Download or read book The Welsh Answering System written by Bob Morris Jones and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

Download or read book Tense and Aspect in Informal Welsh written by Bob Morris Jones and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2010-08-31 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a descriptive account of the semantics of three grammatical areas in informal Welsh: inflections of finite verbs, perfect aspect, and progressive aspect. The analyses distinguish context-independent primary meanings from other meanings which are due to implications and contextual effects. The inflections convey factuality, tense, (morphological) aspect, and habituality, but the inflections and their meanings are differently distributed over different sorts of verbs. The analysis of factuality outlines different sorts of counterfactual situations, and discusses whether counterfactual meaning can best be accounted for in terms of true statements in imagined possible worlds or in terms of false statements in the actual world. The analysis of tense argues that it conveys evaluation time and not situation time, which can be different to evaluation time, and that tense is not a collection of simple labels like 'past' or 'present' but is a combination of two times, a deictic reference time and a relative evaluation time, which organize the tenses as a system. Morphological aspect is discussed in terms of perfective and imperfective meanings. Habituality is a property of situations which can be described by all inflections but the study shows that bod 'be' alone has specialized forms to convey habituality. The discussion of the perfect aspect considers the appropriateness of anterior time, retrospective view, and current relevance to account for its meaning. The author argues that the progressive aspect conveys a durative view and the non-progressive a non-durative view, and shows that the progressive can describe situations which are described by the non-progressive in other languages. The study also considers whether other expressions can be aspect markers. The book shows that the primary meanings of the three grammatical areas are subject to various constraints.

Download or read book Minimal Answers written by Ana Lúcia Santos and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a new contribution to the debate concerning the acquisition of the syntax-discourse interface. It provides evidence that children acquiring European Portuguese have a very early ability to spontaneously produce VP ellipsis as answers to yes-no questions. It is also argued that the distribution of VP ellipsis in European Portuguese (including its co-existence with Null Complement Anaphora) supports the hypothesis that the identification condition on ellipsis is derivable from some innate knowledge of the syntax-discourse interface. Answers to yes-no questions also provide evidence concerning children's interpretation of questions containing a cleft or the operator só 'only'. The analysis of spontaneous production is complemented by a comprehension experiment, showing that children have two problems in the interpretation of these questions: (i) they do not understand that the cleft and só introduce a presupposition and (ii) they start with a default focus assignment strategy and may not access other focus interpretations.

Download or read book Welsh English written by Heli Paulasto and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive, research-based description of the development, structure, and use of Welsh English, a contact-induced variety of English spoken in the British Isles. Present-day accents and dialects of Welsh English are the combined outcome of historical language shift from Welsh to English, continued bilingualism, intense contacts between Wales and England, and multicultural immigration. As a result, Welsh English is a distinctive, regionally and sociolinguistically diverse variety, whose status is not easily categorized. In addition to existing research, the present volume utilizes a wide range of spoken corpus data gathered from across Wales in order to describe the phonology, lexis, and grammar of the variety. It includes discussion of sociolinguistic and cultural contexts, and of ongoing change in Welsh English. The place that Welsh English occupies in relation to other Englishes in the Inner and Outer Circles is also analysed. The book is accessible to the non-specialist, but of particular use to scholars, teachers, and students interested in English in Wales, Britain, and the world. It provides an unparelleled resource on this long-standing and vibrant variety.

Download or read book The Syntax of Welsh written by Robert D. Borsley and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welsh, like the other Celtic languages, is best known amongst linguists for its verb-initial word order and its use of initial consonant mutations. However it has many more characteristics which are of interest to syntacticians. This book, first published in 2007, provides a concise and accessible overview of the major syntactic phenomena of Welsh. A broad variety of topics are covered, including finite and infinitival clauses, noun phrases, agreement and tense, word order, clause structure, dialect variation, and the language's historical Celtic background. Drawing on work carried out in both Principles and Parameters theory and Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar, it takes contemporary colloquial Welsh as its starting point and draws contrasts with a range of literary and dialectal forms of the language, as well as earlier forms (Middle Welsh) were appropriate. An engaging guide to all that is interesting about Welsh syntax, this book will be welcomed by syntactic theorists, typologists, historical linguists and Celticists alike.

Download or read book The Celtic Languages written by Martin J. Ball and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 959 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Celtic Languages describes in depth all the Celtic languages from historical, structural and sociolinguistic perspectives with individual chapters on Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Breton and Cornish. This second edition has been thoroughly revised to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the modern Celtic languages and their current sociolinguistic status along with complete descriptions of the historical languages. This comprehensive volume is arranged in four parts. The first part offers a description of the typological aspects of the Celtic languages followed by a scene setting historical account of the emergence of these languages. Chapters devoted to Continental Celtic, Old and Middle Irish, and Old and Middle Welsh follow. Parts two and three are devoted to linguistic descriptions of the contemporary languages. Part two has chapters on Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx, while Part three covers Welsh, Breton and Cornish. Part four is devoted to the sociolinguistic situation of the four contemporary Celtic languages and a final chapter describes the status of the two revived languages Cornish and Manx. With contributions from a variety of scholars of the highest reputation, The Celtic Languages continues to be an invaluable tool for both students and teachers of linguistics, especially those with an interest in typology, language universals and the unique sociolinguistic position which the Celtic languages occupy. Dr Martin J. Ball is Hawthorne-BoRSF Endowed Professor, and Director of the Hawthorne Research Center, at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr Ball has over 120 academic publications. Among his books are The Use of Welsh, Mutation in Welsh, and Welsh Phonetics. Dr Nicole Müller is Hawthorne-BoRSF Endowed Professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Among her books are Mutation in Welsh, and Agents in Early Irish and Early Welsh.

Download or read book The Provision of Cross border Health Services for Wales written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Welsh Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the divergence in health policy between England and Wales, and the significant number of patients who cross the border for treatment, the Welsh Affairs Committee examined the interface between the two systems and the effectiveness of co-ordination between the Department for Health and the Welsh Assembly Government. It wanted to discover whether cross-border patients are treated fairly and whether the Welsh Assembly Government and the Department of Health consider the border in the development of the diverging policy environment. The Committee was aware of significant confusion amongst patients, for example in knowing what they are entitled to receive from their health service and that cross-border providers were being disadvantaged by the need to cope with two separate funding and commissioning schemes. The Committee's interim report on this topic (HC 870, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215521682) concluded that four key criteria should be established in cross-border health policy: clinical excellence as close to home as possible; border-proofing of policy and practice; cross-border citizen engagement; and transparent and accountable co-operation between localities, regions and governments. This report returns to these key criteria. The Committee is very disappointed that a protocol on cross-border health services has not been agreed, further evidence of a clear lack of co-ordination between the UK and Welsh Assembly governments and which leaves clinicians and administrators in a strained position and risks adversely affecting patients as a result of cross-border commissioning and funding problems. Better information for patients must be provided. The Committee finds the Department of Health's delay in responding to its interim report until some 6 months after publication to be unacceptable.

Download or read book The Welsh Language in the Digital Age written by Georg Rehm and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-01-27 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This white paper is part of a series that promotes knowledge about language technology and its potential. It addresses educators, journalists, politicians, language communities and others. The availability and use of language technology in Europe varies between languages. Consequently, the actions that are required to further support research and development of language technologies also differ for each language. The required actions depend on many factors, such as the complexity of a given language and the size of its community. META-NET, a Network of Excellence funded by the European Commission, has conducted an analysis of current language resources and technologies. This analysis focused on the 23 official European languages as well as other important national and regional languages in Europe. The results of this analysis suggest that there are many significant research gaps for each language. A more detailed expert analysis and assessment of the current situation will help maximise the impact of additional research and minimize any risks. META-NET consists of 54 research centres from 33 countries that are working with stakeholders from commercial businesses, government agencies, industry, research organisations, software companies, technology providers and European universities. Together, they are creating a common technology vision while developing a strategic research agenda that shows how language technology applications can address any research gaps by 2020.

Download or read book Solutions for the Assessment of Bilinguals written by Virginia C. Mueller Gathercole and published by Multilingual Matters. This book was released on 2013-09-27 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Solutions for the Assessment of Bilinguals presents innovative solutions for the evaluation of language abilities and proficiency in multilingual speakers – and by extension, the evaluation of their cognitive and academic abilities. This volume brings together researchers working in a variety of bilingual settings to discuss critical matters central to the assessment of bilingual children and adults. The studies include typically developing bilingual children, bilingual children who may be at risk for language impairments, bilingual and multilingual children and adults found in classrooms, and second-language learners in childhood and adulthood. The contributions propose a variety of ways of assessing performance and abilities in the face of the multiple issues that complicate the best interpretation of test performance.

Download or read book Responding to Polar Questions across Languages and Contexts written by Galina B. Bolden and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2023-12-15 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about one of the most fundamental action sequences found across human societies and socio-cultural contexts: polar questions and their responses. Question–answer sequences are among the most basic building blocks for sequences of action in interaction and are ubiquitous among the languages of the world. Among different types of questions, polar questions are the most common, occurring with greater frequency in all studied languages. This volume presents a collection of conversation analytic studies into responses to polar questions across ten different, typologically diverse languages, in a range of action environments and social contexts. The studies explore different ways in which speakers can respond to polar questions, and the relationships between response design, the action implemented by the response, and the context in which it occurs. Taken together, the studies assembled in the volume present a nuanced view of polar responses as a situated social action.

Download or read book Broadband Services in Wales written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Welsh Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-09-17 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Committee's report on broadband services it considers that the UK and Welsh Governments must work together and use all means available to bring broadband services in Wales up to speed with the rest of the UK, and eradicate broadband "slow spots" and "notspots" as a matter of urgency. Both Governments should consider promoting mobile and satellite technologies, particularly in remote areas of Wales in order to deliver this and not rely solely on rolling out fibre optic cabling. The availability of broadband has been consistently lower in Wales than the rest of the UK and although that gap has narrowed in recent years latest figures show the gap is widening again. The existence of notspots an slowspots has hindered existing businesses and deterred new businesses from choosing to locate to Wales - to the cost of the local economy.The Welsh Government's target is a commitment to provide all Welsh businesses with access to next-generation broadband by "the middle of 2016". The Committee also says that both Governments must ensure that the roll-out of superfast broadband is not achieved at the expense of delivering a good broadband service for all. The Committee recommends that Ofcom undertake a study to evaluate whether satellite broadband should be supported more vigorously in Wales; the delayed Spectrum auction, now planned for 2013, must ensure that 4G mobile services are available to at least 98% of people in Wales; and Ofcom must continue its efforts to open up access to infrastructure in Wales. BT's market power must be regulated effectively to ensure efficient operation of the market.

Download or read book Linguistic Bibliography for the Year 2000 Bibliographie Linguistique de l Ann e 2000 written by Sijmen Tol and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2004-12-10 with total page 1674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bibliographie Linguistique/ Linguistic Bibliography is the annual bibliography of linguistics published by the Permanent International Committee of Linguists under the auspices of the International Council of Philosophy and Humanistic Studies of UNESCO. With a tradition of more than fifty years (the first two volumes, covering the years 1939-1947, were published in 1949-1950), Bibliographie Linguistique is by far the most comprehensive bibliography in the field. It covers all branches of linguistics, both theoretical and descriptive, from all geographical areas, including less known and extinct languages, with particular attention to the many endangered languages of the world. Up-to-date information is guaranteed by the collaboration of some forty contributing specialists from all over the world. With over 20,000 titles arranged according to a detailed state-of-the-art classification, Bibliographie Linguistique remains the standard reference book for every scholar of language and linguistics.

Download or read book Responding in Conversation written by Marja-Leena Sorjonen and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book concerns particles that are used as responses in conversations. It provides much needed methodological tools for analyzing the use of response particles in languages, while its particular focus is Finnish. The book focuses on two Finnish particles, nii(n) and joo, which in some of their central usages have "yeah" and "yes" as their closest English counterparts. The two particles are discussed in a number of sequential and activity contexts, including their use as answers to yes-no questions and directives, as responses to a stance-taking by the prior speaker, and in the midst of an extended telling by the co-participant. It will be shown how there is a fine-grained division of labor between the particles, having to do with the epistemic and affective character of the talk and the continuation vs. closure-relevance of the activity. The book connects the interactional usages of the particles with what is known about their historical origins, and in this fashion it is also of interest to linguists doing research on processes of grammaticalization and lexicalization.

Download or read book New Perspectives on Irish English written by Bettina Migge and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together current research by international scholars on the varieties of English spoken in Ireland. The papers apply contemporary theoretical and methodological approaches and frameworks to a range of topics. A number of papers explore the distribution of linguistic features in Irish English, including the evolution of linguistic structures in Irish English and linguistic change in progress, employing broadly quantitative sociolinguistic approaches. Pragmatic features of Irish English are explored through corpus linguistics-based analysis. The construction of linguistic corpora using written and recorded material form the focus of other papers, extending and analyzing the growing range of corpus material available to researchers of varieties of English, including diaspora varieties. Issues of language and identity in contemporary Ireland are explored in several contributions using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The volume will be of interest to linguists generally, and to scholars with an interest in varieties of English.

Download or read book Imperative Turns at Talk written by Marja-Leena Sorjonen and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In middle-class Anglo-speaking circles imperatives are considered impolite forms that command another to do something; etiquette manuals recommend avoiding them. The papers in this collection de-construct such lay beliefs. Through the empirical examination of everyday and institutional interaction across a range of languages, they show that imperatives are routinely used for constructing turns that further sociality in interactional situations. Moreover, they show that for understanding the use of an imperatively formatted turn, its specific design (whether it contains, e.g., an overt subject, object, modal particles, or diminutives), and its sequential and temporal positioning in verbal and embodied activities are crucial. The fact that the same type of imperative turn is appropriate under the same circumstances across linguistically diverse cultures suggests that there are common aspects of imperative turn design and common pragmatic dimensions of situations warranting their use. The volume provides new insights into the resources and processes involved when social actors try to get another to do something.

Download or read book Flexible Query Answering Systems written by Henrik Legind Larsen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2006-06-15 with total page 730 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Flexible Query Answering Systems, FQAS 2006, held in Milan, Italy in June 2006. The book presents 60 revised full papers, organized in topical sections on flexibility in database management and querying, vagueness and uncertainty in XML querying and retrieval, information retrieval and filtering, multimedia information access, user modeling and personalization, knowledge and data extraction, and more.

Download or read book Aspects of Grammatical Architecture written by Alain Rouveret and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-19 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects eleven papers written between 1991 and 2016, some of them unpublished, which explore various aspects of the architecture of grammar in a minimalist perspective. The phenomena that are brought to bear on the architectural issue come from a range of languages, among them French, European Portuguese, Welsh, German and English, and include clitic placement, expletive pronouns, resumption, causative structures, copulative and existential constructions, VP ellipsis, as well as the distinction between the SVO, VSO and V2 linguistic types. This book sheds a new light on the division of labor between components and paves the way for further research on grammatical architecture.