For decades an objective for linguistics as a study field has been to assess the existence and/or strength of a link between language and thought. The present study focuses on crosslinguistic...Show moreFor decades an objective for linguistics as a study field has been to assess the existence and/or strength of a link between language and thought. The present study focuses on crosslinguistic differences in observed intrusion of the spatial domain on the temporal domain by comparing English monolinguals toMan darin-English bilinguals. The main question in this study is whether the observed linguistic differences in the temporal domain between Mandarin and English bear influence on the conceptualization of this domain by the human mind. The present study comprises of two replicated experiments. When the two presently replicated experiments were conducted originally they drew deviating conclusions from one another regarding a similar question. While the results of the present study remain inconclusive, results hint at a global difference between Mandarin-English bilinguals’ conception of time and English native speakers’ conception of time based on language. This hint implicates that there might be an underlying effect of language on the mental representation of time. The second experiment has not revealed any implication on linguistic processing due to observed crosslinguistic differences.Show less
On June 23, 2016, a referendum in the UK made clear that the EU would lose a member for the first time since its birth in 1951. In a highly intense campaign during the months before the referendum,...Show moreOn June 23, 2016, a referendum in the UK made clear that the EU would lose a member for the first time since its birth in 1951. In a highly intense campaign during the months before the referendum, those in favor of Brexit faced off those that fought to maintain the status quo. Among the many issues debated, sovereignty emerged as heavily contested. This thesis attempts to shed some light on the competing concepts of sovereignty that were used by the two camps by analyzing the discourses of left- and right-wing newspapers in the UK. After performing a discourse analysis of 90 articles that these newspapers published during the runup to the referendum, this thesis concludes that right-wing newspapers view sovereignty as an indivisible, high-value concept that should be held by a national, democratically elected government. By contrast, left-wing newspapers view it as having various degrees, which makes them more willing to cede some of it, if this benefits the nation. Academically, the thesis draws on existing literature about sovereignty and the British understanding of it, expanding on this literature especially through the insights on the British left-wing newspapers’ discourse. Moreover, it seeks to stimulate public debate on sovereignty by drawing attention to these newspapers’ less absolute, more cooperative perspective of the concept.Show less
