Thesis (M.A.)--Youngstown State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-79). Also available via the World Wide Web in PDF format.

Diss Univ. Düsseldorf, 2007.

M.A. / This study is based on the principles of the subjectivist approach of Cognitive Linguistics, as opposed to the more traditional objectivist view, specifically those principles applicable to the acquisition of mental contact between conceptualizers in a given communication situation. One of the most fundamental points of departure of Cognitive Linguistics is the opinion that abstractions (even linguistic abstractions) are modelled on man's bodily experience of his surrounding reality. These embodied experiences constitute a network of preconceptual and non-propositional image schemas, categorized as space schemas, force dynamic schemas, schemas based on sensation and basic-level objects. Several mapping processes, including metaphor and metonymy, transpose these image schemas from a preconceptual, prelinguistic level to a conceptual and linguistic niveau. A prerequisite for conceptualization through linguistic communication is to constitute mental contact between the speaker and hearer as the conceptualizers. Linguistic communication presupposes the transfer of meaning, which is based on certain cognitive variables determining mental spaces and conceptual blends. Against the preceding background, the newspaper headline, as cognitive entity, constitutes the research domain by means of which the nature of the potential mental contact between the headline writer (as speaker) and the headline reader (as hearer) in a specific communication situation is analysed and evaluated. A seemingly useful and potent cognitive measuring instrument regarding presupposed and actualised mental contact, by means of which any written or spoken communication can be analysed and evaluated, is the outcome of this study. A set of examples of headlines was collected from the Afrikaans daily newspaper, Beeld, and the Afrikaans Sunday paper, Rapport, from February 1996 until September 1998, serving as research material.

The current study examined the role of complexity and initial variability of exemplars during learning in verb generalization. Children and adults learned two novel verbs in the context of two novel creatures across two sessions. After a second training session, participants completed a generalization task during which they were required to identify the verbs when presented with seven novel creatures of varying levels of complexity. Performance was compared across age group and condition. Participants who initially learned the verbs in the context of a single, simple exemplar demonstrated a higher proportion of correct responses than participants who initially learned the verbs with both a simple & complex exemplar. These results provide evidence that fewer exemplars during initial training of novel verbs may increase learning in young children, as well as some evidence that complex exemplars may increase the difficulty of learning and generalizing verbs. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (MA--Applied Language Studies) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2004. / Also held in print (124 leaves, 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection. (T 808.042 MEY)

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 17, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Thesis advisor: Dr. Paul Bolls. Includes bibliographical references.

This study examines the semantic import of the French preposition à 'at/to' in argument alternations. In French, some verbs can be followed by a direct object or by an indirect object introduced by the preposition à 'at/to' (e.g., parer/parer à 'to ward off/to guard against', satisfaire/satisfaire à 'to satisfy', toucher/toucher à 'to touch', etc.). Although the preposition à 'at/to' has been characterized in the literature as a meaningless grammatical element, and more specifically so in cases of argument alternations, this study shows that à 'at/to' is meaningful and that it contributes to the semantics of the indirect transitive constructions of the verbs under scrutiny. Couched in the Cognitive Grammar theoretical framework (Langacker 1987b, 1991), this study is based on the assumption that grammar is meaningful and that the meaning of grammatical items is more abstract than the meaning of lexical items. Consequently, two abstract meanings characterizing à 'at/to' are proposed to account for the semantic differences between the direct and indirect transitive constructions of the verbs analyzed in this study: the expression of an abstract goal and the expression of an abstract localization. For some verbs, the indirect transitive construction entails a notion of goal that is not expressed in the direct transitive construction. For other verbs, à 'at/to' expresses an abstract relation (i.e., an abstract localization) between the lexical semantics of the verb and the indirect object, which results in meaning differences between the direct and indirect transitive constructions based on the notion of affectedness. Following Langacker (1987a), I view transitivity as a transfer of energy and propose that the various levels of energy involved in an event correlate with the various levels of affectedness of the object. I argue that à 'at/to' signals a disruption of energy leading to a lower affectedness of the indirect object than that of the direct object (see also Beavers 2011). Finally, I show that, for the verb toucher 'to touch', the semantic import of à 'at/to' varies in relation to the various senses of the indirect transitive construction of the verb. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [51]-58).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 307-308).