1,354,206 research outputs found
Chinese Sentence-Initial Indefinites: What Corpora Reveal
No full textWhile the sentence-initial position in Chinese is generally related to givenness/definiteness, instances of informationally new or indefinite sentence-initial nps may be found in language in use. This paper systematically explores the phenomenon of sentence-initial indefinites (SIIs), their statistical relevance, and the interaction with features typically connected to linear order, such as animacy or locatability. Results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis conducted on three major big-size, generalised corpora show that SIIs in Chinese are not only possible, but also statistically relevant. Animacy and locatability are found to play a key role in increasing SIIs acceptability. Finally, data reveal a new pattern featuring SIIs with proper nouns
Rovesciare il mondo rovesciato. Risvolti linguistico-stilistici del carnevale nel "Candelaio" di Giordano Bruno
No full textThe paper provides a proposal research on the thematic and linguistic contents presented on the Candelaio by means of Bakhtin's category of the Carnival. This research has a double aim. The first purpose is to identify some contradictory and highly problematic elements according to the interpretation, which is usual within the comedy genre, based on both a philosophical reading and a theatrical technique typical of the Mannerism. The other objective is to outline in its fundamental lines a hypothetical project upon the Candelaio.
After a short review of the main thematic elements, the analysis of the carnivalistic aspects focuses on some dialogical and linguistic elements that are connected to the rhetoric of parody. In addition to the obscene deformation of the biblical-lyturgical statements, some of the most meaningful phenomena are given by the participants taking part in the dialogues, with their ability to lower the tone, and by the usage of the bakhtinian hybrid utterance, which is employed by the author with a dual effect. In general, the analysis, which is here summarily presented with the intention to postpone a systematic study, seems to confirm the importance of the carnivalistic code as not only a linguistic but also an imaginative device of the comedy: his dual value persists and allows not to make absolute generalization about the negativity of the depicted world
Information Encoding, Mandarin Chinese Word Order and CSLA: A Cognitive-Functional Account
No full textThe present paper provides a comprehensive overview of the role of word order as a linguistic device in information encoding and management in Mandarin Chinese (henceforth Chinese). Specifically, it investigates its functions from a cross-linguistic perspective in order to identify acquisitional difficulties for Chinese L2 learners. The factors that contribute to shaping word order are explored and discussed, providing reference to relevant research conducted over the past decades; evidence from neurolinguistic and corpus-based studies is also provided, along with the results of a preliminary study conducted on MA Italian L1 learners of Chinese as a second language, which contributes to grounding theoretical claims on more solid empirical data. The analysis suggests that word order is a major area of interest in Chinese as a Second Language Acquisition (CSLA) because (1) it encodes functions pertaining to different linguistic domains (semantic, syntactic, discourse-pragmatic, cognitive etc.), thus displaying a high functional load; (2) due to L1 transfer, the complex interplay of all word order functions entails acquisition difficulties, especially for students whose L1 is morpho-syntactically richer (like Italian); and (3) a clear and comprehensive function-to-form mapping, accounting for L1-L2 differences and for positive and negative L1 transfer, can be an effective tool in CSLA practice. Moreover, discourse and conceptual aspects provide interesting insights for Chinese language teaching.
This work aims to contribute to CSLA as a growing area of research, in that it seeks to fill the gap between Chinese linguistic inquiry and teaching practice by showing the applicability of research findings to Chinese pedagogy. Secondly, it provides a comprehensive overview of the key factors that contribute to shaping Chinese linear order, which have often been investigated separately, resulting in partial and less effective accounts of the issue. Lastly, it hopes to be a reference tool both for SLA researchers and teachers, as it highlights possible difficulties in interlanguage development and suggests further research avenues
Recensione a: Jacopo Galavotti, Giacomo Morbiato, Una sola digressione ininterrotta. Cosimo Ortesta poeta a traduttore, Padova, Padova University Press 2021, in «Rassegna della Letteratura Italiana», 2, 2021, pp. 601-602.
No full textRecensione a: Jacopo Galavotti, Giacomo Morbiato, Una sola digressione ininterrotta. Cosimo Ortesta poeta a traduttore, Padova, Padova University Press 2021, in «Rassegna della Letteratura Italiana», 2, 2021, pp. 601-602
Acquisition of Double-Nominative Constructions by Italian L1 Learners of Chinese A Cross-Sectional Corpus Study
No full textThis paper presents new results of an ongoing cross-sectional corpus study investigating the acquisition of Chinese word order by Italian L1 learners. Specifically, it focuses on the acquisition of “double-nominative constructions,” as well as the correct sequential organisation of topical and focal information in the Chinese sentence. The analysis is conducted on three learner corpora, created by the author on the basis of a test submitted to three groups of university (BA and MA)-level Italian L1 learners of Chinese, for a total of 132 learners. Quantitative and qualitative analysis conducted on the collected data show that while the double-subject construction may appear as a simple and straightforward pattern, it is in fact a rather difficult construction to acquire and spontaneously produce for Italian L1 learners. Rather, students tend to use patterns they are used to in their L1 (or other L2s, such as English). These include the [NP1 have NP2], [NP1 的 NP2], or [NP1 adjectival predicate] patterns, among other types, thus confirming the inhibitive L1 transfer hypotheses of this study
Mapping Referents in Chinese and Italian: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Anaphora, Deixis, and Other Referential Relations
No full textThis paper provides an overview of different types of referential expressions, including deixis and anaphora, and explores the various linguistic forms used to encode these relationships in Chinese and Italian – two languages that exhibit distinct reference-tracking systems: the former largely inference-based, the latter primarily morpho-syntactic. To this end, the study examines empirical data from both large and small corpora, spanning a range of genres and text types. The contrastive analysis includes both qualitative and quantitative observations, highlighting similarities and differences, and revealing novel or previously understudied patterns. The results have implications not only from a typological perspective but also for applied fields such as natural language processing and second/foreign language acquisition
Some observations on macro-textual dynamics and metrical aspects in Carlo Bordini’s Costruttori di vulcani
No full textThe article gives some cues for the analysis of Carlo Bordini\u27s I costruttori di vulcani (2010) from a macrotextual and secondly metrical point of view, pointing out the compromise between constructive and deconstructive instances. The survey of this peculiar “book of books” draws further depth from a comparison with poetry collections from the 1975-1984 period and the earlier auto-anthology Pericolo (2004), as well as from an in-depth study of the author’s poetics supported by archival materials.Il saggio propone alcuni spunti per l’analisi dei Costruttori di vulcani (2010) di Carlo Bordini da un punto di vista macrotestuale e secondariamente metrico, rintracciandovi un compromesso tra istanze costruttive e destrutturanti. L’indagine su questo peculiare “libro di libri” trae ulteriore spessore dal confronto con le raccolte del periodo 1975-1984 e con la precedente auto-antologia Pericolo (2004), nonché da un affondo nella poetica dell’autore suffragato da materiali d’archivio
Cognitive Principles and Preverbal Position in Chinese
No full textIn Chinese, word order is a powerful linguistic device indicating relations between constituents, on a semantic, syntactic and pragmatic level, and has been the focus of linguistic inquiry over the past decades. Particular attention has been given to the preverbal position, with heated debate on the notion of topic and other pragmatic-related phenomena. This study is a first step towards a better understanding of the order of preverbal NPs and verb modifiers, analyzing them in light of relevant cognition-based word order principles investigated within the cognitive-functional approach. Particular attention is given to the notion of ‘scope’, which pertains both to the discourse and the cognitive level (‘topic scope’ vs. ‘temporal, spatial and semantic scope’), and which seems to better explain the order and the pragmatic role of preverbal NPs. On this basis, this paper suggests a research path towards a deeper cognitive-functional comprehension of the preverbal position that takes into account the interplay of different word order related factors
Conceptual word order principles and Mandarin Chinese grammar
No full textResearch on iconicity and word order in Mandarin Chinese (henceforth MC) investigates the correlation between the sequence of linguistic elements in the sentence and the temporal, spatial, and causal characteristics of the events they describe. Such correlations are captured through a number of organizational principles, generally referred to in the literature as conceptual or cognitive word order principles. Among the most significant principles are the principle of temporal sequence, the principle of temporal scope and that of whole-before-part. Conceptual principles are of great interest for several reasons: first, they exhibit an iconic nature and show how and to what extent MC word order (henceforth WO) mirrors both universal and culture-specific conceptualizations of space, time and cause-effect logical relations. As such, they are easy to understand and remember, thus providing interesting applications to MC language instruction. Moreover, according to Tai (1985, 1989, 1993), Ho (1993), Hu (1995) and Loar (2011) among others, such principles bear great explanatory power in that they underlie several seemingly unrelated syntactic patterns and constructions. This chapter provides an introduction to organizational principles underlying MC word order, with a specific focus on conceptual (or cognitive) principles, such as the Principle of Temporal Sequence (PTS) and that of Whole-Before- Part (WBP). Specifically, it presents (i) the theoretical approach they are grounded in, (ii) their potential in language description, as compared to grammatical rules, and (iii) their applications to language acquisition and discourse analysis. These principles are shown to operate both at the micro-levels of phrase and clause and at higher levels of discourse and text. The discussion avails itself of natural language in use; unless otherwise specified, all examples are drawn from corpora, such as the PKU corpus of Modern Mandarin Chinese, Peking University or Ho’s corpus of spontaneous spoken texts (Ho 1993: 14-6)
Numerical analysis of a synchronization phenomenon: Pedestrian-structure interaction
No full textThe pedestrian-structure interaction is considered by developing a non-linear double pendulum model, representing the lateral walking of the pedestrian and the horizontal vibration mode of the structure. To understand the synchronization phenomenon, the two oscillators were considered in their phase spaces, and a ring-dynamics approach was applied. As synchronization occurs, pedestrian motion becomes in phase quadrature with a quarter-of-period in advance of the bridge motion: this ensures stability of walking conditions on a moving deck, but causes random cancellation of forces typical of an incoherent crowd. Correspondingly, the lateral force transmitted to the structure increases its value, approaching resonance conditions
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