bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
(Un)-interpretable features and grammaticalization
Authors: Déprez Viviane
Published: March 2014

To explain the diverse distribution of determiners in French Based Creoles (FBC) a formal model of grammaticalization is proposed in which grammaticalization is taken to encode a change in the interpretability of one or more of the features in a lexical item. Here interpretability is understood as legibility at an interface (Chomsky 2000). By changing the interpretability value of a feature, a lexical item in effect changes its status from that of an attractable element, or GOAL, largely syntactically inert (although it can provide valuation) to that of an attractor, or PROBE, driving the syntactic derivation because it must be checked (i.e. valued or eliminated). This change has important and predictable structuring effects, since feature checking is the operation that motivates syntactic movement in the Minimalist framework. Based on a comparative study of the syntactic and semantic properties of FBC determiners, the paper demonstrates how this model explains the correlation between their striking ordering variations and their meaning on the basis of distinctions in the interpretability of their number and person features.
On the development of Recipient passives in DO languages
Authors: Melis Chantal , Flores Marcela
Published: March 2014

Passives of ditransitive verbs vary as to whether they promote the Theme argument or the Recipient. In general terms, Theme passives associate with Direct Object (DO) languages, whereas Recipient passives are characteristic of Primary Object (PO) languages. In this work, we ask what motivates some DO languages to develop a Recipient passive, against the typological tendency, and we suggest that the answer lies in the anthropocentric character of discourse. We then focus on the mechanisms by which an original Theme passive is able to transform into a Recipient passive, using Spanish as our case example. Our analysis of the grammaticalization process documented in that language allows us to localize the origin of the new pasive in a phenomenon of “subjective empathy” with the Recipient, and to track its advance along a continuum of “topicworthiness”. Our study verifies the precedence of word order strategies over other coding properties in passivization.
2. Bare nouns and the nominal domain in Santome
Authors: Alexandre Nélia , Hagemeijer Tjerk
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the role of BNPs within the nominal system of Santome, the major Gulf of Guinea Creole. In the first part of the paper, we sketch an analysis of the DP focusing on the syntax and semantics of the modifiers that express definiteness, number and specificity and their interaction. In the second part, it will be shown that BNPs fulfil a wide range of semantic functions in virtually all syntactic positions, predicative and argumental. Therefore, we propose a unified hypothesis that accounts in for both lexicalized and null determiners as an integrated system. It is argued that all determiners are inherently specified for definiteness and number. However, we consider number parasitic on definiteness (under D0) and, therefore, Santome's syntax does not exhibit an independent projection for number. It is further shown that, especially in the case of BNPs, discourse anchoring and pragmatics are crucially in order to derive the correct interpretation.
5. On the interpretation of bare noun phrases in Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Creole (Kriyol)
Authors: Kihm Alain
Published: March 2014

Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Creole or Kriyol is one of those languages where bare nouns have free access to syntax. Bare nouns are given a restrictive definition: only nouns appearing in their root form, i.e. not marked for number, are considered bare. Kriyol is thus different from Portuguese or English insofar as so-called bare nouns in these languages must be pluralized. Another distinctive feature of Kriyol is the absence of a definite determiner analogous to English the. The conjunction of these features – bare nouns unmarked for number, no overt definite determiner – makes the interpretation of Kriyol noun phrases appear problematic in many cases. The aim of this article is to show that, once semantic (does the noun refer to a person or not?) and syntactic (is the noun a subject or an object?) factors have been taken into account, Kriyol actually is no more ambiguous in this domain than natural languages normally are.
11. Implicit determination and plural
Authors: Déprez Viviane
Published: March 2014

The paper explores and compares the distributions and interpretations of nominal expressions without determiner (bare nouns) in a number of French based creole and in one Portuguese based creole, Cape Verdean creole. The goal of this exploration is to determine on the one hand whether the range of meanings that bare nouns can have in creole languages parallels the one observed in non-creole languages and to examine on the other hand the role that various morpho-syntactic factors and in particular the morphological expression of number can play in restricting the available interpretations of bare nouns. The paper also evaluates the success of an alternative approach to Chierchia's Nominal parameter, termed here the Plural parameter in accounting for the observed data. One prediction of this approach that takes nouns to denote kinds terms in all languages is that no language with optional plural should fail to allow for a Kind reading of its bare nouns. This and other predictions are shown to be verified in the sample of languages explored here.
4. Tense marking and inflectional morphology in Indo-Portuguese creoles
Authors: Luís Ana R.
Published: March 2014

Some Indo-Portuguese creoles exhibit morphological patterns that are characteristic of inflecting languages such as Latin or Portuguese. Verb forms contain not only overt tense and aspect suffixes but also theme vowels which identify the conjugation class of the verb. The genuine theme vowels are meaningless inflectional units which make no contribution to the overall meaning of the verb. They are however an inherent part of the verbal paradigm and determine the shape of inflected verb forms. Because of the presence of genuine theme vowels, the inflectional paradigms of Indo-Portuguese make a clear distinction between roots, stems and suffixes. Both stems and suffixes also exhibit allomorphic shape alternations that are triggered solely by conjugation class distinctions.

The question as to why verbal inflection survived in this small group of Indo-Portuguese creoles will be tentatively explored from the perspective of naturalistic adult second language learning. Based on the growing consensus that creole formation involves substantial L2 acquisition by adults, we examine the extent to which sociocultural and attitudinal factors may have had an effect on the L2 grammars that emerged in the early stages of contact between Portuguese and the substrate languages. It will be argued that Indo-Portuguese creoles were shaped by substrate speakers who, as a result of their favourable attitude towards the Target Language community, acquired a L2 variety with overt verbal inflection (or “Post-Basic Variety”).
Gradual vs. abrupt creolization and recent changes in Daman Creole Portuguese
Authors: Clements J. Clancy
Published: March 2014

This paper recasts the dichotomous view of gradualist vs. abrupt creolization as a continuum. It is suggested that the rapidity of creolization would ultimately depend, not on linguistic factors, but rather on the social conditions of the contact situation (Thomason and Kaufman 1988: 35). In such a continuum model, the cognitive processes (e.g. perceptual salience and frequency effects) play an important role. Within this model, two recent changes in Daman Creole Portuguese (DCP) are examined: the development of sә nãw ‘if not, otherwise’ as a coordinate conjunction ‘and’ that only conjoins sentences, and the emergence of dә ‘of, from’ as a multi-functional preposition with the meanings ‘from, of, in, on, to’. It is argued that both changes can be accounted for by appealing to perceptual salience and frequency effects within the social context of the youngest speakers of DCP.
The invisible hand in creole genesis
Authors: Kouwenberg Silvia
Published: March 2014

This paper considers the historical context in which Berbice Dutch was formed before turning to the significance of the presence in that language of function words derived from the Eastern Ịjọ substrate. The view that transfer of Eastern Ịjọ grammatical properties took place in the formation of Berbice Dutch, is subjected to detailed scrutiny for tense-mood-aspect marking and negation. Despite similarities, important areas of divergence or discontinuity between Berbice Dutch and its substrate are identified – areas which point to reanalysis of substrate-derived functional material in the genesis of Berbice Dutch. This runs counter to the view that Eastern Ịjọ speakers played a central role in the formation of Berbice Dutch, and suggests that ‘the invisible hand’ in its genesis must have been another group, possibly the mixed progeny of the plantation population, which included Dutch, Eastern Ịjọ and Arawak speakers.
Complexification or regularization of paradigms
Authors: Jourdan Christine
Published: March 2014

In Honiara, capital city of the Solomon Islands, speakers of the local variety of Pijin are making extensive usage of the transitive suffix -em (and its variants -im and -um) to transform prepositions into prepositional verbs: daon /down/ becomes daonem /to lower/; ap /up/ becomes apum /to raise/; insaet /inside/ becomes insaetim /to insert, to take inside/; aot /out/ becomes aotim /to remove/, etc. Looking at data gathered in Honiara since 1981, this paper will hypothesize that the formation of prepositional verbs in Solomon Island Pijin (SIP) is best understood as an instance of paradigmatic regularization that is also present in other parts of the morphosyntax. The paper will argue that: (1) simplification and complexification are not the only types of linguistic changes affecting the life of PCs (Pidgin and Creole language); and (2) that regularization is internally-induced, and may not be linked to any substrate or superstrate effect.
Demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin
Authors: den Besten Hans
Published: March 2014

Afrikaans seems to have lost the Dutch independent demonstrative dat ‘that’ as well as the pronoun het ‘it’ and the attributive element deze ‘this, these’, while independent dit ‘this’ seems to have taken over the functions of dat and het and while attributive die ‘that, those’ has acquired a proximate reading (Afr. dié week ‘this week’). In the present paper it is argued, however, that the weak pronoun het was bound to disappear anyway, that dat only underwent phonological change (so that dat and dit couldn’t be distinguished any longer) and that the changes in the system of attributive demonstratives are due to developments in Cape Dutch Pidgin.
Economy, innovation and degrees of complexity in creole formation
Authors: Baptista Marlyse
Published: March 2014

This paper explores the idea that in contact situations, there exists a process whereby so-called morpho-syntactic simplification is correlated to semantic complexification. In examining this process in the verbal and nominal domains, we show that a given morpheme may actually carry in Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) and Guinea-Bissau Creole (GBC) a cluster of semantic feature values where the European language only has one. In order to measure degrees of simplification versus complexification, this paper uses Kusters’ (2003) complexity evaluation metrics involving inflectional morphology specifically. This paper also shows to what extent two sister creoles such as CVC and GBC, assumed to have emerged from the same source languages, display similarities and distinct differences in their morphological properties.
Complexity and the age of languages
Authors: Ansaldo Umberto , Nordhoff Sebastian
Published: March 2014

This paper addresses the issue of complexity in language creation and the time it takes for ‘complex’ structures to emerge in the history of a language. The presence of morphological material is often equated to a certain degree of complexity or is taken to signify a certain time-depth in the history of a language (e.g. Dahl 2004; McWhorter 2005). Though this assumption may be seen as trivial in the absence of a theoretically-based definition of complexity (Muysken 1988), or even misleading (Aboh and Ansaldo 2007; Farquharson 2007), we here put it to a test by looking at morphology in a relatively ‘young’ language, namely Sri Lanka Malay (SLM). SLM is a mixed language which shows considerably more morphological material and other signs of old age than ‘prototypical’ creoles. We explain this by arguing (a) that structural output in language genesis is closely motivated by the typology of the input languages and (b) that our understanding of rate of change needs to be revised to take into account ecological matters.
6. Improving the quality of public documents
Authors: Janssen Daniël
Published: March 2014

Did you ever teach an in-company writing training, visited the company again a couple of weeks later and asked yourself why the people who underwent your training were not using half of the things you taught them and still produce bad writing? The answer to this question might be that improving the writing proficiency of employees is not always the solution for solving text quality problems in organizations. In this chapter, I will discuss when this might be the case and how writing consultants can contribute to a more structural improvement of the writing in organizations.
10. Strategic revision of public documents
Authors: van der Mast Niels , Janssen Daniël
Published: March 2014

Earlier research has shown that policy writers are strategists. Somehow, they know how to deal effectively with comments on draft versions of their documents in order to satisfy the various stakeholders in the (collaborative) writing process and generate consensus on their texts. But how do they do it? How do they know what to revise? What kind of changes do they make in order to fulfill the often incompatible demands of their readers?
Rhetoric and ethic of dialog: Can conditions of performance serve as excluding criteria?
Authors: Létourneau Alain
Published: March 2014

First, we should recall that a rhetorical dimension is forcibly present in the performance of dialog, if we understand dialog both as an invitation and as a reciprocal openness for a constructive process; it can be demonstrated if we look at some proposals of dialog (Buber 1922, and more recently Isaacs 1999). Usually the refusal to consider that there is a rhetorical aspect aims to keep a specific communication process protected against undue manipulation or abuse; but a false assumption is then made. To guard us against such a slope, many authors have pleaded for a rhetorical ethic or an ethic of the rhetoric (Johannesen 19964). We should discuss whether some distinction should be made between valid and non valid forms of rhetoric, review the conditions of an ethical rhetoric, ask how and if they could be meaningfully used as criteria of exclusion (of the nonrhetorical as non-ethical and vice-versa).
Political rhetoric in visual images
Authors: Roque Georges
Published: March 2014

Given the nature of fixed visual images, visual rhetoric is usually seen as monologic. However, in some cases, an analysis of images can reveal them to be dialogic in a weak sense. This hypothesis is examined taking as examples political images, mostly posters, protesting against war. One obvious possibility consists in introducing a written dialogue in the poster. More interestingly, in many posters there is a play between text and image: since an image cannot directly negate, it often shows the crude reality of war. In these cases, it is the text that negates what is affirmed by the image. The opposition between images showing the destructiveness of war and texts rejecting war is analysed both rhetorically and in terms of Ducrot’s theory of polyphony. Finally, parodies and pastiches provide good examples of a kind of dialogue between an image and its source.
Conceptual motivation in adjectival semantics
Authors: Tribushinina Elena
Published: March 2014

Reference-point reasoning is a pervasive cognitive phenomenon intrinsic to many domains of human activity. However, very little is known about linguistic aspects of this phenomenon. This paper elaborates the reference-point model by applying it to lexical semantics and, more specifically, to the semantics of dimensional adjectives. It is argued that a panoply of reference points may be used to anchor conceptual specifications of adjectives, prototypes being only a special case of the reference-point mechanism. For example, dimensional adjectives may be interpreted vis-à-vis an average value of the property (norm), endpoints of the scale and dimensions of the human body (ego). Each of these reference points motivates crucial semantic and functional properties of dimensional adjectives.
Metonymization
Authors: Paradis Carita
Published: March 2014

Despite a sizable functional literature on variation and change, very little attention has been given to the diachronic mechanisms of meaning shifts and change covering the whole continuum from contentful to configurational meanings. This chapter is an attempt to begin filling this gap. It proposes a unitary approach to the mechanisms of variation and change within the Cognitive Linguistics framework. Two types of construals are considered to be essential for the differences between change and shifts, namely, metonymization and zone activation, both of which are part–whole configurations that profile aspects that are contextually motivated in a given situation in human communication. Metonymization is a construal that operates between senses, while activation of zones operates within senses
Metonymy at the crossroads
Authors: Gradečak-Erdeljić Tanja , Milić Goran
Published: March 2014

The chapter uses two small-scale studies to examine the effects of metonymy in political discourse. We re-examine some theoretical constructs proposed as definitional of metonymy, particularly pragmatic function (Barcelona, 2003a) and inclusion of the source and target in the same functional domain (ibid.). By analyzing the dysphemism chickenhawk as an instantiation of the metaphoric mapping humans are animals and the metonymic mapping part of a scenario for the whole scenario in the euphemism body count, we delineate the possibilities and limitations of metonymic inferencing (Panther and Thornburg­, 2003). The observed differences in the pragmatic effect of euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions ascribed to metonymy reveal its differing foregrounding and backgrounding force.
Putting the notion of “domain” back into metonymy
Authors: Benczes Réka
Published: March 2014

This chapter explores the role that domains play in conceptual metonymy by examining the semantics of metonymical (and metaphorical) noun–noun compounds. It argues that the concept of “domain” is a necessary feature of any definition of metonymy (irrespective of the fact whether “domain” is referred to as a domain matrix, frame, or icm). The analysis of noun–noun compounds, such as couch potato and scarlet-collar worker, imply that the domains are best understood as networks of semantic associations, with links to further semantic domains or even other grammatical constructions. Therefore, the chapter proposes that metonymy operates within a domain network, where the domains form web-like semantic links of associations.
The English present
Authors: Langacker Ronald W.
Published: March 2014

Two accounts of the English present are outlined and compared: one that treats it as tense, indicating coincidence with the time of speaking; and one that treats it as modality, indicating epistemic immediacy. Well-known problems with a time-based account are overcome in a conceptual semantic description that makes explicit the mental constructions invoked in non-present uses. With a modal account, the problem is to make the notion of epistemic immediacy sufficiently clear and precise for explicit analysis and comparison to be possible. There is no doubt that the modal account is more general, but for a wide range of central uses the two are effectively equivalent, temporal coincidence providing the basis for epistemic immediacy. The former can be seen as the category prototype, the latter as a schematic (fully general) characterization.
The organization of the German clausal grounding system
Authors: Smirnova Elena
Published: March 2014

This chapter examines the verbal categories of German in terms of grounding predications. Using the broad notion of deixis as a starting point for the examination, it first proposes a unified description of grounding predications as a particular class of deictic expressions. Second, it suggests that three general classification criteria – the nature of the grounded entity, the nature of the grounding relation, and the construal configuration of the ground – constitute a model which may be applied on grounding predications in different languages in order to discover their similarities and differences. The proposed model is applied to the German clausal grounding system, concentrating on German temporal and modal grounding predications.
Some remarks on the role of the reference point in the construal configuration of “more” and “less” grounding predications
Authors: Smirnova Elena , Mortelmans Tanja
Published: March 2014

In Cognitive Grammar, grounding predications are by definition highly grammaticalized elements. As grammaticalization is a gradient phenomenon, this chapter argues for a more gradual view on grounding. It is proposed that a particular linguistic unit may show a weaker or a stronger degree of grounding. The degree of grounding is closely connected with the degree of grammaticalization. Moreover, different degrees in grounding and grammaticalization match different degrees in subjectification. The model suggested here highlights the role of the relevant reference point in the construal configuration of a linguistic unit. The application of the model is illustrated using the example of the German preterit subjunctive, and the constructions werden/würde + infinitive.
Aspect as a scanning device in natural language processing
Authors: Zanned Lazhar
Published: March 2014

This chapter investigates the claim that aspect is a verbal device for constructing mental images of processes and these aspectual values correspond to the way(s) a process is profiled in different scanning modes: summary vs. sequential scanning and monosequential vs. polysequential scanning. This occurs through other cognitive abilities, such as chaining, scope of awareness, and zooming ((in) and (out)). The analysis is based on data from Standard Arabic. The study proceeds by presenting an overview of the aspectual system in Arabic and investigating the different facets involved: aspect as an image-building tool, aspect as a scanning device, scanning modes in Arabic (summary scanning, monosequential scanning, polysequential scanning) and, finally, scope of awareness and the process of zooming in aspectual representation.
Widening the goalposts of cognitive metaphor research
Authors: Callies Marcus
Published: March 2014

This chapter discusses patterns of use and variation in selected sports-related idiomatic expressions based on conceptual metaphors in five national varieties of English. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the pervasiveness of sports metaphors and their linguistic realization in American English, while the use of such metaphorical expressions in other varieties of English has been much less studied. In general, cognitive-linguistic research on linguistic and conceptual variation to date has predominantly examined cross-cultural differences in metaphorical mappings, while language-internal variation along sociolinguistic parameters that may affect metaphor usage have remained an under-researched topic. The present study shows how the types and aspects of (cross-cultural) metaphor variation can be fruitfully applied to different varieties of only one language. It investigates differences in the prominence of specific source domains across the varieties under study by taking into account metaphorical transparency and idiom variation based on a cognitive linguistic-model of idiom representation.
Invisible, visible, grammaticalization
Authors: Stroebel Liane
Published: March 2014

The present chapter underlines the claim that grammatical forms are neither “meaningless”, nor can be regarded as a “paradoxon” (Pustet 2005: 186). On the contrary, grammar is meaningful and reflects the physical, psychological, and social experience of speakers. Furthermore it is illustrated that the motivation and mental images behind the rise of grammaticalization products can be reduced to the following formula: an abstract action or concept that is invisible in the discourse world is made “visible” with the help of a universal strategy. This strategy is not language-specific, but similar developments can be observed across typologically distinct languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, and Ewe (Ströbel 2010). Taking this strategy into consideration can make an important contribution not only to the general cognitive science endeavor, but also to neighboring disciplines such as foreign language acquisition, pedagogy, and teaching.
The conceptualization of personality
Authors: Goschler Juliana
Published: March 2014

In this chapter, I present observations of recurrent motifs and metaphors in literature that point to a culturally conventionalized idea of the heart as the seat of emotions and personality. A corpus study shows that this is not only a phenomenon of literary language, but also a systematically and frequently used metaphor in everyday language. Finally, the results of a questionnaire study suggest that this linguistic mapping is not a reflection of a “folk model” of human personality. I conclude that the relation between metaphors and folk models is more complex than sometimes assumed, and that approaches and methods from different disciplines have to be combined in order to understand connections between art, language, culture, and folk beliefs.
The relevance of embodiment to lexical and collocational meaning
Authors: Marmaridou Sophia
Published: March 2014

This cognitive linguistic corpus-based study embraces Johnson’s (1992: 348) embodiment hypothesis to argue that metonymic and metaphorical extensions of the prototypical sense of Modern Greek prosopo are based on a cultural model of the self. It is also claimed that conceptual structure and cultural models interact equally in motivating different uses of prosopo, confirming the intimate connection between cultural experience and embodied behavior (Gibbs 1999: 146). Frequently occurring collocations of adjective + prosopo are shown to have developed meanings not directly relatable to either the semantics of prosopo or the semantics of the collocating adjectives, supporting Sinclair’s (1991) views on collocational meanings. It is suggested that the embodiment hypothesis is relevant not only to lexicalization and the expression of emotion, character, etc., but also to the emergence of abstract collocational meaning. Finally, the present work suggests the possibility of a methodological convergence of cognitive semantics, cultural models, lexical semantics, and corpus linguistics.
Contrasting body parts
Authors: Nissen Uwe Kjær
Published: March 2014

In this chapter, the claim that metaphors and metonymies are grounded in bodily experiences is pursued by means of a cross-linguistic analysis of the semantic field of English mouth compared to its Spanish and Danish equivalent terms, boca and mund, respectively. Pustejovsky’s (1995) ‘qualia roles’ serve as a basis for the classificatory system proposed. It is shown that the metaphorical and metonymical uses of mouth are, indeed, linked with mappings of mind and body and these mappings appear to be related closely to the constitution, the shape, and the sensori-motor capacities of that specific body part. The cross-linguistic analysis also reveals that the metonymization and metaphorization processes are influenced by cultural differences, even with languages that are relatively close to one another (compared to e.g. non-European languages).
An overview of cognitive linguistics
Authors: Barcelona Antonio , Valenzuela Javier
Published: March 2014

This chapter provides a survey of cognitive linguistics (CL). It presents the historical and intellectual context leading to its emergence as a reaction against generativism and extreme modularism. The chapter describes the main theoretical and methodological tenets of CL (non-modularism, non-objectivist, blueprint view of linguistic meaning, emphasis on prototype categorization, the inseparability of experience-based encyclopedic knowledge from linguistic knowledge, embodiment, emphasis on constructions as form-meaning pairings), its main research areas (construction grammars, lexico-semantic networks, and conceptual metaphor and metonymy and blending), its impressive results and applications in these areas, and its main problems and possible future development (greater integration with current research on cognition, giving weight to actual use and to the social and cultural dimension of language, among others).
Explaining diverging evidence
Authors: Kaltenböck Gunther
Published: March 2014

The syntactic status of clause-initial complement-taking predicates has been controversially discussed in the literature with analyses ranging from main clause to parenthetical. This chapter sheds light on the question by providing a usage-based account of 200 occurrences of initial I think in a corpus of spoken English. It investigates to what extent the two formal cues (i) presence or absence of the that-complementizer and (ii) prosodic prominence provide evidence for the relative prominence of I think. The data present diverging evidence, which can be reconciled however by (i) adopting a dynamic model of grammar and (ii) reassessing the function of the that-complementizer in spoken language, viz. as a filler used for rhythmic purposes or to give weight to the initial clause.
Islands of (im)productivity in corpus data and acceptability judgments
Authors: Backus Ad , Mos Maria
Published: March 2014

Dutch has a number of constructions for expressing that a particular event is likely or possible. Two of these, one using a derivational morpheme and the other a copula construction, are investigated to see whether they are both productive and to what degree their meanings overlap. Their distribution in a corpus showed some similarities and differences. In a follow-up magnitude estimation experiment, results showed that the judgments by native speakers of Dutch reflected these same similarities and differences. The consistent distinction in acceptability indicates that the corpus findings correspond to mental representations. We interpret this as converging evidence for the productivity and psychological reality of the constructions, and argue that corpus and experimental methods are complementary tools.
Word-formation patterns in a cross-linguistic perspective
Authors: Borgwaldt Susanne R. , Benczes Réka
Published: March 2014

Previous research has shown that novel objects that are merged from two identifiable parts predominantly elicit noun – noun compounds in Germanic languages. However, it is unclear whether Hungarian allows shape/appearance modifiers in noun – noun compounds. Using a novel object naming task we compare language-specific preferences for labels for: (i) novel hybrid objects composed of two identifiable parts (such as an animal that is half fox and half chicken, i.e. chicken fox), and (ii) novel objects having a salient shape (such as a box shaped like a banana, i.e. banana box). The results are explored regarding the degree of semantic influence on word-formation patterns and interpreted within a cognitive-linguistic framework.
The interaction of function and input frequency in L1-acquisition
Authors: Steinkrauss Rasmus
Published: March 2014

The study reported in this chapter investigates the L1 acquisition of a group of wh-questions by a German-learning boy. It is assumed their acquisition will generally follow input frequency, but also interact with functional factors and previous linguistic knowledge. The input frequencies of the target structures are assessed and an order of acquisition predicted. This order is then compared to the actual course of acquisition and the deviations investigated. Results show that the acquisition of wh-questions is influenced by their input frequency as well as their communicative use and the knowledge of related constructions. The study argues for a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in language acquisition research and recommends the consideration of several factors at once.
Relative clause acquisition and representation
Authors: Brandt Silke , Kidd Evan
Published: March 2014

According to usage-based approaches, representations and processing of linguistic constructions emerge from usage events. We present corpus data, which show that object relative clauses are mostly attached to an inanimate head NP and contain a pronominal subject (the ball that he just threw). In two experiments, English- and German-speaking children were best at processing object relatives identical in form and function to these frequent exemplars. In contrast to earlier studies, we did not find that subject relatives were always easier to process than object relatives. Our data provide further evidence suggesting that children and adults do fine-grained analyses of their linguistic input, and that linguists should do the same to derive hypotheses about the nature of linguistic representations and processing.
Converging evidence in the typology of motion events
Authors: Reshöft Nina
Published: March 2014

This chapter investigates the influence of motion event typology on second language acquisition. Recent research on motion events (e.g. Slobin 1996a/b, 2000, 2004) has shown that speakers of typologically different languages (verb-framed vs. satellite-framed, cf. Talmy 1985, 1991, 2000) differ in where they code manner and path of motion. English, for example, codes manner in the verb and path in adjuncts. Romance languages typically code path in the verb, while manner expression is optional. The corpus analysis focuses on the way Romance learners of English express motion events in their written L2 production. The analysis provides converging evidence with previous research in that learners are likely to transfer the verb-framed patterns from their L1s to their English interlanguage.
1. Spatial relations in Hinuq and Bezhta
Authors: Forker Diana
Published: March 2014

This chapter deals with spatial relations in Hinuq and Bezhta, two Nakh-­Daghestanian languages. The focus is on the expression of location by means of the rich spatial case systems of these languages. Additionally, the contribution of postpositions to the expression of spatial relations, and the coding of temporal relations by means of spatial cases are taken into account. In order to visually represent the functional range of the spatial cases multidimensional scaling has been used. The central concepts for the expression of location in Hinuq and Bezhta that can be identified are position, contact, and in Hinuq animacy.
16. Italian motion constructions
Authors: Mosca Monica
Published: March 2014

This chapter addresses the variety of motion expressions in an intra-linguistic and diachronic perspective, focusing on the lexicalisation patterns of Path in Italian and on the problematic notion ‘satellite’. Some of the constructions observed in Italian are explained as a continuation from Latin, in which the combination of vital and transparent verbal prefixes, prepositions, and inflectional cases gives rise to at least three different but apparently equivalent constructions. Italian has undergone a process of loss of the case system, and prepositions are the instrument by which this damage has been repaired. This produced a dissociation between the semantic-functional and the syntactic role of prepositions, which makes it difficult to distinguish prepositions expressing Path (satellites) from semantically weaker ones, fulfilling the role of prepositional case markers (PCM). A set of semantic and grammatical discrimination criteria are proposed. The category of satellite appears to be fuzzy and scalable in its nature, rather than an all-or-nothing one.
18. The role of grammar in the conceptualisation of ‘progression’
Authors: Yoshioka Keiko , Hilberink-Schulpen Béryl
Published: March 2014

In this chapter, we explore the universal and language-specific features of how we speak and think about dynamic temporal relations. Previous studies suggest that the availability of grammaticalised aspect affects temporal perspective-taking (e.g. Carroll, von Stutterheim, and Nüse 2004; von Stutterheim, Carroll, and Klein 2009). Adopting an experimental and crosslinguistic approach, the current chapter examines the role of grammar on Dutch and Japanese speakers’ understanding of the time course of events using the video clips of ongoing events. Results suggest that the interaction between the semantic characteristics of events and the grammatical inventory of language, rather than the sheer availability of grammaticalised aspect, may play an important role in speaker’s temporal perspective-taking in event descriptions.
19. The locative PP motion construction in Polish
Authors: Lewandowski Wojciech
Published: March 2014

This chapter explores from a typological and construction grammar perspective the use of locative vs directional PPs as alternative ways of expressing spatial endpoints in Polish. I argue, against Nikitina (2008, 2010), that the locative PP motion construction (LPPMC) represents a verb-framed lexicalisation pattern in a satellite-framed language. Furthermore it is shown that the locative/directional PP alternation involves a different semantic profile of the Path and Goal components and that this contrast in meaning has important consequences for the grammatical behaviour of both linguistic patterns. Finally, it is suggested that the existence of the locative PP goal-marking in Polish is related to the Goal-bias in human cognition (see also Marotta and Meini, this volume).
20. Path salience in motion descriptions in Jaminjung
Authors: Hoffmann Dorothea
Published: March 2014

This paper aims to position Jaminjung, a non-Pama-Nyungan language of northern Australia within a typology of Path salience, building on Ibarretxe-Antuñano (2009). Path is an obligatory conceptual part of any motion event description; however, regardless of their lexicalisation patterns, languages differ concerning the degree of Path detail in discourse (Slobin 1996). My analysis is concerned with narrative preferences in spoken communication using two different motion datasets of Frog Stories as well as natural discourse and narratives. Ultimately, it describes the effects of language-specific structural and granular prerequisites on discourse strategies within motion event descriptions. Jaminjung occupies a place towards the middle-section of the proposed Path salience cline. Additionally, cultural conditions suggest that event granularity might best be viewed separately from structural features.
6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter
Authors: Charlier Bernard
Published: March 2014

This chapter proposes an analysis of how a particular event – wolf hunting – is conceptualised in the Mongolian language. It aims at contributing to the ongoing debate about the interactions between potentially universal and language-specific features that shape the ways people relate to their natural environment. The analysis, which is based on ethnographic fieldwork, describes and explains how a Mongolian wolf hunter experiences two modalities of temporality: cyclical and ‘evenemental’. It shows how these two modalities are embedded into the Mongolian concept of ‘wind horses’, hiimor’, in the context of wolf hunting. The actualisation of these temporalities reveals a particular perception of the environment as well as the singular moral position of an individual in it.
11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech
Authors: Fibigerová Kateřina , Guidetti Michèle , Šulová Lenka
Published: March 2014

The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the general discussion about conceptualisation of motion events in different languages and cultures (see also Engemann et al., HCP 36; Lewandowski, HCP 36; Filipović and Geva, this volume). This study examines how language specificities influence the way in which French and Czech native speakers talk, gesture, and think about the category of motion events. Its theoretical framework combines (1) Talmy’s verb-framed/satellite-framed language typology, (2) Whorf’s hypothesis of linguistic relativity, and (3) McNeill’s conception of gesture and speech. Analysis of verbal and gestural descriptions of motion reveals that, while there are considerable verbal differences, French and Czech gestures are far more similar than expected. These findings are discussed in terms of the role of gesture in the expression of speakers’ intentions.
Chapter 8. Appreciation and interpretation of visual metaphors in advertising across three European countries
Authors: van Mulken Margot , Le Pair Rob
Published: March 2014

The alternative typologies of visual metaphors proposed by Forceville (1996, 2005) and Phillips and McQuarrie (2004) show some striking similarities with regard to disposition of the visual elements, that is, the source and target domains. The first part of this chapter summarizes the results of two experiments that tested the validity of these classifications with Spanish, French, and Dutch participants and proposes an overall image of the appreciation of the three visual metaphor types. The second part focuses on the interpretations of the metaphors by the Spanish, French, and Dutch participants in the second experiment, to verify whether culture influences the interpretation of the common ground in visual metaphor. We detected subtle cultural differences in focus and interpretive diversity.
Chapter 13. Armed with patience, suffering an emotion
Authors: Aksan Yeşim , Aksan Mustafa
Published: March 2014

This chapter examines the significance of two concepts for the target domains self and life in Turkish. More specifically, the Turkish words sabır ‘patience’ and çile ‘suffering’ are identified as source domains that structure not only emotion metaphors but also other target domains. We analyse conventionalized metaphorical expressions that employ these two source terms in data collected from Google searches and the two-million-word M(iddle) E(ast) T(echnical) U(niversity) corpus of Turkish. Data from contemporary dictionaries and the Turkish National Corpus at Mersin University are also examined. Taken together, these data reveal that sabır and çile are culturally salient concepts that serve to structure Turkish speakers’ understanding of life, morality, and emotion.
Describing motion events in Old and Modern French
Authors: Kopecka Anetta
Published: March 2014

French, like the other Romance languages, has evolved from a satelliteframed type wherein Path of motion is preferentially expressed in a verb satellite (either a prefix or a particle) to a verb-framed type wherein Path is preferentially expressed in the verb. Based on translations from Old to Modern French, this chapter investigates the effects of this structural reorganization on the expression of Path in narrative pointing to differences in the types of strategies storytellers employ and the types of information they attend to when they describe Path. It shows that the typological change that French has undergone has crucial consequences not only for the organization of Path information in clauses, but also for the granularity of Path and the attention given to its components (i.e. initial and final). In contrast to Old French where Path tends to be depicted in detailed fashion, Modern French gives less emphasis to Path and appears to be more selective as to the types of Path components that are expressed in narrative.
Variation and change in English path verbs and constructions: Usage patterns and conceptual structure
Authors: Stefanowitsch Anatol
Published: March 2014

English is classified as a satellite-framed language with manner-conflating verbs, but it also has a substantial number of (usually Romance) pathconflating verbs that are used transitively with a locative direct object. In this chapter, I address two aspects of these verbs. Using the case of enter, I show how they are initially used in the satellite-framed English motion construction, leading to a double encoding of the path, and are then integrated into the transitive pattern in order to avoid semantic conflicts within the motion construction. I also show how the use of enter in the motion construction and the transitive construction may lead to a semantic specialization in varieties where both variants exist, such that the double encoding of the path stresses the aspect of boundary crossing.
Reading aloud and Charles Dickens’ aural iconic prose style
Authors: Ho Lai Ming Tammy
Published: March 2014

This paper explores how the Victorian practice of reading aloud affected Dickens’s writing style. My argument is that the practice contributed to an aural prose style in the author’s novels. In the novels, a considerable amount of passages which are particularly aural in nature and performance-oriented can be found. Dickens made use of various formal linguistic means such as typography, onomatopoeia, sound patterning, sentence length and prose rhythm to foreground the sound portrayed in the passages. Also, I argue that the emphasis on sound in Dickens’s novels sometimes also serves the purposes of narrative power, that is, it results in rhetorical impact, emotional heightening, and highlighting of key narrative moments.
Forms of restricted iconicity in modern avant-garde poetry
Authors: White John J.
Published: March 2014

This paper explores some of the forms minimal iconicity has taken in European poetry. Covering the period from early modernism to the experiments of the Paris Oulipo group and recent concrete poets, it offers close readings of work by Man Ray, Christian Morgenstern, Ernst Jandl, Jirí Kolár, Harry Mathews, François Le Lionnais and Otto Nebel. Illustrating the inventiveness of minimalist iconicity, it shows that a reduced iconic repertoire can actually multiply the interpretive options available. Types of complexity analysed include: the interplay between visual and acoustic iconicity and instances of unstable referentiality in examples of form miming meaning and form miming form and hybrid combinations thereof. As visual and acoustic iconicity is superseded by diagrammatic forms, a process of intellectualization is shown to set in.
The language of film is a matrix of icons
Authors: Purdy Strother B.
Published: March 2014

The powerful and near-universal effect of 100 years of motion pictures on human culture has naturally led to considerable study of how this effect is brought about, including an effort to break it down into its operative units. That they are not linguistic units, as held by regnant theories of the “language of film” but representational, and as such best analyzed by application of Charles Sanders Peirce’s concept of the icon, is the argument of the present paper.