bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Working consensus” and the rhetorical situation
Authors: Maurer Elizabeth G.
Published: March 2014

Examining uptakes of the “homeless blog” (a weblog written by a person who is experiencing or has experienced homelessness), this essay investigates constraints facing marginalized rhetors in their attempts to address rhetorical exigencies in innovative ways via “online genres.” Such rhetors face an environment of public meta-discourse in which readers may mischaracterize their texts according to analogous or “antecedent” (Jamieson 1975) genres. This essay proposes that to understand how rhetors negotiate constraints on their social action and build consensus about their discourse in such conditions, it is useful to consider public meta-genre as informed by “face-work,” Erving Goffman’s (1955; 1959) theory of how subjects engaged in self-presentation negotiate “working consensus” (Goffman 1959), provisionally-agreed-upon understanding of situations and participants. Five months ago, Barbieux, started a Web log about his life (TheHomelessGuy.net). His goals for the “blog” were modest. Mainly, he wanted to show people a different side to homelessness. … The blog started as a whim. He’d heard about blogging, the diarist-style writing that has swept the Web, through friends. (emphasis mine) (Luo 2003, Mar. 17) A few weeks ago, Anya Peters was homeless and living in a car, …. Her contact with the outside world was through an online diary. But this blog, published under the name of Wandering Scribe, was picked up by readers around the world and has provided a remarkable way out of her homelessness. She has written her own escape story. The story of her homelessness and her previous life is going to be turned into a book, with a publishing deal signed and the hardback scheduled to reach the bookshops next Spring. (emphasis mine) (Coughlan 2006, May 31) [Gary] Trudeau draws a street person going to collect his e-mail at the public library, where addresses had been handed out free to the homeless. Looking for potential employers’ responses to his job resume, he posts an address that puts the hype about the universal democracy built into the technoscientific information system into perspective: lunatic@street_level. (Haraway 1997: 6)
Ellipsis and Restructuring in European Portuguese
Authors: Gonçalves Anabela , Matos Gabriela
Published: March 2014

In this paper we propose that, in European Portuguese, the complementary distribution between Null Complement Anaphora (NCA) and Restructuring (also noted by Brucart 1999 and Depiante 2001, for Spanish and Italian) results from the selectional properties of the verbs that accept these constructions: NCA corresponds to active T domains at the level of semantic interpretation, and is selected by verbs with intrinsic lexical content, while Restructuring involves a biclausal sentential structure, headed by a functional or a lexical verb occupying a T projection, and requires the embedded T to be syntactically inactive.
On the distribution of adjectives in Romanian
Authors: Marchis Michaela , Alexiadou Artemis
Published: March 2014

This paper deals with the variable position of adjectives in the Romanian DP. As all other Romance languages, Romanian allows adjectives to appear in both prenominal and postnominal position. In addition, however, Romanian has a third pattern: the so-called cel construction, in which the adjective in the postnominal position is preceded by a determiner-like element, cel. This pattern is superficially similar to Determiner Spreading in Greek. In this paper we contrast the cel construction to Greek DS and discuss the similarities and differences between the two. We then present an analysis of cel as involving an appositive specification clause, building on De Vries (2002). We argue that the same structure is also involved in the context of nominal ellipsis, the second environment in which cel is found.
The passival and the progressive passive
Authors: Hundt Marianne
Published: March 2014

Grammaticalisation of the progressive aspect and passive voice in English began in the Old English period; yet, the spread of the new patterns to all syntactic environments took several centuries. A fairly recent phenomenon is the co-occurrence of the progressive aspect and the be-passive. When the new form was first used in the late eighteenth century, it met with considerable resistance because it was competing with the passival, i.e. an earlier use of an active progressive with passive meaning. The study uses evidence from A Representative Corpus of Historical English Registers (ARCHER) to investigate this particular example of layering. Corpus data show that (a) the passival was not ousted by the progressive passive and that (b) this case-study of layering is a case of stable rather than transitional layering in which the older pattern (the passival) has clearly become the marked pattern.
Grammaticalisation from side to side
Authors: Rissanen Matti
Published: March 2014

The purpose of my paper is to describe the development and grammaticalization of the preposition and conjunct beside(s) in English. This linking word probably goes back to the uncommon Old English construction be + sidan. In Middle English, the grammaticalization of the preposition and conjunct takes place rapidly. This process involves the development of more abstract senses. Subjectification probably played a role in this development.

Two Old and Early Middle English syntactic constructions, i.e., dat. + prep. phrase (him on hype ‘him on hip’, ‘by his side’) and þær ‘there’ + adverb/preposition, (þærin(ne) ‘therein’; þærfore therefore’), probably contributed to the development. The discussion is illustrated by evidence derived from available computerized corpora and historical dictionaries.
Are low-frequency complex prepositions grammaticalized?
Authors: Hoffmann Sebastian
Published: March 2014

Using extensive corpus data, this paper investigates whether low-frequency complex prepositions (e.g. by dint of, in conformity with) can be interpreted as units of language structure even though they cannot have undergone the processes typical of more frequent grammaticalizing constructions. I critically evaluate previous treatments of frequency and discuss alternative modes of interpreting corpus data, e.g. by drawing a distinction between conceptual and absolute frequency as reflections of the cognitive representation of linguistic items. I also suggest that formal properties of grammaticalizing constructions may play an important role and that “grammaticalization by analogy” may account for the establishment of low-frequency units of language. Finally, the paper offers a detailed discussion of the methodological issues involved in using corpus data to study low-frequency phenomena.
Subject clitics in English
Authors: Brinton Laurel J.
Published: March 2014

As a counterexample to unidirectionality in grammaticalization, Newmeyer (1998:270) cites the loss of second-person singular subject clitics, e.g., in hastou and wiltou, in 16th century English (Kroch et al. 1982). These forms are a common, albeit optional, feature of Middle English. Though full thou forms replace -tou/-tow clitics in Early Modern English, second-person plural enclitics, subject proclitics, and object enclitics attest to the continued viability of clisis. This paper argues that -tou/-tow is a reduced form, not a clitic, its disappearance being attributable to loss of a phonological rule, not decliticization. This change predates the replacement of thou by you, the non-expression of subjects in imperatives, and the spread of do in questions and is sudden rather than gradual.
Corpus-driven approaches to grammar
Authors: Hoey Michael
Published: March 2014

Accounting for collocation has to be central to a true theory of language but a satisfactory account must also be able to deal with the grammaticality of language. A number of linguistic positions have attempted to describe the relationship between collocation and grammar, including Sinclair’s idiom principle (1996, 2004), Hunston and Francis’s Pattern Grammar (2000) and my own lexical priming theory (2003, 2005). Although they share many common perspectives and grow out of a common tradition, these approaches do not appear especially similar. This paper seeks to relate lexical priming to both the idiom principle and Pattern Grammar, and shows that with tweaking there are no important incompatibilities amongst the approaches.
The grammatical properties of recurrent phrases with body-part nouns
Authors: Lindquist Hans , Levin Magnus
Published: March 2014

This corpus-based paper investigates the frequency, grammatical irregularity, and variational behaviour of formulaic sequences consisting of the N1 to N1 pattern with body-part nouns (e.g. face to face) and the analogical extension of the pattern to new, less frequent body-part nouns. These phrases show signs of lexicalization, such as lack of singular/plural distinction, lack of articles and very low likelihood of adjective insertion. While the pattern itself is grammatically irregular, it has a tendency to go through the regular process of conversion from an adverbial (go head to head), via a premodifier (a head-to-head competition) to a noun (a Christie-Lewis head-to-head). One further sign of univerbation is the use of hyphens, which is most frequent in the premodifier function and in nouns.
Revisiting the evidence for objects in English
Authors: Meyer Matthias L.G.
Published: March 2014

The present paper challenges the long-standing distinction between direct and indirect objects and the status of the latter as a central grammatical category. My points of departure are the frameworks developed by Quirk et al. (1985), Aarts and Aarts (1982) and Huddleston and Pullum (2002 and 2005) where the separation of syntax and semantics is not strict enough to yield a syntactically appropriate notion of objects in English. A new theory of verb complementation referred to as “Passivisable Object Theory” (“PO Theory”) is proposed which stipulates that objects must be passivisable by definition. It is also shown that passivisation itself neither introduces nor eliminates prepositions. Thus both  (a) She gave Mary a book and (b) She gave a book to Mary allow for only one passivisation each and consequently nothing but the first NP is classed as object in either structure. A book in (a) will be reclassified as a “complement extension” or CE (a new type of complement) and the PP in (b) as a “predicator complement” or PC (category adapted from Aarts and Aarts). This has far-reaching consequences for the entire system of transitive verbs and will – against Mukherjee (2005) – marginalise ditransitive structures and show that syntax is more independent of semantics than many grammarians would acknowledge. My claims are supported by evidence from BNC Baby and contrasted with examples from Victorian novels.
Lexico-functional categories  and complex collocations
Authors: Cacchiani Silvia
Published: March 2014

The lexico-functional category of intensifiers comprises core items expressing degree (very), and less grammaticalized, polyfunctional items which form a gradient from central to peripheral (bloody, desperately, thumpingly). Building on previous work on intensifiers, I queried the British National Corpus using the SketchEngine to provide evidence for considering occurrence in complex collocations as a parameter along which individual intensifiers vary with respect to each other: whereas occurrence in complex collocations extending to the right turns out to be a clue to the extent of grammaticalization, semantic prosody, and pattern of intensification of the intensifier (very vs. easily), ability to modify intensifiers in collocations extending to the left reflects the type and extent of expressivity and involvement of the intensifier.
Phonology as human behavior
Authors: Dekker Adriaan , de Jonge Bob
Published: March 2014

The authors analyze the distribution in the lexicon of nine Peninsular Spanish consonants (/p, t, k, b, d, g, f, ?, ?/) within the framework of Phonology as Human Behavior with respect to two hypothesised factors: Complexity of Articulation and Visibility. In general, the observed distribution of the uncombined consonants is according to the hypotheses tested. However, one member, /k/, occurs more frequently than would be expected. The authors show that /k/ belongs to a particular subset of consonants in Spanish, which might explain a relative favoring, but they also observe that /k/ appears to be more frequent in other languages as well. It appears that another factor, the Size of Cavity, might play a decisive role.
The difference between zero and nothing
Authors: Contini-Morava Ellen
Published: March 2014

Most Swahili noun class prefixes are overt, e.g. m-toto/wa-toto ‘child/children’. However, for Classes 5 and 9/10 an overt prefix occurs only in certain morphophonemic contexts. Despite superficial similarities, only the Cl. 5 prefix should be analyzed as zero (meaningful absence); Cl. 9/10 nouns simply lack a prefix. Evidence includes differences in singular-plural patterns and in derivational productivity of prefix absence. Prefix absence indicates (inherent or derived) Cl. 5 membership and singular number. The availability of prefixless Cl. 9/10, outside the normal class and number systems, helps preserve the coherence of the noun class system, and allows zero to convey meaning in the case of Cl. 5.
Structuring cues of conjunctive yet, but, and still
Authors: Crupi Charlene
Published: March 2014

This study examines over 400 tokens of conjunctive yet, but, and still to confirm predictions tied to a unique structuring cue or meaning posited for each form (Crupi 2004). The research is conducted within a Columbia School sign-based linguistic framework; however, unlike forms typically examined in CS analyses, yet, but, and still do not comprise a closed grammatical system. Rather the three are independent linguistic units that share the common communicative function of adversative conjunction. By examining the flow of information through a text, this research indicates that conjunctive yet, but, and still contribute unique and consistent clues about overall textual structure.
Ways of impersonalizing: Pronominal vs verbal strategies
Authors: Siewierska Anna
Published: March 2014

The term impersonal is used in the literature to denote subjectless constructions, constructions featuring only a pleonastic subject, and constructions which lack a specified agent. This chapter focuses on the third of these types, which are often expressed in languages by the non-personal use of personal pronouns (pronominal impersonals) or by agentless passives, reflexive impersonals and participial impersonals (here designated by the cover term ‘verbal impersonals’). This chapter compares the use of pronominal impersonals, in particular that of the third person plural with verbal impersonals, with respect to their referential range. Adopting the principles of grammaticalization, I argue that third person plural constructions are more referentially restricted than their verbal counterparts.
Parallel texts and corpus-based contrastive analysis
Authors: Barlow Michael
Published: March 2014

In this chapter we explore a corpus-based approach to contrastive analysis, in which the tools and concepts of corpus linguistics are applied to contrastive studies (Altenberg & Granger 2002: 7). Following this approach, we start with few assumptions and examine the frequency data generated by the application of a parallel concordancer to a translation corpus. We use this data to guide our investigations into similarities in the paradigms of go and aller, focusing on collocations and idiomatic uses. We show how collocate frequency information is used to determine equivalent collocations in two languages and to distinguish different usage patterns.
Grammatical metonymy within the 'action' frame in English and Spanish
Authors: Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez Francisco José , Peña Cervel María Sandra
Published: March 2014

On the basis of Cognitive Model Theory, this chapter develops a number of explanatory tools – in the domains of conceptual prominence and of constraints on conceptual mappings – that prove useful in dealing systematically with similarities and differences among related grammatical phenomena, both within and across languages. The adequacy of these tools is particularly evident in the contrastive study of the different variants of the English inchoative and middle constructions and corresponding forms of the Spanish reflex passive. The analysis reveals that some of the different conceptual strategies in the two languages are the result of general grammatical features that place constraints on conceptual structure and thereby cue different forms of metonymic activation capable of conveying a comparable range of meaning implications. The chapter thus claims that high-level metonymy is a motivating factor for linguistic structure and realization strategies and that accounting for the intricacies of such strategies would be impossible without an adequate understanding of some of the central features of cognitive modelling.
Perception and production of vowel paragoge by Brazilian EFL students
Authors: Koerich Rosana D.
Published: March 2014

Based on Flege’s (1995) claim that inaccurate perceptual targets may be responsible for misproductions of L2 sounds, this study investigates the relationship between perception and production of vowel paragoge by Brazilian EFL learners. Production data was obtained through the reading of sentences containingmonosyllabic target words of the form CVC followed by monosyllabic context words or silence. Perception data was obtained through an oddity discrimination test. The study involved twenty undergraduate students at the beginning level of English. Support for the perception-production relationship was provided by statistically significant correlation results. This study is innovative in that previous investigations focusing on the issue have dealt with distinctions between phonemes, whereas this deals with syllable structure and the addition of an extra phone.
The influence of voicing on the production of initial /s/-clusters by Brazilian learners
Authors: Rebello Jeanne Teixeira , Baptista Barbara O.
Published: March 2014

This paper examines the production of English initial /s/-clusters by Brazilian learners, considering as possible variable constraints cluster length, sonority relations within the syllable, and environment, based on studies by Carlisle with Spanish learners and on Eckman’s markedness differential hypothesis (MDH) and structural conformity hypothesis (SCH). Results were inconclusive regarding the influence of cluster length, and, due to transfer of native-language voicing assimilation, universal markedness regarding voicing appeared to play a greater role in determining the frequency of syllable simplification than markedness regarding sonority, both within the syllable and in relation to the environment.Thus, the study complements previous research by demonstrating the importance of L1 transfer in determining which universals will have the greatest influence on L2 syllable production.
Variability in the use of weak forms of prepositions
Authors: Watkins Michael Alan
Published: March 2014

This study investigated the influence of phonological environment on variability in the production of the weak forms of four prepositions by advanced Brazilian speakers of English. Results of a VARBRUL analysis indicated that four phonological factors were exerting a significant effect: (a) the preposition itself; (b) whether or not there was a preceding syllable in the same intonation group; (c) the initial segment of the following word; (d) the metrical status of the following syllable. The relative amount of output by the speaker during the 30-minute recording also proved to have a significant effect. Since none of these factors appeared to be exerting a particularly powerful effect on its own, there may be some psycholinguistic factors also operating.
Introduction
Authors: Kondo-Brown Kimi
Published: March 2014

“I never spoke Japanese at home ‘cause everything was in English at school, and my friends were all local children who spoke only English, you know. I thought, ‘This is Hawaii, everybody speaks English.’ At some point, I didn’t speak Japanese at all. I thought it was normal.... When I was growing up in Hawaii, nobody at school encouraged me to learn Japanese. It was only my mother who cared and worried about it.” (Kondo, 1997, pp. 378)
High-stakes testing and heritage language maintenance
Authors: Shin Sarah J.
Published: March 2014

This chapter discusses the impact of the current testing-driven educational policies on heritage language (HL) maintenance by language minority (particularly, East Asian) students. High-stakes testing has come to exert a growing pressure on American education since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which holds schools accountable for the academic progress of all students through annual testing in reading and math in grades 3 through 8. Under NCLB, there are heavy penalties for schools that do not demonstrate immigrant students’ rapid acquisition of English and continuous improvement in standardized test scores. The law’s exclusive focus on English is likely todiscourage the development of languages other than English. This chapter describes the effects of such policies on HL maintenance through interviews ofparents, ESL and HL teachers, and offers suggestions for raising public awareness of the value of HLs despite the pressures.
Japanese English bilingual children in three different language environments
Authors: Hayashi Asako
Published: March 2014

This chapter investigates heritage language development from the perspective of bilingual and biliteracy development. Survey and proficiency data collected from 4th and 5th grade school children (n=33) attending bilingual programs in the United States are compared to those of Japanese children attending an English immersion program in Japan (n=30). This chapter emphasizes that school and family policies that encourage balanced use of two languages is required for children to be bilingual and bilateral. It discusses how external factors such as family, school, and community supports are crucial in creating cultural milieus that support learning environments where the children can use both languages.
East Asian heritage language proficiency development
Authors: Kondo-Brown Kimi
Published: March 2014

Heritage language (HL) researchers with a focus on East Asian languages today have recently made major advances in identifying individual and contextual factors associated with HL proficiency development in these languages. This chapter first reviews recent empirical studies that examine factors associated with or predictive of East Asian HL proficiency development such as first language background, HL use and contact, and socio-psychological variables (e.g., attitude, motivation, and identity). The chapter also reviews the literature that investigates how parents view and experience HL proficiency development. The papers collected in this volume are also discussed where relevant. This chapter concludes by suggesting directions for future research concerning East Asian HL proficiency development.
Trust in the empathic interview
Authors: Strandén Sofie
Published: March 2014

In this article, I discuss the concept of trust in the interview situation. I argue that my role, as an interviewer, is important in order to create trust for the interview In this article, I discuss the concept of trust in the interview situation. I argue that my role, as an interviewer, is important in order to create trust for the interviewee. Along with the interviewee’s expectations of what an interview is, I consider my own person, my professionalism, and my social background as the main factors when creating trust during my interviews. This article is based on the fieldwork for my folkloristic thesis to come regarding men’s and women’s narration about their experiences of war.
Memorable belongings
Authors: Gunnemark Kerstin
Published: March 2014

The aim of this article is to present a methodology which highlights the necessity of integration between oral history and artefact collection. Memory Closets are evaluated to give opportunities for dialogues in geriatric care and schools. In the creation process of the closets employees and volunteers were invited to workshops with emphasis on autobiographies, elderly people were interviewed, and pupils wrote essays. Even if many people are not used to talking about materiality, everyone finds it enjoyable when they understand how selected things can awaken memories of their own, their cultural heritage. The dialogues around the Memory Closets, when the past can be used in the present, support their quality of life for the elderly as well as younger persons.
The dialogues in-between: A phenomenological perspective on women's oral history interviews
Authors: Tuomaala Saara
Published: March 2014

In this article, I consider aspects of the process of recalling one’s subjectivity and body in different experiential levels in oral history interviews of elderly women in Finland. I discuss this dialogical process, including the dimension of gender, from the phenomenological point of view, especially philosophy and feminist Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological interpretations combined with experiential and narrative analysis.
The problems of articulating beingness in women's oral histories
Authors: Erdmans Mary Patrice
Published: March 2014

Based on an analysis of women’s oral histories, this article examines the problem of articulating motherhood. Despite the fact that motherhood is a primary identity, self-reflections on being mothers are circumscribed for several reasons. First, the omnipresent and ethereal nature of the mother identity makes it difficult to capture in words. Moreover, everyday routines are taken for granted and less visible unless they become problematic. Finally, activities in the public sphere are perceived as more significant and worth discussing than those performed in the private sphere. In sum, when using oral histories to document the lives of marginalized populations, it is important to consider how the subordinate position influences the content and form of the narrative.
Life story interviews and the "Truth of Memory": Some aspects of oral history from a historico-philosophical perspective
Authors: Stögner Karin
Published: March 2014

The interaction between an interviewee and an interviewer in a narrative life story interview is a relevant topic in oral history as well as in empirical social sciences in general. This relationship seems to be central especially with regard to the validity of memories produced in interviews as it affects in various ways the narrative and memory alike. The interview situation has immediate influence onto what is being remembered at all, which memories are being narrated and which are not.

Following such general considerations concerning the various problems of life story interviews this article sheds light upon some questions raised by philosophy of history, e.g. how the past becomes a “historic item”. The major question addressed is how the present circumstances and conditions shape the way the past is narrated and how this has to be considered when dealing with life story interviews.
The development of tense, mood, and aspect in the creole languages, and the typology of affix order
Authors: Bakker Peter
Published: March 2014

Creole languages display systems of marking tense, mood and aspect (TAM) that are rather different from what is commonly found in non-creoles, but at the same time highly similar across creoles. In this chapter I will show some of these similarities and differences, and try to explain them with general cognitive principles, focusing on the order of these elements with respect to the verb stem. Further I will discuss the genesis and development of the form of some of these TAM markers from a typological point of view. Finally I will discuss their specific forms of these markers as more or less typical instances of grammaticalization. In creoles, being young languages, it is often easier to trace grammaticalization patterns, and this can help shed light on grammaticalization in general.
Actionality and aspect in Hittite
Authors: Josephson Folke
Published: March 2014

The Hittite reflexive construction has perfective-like functions like Spanish and Italian reflexives. We will consider if they express ‘inner’ aspect. Most present tense forms in narrative tense-switching belong to verbs with a -ske/a-suffix. These verbs can be seen as +INTRA items with actional and aspectual features. -kan and -san are frequently found in the last slot of Wackernagel clitics. -san is allative-directional, -kan locational. -kan indicates initial and final limitation and is similar to Latin con- and Gothic ga-. Lexical (inner) aspect is an important element in modern analysis of Russian perfectivity. An aspectual ‘pair’ system of the Russian kind with an interplay between telicity and quantification as expressed by preverbs and imperfectivity expressed by suffixation did not arise in Hittite though -kan and -ske/a- which could have allowed a similar development were present as were con- and -sco in Latin. Hittite preverbs did not play the same role for aspectuality as preverbs did in many other IE languages but -kan and -san were involved in the VP and affected verb semantics and aspectuality. The discussion will be focused on the function of clitics and verbal suffixation.
Imperfectivity and complete events
Authors: Grønn Atle
Published: March 2014

Imperfectivity is cross-linguistically associated with the subinterval property and a modal component induced by the famous ‘imperfective paradox’. These properties arguably hold for both the progressive and habitual-iterative readings. However, both in Romance and Slavic, the imperfective may also refer to complete events instantiated in the world of evaluation: the so-called Imparfait narratif in French and the Factual Imperfective in Russian.

I propose an analysis of viewpoint aspect in terms of temporal inclusion relations between the event time and the assertion time. Importantly, however, the source of the two complete event readings in question are quite different inasmuch as the Russian imperfective is unmarked and is used whenever the marked perfective aspect is inappropriate, while the French Imparfait is marked. This means that the French Imparfait retains its meaning of contemporaneity even when it has a complete event interpretation.
The Old Nordic Middle Voice in the pre-literary period: Questions of grammaticalisation and cliticisation
Authors: Ottósson Kjartan G.
Published: March 2014

In this paper, data from sources predating the earliest preserved manuscripts, runic inscriptions as well as poetry, is used to shed light on the earliest history of the morphologically defined Nordic Middle Voice, ending in -sk in Old West Nordic and in -s in Old East Nordic. This category has not only the reflexive meaning inherited from the reflexive clitic –sk, but also i.a. reciprocal and anticausative meaning. The semantic development must be independent from the formal development including cliticisation, as shown by comparison with the German Middle Voice, which lacks cliticisation. The formal development includes generalisation of the clitic -sk from the 3rd person and infinitive as well as from the accusative to the dative (and genitive). The cliticisation is not restricted to arguments to the verbal hosts, but can involve elements very loosely connected to the verb. Morphological and syntactic arguments show that the clitic must have become an affix as early as the 9th and 10th centuries.
Differential object marking in Sahidic Coptic
Authors: Engsheden Åke
Published: March 2014

In Coptic a direct object can either follow the verb directly or indirectly being introduced by a marker n (before nouns) or mmo (before pronouns). In a wide range of languages the direct object alternates between a morphologically marked and an unmarked form, so called ‘differential object marking’ (e.g., Bossong 1991; Bossong 1998: Lazard 2001). A well-attested language in which differential object marking (DOM) occurs, in my opinion, is Coptic. An analysis of all direct objects in the Gospels in Sahidic Coptic shows that contrary to common belief Coptic also exhibited differential object marking in agreement with patterns attested cross-linguistically. The main factors governing the distribution of object constructions in Coptic were referentiality and thematicity.
Clause-initial position in four Australian languages
Authors: Simpson Jane , Mushin Ilana
Published: March 2014

Word order in Australian languages has frequently been described as “free” or subject to pragmatic or discourse constraints rather than governed by syntactic rules. This paper examines both the pragmatic and syntactic factors which motivate the placement of constituents in clause initial position. We find striking similarities across four languages – Warlpiri, Jiwarli, Nyangumarta and Garrwa – suggesting underlying principles for ordering that belie their description as “free word order” languages. Clause initial position is dominated by “prominent” constituents” – both those which are inherently prominent and thus obligatory in initial position, and those which are prominent by virtue of the discourse context.
Diverging paths: Variation in Garrwa tense/aspect clitic placement
Authors: Mushin Ilana
Published: March 2014

This paper presents an account of variations in the clausal position of two tense/aspect markers in the Garrwa language, primarily whether they occur before or after a pronoun as part of a second position clitic cluster. The analysis considers how different paths of grammaticalisation in the development of Garrwa tense/aspect markers may impact on their contemporary usage. An account of discoursepragmatic factors associated with tense/aspect clitic placement in narrative discourse is also presented. The analysis demonstrates a range of factors, both historical and pragmatic, which may motivate grammatical variation in discourse.
Reintroducing inverse constructions in Japanese
Authors: Koga Hiroaki , Ohori Toshio
Published: March 2014

This paper reexamines the Japanese deictic verb kuru “to come” within the RRG framework and argues that its auxiliary use should be analyzed as a kind of inverse marker, elaborating on Shibatani (e.g., 2003). We show that the division of labor between the active-passive system and the direct-inverse system in Japanese involves complicated pragmatic factors. Specifically, it is when a Privileged Syntactic Argument (PSA) is topical but there is another participant that outranks PSA on the person hierarchy (usually speaker or hearer) that the direct-inverse paradigm is obligatorily used, although it may be optionally employed when a PSA is in focus domain. The present study adds a new insight to the growing body of studies on inverse phenomena (Payne 1994), as well as to the typology of PSAs proposed in rrg.
Fluid transitivity and generalized semantic roles
Authors: Nakamura Wataru
Published: March 2014

This paper focuses on multiple-argument verbs in syntactically accusative and ergative languages which exhibit case (frame) alternations depending on the context in which they occur and proposes that those verbs leave lexically underspecified how many macroroles they take. It further offers a comparison between the proposed account and Ackerman & Moore’s (2001) proto-role account and argues that those case (frame) alternations are better treated as macrorole/transitivity alternations than relational alternations.
Unification and separation in a functional theory of morphology
Authors: Martín Arista Javier
Published: March 2014

This paper offers the initial design for a functional theory of morphology and addresses the question of how much unification or separation of domains and units is required in such a theory. Given that morphology is largely driven by principles that also rule syntax and semantics, the main thrust of this proposal is that the interaction between morphology and other areas of the theory can be adequately accounted for by the combination of three descriptive-explanatory resources: layered structures, templates and constructions. Other descriptiveexplanatory principles such as feature percolation and the characteristics of bases and adjuncts remain specifically morphological. Unification and separation in morphology must be carried out on functional grounds. Moreover, Old English evidence shows that no strict separation can be postulated, either between morphology and the rest of the theory or among the different morphological processes.
Modality in RRG
Authors: Nolan Brian
Published: March 2014

In this paper we are concerned with providing elements of a characterisation of modality in RRG using data from Irish, a VSO language found on the west of Europe. We outline the characteristics of modality drawing on previous work on modality and modal logic, and relate this to patterns in sentence syntax and the semantics of the event frame. Issues of scope and negation are examined and presented. We extend the logical structure notation used in RRG (Van Valin 2005) to include additional logical notation to represent the modality expressions. Deontic modality is concerned with obligation and permission whereas epistemic modality is concerned with knowledge and belief. Modality is also concerned with coding of necessity versus possibility and, in some accounts, with the idea of “possible worlds” (Portner 2005). We motivate a relationship formally between deontic, dynamic and epistemic modality in terms of RRG. A characterisation of modality in Irish is also provided.
Where is the precore slot? Mapping the layered structure of the clause and German sentence topology
Authors: Diedrichsen Elke
Published: March 2014

The paper will account for the regularities of word order with German main declarative clauses by using the RRG framework. The question whether the so-called “Vorfeld” (“prefield”)-position can be equated with the RRG-notion of precore slot (PrCS) will be explored. It will be shown that operator scope with the different readings of modal verbs indicates that the position before the finite verb should be regarded as core-external position. Furthermore, a structural analysis will be introduced that reveals that certain peculiarities of German word order can be captured most extensively when a precore slot is included in the syntactic description. With such an analysis, a structural explanation of pragmatically motivated word order alternations can be given for “VP-topicalization” and “tun-periphrasis”.
The interplay of focus structure and syntax
Authors: Bentley Delia
Published: March 2014

I examine Italian and Sicilian main-clause word order drawing upon Van Valin (1993, 1999, 2005) and Van Valin & LaPolla (1997). Van Valin’s (1999) hypothesis on the typology of the interplay of focus structure and syntax is corroborated by micro-parametric variation. Although Italian is subject to a syntactic constraint and a pragmatic constraint on the canonical position of the subject, it proves to be rigid pragmatically and relatively flexible syntactically. Contrastingly, Sicilian turns out to be flexible in both ways. As a result of its pragmatic flexibility, Sicilian does not exhibit a topicalization strategy which is found in Italian and involves the association of a syntactic position with a specific pragmatic role. The analysis of the space which is outside the core of the clause indicates that the positions which define the potential focus domain of a language need not be adjacent.
An RRG approach to French complementation patterns
Authors: Morita Takahiro
Published: March 2014

The aim of this paper is, in the framework of rrg (Van Valin & La Polla 1997; Van Valin 2005), to propose some operator constraints on the logical structure of complement taking predicates in French, in particular the class of propositional attitude (BELIEVE class, croire) and that of volition (WANT class,vouloir). To approach the complementation patterns of these classes requires the treatment of the different syntactic structures (infinitival core coordination/clause subordination) and modal opposition (indicative/subjunctive) in a unifying way. The present paper argues that specification of the operators in the logical structure allows the prediction of the correct syntactic structures and the appropriate selection of mood to each class of verbs.
Wari’ Intentional State Constructions
Authors: Everett Daniel L.
Published: March 2014

Wari’, the last viable language of the Chapakuran family of Brazil and Bolivia, manifests a typologically and theoretically interesting construction for expressing intentional states. I refer to this construction as the Intentional State Construction. The special interest of this construction is that it simultaneously manifests properties of both words and clauses, yet seems difficult to subsume under common definitions of Complex Predicates, mixed categories, or within theories of syntax based strictly on endocentricity. It is argued that these constructions are handled straightfowardly by Role and Reference Grammar (Van Valin & LaPolla 1997), in which they are dominated by a non-projecting node (NUC) heading an exocentric unit, Clause.
A Role-Lexical Module (RLM) for Biblical Hebrew
Authors: Winther-Nielsen Nicolai
Published: March 2014

The Role-Lexical Module (RLM) is a new Web application designed to map lexical meaning from syntax to semantics and to parse a Hebrew text. This tool enables the linguist to decompose meaning according to the notion of semantics in Role and Reference Grammar. Work by programmers Chris Wilson and Ulrik Petersen allows us to exploit WordNet for definition of glosses. On this basis the linguist can classify verbs into Aktionsart classes, represent the meaning of clauses following a selection of Logical Structure, and gradually build an RRG lexicon for Biblical Hebrew. The potential and procedures are illustrated in analyses of the verbs of killing, creation and seeing in Biblical Hebrew. This tool helps us map from syntax to semantics in a closed corpus in the database of the Werkgroep Informatica of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
Is a 'friend' an 'enemy'? Between "proximity" and "opposition"
Authors: Sakhno Sergueï , Tersis Nicole
Published: March 2014

The article focuses on recurring semantic associations for the terms meaning “friend” in different genetic stocks. The data show a distinction between several semantic networks which partially overlap, and in which “friend” is linked to different terms designating the “other” in a dual relation. The presentation is treefold, according to the semantic associations of “friend” with the following semantic fields: proximity, complementarity, and opposition. The study is based on three types of semantic and formal links as attested in the data: synchronic polysemy, heterosemy (derivation, composition), historical depth (i.e., diachronic links when available). The typological approach also allows to back up some tricky cases of diachronic reconstructions, and to consider new semantic networks which were thought before as doubtful.
Case variation in Gothic absolute constructions
Authors: Dewey-Findell Tonya Kim , Syed Yasmin
Published: March 2014

The choice of case in Gothic absolute constructions is not random, but systematic. Its determining factors are the semantic relationship between the matrix clause and the absolute construction, the tense/aspect of its participle, and the thematic role of its subject. The nominative absolute has main clause semantics, while absolutes in the oblique cases have subordinate clause semantics. The bare dative is the default for absolute constructions in Gothic, while secondary meanings such as durativity or iterativity are linked with other cases. Additionally, the preposition at can be used with either the dative or the accusative as a temporal marker or a focussing device.
The case of the shifty ergative marker: A pragmatic shift in the ergative marker of one Australian mixed language
Authors: Meakins Felicity
Published: March 2014

Gurindji Kriol is a mixed language spoken in northern Australia. It is derived from Gurindji, a Pama-Nyungan language, and Kriol, an English-lexifier creole language. Gurindji Kriol has adopted the argument marking systems from both source languages; case marking, specifically the ergative marker, from Gurindji, and svo word order from Kriol. These two systems of argument marking were brought into contact and competition in the formation of the mixed language with two results: (i) word order has emerged as the dominant system in the mixed language, and (ii) ergative marking is optional. In this paper I argue that, though the ergative marker continues to contribute to argument disambiguation, its primary function is to accord discourse prominence to the agentivity of a nominal.
Patterns of development, patterns of syncretism of relational morphology in the Bodic languages
Authors: Noonan Michael
Published: March 2014

In this paper, I present the results of an examination of the relational morphology in 76 Tibeto-Burman languages, primarily from the Bodic section of Tibeto-Burman. I will discuss a set of etymons used to express relational functions and show how the meanings of the reflexes of these etymons have evolved. I will then go on to discuss overall patterns of syncretism of relational markers in these languages. Finally, the relation between the observed overall patterns of syncretism and the evolution of the reflexes of the etymons will be discussed.
Semantic role to new information in Meithei
Authors: Chelliah Shobhana L.
Published: March 2014

The patient, associative, locative and agent semantic role markers in Meithei (Tibeto-Burman, Northeast India) each exhibit a homophonous enclitic, a morpheme which indicates information as new or surprising from the speaker’s perspective. It is argued that the system wide homophony is due to the metonymic extension of semantic role markers and semantic change through “Subjectification” (Traugott 1989).
From less personal to more personal: Subjectification of ni-marked NPs in Japanese discourse
Authors: Sadler Misumi
Published: March 2014

The Japanese ni is a postpositional particle, known for its wide range of semantic and grammatical roles such as a marker of locations, directions, recipients, and dative subjects. Based on an examination of pre-modern and modern Japanese texts, this study documents how the most basic meaning/usage of ni-marked NPs to mark stative locations has attained more subjective meaning/usage over the course of history. As discussed in Heine (1997), the transition from one stage to another is gradual, involving each new stage coexisting with the prior stages. These overlaps create ambiguity in structure and meaning. The study shows the importance of diachronic perspectives to help us better understand the ways in which semantic and pragmatic changes are represented synchronically.
Hone
Authors: Storch Anne
Published: March 2014

Hone is a Jukun language of Nigeria which exhibits patterns of participant coding that are characteristic for a linguistic area which encompasses Chadic, Plateau, Adamawa and Jukunoid languages. But instead of displaying the typical intransitive copy pronoun constructions that are often found in the area, Hone uses syntactic and nominal formatives to indicate transitivity and changes of valency. While there are no morphological traces of intransitivity, there exist specific syntactic patterns that allow for intransitive constructions. It is intriguing that deverbal nouns that occur as cognate objects in such constructions are the only nouns with a highly productive morphology. A feature of particular interest in the context of coding participant marking is mirativity. In Hone, mirative meaning is expressed by a particular pronoun which refers to the agent and correlates with the strategies of subject focus in Hone. The different strategies of coding participant marking are discussed with reference to the typology of word classes and the diachronic processes that have led to the current situation in Hone.