Digital Commons Network^™

Punk Whiz 13, A. Anil

Word Ways

Another Pun Quiz of misdefinitions, which usually also hint at the actual meanings. In parentheses are the letters in the answer: (5|4) is a charade, a nine letter word that splits into a five plus four letter pun. My answers are out back.

A Poem, Martin Gardner

Word Ways

"Barbershop"

The Alphanumeric Properties Of Hyperpolygraphemic Oligosyllables, T.A. Hall

Word Ways

In a recent article in this journal (Word Ways, August 2003), Hugo Brandt Corstius examines the connection between the number of letters in a word and the number of syllables it contains. Basing his observations on Dutch, he coins the term 'oligosyllabic', which he defines as a word in which the number of letters is more than four times greater than the number of its syllables.

Scrabble-Tile Double Word Squares And Rectangles, Mike Keith

Word Ways

What is the largest double word square or rectangle (containing a different English word in each row and column) that can be formed from the 98 non-blank Scrabble tiles? The purpose of this article is explore, and give the answers to, questions like this in which the common word-play form of the word rectangle is constrained by the number of tiles of each letter available in the game of Scrabble.

A Magic Tour, Jeremiah Farrell

Word Ways

The map depicts a tour of several U.S. cities and it turns out to have a curious magical property. We invite the reader to join the magic tour at any city of his or her choice. Starting with your chosen city, spell the name of that city counterclockwise along the tour until you arrive at a city to spend the night.

Pseudoantonyms, A. Anil

Word Ways

Pseudoantonyms or contrantonyms are pairs of apparent antonyms that instead are synonyms of sorts. The two forms must be able to be the same part of speech. For example, tied up and tied down by the Lilliputians. Pseudoanyonyms are not to be confused with Susan Thorpe's double negative Pseudo-opposites in the November 2010 Kickshaws.

Teaching Lexicography And Lexicology Among The Aliterates, John Taylor

Word Ways

As I pondered how to frame the topic announced in the title of this paper, I realized that first of all I had to embark on a journey of intellectual archaeology. In the nine different courses I regularly teach, in composition, literature, and linguistics courses alike, I emphasize the use of a desk dictionary as a curricular survival tool, especially in this current mania of standardized testing. When exactly did I begin to have my deep, abiding passion for dictionaries and how did that influence the development of my career as a professor of English and applied English Linguistics? For …

Numerical Charades Part 4, Susan Thorpe

Word Ways

Numerical Charades Part 4 introduces a new type of numerical tautonym. The letters of the word TABLE, for example, assigned their alphabetical values (a=1, b=2 ... z=26), make 20.1.2.12.5. By splitting TABLE into two parts, specifically TA and BLE, and using the 2 functions + and -, T-A=19 and B+L+E also =19, making TA.BLE a numerical tautonym represented by 19.19. The words listed below use 2 or more of the four functions + - x ÷ and parentheses where necessary. A particular function can be used any number of times. A word can be split at any point along …

An Examination Of Multiple Predictors Of Orthographic Functioning., Glenn R Mesman, Michelle Y. Kibby

Publications

The purpose of this study was to compare three variables in terms of how well they predict orthographic functioning. To this end, the authors examined the relative contributions of rapid automatic naming, exposure to print, and visual processing to a composite measure of orthographic functioning in a heterogeneous group of 8- to 12-year-old children. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that rapid naming, exposure to print, and visual processing were each predictive of orthographic functioning when controlling for the other variables as well as vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness. Thus, it appears that both linguistic and visual abilities are related to orthographic …

Resolutions And Their Incongruities: Further Thoughts On Logical Mechanism, Christian F. Hempelmann, Salvatore Attardo

Faculty Publications

This paper is a contribution to the study of the resolution of incongruities in humor. We reject some criticisms of logical mechanisms and analyze three different types of incongruities in humorous texts: completely backgrounded, backgrounded, and foregrounded. Only the latter are addressed by logical mechanisms. We identify a mechanism of “incongruity shifting” which may be a candidate for “deep” logical mechanism (along the lines of “parallelism” in Attardo et al. HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 15: 1–44, 2002). We finally discuss the similarities between Oring's (Engaging humor, University of Illinois Press, 2003) “appropriate incongruity” theory and our approach, which …

Timing In The Performance Of Jokes, Salvatore Attardo, Lucy Pickering

Faculty Publications

The notion of timing in humor is often mentioned as a very significant issue, and yet very little has been written about it. The paper reviews the scant literature on the subject and narrows down the definition of timing as comprising pauses and speech rate. The discussions of timing in the literature see it either as a speeding up or slowing down of speech rate. Using data collected from twenty joke performances, we show that speakers do not significantly raise or lower their speech rate at and around the punch line. The other common assumption is that punch lines are …

Somali Dialects In The United States: How Intelligible Is Af-Maay To Speakers Of Af-Maxaa?, Deqa Hassan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The objective of this study was to determine the degree of intelligibility of Af-Maay to Somali university student speakers (n=21) of Af-Maxaa in the United States by implementing a perceived intelligibility test. The investigator aimed to test whether time spent in the United States, language contact with Af-Maay speakers, native Somali dialect, or the region of origin in Somalia affected the intelligibility of Af-Maay. The one-sample t-test showed that Af-Maay is partially intelligible to speakers of Af-Maxaa; t(21)=4.623, p=.000. This appears to agree with Crystal's (1987) Type 5 language-dialect relationship category, where there is a partial intelligibility due to the …

Implementing Computer-Assisted Language Learning In The Teaching Of Second Language Listening Skills, Jesse Gene Greenleaf

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

With the advent of new technology, more programs become available for the integration of technology inside second language classrooms. Especially exciting, is the enhancement that such tools allow in the skill of listening. For years, listening comprehension has been taught through the use of audio cassette tapes that do not provide an authentic setting for adequate acquisition. To help develop an effective way to teach listening to second language students, this paper researched how computer-assisted language learning (CALL) could be used in listening instruction in order to enhance outcomes. To research this, a qualitative study that included the observations of …

Ten Lectures On Mind And Language, Mark Bernard Turner

Faculty Scholarship

Ten Lectures on Mind and Language By Mark Turner
/="/">马克·特纳 心智与语言十讲
/="/">Copyright © Mark Turner 2009
/="/">These lectures were delivered by Mark Turner in May 2009, when he was the forum speaker for the Seventh China International Forum on Cognitive Linguistics. They were originally published as a book in the Eminent Linguists Lecture Series, 世界著名语言学家系列讲座。It includes the slideshows and handouts from the talks.

Contents 目录
/="/">Summaries of the lectures in Chinese 汉语导读
/="/">Lecture One: Human Meaning 人类的意义
/="/">Lecture Two: Conceptual Integration 概念整合
/="/">Lecture Three: Double-Scope Cognition 双域认知
/="/">Lecture Four: Mental Packing and …

The Obscure Lessons Of Geoffrey Chaucer And John Gower : An In-Depth Literary And Linguistic Study, Elizabeth Wilson

Honors Capstones

In order to establish the arguments found within this paper, I rigorously researched primary and secondary texts of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and John Gower’s Confessio Amantis. My argument mostly consists of my own observations, as I analyzed the primary sources from both literary and linguistic perspectives, such as the authors’ use of biblical illusions, poetic diction, pronouns, sentence structure, argumentative style, and word choice. I also researched several scholarly articles on The Canterbury Tales and Confessio Amantis to grasp a broader understanding of the texts and look at them from new perspectives. Additionally, I researched the political, social, …

A Companion To The Ancient Greek Language (Book Review), David M. Goldstein, Dieter C. Gunkel

Classical Studies Faculty Publications

It has become customary for reviews of handbooks to express misgivings toward the genre and its ever-increasing presence. But whatever one might think of companion volumes, this is a useful book. It boasts a wide range of generally high-quality essays by a parade of eminent scholars. Perhaps its most praiseworthy feature is the clarity and accessibility of many of its contributions, which makes them ideal starting points for the non-specialist. We will no doubt be assigning several of these chapters in our classes.

Greek And Latin From An Indo-European Perspective (Book Review), Dieter C. Gunkel

Classical Studies Faculty Publications

Review of the book, Greek and Latin from an Indo-European Perspective edited by Coulter George, Matthew McCullagh, Benedicte Nielsen, Antonia Ruppel, and Olga Tribulato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007

I Can Has Thesis? A Linguistic Analysis Of Lolspeak, Jordan Lefler

LSU Master's Theses

Lolspeak, which I characterize as an internet dialect of English that is used in conjunction with images of cats, exhibits distinctive variations and patterns which differ from those of standard English. Lolspeak has influenced other language use and may have a significant impact on the English language, due in part to the internet’s role in the evolution of English (Crystal “Language and the Internet,” 2006:26-27). To approach this data, I created a multi-modal discourse transcription technique for analyzing Lolspeak utterances within the context of their images based on Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss “The Discovery of Grounded Theory” 2007:9). I …

Relationships Between Organizational Variables And The Inclusive Language Used By Leaders, Matthew J. Keller

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

I investigated relationships between organizational variables and leadership, as measured by inclusive language use. Specifically, I examined whether organization size and profitability relate to the organization leader's use of language. I expected language use to be more inclusive in smaller and more profitable organizations, relative to larger and less profitable organizations. In this study, I used a regression approach to test my hypotheses. Results indicated that organization size was positively related to passive voice indicators, in support of Hypothesis 1. However, profitability was negatively related to inclusive pronouns and positively related to passive voice indicators, both of which were opposite …

Pitch Contour Of Japanese Traditional Verse, Shiho Yamamoto

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis I conduct experiments to investigate how pitch pattern is realized in Japanese Traditional Verses. My observation consists of four parts: (i) investigation of lexical pitch and accentual combinations of Contemporary haiku in prose and in verse (ii) investigation of lexical pitch and accentual combinations of Basho’s traditional haiku (iii) observation of Nonsense haiku and (iv) pitch range measurements of Contemporary haiku in prose and in verse. As a result, the following characteristics are found: Japanese speakers (i) tend to recite Contemporary haiku that include familiar lexemes with expected pitch patterns, compared with Basho’s Traditional haiku that include …

Toward A New Understanding Of Esl Students In The Composition Classroom, Vladimira Duka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this Master's thesis was to investigate the ways in which Composition teachers in U.S. English departments should revisit their teaching practices for native English speakers and the speakers of English as a second language likewise. The recent need for this shift in teaching practices was stressed in the thesis. Particularly, I examined how Composition teachers should reconfigure their teaching practices to redefine the standards of written English. The study aimed to demonstrate that a changing definition of the standards of written English impacted all the classroom participants, particularly diverse learners in various ways. Specifically, how a modified …

Culture, Globalization, And Stock Price Volatility, Dante M. Pirouz, John L. Graham

Business Publications

The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of culture on stock price volatility. The focal causal chain links dimensions of culture (i.e., linguistic structure and values) to globalization to the volatility of prices in 50 stock markets around the world. Other explanatory variables included in the model are characteristics of individual stock markets (age and market capitalization) and countries (per capita income and population). Partial least square regression is used to estimate the parameters of a comprehensive model using stock price volatility as the dependent variable. Our findings suggest that stock price volatility is influenced by …

Speech Act, Evidentiality, And Implicature In The Korean Topic-Construction, Jung Sun Son

UTA Working Papers in Linguistics - Archive

Is it possible to map pragmatic or discourse-oriented features onto the syntax level? The Korean topic marker -(n)un has a contrastive reading that induces conventional implicature, and is closely associated with a modal morpheme that can be regarded as a kind of agreement with evidentials. This paper attempts to represent such pragmatic features (implicature and evidentiality) as being involved in the topic-construction at the syntax level. To accomplish this, the paper introduces a Speech Act Projection (SAP), whose head encodes illocutionary force, and an Evidentiality Projection (EvidP), which is headed by a modal morpheme or evidential marker. The conventional implicature …

We Shall Be Watching You, You're Going To Die, And Other Threats: A Corpus-Based Speech Act Approach, Natalie Raun Carter

UTA Working Papers in Linguistics - Archive

Using a speech act approach, this paper examines the similarities and differences between English-language threats made by terrorists and those made by non-terrorists, with a focus on pronoun use and sentence-type. Both groups employ a variety of sentence-types in their threats, but use declarative statements most often. 1st person nominative pronouns occur as subjects of clauses much more frequently than 2nd person pronouns in both the terrorist and non-terrorist threat data. Non-terrorist threats, however, make significantly more use of the 1st person singular nominative pronoun, while terrorist threats use the 1st person plural nominative pronoun more frequently.

Interactional Entanglements: A Frame Analysis Of Negotiated Identities In Ethnographic Research On The Language Classroom, Mark A. Ouellette

UTA Working Papers in Linguistics - Archive

This study examines interactional entanglements that occurred during ethnographer-participant interactions in a language classroom. It draws upon Goffman's notion of framing to analyze how research participants use deixis to position the ethnographer vis-à-vis themselves within classroom speech events. The analysis shows that the teacher and students negotiated identities by appealing to the researcher's allegiances within an underlying judicial trial frame. As a marginal native, the ethnographer is particularly susceptible to others' social positioning, which raises questions concerning the very personal involvement of the ethnographer conducting research in an educational setting. This article underscores the argument that impression management is not …

Nous And On In Semi-Formal French: Pragmatic Uses Of Institutionality And Distancing, Deborah King

UTA Working Papers in Linguistics - Archive

French linguists have long noted the substitution of the indefinite pronoun on for the 1st person plural pronoun nous, in both formal and informal situations. Studies of informal conversation have found this replacement to be nearly categorical (Laberge and Sankoff 1980; Coveney 2000). By contrast, this study found a much higher percentage of nous compared to on in interviews and speeches with political or business-related themes (roughly 60% nous to 40% on). The data suggest that many speakers use nous and on in pragmatically distinct ways: nous for institutionality, on for distancing. However, nous can underscore institutionality even in potentially …

Look Back!, A. Ross Eckler

Word Ways

In the August 1986 Word Ways, Willard Espy presented a clever poem with its modus operandi explained in the last three lines.

Front Cover And Publication Information

Word Ways

Front cover and publication information for this issue, including a table of contents.

Sherlockiana, Dana Richards

Word Ways

Word Puzzles selected from "Victorian Engimas and Sherlockian Puzzles" by the author.

A Christmas Wish, Simon Nightingale, Bridget Nightingale

Word Ways

A puzzle.