Languages in Contrast - Volume 26, Issue 1, 2026

Abstract

This paper presents a synchronic study of six adverbial markers — EN finally/eventually, DU eindelijk/uiteindelijk and FR finalement/enfin — all of which can indicate the end of a sequence or the conclusion of a long (thought) process. Using both monolingual and parallel corpora, we developed typologies of their uses and compared the adverbs’ semantico-pragmatic and structural behaviour. Monolingual data clarified the full range of functions in each language, while translation data illuminated intertranslatability and internal variation. Across all three languages, a consistent division of labour emerged: finally, eindelijk, and finalement typically highlight process duration, while eventually, uiteindelijk, and enfin focus on the end result. This contrast was clearly confirmed in the DU/FR translation data, while the DU/EN results showed a more nuanced picture. The study also underscores the unique versatility of French enfin, which presents particular challenges in translation due to its wide range of meanings and uses. By mapping these complex interrelations, the study supports language learners and professionals in navigating superficially equivalent adverbials. More broadly, it shows how a combined translation and contrastive approach can reveal subtle semantic and pragmatic distinctions, offering new insights into cross-linguistic variation in discourse markers.

Abstract

Studies on cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary differences in employing rhetorical moves and stylistic features in research article abstracts (RAAs) are scant. This study explores (a) dominant rhetorical moves in international and local applied linguistics abstracts, (b) differences between Anglo-American (English) and Iranian (Persian/English) abstracts in applied linguistics, and (c) cross-disciplinary discrepancies between applied linguistics and civil engineering abstracts by Anglo-American (English) and Iranian (Persian) writers. To this end, 300 abstracts were analysed in two disciplines (applied linguistics and civil engineering) and two languages (English and Persian). The findings unfold that internationally-published article abstracts discuss research findings significantly more. English applied linguistics abstracts describe the research methodology and potential utility of the research significantly more than abstracts in Farsi. Interdisciplinary differences were found in terms of describing the methodology and discussion of the findings. Tense use varied across different moves of the abstracts giving an indication to the reader about where the writers have got to in their abstracts. A preponderance of present tense in ‘presenting the study’ move in most abstracts by civil engineers and applied linguists was found. Attended forms of demonstratives were the most used by civil engineers. Implications for English for academic writing instruction and research will be discussed.

Abstract

Expanding on Carl Buck’s insight that the history of ideas is closely tied to the history of the words expressing them, this paper traces the interaction of language, culture and cognition on the example of the concept know and its lexification in Slavic, based on a sample of diachronically and synchronically aligned translations of the New Testament. Two exploratory analyses of the lexical preferences, the domains of conceptual transfer and their perceptual bases reveal characteristic differences in the choice of lexical means, slightly less for the underlying conceptual mappings and for their perceptual bases. The patterns disclosed do not correlate with the branches of Slavic, nor do they display a clear historical signal. Instead, they suggest a correlation with the cultural history of the New Testament translations. The results illustrate the relevance of a more-dimensional approach when comparing the lexical layer of languages.

Abstract

Figurative polysemy, in which a word’s original meaning is extended into domains for which it did not originally apply, is a pervasive property of human language. Previous research using cross-linguistic (English/Spanish) data has shown that an important set of similarities and differences in patterns of figurative verb polysemy between counterpart verbs in two languages can be explained by detailed analysis of the event structures of each verb (McNally and Spalek, 2022). Here we treat a complementary case involving counterpart verbs in two languages which share the same basic event structures but differ in details of conceptual (or ‘root’) content, most importantly in the semantic restrictions on their participants. We show how, in this sort of case, the verbs will describe the same types of situations and be amenable to similar figurative extensions as long as their respective semantic restrictions can be met, but not otherwise. Teasing apart contrasts due to variation in event structural vs. conceptual content can shed light both on debates about the relation between root and grammatical content, as well as on the challenges of establishing lexical equivalences for verbs, be it for purposes of translation or for cross-linguistic comparison and the creation of lexical resources.

Abstract

This article investigates the cognate verbs go and gå in an English-Norwegian contrastive perspective. On the basis of bidirectional translation data, the study contributes new insight regarding their relatively low cross-linguistic correspondence rate. Although the verbs share many of their lexicogrammatical features, some notable exceptions are uncovered. English go seems to be semantically more flexible than gå in some of its uses, while Norwegian gå is arguably syntactically more versatile. As a consequence, the cross-linguistic relationship between the verbs is far from straightforward, and translations are clearly influenced by diverging polysemies and lexicogrammatical preferences.

Abstract

This contribution investigates English and German affixoids and their Italian equivalents from a morphotactic, morphosemantic, and morphopragmatic perspective, particularly in the context of verbal aggression. The suffixoid in the pattern bomb+proof, and the German prefixoid in intensifying expressive adjective compounds of the type blut+arm (with two main accents) ‘intensely poor, lit. blood+poor’ or sau+dumm ‘intensely dumb, lit. sow+dumb’, are examined. Affixoids (both suffixoids, such as +proof, and prefixoids, such as G. blut+) are transitional between compound constituents and derivational affixes (prefixes or suffixes), and thus part of transitional morphology, i.e. they are intermediate between different sub-components of word-formation. The issues investigated include the productivity and profitability of the units studied (cf. Bauer, 2001), their relative degree of morphosemantic transparency/opacity, their positive or negative connotations, the degrees of morphological richness of the different patterns, and whether the affixoid constructions refer to humans, animates, or inanimates. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of data drawn from the literature and from large electronic corpora will demonstrate the pragmatic effects of these morphological processes and their preferred co-texts. A contrastive analysis with Italian morphosemantic equivalents will reveal how the three languages differ due to typological factors.

This article reviews Contrastive Corpus Linguistics. Patterns in Lexicogrammar and Discourse978-1-3505-8593-1