Search

Speakers show cross-linguistic differences in expressing placement events involving support (cup on table) and containment (apple in bowl) in first language (L1) contexts. They rely on either more-general (e.g., Spanish for support, Polish for containment) or more-specific (e.g., German, Polish for support; Spanish, German for containment) descriptions. Relatively less is known about the expression of placement events in second language (L2) production contexts. In this study, we examined object-placement event descriptions produced by two groups of L1 Polish speakers—with either German or Spanish as their L2—in comparison to monolingual speakers of German, Spanish, and Polish, using an animated event description task. Bilingual speakers showed greater effect of L1 patterns in moving from a more-general to a more-specific system and L2 patterns in moving from a more-specific to a more-general or between two more-specific systems, suggesting that the specificity of event expression in L1 influences patterns of placement expression in L2.

Many researchers seem to think that Construction Grammar posits the existence of only wholly idiosyncratic constructions. However, this misconception betrays a deep misunderstanding of the approach because it glosses over the fact that constructions rarely if ever emerge sui generis. Rather, Construction Grammar aims to balance the fact that some linguistic uses cannot be fully predicted from other well-established uses with the fact that extensions of a construction, while not predictable, are motivated by other senses in the constructional network. This paper illustrates this idea by providing an analysis of the Spanish completive reflexive marker se.

Speakers of the world’s languages differ in the ways they talk about directed motion. Speakers of satellite-framed languages (S-languages; e.g., English) typically conflate Path and Manner in a single clause (e.g., run out), whereas speakers of verb-framed languages (V-languages; e.g., Spanish) tend to convey Path and Manner in two different clauses (e.g., salir corriendo ‘exit running’). Herein, we ask whether speakers also show systematic variability within particular languages and language types in their directed motion descriptions. We examine this question by comparing oral narratives of adult native speakers of one V-language (Spanish) and two S-languages (German, Polish) (N = 15), where each subject provided a simultaneous description of an ongoing animated video depicting self- (e.g., jump into the river) and caused-motion (e.g., throw a stone into the river) events. Our results showed strong evidence for both intra-typological and language-internal variability, especially in the extent to which the Manner component is encoded. Overall, the locus of Path encoding (e.g., verb, prefix, particle) and the conceptual structure of motion events (i.e., self-motion, caused-motion) were two key factors that influenced the speakers’ choice of lexicalization pattern. We discuss the implications of our findings, which (i) suggest a more nuanced typology of motion events that expands the binary distinction between V- vs. S-languages – in line with earlier work on intra-typological variability, and (ii) highlight the relevance of such a nuanced typology for motion cognition.

The encoding of path shows systematic inter-typological variation, with speakers of satellite-framed languages (S-language; e. g. German, Polish) typically conveying path outside the main verb (in particles, prefixes, etc.) and speakers of verb-framed languages (V-language; e. g. Spanish) typically conveying path in the main verb. However, less is known about intra-typological variation in the expression of path, especially for bilingual patterns of path encoding. In this paper, we examine path descriptions produced by two groups of bilinguals and compare the descriptions made by these bilinguals with those made by native speakers of the corresponding L1 and L2 languages. The first group consisted of native Polish speakers who were L2 German speakers (intra-typological L1-L2 transition), while the second group comprised native Polish speakers who were L2 Spanish speakers (inter-typological L1-L2 transition). Our results provide evidence for greater alignment to L2 among bilinguals learning an L2 from a different typological group (i. e. Polish L1-Spanish L2 bilinguals), and closer alignment to L1 among bilinguals learning an L2 from the same typological group (i. e. Polish L1-German L2 bilinguals).

Expression of motion shows systematic inter-typological variability between language types, particularly with respect to manner and path components of motion: speakers of satellite-framed languages (S-language; e.g. German) frequently conflate manner and path into a single clause, while verb-framed language speakers (V-language; e.g. Spanish) typically express manner and path in separate clauses, a pattern that also becomes evident in bilinguals’ expression of motion events in each language type. However, less is known about intra-typological variability within each language type, particularly for the expression of motion events among bilingual speakers. In this study, we examine motion descriptions produced by two groups of bilinguals – with Polish as first language – learning a second language that belongs to the same (Polish–German) or a different language type (Polish–Spanish), in comparison to monolinguals in each language (German, Spanish, Polish). Our results, based on written descriptions of animated motion scenes, showed evidence for both inter-typological and intra-typological variation in the expression of motion, with greater attunement to first-language (L1) patterns in learning a language of the same type, and closer alignment to second-language (L2) patterns in learning a language that belongs to a different language type.

Fenomen szczęścia stanowi problem dla etyki z dwóch powodów. Po pierwsze, utrudnia sformułowanie jednorodnych sądów moralnych dla dwóch lub więcej działań, które wydają się do siebie podobne w każdym moralnie istotnym aspekcie, z wyjątkiem niektórych udanych lub niefortunnych zdarzeń, które mają miejsce w jednym przypadku, a w drugim nie. Wystąpienie tych zdarzeń nie było pod kontrolą żadnego z agentów, ale dla zewnętrznych obserwatorów wydaje się być podstawą bardziej rygorystycznego lub bardziej tolerancyjnego osądu moralnego w jednym przypadku, a w drugim nie. Po drugie, szczęście może wpłynąć na nasze poczucie sensu życia poprzez sukces lub porażkę naszych ważnych egzystencjalnie projektów życiowych. Fakt ten sugeruje konieczność moralnie dopuszczalnych warunków polegających na szczęściu w formułowaniu i realizacji własnego projektu życiowego. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiam możliwości zastosowania głównych poglądów na szczęście do rozwiązania powyższych problemów.

Wiekszośc konsekwencjalnych i deontologicznych interpretacji zasady fiat iustitia, ruat coelum nie pozwala na stosowanie jej do rozstrzygania praktycznych problemow. Artykul przedstawia propozycje takiej interpretacji, przy ktorej zasada ta moze sluzyc jako regula praktyczna. Interpretacja ta zaklada, ze fiat iustitia, ruat coelum stosuje sie do ostatecznych decyzji, ktore wplywają na ocene calego zycia podmiotu lub ludzkości. Sukces tej interpretacji zalezy od tego, czy brak moralnie dopuszczalnych mozliwości unikniecia indywidualnej lub globalnej katastrofy moze stanowic racje do jej zaakceptowania.

In this paper we present recent Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) observations of the pulsar J1740+1000. We confirm that its spectrum has a turnover at 260 MHz, which is unusual for a typical pulsar. We argue that in this case interferometric imaging provides more accurate pulsar flux estimates than other, more traditional, means such as beamformed observations. We conclude that existing calibration and imaging techniques can be used for a more comprehensive study of the influence of the interstellar medium on the point-like sources at very low frequencies in the near future., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We have carried out a detailed study of single pulse emission from the pulsar B2000+40 (J2002+4050), observed at 1.6 GHz frequencies using the Effelsberg radio telescope. The pulsar has three components which are not well separated, with the central component resembling core emission. We have investigated modulations in single pulse behaviour using the fluctuation spectral analysis which showed presence of two prominent periodicities, around 2.5$P$ and 40$P$, respectively. The shorter periodicity was associated with the phenomenon of subpulse drifting and was seen to be absent in central core component. Drifting showed large phase variations in conal components. Additionally, the periodic modulations had significant evolution with time, varying between very sharp and highly diffuse features. In addition to drifting the pulsar also had presence of nulling in the single pulse sequence. The longer periodic feature in the fluctuation spectra was associated with nulling behaviour. The pulsar joins a select group which shows the presence of phase modulated drifting as well as periodic nulling in the presence of core emission. This provides further evidence for the two phenomena to be distinct from each other with different physical origin., 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

In this paper we present the current status of the pulsar observations conduct by Polish LOFAR stations. In particular we show that the single LOFAR station can provide observations that are of sufficient quality to provide useful scientific data. These can help us to better understand some of the phenomena related to the pulsar emission and the influence of the interstellar matter. In this paper we focus on the mode switching phenomenon and a single pulses analysis conducted for pulsar B0329+54. We find that the same spectral features are visible in both emission modes, so we conclude that the polar cap emission mechanism is the same in separated modes.

The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is relatively new interferometric radio telescope. LOFAR operates in poorly explored part of the spectrum (10–240 MHz). In this frequency range pulsars are bright, and LOFAR observations of pulsars are import for probing fundamental physics and the interstellar medium. In this work we present the description of the international LOFAR station frontend and backend parameters related to pulsar observations with a single LOFAR station, based on observations with the Polish station, located in Baldy near Olsztyn. We present new results from observations aimed at better characterizing the telescope sensitivity. These measurements are important for efficient planning of pulsar observating campaigns. Observations show good sensitivity for pulsar measurements above 25° elevation and show the noise level rises significantly for elevations below 25°.

Speakers of different languages systematically differ in how they package manner and path components of a motion event rendered from a self-motion perspective in both speech and co-speech gesture. Speakers of satellite-framed languages (e.g., German) use a conflated pattern, synthesizing manner and path of motion into a single clause or gesture; while speakers of verb-framed languages (e.g., Spanish) use a separated pattern, expressing manner and path in separate clauses or gestures. In this study, we ask whether the close coupling between speech and gesture observed for self-motion also becomes evident for events rendered from a caused-motion perspective, which show greater use of conflated strategy in speech across different languages. We observed speech and co-speech gestures of adult native Spanish and German speakers (N = 15/language), as they described an animated clip depicting both self- and caused-motion events. Our findings showed that expression of motion in speech systematically varied by event perspective—with greater use of conflated strategy in caused-motion events than in self-motion events. More important, this variability became evident in co-speech gesture in both languages. Our findings show that speech and gesture form a tightly integrated system, jointly reflecting systematic differences not only between languages, but also within a particular language.

This paper aims at showing the relevance of cognitive semantics in the study of linguistic units whose conceptual import tends to be underresearched within formalist frameworks. Specifically, I focus on the alternation between the prepositions con ‘with’ and de ‘of’ in the change-of-state variant of the locative alternation (e.g., cargar el camion con/de heno, lit. load the truck with/of hay). I show that although the con- and the de-constructions share many semantic properties and they can refer to the same conceptual content, experimental-based cognitive semantics offers powerful tools to elucidate subtle shades of meaning that might remain opaque in formal semantic theories.

We have estimated flux densities of several pulsars from radio interferometric observations mainly at 325 MHz using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The new observations allowed us to update the spectral nature of the observed pulsars, and in six sources we identified relatively high frequency turnovers, which can be classified as new GHz-peaked spectrum (GPS) pulsars. For such objects the turnover in the spectrum is most likely caused by absorption in the immediate vicinity of the pulsar (or in the interstellar medium). We modeled the turnover spectra using the thermal free–free absorption model and the physical parameters obtained from the fits enabled us to identify the environments that could potentially be responsible for the observed absorption, such as pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnant nebulae or H ii regions. The discovery of 6 new GPS pulsars brings the total number of such objects to 33 and we discuss the properties of the entire sample.

We have carried out a detailed study of the spectral nature of six pulsars surrounded by Pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). The pulsar flux density were estimated using the interferometric imaging technique of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at three frequencies 325 MHz, 610 MHz and 1280 MHz. The spectra showed a turnover around gigahertz frequency in four out of six pulsars. It has been suggested that the gigahertz peaked spectra (GPS) in pulsars arises due to thermal absorption of the pulsar emission in surrounding medium like PWN, HII regions, Supernova remnants, etc. The relatively high incidence of GPS behaviour in pulsars surrounded by PWN impart further credence to this view. The pulsar J1747$-$2958 associated with the well known Mouse nebula was also observed in our sample and exhibited GPS behaviour. The pulsar was detected as a point source in the high resolution images. However, the pulsed emission was not seen in the phased array mode. It is possible that the pulsed emission was affected by extreme scattering causing considerable smearing of the emission at low radio frequencies. The GPS spectra were modeled using the thermal free-free absorption and the estimated absorber properties were largely consistent with PWN. The spatial resolution of the images made it unlikely that the point source associated with J1747$-$2958 was the compact head of the PWN, but the synchrotron self-absorption seen in such sources was a better fit to the estimated spectral shape., 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, we report the detailed spectral measurements over a wide frequency range of three pulsars (J1741−3016, J1757−2223, and J1845−0743), which allow us to identify them as new gigahertz-peaked spectra pulsars. Our results indicate that their spectra show turnovers at the frequencies of 620 MHz, 640 MHz, and 650 MHz, respectively. Our analysis proves that wideband observations improve estimations of spectral nature using a free–free thermal absorption model, and thus allow for a more accurate approximation of the maximum energy in the spectrum. While there is no evidence as yet that these objects are associated with a supernova remnant or pulsar wind nebula, they will make good targets when looking for interesting environments in the future, or when conducting more sensitive sky surveys.

In this short overview we summarize our knowledge of twenty five pulsars showing GPS characteristics. Especially, we will focus on two objects. The first is PSR B1800–21 - a Vela-like GPS pulsar with a variable spectrum. The second is PSR J1740+1000 - a pulsar that shows high frequency turnover based on our most recent observations using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope and the Green Bank Telescope.

Can a comic book communicate support to political status quo and strive to educate a society of obedient citizens who share common conservative values? Can it, in other cases, encourage tough questions and sound rebellious? And why are graphic novels so efficient as means of propaganda and ideological impact? Selected stories from “Commando” and “Battle” war comic series are discussed along with Alan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta in order to look at hierarchical versus anarchistic political communication in British graphic novels. Special attention is paid to uniqueness of comic books as a medium.

Intertextuality seems to be Alan Moore’s trademark. In his most famous comic books and graphic novels, such as V for Vendetta , Watchmen , Lost Girls or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , he often refers to other texts of high and low culture. Therefore, a certain level of cultural competence is required to decode various messages hidden by the British writer. In V for Vendetta intertextuality is employed to convey certain political and ideological messages in a more subtle and indirect way. Through various allusions and quotations, Moore presents his views on the condition of the depicted society as well as on the political clash between a fascist state and its anarchist enemy. Intertextual references are also included in the graphics of the comic book. It is the aim of this paper to discuss if, how and to what extent intertextuality can influence the complexity of the graphic novel’s message and be used to indirectly convey particular political and social ideas.

We analyze the expression of motion in translations of Tolkien’s The Hobbit into Polish and German within the framework of Talmy’s (1991, 2000) typology of macro-events and Slobin’s (1991, 1996) “Thinking for speaking” hypothesis. We show that although both languages pertain to the satellite-framed typological group, Polish provides less diversified Manner and Path descriptions than German, which exploits the satellite lexicalization pattern by far more productively. We relate these contrasts in the rhetorical style to the particular morpho-syntactic and semantic characteristics of the languages under discussion.

Languages can be divided into two main types depending on how they express motion ( Talmy, 1991 , 2000 ). Satellite-framed languages (S-languages; e.g., English, German, Polish) express path outside the verb root leaving the verb free to encode manner (e.g., The bottle floated into the cave), while verb-framed languages (V-languages; e.g., Japanese, Spanish, Turkish) lexicalize path in the verb root and manner in an adjunct (e.g., Spanish La botella entro en la cueva flotando ‘The bottle entered the cave floating’). However, recent works suggest that languages also exhibit intratypological variation, i.e., variation within the same typological affiliation as well as intralinguistic variation, i.e., variation within particular languages. This paper aims to further delimit motion encoding patterns by focusing on the interplay between abstract argument structure constructions, verbs, and directional satellites. Based on data from Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages, we propose that (i) Talmy's (2000) typology can be better accounted for in terms of verb-construction combinability constraints and (ii) intertypological, intratypological, and intralinguistic variability in the expression of motion can be regarded as a byproduct of the availability of particular verb-construction mappings in the world's languages.

We present the results of modelling of the radio spectrum evolution and dispersion measure variations of PSR B1259-63, a pulsar in a binary system with Be star LS 2883. We base our model on a hypothesis that the observed variations of the spectrum are caused by thermal free-free absorption occurring in the pulsar surroundings. We reproduce the observed pulsar spectral shapes in order to examine the influence of the stellar wind of LS 2883 and the equatorial disc on the pulsar's radiation. The simulations of the pulsar's radio emission and its consequent free-free absorption give us an insight into the impact of stellar wind and equatorial disc of LS 2883 has on the shapes of PSR B1259-63 radio spectra, providing an evidence for the connection between gigahertz-peaked spectra phenomenon and the close environment of the pulsar. Additionally, we supplement our model with an external absorbing medium, which results in a good agreement between simulated and observational data., 12 pages, 6 figures

We report the multi-frequency observations of two pulsars: J1740+1000 and B1800-21, using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the Green Bank Telescope. The main aim of these observations was to estimate the flux density spectrum of these pulsars, as both of them were previously reported to exhibit gigahertz-peaked spectra. J1740+1000 is a young pulsar far from the Galactic plane and the interpretation of its spectrum was inconclusive in the light of the recent flux density measurements. Our result supports the gigahertz-peaked interpretation of the PSR J1740+1000 spectrum. B1800-21 is a Vela-like pulsar near the W30 complex, whose spectrum exhibit a significant change between 2012 and 2014 year. Our analysis shows that the current shape of the spectrum is similar to that observed before 2009 and confirms that the observed spectral change happen in a time-scale of a few years., 9 pages, 7 figures

We present the results of 60 hours of observations of PSR B0329+54 with the LOFAR PL-612 station located in Baldy near Olsztyn, Poland and managed by University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (UWM). Observations were conducted in August/September 2016 and in May and August 2017 using the HBA antennas, at the central frequency of about 140 MHz, and they were conducted in form of six 10-hour semi-continuous observing sessions. The main goal of the analysis was the study of the mode switching phenomenon in this pulsar, and our results show that at this frequency the abnormal profile mode is present only for about 12.6% of time on average, which is lower than for the analysis of a very large set of 1.5 GHz observations performed at Urumqi observatory in 2011. Also worth mentioning is the fact, that the results shown in this paper also demonstrate the first scientific output concerning pulsar observations with the PL-612 station.

PL612, one of the three Polish LOFAR stations is fully operational in the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) since beginning of 2016. In second half of 2016 we have also started a few observational projects in the local mode using the LOFAR station in Baldy, which are shortly described hereafter.

One of the most important assumptions in the bioethical debate on deciding about a child’s genetic makeup is that even if he is born without the expected traits, parents ultimately end up loving him unconditionally. This assumption is supported by common sense and empirical studies but it still could be too weak to handle difficulties based on the possibility that from our individual first-person perspective we cannot know in advance how this experience will change us and our preferences. In this paper I analyze the possibility of justifying the moral principles which can be used to resolve this problem. I start from an analysis of R.M. Green’s ‘Parental Love Almost Always Prevails’ principle. In the second part I present Laurie Paul’s conception of transformative experience and the view about unpredictability of parental love. In the third part I will try to show that the category of special obligations based on relationship-centered reasons is the best way to guarantee the continuity of reasons before and after the child was brought to existence.

One of the most important effects occurring during the propagation of the pulsar-emitted radio waves through the interstellar medium (ISM) is the temporal pulse broadening caused by the scattering of the signal. Our latest studies of this phenomenon, which were performed for the largest sample of pulsars used for this purpose, have shown that the amount of the observed scattering strongly depends on the observing frequency. However, the slope of the dependence is different from the theoretical predictions based on simple scattering models of the turbulent ISM. Low frequency observations are crucial for the study of the scattering phenomenon, since it is at frequencies below a few hundred megahertz where the effects of scattering are the strongest. Currently for pulsar observations we are using all three POLFAR (POlish Low Frequency ARray) stations, which are a part of the International Low Frequency Array (ILT) telescope. The wide bandwidth of the telescope's receivers allows us to study the frequency evolution of interstellar scattering with a single observation. We will present the first results of this project.

The economic crisis of 2008 made economic weaknesses of the member states of the European Union evident. It also impacted the perception of values which hold its states and societies together. It is the aim of this paper to analyse the axological tension between solidarity and neoliberalism surfaced by the economic crisis. Different axiological perspectives based on the two ideologies present beneficiaries and cost bearers of the crisis as free riders. A philosophical reflection on the background and opportunities of overcoming this tension is important as its continuation may limit the integrative processes.

We present the results of the multi-frequency scatter time measurements for ten radio pulsars that were relatively less studied in this regard. The observations were performed using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at the observing frequencies of 150, 235, 325, 610 and 1060~MHz. The data we collected, in conjunction with the results from other frequencies published earlier, allowed us to estimate the scatter time frequency scaling indices for eight of these sources. For PSR J1852$-$0635 it occurred that its profile undergoes a strong evolution with frequency, which makes the scatter time measurements difficult to perform, and for PSR J1835$-$1020 we were able to obtain reliable pulse broadening estimates at only two frequencies. We used the eight frequency scaling indices to estimate both: the electron density fluctuation strengths along the respective lines-of-sight, and the standardized amount of scattering at the frequency of 1 GHz. Combining the new data with the results published earlier by Lewandowski et al., we revisited the scaling index versus the dispersion measure (DM) relation, and similarly to some of the earlier studies we show that the average value of the scaling index deviates from the theoretical predictions for large DM pulsars, however it reaches the magnitude claimed by Lohmer et al. only for pulsars with very large DMs ($>$650 pc cm$^{-3}$). We also investigated the dependence of the scattering strength indicators on the pulsar distance, DM, and the position of the source in the Milky Way Galaxy.

I propose a comparative analysis of the locative alternation in Polish and Spanish. I adopt a constructional theory of argument structure (Goldberg (1995)), according to which the locative alternation is an epiphenomenon of the compatibility of a single verb meaning with two different constructions: the caused-motion construction and the causative + with adjunct construction. As claimed by Pinker (1989), a verb must specify a manner of motion from which a particular change of state can be obtained in order to be able to appear in both constructional schemas. However, I show through a corpus study that the compatibility between verbal and constructional meaning is further restricted by Talmy’s (1985, 1991, 2000) distinction between verb-framed and satellite-framed languages. In particular, Talmy’s lexicalization patterns theory systematically explains why both the token frequency and the type frequency of the alternating verbs are considerably higher in Polish than in Spanish.