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The Kinsey scale, also called the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale, was first published in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, and Clyde Martin and also featured in Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). The scale was developed to combat the assumption at the time that people are either heterosexual or homosexual and that these two types represent antitheses in the sexual world. Recognizing that a significant portion of the population is not completely heterosexual or homosexual and that such people can experience both heterosexual and homosexual behavior and psychic responses, Kinsey et al., stated: Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats.
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Not all things are black nor all things white... The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior, the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sex. The Kinsey scale provides a classification of sexual orientation based on the relative amounts of heterosexual and homosexual experience or psychic response in one's history at a given time.
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The classification scheme works such that individuals in the same category show the same balance between the heterosexual and homosexual elements in their histories. The position on the scale is based on the relation of heterosexuality to homosexuality in one's history, rather than the actual amount of overt experience or psychic response. An individual can be assigned a position on the scale in accordance with the following definitions of the points of the scale: The Kinsey scale has been praised for dismissing the dichotomous classification of sexual orientation and allowing for a new perspective on human sexuality.
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Despite seven categories being able to provide a more accurate description of sexual orientation than a dichotomous scale, it is still difficult to determine which category individuals should be assigned to. In a major study comparing sexual response in homosexual males and females, Masters and Johnson discuss the difficulty of assigning the Kinsey ratings to participants. Particularly, they found it difficult to determine the relative amount heterosexual and homosexual experience and response in a person's history when using the scale.
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They report finding it difficult to assign ratings 2–4 for individuals with a large number of heterosexual and homosexual experiences. When there are a substantial number of heterosexual and homosexual experiences in one's history, it becomes difficult for that individual to be fully objective in assessing the relative amount of each. Weinrich et al. (1993) and Weinberg et al. (1994) criticized the scale for lumping individuals who are different based on different dimensions of sexuality into the same categories.
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When applying the scale, Kinsey considered two dimensions of sexual orientation: overt sexual experience and psychosexual reactions. Valuable information was lost by collapsing the two values into one final score. A person who has only predominantly same sex reactions is different from someone with relatively little reaction but much same sex experience.
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It would have been quite simple for Kinsey to have measured the two dimensions separately and report scores independently to avoid loss of information. Furthermore, there are more than two dimensions of sexuality to be considered.
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Beyond behavior and reactions, one could also assess attraction, identification, lifestyle, etc. This is addressed by the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. A third concern with the Kinsey scale is that it inappropriately measures heterosexuality and homosexuality on the same scale, making one a tradeoff of the other. Research in the 1970s on masculinity and femininity found that concepts of masculinity and femininity are more appropriately measured as independent concepts on a separate scale rather than as a single continuum, with each end representing opposite extremes.
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When compared on the same scale, they act as tradeoffs such, whereby to be more feminine one had to be less masculine and vice versa. However, if they are considered as separate dimensions one can be simultaneously very masculine and very feminine. Similarly, considering heterosexuality and homosexuality on separate scales would allow one to be both very heterosexual and very homosexual or not very much of either. When they are measured independently, the degree of heterosexual and homosexual can be independently determined, rather than the balance between heterosexual and homosexual as determined using the Kinsey Scale.
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In response to the criticism of the Kinsey scale only measuring two dimensions of sexual orientation, Fritz Klein developed the Klein sexual orientation grid (KSOG), a multidimensional scale for describing sexual orientation. Introduced in Klein's book The Bisexual Option (1978), the KSOG uses a 7-point scale to assess seven different dimensions of sexuality at three different points in an individual's life: past (from early adolescence up to one year ago), present (within the last 12 months), and ideal (what the individual would choose if it were completely their choice).
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The Sell Assessment of Sexual Orientation (SASO) was developed to address the major concerns with the Kinsey Scale and Klein Sexual Orientation Grid and as such, measures sexual orientation on a continuum, considers various dimensions of sexual orientation, and considers homosexuality and heterosexuality separately. Rather than providing a final solution to the question of how to best measure sexual orientation, the SASO is meant to provoke discussion and debate about measurements of sexual orientation.The SASO consists of 12 questions. Six of these questions assess sexual attraction, four assess sexual behavior, and two assess sexual orientation identity. For each question on the scale that measures homosexuality there is a corresponding question that measures heterosexuality giving six matching pairs of questions.
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Taken all together, the six pairs of questions and responses provide a profile of an individual's sexual orientation. However, results can be further simplified into four summaries that look specifically at responses that correspond to either homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality.Of all the questions on the scale, Sell considered those assessing sexual attraction to be the most important as sexual attraction is a better reflection of the concept of sexual orientation which he defined as "extent of sexual attractions toward members of the other, same, both sexes or neither" than either sexual identity or sexual behavior. Identity and behavior are measured as supplemental information because they are both closely tied to sexual attraction and sexual orientation. Major criticisms of the SASO have not been established, but a concern is that the reliability and validity remains largely unexamined.
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Research focusing on sexual orientation uses scales of assessment to identify who belongs in which sexual population group. It is assumed that these scales will be able to reliably identify and categorize people by their sexual orientation. However, it is difficult to determine an individual's sexual orientation through scales of assessment, due to ambiguity regarding the definition of sexual orientation. Generally, there are three components of sexual orientation used in assessment.
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Their definitions and examples of how they may be assessed are as follows: Though sexual attraction, behavior, and identity are all components of sexual orientation, if a person defined by one of these dimensions were congruent with those defined by another dimension it would not matter which was used in assessing orientation, but this is not the case. There is "little coherent relationship between the amount and mix of homosexual and heterosexual behavior in a person's biography and that person's choice to label himself or herself as bisexual, homosexual, or heterosexual". Individuals typically experience diverse attractions and behaviors that may reflect curiosity, experimentation, social pressure and is not necessarily indicative of an underlying sexual orientation.
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For example, a woman may have fantasies or thoughts about sex with other women but never act on these thoughts and only have sex with opposite gender partners. If sexual orientation was being assessed based on one's sexual attraction then this individual would be considered homosexual, but her behavior indicates heterosexuality. As there is no research indicating which of the three components is essential in defining sexual orientation, all three are used independently and provide different conclusions regarding sexual orientation.
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Savin Williams (2006) discusses this issue and notes that by basing findings regarding sexual orientation on a single component, researchers may not actually capture the intended population. For example, if homosexual is defined by same sex behavior, gay virgins are omitted, heterosexuals engaging in same sex behavior for other reasons than preferred sexual arousal are miscounted, and those with same sex attraction who only have opposite-sex relations are excluded. Because of the limited populations that each component captures, consumers of research should be cautious in generalizing these findings.
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One of the uses for scales that assess sexual orientation is determining what the prevalence of different sexual orientations are within a population. Depending on subject's age, culture and sex, the prevalence rates of homosexuality vary depending on which component of sexual orientation is being assessed: sexual attraction, sexual behavior, or sexual identity. Assessing sexual attraction will yield the greatest prevalence of homosexuality in a population whereby the proportion of individuals indicating they are same sex attracted is two to three times greater than the proportion reporting same sex behavior or identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
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Furthermore, reports of same sex behavior usually exceed those of gay, lesbian, or bisexual identification. The following chart demonstrates how widely the prevalence of homosexuality can vary depending on what age, location and component of sexual orientation is being assessed: The variance in prevalence rates is reflected in people's inconsistent responses to the different components of sexual orientation within a study and the instability of their responses over time. Laumann et al. (1994) found that among U.S.
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adults 20% of those who would be considered homosexual on one component of orientation were homosexual on the other two dimensions and 70% responded in a way that was consistent with homosexuality on only one of the three dimensions. Furthermore, sexuality may be fluid; for example, a person's sexual orientation identity is not necessarily stable or consistent over time but is subject to change throughout life. Diamond (2003) found that over seven years, two-thirds of the women changed their sexual identity at least once, with many reporting that the label was not adequate in capturing the diversity of their sexual or romantic feelings.
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Furthermore, women who relinquished bisexual and lesbian identification did not relinquish same sex sexuality and acknowledged the possibility for future same sex attractions or behaviour. One woman stated "I'm mainly straight but I'm one of those people who, if the right circumstance came along, would change my viewpoint". Therefore, individuals classified as homosexual in one study might not be identified the same way in another depending on which components are assessed and when the assessment is made making it difficult to pin point who is homosexual and who is not and what the overall prevalence within a population may be.
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Depending on which component of sexual orientation is being assessed and referenced, different conclusions can be drawn about the prevalence rate of homosexuality which has real world consequences. Knowing how much of the population is made up of homosexual individuals influences how this population may be seen or treated by the public and government bodies. For example, if homosexual individuals constitute only 1% of the general population they are politically easier to ignore or than if they are known to be a constituency that surpasses most ethnic and minority groups. If the number is relatively minor then it is difficult to argue for community based same sex programs and services, mass media inclusion of gay role models, or Gay/Straight Alliances in schools. For this reason, in the 1970s Bruce Voeller, the chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force perpetuated a common myth that the prevalence of homosexuality is 10% for the whole population by averaging a 13% number for men and a 7% number for women. Voeller generalized this finding and used it as part of the modern gay rights movement to convince politicians and the public that "we are everywhere".
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In the paper "Who's Gay? Does It Matter? ", psychologist Ritch Savin-Williams proposes two different approaches to assessing sexual orientation until well positioned and psychometrically sound and tested definitions are developed that would allow research to reliably identify the prevalence, causes, and consequences of homosexuality. He first suggests that greater priority should be given to sexual arousal and attraction over behaviour and identity because it is less prone to self- and other-deception, social conditions and variable meanings.
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To measure attraction and arousal he proposed that biological measures should be developed and used. There are numerous biological/physiological measures that exist that can measure sexual orientation such as sexual arousal, brain scans, eye tracking, body odour preference, and anatomical variations such as digit-length ratio and right or left-handedness. Secondly, Savin-Williams suggests that researchers should forsake the general notion of sexual orientation altogether and assess only those components that are relevant to the research question being investigated. For example: To assess STIs or HIV transmission, measure sexual behaviour To assess interpersonal attachments, measure sexual/romantic attraction To assess political ideology, measure sexual identity
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Means typically used include surveys, interviews, cross-cultural studies, physical arousal measurements sexual behavior, sexual fantasy, or a pattern of erotic arousal. The most common is verbal self-reporting or self-labeling, which depend on respondents being accurate about themselves.
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Studying human sexual arousal has proved a fruitful way of understanding how men and women differ as genders and in terms of sexual orientation. A clinical measurement may use penile or vaginal photoplethysmography, where genital engorgement with blood is measured in response to exposure to different erotic material.Some researchers who study sexual orientation argue that the concept may apply differently for men and women. A study of sexual arousal patterns found that women, when viewing erotic films which show female-female, male-male and male-female sexual activity (oral sex or penetration), have patterns of arousal which do not match their declared sexual orientations as well as men's. That is, heterosexual and lesbian women's sexual arousal to erotic films do not differ significantly by the genders of the participants (male or female) or by the type of sexual activity (heterosexual or homosexual).
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Men's sexual arousal patterns tend to be more in line with their stated orientations, with heterosexual men showing more penis arousal to female-female sexual activity and less arousal to female-male and male-male sexual stimuli, and homosexual and bisexual men being more aroused by films depicting male-male intercourse and less aroused by other stimuli. Another study on men and women's patterns of sexual arousal confirmed that men and women have different patterns of arousal, independent of their sexual orientations. The study found that women's genitals become aroused to both human and nonhuman stimuli from movies showing humans of both genders having sex (heterosexual and homosexual) and from videos showing non-human primates (bonobos) having sex.
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Men did not show any sexual arousal to non-human visual stimuli, their arousal patterns being in line with their specific sexual interest (women for heterosexual men and men for homosexual men). These studies suggest that men and women are different in terms of sexual arousal patterns and that this is also reflected in how their genitals react to sexual stimuli of both genders or even to non-human stimuli. Sexual orientation has many dimensions (attractions, behavior, identity), of which sexual arousal is the only product of sexual attractions which can be measured at present with some degree of physical precision.
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Thus, the fact that women are aroused by seeing non-human primates having sex does not mean that women's sexual orientation includes this type of sexual interest. Some researchers argue that women's sexual orientation depends less on their patterns of sexual arousal than men's and that other components of sexual orientation (like emotional attachment) must be taken into account when describing women's sexual orientations. In contrast, men's sexual orientations tend to be primarily focused on the physical component of attractions and, thus, their sexual feelings are more exclusively oriented according to sex.
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More recently, scientists have started to focus on measuring changes in brain activity related to sexual arousal, by using brain-scanning techniques. A study on how heterosexual and homosexual men's brains react to seeing pictures of naked men and women has found that both hetero- and homosexual men react positively to seeing their preferred sex, using the same brain regions. The only significant group difference between these orientations was found in the amygdala, a brain region known to be involved in regulating fear.
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Research suggests that sexual orientation is independent of cultural and other social influences, but that open identification of one's sexual orientation may be hindered by homophobic/heterosexist settings. Social systems such as religion, language and ethnic traditions can have a powerful impact on realization of sexual orientation. Influences of culture may complicate the process of measuring sexual orientation. The majority of empirical and clinical research on LGBT populations are done with largely white, middle-class, well-educated samples; however, there are pockets of research that document various other cultural groups, although these are frequently limited in diversity of gender and sexual orientation of the subjects.
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Integration of sexual orientation with sociocultural identity may be a challenge for LGBT individuals. Individuals may or may not consider their sexual orientation to define their sexual identity, as they may experience various degrees of fluidity of sexuality, or may simply identify more strongly with another aspect of their identity such as family role.
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American culture puts a great emphasis on individual attributes, and views the self as unchangeable and constant. In contrast, East Asian cultures put a great emphasis on a person's social role within social hierarchies, and view the self as fluid and malleable. These differing cultural perspectives have many implications on cognition of the self, including perception of sexual orientation.
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Translation is a major obstacle when comparing different cultures. Many English terms lack equivalents in other languages, while concepts and words from other languages fail to be reflected in the English language. Translation and vocabulary obstacles are not limited to the English language. Language can force individuals to identify with a label that may or may not accurately reflect their true sexual orientation.
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Language can also be used to signal sexual orientation to others. The meaning of words referencing categories of sexual orientation are negotiated in the mass media in relation to social organization. New words may be brought into use to describe new terms or better describe complex interpretations of sexual orientation. Other words may pick up new layers or meaning. For example, the heterosexual Spanish terms marido and mujer for "husband" and "wife", respectively, have recently been replaced in Spain by the gender-neutral terms cónyuges or consortes meaning "spouses".
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One person may presume knowledge of another person's sexual orientation based upon perceived characteristics, such as appearance, clothing, voice (c.f. Gay male speech), and accompaniment by and behavior with other people. The attempt to detect sexual orientation in social situations is sometimes colloquially known as gaydar; some studies have found that guesses based on face photos perform better than chance. 2015 research suggests that "gaydar" is an alternate label for using LGBT stereotypes to infer orientation, and that face-shape is not an accurate indication of orientation.Perceived sexual orientation may affect how a person is treated.
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For instance, in the United States, the FBI reported that 15.6% of hate crimes reported to police in 2004 were "because of a sexual-orientation bias". Under the UK Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, as explained by Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, "workers or job applicants must not be treated less favourably because of their sexual orientation, their perceived sexual orientation or because they associate with someone of a particular sexual orientation".In Euro-American cultures, norms, values, traditions and laws facilitate heterosexuality, including constructs of marriage and family. Efforts are being made to change prejudiced attitudes, and legislation is being passed to promote equality.Some other cultures do not recognize a homosexual/heterosexual/bisexual distinction.
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It is common to distinguish a person's sexuality according to their sexual role (active/passive; insertive/penetrated). In this distinction, the passive role is typically associated with femininity or inferiority, while the active role is typically associated with masculinity or superiority. For example, an investigation of a small Brazilian fishing village revealed three sexual categories for men: men who have sex only with men (consistently in a passive role), men who have sex only with women, and men who have sex with women and men (consistently in an active role). While men who consistently occupied the passive role were recognized as a distinct group by locals, men who have sex with only women, and men who have sex with women and men, were not differentiated. Little is known about same-sex attracted females, or sexual behavior between females in these cultures.
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In the United States, non-Caucasian LGBT individuals may find themselves in a double minority, where they are neither fully accepted or understood by mainly Caucasian LGBT communities, nor are they accepted by their own ethnic group. Many people experience racism in the dominant LGBT community where racial stereotypes merge with gender stereotypes, such that Asian-American LGBTs are viewed as more passive and feminine, while African-American LGBTs are viewed as more masculine and aggressive. There are a number of culturally specific support networks for LGBT individuals active in the United States. For example, "Ô-Môi" for Vietnamese American queer females.
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Sexuality in the context of religion is often a controversial subject, especially that of sexual orientation. In the past, various sects have viewed homosexuality from a negative point of view and had punishments for same-sex relationships. In modern times, an increasing number of religions and religious denominations accept homosexuality. It is possible to integrate sexual identity and religious identity, depending on the interpretation of religious texts. Some religious organizations object to the concept of sexual orientation entirely. In the 2014 revision of the code of ethics of the American Association of Christian Counselors, members are forbidden to "describe or reduce human identity and nature to sexual orientation or reference," even while counselors must acknowledge the client's fundamental right to self-determination.
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The Internet has influenced sexual orientation in two ways: it is a common mode of discourse on the subject of sexual orientation and sexual identity, and therefore shapes popular conceptions; and it allows anonymous attainment of sexual partners, as well as facilitates communication and connection between greater numbers of people.
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Modern scientific surveys find that, across cultures, most people report a heterosexual orientation. : 8: 9–10 Bisexuality comes in varying degrees of relative attraction to the same or opposite sex. : 8–9 Men are more likely to be exclusively homosexual than to be equally attracted to both sexes, while the opposite is true for women. : 8–9 Surveys in Western cultures find, on average, that about 93% of men and 87% of women identify as completely heterosexual, 4% of men and 10% of women as mostly heterosexual, 0.5% of men and 1% of women as evenly bisexual, 0.5% of men and 0.5% of women as mostly homosexual, and 2% of men and 0.5% of women as completely homosexual.
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An analysis of 67 studies found that the lifetime prevalence of sex between men (regardless of orientation) was 3-5% for East Asia, 6-12% for South and South East Asia, 6-15% for Eastern Europe, and 6-20% for Latin America. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance estimates a worldwide prevalence of men who have sex with men between 3 and 16%.The relative percentage of the population that reports a homosexual or bisexual orientation can vary with different methodologies and selection criteria. A 1998 report stated that these statistical findings are in the range of 2.8 to 9% for males, and 1 to 5% for females for the United States – this figure can be as high as 12% for some large cities and as low as 1% for rural areas. A small percentage of people are not sexually attracted to anyone (asexuality). A study in 2004 placed the prevalence of asexuality at 1%.
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In Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), by Alfred C. Kinsey et al., people were asked to rate themselves on a scale from completely heterosexual to completely homosexual. Kinsey reported that when the individuals' behavior, as well as their identity, are analyzed, a significant number of people appeared to be at least somewhat bisexual – i.e., they have some attraction to either sex, although usually one sex is preferred. Kinsey's methods have been criticized as flawed, particularly with regard to the randomness of his sample population, which included prison inmates, male prostitutes and those who willingly participated in discussion of previously taboo sexual topics.
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Nevertheless, Paul Gebhard, subsequent director of the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research, reexamined the data in the Kinsey Reports and concluded that removing the prison inmates and prostitutes barely affected the results. More recent researchers believe that Kinsey overestimated the rate of same-sex attraction because of flaws in his sampling methods. : 9: 147
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Because sexual orientation is complex, some academics and researchers, especially in queer studies, have argued that it is a historical and social construction. In 1976, philosopher and historian Michel Foucault argued in The History of Sexuality that homosexuality as an identity did not exist in the eighteenth century; that people instead spoke of "sodomy", which referred to sexual acts. Sodomy was a crime that was often ignored, but sometimes punished severely under sodomy laws. He wrote, "'Sexuality' is an invention of the modern state, the industrial revolution, and capitalism."
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Other scholars argue that there are significant continuities between ancient and modern homosexuality. The philosopher of science Michael Ruse has stated that the social constructionist approach, which is influenced by Foucault, is based on a selective reading of the historical record that confuses the existence of homosexual people with the way in which they are labelled or treated.In much of the modern world, sexual identity is defined based on the sex of one's partner. In some parts of the world, however, sexuality is often socially defined based on sexual roles, whether one is a penetrator or is penetrated.
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In Western cultures, people speak meaningfully of gay, lesbian, and bisexual identities and communities. In some other cultures, homosexuality and heterosexual labels do not emphasize an entire social identity or indicate community affiliation based on sexual orientation.Some historians and researchers argue that the emotional and affectionate activities associated with sexual-orientation terms such as "gay" and "heterosexual" change significantly over time and across cultural boundaries. For example, in many English-speaking nations, it is assumed that same-sex kissing, particularly between men, is a sign of homosexuality, whereas various types of same-sex kissing are common expressions of friendship in other nations. Also, many modern and historic cultures have formal ceremonies expressing long-term commitment between same-sex friends, even though homosexuality itself is taboo within the cultures.
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Professor Michael King stated, "The conclusion reached by scientists who have investigated the origins and stability of sexual orientation is that it is a human characteristic that is formed early in life, and is resistant to change. Scientific evidence on the origins of homosexuality is considered relevant to theological and social debate because it undermines suggestions that sexual orientation is a choice. "In 1999, law professor David Cruz wrote that "sexual orientation (and the related concept homosexuality) might plausibly refer to a variety of different attributes, singly or in combination. What is not immediately clear is whether one conception is most suited to all social, legal, and constitutional purposes."
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Explanation-based learning (EBL) is a form of machine learning that exploits a very strong, or even perfect, domain theory (i.e. a formal theory of an application domain akin to a domain model in ontology engineering, not to be confused with Scott's domain theory) in order to make generalizations or form concepts from training examples. It is also linked with Encoding (memory) to help with Learning.
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An example of EBL using a perfect domain theory is a program that learns to play chess through example. A specific chess position that contains an important feature such as "Forced loss of black queen in two moves" includes many irrelevant features, such as the specific scattering of pawns on the board. EBL can take a single training example and determine what are the relevant features in order to form a generalization.A domain theory is perfect or complete if it contains, in principle, all information needed to decide any question about the domain. For example, the domain theory for chess is simply the rules of chess.
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Knowing the rules, in principle, it is possible to deduce the best move in any situation. However, actually making such a deduction is impossible in practice due to combinatoric explosion. EBL uses training examples to make searching for deductive consequences of a domain theory efficient in practice.
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In essence, an EBL system works by finding a way to deduce each training example from the system's existing database of domain theory. Having a short proof of the training example extends the domain-theory database, enabling the EBL system to find and classify future examples that are similar to the training example very quickly. The main drawback of the method—the cost of applying the learned proof macros, as these become numerous—was analyzed by Minton.
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EBL software takes four inputs: a hypothesis space (the set of all possible conclusions) a domain theory (axioms about a domain of interest) training examples (specific facts that rule out some possible hypothesis) operationality criteria (criteria for determining which features in the domain are efficiently recognizable, e.g. which features are directly detectable using sensors)
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An especially good application domain for an EBL is natural language processing (NLP). Here a rich domain theory, i.e., a natural language grammar—although neither perfect nor complete, is tuned to a particular application or particular language usage, using a treebank (training examples). Rayner pioneered this work. The first successful industrial application was to a commercial NL interface to relational databases.
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The method has been successfully applied to several large-scale natural language parsing systems, where the utility problem was solved by omitting the original grammar (domain theory) and using specialized LR-parsing techniques, resulting in huge speed-ups, at a cost in coverage, but with a gain in disambiguation. EBL-like techniques have also been applied to surface generation, the converse of parsing.When applying EBL to NLP, the operationality criteria can be hand-crafted, or can be inferred from the treebank using either the entropy of its or-nodes or a target coverage/disambiguation trade-off (= recall/precision trade-off = f-score). EBL can also be used to compile grammar-based language models for speech recognition, from general unification grammars.
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Note how the utility problem, first exposed by Minton, was solved by discarding the original grammar/domain theory, and that the quoted articles tend to contain the phrase grammar specialization—quite the opposite of the original term explanation-based generalization. Perhaps the best name for this technique would be data-driven search space reduction. Other people who worked on EBL for NLP include Guenther Neumann, Aravind Joshi, Srinivas Bangalore, and Khalil Sima'an.
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Meta-learning is a branch of metacognition concerned with learning about one's own learning and learning processes. The term comes from the meta prefix's modern meaning of an abstract recursion, or "X about X", similar to its use in metaknowledge, metamemory, and meta-emotion.
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Marcial Losada and other researchers have attempted to create a meta learning model to analyze teams and relationships. A 2013 paper provided a strong critique of this attempt, arguing that it was based on misapplication of complex mathematical modelling. This led to its abandonment by at least one former proponent.The meta learning model proposed by Losada is identical to the Lorenz system, which was originally proposed as a simplified mathematical model for atmospheric convection. It comprises one control parameter and three state variables, which in this case have been mapped to "connectivity", "inquiry-advocacy", "positivity-negativity", and "other-self" (external-internal focus) respectively.
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The state variables are linked by a set of nonlinear differential equations. This has been criticized as a poorly defined, poorly justified, and invalid application of differential equations.Losada and colleagues claim to have arrived at the meta learning model from thousands of time series data generated at two human interaction laboratories in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, although the details of the collection of this data, and the connection between the time series data and the model is unclear. These time series portrayed the interaction dynamics of business teams doing typical business tasks such as strategic planning.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-learning
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These teams were classified into three performance categories: high, medium and low. Performance was evaluated by the profitability of the teams, the level of satisfaction of their clients, and 360-degree evaluations. One proposed result of this theory is that there is a ratio of positivity-to-negativity of at least 2.9 (called the Losada line), which separates high from low performance teams as well as flourishing from languishing in individuals and relationships. Brown and colleagues pointed out that even if the proposed meta-learning model were valid, this ratio results from a completely arbitrary choice of model parameters carried over from the literature on modeling atmospheric convection by Lorenz and others, without any justification.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-learning
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Meta learning can also be a very effective tool to assist students in becoming independently self-reflective. Students will require feedback in order to reflect on their learning, strengths, and weaknesses. Meta learning tasks will help students be more proactive and effective learners by focusing on developing self-awareness. Meta learning tasks would provide students with the opportunity to better understand their thinking processes in order to devise custom learning strategies. The goal is to find a set of parameters that work well across different tasks so that learners start with a bias that allows them to perform well despite receiving only a small amount of task-specific data.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-learning
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The National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, or NCACS, is an international organization based in the U.S. city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, dedicated to promoting alternative education. The organization was founded in 1978.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_Alternative_Community_Schools
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It is known for its annual conferences, which bring together the community of community schools and homeschoolers and are held in a different location around the country each year. It also holds regional conferences. The NCACS also produces a directory of alternative community schools which it sells, as well as a quarterly newsletter.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_Alternative_Community_Schools
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The NCACS defines its membership as consisting of: Home educating parents and students Independent (private) alternative schools and programs Government (public) alternative schools and programs Alternative colleges and universities Experiential and adventure-oriented programs Learning centers and traveling schools Individuals and lifelong learners Cultural centers and intentional communities Publishers and researchers focused on alternative education topics
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_Alternative_Community_Schools
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2006 - held on The Farm, Tennessee 2005 - held in Chicago, Illinois 2004 - held on The Farm, Tennessee 1995 - held in Colorado 1994 - held in Blacksburg, Virginia 1993 - held near Jasper, Arkansas on the Buffalo National River 1992 - held in Indiana 1986 - held at Upatinas in Glenmoore, Pensylvania
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_Alternative_Community_Schools
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A partial listing of NCACS member schools: Clonlara School Stonesoup School Cobblestone School The Forum Upattinas School and Resource Center Upland Hills School
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_of_Alternative_Community_Schools
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Carl Abbott (born December 3, 1944) is an American historian and urbanist, specialising in the related fields of urban history, western American history, urban planning, and science fiction, and is a frequent speaker to local community groups. Since 1967 he has been married to Margery Post Abbott, a Quaker scholar and teacher.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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He received a BA in history from Swarthmore College (1966) and a PhD from the University of Chicago (1971). His academic positions have included the University of Denver (1971–72), Old Dominion University (1972–78), and Portland State University (1978–2012). He has also held visiting positions at Mesa University, George Washington University, and the University of Oregon.He served as president of the Urban History Association (1995), has been a member of the American Historical Association since 1982 and served as president of its Pacific Coach Branch from 2012 until 2013. Other professional service has included co-editorship of the journal of the American Planning Association from 1999 to 2004 and of the Pacific Historical Review from 1997 to 2014.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Abbott has authored or co-authored sixteen books. The Metropolitan Frontier: Cities in the Modern American West (1993) received the book award of the Urban History Association and Political Terrain: Washington D.C. from Tidewater Town to Global Metropolis (1999) received the book award of the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. He has also published many scholarly articles, chapters, and reviews as well as shorter essays for general readers on his website.Abbott is also active in fields of public history, working with Portland's Architectural Heritage Center, The Oregon Encyclopedia, the Oregon Historical Society, and other organizations and is an advocate of community-based history.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Colorado: The History of the Centennial State. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder 1976. Fifth edition 2013 (with Stephen Leonard and Tom Noel): University of Colorado Press, Boulder 2013, ISBN 9781607322269. The Great Extravaganza: Portland and the Lewis and Clark Exposition.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Oregon Historical Society, Portland 1981, ISBN 0875950884. Boosters and Businessmen: Popular Economic Thought and Urban Growth in the Antebellum Middle West. Greenwood Press, Westport CT 1981, ISBN 0313225621.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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The New Urban America: Growth and Politics in Sunbelt Cities. University of North Carolina Press, 1981. Revised edition 1987, ISBN 0807841803.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Portland: Planning, Politics, and Growth in a Twentieth Century City. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln NE 1983, ISBN 0803210086.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Urban America in the Modern Age, 1920 to Present. H. Davidson, Arlington Heights IL 1987. 2nd edition 2007, ISBN 9780882952475.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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The Metropolitan Frontier: Cities in the Modern American West. University of Arizona Press, Tucson 1993, ISBN 0816511292. Planning a New West: The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (with Sy Adler and Margery Post Abbott).
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Oregon State University Press, Corvallis 1997. ISBN 0870713922.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Political Terrain: Washington, D.C., from Tidewater Town to Global Metropolis. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 1999, ISBN 080782478X. Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2001, ISBN 0812236122. Two Centuries of Lewis and Clark: Reflections on the Voyage of Discovery (with William L. Lang). Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland 2004, ISBN 0875952887.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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Frontiers Past and Future: Science Fiction and the American West. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS 2006, ISBN 0700614303. How Cities Won the West: Four Centuries of Urban Change in Western North America.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque 2008, ISBN 9780826333148. Portland in Three Centuries: The Place and the People. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis 2011.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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ISBN 9780870716133 Imagined Frontiers: Contemporary America and Beyond. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2015, ISBN 978-0806148366 Imagining Urban Futures: Cities in Science Fiction and What We Might Learn from Them. Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 2016. ISBN 9780819576712 == References ==
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Abbott_(urban_historian)
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The 38th meridian west from Washington is an archaic meridian based on the Washington Meridian, lying approximately 115°02′48″ west of the Prime Meridian through Greenwich. The meridian is not currently used for any boundaries, but historically formed the eastern boundary of Nevada Territory and the state of Nevada and the western boundary of Utah Territory.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_meridian_west_from_Washington
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In 1861, the western portion of what was then Utah Territory was split off to form the Nevada Territory, and the boundary between the two territories was initially set at the 39th meridian west from Washington. However, gold was discovered the next year to the east of this meridian, and Nevada Territory's Congressional delegation requested that the boundary be moved east. Congress granted this request on July 14, 1862, moving the boundary east one degree to the 38th meridian. Nevada Territory became the state of Nevada in 1864, but its eastern boundary would remain at the 38th meridian until May 5, 1866.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_meridian_west_from_Washington
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At that time, in part due to the discovery of more gold, the eastern boundary of Nevada was moved east one degree again to the 37th meridian, where it remains today. Since then, the 38th meridian has not served as a boundary for any U.S. state or territory. == References ==
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_meridian_west_from_Washington
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Jointing refers to the process of filing or grinding the teeth or knives of cutting tools prior to sharpening. The purpose of jointing is to ensure that all surfaces to be sharpened are of a consistent size and all imperfections have been removed. Jointing is usually the first step in the process of sharpening: When sharpening a hand saw blade, the teeth are jointed by running a flat file over the tips of the teeth so that they are all of the same height. Circular saw blades are jointed prior to sharpening so that all teeth protrude from the blade the same distance from the centre. Jointer knives are ground until they are all the same length prior to sharpening. The edges of a card scraper are jointed by running the edge over a file or a sharpening stone prior to using a burnisher to turn the burr.Jointing is usually carried out infrequently as it removes a lot of material from the edge of the blade.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jointing_(sharpening)
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The Sadz or Asadzwa, also Jigets, are a subethnic group of the Abkhazians. They are sometimes purported to have originated from the Sanigoi tribe mentioned by the Classic authors. In the 6th century, they formed a tribal principality, which later commingled with the Abasgoi, Apsilae and Missimianoi into the Kingdom of Abkhazia. Until 1864 Sadz lived at the Black Sea coast north to Gagra until the Khosta River (Khamysh River).
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadz
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They formed the Sadzyn area, which consisted of the possessions of Kamysh, Arydba, Amarshan and Gechba clans, under the hegemony of Tsanba clan. The Ubykh princes Oblagua, Chizmaa and Dziash also originated from the Sadz. Some think that in the 12-14th centuries a part of the Sadz have been forced to resettle to the northern mountainside of Caucasus Major under the Ubykh pressure.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadz
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They formed there Abazin people. This is only one of the theories explaining the migration from Abkhazia of the ancestors of what is now the Abaza people. After the Russian-Circassian War ended in 1864 most of the Sadz were forced to turn muhajir, moving to the Ottoman Empire.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadz
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Some of them settled in Adjara (then under the Ottoman possession). Now the Sadz dialect of the Abkhaz language is spoken only in Turkey. It consists of Akhaltsys and Tswyzhy subdialects. The Sadz, Aibga and Akhchipsou tribes of Abkhazia were the last ethnic groups to have offered the resistance to the Russian advances during the Caucasus War. The last tribes conquered by Russians were Ahchypsy and Aibga, who lived in and around of what is now Krasnaya Polyana.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadz
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Linguistic purism in Icelandic is the policy of discouraging new loanwords from entering the language, by creating new words from Old Icelandic and Old Norse roots. In Iceland, linguistic purism is archaising, trying to resuscitate the language of a golden age of Icelandic literature. The effort began in the early 19th century, at the dawn of the Icelandic national movement, aiming at replacing older loanwords, especially from Danish, and it continues today, targeting English words. It is widely upheld in Iceland and it is the dominant language ideology. It is fully supported by the Icelandic government through the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, the Icelandic Language Council, the Icelandic Language Fund and an Icelandic Language Day.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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The first signs of the Icelanders' pre-occupation with their mother tongue date back to the mid-12th century with the First Grammatical Treatise (Fyrsta málfræðiritgerðin), which undertook to design an alphabet for the language and proposed separate (non-Latin) letters for the distinctive Icelandic phonemes. It was, in a way, an attempt to give the young Icelandic people a language of their own. Also significant was the Icelandic historiography, which started at an early date with Ari Þorgilsson's Íslendingabók and ranged through the Landnámabók (book of colonization) to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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In particular, the prose of the sagas of the Icelanders and Snorri's skaldic poetry are clear signs of appreciation of the native language. By 1300, after the Icelanders had joined in union with the Norwegian crown, Icelandic had developed several characteristics that distinguished it from the dialects of the Norwegian districts from where many had migrated to Iceland centuries earlier. By the 16th century, the language was so differentiated from the languages spoken in Scandinavia that Icelanders coined the term íslenska to denote their native tongue. A serious effort to preserve the now quite distinct Icelandic from the "corrupting" influences of foreign words, especially by the Danish and German merchants who dominated Iceland's trade, began in the early 17th century thanks to Arngrímur Jónsson.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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The first real instigator of Icelandic linguistic purism (hreintungustefna) was Eggert Ólafsson (1726–68). Between 1752 and 1757 he accompanied his friend Bjarni Pálsson on an expedition through Iceland. In his report, he described the situation of the Icelandic language as lamentable. This inspired him to write the poem Sótt og dauði íslenskunnar, in which he personifies his mother tongue as a woman, who has fallen mortally ill through an infection with too many foreign words.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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She sends her children to look for good and pure Icelandic that can cure her, but uncontaminated language is nowhere to be found, and she dies. At the end of the poem he urges his compatriots to defend their language and reminds them of the great esteem in which Icelandic is held abroad and how well it has been preserved by their forefathers. Eggert Ólafsson was very well-read in Old Icelandic literature and this was noticeable in his writings.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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This interest in the old language brought him into contact with other Icelandic students in Copenhagen, where he joined a secret society called Sakir (1720–72). This was the beginning of the use of Old Icelandic as a key feature in the Icelandic national awakening. Eggert wrote the first orthographical dictionary (Réttritabók Eggerts Ólafssonar) in which he proposed orthographic and phonetic rules.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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The influence of the book was considerable, and Ólafur Olavius, originator of the Hrappseyjarprentsmiðja, the first privately owned printing shop in Iceland, followed Eggert's rules to a significant extent. Eleven years after Eggert's death, the Íslenska lærdómslistafélag (Icelandic Art-Learning Society) was founded in Copenhagen with Jón Eiríksson, administrative director at the Danish Ministry of Finance, as its president. The society published annual writings from 1781 to 1796, which dealt with practical subjects like trade and business, but also with varied scientific topics about which little had been read until then.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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This brought along a flood of new Icelandic terminology, generated from purely Icelandic lexical stock. In Denmark, the rise of Romanticism brought with it a greater interest in Norse mythology. This opened the eyes of Icelanders with regard to their cultural importance and increased their self-confidence.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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The Danish linguist Rasmus Rask (1787–1832) learnt Icelandic in his youth and it became his favorite language. He compiled the first real Icelandic grammar, which was a huge step forward in comparison with earlier attempts.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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He refused to accept the differences between Old and Modern Icelandic and was afraid that a too great difference between the two would decrease the interest in the land and its culture. This attitude promoted language archaisation. On Rask's initiative the Icelandic Literary Society, Hið íslenska bókmenntafélagið, was founded.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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Its goal was "to preserve the Icelandic language and literature and therewith the culture and the honour of the land". An important publication was Almenn jarðarfræða og landaskipun eður geographia (1821–27), which contains much new genuine Icelandic terminology. It was an opportunity to demonstrate the validity of Rasmus Rask's vision that the Icelandic language had, more than most languages, an "endless neologistic generating capability".
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Icelandic
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