Prototype effects in discourse and the synonymy issue: Two Lakota postpositions

Despite of being fully synonymous at the semantic level, the postpositions el "locative/directional" and ekta "locative/directional" in Lakota (Siouan, Central North America) display different semantic cores in discourse: the semantic prototype for el is the role of locative, while the semantic prototype for ekta is the role of directional. Both the functional synonymy between el and ekta and the observed prototype effects can be attributed to constellations created by grammaticalization processes: when an innovative grammatical element is developing-in this case, ekta-replacement of a functionally equivalent older element-in this case, el-is unlikely, to happen overnight, so that the innovative and the older element can be expected to coexist for a while, and to share functional domains

Factors influencing children’s interpretation and acquisition of Chichewa idiomatic expressions: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach

Adopting Systemic Functional Linguistics, the study investigated factors that influence idiom interpretation and acquisition in children. Semantic analysability, idiom structure and idiom modification were investigated in 20 native Chichewa speaking children aged between 4 – 14 years. Three experiments were conducted to examine these factors. The data for the study were analysed qualitatively by comparing responses that children gave to identify patterns, differences and similarities. Response types given by children were identified and coded. The data were then quantitatively analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results showed that children’s interpretation and acquisition of idioms is not dependent on the analysability and internal structure of the idioms, although these may affect interpretation and acquisition. The idiom can be analysable or can have a well-formed structure but children can still fail to interpret  it if they lack knowledge of the socio-cultural context within which the idiom is consumed. The results also showed that idiom modification does not affect children’s interpretation of idioms. The paper argues that the socio-cultural context within which idioms are produced is central to their interpretation and acquisition. As such, teachers should explain the socio-cultural contexts within which idioms were produced to facilitate idiom learning.Keywords: children, Chichewa idiomatic expressions, idiom interpretation and acquisition, socio-cultural context, Systemic Functional Linguistic

Settling

Settling is a collection of poems that interrogates the location of self in the physical, personal and metaphorical worls. There are thirty poems that explore different aspects of 'settling' from a woman's perspective

Interpretation of Chichewa idioms: An optimality theoretic account

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The United Nations Seventh Special Session: Proposals for a New World Economic Order

In September 1975 the United Nations held a special session, only the seventh in the organization\u27s history, on global economic problems. The issue precipitating the special session was the call for a new international economic order by the world\u27s developing nations. Since the oil crisis of 1973, the United Nations has become the arena for dispute between the world\u27s wealthy nations and its poor nations, and bloc against bloc confrontations are common-place. It is clear that action must be taken soon, not only if we are to distribute more equitably the world\u27s wealth, but also if we are to avert armed confrontation between developed and developing nations. This paper analyzes elements of the global economics and social issues that underlie the conflict and that were discussed at the Seventh Special Session. The scope of debate on a new economic order is vast, as it must be since every nation of the world is affected by it. There are no partial solutions, and short term remedies will only complicate future problems. At the very least, we hope this paper illustrates the magnitude and intricacy of the challenge before us

Annie Wood: A Portrait

In 1871, Anna Cogswell Wood and Irene Kirke Leache founded a school for girls in Norfolk, Virginia which had a profound influence on the community. The Leache-Wood Seminary became Norfolk\u27s center for cultural pursuits. After the death of Irene Leache in 1900, Annie Wood established a memorial to perpetuate her friend\u27s interest in literature, music, art, drama, and spiritual studies. Wood began a number of cultural programs which grew to shape the cultural life of the town in remarkable ways, leading directly to the Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Little Theater, the Irene Leache Memorial, the Norfolk Society of Arts, and The Chrysler Museum of Art. Wood published two novels, two memoirs of Irene Leache, two books of essays, and a book of dramatic sketches. She also wrote a number of pensees, in album format, sixteen of which are in the collection of the Irene Leache Memorial. Her writings trace the development of an independent Victorian woman who closely observed the changes in society from the Civil War to World War II