Travaux neuchâtelois de linguistique

Table des matières

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Table des matières

Theoretical issues in the light of the interaction between quantitative and qualitative data: recent approaches and tendencies. An introduction

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Introduction

Modality and Reality: The value of speech in context

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A central challenge for work on modality is delineating the domain and the categories within it, due in

part to the fact that both are constantly evolving. Our understanding of possible systems and their

components can thus be enhanced by learning more about how they develop through time. Because

modality distinctions play major roles in social interaction, examination of spontaneous interactive

speech can be particularly useful for uncovering the steps by which markers can progress and the

motivations behind them. One longstanding puzzle has been whether irrealis distinctions should be

included within modality. Here some reasons behind the dilemma are explored by tracing developments

of an irrealis category in Northern Iroquoian languages, exemplified by Mohawk (Kanien'kéha'). The

examination of speech in use, coupled with insights from speakers, provides clues to likely pathways of

development and the discourse and social contexts facilitating them.

Stylometry and Deep Learning: A case study on Milan Kundera's Le Livre du rire et de l'oubli

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This study aims to uncover the prototypical linguistic elements and patterns of Kundera's prose in his

novel Le Livre du rire et de l'oubli (1979, Gallimard). The exploration employs statistical and machine

learning techniques, including the application of Hyperbase in both its web and standard versions.

Hyperbase provides deep learning features for text classification tasks (Savoy 2015; Tuzzi & Cortelazzo

2018), based on convolutional neural networks (Kalchbrenner et al. 2014; Kim 2014) which go beyond

the process of convolution and incorporate an innovative deconvolution mechanism that extracts key

linguistic markers essential for classification purposes (Vanni et al. 2018; Mayaffre & Vanni 2021). The

training of the Hyperbase deep learning model involves an extensive corpus containing novels by 36

authors, including Kundera, thus encompassing the French literature landscape from 1960-2014. The

study leads to the identification of linguistic markers related to vocabulary, morphosyntax, lexical and

grammatical patterns, and lexico-grammatical structures. These markers are then examined to reveal

the underlying aesthetic intentions of the author. The conclusion focuses on the contribution of deep

learning and statistics in the context of this qualitative linguistic study of a literary text.

Modal markers in co-occurrence: a study on Terence's comedies

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This paper presents a corpus-based study on the co-occurrence of lexical modal markers expressing possibility or necessity in the six comedies written by Terence. Although the co-occurrence of modal markers has long been discussed in the literature, a systematic and comprehensive study of this phenomenon is still lacking, and studies on Latin are almost absent. In this paper I will first provide a quantitative overview of the phenomenon, discussing my methodological approach and challenges linked to it. Then I will delve into the qualitative analysis of the passages with co-occurrence, focusing on both the interactions observed between types of modality and the use of the co-occurrence for argumentative purposes in specific contexts.

We need world-wide corpus-based typology: A parallel corpus study of restrictives ('only')

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Language is a tool for communication in concrete use and there are several thousand languages; hence, approaches that are both corpus-linguistically and typologically informed must play an important role in linguistics. This is demonstrated in an investigation of the generally expressed meaning (GEM) 'only', considered here in translations of the New Testament. It is shown that restrictives are universal (are attested in all 121 languages of a stratified sample from 121 language families and isolates), that the generally expressed meaning (GEM) 'only' differs considerably from the parochially expressed meaning (PEM) of English only, that restriction plays an important role in discourse and that the use of restrictives exhibits hemispheric differences with the Pacific and the Afro-Eurasian linguistic hemispheres reflecting partly different usage patterns. It is argued that these differences are deeply rooted in discourse (parole) rather than grammar and lexicon (langue) and are so common in discourse that they percolate to written Bible translations.