Liebrecht, Hustinx, Van Mulken & Schellens (2018) Two dimensions of language intensity.pdf (original) (raw)
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Lexical-Syntactic Fields of Intensification in English and Belarusian
Intensification is a linguistic category denoting the degree of property or quality. Traditionally, lexical means of intensification are investigated. Nevertheless, there are syntactic units in English and Belarusian stereotyped as means of intensification. So/such … (that) and tak/taki … što have not received proper examination and often contradictory interpretation, especially in English. Accordingly, there is a need for their intra- and cross-linguistic study. The continuous sampling, quantitative and distributive analysis of literary prose allowed to create inventories of composite sentences expressing intensity, unite them into lexical-syntactic (LS) fields of intensification (LSFI) and state what sentence elements are intensified in each language. In English, the LSFI is more homogeneous (the nuclear element has a larger percentage in the field) and less varied (has less constituents); intensification is selective (46% of cases is intensification of predicative) and explicit (the intensified property is verbalized). In Belarusian, the field is less homogeneous and more varied; intensification is evenly distributed among sentence elements and implicit (property is not verbalized but deictically designated by the intensifier). This work widens our idea of syntactic means of intensification, specifies the classification of clauses in English and provides material for teaching English and theory and practice of translation.
Linguistic Markers and Emotional Intensity
The purpose of this experiment is to explore possible relationships between the intensity of emotions and the lexical modalities for expressing those emotions. In this experiment, 60 Hebrew-speaking subjects were asked to watch four short films that aroused emotion. Two of the films gave rise to different degrees of happiness, and two produced sadness. At the end of each film, subjects were asked to report on their emotions. This experiment was based on the supposition that there is a relationship between the various lexical modalities used by the subjects when writing about their emotions and the intensity of those emotions. The lexical modalities examined included intensifiers, the use of emotion words, repetitions, the use of first person singular, the use of metaphors, and the use of exclamations, among others. This experiment supported the research hypothesis, as it confirmed that significant differences existed between the lexical modalities found in texts written with lower emotional intensity (for both happiness and sadness) and those written with greater emotional intensity.
Dutch journal of applied linguistics, 2024
In this article we analyse the use of intensification in the spoken productions of French-speaking learners of Dutch and English. We compare the strength of intensifiers used by learners in their first language (L1) and in their additional language (AL), and contrast these results with data from control groups of L1 speakers. Our corpus results indicate that L1 English speakers tend to intensify more frequently but opt for weaker intensifiers, while L1 French speakers intensify less frequently but use stronger intensifiers. L1 Dutch speakers take the middle position in both aspects. The analysis of the learner corpora reveals overall more similarities between AL English and L1 English than between AL Dutch and L1 Dutch, confirming the trends observed in previous studies on the same learners (Hendrikx, 2019).
Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2024
In this article we analyse the use of intensification in the spoken productions of French-speaking learners of Dutch and English. We compare the strength of intensifiers used by learners in their first language (L1) and in their additional language (AL), and contrast these results with data from control groups of L1 speakers. Our corpus results indicate that L1 English speakers tend to intensify more frequently but opt for weaker intensifiers, while L1 French speakers intensify less frequently but use stronger intensifiers. L1 Dutch speakers take the middle position in both aspects. The analysis of the learner corpora reveals overall more similarities between AL English and L1 English than between AL Dutch and L1 Dutch, confirming the trends observed in previous studies on the same learners (Hendrikx, 2019).
Validation of Lexical Frequency Profiles As a Measure of Lexical Richness in Written Discourse
Technological developments and their utilities in various areas including education have offered great advantages for man. One of the greatest achievements in this trend has been the innovation in computer software like Lexical Frequency Profiles (LFP) and its pedagogical implications either in teaching or measurement. To take the maximum advantages, this study seeks to validate the LFP as a measure of lexical richness in written discourse of Iranian EFL Learners. 50 students majoring in English Translation participated in this study; each of them was encouraged to develop two compositions on general topics in order to establish VocabProfile indexes. To estimate the reliability of the LFP, the VocabProfile indexes of two writings were correlated, but for the validity purpose, first, a productive version of Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) was administered and second, the students' compositions were fed into P_Lex software to elicit P_Lex index. After that, VocabProfile indexes were correlated with VLT scores and P_Lex index separately. The findings of the study revealed that students' VocabProfile indexes written on two different topics correlated significantly with each other. Because of such a significant correlation coefficients, and the LFP indexes are related to VLT active test and P_Lex index, it is conservatively safe to claim that VocabProfile indexes are to some extent reliable and valid measurement instruments but not strong enough to be used as a standalone measure for the assessment of lexical richness. Pedagogically speaking, the LPF is suggested as a relatively reliable and valid measure to be used along with other dependable devices in measuring lexical richness in discourses of various types.
Effects of intensionality on sentence and discourse processing: Evidence from eye-movements
Journal of Memory and Language, 2010
Intensional verbs like want select for clausal complements expressing propositions, though they can be perfectly natural when combined with a direct object. There are two interesting phenomena associated with intensional transitive expressions. First, it has been suggested that their interpretation requires enriched compositional operations, similarly to expressions like began the book (e.g., . Secondly, when the object position is filled by an indefinite NP, it preferentially receives an unspecific reading, under which definite anaphora is not supported (e.g., Moltmann, 1997). We report three eyetracking experiments investigating the time-course of processing of sentence pairs like John wanted a beer. The beer was warm. Consistent with the enriched composition hypothesis, results showed that intensional transitive constructions (e.g., wanted a beer) take longer to process than control expressions (e.g., drank/wanted to drink a beer). However, contrary to previous findings, the processing of the continuation sentence appears to be not affected by whether the definite NP (the beer) can be interpreted as coreferential with the indefinite or not. We interpret the results with respect to accounts of semantic processing relying on the notions of enriched composition and non-actuality implicature.
A Comparative Study of Intensity Markers in Engineering and Applied Linguistics
English Language Teaching, 2012
Writers use intensity markers as one of strategies in order to negotiate their claims and to make their writings persuasive and credible. This study is an attempt to examine the type, frequency, and functions of intensity markers in research articles of two disciplines of Applied Linguistics and Electrical Engineering by analyzing surface linguistic features. Based on a corpus of forty research articles, the overall rhetorical and categorical distribution of intensity markers were calculated across two rhetorical sections of Abstract and Conclusion of research articles. The results indicates that the overall distribution of intensity markers in Applied Linguistics articles is higher than Electrical Engineering ones. These findings may have some implications for the teaching of academic writing to EFL students.