When semantics aids phonology: a processing advantage for iconic word forms in aphasia

Iconicity is the non-arbitrary relation between properties of a phonological form and semantic content (e.g. “moo”, “splash”). It is a common feature of both spoken and signed languages, and recent evidence shows that iconic forms confer an advantage during word learning. We explored whether iconic forms conferred a processing advantage for 13 individuals with aphasia following left-hemisphere stroke. Iconic and control words were compared in four different tasks: repetition, reading aloud, auditory lexical decision and visual lexical decision. An advantage for iconic words was seen for some individuals in all tasks, with consistent group effects emerging in reading aloud and auditory lexical decision. Both these tasks rely on mapping between semantics and phonology. We conclude that iconicity aids spoken word processing for individuals with aphasia. This advantage may be due to a stronger connection between semantic information and phonological forms.

A Linguistic Analysis of the Written Production of Second Language Learners : The Variation of Article Usage by Adult Chinese Learners of English

This study aims to test Robertson’s lexical transfer principle, which posits that Chinese learners use demonstratives (particularly this) and the numeral one as markers of definiteness and indefiniteness. This is tested by analysing Chinese learners’ written production collected from the Spoken and Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners 2.0 (SWECCL 2.0). The purpose is to understand the variation of article usage by adult Chinese learners of English. More specifically, the study examines to what extent articles, possessive and demonstrative pronouns are used in Chinese learners’ English and how definite and indefinite articles are used by the Chinese learners. Findings suggest that Robertson’s lexical transfer principle was corroborated by the present study. In addition, Chinese learners prefer to use demonstrative determiners, the possessive determiner our, and the numeral one to perform the function of marking definiteness and indefiniteness. In particular, the learners try to use the demonstrative determiners that and this in the anaphoric function instead of the definite article, and the demonstrative determiner those is frequently used in the cataphoric function. What is more, the learners use the numeral one as a marker of indefiniteness, and it is also used as a marker of definiteness in the anaphoric function. Further, the possessive determiner our is used as a marker of definiteness in larger situation uses referring to something unique. To this end, the study is able to show that the definite article is used to perform the function of marking indefiniteness, and in some particular contexts the definite article functions as a Chinese specifier in Chinese learners’ English. Also, the indefinite article is frequently used in quantifier phrases but is rarely used in other functions. There are three main reasons that may explain why Chinese learners use determiners variously. Firstly, the choice of determiners by Chinese learners is influenced by linguistic contexts. Secondly, because of learning strategies, Chinese learners try to ignore the anaphoric function and cataphoric function that they are not yet ready to process in article usage. Thirdly, interlanguage grammar influences the optionality in the use of articles. 

A relação gramatical objeto direto : implicações para o ensino de língua materna

This paper attempts to investigate the discourse manifestations of the grammatical relation direct object with respect to the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties that underlie this element. The research adopts theoretical orientation of the functionalism from North American and Brazilian schools inspired in Givón (1995, 2001), Hopper and Thompson (1980), Chafe (1979), Furtado da Cunha, Oliveira, Martelotta (2003) inter alia. From functionalism, the research uses principles of iconicity, markedness and informativity and it analize categories of transitivity, grounding and animacy. This research is anchored in prototype model (TAYLOR 1995); construction grammar model (GOLDBERG 1996, 2002). Both theoretical orientations share the view that language is a malleable living organism subject to socio-cultural context. Grammar is then the result of created, maintained, and systematized linguistic patterns developed from and used for language use. According to a functional linguistics and cognitivist linguistics verbs are stored in the speakers lexicon in syntactic-semantic frames which are more frequent. These frames carry information concerning obligatory and optional arguments and the semantic roles these arguments take in the clause. The analysis focuses on the semantic type of the verbs and its relationship with the argument encoded as a direct object observing the aspectual nature of verbs. Direct objects are classified according to their morphology (lexical or pronominal noun phrase), semantic role, informational content and animacy. This study discusses pedagogical implications with relation to how the grammatical concepts touched on this paper are treated in school textbooks. The empirical data come from Corpus Discurso & Gramática: a língua falada e escrita na cidade do Natal (FURTADO DA CUNHA, 1998). This corpus is composed of texts that contain spoken and written modalities. These modalities are in turn organized according to different types: personal narratives, retold narrative, description of preferred place, procedural place, procedural description and report on argumentation. The sample data totals 40 texts produced by four language consultants of the last graduation date. The paper shows that the same syntactic structures (formed through Subject-Verb-Object) correspond to different semantic-pragmatic structures in relation to specific communicative purposes even verb is an event, process or state. The argument structure are not aleatory but are related to experience; that is the way humans conceptualize the world and talk about it

As interrogativas de conteúdo na história do Português brasileir o: uma abordagem discursivo-funcional

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Estruturação do conhecimento e relações semânticas: uma ontologia para o domínio da naonociência e nanotecnologia

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A construção da representação dos nomes: processos qualitativos e quantitativos na categorização dos substantivos concretos e abstratos

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

Modelo linguístico-computacional para um dicionário analógico digital

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

De versos e trovas: análise de aspectos fonoestilísticos do português medieval por meio das “Cantigas de Santa Maria”

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

Estudo do marcador gustar sob a ótica das operações predicativas e enunciativas: proposta reflexiva para o ensino de línguas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Contribuições ao estudo da ambiguidade da linguagem: uma proposta linguístico-educacional

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Descrição léxico-gramatical e funcional dos verbos pronominais do português brasileiro com vistas ao aperfeiçoamento da base de verbos da wordnet brasileira e do alinhamento semântico desta à base de verbos da wordnet norte-americana

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Língua wauja (arawak): uma descrição fonológica e morfossintática

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Clivagem e construções similares: contraste, foco e ênfase

This paper deals with so called cleft constructions and other similar structures in eight Portuguese varieties, aiming to show that the formal differences correspond to different functional strategies used by the Speaker to achieve his/her communicative intentions, i.e., Focus, Contrast and Emphasis, in accordance with the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld and Mackenzie, 2008). This study takes as evidence real spoken occurrences extracted from a corpus organized by Linguistic Centre at the University of Lisbon, in partnership with the University of Toulousse Mirail and the University of Provence-Aix-Marseille. The results show the following distribution: cleft construction is a strategy for pragmatic function Contrast marking; Focus-ser constructions are used to highlight a constituent and (é) que is used as an operator of emphasis showing the speaker’s desire to intensify certain pieces of information.

Clivagem e construções similares sob a perspectiva da gramática discursivo-funcional

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento em Pesquisa (CNPq)