Riassunto esame Lingua Inglese 2, docente Mochi,libro consigliato Words in the Mind Aitchson

PROBLEM:

1- On one has been able to specify what these atomic globules are.

2- There is no trace in the processing of words.

The first theory of atoms tries to explain how words can overlaps his meanings.

The second theory fits in with the way words seem to work. They break into elements.

The third theory makes the meaning works easier.

8- WORD-WEBS

Network: interconnected system.

In the network of mental lexicon, lexemes are organized according to semantic fields.

There is an impossibility to create a mental map, a “map of the memory”; using word association

experiments because the response in words’ association can be changed easily according to the context.

Connection type relevant:

- COORDINATION: the commonest response involves coordinates, words that cluster together on

the same level of detail, such as salt and pepper. Opposites come into this category, as they are

coordinates in a group consisting of only two members, as with left and right. ( co-hyponyms) –

occur more often: “where are the knives and forks?” instead of “where is the cutlery?”

- COLLOCATION: involves a word which is likely to be collocated (found together) with the stimulus

in connected speech, as whit salt water, bright red.

- SUPERORDINATION: the cover term which includes the stimulus word. E.g. red – colour or

butterfly- insect. Superordinates are referred to as “hyperonyms”. The items involved are usually

known as “hyponyms”.

- SYNONYMY: word with the same meaning as the original words, as with hungry – starved.

When someone says right but means left, is only the result of words’ association experiments.

Coordinates and collocations are stronger and more durable than links between hypo- and hyperym or

between definitions, in which the links are generally weaker and can also be partly concluded by purely

logical reasoning (theory shown and proved by an experiment on aphasic patient).

The topics areas are stored to some extent independently, and that some semantic fields can be dam aged

without affecting others.

Phrasal lexemes: multi-word expressions.

Idioms/Idiomatic expressions: have their own syntax and the semantic content goes beyond the lexical

items, which make them up.

Collins and Quillian (1969) suggested that mental lexicon might be organized in hierarchical structured

(levels of Superordinates).

Logical relationship:

- SYNONYMY (donkey = ass)

- ANTONYMY (alive = not dead): word of opposite meaning

- INCOMPATIBILITY (donkey ≠ zebra)

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- HYPONYMY (donkey animal)

PROBLEMS:

- Antonymy and synonymy depend respectively on the point of view and the surrounding context.

- Hyponymy: only a few words have obvious Superordinates.

- Incompatibly breaks down in the case of virtues, vices and emotions. Sincerity and honesty are

both virtues, they neither synonymies nor incompatible.

9- LEXICAL ALL-SORTS

All languages divide words up into “part of speech”, or word classes, each of which has its special role to

play in the sentence. Each part of speech behave differently. Word classes as building materi als out of

which a sentence is constructed. These materials can be divided into two type: the content words, which

have an independent meaning and the function words, whose role is primarily to relate items to one

another.

Many people as constituting the “lexicon proper” regard the content words. The major building block of

English are nouns, verbs and adjective.

When people pick one word in mistake for another, the errors usually preserve the word class of the target,

different meaning and sound but the same word class.

SYNTACTIC SELETION PROCEDURE: according to some researches, speaker select a “syntactic frame”, for a

sentence, such as noun-verb-noun, then put appropriate words into the slots.

Words are divided according their precise slot in the sentence . Nouns, verb and adjective cannot be

randomly jumbled up.

There are indications that, on the one hand, words from the same words classes are closely connected in

the mind, and that; on the other hand, those from different word classes are more loosely att ached.

ToT phenomenon: tip of tongue. Meaning and syntax information were accessed but there was no access

to phonetic information. This means that two components are separately present in the lexical store.

Nouns: meronomy or partonomy (parts of things) is an important relationship for nouns. Nouns involve not

only parts (canary has wings) but also attributes (canary is small and yellow) and functions (a canary sings,

can fly).

Nouns therefore are characterized above all by potential layers.

Nouns involves even adjectives and verbs.

Adjectives are less independent and often rely for their interpretation on the noun to which they are

attached.

There are two main types:

- ASCRIPTIVE: are usually graded ant they almost all have opposite, though this may vary according

to the noun (heavy versus light for a suitcase, versus slight for a cold, versus calm for a sea).

- PERTAINYMS: glossed by the phrase “pertaining to”.

Verbs: TROPONYMY: acting in a particular way.

Adverbs: cannot change place with one another. The result is unacceptable, “in a particular manner”.

Word classes comprised of content words are mostly “open” in the sense that they readily allow

newcomer. In contrast, word classes containing function words are mostly “closed”. Prepositions are

usually regarded as a closed class, but are marginally more welcoming to new members that the other

closed classes.

Broca’s aphasia: speech is slow and effortful; they have difficulty thinking up the words they want and

problems in pronouncing those they do find. Their most noticeable symptoms are a lack of word endings,

which normally hold content words together. Patients still have access to the main portions of the mental

lexicon, but they are mostly unable to cope with syntax of sentence, the processes that tie words together:

le lexicon proper is separate from function words.

Furthermore, in speech errors, as in “we have a laboratory in our computer”, words can change places with

another, but when these exchanges involve content words, the rhythmic pattern of the sentence in

unaffected. However, closed class words tend to take their accent with them, as in “Can I turn off this?”

This means that closed classes are treated differently from the opens ones and that probably they are

stored separately. Broca’s aphasics did not show this difference. They seemed to treat closed class items

and they did open class words, suggesting that a whole area of their brain, that dealing with syntax, had

been disconnected.

Words are definitely divisible into two major categories: content words, which constitute the “lexicon

proper” and function words, which are linked to syntax.

18- SEEKING AND FINDING

Mental lexicon: semantic, syntactic and phonological information.

When producing a word, humans must pick the meaning before the sound. When recognized a word, they

must start with the sounds, then move on to the meaning.

Blends suggest that we consider both options when there are two equally useful words to fill a slot,

especially when these words have sounds in common. Blends are typically composed of two equally

suitable words. It is normal to activate a number of words in the area of the required word and then

suppress those, which are not wanted. Overactivation is responsible for errors such as “left” for “right” and

so on. The speaker may have activated both options and then erroneously suppressed the wrong one.

Words are activated according to the topic one is thinking about.

Finding words involves at least two operations:

1- Selecting the abstract meaning and word class (lemma),

2- Finding the sounds to clothe this (the word form).

Three important factors:

1- Lemmas may be separated from word forms, but this divide in not absolute, since errors frequently

involve both meaning form.

2- Outline specifications can be correct, but detailed specifications faulty.

3- Alternative words compete for selections.

How these two operation relate to one another?

The stepping-stone model: the speaker can be envisaged as someone crossing a stream, pausing at one

stone before leaping to the next. Each stage is completed before the following one is started, and the

sound was considered. This model does not work because the various stages turned out to be interlinked

and partly simultaneous.

Waterfalls cannot flow backwards: the stages overlap. Information from the meaning are still available

while the sound are being selected. This could not account for the cat that meaning, and sound seem to

mutually influence each other.

This theory can not explain mistakes that happen between similar words in form and meaning.

Interactive circuitry: most plausible, “spearing activation” or “interactive activation”. Like complex electric

circuitry, in which current flows backwards between particular points and in which words the nodes are.

The relevant point and links get more and more excited and the irrelevant ones are suppressed, until finally

one word wins out over the numerous others activated.

At the begin there is a wide semantic choise which is restricted. Before the final choise, the phonological

area is in contact with the semantic area.

19- ORGANIZED GUESSWORK

Word recognition is mostly guesswork. People recognize words by choosing the “best fit”.

Two problems:

1- Splitting up the stream of speech into words.

2- Identifying the words.

One after the other theories: commonly used words are easier to find in the mental lexicon.

People may subconsciously consider more meaning that they are aware of. When the same sequence of

sound has two meaning, which fit, equally well, people activate both and then select one, even if they are

not aware of this process going on.

The same type of interactive activation model as that proposed for word production also applies to word

recognition.

20- ODD ARRANGEMENTS AND FUNNY SOLUTIONS

There is no intrinsic link between sound and meaning. The connection is arbitrary.

Words lemmas (meaning and word class) seem to be organized in semantic fields and within these fields,

there are strong bonds between coordinates, which share the same word class. A speaker can then pick a

word from a particular topic area, comparing several possible words, which are linked closely together.

Word forms (sound structure) are organized with similar-sounding, whereas the word-form side is better

for recognition.

The lemma side of the coin favours production in its organization, whereas the wo rd-form side id better for

recognition

The lexicon is stored primarily in auditory terms, and production requires a complicated conversion of the

auditory representation into a sequence, which can be pronounced. Recognition, in contrast, requires a

“matching and guessing” operation in which the signals in th