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Phrasal Verbs Revisited: A Probe into Semantics and Functioning of English Phrasal Constructions
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020
Pages:
185-191
Received:
28 February 2020
Accepted:
3 September 2020
Published:
16 September 2020
Abstract: The present study focuses on the distinction between the ‘idiom’ and the ‘open choice’ principle in constructing speech with reference to phrasal and semi-phrasal verbs in contemporary English. The semi-compositional reading of some phrasal verbs points to their syntactic, not phraseological nature, and distinguishes them from ready-made idiomatic units. If semi-phrasal verbs get into dictionaries, they are usually listed in the adverb’s entry. Compositional phrasal verbs are found to implement semantic patterns with adverbial particles adding pragmatic refinements to the verb’s meaning. Being used in variable contexts, semi-phrasal verbs get the ‘support’ from adverbial particles showing the ‘vector’ of the action expressed by the verb. The analysis of pragmatic characteristics of phrasal verbs suggests that one of the factors that affect the selection process for the speaker in choosing between a phrasal verb and a monolexemic verb of Romance origin is the functional-stylistic feature of formality / informality. In a preliminary way, variation of choice was considered with reference to translation versions of a literary text. There are indications that monolexemic verbs occur more frequently in the translation version published in the USA. As for lexicographic descriptions and ELT instruction, it is concluded that the adverbial element should be brought more into the limelight as shaping the semantic pattern of the phrasal construction and its functioning in speech.
Abstract: The present study focuses on the distinction between the ‘idiom’ and the ‘open choice’ principle in constructing speech with reference to phrasal and semi-phrasal verbs in contemporary English. The semi-compositional reading of some phrasal verbs points to their syntactic, not phraseological nature, and distinguishes them from ready-made idiomatic ...
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Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020
Pages:
192-204
Received:
10 August 2020
Accepted:
3 September 2020
Published:
19 September 2020
Abstract: Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring sociolinguistic data, characteristic of contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is to highlight on the linguistic and cultural diversity of Cameroon as a leit motive to create and introduce new words into the vocabulary system, thus, enriching contemporary Cameroon English. Both quantitative and qualitative research was carried to obtain valid data typical of Cameroon society based on the sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods of inquiry and analyses using a combination of the critical discourse analysis, semantico-pragmatic and speech act theories. After the analysis, contemporary Cameroon English is enhanced through different linguistic techniques such as dialectal and cultural borrowing, self-explained compounds, neologisms, eponym, and inflections, among others, which is of great interest to English language learners and teachers of today. These linguistic techniques have enriched Cameroon English vocabulary as a variety of speech typical of Cameroon English.
Abstract: Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring ...
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A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020
Pages:
205-215
Received:
24 August 2020
Accepted:
10 September 2020
Published:
7 October 2020
Abstract: Literary texts have largely been analysed from the perspective of literary criticism, literary stylistics. This paper is a linguistic stylistic analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House. The principal aim of the paper of the paper is to identify and analyse linguistic features used in the play. For a systematic analysis, these linguistic features are clustered into phonological, graphological, lexical, grammatical and semantic levels of analysis. A Doll’s House is a play that explores family relationships, friendship and patriarchy among other thematic concerns. Helmer Torvald, one of the main characters, is the embodiment of hegemonic masculinity in the play. The study adopted a desktop research; the researcher read the text and identified linguistic features which he intuitively felt to be stylistically foregrounded. The results show that the author has effectively used linguistic features to develop the themes and characters of the play. The study concludes that stylistics provides the linguistic toolkit instrumental not only for the analysis and understanding of a given text, but also for the performance of the acted forms of art like a play (drama). Linguistic stylistics is a tool that can be used to analyse any form of text.
Abstract: Literary texts have largely been analysed from the perspective of literary criticism, literary stylistics. This paper is a linguistic stylistic analysis of Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House. The principal aim of the paper of the paper is to identify and analyse linguistic features used in the play. For a systematic analysis, these linguistic feat...
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Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020
Pages:
216-228
Received:
25 August 2020
Accepted:
19 September 2020
Published:
7 October 2020
Abstract: This study attempts to classify compound words on the basis of Cognitive Linguistics and compares their usage trends using Computational Linguistics. In order to study compound words, it is very important to study the structure of a sentence because compound word in essence, is a condensed form of a sentence. After the Chomskyan Revolution, the concept of Cognitive linguistics in the structure of a sentence came into limelight. He explains about d-structure (deep structure), which determines the logic or meaning and s-structure (surface structure) that is the phonetic part. Lees, working with Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG), treated compound words, not as separate units but as a kind of embedded sentences and hinted for possible presence of d-structure and s-structure in compound words, which this study tries to investigate. Then on the basis of the Idealized Cognitive Model proposed by Lakoff and Fauconnier, compound words have been classified into transparent, opaque and counterintuitive compound words. Using Google Books Corpus, this study also compares their usage trends. This is done using usage frequency, defined in this work, which is analogous to productivity for affixed words calculated by G. E. Booij. Each class of compound word formed on the basis of ICM is found to have different usage frequency and the possible reasons for this are discussed.
Abstract: This study attempts to classify compound words on the basis of Cognitive Linguistics and compares their usage trends using Computational Linguistics. In order to study compound words, it is very important to study the structure of a sentence because compound word in essence, is a condensed form of a sentence. After the Chomskyan Revolution, the con...
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Spatial Deictics and Translational Implicitation: Evidence from a Corpus-based Analysis of English and Lithuanian Fictional Discourse
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020
Pages:
229-239
Received:
1 September 2020
Accepted:
21 September 2020
Published:
7 October 2020
Abstract: Based on the typology of universal uses of demonstratives and presumption of translational explicitation, this paper compares and contrasts demonstratives from a semantic and pragmatic perspective. It aims to identify the translation correspondences of the English demonstratives in Lithuanian and contrast their usage in a comparable corpus to determine the cross-linguistic differences resulting from unequal distribution of lexical correspondences in both languages. This paper analyses a self-compiled parallel corpus and comparable corpus extracted from the Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language to examine the translation effects at the discourse pragmatic level in the rendition of spatial deixis. The translation correspondences highlight the key role of optional implicitation caused by the availability of contextual variants in the textual uses of demonstratives in Lithuanian. The translation results also reveal that the Lithuanian three-way system of demonstratives shows signs of reduction to a two-way system, as there is an analogous distribution between the English distal demonstrative and the neutral (medial) demonstrative in Lithuanian. A comparison of original texts points to important cross-linguistic differences determined by discourse-related factors, such as higher frequencies of demonstratives in the anaphoric and recognitional functions in Lithuanian texts, which is largely determined by the unmarked status of the neutral (medial) demonstrative. While its article-like status is gaining increasing attention in the literature, the present results indicate that the (neutral) medial demonstrative is an optional indicator of identification that occurs as a stylistic and text-building preference and contributes to greater textual pragmatic explicitness of Lithuanian fiction texts.
Abstract: Based on the typology of universal uses of demonstratives and presumption of translational explicitation, this paper compares and contrasts demonstratives from a semantic and pragmatic perspective. It aims to identify the translation correspondences of the English demonstratives in Lithuanian and contrast their usage in a comparable corpus to deter...
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