Processing coordinate subject-verb agreement in L1 and L2 Greek

The present study examines the processing of subject-verb (SV) number agreement with coordinate subjects in pre-verbal and post-verbal positions in Greek. Greek is a language with morphological number marked on nominal and verbal elements. Coordinate SV agreement, however, is special in Greek as it is sensitive to the coordinate subject's position: when pre-verbal, the verb is marked for plural while when post-verbal the verb can be in the singular. We conducted two experiments, an acceptability judgment task with adult monolinguals as a pre-study (Experiment 1) and a self-paced reading task as the main study (Experiment 2) in order to obtain acceptance as well as processing data. Forty adult monolingual speakers of Greek participated in Experiment 1 and a hundred and forty one in Experiment 2. Seventy one children participated in Experiment 2: 30 Albanian-Greek sequential bilingual children and 41 Greek monolingual children aged 10–12 years. The adult data in Experiment 1 establish the difference in acceptability between singular VPs in SV and VS constructions reaffirming our hypothesis. Meanwhile, the adult data in Experiment 2 show that plural verbs accelerate processing regardless of subject position. The child online data show that sequential bilingual children have longer reading times (RTs) compared to the age-matched monolingual control group. However, both child groups follow a similar processing pattern in both pre-verbal and post-verbal constructions showing longer RTs immediately after a singular verb when the subject was pre-verbal indicating a grammaticality effect. In the post-verbal coordinate subject sentences, both child groups showed longer RTs on the first subject following the plural verb due to the temporary number mismatch between the verb and the first subject. This effect was resolved in monolingual children but was still present at the end of the sentence for bilingual children indicating difficulties to reanalyze and integrate information. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that (a) 10–12 year-old sequential bilingual children are sensitive to number agreement in SV coordinate constructions parsing sentences in the same way as monolingual children even though their vocabulary abilities are lower than that of age-matched monolingual peers and (b) bilinguals are slower in processing overall.

The acquisition of verbal paradigms in Dutch and Greek L2 children: cross-linguistic differences and inflectional defaults

Previous research with children learning a second language (L2) has reported errors with verb inflection and cross-linguistic variation in accuracy and error patterns. However, owing to the cross-linguistic complexity and diversity of different verbal paradigms, the cross-linguistic effects on the nature of default forms has not been directly addressed in L2 acquisition studies. In the present study, we compared accuracy and error patterns in verbal agreement inflections in L2 children acquiring Dutch and Greek, keeping the children’s L1 constant (Turkish). Results showed that inflectional defaults in Greek follow universal predictions regarding the morphological underspecification of paradigms. However, the same universal predictions do not apply to the same extent to Dutch. It is argued that phonological properties of inflected forms should be taken into account to explain cross-linguistic differences in the acquisition of inflection. By systematically comparing patterns in child L2 Dutch and Greek, this study shows how universal mechanisms and target language properties work in tandem in the acquisition of inflectional paradigms.

Ensamhet - gemenskap : Ett spänningsfält i Vilhelm Ekelunds författarskap

For the Swedish poet, essayist and aphorist Vilhelm Ekelund, ensamhet (solitude) and gemenskap (intellectual and spiritual community) were highly complex notions, with various and often contradictory meanings. In this article, I argue that both concepts have positive as well as negative connotations in Ekelund’s texts. Solitude can be sweet and delightful and the poet/writer may long for it, but it can also appear to him as a sordid and painful state. In the same way, life with other people may be just as difficult and complicated. I show that Ekelund as a young poet both embraced solitude as a positive notion and suffered from depressing isolation. The theme of solitude also appeared in his early prose as a heroic stance fitting for an extraordinary person. According to Ekelund, the fate of the truly gifted artist is loneliness, and he will find great difficulties connecting with people around him. In fact, he will find intellectual and spiritual community only when communicating with the great precursors – in Ekelund’s case that meant the prominent figures of Greek and Roman cultural heritage. “Modern” artists interested him only in so much as they openly venerated this classicist tradition. Ekelund may have despaired at the idea of an intellectual or spiritual community with his contemporaries; he was, nevertheless, optimistic regarding the ability of later generations to understand him. He was convinced that he did not write for people in his own time but, indeed, for posterity.

Follow your heart and something will come : subjective factors in the sustainability of early to mid career contemporary dance artists

This project comes out of a desire to investigate the subjective factors that influence how and why people become and stay dance artists. When dance artists in Australia earn, on average, $27,000 per year, and only $16,700 of that income is dance-related, according to David Throsby’s (2003) recent study for the Australia Council, one has to start to think that maybe sustainability, that is, artists’ ability and willingness to stay within the industry, is not solely governed by economic factors. One has to also start to think that subjective factors, things to do with the value, satisfaction and quality of life dance artists get from what they do, might be as significant, if not more significant, drivers of sustainability than pure economics.

The 10th Greek Festival of Sydney : a stakeholder analysis

In response to the demand for the adoption of a corporate culture by not-for-profit festivals, festival organizations increasingly identify strategic planning process and stakeholder management as crucial components for successful events. The purpose of this article is to present a framework developed for categorizing ethnic festivals stakeholders from a functional role (i.e., marketing, administration, and production) and an ethnic origin (i.e., Greek, Greek-Australian, and non-Greek origin) orientated perspective. The proposed framework was developed and applied to the 20th Greek Festival of Sydney (GFS), which was held in 2002, by identifying, categorizing, and examining the role of its stakeholders in the management and delivery of the event. The identification of the type of stakeholders, the ways they influence the GFS organization, and the strategic implications that derived from their involvement are addressed. The methodology utilized to develop the stakeholder framework was qualitative in nature. It combined triangulated data that derived from a number of interviews with representatives from the GFS administration, participant observations, and content analysis of internal documents and reports. The GFS stakeholder analysis offered an understanding of the several marketing-, administration-, and production-related strategic implications to the organization and running of the festival, such as the impact on its content, participants, and future development. The proposed framework derives from the GFS case study, yet it has the potential to be used for the examination of stakeholders' strategic implications to other ethnic festivals.

Painting equality : female artists as cultural entrepreneurial marketers

Purpose – There is growing interest by marketers in historical accounts that paint early female artists as entrepreneurial marketers. The purpose of this paper is to challenge the traditional view of entrepreneurship to incorporate a feminist theory of cultural entrepreneurship by considering the role of two female artists.
Design/methodology/approach – Using calls for historical research and new methods of enquiry in marketing, this paper traces early female artists and applies modern entrepreneurial theory to their marketing methods to identify their innovation, adaptability to change and planned marketing approach.
Findings – The paper suggests that entrepreneurial marketing is fused with the artists’ persona resulting in their celebrated status being widely recognised. It contributes an important fresh body of knowledge to the wider entrepreneurship debate by offering a new model of cultural entrepreneurial marketing. The three concepts of innovation, adaptability and marketing approach have not previously been applied to link women artists as entrepreneurs, however, this article argues that there is plenty of evidence to do so.
Research limitations/implications – While these artists are Australian (which could be seen to be a limitation), the art market is indeed international. In this respect, these artists join a longer international history as producers and consumers involved in entrepreneurial organisations from early days.
Originality/value – The artists’ significance falls within the context of emerging modernism, feminism and cultural identity during the 1920s and 1930s in Sydney, Australia. It is combined with and explains the actions and the success of two female artists’ unusual marketing approach. It is of value to readers interested in historical context regarding equality in the visual arts.

Greek shipping and the crisis of the 1980's

In 1982, Greek shipping plunged into a severe crisis: the size of the fleet declined dramatically and over 30% of the fleet was laid-up. catapulting many shipping companies into bankruptcy. The causes of the crisis were: The world recession, leading to regulation, protectionism, subsidization. and the growth of new competition in the tramp shipping market. The erosion of the cost differential between Greek shipping and other maritime nations of the world. The specialization and containerization of the world fleet. The old age and other characteristics of the Greek fleet, which exacerbated the crisis. Greek shipping, with its long history and the expertise, diligence, and supreme opportunism of its dynamic shipowners, will survive the crisis.