Articles tagged with Linguistics
Researchers Marie Teich and Wilmer Leal develop a formal framework to analyze metaphors, confirming they are enduring linguistic and cognitive structures. The study reveals two significant metaphorical processes: mappings from concrete to abstract topics and the emergence of new mappings between domains.
Researchers found that humans across cultures and languages break their speech into Intonation Units, which follow a low-frequency rhythm of 1.6 seconds. This universal structure plays a critical role in helping listeners follow conversations and absorb information.
A study analyzing over 7.9 million US Congressional speeches from 1873 to 2010 found that speakers of all ages contribute to linguistic changes, with older speakers adopting new words and meanings over time. The researchers used AI models to track word usage patterns and found shifts in meaning across decades.
Researchers found that twangy female voices were understood more than neutral voices when surrounded by noise. This is due to the higher-pitched nature of twangy speech, which gives it a perceived loudness and reduces masking by low-frequency sounds.
Researchers found that preterm infants scored lower on both language comprehension and expression compared to full-term peers. The earlier the birth and lower the birth weight, the weaker the child's performance in language comprehension.
A new study from the University of Notre Dame found that how healthcare providers describe babies during ultrasounds impacts parent perceptions and can influence a child's future behavior. Positive descriptions are associated with fewer behavioral difficulties in toddlers, while negative descriptions lead to greater challenges.
Researchers found that LLMs are better at representing non-sensorimotor concepts but struggle with sensory and motor concepts. Incorporating sensory input improves LLM performance and leads to more human-like representation, consistent with previous human studies on multimodal learning.
A new study by Waseda University researchers suggests that learners need to automatize word meanings in context to achieve fluent speech. By assessing automatized vocabulary knowledge (AVK) and declarative vocabulary knowledge (DVK), the team found AVK to be a stronger predictor of L2 speaking fluency.
A study published in Nature Communications Psychology reveals that the brain sequences and manages words differently depending on sentence structure. The prefrontal cortex sustains words throughout complex sentences, suggesting a need for additional working memory resources.
Researchers analyzed over 4,000 examples of Russian spoken by bilinguals, finding that non-standard numeral constructions are influenced by native languages and frequency of use. Less familiar expressions involving numbers two to four were used in non-standard forms more frequently.
Researchers analyzed existing studies on infant-directed speech and found that adults exaggerate vowel sounds in speech directed to babies in at least 10 languages. The study suggests that mothers hyperarticulate vowels to facilitate word learning, but methodological differences make it difficult to generalize findings across languages.
Researchers developed an algorithm that achieves high levels of both accuracy and fairness in detecting toxic speech on social media. The approach uses a fairness measurement called Group Accuracy Parity (GAP) to find desirable combinations of accuracy and fairness for specific situations.
A new study combines ancient DNA with dietary evidence and linguistics to paint a vivid picture of pre-colonial coastal communities in Papua New Guinea. The research highlights the influence of migrations and interactions on genetic makeup, supporting previous studies on the settlement of remote islands.
Researchers developed a novel approach to automated spoken English assessment integrating acoustic, turn-taking, linguistic, and visual components. The multioutput learning framework achieved an accuracy of approximately 83% in predicting SEE scores.
The Konstanz Cluster of Excellence 'The Politics of Inequality' will continue to investigate the political causes and consequences of growing inequality in society. Researchers aim to prevent self-reinforcing processes and reduce structural inequalities.
Seven Clusters of Excellence at LMU Munich have been approved for funding, covering a broad range of fields from systems neurology to quantum science. The successful clusters reflect the university's exceptional commitment and cooperation with partners.
Researchers built a data pipeline to train AI tools for childhood speech screening, addressing the lack of representative datasets. The resulting high-quality dataset enables faster and more accurate diagnoses, especially in areas with limited access to specialists.
Researchers found that wild chimpanzees use compositional and non-compositional call combinations to create new meanings, similar to human language. This suggests a highly generative vocal communication system in chimpanzees, challenging previous views on the evolution of language.
A Dartmouth team's AI model recognized Navajo with near-perfect accuracy, identifying related languages such as Apache and Native Alaskan languages. The study suggests that this technology could be a bridge to including smaller languages in online translation services.
Researchers at PolyU developed an AI-driven assessment system, LMLPA, to quantify LLM personality traits. The system analyzes linguistic patterns and style in LLM outputs to evaluate their personalities, with applications in education, manufacturing, business, and sustainable development.
A study analyzing nearly 1,000 Syriac manuscripts finds that scribes played a key role in organizing knowledge, adapting texts for new purposes, and shaping Syriac literary culture. The research introduces a new metric, Excerpts Per Manuscript (EPM), to quantify how frequently non-authorial agents engaged in excerpting.
The Golden Light Sutra, a 1,000-year-old Chinese translation of a Buddhist scripture, is now freely accessible online via Kyushu University Library's digital archive. The collection offers valuable resources for studying the history of Japanese language and literature.
A new project aims to analyze the hidden mechanisms of energy transition models, determining which narrative patterns are included and finding ways to make them more transparent and inclusive. By simulating future energy systems in real-world labs, researchers hope to remove uncertainties and mistrust surrounding the energy transition.
Researchers at Lancaster University discovered a new type of vaccine-specific scepticism, where some people perceive COVID-19 vaccines as 'not a vaccine' compared to MMR. This phenomenon may also apply to the flu vaccine, highlighting the need for clear public health messaging.
A study from Kyushu University finds that children focus on literal meaning when interpreting phrases like 'Did you see that?', while adults use a more integrated approach to resolve ambiguity. The findings have implications for dialogue robot development and support systems for individuals with communication difficulties.
A new genomic analysis suggests that human language capacity emerged at least 135,000 years ago, with regional groups spreading across the globe around 100,000 years after that. The study, which examined 15 genetic studies, provides increasingly converging evidence about the timing of geographic splits among early human populations.
Researchers used fMRI to investigate how the brain processes ambiguous messages, finding that more complex tasks engage multiple brain regions. The study reveals that understanding others' thoughts and emotions contributes to successful performance, with greater flexibility in reasoning.
Researchers found that textisms like adding periods after each word or putting words in individual bubbles can add emotional intensity to messages. The study suggests that readers interpret these textisms as conveying emotion, assuming they were included deliberately.
A recent study published in the Journal of Sociolinguistics suggests that people's judgments of accent are often culturally influenced rather than based on actual auditory differences. Participants rated speakers from different regions of Ohio, but surprisingly, those who believed certain regions had stronger accents did not necessaril...
A new study found that movie reviews with female- versus male-dominated casts contain more sexist language, with critics often perpetuating biases against women. The analysis of 17,165 reviews highlights the need for a more equitable film industry, where women are better represented in leading roles and receive fair criticism.
Researchers found that culture plays a significant role in shaping interactions during casual conversations, fostering curiosity about diversity and group cohesion through humor. The study highlights the importance of cultural identity in bridging gaps between people from different backgrounds.
Researchers found that babies' first vocalizations and attempts at forming words coincide with fluctuations in their heart rate. This discovery may indicate that successful speech development depends on predictable ranges of autonomic activity during infancy.
A new study by Lancaster University reveals that language in job ads can unintentionally reinforce or disrupt labour force gender/racial composition. Workforces with more women tend to use family-friendly policies in ads, while racial minority workers' ads lack impact, the research shows.
A new study found that Norwegian boys are outperforming girls in learning English as a second language, with the gap increasing at age 13. The researchers suggest that online gaming and digital technology may be contributing factors, contradicting conventional wisdom about gender differences in language acquisition.
The study analyzes the impact of enunciation on speech-to-text accuracy in medical situations, highlighting challenges with medical terms and noisy environments. A new audio dataset was created to improve the technology's usefulness for healthcare professionals.
A study published in Psychological Science found that 2-year-olds rely on grammatical information to understand the meaning of new words. The researchers used focus signals in sentences to manipulate children's responses, showing that young kids can absorb grammatical cues and leverage them to learn new words.
A new study found that speech sounds have texture and shape to them, with R sounds associated with roughness and L sounds with smoothness. The research showed strong tendencies for matching trilled R sounds with jagged lines and L sounds with straight lines across cultures.
Researchers at Tufts University have discovered that AI's poor performance in conversational skills stems from its limited exposure to transcribed spoken language. The AI is trained on vast datasets of written content but lacks the nuance of human conversation, making it struggle with timing and turn-taking.
Researchers compared vowels in pain, disgust, and joy interjections to nonlinguistic vocalizations across 131 languages. They found consistent vowel signatures for pain and disgust, but not for joyful emotions.
The book uses a 'history from below' approach to center the voices of petitioners, revealing how they framed their demands using language like justice, rights, and equity. Through over 4,000 petitions, Dr. Bright Alozie shows the significance of this genre in shaping colonial society and influencing decision-making.
A new study found that foreign accents can mitigate judgment for grammatical errors, except in cases where listeners are highly conscientious. The research suggests that English speakers are generally tolerant of grammatical errors when the speaker has a foreign accent.
A new virtual reality game has been developed to communicate scientific concepts to multilingual students, using visual, audio, and body movements. The study found that all students saw an improvement in their test scores, with multilingual students performing just as well as English-speaking peers.
A new study found that consonant lengthening is a universal trait in many languages, helping listeners identify word boundaries. The researchers analyzed data from the DoReCo corpus and found evidence of lengthening in 43 out of 51 languages.
A team of researchers found that James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake' exhibits a unique structure in its use of punctuation, with sentence lengths following an orderly curve. This symmetry is rare in nature and suggests a well-organized complex hierarchical structure.
Researchers found that non-lawyers use complex legalese when writing laws, and it signals a sense of authority. The 'magic spell hypothesis' suggests that this style is used to convey power and legitimacy, making documents more difficult to understand.
Researchers at University of Bath and Technical University of Darmstadt found that large language models like ChatGPT cannot learn independently or acquire new skills, making them controllable and predictable. The study concluded that LLMs remain inherently safe, but misuse is still possible.
Research at the University of Vienna found that people are more likely to co-operate with others who use similar linguistic choices in conversation. The study suggests that this preference is driven by the feeling of joint social group membership rather than adapting to another person's language style.
Research by Lancaster University found that people in higher social grades, including corporate world and education sectors, are adopting each other's speech patterns to be more inclusive. This 'resonance' has increased over the past 20 years, particularly among those with high social status.
A novel study led by NUS linguists reveals that seniors with memory-related mild cognitive impairment exhibit distinct speech patterns, including reduced noun usage and increased abstract thinking. These findings hold promise for developing language-based interventions to address dementia symptoms.
A study published in PLOS Biology found that negating adjectives affects brain processing, with slower reaction times and varied interpretations. The researchers used magnetoencephalography to capture brain activity while participants rated affirmative or negated phrases.
A study led by Andrea Migliano from the University of Zurich has discovered previously unknown links between culture, language, and genes among different hunter-gatherer populations in Central Africa. The team found that musical instruments were exchanged long before agricultural populations arrived in the region, suggesting extensive ...
Researchers found that American athletes borrow Canadian English accent features for hockey-specific terms and jargon, but not underlying pronunciation rules. Adopting these dialects is a way players portray their identity through speech.
Seventy-five researchers from 46 countries recorded traditional music and speech to analyze pitch, timbre, and rhythm. The study found songs and instrumental melodies are slower, higher, and more stable than speech, suggesting synchronization and social bonding facilitate musical performance.
Researchers found that African American English speakers adjust their speech rate and pitch variation when using voice technology, adopting a slower and more monotone register to be better understood. This adaptation helps address disparities in speech recognition systems and aims to improve inclusivity for diverse language varieties.
The study found that heart rate decreases and parasympathetic activity increases when interacting with friends, but not strangers. This suggests that social relationships influence physiological responses during social interactions.
Researchers develop new assessment method to evaluate post-editing effort of machine translations, highlighting the importance of human translators in the process. The study suggests complementing automated systems with a new program to choose tools that increase translation efficiency.
Researchers found that individuals with mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) struggle with ambiguous sentences, indicating a key deficit in processing complex language. This deficit is independent of memory loss and may serve as an additional 'cognitive biomarker' for early detection.
A study published in the Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association investigated over 500 English synonyms for 'drunk'. The researchers found that these words mainly occur in specific combinations, such as "too/so/very drunk", and are often used to express drunkenness in a humorous or indirect way. The study suggests that...
A recent study by Tokyo University of Science has identified central emotions across languages through word association-based colexification networks. The researchers found that concepts like GOOD, WANT, BAD, and LOVE are associated with many other words representing emotions.
A study led by Universitat Rovira i Virgili reveals AI systems struggle to recognize grammatical errors in sentences. Human evaluators train models on correct and incorrect constructions, but these are not learned from negative feedback like in humans.