Les formes d’adresse dans un corpus de films français et leur traduction en finnois

The use of forms of address in French films and their Finnish translations The use of forms of address constitutes an integral part of speakers’ communicative competence. In fact, they are not only used to assign to whom the speech is addressed, but also to construct the relationship between speakers. However, the choice of a suitable form is not necessarily evident in modern, pluralistic society. By the notion form of address, I refer to pronouns of address (tu vs. vous) and different nouns of address like names, titles (Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle), kinship terms, occupational terms, terms of endearment and insults. The purpose of the present thesis is, first, to study the semantic and pragmatic values of forms of address in dialogues of modern French films, and, second, their translation in Finnish subtitles. It is evident that film language is not spontaneous, but only a representation of authentic speech, and that subtitles are a written version of the original spoken language. Consequently, this thesis studies spoken fictive dialogues and their written translations. The methods applied in the study are the Interactional and Pragmatic Approach as well as Translatology. The role of forms of address in an interpersonal relationship is studied with dimensions of distance and power (Brown and Gilman 1960, Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1992), whereas the pragmatic dimension permits studying in particular the use of forms of address in speech acts (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2001). The translation strategies are studied with the help of Venuti’s (1995) notions of foreignizing and domesticating strategies. The results of the thesis suggest that the pronoun use in the studied films is usually reciprocal. However, the relations of power have not disappeared, but are expressed in a more discrete manner with nouns of address (for instance vous + Docteur vs. vous + Anita). The use of the pronoun of address vous seems still to be common, but increased intimacy is expressed by accompanying familiar nouns of address like first names. The nominal forms of address accompany different speech acts, but not in a systematic manner. In a dialogue they appear usually in the first speech act, and more rarely in the response, but not in both. In addition, they have an important role in the mechanics of conversation. The translators here face multiple demands, and their translations seem mostly to be a compromise between foreignizing and domesticating strategies.

La coordination et les phrases juxtaposées en français

Coordination and juxtaposed sentences The object of this study is the examination of the relations between juxtaposed clauses in contemporary French. The matter in question is sentences which are composed of several clauses adjoined without a conjunction or other connector, as in: Je détournai les yeux, mon c ur se mit à battre. The aim of the study is to determine, which quality is the relation in these sentences and, on the other hand, what is the part of the coordination there. Furthermore, what is this relation of coordination, which, according to some grammars, manifests through a conjunction of coordination, but which, according to some others is marked in juxtaposed sentences through different features. The study is based on a corpus of written French from literary and journalistic text sources. Syntactic, semantic and textual properties in the clauses are discussed. The analysis points to differences so, it has been noted, in each case, if one of the clauses is affirmative and the other negative and if in the second clause, the subject has not been repeated. Also, an analysis has been made on the ground of the tense, mode, phrase structure type, and thematic structure, taking into account, in each case, if the clauses are identical or different. Punctuation has been one of the properties considered. The final aim has been to eliminate gradually, based on the partition of properties, subordinate sentences, so that only the hard core of coordinate sentences remains. In this way, the coordination could be defined similarly as the phoneme is defined as a group of distinctive features. The quantitative analyses have led to the conclusion that the sentences which, from a semantic point of view, are interpreted as coordinating, contain the least of these differences, while the sentences which can be considered as subordinating present the most of these differences. The conditions of coordination are, in that sense, hierarchical, so that the syntactic constraints have to make room for semantic, textual and cognitive factors. It is interesting to notice that everyone has the ability to produce correct coordinating structures and recognize incorrect coordinating structures. This can be explained by the human ability to categorize which has been widely researched in the semantic of prototype. The study suggests that coordination and subordination could be considered as prototypical cognitive categories based on different linguistic and pragmatic features.

Structure informationnelle et constructions du kabyle : Etude de trois types de phrase dans le cadre de la grammaire constructionnelle

Information structure and Kabyle constructions Three sentence types in the Construction Grammar framework The study examines three Kabyle sentence types and their variants. These sentence types have been chosen because they code the same state of affairs but have different syntactic structures. The sentence types are Dislocated sentence, Cleft sentence, and Canonical sentence. I argue first that a proper description of these sentence types should include information structure and, second, that a description which takes into account information structure is possible in the Construction Grammar framework. The study thus constitutes a testing ground for Construction Grammar for its applicability to a less known language. It constitutes a testing ground notably because the differentiation between the three types of sentences cannot be done without information structure categories and, consequently, these categories must be integrated also in the grammatical description. The information structure analysis is based on the model outlined by Knud Lambrecht. In that model, information structure is considered as a component of sentence grammar that assures the pragmatically correct sentence forms. The work starts by an examination of the three sentence types and the analyses that have been done in André Martinet s functional grammar framework. This introduces the sentence types chosen as the object of study and discusses the difficulties related to their analysis. After a presentation of the state of the art, including earlier and more recent models, the principles and notions of Construction Grammar and of Lambrecht s model are introduced and explicated. The information structure analysis is presented in three chapters, each treating one of the three sentence types. The analyses are based on spoken language data and elicitation. Prosody is included in the study when a syntactic structure seems to code two different focus structures. In such cases, it is pertinent to investigate whether these are coded by prosody. The final chapter presents the constructions that have been established and the problems encountered in analysing them. It also discusses the impact of the study on the theories used and on the theory of syntax in general.

Talking About Time in Russian and Finnish

In this study I look at what people want to express when they talk about time in Russian and Finnish, and why they use the means they use. The material consists of expressions of time: 1087 from Russian and 1141 from Finnish. They have been collected from dictionaries, usage guides, corpora, and the Internet. An expression means here an idiomatic set of words in a preset form, a collocation or construction. They are studied as lexical entities, without a context, and analysed and categorized according to various features. The theoretical background for the study includes two completely different approaches. Functional Syntax is used in order to find out what general meanings the speaker wishes to convey when talking about time and how these meanings are expressed in specific languages. Conceptual metaphor theory is used for explaining why the expressions are as they are, i.e. what kind of conceptual metaphors (transfers from one conceptual domain to another) they include. The study has resulted in a grammatically glossed list of time expressions in Russian and Finnish, a list of 56 general meanings involved in these time expressions and an account of the means (constructions) that these languages have for expressing the general meanings defined. It also includes an analysis of conceptual metaphors behind the expressions. The general meanings involved turned out to revolve around expressing duration, point in time, period of time, frequency, sequence, passing of time, suitable time and the right time, life as time, limitedness of time, and some other notions having less obvious semantic relations to the others. Conceptual metaphor analysis of the material has shown that time is conceptualized in Russian and Finnish according to the metaphors Time Is Space (Time Is Container, Time Has Direction, Time Is Cycle, and the Time Line Metaphor), Time Is Resource (and its submapping Time Is Substance), Time Is Actor; and some characteristics are added to these conceptualizations with the help of the secondary metaphors Time Is Nature and Time Is Life. The limits between different conceptual metaphors and the connections these metaphors have with one another are looked at with the help of the theory of conceptual integration (the blending theory) and its schemas. The results of the study show that although Russian and Finnish are typologically different, they are very similar both in the needs of expression their speakers have concerning time, and in the conceptualizations behind expressing time. This study introduces both theoretical and methodological novelties in the nature of material used, in developing empirical methodology for conceptual metaphor studies, in the exactness of defining the limits of different conceptual metaphors, and in seeking unity among the different facets of time. Keywords: time, metaphor, time expression, idiom, conceptual metaphor theory, functional syntax, blending theory

Canon and Beyond : Edvard Fazer and the Imperial Russian Ballet 1908 - 1910

The study explores the first appearances of Russian ballet dancers on the stages of northern Europe in 1908 1910, particularly the performances organized by a Finnish impresario, Edvard Fazer, in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin. The company, which consisted of dancers from the Imperial Theatres of St. Petersburg, travelled under the name The Imperial Russian Ballet of St. Petersburg. The Imperial Russian Ballet gave more than seventy performances altogether during its tours of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and central Europe. The synchronic approach of the study covers the various cities as well as genres and thus stretches the rather rigid geographical and genre boundaries of dance historiography. The study also explores the role of the canon in dance history, revealing some of the diversity which underlies the standard canonical interpretation of early twentieth-century Russian ballet by bringing in source material from the archives of northern Europe. Issues like the central position of written documentation, the importance of geographical centres, the emphasis on novelty and reformers and the short and narrow scholarly tradition have affected the formation of the dance history canon in the west, often imposing limits on the historians and narrowing the scope of research. The analysis of the tours concentrates on four themes: virtuosity, character dancing, the idea of the expressive body, and the controversy over ballet and new dance. The debate concerning the old and new within ballet is also touched upon. These issues are discussed in connection with each city, but are stressed differently depending on the local art scene. In Copenhagen, the strong local canon based on August Bournonville s works influenced the Danish criticism of Russian ballet. In Helsinki, Stockholm and Berlin, the lack of a solid local canon made critics and audiences more open to new influences, and ballet was discussed in a much broader cultural context than that provided by the local ballet tradition. The contemporary interest in the more natural, expressive human body, emerging both in theatre and dance, was an international trend that also influenced the way ballet was discussed. Character dancing, now at low ebb, played a central role in the success of the Imperial Russian Ballet, not only because of its exoticism but also because it was considered to echo the kind of performing body represented by new dance forms. By exploring this genre and its dancers, the thesis brings to light artists who are less known in the current dance history canon, but who made considerable careers in their own time.

Kuluttaminen ja ylhäisaatelin elämäntapa 1700-luvun Ruotsissa

Consumption and the lifestyle of the high nobility in eighteenth-century Sweden This monograph is an analysis of the lifestyle, consumption and private finances of the Swedish high nobility during the eighteenth century (ca 1730 1795). It describes the lifestyle of one noble house, the House of Fersen. The Fersen family represents the leading political, economic and cultural elite in eighteenth-century Sweden. The analysis concentrates on Count Carl von Fersen (1716 1786) and his brother Count Axel von Fersen (1719 1794), their spouses and children. Carl von Fersen was a courtier whilst Axel von Fersen was an officer and one of the leaders of the Francophile Hat party. His son, Axel von Fersen the younger, was in his time an officer and a favourite of Gustavus III, King of Sweden, as well as a favourite and trusted confidant of Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France. The research is based upon the Fersen family s private archives, the Counts personal account books, probate inventories, letters and diaries. The study discusses the Fersens landed property and investments in ironworks and manufacturing, the indebtedness of the high nobility, high offices in civil administration, the militia and at court, as well as marriages as the foundations of noble wealth and power. It analyses the Count von Fersens revenue and expenditure, their career options and personal expenses, their involvement in the building and decorating of palaces, and the servants in service of the Fersen family as well as the ideal nobleman and his consumption. Central themes are inheritance, children s education, marriages and ladies preparing their trousseaux, the nobility ordering luxury goods from France, the consumption of Counts and Countesses before and after marrying and having children, the pleasures of a noble life as well as the criticism of luxury and sumptuousness. The study contributes to the large body of research on consumption and nobility in the eighteenth century by connecting the lifestyle, consumption and private finances of the Swedish high nobility to their European context. Key words: nobility, Fersen, lifestyle, consumption, private finances, Sweden, eighteenth century

Focus on Form : J. J. Tikkanen, Giotto and Art Research in the 19th Century

My doctoral dissertation is on Johan Jakob Tikkanen (1857 1930), the first professor of art history in Finland, and his significance and methods in the context of late 19th and early 20th-century European art history. Tikkanen was one of the pioneering scholars in the field of medieval art research, and, along with Anton Springer, Heinrich Wölfflin, Aloïs Riegl, Adolfo Venturi, Franz Wickhoff, Julius von Schlosser, Aby Warburg, Emile Mâle and others, one of the scholars who defined art history as an independent academic discipline. Tikkanen s scholarly interests and his methods resemble those of many formalistically oriented German and Austrian art historians of his time. He became well known throughout Europe, mainly for his studies on illustrated medieval manuscripts. Tikkanen s dissertation, Der Malerische Styl Giotto s Versuch zu einer Characteristik Desselben, from 1884 was regarded in its day as the best form-analytical study on the painter. It has a central position in the present thesis, as it already included nearly all the methods that Tikkanen used and elaborated upon throughout his career. Giotto also gives a good perspective for comparing Tikkanen s ideas with a long art-historical tradition. Tikkanen was profoundly interested in artistic creativity. In his own words, he wanted to study das künstlerische Können , artistic ability, instead of das künstlerische Wollen or artistic will, which was an important theoretical issue in art history in the late 19th century. This starting point led him to the history of style and iconographical research. Along with the Danish art historian, Julius Lange, he was one of the first scholars who began to study the meaning of gestures and postures in art. In my dissertation I have emphasized the importance of Tikkanen s personal art education. I regard it as having influenced both his scholarly argumentation and his working methods. I have also written a short overview of the situation of art history in Finland and in Northern Countries before Tikkanen s time in order to give an idea of his scientific background. My thesis is a critical and historiographical study on J. J. Tikkanen s role in the development of art history and its methodology.

Nykytaiteen alkukuvat : Postjungilainen estetiikka nykykuvataiteen tulkintavälineenä

Tutkimus tarkastelee analyyttisen psykologian isän C. G. Jungin teorian sekä jungilaisten ja postjungilaisten teorioiden soveltuvuutta nykykuvataiteen tarkasteluun. Tutkimus esittelee jungilaista estetiikkaa kattavasti suomeksi ja soveltaa sitä postjungilaisesti nykykuvataiteen tulkintaan. Kumpaakaan ei ole aiemmin tehty estetiikan alalla Suomessa. Tutkimusaineistona on käytetty painettujen lähteiden lisäksi esimerkiksi haastatteluita ja aiheeseen liittyviä seminaareja. Jung ei itse muodostanut yhtenäistä taiteen tulkintateoriaa. Sekä psykologian että taidefilosofian puolella on viitattu yleisellä tasolla joihinkin jungilaisiin tulkintamahdollisuuksiin, mutta jungilaista estetiikkaa ei ole kehitetty kuvataiteen tulkintaan eikä varsinkaan nykykuvataiteen tulkintaan soveltuvaksi välineeksi. Kirjallisuuden tutkimuksen puolella jungilaisen näkökulman soveltaminen tulkintaan on yleisempää, myös Suomessa. Suomessa Jung-tutkimus on kuitenkin vähäistä ja pintapuolista sekä yleisesti ottaen että erityisesti työn aiheen kannalta. Työn alussa esitellään tutkimuksellinen ja teoreettinen kansainvälinen ja kansallinen viitekehys. Tämän jälkeen esitellään tutkimuksen kannalta tärkeät jungilaiset käsitteet, kuten arkkityyppi, kollektiivinen tiedostamaton ja symboli. Aiheelle keskeistä jungilaista symboli-käsitettä tarkastellaan laajasti ja pohditaan tämän sijoittumista taiteen tutkimuksen kentällä suhteessa esimerkiksi muihin estetiikan symbolikäsityksiin. Tutkielmassa yhdistellään jungilaisten ja postjungilaisten ajattelijoiden teorioita ja tutkimusmetodeja ja sovelletaan tästä ajattelumatriisista johdettua postjungilaista taiteen tulkintavälinettä kulttuurisidonnaisen nykykuvataiteen tulkintaan. Tässä tutkimuksessa postjungilaista estetiikkaa sovelletaan taiteen tulkintaan innovatiivisesti ja tieteellisesti tukeutumatta vain mielleyhtymiin. Työssä kehitellään erityisesti myös terapiassa käytettyä jungilaista amplifikaatio-menetelmää nykykuvataiteen tulkintavälineeksi, minkä jälkeen amplifikaatio-menetelmän sovelluksella tulkitaan Maaria Wirkkalan Vakain aikein (2006) -installaatioteosta. Työssä keskitytään yhteisölliseen ja kollektiiviseen näkökulmaan teostulkinnassa. Taiteesta voidaan tätä kautta löytää jotain ajatonta ja yhteistä. Postjungilaisen nykytaiteen tulkinnan avulla voi tunnistaa ja nostaa näitä asioita keskusteluun. Amplifikaatiota ei ole aiemmin sovellettu samalla tavalla. Lopuksi käsitellään tämän postjungilaisen taideteostulkinnan tuloksia ja jäsennetään niitä suhteessa teoreettisen viitekehyksen käsitteisiin sekä tarkastellaan jatkotutkimusmahdollisuuksia. Tutkimus osoittaa, että esitelty postjungilainen tarkastelu sopii nykykuvataiteen tulkintavälineeksi erityisesti kun halutaan järjestelmällisesti etsiä ja tarkastella nykykuvataideteosten yliyksilöllisiä viittausmahdollisuuksia. Avainsanat: Estetiikka, taidefilosofia, taide, tulkinta, Jung, jungilaisuus, postjungilaisuus, nykytaide, nykykuvataide, kuvataide, tiedostamaton, kollektiivinen, kollektiivinen tiedostamaton, arkkityypit, symbolit, amplifikaatio

Suomalaisten nuorten historiakulttuuri : Historian kohtaaminen ja käyttö 8.-luokkalaisten nuorten arkipäivän elämässä

Tutkimuskohteenani on vuonna 1988 syntyneiden suomenkielisten suomalaisten nuorten historiakulttuuri ja historiatietoisuus. Tutkimustehtävä kiteytyi kolmeen pääkysymykseen: mitkä historian välittäjäkanavat vaikuttavat eniten nuorten käsityksiin menneisyydestä, millä tavoin ja kuinka usein nuoret törmäävät historiaan arkielämässään ja millaiset historialliset tapahtumat ovat nuorille merkityksellisiä. Tutkimusjoukko muodostui 1093 kahdeksasluokkalaisesta, jotka vastasivat lomakekyselyyn kevätlukukaudella 2003. Menetelmänä käytettiin ryväsotantaa. Kyselylomake sisälsi pääosin suljettuja kysymyksiä. Tutkimuksen metodit ovat pääosin kvantitatiivisia. Analyysissa käytettiin frekvenssilaskentaa, keskiarvojen vertailua sekä havainnollistuksena taulukoita ja pylväsdiagrammeja. Kvantitatiivisilla menetelmillä kartoitettiin yleiskuvaa nuorten historiakulttuurista sekä eroja tyttöjen ja poikien välillä. Kvalitatiivista tutkimusotetta käytettiin avointen kysymysten kohdalla sekä analysoitaessa historian välittäjäkanavia julkisten ja kansanomaisten - oman, perheen ja suvun sisäisten sekä suvun ulkopuolisten - historian esityksinä. Nuorten historiatietoisuutta muokkaa eniten kouluopetus, jota vahvistaa median ylläpitämä julkinen historiakulttuuri. Viikoittaisissa historian kohtaamisissa poikien historiakulttuuria leimasivat tyttöjä enemmän julkiset historianesitykset - sanomalehdet ja visuaalinen eläytyminen television kautta - sekä historialliset roolipelit. Tyttöjen viikoittaisessa historian kohtaamisessa nousi voimakkaasti esille oman, henkilökohtaisen ja suvun historian käsittely päiväkirjan kirjoittamisen, muistoesineiden ja valokuvien kautta.Tytöt käyttävätkin historiaa oman elämänhistoriansa jäsentämisen sekä tradition siirtämisen tarkoituksessa. Nimenomaan heidän kauttaan näyttää elävän vahvana suvun muisteluperinne. Vaikka nuoret kohtaavat kansanomaisia historianesityksiä enemmän kuin julkista historiakulttuuria, heidän historiatietoisuutensa keskittyy jälkimmäiseen. He mieltävät tärkeäksi historiaksi lähinnä kansallisen menneisyyden ja historiakulttuurin julkiset muodot. Kouluopetuksen vaikutus näkyi nuorten vahvana uskona kansalliseen kertomukseen. Nuoret näkevät erityisen tärkeäksi Suomen itsenäisyyden ja Suomen sodat 1939-45 voitettuina itsenäisyyskamppailuina. Mannerheimia arvostettiin Suomen historian tärkeimpänä samaistumiskohteena ja Suomen sotien merkitys kulminoitui suvun jäsenten kohtaloiden ja kansallisen julkisen historian limittymiseen. Historian reseptiossa jatkotutkimuksen aiheita voisivat olla maaseudulla ja kaupungissa elävien nuorten historiakulttuurien erojen sekä erilaisten historiakulttuuristen alaryhmien hahmottaminen. Empiiristä kartoitusta ja vertailevaa tutkimusta voisi tehdä myös eri ikäryhmien historiakulttuurien välillä.

Meän tapa puhua : Tornionlaakso pellolaisnuorten subjektiivisena paikkana ja murrealueena

This folk linguistic and human geographic study deals with dialect awareness, dialect use and place attachment. The study discusses theoretical and methodological issues current in sociolinguistics suggesting that the study of attitudes should be regarded as a core area in the study of variation and change. Furthermore, it is suggested that instead of putting effort into improving mental mapping methodology (adopted into folk linguistics from behavioural geography of the 1960 s), the more up-to-date thinking of space in geography should be adopted. The region and the dialect are treated as perceptual constructs in the study. The dialect perceptions of high school seniors in the Finnish Tornio Valley are examined trough a triangulation method involving a questionnaire, interviews and dialect recognition test as the research methods. The h in non-initial syllables (e.g. lähethä(ä)n, saunhaan ~ sauhnaan let s go into sauna ) turns out, expectedly, as the most salient feature in the dialect awareness of the locals and in terms of local identity construction. This feature is no longer heard in most of the present dialects of Finnish but is still thriving in the Tornio Valley in the cross-border dialect area. The metathetic variant (saunhaan > sauhnaan into sauna , käymhään > käyhmään to go ) is a characteristic feature of the Tornio Valley dialect. However, individual differences have long been found in the use of the h. This study challenges the essentialist variationist view of social categories (gender) by analysing variation from a quantitative but emic and human geographic point of view. The study shows that the variation of the h is statistically significantly patterned in terms of the degree of feeling of insideness vs. outsideness. New light is shed on the gender differences found in earlier sociolinguistic studies: differences in dialect use between and inside gender groups are illuminated by the fact that, in this case, it is young women who are generally less attached to the local community than young men, but this does not hold for all the individuals. The ideological motivation for preservation of the h seems to be based on the imagined community of Tornio Valley covering both the Swedish and the Finnish valley area. The general image of the dialect area and it s speakers, the shared cognitive dialect boundaries of the locals and the particularly deep level of awaress of the linguistic variation of the h are notable resources of the Tornio valley identity. Hyperdialectic forms analogical to the most frequently attested metathetic forms are found in the interview data, predicting that in this dialect the h will be maintained also in the future.

Kaunhiista kauhniiseen, satheesta satteeseen : Jälkitavuissa säilyneen h:n variaatiosta Pellossa vuoden 1995 aineiston valossa

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan jälkitavuissa säilyneen, alun perin vokaalienvälisen h:n nykyedustusta Tornionlaakson Pellossa sosiolingvistisen teorian valossa. Keskeisenä tutkimusongelmana on variaation jasen muuttumisen suunnan selvittäminen, mitä tutkitaan sekä näennäis- että reaaliajallisen metodin turvin. Lisäksi pohditaan, millaiset kielensisäiset tekijät muutoksia ohjaavat. Reaaliaikaisen vertailun mahdollistavat Kirsi Kunnarin vuonna 1983 valmistuneen pro gradu -työn jälkitavujen h:ta koskevat tulokset Pellosta (informantit syntyneet vuosina 1898-1967). Pääpaino on kuitenkin näennäisajallisessa vertailussa; variaatiota tarkastellaan yksityiskohtaisesti erityisesti kielelliseltä kannalta, mikä on vaatinut perusteellista aineiston käsittelyä. Näennäisajallisessa tarkastelussa verrataankahden haastatellun ikäryhmän kieltä: nuorten (syntyneet vuosina 1986-1977) ja keski-ikäisten (syntyneet vuosina 1964-1945). Nuoria informantteja, joita on 14, on haastateltu pääosin pareittan. Vertailuryhmä, keski-ikäiset, koostuu heidän vanhem mistaan (7 informanttia). Nauhatunteja on yhteensä n. 13. Tulokset osoittavat, että toisin kuin muualla Peräpohjolassa, yleiskielen mukainen katovariantti (kou-luun) ei ole merkittävästi yleistynyt pellolaisten puhekielessä viimeisten neljän sukupolven aikana. Vokaalienvälisessä asemassa (koulu-h-un) h:ta ei nykypellolaisilla enää tapaa, ja ns. sisäheittoinenvariantti (koul-huun) on nuorten ryhmässä selvästi vähemmän suosiossa kuin keski-ikäisillä. Tornionjoki­laaksolainen, metateettinen h-variantti (kouh-luun) on yhä elinvoimainen: sen käyttö on nuorillakin lisääntynyt. Metateesi ei ole kuitenkaan kvantitatiivisesti juurikaan yleistynyt niissä fonotaktisissa ympäristöissä, joissa se aiheesta tehdyn väitöskirjan (1992) mukaan on ollut aiemmilla sukupolvilla harvinainen. Tätä saattaa osittain selittää tiettyjen puhekielisyyksien yleistyvä käyttö, mikä vaikuttaa eniten juuri näissä fonotaktisissa ympäristöissä siten, ettei metateesin toteutumiselle ole edellytyksiä. Pellon nykyisessä jälkitavujen h:n variaatiossa on osallisena vielä yksi variantti: assimiloitunut h (talhoon > talloon; toisheen > toisseen; kauphaan > kauppaan). Aiemmin tutkituilla sukupolvilla assimilaatiomuutos on ollut harvinainen, mutta nyt se on yleistynyt erityisesti nuorilla tytöillä. h:n assimilaatiossa syntyvät muodot lankeavat usein yhteen alueella jokseenkin fonemaattisena esiintyvän yleisgeminaation kanssa, osa muodoista muistuttaa erikoisgeminaatiota ja pieni osa yleiskielisiä muotoja. Tutkielmassa kyseenalaistetaan kielellisten seikkojen nojalla kyseisten muotojen tulkitseminen h:n assimilaatiosta johtuvaksi: assimiloituneiksi tulkituissa h-tapauksissa sekä konsonantin että sitä seuraavan vokaalin pituusdistribuutiot tukevat ajatusta, että ainakin yleisgeminaatiokonteksteissa assimilaatiomuodot ovat puhujan kannalta "mentaalista geminaatiota". Assimilaatiomuodot rinnastetaan tutkielmassa katomuotoihin sikäli, että niissäkin h on tasoittunut. Merkittävä ero on tavujen kvantiteettisuhteissa: assimilaatiomuodoissa ne säilyvät ennallaan (tal-hoon > tal-loon), katomuodoissa muuttuvat (ta-loon). h:n assimilaatiolla ja metateesilla epäillään aineistonperusteella olevan yhteisen tehtävän: sisäheittoisten talhoon, satheen -muotojen karttaminen tavujen kavantiteettisuhteita rikkomatta. Esitetyn hypoteesin mukaan syynä ovat suomen fonotaksille vieraat konsonantin + h:n yhtymät, jotka aikoinaan syntyivät murteeseen vokaalin heityttyä h:n edeltä.

Lärarens direktiv i svenskundervisningen i grundskolan

Tarkastelen pro gradu -tutkielmassani opettajan direktiivejä eli ohjailevia lausumia peruskoulun ruotsinopetuksessa. Aineistoni koostuu kuudennella ja kahdeksannella luokalla nauhoitetuista ruotsintunneista, ja sitä on yhteensä 3 tuntia 15 minuuttia. Analysoin sitä, miten opettaja muotoilee direktiivinsä, annetaanko direktiivit suomeksi vai ruotsiksi ja miten opettajan ohjaileva puhe vaikuttaa oppilaiden käytökseen. Direktiivien tehtävänä on saada oppilaat toimimaan opettajan toivomalla tavalla. Direktiivit ovat yleensä vierusparin etujäseniä, jolloin oppilaiden kielellinen tai ei-kielellinen reaktio muodostaa jälkijäsenen. Opettajan direktiivi voi olla myös jälkijäsen, jolloin se on reaktio siihen, mitä oppilaat ovat tehneet. On preferoitua, että oppilaat noudattavat opettajan ohjeita. Opettaja voi käyttää direktiivinä imperatiivia, kysymys- ja väitelausetta sekä nominaalilauseketta. Imperatiivi on tunnusmerkitön tapa ilmaista ohjailua, ja opettaja käyttää sitä rutiininomaisissa kehotuksissa. Kysymyslauseen muotoisia direktiivejä opettaja käyttää varmistaakseen, että opetus voi jatkua, ja säilyttääkseen työrauhan. Väitelauseilla opettaja puolestaan antaa erilaisia ohjeita ja säätelee työrauhaa. Nominaalilauseketta opettaja voi käyttää direktiivinä antaessaan oppilaalle vastausvuoron tai kieltäessään oppilasta häiritsemästä työrauhaa. Suomea käytetään direktiiveissä, jotka liittyvät kieliopin opettamiseen, kun taas ruotsiksi ilmaistaan usein toistuvat direktiivit. Usein opettaja käyttää ensin ruotsia ja toistaa sitten direktiivin suomeksi. Opettajan institutionaaliseen rooliin kuuluu se, että hänellä on auktoriteetti luokkahuoneessa. Siksi oppilaiden on noudatettava opettajan ohjeita, ja tavallisesti he tekevätkin niin, mutta siihen kuluu joskus paljon aikaa.

Transcriptional regulation by the orphan nuclear receptor ERRgamma

The nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily is comprised of receptors for small lipopfilic ligands such as steroid hormones, thyroid hormone, retinoids, and vitamin D. NRs are ligand-inducible transcription factors capable of both activating and repressing their target gene expression. They control a wide range of biological functions connected to growth, development, and homeostasis. In addition to the ligand-regulated receptors, the family includes a large group of receptors whose physiological ligands are unknown. These receptors are referred to as orphan NRs. Estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERRgamma) belongs to the ERR subfamily of orphan NRs together with the related ERRalpha and ERRbeta. ERRs share amino acid sequence homology with the classical estrogen receptors (ERs) but they are unable to bind natural estrogenic ligands. ERRgamma is expressed in several embryonic and adult tissues but its biological role is still largely unknown. ERRgamma activates reporter gene expression in transfected cells independently of added hormones implying that ERRgamma harbors constitutive activity. However, the intrinsic activity of ERRgamma can be inhibited by synthetic compounds such as the selective estrogen receptor modulator 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT). Ligands of NRs can act as agonists that activate transcription, as antagonists that prevent activation of transcription, or as inverse agonists that antagonize the constitutive transcriptional activity of receptor. Most of the synthetic ERRgamma ligands act as inverse agonists but recently, a synthetic ERRgamma agonist GSK4716 was identified. This demonstrates that it is possible to design and identify agonists for ERRgamma. Prior to this thesis work, the structural and functional characteristics of ERRgamma were largely unknown. The aim of this study was to define the functional requirements for ERRgamma-mediated transcriptional regulation and to examine the cross-talk between ERRgamma and other NRs. Due to the fact that natural physiological ligands of ERRgamma are unknown, another aim of this study was to seek new natural compounds that may affect transcriptional activity of ERRgamma. Plant-derived phytoestrogens have previously been shown to act as ligands for ERs and ERRalpha, and therefore the effects of these compounds were also studied on ERRgamma-mediated transcriptional regulation. This work demonstrated that ERRgamma-mediated transcriptional regulation was dependent on DNA-binding, dimerization and activation function-2. Heterodimerization with ERRalpha inhibited the transcriptional activity of ERRgamma. In addition to 4-OHT, another anti-estrogen, 4-hydroxytoremifene (4-OHtor), was identified as an inverse agonist of ERRgamma. Interestingly, ERRgamma activated transcription in the presence of 4-OHT and 4-OHtor on activator protein-1 binding sites. ERRgamma was found to interact with another orphan NR Nurr1 by repressing the ability of Nurr1 to activate transcription of the osteopontin gene. Transcriptional activity of ERRgamma was shown to be stimulated by the phytoestrogen equol. Structural model analysis and mutational experiments indicated that equol was able to bind to the ligand binding domain of ERRgamma. The growth inhibitory effect of ERRgamma on prostate cancer cells was found to be enhanced by equol. In summary, this study demonstrates that despite the absence of an endogenous physiological ligand, the activity of ERRgamma can be modulated in other ways such as dimerization with related receptors or by cross-talk with other transcription factors as well as by binding some synthetic or natural compounds.

Orphan nuclear receptor subfamily NR4A their interplay with other nuclear receptors and functions in osteoblasts

Nurr1, NGFI-B and Nor1 (NR4A2, NR4A1 and NR4A3, respectively) belong to the NR4A subfamily of nuclear receptors. The NR4A receptors are orphan nuclear receptors which means that activating or repressing ligands for these receptors have not been found. NR4A expression is rapidly induced in response to various stimuli including growth factors and the parathyroid hormone (PTH). The studies concerning the NR4A receptors in the central nervous system have demonstrated that they have a major role in the development and function of the dopaminergic neurons of the midbrain and in regulating hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-axis. However, the peripheral functions of the NR4A family are largely unknown. Cultured mouse primary osteoblasts, a preosteoblastic cell line and several osteoblastic cell lines were used to investigate the role of NR4A receptors in osteoblasts. NR4A receptors were shown to directly bind to and activate the promoter of the osteopontin gene (OPN) in osteoblastic cells, thus regulating its expression. OPN is a major bone matrix protein expressed throughout the differentiation of preosteoblastic cells into osteoblasts. The activation of the OPN promoter was shown to be dependent on the activation function-1 located in the N-terminal part of Nurr1 and to occur in both monomeric and RXR heterodimeric forms of NR4A receptors. Furthermore, PTH was shown to upregulate OPN expression through the NR4A family. It was also demonstrated that the fibroblast growth factor-8b (FGF-8b) induces the expression of NR4A receptors in osteoblasts as immediate early genes. This induction involved phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, protein kinase C, and mitogen activated protein kinase, which are all major pathways of FGF signalling. Nurr1 and NGFI-B were shown to induce the proliferation of preosteoblastic cells and to reduce their apoptosis. FGF-8b was shown to stimulate the proliferation of osteoblastic cells through the NR4A receptors. These results suggest that NR4A receptors have a role both in the differentiation of osteoblasts and in the proliferation and apoptosis of preosteoblast. The NR4A receptors were found to bind to the same response element on OPN as the members of the NR3B family of orphan receptors do. Mutual repression was observed between the NR4A receptors and the NR3B receptors. This repression was shown to be dependent on the DNA-binding domains of both receptor families, but to result neither from the competition of DNA binding nor from the competition for coactivators. As the repression was dependent on the relative expression levels of the NR4As and NR3Bs, it seems likely that the ratio of the receptors mediates their activity on their response elements. Rapid induction of the NR4As in response to various stimuli and differential expression of the NR3Bs can effectively control the gene activation by the NR4A receptors. NR4A receptors can bind DNA as monomers, and Nurr1 and NGFI-B can form permissive heterodimers with the retinoid X receptor (RXR). Permissive heterodimers can be activated with RXR agonists, unlike non-permissive heterodimers, which are formed by RXR and retinoic acid receptor or thyroid hormone receptor (RAR and TR, respectively). Non-permissive heterodimers can only be activated by the agonists of the heterodimerizing partner. The mechanisms behind differential response to RXR agonists have remained unresolved. As there are no activating or repressing ligands for the NR4A receptors, it would be important to find out, how they are regulated. Permissiviness of Nurr1/RXR heterodimers was linked to the N-terminal part of Nurr1 ligand-binding domain. This region has previously been shown to mediate the interaction between NRs and corepressors. Non-permissive RAR and TR, permissive Nurr1 and NGFI-B, and RXR were overexpressed with corepressors silencing mediator for retinoic acid and thyroid hormone receptors (SMRT), and with nuclear receptor corepressor in several cell lines. Nurr1 and NGFI-B were found to be repressed by SMRT. The interaction of RXR heterodimers with corepressors was weak in permissive heterodimers and much stronger in non-permissive heterodimers. Non-permissive heterodimers also released corepressors only in response to the agonist of the heterodimeric partner of RXR. In the permissive Nurr1/RXR heterodimer, however, SMRT was released following the treatment with RXR agonists. Corepressor release in response to ligands was found to differentiate permissive heterodimers from non-permissive ones. Corepressors were thus connected to the regulation of NR4A functions. In summary, the studies presented here linked the NR4A family of orphan nuclear receptors to the regulation of osteoblasts. Nurr1 and NGFI-B were found to control the proliferation and apoptosis of preosteoblasts. The studies also demonstrated that cross-talk with the NR3B receptors controls the activity of these orphan receptors. The results clarified the mechanism of permissiviness of RXR-heterodimers. New information was obtained on the regulation and functions of NR4A receptors, for which the ligands are unknown.