Linking markemes in British prose of the latter half of the Nineteenth century

The paper aims at identifying and analyzing the markeme links in the texts of British writers of the latter half of the nineteenth century. According to the purpose, the tasks of determining the preferred markeme links between the authors and semantic analysis of markeme links of maximum power have been solved. The relevance of the discussed problem is explained by the need to find ways to formalize the content analysis of the text. The study of markeme links is one of the ways of formalized content analysis of the text. The scientists identified regularities to which the texts in natural languages are subject. And this enables the use of the mathematical apparatus in linguistic studies. The article suggests analyzing markeme links of maximum power in pairs of authors when comparing "with each other". The method of markeme analysis suggested by A.A. Kretov as one of the means to formalize the semantical analysis of the text is used to solve the set tasks. It provides a means of presenting a complete picture of literary works language markeme composition of any chronological interval or historical period. It also gives the possibility to analyze texts practically of any wordage. Besides the method of markeme analysis allows analyzing markeme composition of literary (especially - fiction) works of individual authors or groups of authors, markeme specifications and the influence of social and cultural processes on markeme dynamics, studying the evolution of markeme vocabulary through several chronological intervals and establishing literary and genetic links between authors who belong to the same or different chronological intervals Markemology is a new prospect in linguistic studies that is being developed by A.A. Kretov and his colleagues. Its potential is not limited with solving the given problems. It is based on markeme analysis that is a method of computerized extracting of key words -markemes - and automatic calculation of their Indices of Textual Markedness. The computational formula expresses functionality between a frequency weight and a length weight of a word. As the length weight of a word is constant because it depends on the length of the word in letters or sounds, it is the value of frequency weight that determines the value of InTeM. When a word distribution in the text exceeds a standard frequency distribution threshold for this word the value of its InTeM becomes positive thereby expressing the level of significance for the word in the particular text. The texts are processed with word thematic analysis program “ProTemAl-Engl” developed in Voronezh State University. This program calculates the value of InTeM for each word as well. To guarantee comparability of markeme weights of different authors the procedure of normalizing InTeM values is carried out. This is due to the fact that too often there is great difference both in number of works and their length in words written by different authors and their availability in digital form. InTeM normalizing eliminates their incorrect correlation. The analysis of linking markemes that establish markeme links between two or more authors allows determining the degree of markeme similarity between the authors of chronological interval. Mutual markemes are selected from each author markeme list. Index of Markeme Similarity (IMaS) is the measurable parameter that gives possibility to determine the degree of generality of markeme lexicon of two authors. The computation of IMaS in each pair of authors belonging to the chronological interval is based on the value of total normalized indices of textual markedness of their mutual markemes. The mutual markemes of those two writers that have the largest value of IMaS are their linking markemes. The value of IMaS determines the power of markeme link. When the value of IMaS is the largest for only one writer in the pair, a directional or oriented link of maximum power is formed. In case the value of IMaS is the largest for both writers in the pair mutually oriented link is formed between them. The present study results in the analysis of linking markemes in the texts of British prose writers of the latter half of the nineteenth century in reference to the distinguished centre of attraction. The method of visualizing the links between the authors who belong to the same chronological interval allows to distinguish the centre of attraction and intermediate centres of zero, first and second degree, to calculate the power of centripetal links to the centre of attraction, to stratify and analyze linking markemes, to study markeme specificity of the centre of attraction and to distinguish markemes that provide an indirect link between the centre of attraction and intermediate centres. The use of the algorithm of visualizing markeme relations between the authors provides a means of revealing existing centrifugal and centripetal markeme links between the writers, distinguishing the centre of attraction, identifying its major figures and the authors who have direct or indirect markeme links of maximum power with each of them. Obtained data make it possible to calculate the power of the center of attraction and the semantic study of maximum power markeme links leads to the specification of both the intermediate centres that are represented by key figures of the centre of attraction and the centre of attraction itself.

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