Naturalness

About: Naturalness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1305 publications have been published within this topic receiving 31737 citations.

Assessing Degree of Landscape Naturalness in a Mediterranean Coastal Environment Threatened by Human Activities

Abstract: Naturalness is one of the most studied concepts in spatial planning; it is considered an important criterion, especially for nature conservation. The objective of assessing naturalness is t...

The role of dimensions in classification under predicates predicts their status in degree constructions

Abstract: This paper presents an experimental study of multidimensional gradability across categories. The study tests whether and to what extent the naturalness of multidimensional adjectives and nouns in degree constructions is predictable from their conceptual-semantic properties – the way their dimensions are typically bound to create a unified interpretation. Past research suggests that binding by counting operations is common in multidimensional adjectives, possible in certain nouns (labeled additive nouns ), and rare in others (dubbed multiplicative nouns ; Hampton et al. 2009). We hypothesize that the higher naturalness of adjectives in degree constructions (Kennedy 1999) stems from a preference for dimension-binding by counting operations. Accordingly, we predict that additive nouns would be judged more natural than multiplicative nouns in any construction whose interpretation involves dimension-counting, e.g., dimensional quantifiers (as in: in {some, most, every} respect} ) and degree modifiers (as in more P {than y, than Q, than y is Q} ). The results of a naturalness survey involving 139 English speakers confirm our predictions. Moreover, our results indicate that the naturalness of a predicate in degree constructions and dimensional-quantifier constructions are tightly correlated, suggesting that dimension accessibility for counting is indeed an important predictor of morphological gradability.

The Naturalness of the Vistula Riverbank’s Landscape: Warsaw Inhabitants’ Perceptions

Abstract: This paper considers the issue of urban inhabitants’ appreciation of the naturalness of the landscape provided that people living in urban areas can benefit from the green space and would like to care more about its protection. This study examines: (1) Warsaw inhabitants’ preferences with regard to places to spend free time outdoors; (2) public perception of the advantages and disadvantages of the semi-natural Vistula riverfront; and (3) people’s connectedness to nature and willingness to donate funds to modernize the riverfront (N = 630). We applied a questionnaire method based on the computer-assisted web interview. The findings suggest that Warsaw residents appreciate the naturalness of the landscape at the Vistula riverfront, would not like to take direct responsibility for its condition, and would rather the municipality invest in public spaces. Therefore, the municipality of Warsaw should work to enhance inhabitants’ attachment to the place and build a sense of common responsibility for the protection of the riverfront’s natural environment.

Modulation: a translation method to obtain naturalness in target language texts

Abstract: One of the requirements in order to produce equivalent translation is that the translation must sound natural for target language (TL) readers both lexically and grammatically. This naturalness can be obtained through the use of both lexical items and grammar familiar to the TL readers. However, naturalness in translation is not always easy to achieve. One of the causes is the difference in the way the source language (SL) and TL readers express a certain message in their languages. According to Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) this difference can be overcome by applying a translation method called modulation. Modulation is a method in which translators try to maintain naturalness by using various form the message done by changing the point of view. This procedure is usually chosen when translators find that literal translation would result in awkward or unnatural translation. Keywords: modulation, naturalness, equivalence

Lorentz violation naturalness revisited

Abstract: We revisit here the naturalness problem of Lorentz invariance violations on a simple toy model of a scalar field coupled to a fermion field via a Yukawa interaction. We first review some well-known results concerning the low-energy percolation of Lorentz violation from high energies, presenting some details of the analysis not explicitly discussed in the literature and discussing some previously unnoticed subtleties. We then show how a separation between the scale of validity of the effective field theory and that one of Lorentz invariance violations can hinder this low-energy percolation. While such protection mechanism was previously considered in the literature, we provide here a simple illustration of how it works and of its general features. Finally, we consider a case in which dissipation is present, showing that the dissipative behaviour does not percolate generically to lower mass dimension operators albeit dispersion does. Moreover, we show that a scale separation can protect from unsuppressed low-energy percolation also in this case.