Rodica Albu | Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi (original) (raw)

Papers by Rodica Albu

Romanian Journal of Artistic Creativity, Jun 22, 2019

Modality-a privileged space for the manifestation of the thought-speech relation-is commonly defi... more Modality-a privileged space for the manifestation of the thought-speech relation-is commonly defined as the attitude of the speaker towards the propositional content of the utterance. The plural, modalities, is currently used to designate such semantic properties as: necessary, possible, likely, plausible, optional 1. For decades, the interest in the study of modality / modalities has been shared by logicians, semioticians and linguists (see Langages 1976), with a marked tendency towards approaching the issue in a pragmatic perspective 2. As Robert Blanché stated in his Structures intellectuelles (Paris, Vrin, 1966), the theories regarding modality have the reputation of being obscure. A medieval saying reactivated by Blanché warns: "De modalibus non gustabit asinus." Whereas formalised logical structures are rigid and limiting, in natural languages modality is expressed by a variety of means. Linguistically, it can be expressed by phonological / suprasegmental means (stress, intonation), by lexical means (adverbs, as well as adjectives, verbs and nouns encapsulating semantic features of modality), by syntactic means (verb phrases including modal auxiliaries, adverbials, sentence types) or by a combination of means. To these, paralinguistic means-such as nodding and facial expression-may be added. For those interested in the issue of the equivalence of modality expressions in two or several languages, the idea that modality is a universal semantic category 3 appears as reassuring. Any speech act includes a certain "dose" of modality, from (next to) zero in neutral statements to structures heavily marked for it. Human expressions of modality reveal human attitudes that are labelled as quasi-universal sets, the more so when they are placed in the context of comparable cultures, expressed by relatively comparable language systems, such as the Romanian and the 1 Aristotle divided propositions into three categories, depending on the type of modality expressed: (1) assertive, related to what is real; (2) apodictical, related to what is necessary; and (3) possible or "problematic", related to what is possible. All three types have an ontological character in the sense that they are connected to real relations. These are called Aristotelian or alethic modalities. Robert Blanché systematized alethic modalities in his hexagonal model-necessary, possible, impossible, contingent, predetermined, casual. He classified other types of modality (epistemic, deontic, axiological, subjective) according to the same hexagonal model. 2 In the sense that the importance of the context is postulated.

Linguaculture, Jun 1, 2013

Reviewed by RODICA ALBU The new volume of Pragmatics is a recent addition to the Routledge Applie... more Reviewed by RODICA ALBU The new volume of Pragmatics is a recent addition to the Routledge Applied Linguistics series and is conceived, just like the other books included in this series, as an "advanced resource book for students" and researchers. It follows the three-section pattern imposed by the editors (Christopher N. Candlin and Ronald Carter) for all the volumes in the series. In its twelve chapters, Section A introduces the key terms and concepts of pragmatics and several relevant topics: the origins of pragmatics, research methods (with insistence on data types and corpus pragmatics), the semanticspragmatics interface (meaning, reference, deixis, presupposition), as well as pragmatics and discourse, and specific subjects such as speech acts, implicature, pragmatic markers, (im)politeness, prosody and gesture, pragmatics and power (the courtroom, police interaction, political interviews and doctor-patient communication). The historical and the cross-cultural perspectives are also included. Each chapter is concluded with a succinct "summary and looking ahead" paragraph. The section as a whole is conceived for a reader that has gone beyond the basics of pragmatics. However, the very clear way in which key topics, approaches and contributions are introduced turns it into a useful guide for beginners as well. The chapters of section B, called "Extension", follow the structure of Section A and include selected readings, many of which are seminal for the respective topics. For example, the chapter on implicature includes texts by Grace (1989), Leech (1981) and Wilson (2010), whereas cross-cultural pragmatics is illustrated with texts by Wierzbicka (2003), Thomas (1983) and Argyle (1988). The texts are presented in a logical chain helping the reader understand how ideas evolved from one author to another and from one period to another. These connections are made transparent in the paragraphs the author inserts at the beginning of each chapter and before each selected excerpt. For instance, Wilson's article on relevance theory written for The pragmatics encyclopedia edited by L. Cummings (2010) is prefaced by a paragraph that, in a nutshell, both connects and contrasts Grice's Cooperative Principle and Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory: "We have discussed earlier how relevance

77ii*s article continues the "Representations of Language and Identity among Englishspeaking Cana... more 77ii*s article continues the "Representations of Language and Identity among Englishspeaking Canadians" series of studies based on the data provided by the sociolinguistic sample survey of the same name. Initiated by the author in the year 2000, it illustrates the linguistic habits of English-speaking inhabitants of urban Ontario as well as their subjective evaluation of these habits. Whereas the first article evidenced a lack of concordance between Canadians' spelling choices (51% American-according to the collected data) and what they think their spelling is like (námely, 55% British), this article brings forth a more realistic perspective of the population with regard to vocabulary. Just as the initiál hypotheses had foreseen, Canadians' lexical choices are divided between (1) the British lexical item; (2) the North American lexical item (US and Canada); and (3) the typically Canadian lexical item. Apartfrom that (4), New Canadians tend to preserve, at least for some time after their arrival, culture-specific elements that influence their lexical choices. However, their subjective self-reflexive statements reveal the sense of belonging to a common North American culture, followed by an increasing sense ofnational identity. Résumé Cet article continue la série ďétudes "Representations sur la langue et identitě", opérée sur les résultats de Venquete sociolinguistique au méme titre. Initiée par 1'auteur pendant 1'année 2000, Venquete illustre les choix linguistiques ainsi que Vevaluation subjective de ces choix par les locuteurs de la zone urbaine de l'Ontario. En ce qui concerne l'orthographe, la premiére étude a mis en evidence une légére discrépance entre le choix concret entre les variantes nord-americaines et la conviction que leur ortographe est plutót proche de celle britannique. En ce qui concerne le vocabulaire, les informateurs semblent plus réalistes. ťhypothěse initiale sur Vexistence de trois types ďoptions possibles, á savoir, (1) le terme britannique; (2) le terme nord-americain; et (3) le terme canadien, est confirmée et, en méme temps, complétée par une autre possibilité: (4) les "Nouveaux Canadiens" ont la tendance á conserver, du moins pour quelque temps, des éléments culturels de leur pays ou groupe ethnique ďorigine qui influencent leurs choix lexicaux. Pourtant, les considérations subjectives révělent un sentiment ďappartenance á un espace culturel commun nordamericain, ainsi que le développement ďun sentiment ďidentitě nationale canadienne, placeé au pian secondaire en ce qui conceme le vocabulaire. Preliminaries This páper is a sequel to my article on "Representations of Language and Identity among English-Speaking Canadians: Focus on Spelling", which was published in the first volume of the Central European Journal of Canadian Studies and, like it, is based on the field work I was able to do in Ontario in the summer of 2000. The initial

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Linguaculture, Jun 1, 2010

This issue focuses on two areas of interest: (1) language variation and varieties; and (2) termin... more This issue focuses on two areas of interest: (1) language variation and varieties; and (2) terminology and terminology management. The studies in the first part come from participants in the ISLE First International Conference, Freiburg, 2008. The first three were presented at the conference and focus on morphosyntactic patterns encountered in non-standard forms of English, namely, the occurrence of the verbal endings with non-3rd person singular verb forms of the present tense in varieties of English worldwide, (auxiliary) verb-subject inversion in subordinate interrogative clauses in non-standard varieties of English, such as Irish English, East African English or Indian English, and the category of present habitual in Irish English, Irish and Scots Gaelic. The fourth study tackles the much debated issue of the Romanian Perfect Simple in Wallachia and Transylvania in a typological perspective. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Hildegard L. C. Tristram, who has an important role in the selection of the materials included in this part. An essay on the need for neology in our "knowledge society" and the most common ways in which new terms are created opens the second part. It is followed by a case study, that of Keynesian terminology in Romanian translations and of the ways in which the political context influences the linguistic choices made by the translators. Finally, a practitioner of translation and terminology projects presents an overview of the author's experience regarding the intricacies of the terminology management of translation projects, mainly in the technical and IT sectors. This issue also includes an interview with Professor Christian Mair, one of the two main organizers of the First Conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE) and the elected president of this recently founded international society. The Society-as well as its first international conference-has gathered specialists in variationist studies, historical linguistics, language change, corpus-based description of Modern English, discourse analysis, English as a global language and, generally, academics who wish to be part of an integrative international society of linguists devoted to the study of English and to improve the dialogue between university-based English linguistics, with its increasing trend towards specialisation, and the educated public's interest in language and linguistics.

Ad Americam, Sep 30, 2020

The rise of Canadian Studies in Romania, particularly in the academia, as well as their recent (r... more The rise of Canadian Studies in Romania, particularly in the academia, as well as their recent (relative) decline, is presented with emphasis on the last twenty-five years. Individual interest and enthusiasm as well as the foundation of CEACS contributed to the Canadian Studies "boom" in 2000-2012, when Canadian Studies Centers were founded in several important Romanian universities, the number of Canadian Studies classes at BA and MA levels increased, large research projects were completed, PhD theses were initiated and quite a few defended.

Linguaculture, Dec 1, 2012

survival to food as an expression of aesthetic sophistication. The first part of the book consist... more survival to food as an expression of aesthetic sophistication. The first part of the book consists of two chapters and deals with two basic needs, (1) food as sustenance and (2) food as safety, and includes a discussion of the changing boundaries of edibility and of the culturespecificity of meals. It ends with a remark that will be resumed and developed in the final chapter of the book: "Americans (and increasingly West Europeans) have become distant from the source of their food." (p. 14) As globalization processes gain momentum, this becomes more and more the case in other parts of the world, most significantly, Eastern Europe. The second part, which focuses on the relational framework of food, is divided into three chapters. Chapter 3, entitled Food as Bonding, Solidarity, Acceptance, Affiliation, treats the issue of bonding both as horizontal (as the act of eating together) and as vertical bonding (eating the same kinds of food), both approaches being amply seasoned with interesting examples. The very substantial chapter 4 deals with the idea of propriety in its various senses. The topic of the changing ideas about appropriate vs. inappropriate foods is treated through several theoretical filters (including politeness theory) and is subdivided into 1. Appropriate food for appropriate groups of people (food and class, food and gender, food and age etc.); 2. Appropriate

Linguaculture, Jun 30, 2022

2021 was the year of the fifth conference devoted to the life and work of C. S. Lewis (and other ... more 2021 was the year of the fifth conference devoted to the life and work of C. S. Lewis (and other Inklings), its theme being the same as the title of the collection of essays Of This and Other Worlds, in which Lewis discusses aspects of "storymaking" particularly in relation to fairy tales and science fiction. But this title is so generous that it may be tackled from various, even unexpected, angles, so literary theorists, cultural studies and arts specialists, linguists, theologians, psychologists, philosophers, quantum physicists and even biologists, biochemists or biophysicists were expected to join. One may think of this world and the other world in religious terms, the vision of the "other world" being strongly informed by the linguistic and cultural community that entertains it. One may also think of the perceivable world and any conceivable or imaginary, i. e., fictional, world. When we say "conceivable", we may include here the world within the human body, where each cell somehow encapsulates the history and the architecture of the human species. As for imaginary /fictional worlds, we operate with them on an everyday basis-when reading books, telling jokes or tall tales, making up white lies... or exercising our imagination in other jocular ways. With minimum effort, one can postulate the existence of at least as many worlds as there are people on this planet, to say nothing of the universes created in the books of fiction. When humans interact, they operate with different universes of discourse, which can often generate tension and conflicts. (A typical example is the discussion of a theist with an atheist-where God is present in one's universe and absent in the other's.) Very often, though, through dialogue we can wisely enrich each other's universes. We hope that the publication of the present issue, with its prevailingly interdisciplinary nature, will contribute to this type of enrichment. The very world that we perceive with our senses may initially have appeared as a project in the infinite Mind that we conventionally call God. Lewis

Language in Society, 2008

Language in Society, Oct 17, 2007

Bhimji, analyzes variation in the uses of child-directed directives, showing that low-income immi... more Bhimji, analyzes variation in the uses of child-directed directives, showing that low-income immigrant families do not socialize children in monolithic ways. Lucila D. Ek's "Staying on God's path" investigates the ways in which linguistic practices associated with the church serve the dual function of socializing Latino youth into a religious identity and into Spanish language use. Chap. 6, "Como hablar en silencio" by Magaly Lavandenz, brings to light the socio-psychological realities of Central American immigrants who, in order to succeed in Los Angeles, sublimate their national identities and replace their local dialects with Mexican Spanish. Ana Roca's autobiographical essay, "Raising a bilingual child in Miami," is a meditation on the problems and pleasures of raising bilingual children. In "Dominican children with special needs in New York City," M. Victoria Rodriguez discovers that, despite disability and economic disadvantage, the children in her study were able to develop literacy and language skills at home through a variety of experiences. "Seeing what's there," by Carmen I. Mercado, underscores the ways in which literacy factors as a way of "making sense of and responding to lived experience" (145). Ana Maria Relano Pastor's "The language socialization experiences of Latina mothers in southern California" addresses the language values of Latina mothers and the ways those values then factor into language socialization practices and experiences. Drawing on poststructural theorists such as Butler and Althusser, Norma Gonzalez's "Children in the eye of the storm" theorizes schools as sites in which dominant metanarratives can be contested and in which "critical agency" among students can emerge in opposition to disempowering language ideologies, such as English-only. The chapters in this volume work together in making possible a view of language socialization that can account for the diversity of Latino communities and Latino linguistic practices. This book is a valuable tool for readers looking for pedagogical information as well as theoretical and empirical advancements in research on language socialization in U.S. Latino communities.

Journal for The Study of Religions and Ideologies, Oct 14, 2010

RODICA ALBU CS Lewis, The Abolition of Man, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2001. In the cont... more RODICA ALBU CS Lewis, The Abolition of Man, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2001. In the context of present-day economic, political, informational and demographic dynam-ics, few still have the dispositionand even fewer the timeto raise the issue of human rights and ...

Philologica Jassyensia, 2006

... by Rodica ALBU Source: Philologica Jassyensia (Philologica Jassyensia), issue: 2 (II) / 2006,... more ... by Rodica ALBU Source: Philologica Jassyensia (Philologica Jassyensia), issue: 2 (II) / 2006, pages: 916, on www.ceeol.com. Page 2. Philologica Jassyensia, An II, Nr. ... Philologia Perennis Note la Abolirea omului de CS Lewis (1943), la început de mileniu Rodica ALBU ...

Canadian English can be called as such on political grounds. Linguistically, however, it is inclu... more Canadian English can be called as such on political grounds. Linguistically, however, it is included in the North American English continuum, and, more precisely, shares a number of regional features with the northern dialect of US speech. What about usage preferences among Canadian ...

Linguaculture, 2010