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Abstract In linguistics and in the philosophy of language it is standardly assumed that know is a factive verb, meaning that a sentence such as X knows that p , when uttered in its positive declarative form, presupposes, in fact entails, the truth of its complement. A problem for this analysis is the fact that the verb know can be used non-factively in contexts where it is evident that the proposition expressed by the subordinate clause is not true. In order to account for non-factive uses of know , two main solutions have been advanced in the literature. Hazlett (2009, 2010, 2012) proposes that know is not semantically factive and a sentence such as X knows that p does not entail, but only pragmatically implies p. On the other hand, Tsohatzidis (2012) argues that know is lexically ambiguous between a factive and a non-factive sense: when know is used in its factive sense, a sentence such as X knows that p entails p , whereas, when know occurs in its non-factive sense, it does not. As shown in recent works by Colonna Dahlman (2015, 2016, 2017b), the phenomenon at issue—the possibility for a speaker to use know in cases where the proposition expressed by the clause embedded under 'knows' is not true—is not unique to English, but occurs, for instance, also in Italian. We carried out a Truth Judgment Task to test the hypothesis that the Italian lexical item 'sa' (' knows ') is ambiguous. Our findings are consistent with the lexical ambiguity hypothesis, and cannot be explained by Hazlett's pragmatic solution. Highlights • Italian sapere is lexically ambiguous between a factive and a non-factive sense. • The results of a Truth Judgment Task confirm the lexical ambiguity hypothesis. • Our findings are not compatible with the predictions outlined by a pragmatic view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, the traditional analysis of know as a factive verb has been lively debated by linguists and philosophers of language: several scholars have pointed out that know may be used non-factively in ordinary language. The aim of the present study is to expand this inquiry to other cognitive factive verbs than know , such as discover , realize , etc., and to investigate cross-linguistically the question of whether know and other cognitive factive verbs may occur in non-factive contexts, that is, in contexts where it is clear that the embedded proposition is false. Moreover, we investigate whether so-called evidential uses of cognitive factive verbs are acceptable across languages. We administered an online survey to native speakers of nine different languages (English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, and Swedish), and we found considerable cross-linguistic variation in the acceptability of the use of know and other cognitive factive verbs in non-factive contexts. For Italian and English, we put forward the claim that non-factive uses of cognitive factives instantiate a case of polysemy resulting from a process of semantic change that moves along a three-step pattern: from a factive sense to a more general non-factive sense to a non-factive sense characterized by an evidential function. • Cognitive factive verbs are investigated cross-linguistically. • Know and other cognitive factive verbs are used non-factively in ordinary language. • Cognitive factive verbs may be used to fulfill an evidential strategy. • An Acceptability Judgment Task was submitted to native speakers of nine languages. • Evidential uses may be a step in a process of defactivization of factive verbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Speech variation of speakers is a crucial issue for speaker recognition and identification, especially for forensic practice. Greater intra-speaker variation is one main reason for incorrect speaker identification in real forensic situations. Understanding the stability of acoustic parameters and their variation in speech is therefore significant for the evaluation of effective parameters for speaker identification. In this paper, all vowels in Standard Chinese including five monophthongs, eight diphthongs and four triphthongs were combined with lateral /l/. Finally, 15 lateral syllables with different tones for 10 speakers were selected and acoustically analyzed. Central frequencies of the first four formants for each syllable were measured for quantitative comparison of intra- and inter-speaker variation in order to provide a general idea of speaker variation in Standard Chinese, and finally serving for forensic application. Results show that the overall intra-speaker variation is less than the inter-speaker variation in great extent under laboratory condition though occasionally they are contrary. This supports the basis for forensic speaker identification, that is, intra-speaker variation should be less than inter-speaker variation in many acoustic features, and further validates the probability and reliability of forensic speaker identification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study addresses the postulate of non-conventionality of pantomime, inherent in pantomimic scenarios of language origin. Since lack of semiotic conventions does not preclude micro-conventions resulting from cultural differences, pantomimes should be easier to interpret when the actor and recipient share the same culture than between two different cultures. In the study, Italian and Polish amateur "actors" re-enacted transitive events from a matrix of cartoon-like drawings. Randomly selected clips were matched by Polish and Italian participants to the corresponding drawings. We found no difference in the number of correct guesses when the actors and matchers were from the same versus from different cultures. We discuss this result in the context of the core assumptions of pantomimic scenarios of language origin. • Pantomimic scenarios of language origins assume that pantomime is robustly iconic and free from communicative conventions. • Lack of conventions does not preclude micro-conventions, thus pantomime should be more successful within cultures. • This was tested in a study with Italian and Polish participants. • Communicative success of pantomimes did not differ between same-culture and different-culture conditions. • Italian pantomimes were better guessed by both Italian and Polish participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]