Papers reviewed and determined not to be word norm studies. Use the flag icon to report errors or suggest re-inclusion.
18265 papers
The advanced models of deep neural networks like bidirectional encoder from the transformers (BERT) and others, poses challenges in terms of computational resources and model size. In order to tackle these issues, techniques of model pruning have surfaced as the most useful methods in addressing the issues of model complexity. This research paper explores the concept of pruning BERT attention heads across the ensemble of winning tickets in order to enhance the efficiency of the model without sacrificing performance. Experimental evaluations show how effective the approach is, in achieving significant model compression while still maintaining competitive performance across different natural language processing tasks. The key findings of this study include model size that has been reduced by 36%, with our ensemble model reaching greater performance as compared to the baseline BERT model on both Stanford Sentiment Treebank v2 (SST-2) and Corpus of Linguistic Acceptability (CoLA) datasets. The results further show a F1-score of 94% and 96%, respectively, and accuracy scores of 95% and 96% on the two datasets. The findings of this research paper contribute to the ongoing efforts in enhancing the efficiency of large-scale language models.
ABSTRACT Street’s (1984) concept of “ideological model” advocates for the plural character of literacy, validating all models of writing. From this perspective, marginalized literacy practices are as legitimate as dominant literacy practices, despite being socially stigmatized. In this article, I aim to investigate in what ways the literacy narratives of two adult students transgress social and linguistic norms. I employ a narrative analysis methodology that incorporates the discursive, situated and performative nature of the stories (MOITA LOPES, 2021) I analyze. At the social level, access to reading and writing is, for the students, a subversion of imposed norms that deprived them of the right to education. As women who migrated from the northeast to the southeast of Brazil in search of better living conditions, returning to school and learning to read and write are acts of resistance that challenge the status quo. At the linguistic level, the students reaffirm their enunciative intentions by transgressing the standard norm of the language, expanding the possibilities of meaning in their texts through the subversive use of punctuation and deixis. The outcomes emphasize the need to recognize the students’ literacy journey as a social criticism against insufficient policies on the provision of quality education for all. Furthermore, the outcomes point to the need for language teaching and learning approaches that recognize non-institutionalized models of literacy as valid knowledge that enhances and enriches language learning, minimizing the abyssal line (SANTOS, 2010) between orality and literacy as well as between school and non-school knowledge.
This article discusses the controversial issue of which variety of English learners and instructors should use. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4, Target 4.7 states that learners need knowledge to promote peace and cultural diversity. It is argued here that a broad awareness of English varieties is a way to achieve this goal, and that the use of English in online environments can contribute towards its attainment. Two surveys were carried out to investigate how attitudes to varieties of English and to non-standard linguistic norms are changing. They were sent to students of English on online courses at a Swedish university in 2018-2019 and 2019-2021, and were responded to by 100 and 92 informants, respectively. The first survey demonstrated that the informants did indeed have a less strict view of which variety of English to learn and use, while the second survey demonstrated that features such as the omission of subjects, and informal spellings such as “yeah” appear to have become standardised and acceptable in all environments. These results appear to support what has been discussed in the literature, namely, that the use of English online is leading learners to review their beliefs and adopt a less strict view of varieties and norms. Thus, it is argued that online English usage can contribute towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4, Target 4.7, cultural diversity and an awareness of the multifaceted dimensions of a global language in the 21st century.
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in modern society, especially in business intelligence, where it drives insights for customer feedback analysis, targeted recommendations, and strategic marketing. Within AI, natural language processing (NLP) enables machines to interpret and analyze human language, with sentiment analysis being a vital subset focused on understanding nuanced emotions in text. This research introduces Fine-tuned DeBERTaV3 with Adaptive Training Strategies (FiTDeBERTaV3-ATS), a model designed for fine-grained sentiment analysis that integrates DeBERTaV3 with an attention mechanism, cross-fold training, and multi-sample dropout. Evaluated on the fine-grained Stanford Sentiment Treebank (SST-5) dataset, the proposed model achieved an improved accuracy of 62.40%, surpassing existing baselines and highlighting DeBERTaV3's effectiveness for this task. These tailored strategies address the unique challenges of SST-5, such as figurative language and a limited dataset size, significantly enhancing the model's ability to capture subtle sentiment distinctions.
Sentiment analysis is an essential component of natural language processing, which focuses on extracting subjective insights, like emotions and opinions from text. In this research, an innovative framework has been introduced for Twitter sentiment analysis that integrates Echo State Networks (ESN), Improved Student Psychology Based Optimization (ISPBO), and BERT embeddings. The proposed ESN-ISPBO-BERT model was evaluated on the SemEval-2016-1 and SemEval-2016-2 datasets and compared against other models, including SVM-Glove, CNN-BERT, LSTM, CNN, KNN, SVM, BERT, and GRU. The outcomes indicate that the suggested model exceeds all baseline models, and has achieved outstanding performance. On SemEval-2016-2, it achieves 98.82% accuracy, 98.79% precision, 98.96% recall, and 98.87% F1-score, while on SemEval-2016-1, it achieves 98.76% accuracy, 98.81% precision, 98.92% recall, as well as 98.86% F1-score. Moreover, the suggested model achieved the values of 98.51%, 98.42%, 98.87%, and 98.64% in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score on Stanford Sentiment Treebank (SST-2). These outcomes indicate the efficiency of combining reservoir calculating, innovative optimization techniques, and contextual embeddings for the aim of sentiment analysis. The proposed model is a strong solution for the evaluation of Twitter data, with possible applications in brand monitoring, analyzing customer feedback, and tracking sentiment in real-time. This investigation represents the importance of hybrid strategies in tackling the issues of sentiment analysis on social media.
When encountering a potential threat, humans and animals engage in different strategic behaviours, such as orienting and defence, depending on the perceived threat imminence. Orienting has been associated with attentional immobility and heightened 'stimulus intake', while defence is linked to action preparation and 'sensory rejection'. First, we replicated previous findings showing that humans exhibit either heart rate (HR) acceleration or deceleration in response to the same threat-related picture content. Second, we provide direct evidence that orienting, as indexed by increased HR deceleration, leads to enhanced visuocortical processing of threat-related images, as measured by steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs). Excitation of motor-relevant cortical circuits, assessed by beta-band desynchronization, was reduced in relation to HR deceleration. Conversely, HR acceleration was associated with a reversed pattern: reduced visual processing and increased excitation of cortical motor circuits, as reflected in ssVEP and beta-band modulations. While self-reported measures of state and trait anxiety, along with valence, arousal and dominance ratings, did not account for variations in HR response patterns, shorter self-paced viewing time of looming threat pictures was linked to defensive HR changes, whereas orienting-like HR responses were associated with longer avoidance latencies.
This study examines the interplay between sociolinguistic competence and language transfer in English as Second Language (ESL) learning within Omani higher education. With Arabic as the first language, Omani ESL learners navigate linguistic and cultural influences that shape their English proficiency. Grounded in transfer theory and sociocultural perspectives on second language acquisition, this research investigates how institutional and cultural contexts impact sociolinguistic competence and the extent to which Arabic linguistic norms contribute to language transfer. Using a comparative methodology, data was collected through surveys, interviews, and language use analysis from students across three distinct institutions: Sultan Qaboos University (public-urban), Muscat University (private-urban), and Sur University College (public-rural). Findings indicate that sociolinguistic competence varies based on institutional setting, exposure to English, and interactional norms, with Arabic exerting both positive and negative transfer effects. The study underscores the challenges of integrating sociolinguistic competence into ESL curricula and provides recommendations for enhancing pragmatic training, pedagogical strategies, and teacher professional development to mitigate negative transfer and improve communicative proficiency.
This study explores the use of slang words in the post and comment sections of the “Jual Beli Akun Mobile Legends Indonesia” Facebook community. The purpose of this research is to identify the types of slang and the types of meaning conveyed in the communication among users within this digital marketplace. Using a qualitative descriptive method, the data were collected through document analysis from 105 posts and 17 comments over the span of one week. The study applied Allan and Burridge’s classification of slang (Clipping, Acronym, Fresh and Creative, Imitative, and Flippant) and Leech’s theory of meaning (Conceptual, Connotative, Stylistic, and Affective). The findings revealed that Clipping was the most dominant slang type, indicating a preference for brevity and efficiency. Connotative meaning was also the most prevalent, showing how slang reflects not only linguistic function but also social and emotional context. The results suggest that slang in this online community is used not only to simplify communication but also to build shared identity, express sentiment, and reinforce group belonging. This study contributes to understanding how digital communities, especially those based on gaming and trading, develop and sustain their own informal linguistic norms. Types of Meaning
Bidirectional transformers excel at sentiment analysis, and Large Language Models (LLM) are effective zero-shot learners.Might they perform better as a team?This paper explores collaborative approaches between ELECTRA and GPT-4o for three-way sentiment classification.We fine-tuned (FT) four models (ELECTRA Base/Large, GPT-4o/4o-mini) using a mix of reviews from Stanford Sentiment Treebank (SST) and DynaSent.We provided input from ELEC-TRA to GPT as: predicted label, probabilities, and retrieved examples.Sharing ELECTRA Base FT predictions with GPT-4o-mini significantly improved performance over either model alone (82.50 macro F1 vs. 79.14ELECTRA Base FT, 79.41 GPT-4o-mini) and yielded the lowest cost/performance ratio ($0.12/F1 point).However, when GPT models were fine-tuned, including predictions decreased performance.GPT-4o FT-M was the top performer (86.99), with GPT-4o-mini FT close behind (86.70) at much less cost ($0.38 vs. $1.59/F1 point).Our results show that augmenting prompts with predictions from fine-tuned encoders is an efficient way to boost performance, and a fine-tuned GPT-4o-mini is nearly as good as GPT-4o FT at 76% less cost.Both are affordable options for projects with limited resources.
This study explores the sociolinguistic characteristics of Generation Alpha's language use on TikTok, a platform blending creativity and social interaction. Examining code-switching, slang, and the influence of visual elements highlights how these features shape digital identities and cultural expression. The research uses qualitative methods like content analysis and user interviews to reveal how Gen Alpha adapts language to TikTok’s standards while challenging traditional linguistic norms. The findings demonstrate that digital communication significantly impacts the language of today’s youth, showcasing Generation Alpha’s sensitivity and inventiveness in coining new terms driven by rapid technological advancements. Social, cultural, and technical factors influence these communication patterns, with video and visual exchanges enhancing communication skills, shaping social identities, and fostering intergenerational connections. This research emphasizes the role of platform-specific language practices in shaping teenage culture and advancing sociolinguistics in social media contexts. It concludes that Generation Alpha employs a relaxed, creative, and trend-sensitive vocabulary, particularly on TikTok, reflecting contemporary digital communication trends. The study underscores the importance of understanding language dynamics in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
The increasing use of English in many professional and academic contexts has played a pivotal role not only in expanding the teaching of English at universities worldwide but also in determining the growth of teaching in English. This has heightened the need to teach thesis writing in many English-medium contexts. Focusing on the tension between individuality – expressing an individual point of view – and commonality – adopting the rhetorical and linguistic norms of the specific discourse community addressed, we discuss our experience of designing an introduction to thesis writing for an EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) multidisciplinary MA programme in Italy. The chapter begins by exploring the interplay between commonality and individuality, then proceeds to describe the course’s context and its educational underpinnings. The general principles are illustrated through an analysis of activities meant to teach the students how to engage with the discourse community of their choice and to express their stance: from engaging with discourse communities to finding relevant sources, incorporating other voices into a literature review, and working collaboratively on the conclusion section. The chapter closes with a brief summing up of the issues raised.
In humans, olfactory perception appears to be a complex and multidimensional process. Classically, intensity, hedonicity, and familiarity are the main features assessed in perceptual evaluations. Several factors are well known to modulate odor perception such as environmental context, stimulus properties, or individual characteristics. Regarding the latter, female sex hormones may play an important role in modulating odor perception. In this context, few studies have investigated whether odor perception might change during the menstrual cycle in relation to odor category and perceptual features. The aim of the present study was to compare the follicular and luteal phases in women on and off oral contraceptives for the three main characteristics of odor perception (intensity, hedonicity, and familiarity) and for different odor categories (fruit, vegetable, and environmental odors). Results showed that all odors were perceived as more intense during the luteal phase compared to the follicular phase. Hedonic ratings showed differences in responses to odor categories: Fruit odors were perceived as more pleasant during the luteal phase, while vegetable odors were perceived as more unpleasant. Familiarity ratings increased during the luteal phase for two of the three odor categories (i.e., fruit and environmental odors). Comparisons between women using hormonal contraceptives (in both phases of the cycle) and those not using hormonal contraceptives revealed no significant differences in any of the dimensions assessed or in any of the odor categories. These findings are discussed in relation to the putative role of sex hormones in olfactory perception. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
<p class="TableParagraph">This research analyzes Generational Shifts and Linguistic Tensions: Controversial Use of Slang in Heterogeneous Islamic Boarding School Communities. The aim of this research is to explore the dynamics of the use of slang among students in heterogeneous Islamic boarding schools, with a focus on how this language shapes their daily communication, analyzing the sociolinguistic impact of slang on traditional linguistic norms in the Islamic boarding school environment. The method used in this research is a qualitative method that directly observes the phenomenon of language shift in Islamic boarding schools. Based on the research results, it was found that there was a shift in language which showed a shift in the vocabulary commonly used in everyday conversation, the use of this vocabulary reflects a style of speech that is considered relaxed in interactions between peers, for example the words "santuy", "sabi", "kuy" etc. The implications of this research can be used as a benchmark for intergenerational language shifts in Islamic boarding schools and reveal how modern language trends interact with established cultural and religious expectations.</p>
Background Dementia can impair cognitive functions in older adults and further affect language abilities, such as sentence construction. The use of linguistic biomarkers for detecting cognitive decline and early stages of dementia has demonstrated great potential due to its low-cost and non-invasive nature, especially towards a large aging population.Aims In this study, we focused on the syntactic complexity and aimed to identify highly discriminative syntactic features and those set in differentiating Mandarin-speaking older adults with and without cognitive impairment using machine learning models.Methods & procedures We established a new cohort consisting of 52 Chinese older participants, which has not been reported in any previous studies. After applying exclusion criteria, 49 were selected for this study, including 24 labeled as cognitively normal (CN) and 25 as cognitively impaired (CI) based on their scores in the MoCA-B test (Chinese version). Each of the participants completed three connected speech tasks: a picture description task (the Picnic Scene), a story narrative task (Sanmao’s Wanderings), and a story recall task (Cowherd and Weaver Girl). The speech recordings were automatically transcribed into text files and manually checked. We then performed treebank annotation, which was also manually corrected. Subsequently, 17 linguistic unit-based and 10 syntactic structure-based features were extracted from the texts using Python codes. To identify key syntactic features and feature sets, we first examined the discriminative power of these features per se for distinguishing between the CI and CN groups. Then we employed three machine learning algorithms to identify feature combinations performing the best in terms of high accuracy and AUC in cross-validation and minimal number of basic features.Outcomes & results No single feature or feature panels showed high discriminability between groups across all three tasks. However, certain macro-level features with high measurement robustness, such as mean depth of nodes, mean dependency distance, and the ratio of head-final dependencies in specific tasks are noteworthy. Moreover, through machine learning algorithms, we identified several well-performing feature combinations in terms of the metrics of cross-validation mean accuracy and area under curve (AUC). Notably, a feature panel with only two features (mean depth of nodes, and proportions of prepositional dependencies) achieved the best result across classifiers in the story narrative task (ACC = 0.840, AUC = 0.867).Conclusions This study demonstrated the potential of using purely treebank-derived features within a single linguistic domain (syntax) for cost-effective cognitive impairment screening, indicating the value of syntactic biomarkers for cognitive impairment in Mandarin-Speaking Older Adults.
This study explores the evolving interplay between language, cognition, and digital media in the context of the attention economy.It proposes six key dimensionsrepresentation, virtuality, attention, community language, cognitive transformation, and the speech-writing continuum -through which digital communication reshapes linguistic practices.Drawing on contemporary theories of mediatisation, multimodality, and sociolinguistics, the authors argue that digital environments fundamentally alter linguistic representation and identity construction.Through the analysis of semiotic innovation, platform logic, and cognitive offloading, the article highlights how digital discourse is not a degradation of language but an adaptive response to new communicative affordances.The findings invite a rethinking of linguistic norms and suggest directions for further research into the ethical, cultural, and neurological consequences of pervasive digital communication.
The rapid expansion of digital media has significantly reshaped the ways in which language is used, adapted, and evolved in contemporary communication. This study explores how online platforms—ranging from social media networks to messaging applications—have influenced linguistic norms, introduced novel expressions, and reshaped traditional grammar and syntax. By analyzing communication patterns across diverse digital contexts, the research highlights how users creatively manipulate language to suit the immediacy, brevity, and interactive nature of online discourse. The findings reveal a dynamic linguistic environment where slang, emojis, abbreviations, and code-switching are not only prevalent but also indicative of broader cultural and generational shifts. This investigation contributes to the understanding of language as a fluid and evolving entity, driven increasingly by the participatory and fast-paced nature of digital interaction.
This paper examines the rapid evolution of net slang and its consequential impact on Standard Mandarin, highlighting the interplay between net slang and traditional linguistic norms. The study begins by delineating three principal characteristics of net slang: multiformity, simplicity, and flexibility. Through a survey assessing Chinese attitudes towards net slang, both positive and negative viewpoints are revealed. Results indicate that while net slang can enhance communication with creative elements such as emoticons, it also risks grammatical divergence and semantic deviations. These impacts are particularly pronounced in the realm of Chinese language education, where net slang affects graphology and fosters misinterpretations. Despite these challenges, the paper advocates for a balanced approach, proposing the integration of beneficial aspects of net slang into Standard Mandarin following rigorous evaluation. Emphasizing language sustainability, the study underscores the role of educators and parents in promoting reading, thereby ensuring the harmonious coexistence of net slang and standard language while preserving linguistic integrity for future generations.
We use advertising billboards and posters of three mobile telecom giants to spotlight translanguaging spaces as marketing strategies in the multilingual and multicultural landscapes of Zambia (south-central Africa). We argue that telecommunications giants deploy, in their marketing discourses, an assemblage of various semiotic resources on translanguaging spaces. Consequently, we show that this occasions a breakdown of language ideologies and blurs boundaries between languages of different sociopolitical statuses, reach and appeal, much to the benefit of telecom giants who wish to grow their subscriber base. We show how the outcome of semiotic complementarity of resources in translanguaging spaces addresses multiple actors in one design by integrating linguistic resources formerly separated by different practices and places for marketing purposes. In this way, we conclude that arising from (semiotic) creativity and defiance of expected linguistic norms, the sociolinguistics of translanguaging spaces admit both amalgamated forms and full-fledged languages in unpredictable ways, enabling telecom giants to achieve their marketing objectives.
Background: Emotional disturbances are central to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and shape how individuals anticipate and experience events.Objective: This study investigates affective forecasting and emotional experience among PTSD patients, trauma-exposed controls (TEC), and healthy controls (HC) using a novel virtual reality paradigm.Method: Eighty-six participants (30 PTSD, 28 TEC, 28 HC) rated their predicted and actual emotional responses (valence and arousal) to unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant virtual scenarios. Physiological measures included heart rate and skin conductance responses (SCR).Results: PTSD participants showed alterations in their affective forecasting and emotional experience, assigning significantly lower valence scores to pleasant and neutral scenarios and exhibiting amplified SCR to emotionally charged stimuli. Their arousal ratings for neutral stimuli were also more elevated compared to HC. In their forecasting, PTSD participants anticipated more positive – or less negative – emotions compared to what they experienced next.Conclusions: These findings reveal critical emotional processing differences in PTSD, both during affective forecasting and emotional experience, supporting cognitive models that emphasize biased processing of emotional information in this psychiatric condition.
The role of craving in opioid use disorder (OUD) has been well established with respect to heroin but less so with prescription opioids. This pilot study, conducted in 18 treatment-seeking patients with prescription OUD and 18 healthy volunteers, assessed spontaneous (in the moment) and cue-induced craving and their relationship to depression and anxiety. Patients (vs. healthy volunteers) exhibited increased spontaneous craving for prescription opioids. Relative to brief (10 s) random presentations of neutral and affective images, presented drug (prescription opioids) images elicited greater craving ratings in patients and were associated with higher valence and arousal ratings. Elevated depression and anxiety observed in patients (vs. healthy volunteers) were positively associated with spontaneous and cue-induced cravings. These findings tentatively support a role for drug craving and mental health comorbidity in prescription OUD and underscore the need for additional research to understand their causal relationships and their interactive dynamics during treatment and recurrence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
Exegesis is a pivotal topic in linguistic studies, explored across multiple levels: phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and semantic, in addition to its connections with other disciplines.This study focuses on exegesis at the morphological level, aiming to define its nature by examining its causes from the perspectives of both the speaker and the listener.It also seeks to establish essential guidelines, document its manifestations in nouns and verbs, and detail the methodologies employed in its analysis.The study's significance lies in its contribution to enhancing the understanding and construction of speech, as well as comprehending the linguistic norms adhered to by Arabs in their expressions.
The Model of Cultural-Emotional Design, a combination of Experience Engineering and New Social Value, aims to understand how visual design traits can evoke culturally mediated emotional responses. The study involved 60 adults aged 18-45, from East Asia and Western backgrounds, and none were design professionals. The study utilised an open-source COCO-style dataset, which was coded for typography, colour significance, and format, as well as emotion-culture mapping, employing a multimodal measurement approach. Participants viewed each IAPS image for 5 seconds, followed by a 3-second inter-stimulus interval. They reported self-assessed Differential Emotions Scale scores, continuous valence and arousal ratings, and real-time facial expression tracking. The results showed a moderate correlation between valence and arousal ratings, with both positive and negative correlations. Subjectivity was suggested by probabilities associated with facial muscle movements and emotional expression. Significant interactions between culture and design features were observed in terms of emotional responses, as indicated by mixed-effects modelling. The results indicated a strong connection between culture and design aspects regarding emotional responses, as demonstrated by mixed-effects modelling. Nonmanual signage and hardware terminals offer varied reading experiences across different languages. The arrangement of characters (e.g., for a book/magazine cover or flyer with bold type formatted in three columns per page). The Model of Cultural-Emotional Design effectively captures emotional design responses influenced by culture, facilitating the development of future AI-augmented multimodal methodologies that inform culturally attuned design processes. Future work will consider diversifying the dataset and examining additional physiological measures.
Being able to regulate emotions is critical to coping with stress. Stress has also been shown to reduce emotion regulation ability; specifically, stress-based HPA axis activation reduces top-down control of emotion regulation. Reducing HPA axis activation could therefore allow a person to better utilize emotion regulation strategies. Slow-paced breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system through increasing vagal tone. In this study, we examined whether a short bout of slow-paced breathing could acutely improve emotion regulation in young adults. Participants were asked to regulate their emotional reactions to negatively valenced images using cognitive reappraisal to either increase, decrease, or maintain the emotional intensity. In the experimental condition, participants completed a 3-minute voluntary breath control exercise prior to the experimental trials. In the control condition, participants completed the experimental trials without a breathing exercise. This was a within-subjects design. An acute bout of slow-paced breathing prior to the emotional experience reduced negative valence and arousal ratings in response to negative images. Participants also reported greater success at emotion regulation following the breathing compared to the control condition. Therefore, slow-paced breathing may be an effective tool to acutely enhance emotion regulation abilities, possibly through the increase in parasympathetic nervous system activation.
(1) Background: Phasic events in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep are a core feature of isolated REM behavior disorder (iRBD), which is often associated with emotion dysregulation. This study explores the relationship between sleep and the overnight habituation of emotional reactivity in healthy controls (HCs) and iRBD patients, focusing on the role of REM phasic events and a specific non-REM waveform, namely sleep spindles. (2) Methods: Participants underwent polysomnography and completed arousal rating tasks and mood scales before and after sleep. In total, eight HCs (4 M, mean age 60.62 ± 6.8) and eight iRBD patients (7 M, mean age 68.25 ± 5.12) were included in the analyses. (3) Results: In HCs, longer REM sleep duration correlated positively with overnight habituation. In the whole sample, overnight habituation negatively correlated with REM sleep latency and wake-after-sleep onset, and positively with N2 sleep. Higher overnight habituation was associated with fewer REM arousals and awakenings in the whole sample, and with greater N2 sleep spindle density in HCs. (4) Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that REM sleep and spindles in N2 play critical roles in emotional processing. The study confirms the relationship between emotion dysregulation and REM phasic events, enhancing our understanding of how sleep impacts emotional reactivity and also in the prodromal phase of neurodegenerative disease.
Age and language experience both shape the speed of visual word recognition for children and adults. There is a considerable debate in the literature regarding whether these effects are primarily facilitating or impeding and whether the influences of age and language experience can be distinct and delineated. In order to address these questions, we collected data from Hungarian participants, analyzing data from 80 children (ages 9-17) and 387 adults (ages 18-90), on 250 words in an online visual lexical decision task. We used a pre-calibrated word list, based on prior familiarity ratings, to assess the participants' vocabulary size and compared the effects of vocabulary size, age, and years spent in education on response speed in correct lexical decision trials over real words (as opposed to filler non-words). We found that vocabulary size and education facilitate, while age impedes word recognition speed in the task, and that vocabulary size effects are mediated by both age and education. These age-related trends were observed across a broad age range, although conclusions regarding the oldest participants (70+) must remain tentative due to their limited representation in our sample.
The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Revised (RMET-R) is a widely used measure that purports to assess theory of mind (ToM). However, the psychometric properties of the RMET-R have been called into question. To examine a wider array of the RMET-R's psychometric properties, as compared to prior studies, we recruited undergraduate students ( N = 640; 65.31 % women; M age = 20.33; SD = 4.30) from three public universities. Participants completed the RMET-R, a novel word choice familiarity task, a novel task rating each response option's description of the picture, along with emotional valence and arousal, and two self-report cognitive empathy measures. Results indicated a small positive correlation with one self-report measure of cognitive empathy, and acceptable internal consistency. Performance was related to prior familiarity of words used on the test, and a quarter of the trials had a foil word rated similarly as the target word in describing picture. Item-level analysis found that valence ratings correlated significantly with accuracy, even on the least accurate items. Results corroborate and expand published concerns about the RMET-R's psychometric properties. We propose changes to the measure, including updated stimuli and structural improvements.
We examined differences in physiological responses to aversive and non-aversive naturalistic audiovisual stimuli and their auditory and visual components within the same experiment. We recorded five physiological measures that have been shown to be sensitive to affect: electrocardiogram, electromyography (EMG) for zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles, electrodermal activity (EDA), and skin temperature. Valence and arousal ratings confirmed that aversive stimuli were more negative in valence and higher in arousal than non-aversive stimuli. Valence also showed an emotional enhancement effect for cross-modal integration. Both heart rate deceleration and facial EMG potentiation for corrugator supercilii were larger for aversive compared to non-aversive conditions for audiovisual stimuli and their auditory components, even after controlling for arousal. Facial EMG potentiation for zygomaticus major was greater for aversive compared to non-aversive conditions for audiovisual stimuli and EDA was greater for aversive compared to non-aversive conditions for visual stimuli. Neither of these effects remained significant after controlling for arousal. These findings provide a benchmark for examining atypical sensory processing of mundane aversive stimuli for clinical populations. • Audiovisual clips and their components were examined in the same experiment. • Heart rate deceleration for aversive audiovisual clips and their auditory components. • Increased corrugator supercilii potentiation for aversive audiovisual clips. • Increased corrugator supercilii potentiation for aversive auditory components. • Overall, physiological responses to the visual component were less distinct.
Objective Sense of control significantly influences emotional well-being. A lack of control over stressors induces negative affect, while control buffers the impact of stress in experimental animals. However, it is also unclear whether control or lack of control alters emotional response to subsequent stimuli in humans. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of sense of control on the emotional experience and response to emotional stimuli in undergraduate students. Methods In Study 1, 488 participants were recruited to complete the questionnaires that included the Sense of Control Scale and Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). In Study 2, 55 participants were randomly divided into a control group and a lack of control group. A concept identification task was used to manipulate the perceived control. The PANAS and a picture rating task were conducted before and after the manipulation. Results In Study 1, The results revealed that the sense of control significantly predicted positive emotion (β = 0.28, p &lt; 0.001) and negative emotion (β = −0.36, p &lt; 0.001). In Study 2, compared to pre-test, the maintaining control group showed no significant changes in self-reported positive and negative emotion, nor in the valence ratings of emotion pictures after the manipulation. However, compared to pre-test, the lack of control group exhibited a decrease in self-reported positive emotion after the manipulation ( p &lt; 0.05), along with an increase in valence ratings for negative emotion pictures ( p &lt; 0.01). Additionally, the self-reported positive emotion in the lack of control group was lower than that in the control group after the manipulation ( p &lt; 0.05), while their valence ratings for negative emotion pictures were higher than those in the control group ( p &lt; 0.05). That is, maintaining control did not change the variables, while lack of control was associated with a decrease in positive affect and with valuing negative images as less negative. Conclusion Control did not significantly alter the emotional experience or response of individuals to emotional stimuli, whereas lack of control led to a decrease in positive affect and a decreased response to negative stimuli at the behavioral level.
Music listening can evoke a wide range of thought types, including autobiographical memories, fictional stories, visual imagery, and mind-wandering. Previous studies have typically examined these thought types individually, which precludes investigation of why certain music evokes certain thought types over others. This study investigates the impact of musical genre, familiarity, enjoyment, contrast, and emotional expression on the occurrence of different thought types during music listening across 17 genres targeted towards UK and US listeners. We systematically selected 356 music excerpts and collected data from 701 participants from the United Kingdom and the United States, analysing the frequency of thoughts occurring during these excerpts and various excerpt ratings (e.g., familiarity, emotional expression). We found significant genre-specific effects on thought types, such as Film music primarily evoking media memories and fictional imaginings. Familiarity, contrast, enjoyment, valence, and arousal ratings all significantly influenced certain thought types, suggesting that both compositional features and one’s previous experiences of music affect listeners’ inner mental worlds. This study extends previous research by exploring a broader range of genres and musical features, offering new insights into the mental landscape of thoughts occurring during music listening.
Abstract Sentence length, defined by the number of words contained in a sentence, has always been of great concern in linguistic research. Many studies have been conducted on the distribution of sentence length in specific languages. To further explore the characteristics and patterns of sentence length and their relationship with dependency distance in Spanish, we use the SUD syntactic treebank and conduct a quantitative analysis within the theoretical framework of dependency grammar. It is found that the sentence length distribution of Spanish follows a positive negative binomial model, and there is no significant difference in sentence length distribution among different mean dependency distances (MDDs), but the distribution of the number of sentences in different sentence length intervals follows a normal distribution. In Spanish, sentence length and MDD interact with each other – the longer the sentence is, the greater the MDD is, and vice versa – which is consistent with previous research findings. Also, as sentence length increases in Spanish, short-distance dependencies decrease, but remain within a certain range of fluctuations, which confirms once again that language is a complex and self-adaptive system driven by humans.
BACKGROUND: Color plays a pivotal role in visual perception, shaping emotions, attention, and cognition, particularly in art-related contexts. However, the influence of artistic training on color perception and neural processing remains poorly understood. METHODS: This study examined differences in color perception between art and non-art groups using behavioral ratings and EEG data. Forty-four participants (22 art majors: 21.82 ± 1.56 years old; 22 non-art majors: 20.73 ± 1.67 years old) with an equal gender ratio were recruited. Participants completed color perception tasks involving cool, warm, and neutral hues while EEG data were recorded with a 65-electrode system. Behavioral ratings and ERP components (P2 and P3) were analyzed, supplemented by decoding analysis to uncover neural processing patterns. RESULTS: Behavioral data indicated that warm hues elicited higher emotional valence ratings than cool and neutral hues for both groups. EEG analysis revealed that warm and cool hues evoked larger P3 amplitudes compared to neutral hues. A group-hue interaction was observed in the P2 component, with the non-art group showing greater variability in P2 amplitudes across hues. Decoding analysis provided further evidence of distinct neural processing differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that color perception differs between art and non-art groups, particularly in the neural processing of the P2 component. Warm and cool hues elicit stronger emotional and attentional responses, highlighting distinct cognitive mechanisms influenced by artistic expertise.
Language is a reflection of cultural identity. Linguistic norms imposed by dominant cultures denigrate Chicanos’ way of speaking. As a result, these norms convey the inferiority of Chicano cultural identities. This essay explores the ways in which these oppressive norms are conveyed and enforced and identifies the impacts of linguistic oppression. It also celebrates the marginalized dialects within her culture and advocates for resistance to linguistic assimilation.
Tabiiy tilni qayta ishlashda (NLP) parsing, treebank usullari gaplarning sintaktik tahlili, gaplardagi birliklarning sintaktik aloqalari va gap tuzilmasini belgilash bilan shug‘ullanadi. O‘zbek tili morfoanalizatorida 35 000 ta turli uzunlikdagi gaplar POS teglangan bo‘lib, keyingi bosqich esa o‘zbek tilida sintaktik teglash tizimini ishlab chiqish, teglarni taklif etish hisoblanadi. Maqolada o‘zbek tilida sintaktik parsing masalasi, gap bo‘laklarini aniqlash modellari va o‘zbek tili matnlarini dependency parsing qilish muammolari, sintaktik teglar masalasi tadqiq qilindi. O‘zbek tilida sintaktik parsing va treebank masalasi boshqa agglyutinativ tillar bilan solishtirilgan holda tahlil qilindi.
Information on the relationship between facial thermal responses and emotional state is valuable for sensing emotion. Yet, previous research has typically relied on linear methods of analysis based on regions of interest (ROIs), which may overlook nonlinear pixel-wise information across the face. To address this limitation, we investigated the use of machine learning (ML) for pixel-level analysis of facial thermal images to estimate dynamic emotional arousal ratings. We collected facial thermal data from 20 participants who viewed five emotion-eliciting films and assessed their dynamic emotional self-reports. Our ML models, including random forest regression, support vector regression, ResNet-18, and ResNet-34, consistently demonstrated superior estimation performance compared to traditional simple or multiple linear regression models for the ROIs. To interpret the nonlinear relationships between facial temperature changes and arousal, saliency maps and integrated gradients were used for the ResNet-34 model. The results show nonlinear associations of arousal ratings in nose = tip, forehead, and cheek temperature changes. These findings imply that ML-based analysis of facial thermal images can estimate emotional arousal more effectively, pointing to potential applications of non-invasive emotion sensing for mental health, education, and human-computer interaction.
Abstract Standardized quantitative measurement of texts lies at the heart of digital approaches to humanities. Structure-based textual measures are known to be influenced by the choice of syntactic annotation schemes. Building on previous research, the present article further explores the relation between annotation schemes and the index of mean dependency distance (MDD) by comparing the treebanks of seventeen languages, respectively, within a tree representation (basic universal dependencies, BUD) and within a graphic representation (enhanced universal dependencies, EUD). Following the idea of decomposing annotation schemes into the combinations of analyses of specific constructions (coordinate structures, control constructions, and relative clauses), we design algorithms to identify them in the CoNLL-U format treebanks and explore their influences. It is found that the overall MDD of the EUD representation is statistically higher than that of BUD at corpus level, primarily affected by the coordinate structure due to its high frequency. At sentence level, all three constructions might contribute to either increased or decreased MDD, with stochastically intervening words and word order being two important determinants of the values of the measure. Finally, we propose and argue for the view that MDDs calculated under different annotation schemes should be regarded as different textual measures in nature. In sum, the present study provides another case study to deepen our understanding of the nature of syntactic annotation schemes and its relation with textual indices, which paves the way for standard measurement of texts in future humanities research.
Abstract In this paper, we analyze question-answer pairs and stand-alone questions within the spoken discourse of TED Talks, specifically focusing on the TED-Multilingual Discourse Bank. Our aim is to reveal various characteristics of questions through an annotation approach. We have developed a taxonomy, referred to as the TAQ-TED, to categorize types of questions and examine their information transfer and dialogue control functions, drawing on the Dynamic Interpretation Theory++ taxonomy of dialogue acts and their attribution in accordance with the Penn Discourse Treebank annotation guidelines. We outline the taxonomy, present our annotation results, and provide a preliminary cross-linguistic analysis comparing English questions with their Turkish and Portuguese translations. The TAQ-TED represents a promising initial framework for annotating questions in monologic discourse across multiple languages.
Music- and distraction-induced pain reduction have been investigated extensively, yet the main mechanism underlying music-induced analgesia remains unknown. In this study, to assess whether music-induced analgesia primarily operates through cognitive modulation, we used the cold pressor task and objectively compared the pain tolerances of participants in a four-group between-subjects design: a music group that listened to a music piece in the absence of any tasks, a music-and-attention-to-music group that listened to the same piece while also rating the arousal levels in the music, a music-and-attention-to-pain group that rated their pain levels while listening to the same piece, and a silence group as control. The group passively exposed to music playback did not show significantly higher pain tolerance compared to the silence group. However, pain tolerances in the music group negatively correlated with participants' self-reported arousal ratings of the music at the end of the experiment. The groups that engaged in an active task - whether evaluating the arousal levels in the music or reporting their experienced pain levels - demonstrated similarly higher pain tolerances compared to the silence group. These findings suggest that engaging in a task, regardless of whether it involves exteroceptive or interoceptive attention, can enhance pain tolerance.
We address the challenge of syntactic parsing for Urdu, a morphologically rich language, and present state-of-the-art results for both constituency and dependency parsing. This paper offers four major contributions: 1) the conversion of the CLE-UTB phrase structure treebank into a dependency treebank by developing language-specific head-word and phrase-to-dependency label mapping rules; 2) a novel sequence labeling scheme that transforms the parsing task into a unified representation; 3) the training of contextualized word representations on a large 220 million tokens Urdu corpus collected from the web; and 4) development of parsing framework using two learning paradigms, single-task and multi-task learning. Several post-processing rules are applied to improve the quality of the automatically converted dependency structure treebank. The proposed sequence labeling scheme enables the use of a shared architecture that learns the syntactic structures from both grammatical structures simultaneously and hence improves generalization. Experiments show that the multi-task learning setup significantly enhances parsing performance, achieving an F1 score of 91.39 for constituency parsing (an improvement of 3.29 points) and a labeled attachment score of 85.69 for dependency parsing (an improvement of 1.49 points). These results demonstrate that learning cross-task representations provides measurable benefits and advances the state of syntactic parsing for Urdu.
Acceptability judgments are one of the major tools for (psycho)linguists to assess speakers’ preferences for specific utterances in a given language, shedding light on the grammar of the language under study. However, it is well known that factors that are not related to grammaticality, such as frequency of exposure, cognitive constraints, and others, can influence the perceived acceptability of an utterance. We will use the system of wh-interrogatives in French as an example to study the impact of linguistic norms on what is considered “good” French. In three experiments, we show that adult L1 French speakers have internalized the dichotomy between variants that are considered “good French”, according to the norms, and those that are suited to more informal daily life situations. Speakers can express these differences when given the appropriate tools, but not with a unique general acceptability scale. In line with previous work, we argue that acceptability judgments are a useful task, but that they need to be refined to account for sociolinguistic factors that constrain speakers’ assessments (i.e., linguistic norms, but also speaker group and formality of the context of interaction).
Abstract This study investigates the relationship between literature and poetry reading frequency and participants’ ratings of metaphors on key features: quality, aptness, familiarity, and comprehensibility. Using a set of Serbian poetic metaphors, we explored two main questions: how reading habits correlate with metaphor feature ratings, and whether the type of reading material (i.e., literature vs poetry) influences sensitivity to these features. The sample consisted of 140 native Serbian-speaking students from varied academic disciplines. Participants rated metaphors based on reading frequency (literature and poetry) using a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis showed that frequent readers generally gave higher overall metaphor ratings than infrequent readers, with significant differences noted particularly in familiarity and comprehensibility. Specifically, familiarity ratings yielded the most substantial differences between infrequent and frequent readers, which can indicate the influence of reading experience on the perceived recognition and understanding of metaphors. Aptness and quality ratings showed no significant differences, which suggests that familiarity and comprehensibility are more sensitive to variations in reading habits.
Background and aims: Despite a previously reported connection between compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB), such as problematic pornography use, and heightened cue-reactivity, empirical evidence of the alteration of processes responsible for increased salience attribution to erotic cues remains sparse. Drawing on similarities with addiction models, this study explores the neuronal mechanisms of CSB through the use of appetitive conditioning and extinction with erotic and monetary rewards. Methods: Thirty-two heterosexual males struggling with CSB (age: 28.9 ± 7.1), and 31 healthy matched participants (age: 27.8 ± 5.6) underwent active appetitive conditioning and extinction tasks in fMRI. The effects of conditioning and extinction towards cues of erotic and monetary rewards were measured via self-assessment (valence and arousal rating towards cues), behavior (reaction times), and brain reactivity. Results: In conditioning, subjective ratings increased, and reaction times were faster for both erotic and monetary cues among participants with CSB, along with altered activity in ventral striatum (vStr), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and anterior orbitofrontal cortex (aOFC). In extinction, self-assessment ratings remained elevated in the CSB group for both cues in a non-reward-specific fashion, accompanied by altered activity of dACC and vStr. Discussion and conclusions: These findings suggest enhanced incentive salience attribution to conditioned cues, highlighting a generalized motivational and value-related transfer from rewards to the cues in participants with CSB. Additionally, despite the absence of rewards, the persistence of arousal and valence towards cues underscored the maladaptive extinction process. These insights advance the understanding of CSB's neurobiological underpinnings and its relation to addiction frameworks.
Decision confidence is a prototypical metacognitive representation that is thought to approximate the probability that a decision is correct. The perception of being correct has also been associated with affective valence such that being correct feels more positive and being mistaken more negative. This suggests that, similarly to confidence, affective valence reflects the probability that a decision is correct. However, both fields of research have seen very little interaction. Here, we test if affect, similarly to confidence reflects probability that a decision is correct in two perceptual decision-making experiments where we compare the relationships of theoretically relevant variables (e.g. evidence, accuracy, and expectancy) with both confidence and affect ratings. The findings indicate that confidence and affect ratings are similarly sensitive to changes in accuracy, evidence, and expectancy, indicating that both track the subjective probability that a decision is correct. We identify various mechanisms that can explain these results. We also envision future research for clarifying the role of cognitive and affective aspects of metacognition relying on deeper integration of the respective research fields.
Emotional experiences involve dynamic multisensory perception, yet most EEG research uses unimodal stimuli such as naturalistic scene photographs. Recent research suggests that realistic emotional videos reliably reduce the amplitude of a steady-state visual evoked potential (ssVEP) elicited by a flickering border. Here, we examine the extent to which this video-ssVEP measure compares with the well-established Late Positive Potential (LPP) that is reliably larger for emotional relative to neutral scenes. To address this question, 45 participants viewed 90 matched pairs of realistic videos and scenes. Consistent with prior work, reduced 7-8 Hz ssVEP amplitude was evident during emotional relative to neutral videos. However, this reduction in power was not specific to the driving frequency of 7.5 Hz, and in fact, Fourier transformation analyses limited to 7.5 Hz were not modulated by video content. Still, at the group level, the video-driven reductions in 7-8 Hz power and LPP modulation by scenes produced similarly large valence effects, and both measures strongly correlated with arousal ratings. Consistent with previous research, the scene-LPP was sensitive to specific emotional contents (erotica and gore) somewhat inconsistent arousal ratings. In contrast, the video-driven oscillation modulation did not show this content sensitivity and was better explained by individual arousal ratings per video clip. In sum, these results show that the 7.5 Hz flickering-border paradigm does not index emotional engagement with video stimuli, yet emotional videos do evoke robust decreases in 3-10 Hz oscillatory power that is somewhat distinct from emotional modulation of the scene-evoked LPP. Matched emotional video and scenes evoke large EEG responses compared with neutral content within-participant. Our findings align with previous research indicating that video modulation of power around the evoked 7.5 Hz ssVEP frequency (7-8 Hz) serves as a reliable emotional measure. However, further analyses reveal that this effect is attributable to a general decrease in power across the 3-10 Hz frequency range.
Formulaic Networks as Prototypical Categories: Combining the Ancient Greek Dependency Treebank with the Ancient Greek WordNet for a Pilot Study on the Iliad was published in Advances in Ancient Greek Linguistics on page 737.
BACKGROUND: Emotion dysregulation is a central feature in trauma-associated disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, it remains unclear whether emotion dysregulation is a transdiagnostic phenomenon closely linked to childhood trauma, or if disorder-specific alterations in emotion processing exist. Following a multimethodological approach, we aimed to assess and compare the reactivity to and regulation of emotions between patients with BPD and PTSD, as well as healthy controls, and identify associations with childhood trauma. METHODS: A total of 135 women, 43 healthy controls, 43 with BPD and 49 with PTSD, took part in a multimethodological assessment of emotional reactivity and regulation. Self-report measures were used to assess childhood trauma and emotion dysregulation. Additionally, participants performed a classic emotion regulation (ER) paradigm. Subjective emotional valence ratings and neurophysiological responses (P3 and late positive potential, LPP) were measured in response to negative, positive, and neutral pictures (emotional reactivity) and during active regulation vs. passive viewing of negative pictures (ER). RESULTS: Regarding emotional reactivity, during the experimental paradigm both patient groups reported lower emotional valence after viewing positive or neutral pictures compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, P3 amplitudes in response to neutral pictures were reduced in both patient groups and in response to negative pictures, specifically in patients with PTSD. Regarding ER, while both patient groups self-reported significant disturbances in ER, neither valence ratings nor neurophysiological responses assessed during the ER task (P3, LPP) differed from healthy controls. Across groups, childhood trauma was related to decreased emotional valence ratings on neutral and positive pictures and higher self-reported emotion dysregulation. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BPD and PTSD exhibited a reduced emotional reactivity in response to positive and neutral information. Specifically, patients with PTSD demonstrated hypo-reactivity to neutral and trauma-unrelated negative stimuli, which might be due to altered attentional resource allocation following trauma. Although patients reported using adaptive ER strategies less frequently in daily life, they effectively implemented them when instructed to, highlighting important clinical and theoretical implications.
Целта на статията е да представи методика за разработване на български жестов речник за комуникация в кризисни ситуации. Езиковите данни са извлечени в съответствие с основни лексикографски принципи за създаване на жестови речници въз основа на наблюдения върху употребата на жестовете. В специално организирани семинари с глухи модератори, провеждани под формата на свободна дискусия в платформата Zoom за онлайн комуникация, се осигурява възможност на глухи носители и ползватели на българския жестов език да общуват, без да се допуска интерференция от български словесен език. Извлечените данни се обработват ръчно в специализираната програма ELAN за лингвистична обработка на видеофайлове, за да се опишат всички варианти на жестове на ключови думи, разпределени по тематични области от кризисната комуникация. В крайния си вариант речникът съдържа 600 единици и ясно демонстрира, че няма пълно съответствие между речниковите единици на българския словесен и българския жестов език, като липсват много жестове за ключови понятия от областта на кризисната комуникация. Библиография: Лозанова, Сл., Стоянова, Ив. (2016). Интеркултурни и социолингвистични особености на жестовия език в общността на хората с увреден слух в България. Сборник Паисиеви четения: Език, литература и интеркултурна комуникация, 2016:290-302. Лозанова, Сл. (2015). Семиотични аспекти на вербално-жестовия билингвизъм при деца с увреден слух. Дисертация за присъждане на научната степен „доктор”, Нов български универсистет. Лозанова, Сл. (2018). Българският жестов език като предмет на лингвосемиотично изследване – методология и изводи. Сб. Научни и практически аспекти на приобщаващото образование, УИ Св. Климент Охридски, 260–269. Тишева Й., В. Христова, В. Жобов, Г. Дачева, Кр. Алексова, П. Ангелкова, Ц. Попзватева, Ю. Стоянова. (2017). Речник на българския жестов език. Изд. Изкуство и образование. МОН., София. Достъпен на: https://mon.bg/upload/21132/Rechnik_bg_zhestov_ezik.pdf. Bond, Fr., Foster, R. (2013). Linking and extending an open multilingual Wordnet. In Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers), pages 1352–1362, Sofia, Bulgaria. Association for Computational Linguistics. Crasborn, O., Sloetjes, H. (2008). Enhanced ELAN functionality for sign language corpora. In Proceedings of LREC 2008, Sixth International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. Fellbaum, C. (ed.). (1999). WordNet: an Electronic Lexical Database. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Fenlon, J., Schembri, A., Johnson, T., Cormier, K. (2015). Documentary and Corpus Approaches to Sign Language Research. In The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Sign Language Studies, ed. by E. Orfanidou, B. Woll & G. Morgan, 156–172. Oxford: Blackwell. Koeva, Sv. (2010). Bulgarian Wordnet – current state, applications and prospects. Bulgarian-American Dialogues, 120–132. Lucas, C., Clayton, V. (1989). Language contact in the American Deaf community: The sociolinguistics of the Deaf community. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.