Semantic Constraints on Lexical Categories

Lexical Semantics and Selection of TAM in Bantu Languages: A Case of Semantic Classification of Kiswahili Verbs

The existing literature on Bantu verbal semantics demonstrated that inherent semantic content of verbs pairs directly with the selection of tense, aspect and modality formatives in Bantu languages like Chasu, Lucazi, Lusamia, and Shiyeyi. Thus, the gist of this paper is the articulation of semantic classification of verbs in Kiswahili based on the selection of TAM types. This is because the sem...

Developing a Semantic Similarity Judgment Test for Persian Action Verbs and Non-action Nouns in Patients With Brain Injury and Determining its Content Validity

Objective: Brain trauma evidences suggest that the two grammatical categories of noun and verb are processed in different regions of the brain due to differences in the complexity of grammatical and semantic information processing. Studies have shown that the verbs belonging to different semantic categories lead to neural activity in different areas of the brain, and action verb processing is r...

Acquisition of English Prenominal and Postnominal Genitives

This study examined the acquisition of prenominal and postnominal genitives by Iranian EFL learners. Two variables were considered: possessive categories and language proficiency. We considered the influence of possessive categories such as lexical modifier, semantic relationship, and weight and syntactic complexity on genitive alternations by Iranian EFL learners. Also, we examined whether the...

Dynamic Categorization of Semantics of Fashion Language: A Memetic Approach

Categories are not invariant. This paper attempts to explore the dynamic nature of semantic category, in particular, that of fashion language, based on the cognitive theory of Dawkins’ memetics, a new theory of cultural evolution. Semantic attributes of linguistic memes decrease or proliferate in replication and spreading, which involves a dynamic development of semantic category. More specific...

The Effect of Semantic Transfer on Iranian EFL Learners’ Lexical Representation and Processing

Emergent positional privilege in novel English blends

We present evidence from experiments on novel blend formation showing that adult English speakers have access to constraints that give phonological privilege to HEADS, NOUNS, and PROPER NOUNS, even though the non-blend phonology provides no evidence that such constraints are generally active in the grammar of English. Our results (a) demonstrate that these positional constraints are universally...