Mental Predicates in Polish and English: A study of verb construal

Mental Predicates in Polish and English: A study of verb construal

Mental Predicates in Polish and English:
A study of verb construal and complement semantics
Karolina Krawczak
&
Faculty of English
Adam Mickiewicz University,
Poznań
[email protected]
Małgorzata Fabiszak
Faculty of English
Adam Mickiewicz University
Poznań
[email protected]
~ Structuring of Epistemic Stance ~ Object of Study: 4 near-synonymous mental state constructions in Polish and English
Polish
English
myśleć o ‘think about’
think about
myśleć, że ‘think that’
think that
wierzyć w ‘believe in’
believe in
wierzyć, że ‘believe that’
believe that
Goal of Study: Identify onomasiological structure
~ Hypotheses ~ (1) Two distinct types of reality for epistemic stance: * Personal * Social The type of reality is determined through topic of discourse and will help us
predict the behavior of the constructions.
(2) Three distinct construals of epistemic stance: * Objective /Performative * Subjective/Descriptive * Intersubjective/Interactive Type of construal is hypothesized to interact with object semantics, adverb,
type of reality, and type of complementation.
~ Mental State Predicates and Construal~ * think & believe fall into the category of epistemic verbs designating
innermost epistemic stances, hence they are inherently subjective.
* Mental predicates report on the conceptual dimension as construed by the
cognizer.
* Their verbalization opens up an intersubjective space, whereby speakers can
externalize their own mental state to influence the world, negotiate their
interlocutor’s stance or attribute an evidential stance to another agent.
~ Construal & Mental State Predicates ~ Objective/Performative vs. Subjective/Descriptive: I think it’s true. vs. He thinks it’s true. Intersubjective
You think it’s true? (Langacker 1990, Nuyts 2001, Traugott 2005)
~ Methodology ~
Behavioral Profile Methodology (Geeraerts et al. 1994, 1999; Gries 1999, 2003)
~ Exploratory Statistics ~
Correspondence Analysis
* exploration of data in search of patterns of language use
* correlation and clustering of conceptual usage features
~ Confirmatory Statistics ~
Logistic Regression Analysis & Loglinear Analysis
* establishing the statistical significance for individual conceptual characteristics of usage and for
the whole analysis (predictive power)
* establishing the descriptive accuracy for individual conceptual characteristics of usage and for the
whole analysis
~ Data ~
What: Present tense uses of 4 mental constructions in Polish and English
Polish
English
myśleć o ‘think about’
think about
myśleć, że ‘think that’
think that
wierzyć w ‘believe in’
believe in
wierzyć, że ‘believe that’
believe that
Source: Google blogs
Number of occurrences: app. 1300
~ Annotation Schema: Selected Variables ~ Formal Factors Semantic Factors Construction: believe in, believe that, myslec o,
myslec ze, etc.
Subject Semantics: Human, Metonymic Complementation: Clausal, Prepositional
Object Semantics: Abstract, Activity, Accomplishment, Achievement (Vendler
1957), Concrete, Human, State
Mood: Indicative, Imperative, Conditional Person: First, Second, Third
Subject Form: Pronoun, Noun, Proper Name, Subject Number: Sg, Pl Adverb: Adverb, No Adverb Negation: Positive, Negative
Object Form: Clause, Noun Phrase, Pronoun, Proper Name
Object Length: short, long Interrogativity: Interrogative, Non-­‐ interrogative Competence: Specialist, Non-­‐specialist Object Time: General, Past, Future,
Hypothetical
Adverb Semantics: Addition, Contrast, Degree, Frequency, Intensification, Manner, Temporal, Reality: Personal, Social ~ Correspondence Analysis: Lexeme, Perspective, Object & Adverb ~
~ Exemplification ~
1. Często myślę o Josifie Brodskim, jednym z najbardziej niezwykłych ludzi, jakich spotkałem
[I often think about Brodsky – one of the greatest people I have ever met.]
(Performative Perspective + Object: Human + Temporal Adverb + myśleć]
2. Jeżeli nie wierzycie, że marzenia się spełniają, najwyższa pora to zmienić.
[If you don’t believe that dreams come true, it’s high time to change this.]
(Intersubjective Perspective + Object: Accomplishment + wierzyć)
3. Only someone who doesn't know where money comes from could possibly believe that the
UK was ever in danger of becoming like Greece.
(Descriptive Perspective + Epistemic Adverb + believe)
~ Loglinear Analysis: Perspective, Object & Reality ~
Social Personal
SocialPersonal
Reality
Social Personal
Performative
Perspective
Descriptive
Intersubjective
Object.Semantics
ObjHumanObjAbstract
ObjAtelicObjConcrete
ObjTelic
Pearson
residuals:
5.80
4.00
2.00
0.00
-2.00
-4.00
-4.41
p-value =
< 2.22e-16
~ Exemplification ~
1. Do you care what people on the internet think about you?
(Intersubjective Perspective + Personal Reality + Object Semantics: Human)
2. A co Ty myślisz o swojej pracy? [And what do you think about your job?]
(Intersubjective Perspective + Personal Reality + Object Semantics: Abstract)
3. Jej strasznie się stresuję... mam wrażenie że mało umiem bo w sumie mało się uczyłam
do tego rozszerzenia. Myślicie, że dam radę jakoś to napisać w miarę przyzwoicie?
[I’m really stressed … I feel that I know so little because I haven’t studied much for
this exam. Do you guys think I’ll manage to do it relatively well.]
(Intersubjective Perspective + Personal Reality + Telic Objects)
4. Stop and think about the bags you are handing out to customers.
(Intersubjective Perspective + Social Reality + Concrete Objects)
5. The same is not true for women who think about talking to men. (Sorry, guys.)
(Descriptive Perspective + Social Reality + Atelic Objects)
~ Logistic Regression: Reality ~
Frequencies of Responses: Personal: 384
Social: 922
Coefficients:
Estimate Std. Error
(Intercept)
2.28981
0.46534
Construction: BELIEVE_Nominal
-0.56599
0.31099
Construction: THINK_Clausal
-0.37831
0.19763
Construction: THINK_Nominal
-1.30265
0.27787
Perspective: Performative
-0.92141
0.18364
Perspective: Intersubjective
-0.82650
0.18260
Subject_Specialist
1.83303
0.33640
Object Time: General
0.23354
0.18090
Object Time: Hypothetical
0.21368
0.49057
Object Time: Past
0.70601
0.28813
Object: Abstract
-0.30718
0.33828
Object: Atelic
-0.98967
0.39846
Object: Human
-1.21813
0.39675
Object: Telic
-1.22784
0.42165
Perspective Performative:Subject Specialist
-0.09518
0.44541
Perspective Intersubjective:Subject Specialist -1.34509
0.63204
Model Statistics:
P:0
C: 0.751
R2: 0.222
z value Pr(>|z|)
4.921 8.62e-07 ***
-1.820 0.06876 .
-1.914 0.05559 .
-4.688 2.76e-06 ***
-5.017 5.24e-07 ***
-4.526 6.00e-06 ***
5.449 5.06e-08 ***
1.291 0.19669
0.436 0.66314
2.450 0.01427 *
-0.908 0.36385
-2.484 0.01300 *
-3.070 0.00214 **
-2.912 0.00359 **
-0.214 0.83079
-2.128 0.03332 *
~ Exemplification ~
6. Every time you make a trade, think about whether you're taking two steps
forward. (Personal Reality + 2nd Person Specialist Subject)
7. Przegrzebują gruzy. Wierzą, że odnajdą bliskich.
[They are going through the debris. They believe they’ll find their loved ones.]
(Personal Reality + Telic Object)
8. Do you care what people on the internet think about you?
(Personal Reality + Nominal Object + Object Semantics: Human + THINK)
9. Markets start to think about inflation again.
(Social Reality + Specialist Subject)
10. It would take me months before I could look out my window at the jets flying
across the horizon and not think about the images of 9/11.
(Social Reality + Object Time: Past)
~ Logistic Regression: Construal ~
Frequencies of Responses: Descriptive: 522
Intersubjective: 345
Coefficients:
(Intercept)
Construction: BELIEVE_Nominal
Construction: THINK_Clausal
Construction: THINK_Nominal
Adverb: NonAdverb
Object Length: Medium
Object Length: Short
Reality: Social
Subject: Specialist
Model Statistics: P: 0
C: 0.786
Estimate Std. Error z value Pr(>|z|)
-0.1156
0.2887 -0.400
0.6889
1.1771
0.2809
4.191 2.78e-05 ***
0.2310
0.2382
0.970
0.3320
1.4087
0.2721
5.177 2.26e-07 ***
0.4521
0.2182
2.072
0.0383 *
-0.2215
0.2334 -0.949
0.3428
-0.4474
0.2407 -1.859
0.0631 .
-0.9678
0.1775 -5.451 5.00e-08 ***
-2.5939
0.2819 -9.202 < 2e-16 ***
R2: 0.333
~ Exemplification ~
1. Microsoft believes that tablets will outsell desktop PCs next year.
(Descriptivve Perspective + Specialist Subject + Social Reality)
2. If you really believe in "animal welfare" you shouldn't eat them.
(Intersubjective Perspective + BELIVE & Nominal Complementation)
3. Co myślisz o dzisiejszej maturze z matmy?
[What do you think about today’s final exam in maths?]
(Intersubjective Perspective + THINK & Nominal Complementation)
~ Conclusions ~
We have demonstrated that Reality Type structures the behavior of the
mental state constructions:
*
*
Personal Reality is more closely associated with THINK verbs and
human objects of thought as well as with the intersubjective
perspective;
*
Social Reality is more closely associated with BELIEVE verbs, specialist
subjects, past time of the object of thought.
* We have demonstrated that two of the three postulated types of construal can
be clearly distinguished:
*
Descriptive Perspective is associated with clausal complementation,
social reality, specialist subjects, and atelic objects;
*
Intersubjective
Perspective
is
associated
with
nominal
complementation, personal reality, human objects, and abstract objects.