RiAn.Gauge 語量計

【語理有約22｜Drops of Theories 22】
想像一下大腦平時的運作，
我們是做到如何使用兩種或以上的語言的呢？
今天我們從適應控制假說找一些啟發，
看看環境對我們語言選擇和抑制的影響～

Imagine how our brain functions, and how we make use of two or more languages.
Let’s get some ideas from Adaptive Control Hypothesis about the influence brought by the environment on the selection and suppression of languages.

【語日俱增22｜Drops of Word 22】
談「兔」得體 Let’s rabbit on about rabbit!

新春癸卯兔年將至， RiAn.Gauge 跟大家談兔子相關的成語或短語，助大家學習「兔」飛猛進。
The Year of Rabbit is coming and let’s come across some idioms or phrases related to rabbits!

💧 與中文意義相近的英語成語 – English Idioms that share similar meanings with their Chinese counterpart
中：動如脫兔
英： Quick like a Bunny
意義：就好像兔子的敏捷反應，兩者皆比喻行動迅速。
Meaning: The two idioms both describe quick action/ reaction without delay.

💧 非常顯淺易明的成語 – English Idioms that can easily be understood
~ Pull a rabbit out of the hat
想像一下魔術師從帽子中拿出兔子來帶出的驚喜。
Imagine seeing a magician pulling a rabbit out of of its hat: it signifies the surprise brought by seeing something done which is considered impossible.

~ To run after two hares
正如你幾乎不可能同一時間追兩只兔，這比喻一個人嘗試同一個時間完成兩個任務但失敗。
Just like it is nearly impossible to catch two hares at the same time, this idiom means failing an attempt to accomplish two tasks simultaneously.

💧 很難一眼看明的成語 – English Idioms that are very implicit
~ To turn rabbit
這不是說變成兔子，而是指因害怕而放棄或臨陣退縮的意思。
It refers to the situation when someone decides not to do something or give up because they are scared.

Example sentence: "We were all committed to climbing up to the peak, but Simon turned rabbit, and we had to reconsider the whole thing."

~ A rabbit trail
可以想像一下兔子四處蹦跳留下的痕跡，比喻討論離題萬丈。
This idiom refers to a discussion that has gone off the topic.

Example sentence: "Everything Jack said until that point made sense. But he suddenly went off on a rabbit trail, and nothing made any sense from then on."

~ Rabbit on (about sb/sth)
當 “rabbit” 用作短語動詞的時候，會指一個人沒完沒了地說廢話。
When “rabbit” is used as a phrasal verb, it refers to the situation when someone keeps on talking about things that are unimportant or uninteresting.

RiAn.Gauge 祝大家新的一年「常保一線」、「兔」氣揚眉！
Wishing everyone a COVID-free new year filled with happiness and fruits!

https://www.chinesewords.org/sentence/14686-902.html
https://discover.hubpages.com/literature/rabbit-idioms

【語出驚人21 | Drops of Phenomenon 21】

模稜兩可? 結構歧義?
Structural ambiguity in English sentences

💧 應該有不少朋友看過 “A woman without her man is nothing” 這句子。這句除了告訴大家標點符號的重要性外，也其實揭示了句子結構中結構歧義 (Structural Ambiguity) 的常見。今期讓我們看一下這饒有趣味的語言現象。

💧We believe many of you have seen the sentence “A woman without her man is nothing”. In fact, this example states not only the fact that punctuations are important, but also how common structural ambiguity is in English sentences.

💧以 “A woman without her man is nothing” 為例 (看圖)，若把 “without her man” 看成是修飾 “A woman” 的一個元素，那就會出現第一個意思， “A woman, without her man, is nothing” (女人沒有了她的男人甚麼也不是)。但假如把 “A woman, without her,” 看成是 “man is nothing” 這個主句的副詞短語，那句子就會變成是 “A woman, without her, man is nothing” (女人，沒有了她，男人甚麼也不是) 這個恰好相反的意思。
💧Take “A woman without her man is nothing” as an example, if we treat “without her man” as an element that modifies “a woman”, the first meaning of “A woman, without her man, is nothing” can be interpreted. But if we treat “A woman, without her” as the adverbial of the main clause “man is nothing”, the meaning will become “A woman, without her, man is nothing”.

💧根據 Simatupang (2007) 的分析，在英語句子結構中，像以上這類型一語多義的句子結構至少可分成5類：
💧Based on the analysis of Simatupang (2007), there are at least five types of structures that structural ambiguity can be seen:

1. 動詞短語 + 名詞短語 + 介詞短語 (VP + NP + PP)
例如：The girl hit the boy with a book  是女孩襲擊帶著書的男孩? 還是女孩用書襲擊男孩?
Was it the girl hit the boy who was carrying a book, or did the girl use a book to hit the boy?

2. 動名詞 + 動詞詞組 (Gerund + VP)
例如：Visiting relatives can be boring  究竟是來訪的親戚可以很沉悶，還是外訪親戚這活動很沉悶?
Is it that the relatives who visit are boring, or the activity of visiting other relatives is boring?

3. 動詞短語 + 名詞短語 + more… than + 名詞短語 (VP + NP + more… than + NP)
例如：She loves linguistics more than her boyfriend  究竟是她愛語言學多於她男友？還是她比她男友更愛語言學?
Is it that she loves linguistics more than she loves her boyfriend, or she loves linguistics more than her boyfriend loves linguistics?

4. 動詞短語 + 名詞短語 + 介詞短語1 + 介詞短語2 (VP + NP + PP1 + PP2)
例如：Put the bottle on the table in the kitchen  究竟是把放在桌上的樽放進廚房，還是把樽放進廚房內的桌上?
Is it to put the bottle that is on the table in the kitchen, or to put the bottle on the table which is in the kitchen?

5. 名詞短語 + 形容詞從句 (NP + Adj. Clause)
例如，The teacher thanked the students who had given her some flowers  是老師只感謝了送她花的同學，抑或是老師感謝了所有同學，他們向她致送了花。
Is it that the teacher only expressed thanks to the students who had given her some flowers, or the teacher expressed thanks to all students who had given her some flowers?

💧雖然以上5個情況可以藉一些小修改讓意思單一化，如 “The girl hit the boy with a book. The book is broken.”、”She loves linguistics more than her boyfriend does”，以及 “Put the bottle / on the table in the kitchen”，但小編認為正正就是這種模稜兩可、結構歧義的現象才讓原來的語言更有趣味，至於人的腦是可以怎樣自動詮釋這些一語多義的句子情況，就留待下一次再跟大家討論。
💧Simply by making some minor changes to the above five situations, like “The girl hit the boy with a book. The book is broken,” “She loves Linguistics more than her boyfriend does,” and “Put the bottle / on the table in the kitchen”, we can avoid the ambiguity of the meanings. However, we believe that it is exactly the phenomenon of structural ambiguity that makes language itself more interesting. As for how the human brain can automatically interpret these ambiguous structures, we will discuss it next time.

💧 References
Burton-Roberts, N. (2022). Analysing sentences: An introduction to English syntax (5th ed). Routledge.
Simatupang, M. S. (2007). How ambiguous is the structural ambiguity. Jurnal Lingua Cultura, 1(2), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v1i2.315

【語理有約21｜Drops of Theories 21】

💧 我們的記憶及認知資源有限
分配是學習的關鍵！
看看認知負荷理論和訊息處理模型
能不能給大家一些學習上的啟發～

💧 We have limited capacities of memory and cognitive resources. Thus, how we make arrangements is the key to learning. Let’s see how Cognitive Load Theory and Information Processing Models can give us some inspiration for learning.

References:
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science. 12(2), 257–285.

【語日俱增21｜Drops of Word 21】

又到聖誕、又到聖誕… 讓RiAn.Gauge與大家帶來關於聖誕傳統的字詞來源，用一些聖誕冷知識跟大家歡度佳節。
We wish you a Merry Christmas and let’s celebrate this festival with some more trivia about Christmas

💧 Sugarplum & plum pudding = 糖梅子與梅子布甸?
Sugarplum 其實是小顆圓粒糖果的意思。用上 “plum” 的原因相傳有幾個：1. 傳統上，sugarplum 是用凝固了的糖多層地繞在果實或堅果或香料上，出來的模樣跟梅子很相像，因此得名。2. “plum” 一詞在十八、十九世紀可用作一大疊金錢，甚至渴望得到的東西，所以當時的人就把在糖果廠堆積如山的糖果統稱為 sugarplum，泛指一大堆糖果。
至於 plum pudding，其實就是 Christmas pudding的意思。用上 “plum” 一詞，是因為過往 plum 曾被用作指葡萄乾 (raisin)。這個別稱來自17世紀，人們在食譜中用葡萄乾取代梅子乾或布冧而來。另外，不得不提的是，”pudding”一詞原指混雜肉類、穀類、香料、動物血液與內臟煮成的醬料，後來才發展成其他相近的食物混合物，以及近代我們認識的布甸。

💧 Sugarplum & plum pudding = Candies and pudding made from plum?
Sugarplum is in fact a type of small hard candy made from sugar that is round or oval in shape. There are two main versions of the reason why “plum” is used: 1. traditionally, sugarplum is made with hardened sugar that is wrapped in layers around seeds, nuts or spices. Its size and shape turns out to be like a plum, and hence the name. 2. In the 18th and 19th Century the word “plum” can mean “a big pile of money”, and desirable things. Therefore, people call the heaps of candies at a confectionery “sugarplum”, referring to a big heap of candies.
As for plum pudding, it is indeed Christmas pudding. The word “plum” is used because previously, in the late 1600s, “plum” meant “raisin”. People substituted dried plums and prunes with raisins and currants. Interestingly, the word “pudding” can refer to a type of sausage made from a mixture of meat, cereal, spices, and even animal blood and intestines. The meaning further extended to similar food mixtures and finally, the dessert that we know now.

💧 Spruce = 一個國家名?
雲杉木是常見製作聖誕樹的木材，但原來 “spruce” 一詞以往曾經是普魯士 (Prussia，已於1947年併入波蘭和前蘇聯) 國家的英語名稱。該用法起源於該國的英法名稱 Pruce 的變體。 許多從該國進口的商品，如帆布、鐵皮、皮革相當著名，而當中最重要該數是高大筆直的雲杉樹。自從17世紀中期普魯士的國名由 Prussia 取代，但 spruce 作為雲杉木之名稱得以代代相傳。

💧 Spruce = A name of a nation?
Spruce is a common type of log for making Christmas trees. However, the word “spruce” was once the English name of the nation of Prussia (the country became part of Poland and former Soviet Union in 1947). The name came from the alternation of the Anglo-French name for the country, Pruce. Products from Spruce, such as canvas, iron and leather were famous and among them, the most important one was the tall straight conifer of spruce. Although since the middle of the 17th Century the name of the nation has been supplanted by Prussia, the name “spruce” still remains to be the name of the tree until now.

💧 crèche = 托兒所?
馬槽在聖誕意義上的地位超然，但在十四世紀，「馬槽」版本，包括 cratch、cracche、crache 和 crecche，被用來描述盛放牲畜飼料的槽或用來識別安放耶穌的馬槽。 到 18 世紀後期，crèche（從法語中借來，現在有時拼寫時沒有重音符號）已經取代了先前的版本，而這個詞也失去了它以前的“馬槽”意思，而專指耶穌誕生的場景。
有趣的是，在 19 世紀，crèche 被用作指代托兒所。在 20 世紀初，科學家甚至借用這個詞來指代一個由成年人集體照料一群如企鵝或蝙蝠不同血統的幼小動物的日託中心。

💧 crèche = nursery?
Crèche has an extraordinary status in Christmas. In the 1300s, there were different versions including cratch、cracche、crache and crecche that refer to the trough where feed for livestock is placed, and also the manger where Jesus was laid. It was in late 18th Century that the form “crèche” (a term borrowed from French and can be spelt without the accent mark now) displaced those previous forms, and lost its former meaning of "manger", serving only specifically the meaning of the Nativity scene itself.

💧Santa Claus
Santa Claus 這個英文來自其他歐洲語言，而他的原型跟我們刻版印象中的聖誕老人也有所不同。詳情看圖獲取！

The English name Santa Claus comes from other European languages. One of the explanations of the prototype of it is actually Saint Nicholas, an early Christian bishop in the city of Myra. There is a story about him: in the town of Myra lived a poor man who was too poor to buy his three daughters dowry. On knowing this Bishop Nicholas climbed up the roof of the poor man’s house in the middle of the night and tossed into the house some gold coins through the chimney. With the money, the three daughters got married happily. In order to express the gratitude, people in Myra set up the Saint Nicholas Day.
In Dutch, Saint Nicholas is Sinterklaas and when it was passed to English the name became Santa Claus, and still carrying the tradition as someone who tosses gifts into people’s house through the chimney.
You may wonder why when the tradition of Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus are not related to an old man, why is it the usual image in our mind?
This famous image of an old man with long white beard in red outfit carrying a heavy bag is actually a part of the marketing campaign of the famous Coca-Cola Company, fitting their red motifs.
By the way, Santa Claus can also be called Father Christmas.

References:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/christmas-word-origins
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/12/sugar-plums-theyre-not-what-you-think-they-are/68385/
https://www.chron.com/business/article/This-is-how-Coca-Cola-invented-Santa-Claus-16727869.php

Wikipedia

【語出驚人20 | Drops of Phenomenon 20】

💧之前語出驚人跟大家談過英語課堂焦慮 (English Language Classroom Anxiety) ，當中有提到我們在現有的外語課堂焦慮量表 (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale，簡稱 FLCAS)中加入同儕影響 (peer influence)的構念，今期就讓我們來看看同儕對學習英語焦慮的影響。

💧In our previous post we mentioned English Language Classroom Anxiety., in which we discussed adding the construct of ‘peer influence’ in Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz et al. (1986).

💧從過往的文獻之中，Bekleven (2004) 曾引述 Young (1990) 的研究並指出在語言課堂中當學生在他們的同儕面前說話時他們面對的焦慮最大，而Horwitz 等人 (1986) 也提出過當學生要用所學習語言在同儕面前溝通的時候他們感到受威脅。

💧 From the previous literature, Bekleven (2004) cited Young's (1990) research and stated that in language classrooms students face the greatest anxiety when they speak in front of their peers, while Horwitz et al. (1986) also suggested that students feel intimidated when they have to communicate in the target language in front of their peers.

💧兩位小編在分析過2020年研究的數據後，抽取不同的量表項目用以設計一個專門量度同儕對語言學習焦慮的量表，經過驗證式因素分析 (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) 後，歸納成一個共有19個李克特五點選項 (5-point Likert item) 的項目的量表，當中分為3個構念，分別是缺乏同儕支持 (Lack of Peer Support)、來自評價的壓力 (Pressure from Evaluation)，以及害怕自卑 (Fear of Inferiority)。

💧After analyzing the data from our 2020 study, we extracted different scale items to design a scale that specifically measures anxiety about language learning that arises from peers. After confirmatory factor analysis, it was condensed into a total of 19 five-point Likert scale items, which can be divided into 3 constructs, namely Lack of Peer Support, Pressure from Evaluation, and Fear of Inferiority.

💧在接下來對超過120名來自本澳的一所大學的學生做的研究結果指出，參與者感到最焦慮的3項，依次為「當我的同學聽不懂我的英語的時候我感覺到有壓力」、「如果要我和英語說得比我好的同學一起於口語活動之中合作，我往往會少說話」，以及「當一個和我英語能力相當的同學在考試中得到比我更高的分數時，我感到沮喪」，結果可見參與者很重視亦擔憂同儕對他們說英語的評價，也害怕在學習英語時被比不去。

💧In the following research conducted on more than 120 students from a university in Macau, it was found that the three items that the participants felt most anxious were, in descending order, "I feel nervous when my classmates don't understand my English.", "If I were to cooperate with a classmate who speaks English better than me in an oral activity, I would tend to speak less", and "When a classmate of similar English competence scored higher than me in a test, I felt frustrated". The results showed that the participants valued and worried about their peers' evaluation of their English, and were afraid of being inferior when learning English.

💧由此可見，在英語教學上，老師可以注意協助同學改善發音及口語情況以幫助他們增強自信，亦可以減輕課堂活動中對分數的重視。在需要同儕互評的活動之中，老師可以多鼓勵同儕之間的支持以減輕不安感。

💧 It can be seen that in English teaching, teachers can pay more attention to helping students improve their pronunciation and oral English to help them enhance their self-confidence. They can also reduce the emphasis on scores in classroom activities. In activities that require peer review, teachers can encourage peer support to mitigate the negative effects brought by peer existence.

💧References
Bekleyen, N. (2004). The Influence of Teachers And Peers on Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. Dil Dergisi, 123, 49-66.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132.
Lei, U. M., & Chan, K. L. (2020). Implications of foreign language classroom anxiety to Macau EFL students. Korea TESOL Journal, 15(2), 127-150.

【語理有約 20｜Drops of Theories 20】

💧語言學和文學有關係嗎？
本次回應很久以前讀者的問題—「睇樣睇語言學同文學之爭」
小編認為它們是非常獨立的學科
但有一定的關係
不同於提問者所說的「鬥爭」關係🌚
小篇認為它們更像是有「互利」關係🌝

💧 Are Linguistics and Literature related?
Quite a while ago, a follower asked us our opinion about the ‘fight’ between Linguistics and Literature.
While we believe that they are two independent fields of study, they are related to some extent.
We will not say that they form a "combat" relationship mentioned in the inquiry; instead, they form more like a "mutually beneficial" relationship!

【語日俱增 20｜Drops of Words 20】

💧每天有24小時，我想和你分享最後一個月的5分鐘
無論今年過得如何👀
所有事情都值得回顧☺️
這個post也值得大家用5分鐘
想想今年發生過的事、重要的字詞

💧 December has come, representing the end of 2022. How is your 2022? Anyway, let’s look at the words of 2022, which might help you recall some important events of this year.

【語出驚人19 | Drops of Phenomenon 19】

💧西班牙語中的”喜歡”和”愛”多少有點複雜
主格受格切換得讓人忘了誰愛了誰
本次貼文給大家一些語言學insight~
看看能不能讓你秒懂！👌🏻🥹

💧In Spanish, expressions for “like” and “love” are complicated.
The switch between the nominative and the accusative can sometimes make one forget who loves whom
In this post, let us get some insights from Spanish and see if you can understand it quickly.

【語理有約 19｜Drops of Theories 19】

💧今天跟大家分享與語言學相關的引言
以及一些小編自己的見解
看看是不是也能打動你！

💧 Let’s look at some quotes related to linguistics today. All these have been specially selected by us that reflect our feeling about linguistics and see how many of them echo your perspection about linguistics.

【語日俱增19｜Drops of Word 19】
10月跟我們一起「葡」一下
Vamos falar inglês

💧 Rian.Gauge一週年之後，第一個特別活動，就是與 合辦一個貼文。

💧 Our first special episode following the first anniversary, is a joint post with Portculture.

💧 相信大家也知道，因為不同的因素，英文字的詞源有的時候非常複雜。即使是同一個字的詞源，也可能會有不同的說法。今期語日俱增讓我們提供一些關於日常英文生詞詞源比較有跡可尋的說法。雖然我們的詮釋不一定百分百準確，仍然希望可以給大家一些啟發。

💧 It is commonly known that due to different factors, the etymologies of English words are hard to trace. There can be different understanding of the etymology of the same word. Today, let’s look at the etymologies of some common English words. We cannot guarantee a 100% accurate interpretation; yet we hope that we can offer you some inspiration.

💧其實大家每天也會用到的英語生詞之中，有不少的發展過程中涉及了葡萄牙語的，就讓我們跟大家「葡淘」尋寶一番。

💧 In fact, Portuguese plays a role in the development of a lot of English words that we use every day. Let’s go for a treasure hunt of them today!

💧 比葡萄更「葡萄牙」的英語食物名稱
Names of Food that have an origin in Portuguese

💧 Banana 香蕉
大家幼稚園可能已經認識這個英語生詞。其實這個生詞相傳是來自一個來自非洲西部沃洛夫語（Wolof）中的 banäna，15世紀的時候因葡萄牙人入侵該地而該詞傳入葡語。最後，於16世紀大航海時代葡萄牙人將香蕉帶到美洲，亦因此banana一詞傳入英語當中。

This word you have probably known since kindergarten is said to come from “banana” from the Wolof language in West Africa, which was introduced into Portuguese in the 15th century when the Portuguese invaded the region. Finally, the Portuguese brought bananas to America in the 16th century during the Age of Exploration, and thus the word banana was introduced into English.

💧 Caramel 焦糖
Caramel 一詞原身是法語，是從從西班牙語一詞caramelo借來的，但其實caramelo本身可能來自葡萄牙語caramelo (其中 o mel意思是蜜糖，而caramelo 是 ‘burnt sugar’的意思)，而葡語 caramelo 則源自中世紀拉丁文 cannamellis (canna = “cane” = ‘如甘蔗的’；mellis = “honey” = ‘蜜糖’)。換言之，英語的 caramel 的「老祖宗」可能就是葡萄牙語。

The word “caramel” is originally French and is borrowed from the Spanish word “caramel”, but even the word “caramel” itself may actually come from the Portuguese “caramel” (where “o mel” means ‘honey’ and “caramel” means 'burnt sugar'), and the Portuguese word “caramel” is derived from the Medieval Latin “cannamellis” (“canna” = ‘cane’ = 'like cane'; “mellis” = ‘honey’). In other words, the ‘ancestor’ of English caramel may be Portuguese.

💧 Mango 芒果
跟 Caramel 的情況剛好相反，mango起源於16世紀的葡萄牙語manga，但其實這葡萄牙語源自馬來語mangga。16世紀的時候經葡萄牙人輸入到世界上不同的地方。事實上，甚至mangga也是源自泰米爾語மாங்கனி，其中ma (= “mango/ mango tree” = ‘芒果/芒果樹’) + kay (= “unripe fruit” = ‘未熟的水果’)。

Contrary to the situation of “caramel”, “mango” originated from the 16th century Portuguese “manga”, which in fact was derived from the Malay “mangga”. It was imported to different parts of the world by Portuguese in the 16th century. In fact, even “mangga” is derived from the Tamil word “மாங்கனி”, where “ma” (= “mango/ mango tree” = ‘mango/mango tree’) + “kay” (= “unripe fruit” = ‘unripe fruit’).

💧 Tempura 天婦羅
四個食物名字之中，最驚人的應該要數 Tempura。當大家理想當然覺得這個一定是日語，但其實 tempura 一詞源自葡萄牙語名詞tempero，意思是任何種類的調味品或調味料，或者源自動詞tempura，意思是“調味”。話說16世紀 (怎麼又是16世紀?)的時候，葡萄牙人經海路進入日本，當時水手們只能以魚為肉類來源 (其實這也與齋戒期他們不能吃其他肉有關)，而他們把魚放入鍋中炸，順利讓原身用作「調味」一義的 “tempura”借調成日式天婦羅的 “tempura”，最後當然英語就直借了 “tempura” 一詞來指「天婦羅」，所以說到底，還是葡萄牙語！

Of the four food names, the most surprising should be “tempura”. While people ideally think the word must be Japanese, the word is actually derived from the Portuguese noun “tempero”, which means any kind of condiment or seasoning, or from the verb “tempura”, which means "to season". It is said that in the 16th century (it’s 16th century again!), when Portuguese entered Japan by sea, the sailors could only use fish as a source of meat (in fact, it was also related to the fact that they could not eat other meat during the fasting period), and they took fish, put it into the pot and fry it. This successfully lets the "tempura", which is originally used as "seasoning", be seconded to the "tempura" of Japanese tempura. Finally, of course, the word "tempura" is directly borrowed from English to refer to "tempura". In the end, the word is still Portuguese!

💧 References
Aetnainternational. (n.d.). Tempura: The history of Japan's unique fried food. https://www.aetnainternational.com/en/about-us/explore/living-abroad/travel/tempura-the-history-of-japans-unique-fried-food.html #:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20the%20name%20tempura,the%20rest%20of%20the%20world.

Online Etymology Dictionary. (n.d.). Mango. https://www.etymonline.com/word/mango

---- (n.d.). Caramel. https://www.etymonline.com/word/caramel

Wikipedia.