This is a part of the "N Roj" Language Learning Series by The Washington, D.C. Kurdish Language & Culture Institute

This book explores the importance of Cognitive Linguistics for specialized language within the context of Frame-based Terminology (FBT). FBT uses aspects of Frame Semantics, coupled with premises from Cognitive Linguistics to structure specialized domains and create non-language-specific knowledge representations. Corpus analysis provides information regarding the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of specialized knowledge units. Also studied is the role of metaphor and metonymy in specialized texts. The first section explains the purpose and structure of the book. The second section gives an overview of basic concepts, theories, and applications in Terminology and Cognitive Linguistics. The third section explains the Frame-based Terminology approach. The fourth section explores the role of contextual information in specialized knowledge representation as reflected in linguistic contexts and graphical information. The final section highlights the conclusions that can be derived from this study.

In the disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition (SLA), the study of pragmatic competence has been driven by several fundamental questions: What does it mean to become pragmatically competent in a second language (L2)? How can we examine pragmatic competence to make inference of its development among L2 learners? In what ways do research findings inform teaching and assessment of pragmatic competence? This book explores these key issues in Japanese as a second/foreign language. The book has three sections. The first section offers a general overview and historical sketch of the study of Japanese pragmatics and its influence on Japanese pedagogy and curriculum. The overview chapter is followed by eight empirical findings, each dealing with phenomena that are significant in Japanese pragmatics. They target selected features of Japanese pragmatics and investigate the learners' use of them as an indicator of their pragmatic competence. The target pragmatic features are wide-ranging, among them honorifics, speech style, sentence final particles, speech acts of various types, and indirect expressions. Each study explicitly prompts the connection between pragmalinguistics (linguistic forms available to perform language functions) and sociopragmatics (norms that determine appropriate use of the forms) in Japanese. By documenting the understanding and use of them among learners of Japanese spanning multiple levels and time durations, this book offers insight about the nature and development of pragmatic competence, as well as implications for the learning and teaching of Japanese pragmatics. The last section presents a critical reflection on the eight empirical papers and prompts a discussion of the practice of Japanese pragmatics research.

Ferhenga Biruski is the go-to dictionary for Kurmanji a dialect of Kurdish spoken originally in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey while also being common among a large diaspora of Kurds in Europe, North America and elsewhere. This comprehensive Kurmanji-English dictionary is prepared in two volumes by Michael L. Chyet, a renowned linguist with extensive knowledge of the major dialects of Kurdish. This dictionary is an essential reference source for linguists and others interested in Kurdish language and people. "The second edition of my Kurmanji-English dictionary, which I would like to call “Ferhenga Birûskî” to honor the memory of my beloved friend and colleague Birûsk Tugan, contains considerably more entries, and in many cases offers fuller information on earlier entries. In addition, I have found and corrected several typographical errors. Moreover, it is to be accompanied by a companion English to Kurdish volume. [...] It is my goal to accurately reflect the language as it exists today, providing variant spellings, synonyms, and regional usage, as well as etymologies. The late Iranist D.N. MacKenzie advised me early on to avoid filling my dictionary with “ghost words”. He suggested that I base all the entries in my dictionary on texts (both written and orally generated), to ensure that I am reflecting the language as it is used by its speakers. The earlier dictionaries include words of unknown provenance, which may have no existence outside those pages." - Excerpt from the Introduction by Michael L. Chyet Preface by Deniz Ekici Introduction to Ferhenga Birûskî Review of Kurdish Dictionaries How to use the dictionary Abbreviations Abbreviations of Sources Used in Compiling this Dictionary Sources for Linguistic Comparison Place of Origin of Informants Calendar Systems Dictionary A to L