published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The study of sound symbolism, phonetics and semantics has been of major concern for linguists since the Greeks and the Romans in the fifth century before AD. The idea of sound symbolism - the existence of correspondence between the sound of letters (or linguists, such as Ibn Jinni (942-1002 AD), and modern Arabic linguists, including al- Badráwi (1999), and Na'aim Alwia (1984), have attempted to elucidate this phenomenon, providing detailed description and some examples from Arabic and the Holy Qur'an. Modern Western linguists such as Magnus (1999) have discussed the correspondence between the sounds of letters and the sense in Western languages. Jespersen (1962) and Badráwi (1999) have recommended that this phenomenon needs further detailed study and have indicated the need of more examples to be used as reference theory. Using Ibn Jinni's model, this study is an attempt to build on the theory of the correspondence between sound and meaning using the Holy Qur'an as an example. While Jinni's focus was on the correspondence of sound and meaning at the word level, this study will focus on the individual sound segments within the word, and the effect of the word within the Surat. The argument is that it is the individual distinctive features of each phoneme in a word that give the word its distinctive sound quality, and also has have an impact on the meaning of the word. Any correspondence between sound and meaning in a word should therefore be assigned to a particular significant distinctive feature. Given that the focus on the presumed direct relationship between sound and meaning, recourse will be made to the principal of onomatopoeia. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the distinctive features of the sounds that form Arabic words and the meaning of such words as used in the Holy Qur'an. In particular, the study will analyze the distinctive features, such as a sound being a consonant or a vowel, voicing, manner and place of articulation, airstream mechanism, among others (singly or combined) of the sounds in Arabic words, and relate this to the meaning of the words. This phenomenon will be investigated using descriptive methods and the Holy Qur' an as the object of study.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S. )--Air Force Institute of Technology, 2008. / "March 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-79). Also available via the Internet.

Magister Artium - MA / This thesis .investigates the function of a topicalized constituent .in the narrative non-direct speech texts .in 2 Kings. Many traditional BH grammarians described the :function of a topicalized constituent as "emphasis". Recent BH grammarians pointed out that extralinguistic factors like the total communicative context should also be considered in the description of a function for a topicalized constituent. The shift from the structural to a more pragmatic approach is illustrated in this study. The pragmatic approach proved to be not only possible, but also advantageous to the study of function in BH. The aim of this study was to test the viability and results of the various theories and categories of the BH linguists. This study also researched whether their linguistic approaches are indeed an improvement on the descriptions as defined by the traditional grammarians. In other words, to see whether and in which way more recent studies of BH could aid the understanding of the function of a topicalized constituent in BH word order. The methodology utilized in this study is briefly outlined as follows: 1. This study examined the description of word order in terms of the traditional and more recent approaches. The categories used to describe the function of a topicalized constituent were our main focus. At the end we compiled a theoretical frame of reference that we regard as representative of modem attempts to acquire a more refined comprehension of BH word order. A theoretical linguistic framework was formulated which could be used in our description of a sentence in BH in 2 · Kings. This attempt could be described as eclectic because it used the diverse perceptions from the various linguistic approaches. Richter's theoretical linguistic framework (with its limitations) together with contributions of Van der Merwe, Buth and Gross were used as a basis for the description of the sentences. 3. Sentences were analysed systematically and holistically at the different levels of description, namely morphology, morphosyntax, sentence syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Because of the difficulty in defining semantics and with pragmatics still in disarray, this study defined some semantic-pragmatic concepts it worked with. 4. In the description of sentences we incorporated and tested the viability of the different categories of various grammarians. By carefully considering the context of each sentence, this study posed the question: which, if any; of the categories could adequately describe the semantic-pragmatic function of a topicalized constituent in 2 Kings.

Verhandeling ingelewer vir die graad Magister in die Lettere en Wysbegeerte aan die Universiteit van Zululand, 2000. / Eng =: In this thesis I report the results of a survey that I made of the contributions that linguists had made in the course of the previous century regarding the description of the Afrikaans prepositional phrase construction. My research revealed that the first generation of Afrikaans linguists for ideological reasons were preoccupied with the origin and development of Afrikaans, and that Afrikaans prepositions were only referred to during discussions regarding the extent to which Afrikaans was considered to be a pure Germanic language, or a creolised language that obtained its characteristic features at the southern tip of Africa under the influence of contact languages such as Malay-Portuguese and Khoe. My research further revealed that De Villiers and Raidt were the first of the second generation Afrikaans linguists that understood that prepositions were constituents of a grammatical construction, the prepositional phrase construc¬tion. My main finding was that Ponelis is the central figure in the description of the grammar of Afrikaans, and that he made the biggest contribution to the description of the Afrikaans prepositional phrase construction in that capacity. Finally I concluded that De Wet and De Stadler are transitional figures to a new approach, according to which prepositions are characterised as elements of case grammar. Of De Stadler I concluded that his work on the Afrikaans partitative construction and the Afrikaans dative construction have created a bridge for analysing the Afrikaans prepositional phase construction within an emerging new approach, Cognitive Grammar. Afri: = In hierdie verhandeling doen ek verslag oor 'n bestekoJlname wat ek gemaak het van die bydraes wat taalkundiges in die loop van die vorige eeu gemaak het t.o.v. die beskrywing van die Afrikaanse setselgroep. My navorsing het aan die lig gebring dat die eerste generasie Afrikaanse talkumliges om ideologiese redes gemoeid was met die ontstaansgeskiedenis van Afrikaans, en dat Afrikaanse setsels slegs ter sprake gekom het tydens besprekings oor die mate waarin Mrikaans 'n suiwer Germaanse taal sou wees, of 'n gekreoliseerde taal wat aan die suidpunt van Afrika onder invloed van kontaktale soos Maleis-Portugees en Khoekoens sy kenmerkende taaleienskappe gekry het. Verder het my navoring aan die lig gebring dat De Villiers en Raidt die eerste taalkundiges van die tweede generasie was wat getoon het dat setsels as konstituente van 'n bepaalde grammatikale struktuur,die setselgroep, gebruik word. My hootbevinding is dat Ponelis die hooffiguur in die beskrywing van die grammatika van Afrikaans is en dat hy in daardie hoedanigheid die grootste bydrae gelewer het tot die beskrywing van die Mrikaanse setselgroep. Laastens het ek bevind dat De Wet en De Stadler oorgangsfigure is na 'n nuwe benadering waarvolgens setseIgroepe as deel van die kasusgrammatika beskryf word. Gor De Stadler het ek bevind dat sy werk oor die Afrikaanse partitietkonstruksie en die Afrikaanse datietkonstruksie 'n brug skep vir die bestudering van die Mrikaanse setselgroep binne 'n ontwikkelende nuwe benadering, die Kognitiewe Grammatika. / National Research Foundation (NRF),

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of European Studies and General Linguistics, 2003. / "June 2003" 2 maps in pocket on back cover. Bibliography: leaves 285-308.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim on this research is to promote a reflection concerning language signifying as a divulgation object within capitalist society where all becomes a consumption product. In this scene, language is a subject in the scientific divulgation discourse however it is a marginal historical position and linked to utilitarian senses and based on the empirical perspective of science. In order to analyze this conjuncture, we adopted the theoretical basis of Discourse Analysis, by Michel Pêcheux, and Eni Orlandi and fellows, in Brazil. The corpus is constituted by two magazines A Cigarra Magazine (1950s) and Língua Portuguesa (2000s) which represent different stages in the discursive process and emphasize language as a divulgation object. From these publications, we focus texts written by linguists, Joaquin Mattoso Câmara Jr. and José Luiz Fiorin with the purpose of analyzing the way in which they mean themselves on the position of divulgators, observing the constitutive vestiges of the discourse. Our study shows that language signifying as a product in the scientific discourse divulgation and its diffusion is the manifestation of a pretext. Furthermore the presence of linguists on these Medias underlines need of divulging language sciences toward recognition and attention of public politics and society in general. / O problema de pesquisa sobre o qual nos propomos refletir tem como foco a língua enquanto um objeto de divulgação. Chamamos atenção para o fato de que o discurso de divulgação científica funciona como um mercado de informações na sociedade de consumo, de modo que a língua, neste cenário, também figura em sentidos utilitaristas e inscritos em uma perspectiva empírica de ciência, mesmo que em posição historicamente marginal. Nosso corpus é constituído pelas revistas A Cigarra (anos de 1950) e Língua Portuguesa (anos 2000), que representam diferentes estados no processo discursivo e enfatizam a significação da língua como objeto de divulgação ao longo da formação sócio-histórica. Dessas publicações, focalizamos os textos escritos pelos lingüistas Joaquim Mattoso Câmara Jr. e José Luiz Fiorin, com o propósito de analisar a maneira pela qual eles se significam na posição de divulgadores, observando os vestígios constituintes do discurso. Nosso estudo mostra que a língua significa como um produto no discurso de divulgação científica e que sua difusão por tais lingüistas é a manifestação de um pretexto, em que pese a necessidade de divulgar as ciências da linguagem para reconhecimento e atenção das políticas públicas e sociedade em geral, em contraponto ao senso comum do qual a mídia recorrentemente reveste-se ao referendar a língua como objeto. A perspectiva teórica que norteia nossa pesquisa é a análise de discurso postulada por Michel Pêcheux e desenvolvida no Brasil por Eni Orlandi, entre outros pesquisadores.

No description available.

The Army has approximately 2000 soldiers on active duty trained to be Russian linguists for duties as intelligence specialists. To maintain this group, 1100 to 1300 candidates are sent annually to the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, California, for an intensive 47 week basic Russian language course. Attrition rates for this course have been averaging a relatively high 20-30% for many years and studies have shown skills achieved at DLI decline rapidly after course completion. In addition, of those candidates completing this course, only 40-60% achieve the desired skill level 2 (of 5) upon graduation. In 1986-87, the Army collected data on a number of individual characteristics of soldiers going through four basic language courses (Spanish, German, Russian & Korean) for a four year longitudinal study to try to improve this situation. This research examined data for the Russian language students in listening skills for the DLI basic course through Advanced Individual Training (AIT), or approximately the first two years, to determine variables that might improve prediction for the selection of successful Russian linguists. The criterion variables were the scores achieved on the Defense Language Proficiency Test III (DLPT) listening section at the completion of DLI and during the follow-on training at AIT. Predictor data collected at the beginning and during DLI included variables on cognitive, personality (e.g., empathy), motivation/learning strategy and biographical (e.g., gender) characteristics. This study examines 23 variables in multiple regression and discriminant analyses to determine predictors or predictor combinations for success in second language learning. This effort was supplemented by a qualitative analysis based primarily on 36 interviews with Army Russian linguists in field assignments. Findings indicated improvements may be possible in the prediction of successful Russian linguist candidates by using additional screening instruments prior to assignments to DLI. For success on the DLPT at the end of DLI, the use of instruments to measure study habits, motivation, verbal ability, critical thinking, self confidence and prior language experience provided an increase over the Army's current baseline (predictor set Multiple R = .509 vs baseline = .359). For AIT, the Army's current predictor variables did not show up in the final equation. Again, an increase in predictive power was demonstrated with study habits, verbal ability, critical thinking, self confidence and ambiguity tolerance variables in the final equation (predictor set Multiple R = .516 vs baseline = .244). Additional insights were provided from the analysis of information gathered during interview sessions with Army Russian linguists in field assignments. / Ph. D.