title: Classification and analysis of distributed event filtering algorithms

authors: Bittner, Sven

subjects: computer science

abstract: Publish/subscribe middleware provides efficient support for loosely coupled communication in distributed systems. A number of different distributed message-filtering algorithms have been proposed. So far, a systematic comparison and analysis of these filter algorithms is still missing. 
This paper proposes a classification scheme for distributed filter algorithms that supports the theoretical and practical analysis of these algorithms. We present a first cut theoretical evaluation and a subsequent practical evaluation of promising candidate algorithms. Factors that are considered include the characteristics of the underlying network and application-related constraints.
Based on the findings of these evaluations, we conclude with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the algorithms that we have studied.

text: Classification and analysis of distributed event filtering algorithms Publish/subscribe middleware provides efficient support for loosely coupled communication in distributed systems. A number of different distributed message-filtering algorithms have been proposed. So far, a systematic comparison and analysis of these filter algorithms is still missing. 
This paper proposes a classification scheme for distributed filter algorithms that supports the theoretical and practical analysis of these algorithms. We present a first cut theoretical evaluation and a subsequent practical evaluation of promising candidate algorithms. Factors that are considered include the characteristics of the underlying network and application-related constraints.
Based on the findings of these evaluations, we conclude with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the algorithms that we have studied.

year: 2004

title: Culture in safety and in danger

authors: Goldsmith, Michael

subjects: anthropology

abstract: In late 1999, Michèle Dominy and Laurence Carucci announced a session on ‘critical
ethnography’ at the forthcoming conference of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania to be held in Vancouver. The notice came at a critical moment in my own professional life. Rumours had begun to spread that the University of Waikato, where I teach anthropology, had allowed Hans Joachim Kupka, a German Holocaust denier, to enrol in a PhD supposedly intended to
explore the role of the German language in New Zealand history, culture and society
(Renwick 2002). Kupka’s repellent views on race and a parallel controversy over 
‘holocaust discourse’ (Goldsmith 2002) coincided with a complaint of racism by a
student against someone associated with my department. My current interest in critical ethnography and anthropology, then, has roots in a specific combination of circumstances in my own work and workplace. More broadly, it also stems from my sense that anthropology has come to require more than the usual degree of justification in the economically neo-liberal, culturally hypersensitive and politically fractious space of contemporary New Zealand. Though I focus on my own society, the pressures I have just listed are not unique to it. I have no doubt that some of my comments will resonate with the experiences of anthropologists teaching, researching
and commenting publicly elsewhere, especially those working in other (post) colonial societies.

text: Culture in safety and in danger In late 1999, Michèle Dominy and Laurence Carucci announced a session on ‘critical
ethnography’ at the forthcoming conference of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania to be held in Vancouver. The notice came at a critical moment in my own professional life. Rumours had begun to spread that the University of Waikato, where I teach anthropology, had allowed Hans Joachim Kupka, a German Holocaust denier, to enrol in a PhD supposedly intended to
explore the role of the German language in New Zealand history, culture and society
(Renwick 2002). Kupka’s repellent views on race and a parallel controversy over 
‘holocaust discourse’ (Goldsmith 2002) coincided with a complaint of racism by a
student against someone associated with my department. My current interest in critical ethnography and anthropology, then, has roots in a specific combination of circumstances in my own work and workplace. More broadly, it also stems from my sense that anthropology has come to require more than the usual degree of justification in the economically neo-liberal, culturally hypersensitive and politically fractious space of contemporary New Zealand. Though I focus on my own society, the pressures I have just listed are not unique to it. I have no doubt that some of my comments will resonate with the experiences of anthropologists teaching, researching
and commenting publicly elsewhere, especially those working in other (post) colonial societies.

year: 2005

title: Lost in translation or lack of nuance? Perception of (near-)synonymy of common te reo Māori loanwords in New Zealand English

authors: Pohl, Alexander

abstract: Ongoing contact between languages and their speakers inevitably leads to a flow of words being borrowed from one language into another. Research in the field of language contact has established and documented the kinds of borrowed words that stick in their recipient language (Haspelmath 2009; Winford 2010). However, one question that has received comparatively less attention is how a newly adopted loanword relates to the structure of the existing lexicon it enters. In recent years, language contact research has thus seen a paradigm shift towards an onomasiological perspective (see Anderson et al. 2017; Crombez et al. 2022; Zenner et al. 2023). Within this approach, most studies looking at lexical variation between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms employ corpus linguistics methods (e.g. Onysko & Winter-Froemel 2011; Soares da Silva 2013). However, there is variation in how these corpus studies have investigated loanword meanings, and, to our knowledge, there has been almost no experimental research focussed specifically on the relationship between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms to date. This project presents a large-scale experimental approach from a case-study examining Māori loanwords borrowed into New Zealand English (NZE). NZE presents an unusual language contact situation because it involves a dominant language (NZE) receiving an exceptionally high amount of lexical material (words and phrases) from an Indigenous language: Māori. Further adding to the uniqueness of this contact situation is the fact that only a fraction of the population (<10%) speaks Māori fluently (Statistics New Zealand 2019). Nonetheless, Māori loanwords are ubiquitous, salient, and probably still increasing within the NZE lexicon (Macalister 2007; Trye et al. 2019). One important dimension of this set of borrowings are their semantic characteristics, which straddle three main classes of words: flora and fauna (mānuka ‘tea tree’), material culture (maunga ‘mountain’) and social culture (mana ‘power’).  Here, we report on a Qualtrics experiment devised to probe the perceived relationship between 60 Māori loanwords and their NZE equivalents, as ascertained from published sources. The synonymy judgements were elicited for pairs (e.g. whānau – family) using an analogue slider (ranging from 0 = non-synonymous to 100 = fully synonymous). Data was collected using a three-tiered questionnaire: 1) assessing synonymy of loanwords; 2) eliciting strategies for semantic assessments; and 3) collating background information about participants. Following cleaning and exclusions, the dataset showed a skew towards female participants, and for this reason, we focus our statistical analysis on the core sample containing (n = 170) young women (18-24 years). The results of the synonymy judgements analysis consist of qualitative inspections of box plots in relation to the semantic characteristics of Māori words in question, as well as sociodemographic variables of interest, specifically: years lived in Aotearoa NZ, and a composite score capturing exposure to and attitude towards Māori (TRMO). Preliminary findings suggest that many people think Māori loanwords are (highly) synonymous with NZE lexical alternatives. Our regression analyses exhibit evidence that years lived in Aotearoa NZ (p = 0.0054) and TRMO (p = 8.26e-10) can predict knowledge of Māori words. No statistically significant evidence was found for any predictors regarding the scores of the synonymy judgements; instead, we found that the random effects account for most of the variation. This is indicative of idiosyncratic loanword behaviour, in line with situations where variation is in-flux. These findings will be complemented by qualitative analyses of comments provided by participants in the open answer section (2). The talk will conclude with a summary of contributions to the general understanding of loanword meanings and contact-induced lexical change.

text: Lost in translation or lack of nuance? Perception of (near-)synonymy of common te reo Māori loanwords in New Zealand English Ongoing contact between languages and their speakers inevitably leads to a flow of words being borrowed from one language into another. Research in the field of language contact has established and documented the kinds of borrowed words that stick in their recipient language (Haspelmath 2009; Winford 2010). However, one question that has received comparatively less attention is how a newly adopted loanword relates to the structure of the existing lexicon it enters. In recent years, language contact research has thus seen a paradigm shift towards an onomasiological perspective (see Anderson et al. 2017; Crombez et al. 2022; Zenner et al. 2023). Within this approach, most studies looking at lexical variation between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms employ corpus linguistics methods (e.g. Onysko & Winter-Froemel 2011; Soares da Silva 2013). However, there is variation in how these corpus studies have investigated loanword meanings, and, to our knowledge, there has been almost no experimental research focussed specifically on the relationship between loanwords and their (near-)synonyms to date. This project presents a large-scale experimental approach from a case-study examining Māori loanwords borrowed into New Zealand English (NZE). NZE presents an unusual language contact situation because it involves a dominant language (NZE) receiving an exceptionally high amount of lexical material (words and phrases) from an Indigenous language: Māori. Further adding to the uniqueness of this contact situation is the fact that only a fraction of the population (<10%) speaks Māori fluently (Statistics New Zealand 2019). Nonetheless, Māori loanwords are ubiquitous, salient, and probably still increasing within the NZE lexicon (Macalister 2007; Trye et al. 2019). One important dimension of this set of borrowings are their semantic characteristics, which straddle three main classes of words: flora and fauna (mānuka ‘tea tree’), material culture (maunga ‘mountain’) and social culture (mana ‘power’).  Here, we report on a Qualtrics experiment devised to probe the perceived relationship between 60 Māori loanwords and their NZE equivalents, as ascertained from published sources. The synonymy judgements were elicited for pairs (e.g. whānau – family) using an analogue slider (ranging from 0 = non-synonymous to 100 = fully synonymous). Data was collected using a three-tiered questionnaire: 1) assessing synonymy of loanwords; 2) eliciting strategies for semantic assessments; and 3) collating background information about participants. Following cleaning and exclusions, the dataset showed a skew towards female participants, and for this reason, we focus our statistical analysis on the core sample containing (n = 170) young women (18-24 years). The results of the synonymy judgements analysis consist of qualitative inspections of box plots in relation to the semantic characteristics of Māori words in question, as well as sociodemographic variables of interest, specifically: years lived in Aotearoa NZ, and a composite score capturing exposure to and attitude towards Māori (TRMO). Preliminary findings suggest that many people think Māori loanwords are (highly) synonymous with NZE lexical alternatives. Our regression analyses exhibit evidence that years lived in Aotearoa NZ (p = 0.0054) and TRMO (p = 8.26e-10) can predict knowledge of Māori words. No statistically significant evidence was found for any predictors regarding the scores of the synonymy judgements; instead, we found that the random effects account for most of the variation. This is indicative of idiosyncratic loanword behaviour, in line with situations where variation is in-flux. These findings will be complemented by qualitative analyses of comments provided by participants in the open answer section (2). The talk will conclude with a summary of contributions to the general understanding of loanword meanings and contact-induced lexical change.

year: 2024