SnoQap

Aug 14

Aug 14 A Brief Introduction to the Slavic Languages

The ‘Golden Age’ is a label applied to the period in Russia’s literary history which saw the rise of and prevalence of the movements of Romanticism, Realism, and Classicism. Beginning in the 19th century and centered in Moscow (Buckler, et al.), the authors of this Golden Age are familiar to Western tongues: Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol. In his groundbreaking work on Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time, scholar Joseph Frank conducts an exhaustive study of, among other books, The Brothers Karamazov and traces the author’s common themes within his work; themes such as “man lifted up” as well as the “inherent stupidity of man” are common throughout (903). Thematically, the Golden Age addressed moral, ethical, and religious dilemmas, all of which are present in The Brothers Karamazov and Dostoevsky’s other major work, Crime and Punishment.

Feb 28

Feb 28 A Brief Introduction to the Slavic Languages

Savannah Hinson Rivas

International Affairs, Science & Nature

The ‘Golden Age’ is a label applied to the period in Russia’s literary history which saw the rise of and prevalence of the movements of Romanticism, Realism, and Classicism. Beginning in the 19th century and centered in Moscow (Buckler, et al.), the authors of this Golden Age are familiar to Western tongues: Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol. In his groundbreaking work on Fyodor Dostoevsky, Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time, scholar Joseph Frank conducts an exhaustive study of, among other books, The Brothers Karamazov and traces the author’s common themes within his work; themes such as “man lifted up” as well as the “inherent stupidity of man” are common throughout (903). Thematically, the Golden Age addressed moral, ethical, and religious dilemmas, all of which are present in The Brothers Karamazov and Dostoevsky’s other major work, Crime and Punishment.

Jan 4

Jan 4 A Brief Introduction to the Scandinavian Languages

Savannah Hinson Rivas

International Affairs

A large amount of descriptive research of the Scandinavian and Nordic languages has been for the consumption of linguists and historians. When reconstructing or representing ancient and deceased languages, linguists rely on the so-called daughter languages, or languages that descend from the theoretical proto-language, to comparatively piece back the grammar – this method is indeed referred to as the comparative method. In use as well are archaeological gatherings – in the case of Old Norse this may be present in runes. Synthesizing this information is how linguists work to piece together what ancestral languages may have sounded like and what their grammatical inventory may have consisted of. Thus the purpose of this article is to present an accessible introduction to these languages, their grammar, and the issues that their speakers face. Further, this is the first in a series of linguistic studies and language families.

Dec 23

Dec 23 A Brief Introduction to Tamil and the Dravidian Languages

Savannah Hinson Rivas

Science & Nature

What is a language if not a living, expanding, reflective collection of moods, literature, poems, and the human capacity for sharing knowledge across stars made of verbs and nouns? In his groundbreaking Tamil: A Biography, David Shulman asserts that Tamil is more than a jumble of grammar: We can, nevertheless, agree that the Tamil language and its particular themes, images, and traditions informed and in many ways shaped an extraordinarily long-lived, heterogeneous, and richly elaborated culture or series of cultures along with the political and social orders that emerged out of those cultural matrices

Oct 31

Oct 31 A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages

Savannah Hinson Rivas

Uncategorized, Science & Nature

The purpose of this article is to present these languages, their history, and their significance. These languages are not mutually intelligible, meaning that they cannot be understood from one language to another without the aid of translation, though they share etymologies (Wood). Even within Arabic itself, there is tremendous diversity and issues of intelligibility. This results in a bright and vivid bouquet of languages.

Aug 19

Aug 19 Neandertals and Language: An Evidentiary Analysis

Savannah Hinson Rivas

Science & Nature

Jul 14

Jul 14 Making Sense of Theories of Language Origins

Savannah Hinson Rivas

Science & Nature

From sonnets to speeches to heart-quivering soliloquies, language is endowed with the ability to inspire, infuriate, assimilate, separate, or define the elusive human condition. Language is so much a part of our existence that its presence can slip under the beams of our attention, but its structure, its acquisition, and its origins have been the subject of intense debate among linguists for innumerable generations. Here, we will excavate this final question of language – its origins. This is because the machine that is language, and how it made itself indispensable to humanity has spanned various scientific disciplines, from linguistics to genetics.

Apr 1

Apr 1 Natural Language Processing and Oncology: Unlikely Allies in the Fight Against Cancer

Savannah Hinson Rivas

Science & Nature

Natural Language Processing (NLP) refers to the ability of computers to parse spoken, written, and visual speech acts with the ultimate goal of human-level performance. Applications of this technology range widely, from text message prediction to automatic translation, but, perhaps surprisingly, NLP systems have increasingly been adapted to medical research. The focus of this piece will narrow in on oncological research, which, to one new to the field of artificial intelligence, may seem incongruous with computational linguistics. However, there is a rich application of NLP in several studies from around the world, and it has become clear that computational linguists have a necessary skill to contribute in the fight against cancer.