to-one relation between pitch accents and these structures. Such results seem to indicate that the prosodic encoding of contrastive parallelism is gradient.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CEPLEXicon - A Lexicon of Child European Portuguese

CEPLEXicon (version 1.1) is a child lexicon resulting from the automatic tagging of two child corpora: the corpus Santos (Santos, 2006; Santos et al. 2014) and the corpus Child – Adult Interaction (Freitas et al. 2012), which integrates information from the corpus Freitas (Freitas, 1997). This lexicon includes spontaneous speech produced by seven children (1;02.00 to 3;11.12) during approximately 86h of child-adult interaction. The automatic tagging comprised the lemmatization and morphosyntactic classification of the speech produced by the seven children included in the two child corpora; the lexicon contains information pertaining to lemmas and syntactic categories as well as absolute number of occurrences and frequencies in three age intervals: < 2 years; ≥ 2 years and < 3 years; ≥ 3 years. The information included in this lexicon and the format in which it is presented enables research in different areas and allows researchers to obtain measures of lexical growth. CEPLEXicon is available through the ELRA catalogue.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aquisição de orações completivas não-finitas com verbos percetivos e causativos em português europeu L2 por falantes de espanhol peninsular L1

O tema desta dissertação é a aquisição de complementos não-finitos de verbos percetivos e causativos por falantes não nativos de Português Europeu (PE) cuja língua materna é o Espanhol Peninsular (EsP). Sabendo-se que em PE e em EsP se encontram disponíveis diferentes tipos de estruturas de complementação nos contextos em causa, o presente trabalho começa por explorar, numa perspetiva comparada entre o EsP e o PE, as propriedades sintáticas e as análises disponíveis para faire-inf, Exceptional Case Marking (ECM), estrutura de Infinitivo Flexionado e Prepositional Infinitival Construction (PIC). Considerando as conclusões retiradas desta comparação, tomou-se como hipótese de explicação do processo de aquisição de língua não materna a Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2008, 2009a). Norteadas por esta hipótese, colocaram-se questões de investigação centradas na aquisição de ECM (estrutura disponível em PE e em EsP), da estrutura de Infinitivo Flexionado e da PIC (estruturas apenas disponíveis em PE). A aquisição destes três complementos infinitivos em PE coloca desafios específicos aos falantes nativos de EsP, correspondendo a diferentes tipos de tarefas de aquisição (mapeamento e reconfiguração de traços) e a níveis de complexidade distintos, de acordo com a Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. Os resultados obtidos através de quatro tarefas experimentais aplicadas a falantes de de EsP com diferentes níveis de proficiência em PE (inicial, intermédio e avançado), bem como a falantes monolingues de PE (grupo de controlo), permitem traçar percursos distintos de aquisição associados aos complementos infinitivos testados que vão ao encontro das predições gerais da Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. Assim, foi possível concluir que (i) a estrutura de ECM é adquirida mais cedo pelos falantes de EsP por as configurações de traços relevantes serem transferíveis da L1 (mapeamento); (ii) a aquisição de PIC coloca desafios acrescidos aos falantes de EsP por implicar a aquisição de diferentes contrapartidas morfossintáticas de um mesmo traço aspetual disponível na L1 e na L2; (iii) os maus resultados obtidos para a estrutura de Infinitivo Flexionado como complemento de percetivos e causativos podem, em parte, ser explicados pela complexidade da reconfiguração de traços (adição de traços em configurações não disponíveis na L1), mas resultados semelhantes dos falantes monolingues de PE obrigam a uma discussão do estatuto desta estrutura na gramática do PE e (iv) propriedades gerais de marcação casual de constituintes em posição de objeto que diferem na L1 e na L2 influenciam a aquisição das estruturas estudadas, constituindo um elemento adicional de complexidade.In this dissertation, we discuss the non-native acquisition of infinitival complements of causative and perception verbs in European Portuguese (EP) by native Peninsular Spanish (PS) speakers. Since both EP and PS have available different complement structures in the relevant contexts, we start by comparing (in EP and in PS) the syntactic properties and analyses available for faire-inf, Exceptional Case Marking (ECM), the Inflected Infinitive Structure, and the Prepositional Infinitival Construction (PIC). Considering the conclusions of that comparison, we assume the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2008, 2009a) and its predictions as adequate to account for the non-native acquisition process. Following this hypothesis, we formulate research questions focusing on the acquisition of ECM (available in EP and in PS), the Inflected Infinitive Structure and PIC (both structures only available on EP). The acquisition of these three infinitival complements in EP poses different challenges to the PS native speakers. These challenges correspond to different types of task (feature mapping and feature reassembly) and to distinct levels of complexity, as argued by the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. The results obtained from four experimental tasks applied to PS speakers with different EP proficiency levels (initial, intermediate, and advanced), as well as to EP monolingual speakers (control group), show different acquisition paths associated to the infinitival complements that are in accord with the general predictions of the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. We concluded that (i) ECM is acquired earlier by the PS native speakers, since the relevant feature configurations can be transferred from the L1 (mapping); (ii) the acquisition of the PIC represents a bigger challenge for PS speakers because it involves the acquisition of different morphosyntactic counterparts of an aspectual feature available both in the L1 and in the L2; (iii) the negative results obtained for the Inflected Infinitive Structure under causative and perception verbs can, in part, be explained by the complexity of the reassembly task involved in its acquisition (feature addition in a configuration not available in the L1), but, as the control group showed similar results, we were forced to question the usual descriptions of the native grammar, and (iv) general properties regarding the case marking of constituents in object position, in which the L1 and the L2 differ, play an important role in the acquisition of the structures under study, by adding complexity to the process

Parâmetros de qualidade no discurso público argumentativo: paralelismo por contraste e carisma

Tese de mestrado, Linguística, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2012A presente dissertação centra-se na análise de estruturas de paralelismo por contraste em Português Europeu. Partindo da ideia de que estruturas de paralelismo e de contraste desempenham um papel relevante na coesão e na estrutura temática e informacional de um texto, este estudo tem como objectivo analisar estruturas de paralelismo por contraste em discurso argumentativo no contexto da interface sintaxe-prosódia. Com este objectivo, foi construído um corpus com base no debate político que colocou frente a frente Álvaro Cunhal e Mário Soares enquanto candidatos ao cargo de primeiro- -ministro de Portugal. Este debate foi transmitido em Novembro de 1975, numa edição especial do programa Responder ao País, e é ainda hoje lembrado como um debate marcante que teve lugar num momento histórico da Democracia portuguesa. Através da análise aprofundada das estruturas de paralelismo presentes no debate, foi identificado um subtipo específico destas estruturas – o paralelismo por contraste – caracterizado por estruturas gramaticais paralelas que veiculam um valor semântico-discursivo de contraste. Observou-se, ainda, que estas estruturas se encontram associadas a momentos- -chave da argumentação dos dois intervenientes no debate. O principal objectivo da análise sobre o paralelismo por contraste é o de determinar se estas estruturas gramaticais apresentam propriedades prosódicas específicas. Além disso, o presente estudo tem em conta o recente debate centrado na questão da natureza gradiente ou categórica da realização prosódica de estruturas com valor contrastivo (e.g., Braun & Ladd, 2003; Braun, 2004, 2006; Baumann, Grice & Steindamm, 2006; Torregrossa, 2012). Neste sentido, a análise baseia-se em dados relativos a correlatos fonéticos (duração, número de sílabas, energia e f0) e fonológicos (acentos tonais e tons-fronteira) de estruturas de paralelismo por contraste. Paralelamente, foi ainda considerada uma outra linha de investigação centrada na figura do orador. Com efeito, nos últimos anos, têm surgido vários estudos cujo objectivo é identificar as características de um orador carismático (e.g., Rosenberg & Hirschberg, 2005, 2009; Biadsy et al., 2008), principalmente em contexto político. Os resultados avançados até à data para outras línguas apontam no sentido de haver características prosódicas que se correlacionam positivamente com carisma, tornando-se, então, pertinente questionar se é possível identificar o discurso de Álvaro Cunhal e de Mário Soares como carismático. 8 Finalmente, procurou-se determinar se o paralelismo por contraste, enquanto mecanismo de coesão, afecta o fraseamento prosódico e a melodia dos enunciados. Por outras palavras, procurou-se descobrir se o mapeamento sintaxe-prosódia tem um papel relevante na construção do paralelismo por contraste. Os resultados obtidos permitem provar que (i) o paralelismo por contraste se encontra associado a propriedades prosódicas específicas; (ii) os correlatos fonéticos, especialmente as medidas de f0, são determinantes na realização destas estruturas, o que sugere que a sua marcação prosódica é gradiente; (iii) o discurso de ambos os oradores (Álvaro Cunhal e Mário Soares) evidencia propriedades prosódicas que vão ao encontro do que é definido para outras línguas como discurso carismático e (iv) as estruturas de paralelismo por contraste apresentam características especiais de fraseamento, bem como estratégias de paralelismo e contraste entoacionais que destacam o papel do mapeamento sintaxe-prosódia na sua realização. Em suma, o paralelismo por contraste tem um papel relevante na produção de um discurso argumentativo fluente e até carismático. Dados do Português Europeu mostram a relevância dos correlatos fonéticos na realização destas estruturas, na medida em que contribuem para uma percepção gradiente do contraste. Além disso, existem características particulares de fraseamento e de estrutura melódica associadas a estruturas de paralelismo por contraste. Assim, a interface sintaxe-prosódia afigura-se crucial na realização do paralelismo, e especificamente do paralelismo por contraste, enquanto mecanismo de coesão.Abstract: This dissertation focuses on the analysis of contrast parallelism structures in European Portuguese. Based on the idea that structures of parallelism and contrast play an important role in terms of cohesion and of information and thematic structure of a text, this study aims at analyzing contrast parallelism structures in argumentative discourse considering the syntax- -prosody interface. In order to conduct our analysis, we built a corpus from the political debate opposing Álvaro Cunhal and Mário Soares as candidates to Prime Minister of Portugal. This debate aired in November of 1975 in a special edition of the television program Responder ao País and is still remembered as a remarkable debate that took place on an historical moment of the Portuguese Democracy. By examining this debate, we found a specific subtype of parallelism structures – contrast parallelism – which can be defined as parallel grammatical structures that convey a semantic-discursive value of contrast. Moreover, we observed that, throughout the debate, these specific structures are associated with key-moments of the argumentation flow constructed by each of the political adversaries. Hence, regarding contrast parallelism structures, our main goal is to determine whether these grammatical structures present specific prosodic properties. Furthermore, we develop our analysis in the context of a recent debate centered on the gradient or categorical nature of contrast (e.g., Braun & Ladd, 2003; Braun, 2004, 2006; Baumann, Grice & Steindamm, 2006; Torregrossa, 2012) and, therefore, support our analysis on data concerning phonetic (duration, number of syllables, intensity, and f0) and phonological (pitch accents and boundary tones) correlates of contrast parallelism structures. On a par with the analysis of these structures, we also considered another line of investigation centered on the orator. In fact, over the last past years, several studies emerged concerning the identification of charismatic orators (e.g., Rosenberg & Hirschberg, 2005, 2009; Biadsy et al., 2008), especially in the political context. The results shown so far for other languages point to the existence of prosodic features positively correlating to charisma, leading us to question whether our data would allow us to identify the discourse of Álvaro Cunhal and Mário Soares as charismatic. Finally, we examined each of the structures included in this study in order to determine whether contrast parallelism, being a cohesion mechanism, influences the prosodic 10 phrasing and melodic structure of utterances. In other words, we aimed at finding whether the syntax-prosodic mapping plays a relevant role in what concerns the cohesion mechanism of contrast parallelism. The results allow us to prove that (i) contrast parallelism structures can be related to specific prosodic properties; (ii) phonetic correlates, especially f0 measures, are determining in marking these structures, which suggests that their prosodic realization has a gradient nature; (iii) the discourse of both orators (Álvaro Cunhal and Mário Soares) evidences prosodic features that converge with what has been stated as charismatic discourse for other languages and (iv) contrast parallelism structures present specific phrasing characteristics, as well as intonational parallelism and contrast strategies that stress the crucial role played by the syntax-prosody mapping. In conclusion, parallelism and contrast play key-roles in the production of a fluent, or even a charismatic, argumentative discourse. Data from European Portuguese show that acoustic correlates contribute to a gradient perception of contrast and, additionally, that there are particular characteristics of prosodic phrasing and intonation associated with contrast parallelism structures. Hence, the syntax-prosody interface is crucial in what concerns the cohesion mechanism of parallelism, specifically contrast parallelism

Особливості гендерної характеризації персонажів та гендерні характеристики автора

BACKGROUND: The colonial war that Portugal was involved in between 1961 and 1974 had a significant impact on veterans and their families. However, it is unclear what the consequences of this war are, in particular with regard to levels of childhood maltreatment (CM) in offspring. OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to analyze the influences of fathers' war exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the offspring's CM and simultaneously test the hypothesis of the intergenerational transmission of father-child CM. METHOD: Cross-sectional data were collected, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, from 203 adult children and 117 fathers. Subjects were distributed according to three conditions based on the father's war exposure status: did not participate in war, or non-war-exposed (NW); participated in war, or war-exposed (W); and war-exposed with PTSD diagnosis (WP). The data were examined using correlations, variance/covariance, and regression analyses. RESULTS: Children of war veterans with PTSD reported more emotional and physical neglect, while their fathers reported increased emotional and physical abuse exposure during their own childhood. Significant father-child CM correlations were found in the war veteran group but less in the war veteran with PTSD group. Father CM predicted 16% of offspring CM of children of war veterans. CONCLUSIONS: The father's war-related PTSD might be a risk factor for offspring neglect but potentially a protective one for the father-child abuse transmission. War-exposed fathers without PTSD did transmit their own CM experiences more often. Therefore, father's war exposure and father's war PTSD may each be important variables to take into account in the study of intergenerational transmission of C

A corpus of European Portuguese child and child-directed speech

We present a corpus of child and child-directed speech of European Portuguese. This corpus results from the expansion of an already existing database (Santos, 2006). It includes around 52 hours of child-adult interaction and now contains 27,595 child utterances and 70,736 adult utterances. The corpus was transcribed according to the CHILDES system (Child Language Data Exchange System) and using the CLAN software (MacWhinney, 2000). The corpus itself represents a valuable resource for the study of lexical, syntax and discourse acquisition. In this paper, we also show how we used an existing part-of-speech tagger trained on written material (Généreux, Hendrickx & Mendes, 2012) to automatically lemmatize and tag child and child-directed speech and generate a line with part-of-speech information compatible with the CLAN interface. We show that a POS-tagger trained on the analysis of written language can be exploited for the treatment of spoken material with minimal effort, with only a small number of written rules assisting the statistical model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A corpus of European Portuguese child and child-directed speech

We present a corpus of child and child-directed speech of European Portuguese. This corpus results from the expansion of an already existing database (Santos, 2006). It includes around 52 hours of child-adult interaction and now contains 27,595 child utterances and 70,736 adult utterances. The corpus was transcribed according to the CHILDES system (Child Language Data Exchange System) and using the CLAN software (MacWhinney, 2000). The corpus itself represents a valuable resource for the study of lexical, syntax and discourse acquisition. In this paper, we also show how we used an existing part-of-speech tagger trained on written material (Généreux, Hendrickx & Mendes, 2012) to automatically lemmatize and tag child and child-directed speech and generate a line with part-of-speech information compatible with the CLAN interface. We show that a POS-tagger trained on the analysis of written language can be exploited for the treatment of spoken material with minimal effort, with only a small number of written rules assisting the statistical model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding and exploring social psychology in the context of human behavior

The range of social psychology is explored and broken down to understand the elements that make up the topic. Social Psychology looks at many different points of view and issues that ultimately define what it is. The researchers of this literature review look at the various topics, theories, and aspects related to and linked with social psychology and compose a paper explaining the different elements. Social psychology is the study of social interactions in society. In this research paper, the researchers concentrate mainly on the various moving parts that come together to describe social psychology, such as behavior, peer pressure, happiness, social media, social proof, prejudice and discrimination, inclusion, belonging and love, social influence, etc. There is a plethora of other parts that belong to social psychology. Therefore, these findings and explorations derived from earlier studies will be helpful for future researchers and all those who like social psychology and want to be knowledgeable about its importance and focus, which is determined based on individuals' communications and social behavior in different cultures and societies, which will be more critical

Proposta de Classificação Semântica de Unidades Lexicais Multipalavra Nominais

We present a semantic taxonomy to classify nominal multiword lexical units (MLU) for European Portuguese. Despite being built by single words, MLU don’t have a compositional meaning and have morphosyntactic restrictions. These units are so important in any text that their identification and classification is essential for information extraction and retrieval in Natural Language Processing. We adapted and applied a semantic taxonomy, based on the Lancaster semantic lexicon (Piao et alii, 2005), to a list of MLU extracted from CETEMPúblico. The results of the annotation task validated our taxonomy, because we were able to classify 97,1% of the corpus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio