Table of Contents
5-16
Dalibor Pavlas: Towards Automatic Metaphor Processing in Czech
Abstract
The aim of this article is to suggest possible ways to design an algorithm for automatic metaphor processing, more precisely automatic metaphor identification task. We argue that metaphor is ubiquitous phenomenon and the successful handling of the task could be beneficial for both NLP and metaphor research in linguistics and cognitive sciences. To support that claim several corpus studies on metaphor are presented and we also conducted two simple experiments on Czech. We suggest that most efficient way to introduce algorithm for automatic metaphor identification in Czech is building on method of (Turney et al. 2011). We also propose several modifications and enhancements in algorithm in order to increase its performance.
Keywords
metaphor, automatic metaphor identification, corpus study, conceptual metaphor, NLP
17-46
Diego Gabriel Krivochen – Douglas Saddy: Structure mapping: Uniformity vs. Mixture in Displacement
Abstract
In the present paper we will analyze mapping operations as modelled in transformational generative grammar, as part of a more general inquiry into the limits of algorithmic approaches to natural language structure. Building on previous works, we propose a kind of system in which structure assignment proceeds by local domains and only assigns the computationally simplest structural description which captures syntactic-semantic dependencies within these domains. We will also present some prospects for an approach to structure mapping that is compatible with computationally mixed derivations.
Keywords
syntax; transformations; sorting; mixed computation
47-62
Ivona Barešová – Hana Kloutvorová: The Use of the Second Person Anata as Perceived by Current Japanese University Students
Abstract
The originally honorific second person anata is nowadays generally considered a formal form used by both men and women towards someone of equal or lower social status, and as an informal form used mainly by women. However, its use in real conversations is now actually very limited. This present study examined the perception of the use of anata among current Japanese university students in communication with different categories of interlocutors along the axis of psychological and social distance. The results show that the respondents strongly perceive anata as a non-reciprocal form used from the position of a superior in a distant relationship. In closer relationships it creates uncomfortable psychological distance, which they interpret as alienation, confrontation or in some other negative way. Their awareness of anata as an informal form used especially by female speakers in intimate relationships is for the most part limited to its use in the media.
Keywords
anata, Japanese, second person deixis, psychological distance, vertical relationship
63-72
Dan Faltýnek – Michaela Mrázková: Grammatical category of aspect in construction of grammar from the semantic basis
Abstract
The paper provides a description of the grammatical category of aspect according to the approach of the construction of grammar from the semantic basis (Kořenský, 1984). It presents basic principles of this approach to grammar, such as synonymy of verbal (word), syntagmatical non-predicative (phrase) and predicative (sentence) expressions and distinction between the semantic and the pragmatic meaning. After that the pragmatic function of the grammar category of tense is presented. The main part of the paper is dedicated to the problem of the semantic and the pragmatic meaning of aspect. The distinction between the semantic and the pragmatic meanings is being described by the means of aspectual pairs derived by prefixation or suffixation. The paper shows that aspect expresses pragmatic meaning only (not semantic meaning).
Keywords
aspect, grammar, semantics, pragmatics, construction of grammar from the semantic basis, suffixation, prefixation
73-79
Maxim Vyzhlakov: Mysterious Tocharians and their languages
Abstract
The aim of this article is to produce an introduction to the problem of Tocharians and their languages. These peoples were a group of Indo-Europeans that lived in the very heart of Asia – the modern Xinjiang region of China – at least in the first millennium AD. The Tocharian languages were a unique branch of the Indo-European family and very early separated from it. The article provides an information about some of their key features.
Keywords
Tocharian languages, Tocharians, Indo-European migrations