Friday, March 20, 2020

Study of Cephaolpods essays

Study of Cephaolpods essays Cephalopods are a remarkable group of animals, with a huge array of adaptations. They can change colour faster than a chameleon plus change texture and body shape. They have three hearts pumping blue blood, are jet powered (water is forced through their siphon by contracting their mantel to provide quick thrust) and have representatives in all oceans of the world - from the tropics to the poles - the intertidal to the abyss. And have even inspired legends and stories since recorded history began. Cephalopods first appeared some time in the late Cambrian, several million years before the first primitive fish began swimming in the ocean. They are believed to be the ancestors of modern cephalopods (Subclass Coleoidea) diverged from the primitive externally shelled Nautiloidea (Nautilus) very early - possibly in the Ordovician, some 438 million years ago. -This is before the first mammals appeared, before vertebrates invaded land and even before there were fish in the ocean and upright plants on land! Thus, nautilus is very different from modern cephalopods in terms of morphology and life history. They were once one of the most dominant life forms in the world's oceans; today there are only 650 or so living species. (Levinton 2001) Octopuses, squids, cuttlefish and the chambered nautilus belong to class Cephalopoda ('head-foot') and the phylum Mollusca. They are nearly always carnivorous, and are characterised by complex behaviour, a well-organised nervous system and a circle of grasping arms, and a powerful beak. Cephalopods are therefore related to bivalves (scallops, oysters, and clams), gastropods (snails and slugs), scaphopoda (tusk shells), and polyplacophorans (chitons). Some of these molluscs, like the bivalves, don't even have a head, much less something large enough to be called a brain! Yet cephalopods have well-developed eyes and other senses that rival our own, large brains, and even show learning and memory skills. M...

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Structure Dependency and Grammar

Structure Dependency and Grammar The linguistic principle that grammatical processes function primarily on structures in sentences, not on single words or sequences of words is termed structure-dependency. Many linguists view structure-dependency as a principle of universal grammar. The Structure Of Language The principle of structure-dependency compels all languages to move parts of the sentence around in accordance with its structure rather than just the sheer order of words. . . .Structure-dependency could not be acquired by children from hearing sentences of the language; rather, it imposes itself on whatever language they encounter, just as in a sense the pitch range of the human ear restricts the sounds we can hear. Children do not have to learn these principles but apply them to any language they hear. (Michael Byram, Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. Routledge, 2000)All speakers of English know structure-dependency without having given it a moments thought; they automatically reject *Is Sam is the the cat that black? even if they have never encountered its like before. How do they have this instant response? They would accept many sentences that they have never previously encountered, so it is not just that they have never heard it before. Nor is structure -dependency transparent from the normal language they have encounteredonly by concocting sentences that deliberately breach it can linguists show its very existence. Structure-dependency is, then, a principle of language knowledge built-in to the human mind. It becomes part of any language that is learned, not just of English. Principles and parameters theory claims that an important component of the speakers knowledge of any language such as English is made up of a handful of general language principles such as structure-dependency. (Vivian Cook, Universal Grammar and the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages. Perspectives On Pedagogical Grammar, ed. by Terence Odlin. Cambridge University Press, 1994) Interrogative Structures ​One example of a universal principle is structure-dependency. When a child learns interrogative sentences, it learns to place the finite verb in sentence initial position: (9a.) The doll is pretty(9b.) Is the doll pretty?(10a.) The doll is gone(10b.) Is the doll gone? If children lacked insight into structure-dependency, it should follow that they make errors such as (11b), since they would not know that the doll is pretty is the sentence to be put in the interrogative form: (11a.) The doll that is gone, is pretty.(11b.) *Is the doll that (0) gone, is pretty?(11c.) Is the doll that is gone (0) pretty? But children do not seem to produce incorrect sentences such as (11b), and nativist linguists therefore conclude that insight into structure-dependency must be innate. (Josine A. Lalleman, The State of the Art in Second Language Acquisition Research. Investigating Second Language Acquisition, ed. by Peter Jordens and Josine Lalleman. Mouton de Gruyter, 1996) The Genitive Construction ​The genitive construction in English can . . . help us illustrate the concept of structure- dependency. In (8) we see how the genitive attaches to the noun student: (8) The students essay is very good. If we construct a longer noun phrase, the genitive s will come at the very end, or edge, of the NP, independently of the category of the word: (9) [That young student from Germany]s essay is very good.(10) [The student you were talking to]s essay is very good. The rule that determines the genitives construction is based on the Noun Phrase: s is attached to the edge of the NP. (Mireia Llins et al., Basic Concepts for the Analysis of English Sentences. Universitat Autà ²noma de Barcelona, 2008) Also Known As: syntactic structure-dependency