bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The coding of the subject–object distinction from Latin to Modern French
Authors: Schøsler Lene
Published: March 2014

In order to understand and decode the message of a sentence, it is necessary to understand its basic argument structure. This implies e.g. that one must be able to identify the subject and distinguish this from the other elements of the sentence, in particular from the direct object. As linguistic patterns provide the speakers or writers with different types of construction with more or less transparency, it should be possible to identify the linguistic clues ensuring communication; e.g. the clues helping to distinguish the subject and the object. This distinction is in fact one of the crucial distinctions in syntax, and I will focus only on that distinction. I want to consider the following three factors, belonging to different grammatical levels, which may help to identify the elements of the sentence: the organising power of verbal valency: the nominal and verbal inflection and the word order. It will be shown that these factors cooperate in order to facilitate the identification of the subject and the direct object.
On certainly and zeker
Authors: Byloo Pieter , Kastein Richard , Nuyts Jan
Published: March 2014

This contribution investigates the meanings and uses of the English and Dutch adverbs certainly and zeker. In the range of adverbial expressions of epistemic modality, the ‘strong’ adverbs (expressing ‘certainty’) clearly tend to be used in a much more ‘flexible’ way than the (relatively) weaker ones, and this contribution is an attempt to get a better view of what this flexibility actually involves, on the basis of a careful analysis of corpus data. The comparative approach allows us to distinguish between features which are whims of a single language, and hence have little meaning beyond the grammar of that language, and features which reflect more profound issues in the analysis of the meanings at stake, and which therefore may reflect fundamental conceptual issues.
‘It was you that told me that, wasn’t it?’ It-clefts revisited in discourse
Authors: Gómez González María de los Ángeles
Published: March 2014

This corpus-based investigation explores the features and discourse distribution of it-clefts. It is argued that their core meaning is the positive identification of a discourse element, usually a subject/agent NP, mostly by means of the declarative pattern it is/it was . . . that in spontaneous persuasive speech. The construction is found to implement three main strategies: (a) corrective when reformulating old topics, generally displaying the pattern new + given; (b) transitional when (re)introducing new or deactivated topics or spatio-temporal settings, usually with the pattern new + new; and (c) topical when continuing with a previous discourse topic, normally exhibiting the values given + new. Lastly, the central function of it-clefts is shown to be that specifying a relation of exhaustive topicality.
Mental context and the expression of terms within the English clause
Authors: Connolly John H.
Published: March 2014

In order to achieve an integrated pragmatic model of the use of natural language, an account is needed of the interplay between grammar and context in the formulation and interpretation of utterances. The purpose of this chapter is to outline how such an accountmay be developed forModern English. It is proposed that information which is part of the interpretation of an utterance, but which is not represented grammatically, needs to be represented at a properly articulated contextual level. If this is done, then it is possible not only to retain a parsimonious type of grammatical representation, but also to accommodate explicitly the contextually supplied contributions to the interpretations of utterances.
Notes towards an incremental implementation of the Role and Reference Grammar semantics-to-syntax linking algorithm for English
Authors: Butler Christopher S.
Published: March 2014

This paper presents some ideas which might be incorporated into a functional model of language production based on an incremental application of the semantics-to-syntax linking procedure of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). After a brief outline of syntax, semantics and their interrelationship as seen in RRG, the idea of incrementality in language production is introduced, with particular reference to the work of Ferreira (2000). A dynamic implementation of the linking procedure for a simple sentence is then proposed. The problems raised by information (topic, focus) structure in more complex sentences are then addressed, and an example is worked through in detail. The paper concludes with a brief section which sets this work within the context of a wider research programme.
Grammar, flow and procedural knowledge
Authors: Harder Peter
Published: March 2014

This contribution addresses the interface between grammar and discourse. It approaches grammar as a socially recognized procedure for coding, with a cognitive basis in individual language users. However, it emphasizes the need to distinguish the cognitive representation of grammar from the flow of discourse itself, which involves a more complex socio-cognitive process. Within this framework, grammatical structure is presented as a result of functional differentiation in communication, and grammatical slots emerge as basic functional-structural interface units between grammar and discourse. The layered structure of the clause that has been posited by Functional Grammar is then seen as forming the basis of this view of grammar as procedural knowledge, and emphasis is placed on the inevitable simultaneous functioning of all layers in grammar. The article finally turns to the relation between this view of grammar and the role of incrementality in the flow of discourse, with specific attention being paid to formulaic language and units of discourse.
Double-possessive nominalizations in English
Authors: Mackenzie J. Lachlan
Published: March 2014

Double-possessive nominalizations such as Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait have played a prominent role in the history of linguistics. However, this construction is not only cross-linguistically rare but also the least used form of nominalization in English texts. The question is therefore addressed of the circumstances under which double-possessive nominalization is used. What emerges from corpus analysis is that the construction is employed above all to designate mental processes and that its occurrence differs from that of its clausal analogue in occurring in certain syntactic positions in which clauses are excluded. The article also contains discussion of such matters as the semantic categories of entity proposed by Functional Grammar, the interaction of nominalization and psych verbs and the effect of syntactic ‘priming’.
Lexical anaphors in Danish and French
Authors: Lundquist Lita
Published: March 2014

The article treats lexically varied noun-phrase anaphors, so-called ‘unfaithful anaphors’, which are found more frequently in French than in Danish texts. The difference is related to more fundamental differences between the two languages, and types of language, at different linguistic levels. Thus, French lexicalises more semantic content in nouns than in verbs, and vice versa in Danish, the former language preferring exocentric ordering at the syntactic level compared to Danish endocentric ordering. Much of the information of unfaithful anaphors being new, French can be said to communicate presupposed information, where Danish ‘poses’, i.e. states new information. And finally, in French the semantic content of an unfaithful anaphor often entertains a rhetorical relation with its host predicate, where Danish sets the relation explicitly.
Anaphoric properties of German right dislocation
Authors: Averintseva-Klisch Maria
Published: March 2014

I argue that the so-called ‚German right dislocation’ in fact comprises two formally and functionally distinct constructions, which I label right dislocation proper and afterthought. The main focus of the paper lies on right dislocation proper (RD) and its discourse function. I show, that RD is used as a discourse-structuring device. RD marks the referent of the right-dislocated noun phrase as the discourse topic for the following discourse segment. This explains certain anaphoric constraints on the following discourse segment. Thus, the corresponding referent has to be anaphorically resumed as sentence topic of the corresponding sentence at the level of the ‘main structure’ (i.e., the main story line).
'No' changes: On the history of German indefinite determiners in the scope of negation
Authors: Jäger Agnes
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates the evolution of nominal determination of a specific kind, viz. indefinite determination in the scope of negation. Four basic syntactic patterns of indefi nite nominal determination in the scope of negation are distinguished. The changes within the system of indefi nite determination in the history of German with respect to these four patterns are described on the basis of their distribution in a corpus of several Old and Middle High German texts. More specifi cally, the development and distribution of dehein / kein is investigated. While the original n-word determiner nehein (‘no’) and the second NPI (negative polarity item) determiner einig (‘any’) were virtually lost, dehein / kein changed from a weak NPI comparable to any and licensed in various non-affirmative contexts into an n-word.
The functional range of bare singular count nouns in English
Authors: Stvan Laurel Smith
Published: March 2014

One overlooked and highly polysemous English noun phrase form is the bare singular, i.e. a null determiner with a singular count noun complement. Occurring in all grammatical positions, this constituent shape is used in English for multiple functions. Examination of naturally occurring English data shows the conditions under which bare singulars are used as generics (with a meaning like bare plurals), as components of a predicate conveying a stereotypical activity (with an indefi nite meaning), and as markers of an identifiable referent (like nouns with definite articles, demonstratives, and possessive determiners). While generic and indefinite meanings are well documented for bare forms, the reading that picks out an identifi able referent is unexpected for a bare nominal. This range of meaning-based distinctions suggests additional theoretical consequences for cross-linguistic noun interpretation and DP-internal syntactic structure.
The emergence of DP from a perspective of ontogeny and phylogeny: Correlation between DP, TP and aspect in Old English and first language acquisition
Authors: Osawa Fuyo
Published: March 2014

The aim of this paper is to discuss the English NP and its historical development into DP via the emergence of a functional D-system. This is related to the mechanism of theta-binding (Higginbotham 1985). The languages of the world could be described in terms of a D-system and morphological case. In addition, drawing on Abraham (1997) and Leiss (2000), I will examine if there is a complementary distribution between DP/TP and aspect. The correlation between DP/TP and aspect is observed in early child languages. This suggests that there might be a parallel between first language acquisition (ontogeny) and diachronic change (phylogeny) (cf. Osawa 2003a).
5. An integrated areal-typological approach: Local convergence and morphosyntactic features in the Balkan Sprachbund
Authors: Mišeska Tomić Olga
Published: March 2014

The author examines some Balkan Sprachbund features that appear in neighbouring dialects of individual languages, but are absent from the other dialects of the languages to which these dialects belong; as well as some features that function in neighbouring Balkan languages of different families, but are absent from the other Balkan languages of the same family. Displaying individual typological features of the Balkan languages in interaction with other features in the structure of the DP or the clause and taking into consideration sociolinguistic factors and dialectal variation, she tries to identify structural similarities, establish links between structural differences, and shed light upon a number of pertinent Balkan Sprachbund questions.
Explaining Kabuverdianu nominal plural formation
Authors: Bartens Angela , Sandström Niclas
Published: March 2014

In this study, we apply the morphosyntactic 4-M model developed by Myers-Scotton and Jake (2000a, b) to data from Kabuverdianu or Cape Verdean Creole Portuguese (CVC) which has been less strongly restructured than so-called prototypical creoles.1 We focus on nominal plural marking where CVC presents similar morphosyntactic configurations as Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese (BVP) and the Portuguese spoken by the “Tongas”. Previous accounts of CVC and BVP nominal plural marking mention the occurrence of (at least) one inflectional marker per NP. We argue that the reduction of inflectional plural marking in CVC constitutes a case of overall loss of morphosyntactic complexity which is due to CVC having arisen through substantial reduction and restructuring during creolisation and to having shallow time-depth of existence in comparison to older languages, e.g., its lexifier Portuguese. We also argue that 4-M theory may constitute a useful diagnostic tool for the prediction of the configurations of complexity vs. simplification in cases of language reduction.
Typological correlations in nominal determination in Romance
Authors: Stark Elisabeth
Published: March 2014

This paper discusses divergences and significant typological correlations found in the family of Romance languages, specifically French, Italian and Spanish. It proposes to reinterpret the complex system of indefinite nominal determination in two central Romance languages, viz. French and Italian, which both feature an indefinite article and a partitive article, as a device of nominal classification in a broad sense, marking the conceptually important distinction between a single, contoured referent and a non-contoured substance. It is argued that this classification system arose when nominal declension in Latin, which differentiated these two referentially highly relevant cognitive concepts via overt gender and number affixes, was partially or completely lost. In contrast to modern central Romance languages, which require obligatory (indefinite) determination in almost every argument position, modern peripheral Romance languages like Romanian or Spanish, possessing a simpler and more flexible system of determination, developed a system of differential object marking in order to unambiguously indicate contoured and highly individualized referents in direct object position.
Definiteness effect and the role of the coda in existential constructions
Authors: Leonetti Manuel
Published: March 2014

The Definiteness Effect (DE) in existential contexts appears as a robust constraint in some languages (Spanish) while it seems to be absent in others (Italian, Catalan). However, a closer inspection of Italian and Catalan data shows that the DE has some presence in those languages as well, when the coda of the existential is explicit and occurs inside the VP. This paper investigates the effects produced by the coda on definiteness, and connects such effects to other constraints on the licensing of postverbal subjects, all ultimately tied to nformation structure. I suggest that a classbetween definiteness and Focus structure is at the origin of the DE, when definite expressions resist insertion into pure thetic or Broad Focus sentences.
Reference, determiners and descriptive content
Authors: Fretheim Thorstein , Amfo Nana Aba Appiah
Published: March 2014

This paper starts out arguing that Gundel et al.’s claim that whatever a demonstrative can do, a definite article can do equally well is in need of revision. Then, against the tenor of Gundel et al.’s Givenness Hierarchy model, we postulate a univocal lexical meaning for determiners and corresponding pronouns in Norwegian, but we also show that what appears to be a conflation of definite article and distal demonstrative determiner in certain syntactic environments in Norwegian is two distinct linguistic phenomena in spoken Norwegian, and finally we argue that segmentally identical determiners and pronouns in the Niger-Congo language Akan are semantically distinct lexemes.
The passives of Modern Irish
Authors: Nolan Brian
Published: March 2014

This paper is about the passive construction, of which modern Irish (a vso language) has two primary forms, the personal passive and its variants, and the impersonal. An empirical question is posed as to whether a third passive form exists within the language, that of a functionally defined get passive. To deliver a unified analysis of the various passive constructions, a perspective that takes account of the complete event is necessary.

Irish supports three variants of the personal passive construction (i.e. perfective, progressive, prospective) each of which involves the substantive verb (one of two forms of the verb “to be” found in Irish) in a periphrastic form. The agent can optionally be represented obliquely. The active verb takes a non-finite form as a verbal adjective or verbal noun, depending on the personal passive variant. The impersonal passive form occurs with all verbs of Irish, across all tenses, whether intransitive or transitive.

The impersonal passive form is also to be found productively with the substantive verb across all tenses. It does not under any circumstances occur with the copula verb. Our view is that the impersonal passive construction has an indefinite actor at the level of the semantics and that the impersonal passive verb expresses this as a third person indefinite pronoun in the syntax via a synthetic post-verbal suffix rendered on the matrix verb. When considered in this way, the behaviour of the impersonal passive verb in the syntax is shown to be the same with respect to definite subject pronouns when they are expressed in a non-analytic manner, that is, in the synthetic form of the verb.

We investigate whether there is a third passive construction to be found in Irish, a get passive. The get passive is attested in many, but not all, of the world’s languages (Siewierska 1984).We find evidence that a particular subset of constructions precisely exhibits the characteristics of the get passive under strictly defined constraints. On the basis of this evidence, we claim that there is a functionally defined get passive in modern Irish.

The commonality underpinning the passive constructions, including the functionally defined get passive, can be explained in terms of the windowing of attention analysis in the sense of Talmy (1996), that is, a functional analysis with an event frame perspective sensitive to prototypicality. Irish follows a vso word order with the subject more closely bound to the verb than the object. As well as looking at each of the passive constructions, we also briefly examine how the vso word order is maintained through each.
The rise and grammaticalization paths of Latin fieri and facere as passive auxiliaries
Authors: Cennamo Michela
Published: March 2014

This paper discusses the various stages of the change leading to the emergence of the Latin verbs fieri ‘to become, to be done/made’ and facere ‘to do, to make’ as imperfective and perfective passive markers, respectively, between Late Latin and early (Italo)-Romance.

It is argued that the grammaticalization of these verbs involves an initial stage in which they become equivalent to the copula. Only gradually they expand into the verbal system and become T(ense), A(spect), M(odality) and passive markers. As for the latter function, crucial to the passive interpretation of the sequence fieri/fakere+past participle is a change in the aspectual nature of the verbs entering the construction, from causative accomplishments to active accomplishments and activities.

It is also shown that the rise of these passive verbal periphrases is related to radical changes affecting the domains of voice and grammatical relations, which cut across, at some point in time, the aspectual morphological cleavage existing in the Latin verbal system between imperfective and perfective verbal forms.
Two types of detransitive constructions in the dialects of Japanese
Authors: Sasaki Kan , Yamazaki Akie
Published: March 2014

The Hokkaido dialect of Japanese, spoken in the northern island Hokkaido, has two detransitivizing strategies, namely passivization and spontaneous construction formation. Passive and spontaneous morphemes share the function of demoting the transitive subject, although different strategies are used in each case. In passive constructions, transitive subjects are demoted and they may appear as elements with oblique case. In spontaneous constructions, however, the transitive subjects are completely removed. This paper argues that this difference in the subject demotion strategy is motivated by the aspectual differences between the two detransitive constructions. It will be shown that the agent removal in spontaneous constructions is imposed by the simplification of the logical structure of the predicate while the subject demotion (to oblique status) in passive constructions is not.
Passive and argument structure
Authors: Åfarli Tor A.
Published: March 2014

This paper argues that argument structure does not exist in the sense of a lexical specification of the number and types of arguments of a given verb, but, rather, that argument structure is essentially syntactic, stemming from an interaction between independently generated (syntactic) frames and the (non-linguistic) conceptual content of the verb and the arguments.

This connects to passivization in the sense that it is not dependent on the availability of the appropriate argument structure in the active version of the verb, such specification not existing in the first place. It is claimed that any verb that can be assigned an agentive (conceptual) reading can thus be passivized, even if it is an unaccusative verb. Thus, even though passivization is obviously a structural phenomenon, it is triggered by semantics.
Case-driven agree, EPP, and passive in Turkish
Authors: Öztürk Balkız
Published: March 2014

This study argues for a movement-free account of passivization in Turkish. It shows that unlike what is observed in English passives, neither case nor EPP can motivate movement in Turkish passives, since, first, TP and vP do not play a role in syntactic case-checking; and second, EPP feature is not checked by Move XP in Turkish. It proposes that derivation of Turkish passives is an in situ phenomenon, dependent on morphological case realization, rather than on syntactic case-/EPP-checking via movement, which is also absent in the derivation of transitive, unaccusative and raising constructions in Turkish. Lack of such movement further accounts for the exceptional behavior of Turkish double-object constructions in terms of locality under passivization.
Pragmatics of prepositions: A study of the French connectives pour le coup and du coup
Authors: Cadiot Pierre , Lebas Franck
Published: March 2014

Prepositions are rarely described in terms of their pragmatic potential. Yet, some prepositions help build connective locutions, and we show that their general value may then contribute directly to the pragmatics of these locutions. The French complex connective pour le coup − translated as a blend of “at the time” and “as a result” − can be analysed into a complex expression maintaining the core meanings of pour, le and coup, which does not allow too specialized a view of, respectively, prepositions, articles and nouns. When compared to du coup (“and so”) the contribution of pour is mainly pragmatic. That observation is to be added to the many arguments in favour of theories that allow for such plasticity in linguistic meaning.
French prepositions à and de in infinitival complements: A pragma-semantic analysis
Authors: Fraczak Lidia
Published: March 2014

We uphold the position that the French prepositions à and de are not “empty” and do not fulfill only a syntactic function. After showing that the criterion of presupposition, used in some previous work, is not sufficient to differentiate these prepositions, we put forward a pragma-semantic description according to which expressions with à, followed by an infinitival complement, are used when the speaker’s intention is to present a fact in an “ambivalent” way, whereas expressions with de indicate a “monovalent” vision of a fact. We also try to show that the “ambivalent vision” related to the preposition à makes it possible to introduce a particular argumentative value to the statement, indicating a real or a potential opposition of points of view.
The logic of addition: Changes in the meaning of the Hebrew preposition im ("with").
Authors: Sovran Tamar
Published: March 2014

The paper discusses recent changes in the meaning and use of ‘im (with) in written Israeli Hebrew. It traces such changes mostly in less formal written registers, and argues that they reflect some aspects of the multilingual situation in Israel and the fragile equilibrium between the spoken and written modes. Additional motivations for such changes are shown to be rooted in cognitive processes and in the logic of adding and connecting. Such changes require sometimes syntactical reorganization of sentence patterns. Prepositions, collocations etc. are ‘identity markers’ of languages, registers and styles, hence tracing such changes is a step towards a typological description of various styles in Israeli Hebrew.
Grammaticalization and the areal factor: The perspective of East and mainland Southeast Asian languages
Authors: Bisang Walter
Published: March 2014

Grammaticalization in East and mainland Southeast Asian languages is characterized by a set of properties which seem to be typical of that area. The aim of this paper is to present these properties and to examine them from the perspective of several prominent approaches to grammaticalization: Heine, Claudi and Hünnemeyer (1991), Bybee, Perkins and Pagliuca (1994), Lehmann (1995) and Hopper and Traugott (2003). The specific properties of grammaticalization under discussion will be the lack of obligatory categories, hence the high relevance of pragmatics, the existence of rigid syntactic patterns, and the limited coevolution of form and meaning. The data on East and mainland Southeast Asia show that it seems not only necessary to assume areally relevant patterns of grammaticalization, but also to develop models which allow for more structural variation as far as processes of grammaticalization are concerned.
Nominalizations in Bodic languages
Authors: Noonan Michael
Published: March 2014

Tibeto-Burman languages, and in particular those in the Bodic subgroup, make extensive use of nominalizations, which serve a wide variety of functions (noun and verb complementation, purpose clause, agent and patient nominals, etc.) far beyond their expected use of naming activities and events. My aim in this paper is to address a number of key issues relating to the history of these extended functions of nominalizations in the Bodic languages. Special attention will be paid to the use of nominalizations in the modification of nouns, that is, as relative clauses. Among other topics, I will discuss the relevance of areality to the phenomenon of nominalization–relativization syncretism, the various sources of nominalizing suffixes, the relativization with the genitive, and the innovations in the system of nominalizations.
On the rise and fall of Korean nominalizers
Authors: Rhee Seongha
Published: March 2014

This paper addresses the origin and development of the system of Korean nominalizers from Old to Present-day Korean, paying special attention to their sources, the semantic changes they underwent over time, the competition between various nominalizers for the same functional domain, and the subsequent specialization of some of the forms. The study shows that, in order to avoid functional overlaps, certain nominalizers have become constrained to appear in particular contexts (e.g. -ki and -ci, restricted to affirmative and negative constructions respectively) or to express different levels of illocutionary force (e.g. -m, -ki, -ci and -kes when used as sentential end-markers). The paper also shows how certain nominalizers which overlapped functionally lost their original nominalizing function and acquired new uses in related functional spaces (e.g. the adnominalizers -n and -l, derived from old nominalizers).
Sri Lanka Malay revisited: Genesis and classification
Authors: Ansaldo Umberto
Published: March 2014

This paper presents a fresh take on the origins and nature of Sri Lanka Malay (SLM), based on fieldwork data collected in 2003–2005 in Kirinda, in the south-east of Sri Lanka. It departs from previous studies of SLM in that it is based on substantial recordings of spoken data in natural settings as well as coverage of oral and written history. Work on SLM so far has offered significant insights into the nature of these varieties; due to limited data available, however, some aspects have failed to emerge which are important for our current understanding of SLM. In particular, I aim to show the value of first-hand historical research and natural linguistic data in order to achieve plausible accounts of genesis and accurate classifications of SLM varieties. Based on the combination of these approaches, this paper argues that SLM is the result of trilingual admixture, in which a typological shift from Malay to Lankan grammar occurs.
Working Together: The interface between researchers and the native people - The Trumai case
Authors: Monod Becquelin Aurore , Vienne Emmanuel de , Guirardello-Damian Raquel
Published: March 2014

There is no unified policy for preservation and/or documentation of endangered languages. Each case engenders its own issues and constraints due to its particular cultural and historical situation. Documentation of the Amazonian Trumai language and culture illustrates the intricacy of the parameters that run the gamut from globalisation to local and punctual conflicts, and from the state of world affairs to quarrels over chiefdom inheritance.
Contact, attrition and shift in two Chaco languages: The cases of Tapiete and Vilela
Authors: Golluscio Lucía A. , González Hebe
Published: March 2014

This paper focuses on Tapiete (Tupi-Guarani) and Vilela (Lule-Vilela), the two most severely endangered languages in the Argentine Chaco. Both show the results of linguistic attrition without obsolescence. However, the state of each one and chances for revitalization differ radically. While multigenerational Tapiete communities exist and are strengthening ties among themselves, the extreme paucity of Vilela speakers and the lack of a speech community have proven to be critical threats. The paper examines two particular aspects of language shift: borrowing in Tapiete and attrition in Vilela. Creative processes in the adaptation of loanwords have revealed linguistic resistance in Tapiete. In the case of Vilela, despite documented phonological and grammatical reduction, core linguistic structures have been activated through language remembering strategies. Although the pressure of Spanish has long been present, its structure has not been decisive to vernacular language loss. Rather, the abandonment of Tapiete and Vilela is rooted in the speakers' history of socio-cultural subordination.
Tense, mood, and aspect in Gungbe (Kwa)
Authors: Aboh Enoch Oladé , Nauze Fabrice
Published: March 2014

This paper is a first attempt at understanding the distribution of tense, mood, and aspect expressions in Gungbe, and the interaction thereof. The discussion shows that Gungbe INFL-related expressions are realized by functional items, which head distinct projections within I. These items may combine to form complex tense, aspect, and mood sequences. It is further shown that while modal expressions block perfective aspect in Gungbe, imperfective aspect, on the other hand, appears to enhance the deontic and epistemic readings of the modal auxiliaries.
The autopsy of a modal – insights from the historical development of German
Authors: Maché Jakob
Published: March 2014

As Abraham (1990, 1991, 2005) has pointed out, aspect plays a crucial role, when epistemic modals (em) emerge out of root modals (rm). The present paper shows that the different aspectual preferences of those items are reflected by the differences in the configuration of the modal’s event structure: whereas rm turn out to be event modifiers, em are propositional modifiers. In technical detail, rm select infinitival complements involving an event argument and assign to them a interval posterior to utterance time. em, on the other hand, can combine with any non-finite complement that constitutes a licit proposition. This paper will discuss some data from German that shows that rm are indeed event modifiers since they (1) fail to embed predicates that lack event arguments and (2) are bound to complements with future orientation. The grammaticalisation of em then can be considered as a decline of the modal’s ability to modify events. This major change in its event structure causes the modal to extend its scope from events over propositions. This assumption is confirmed throughout by the fact that early em contained by the corpus exploited here only combine with predicates lacking event arguments, whereas rm never do. Finally, the theory offered here provides an interesting link between formal accounts and functional ones: Considering rm as event modifier, it explains why they are always “action oriented”, as commonly assumed by most functionalist approaches.
Clause combining, interaction, evidentiality, participation structure, and the conjunction-particle continuum: The Finnish että
Authors: Laury Ritva , Seppänen Eeva-Leena
Published: March 2014

This paper concerns the use of the Finnish particle/conjunction et(tä) in ordinary conversation. Traditionally, että has been considered a complementizer, but we question the description of että-clauses as complements. We show that uses of että range from ones where it serves as a clause linker to clear particle uses, with no clear dividing line. In terms of their pragmatic function, though, the different uses of että are closer to each other: they all serve to create dialogicality in one way or another. Että is used by speakers to regulate participation in conversation and to index shifts in footing. We also consider the historical origin of että and suggest an alternative to the scenario where particle uses are seen as having developed from conjunction uses.
Quotative tte in Japanese: Its multifaceted functions and degrees of "subordination"
Authors: Okamoto Shigeko , Ono Tsuyoshi
Published: March 2014

This study examines naturally occurring conversations with regard to the syntactic and semantic/pragmatic properties of Japanese quotative particle tte in five different usages and argues that these usages constitute subcategories of the particle tte. Our analysis demonstrates complex and creative uses of tte in contiguity between an object complement marker (OCM) and a sentence-final particle (SFP) as well as between main and subordinate clauses. It also leads to a hypothesis that the SFP usage derives from the OCM usage. This study thus provides an additional piece of evidence for the non-discrete nature of linguistic categories and supports a view of grammar as a temporary outcome of constant change and fluidity in usage, reflecting the dynamic nature of human language.
Identifying formulaic language
Authors: Wray Alison
Published: March 2014

Identifying examples of formulaic language in text is a non-trivial challenge, but the difficulties can be much alleviated by the use of an appropriate definition. Three types of definition are distinguished. Type (i) lays out an analytic working space. Type (ii) derives from an analysis and represents a theoretical position. Type (iii) locates examples for subsequent analysis. Examples of each type are discussed. Extreme examples of formulaicity (pre-memorized material, political slogans and military bugle calls) are then used to explore the boundaries of the definition of formulaicity as morpheme-equivalence. Addressing the question ‘Do formulaic sequences constrain expression?’ reveals the inherent tension between novelty and formulaicity in balancing processing parsimony and the need to respond appropriately in unique communicative events.
A corpus study of lexicalized formulaic sequences with preposition + hand
Authors: Lindquist Hans
Published: March 2014

In this study all n-grams including the lemma hand were automatically retrieved from the British National Corpus and then formulaic sequences were manually distinguished. A special focus was given to at hand, in hand, on hand and to hand which occurred with reference to humans, animals, concrete inanimate items and abstract items. The abstract meanings were metonymic and metaphorical mappings of literal body part meanings onto more abstract meanings. The data indicate that these sequences are the result of a lexicalization process in which they are developing towards univerbation. They seem to be processed holistically without regard to the meaning of the preposition, which is supported by the fact that they are now occurring written solidly in informal registers.
A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink'
Authors: Newman John
Published: March 2014

This chapter provides an overview of the range of linguistic properties associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs across languages and serves as an introduction to the whole volume. The chapter covers the lexicalization of these concepts and the syntax associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions. Figurative extensions of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions are common, in some languages even prolific, and have their sources in the simultaneous but distinct aspects of the acts of eating and drinking: the sensation of the consumer while ingesting and the destruction or disappearance of the entity consumed. These dual aspects of ingestion are relevant, too, when it comes to motivating the atypical kinds of transitive constructions found with these verbs in some languages. Grammaticalizations of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’, though not particularly common, do occur and are also reviewed here.
Literal and figurative uses of Japanese 'eat' and 'drink'
Authors: Yamaguchi Toshiko
Published: March 2014

The chapter describes literal and figurative uses of Japanese ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs. By paying special attention to the earlier and present forms of each verb, one can argue that not only universal conceptual mapping but also cultural orientation and honorification have contributed to the establishment of metaphorical extensions. The first part of the chapter focuses on the linguistic, socio-cultural and historical properties of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs. The second part demonstrates metaphorical and metonymic extensions of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs built on the facets of experiential reality introduced in Newman (1997). The chapter spotlights a link between the pervasiveness of adversity observed in metaphors and the sense of ‘unhappiness’, suggesting that the latter has been a cultural preference in the history of the Japanese language.
What (not) to eat or drink: Metaphor and metonymy of eating and drinking in Korean
Authors: Song Jae Jung
Published: March 2014

This article concerns metaphorical extensions of two verbs of consumption in Korean, mek- ‘to eat’ and masi- ‘to drink’ and, to a less extent, metonymic processes built on the verb mek-. It begins with a description of the basic syntax and semantics of the two verbs with a view to understanding similarities and differences between them and also between the acts denoted by them. It also discusses the different aspects of eating and drinking with an eye to their implications for metaphorical extensions. The discussion also explains why some metaphorical extensions are possible while other seemingly plausible ones are not. The article then shifts its focus to metonymic processes based on the social/cultural significance of the act of eating.
Metaphorical extensions of 'eat' --> [OVERCOME] and 'drink' --> [UNDERGO] in Hausa
Authors: Jaggar Philip J. , Buba Malami
Published: March 2014

The consumption verbs ci ‘eat’ and shaa ‘drink’ in Hausa are rich sources of metaphorical extensions into a variety of cognate semantic domains (Gouffé 1966; Williams 1991). Prototypical ci ‘eat’ metaphors encode overcoming/control of a patient or theme by an animate/human agent (and part experiencer) functioning as subject, e.g., mun cii sù ‘we beat (ate) them’. Metaphorical transfers of shaa ‘drink’ usually have an undergo interpretation with a non-agential experiencer subject, e.g., sunàa shân wàhalàa ‘they are suffering (drinking) trouble’. Thus, the metaphorical overcome and undergo outputs are often maximally distinct in meaning, and these correlations are directly inherited from their differing physical/ontological properties: the eat act entails a higher degree of subject agentivity/manipulation and object affectedness, and is higher in transitivity than the drink act.
A quantitative approach to the development of complex predicates
Authors: Hilpert Martin , Koops Christian
Published: March 2014

This paper traces the historical development of the Swedish Pseudo-Coordination construction with the posture verb sitta “sit”. In Swedish a small number of verbs, including posture verbs such as sitta, are used in coordination with another verb to convey that the described event has an extended duration or is in progress. Quantitative evidence from Swedish historical corpora suggests that the construction has, even after it established itself as a grammatical construction, undergone a number of gradual changes in the course of the past five centuries. As part of the Pseudo-Coordination construction, the verb sitta has changed its argument structure, and the entire construction has increased in syntactic cohesion.
Two pathways of grammatical evolution
Authors: Dahl Östen
Published: March 2014

Givon has suggested three stages that characterize the diachronic rise of complex constructions: Parataxis, Syntaxis and Lexis. In this paper, it is argued that rather than having three distinct stages of grammatical evolution with a linear increase of tightness, we have to postulate different kinds of integrative processes, which tend to be interwoven with each other in complex ways, both in that they tend to take place at the same time and in that they partly presuppose each other:
a. paratactic constructions → syntactic constructions
b. syntactic constructions → inflectionally marked words
c. syntactic constructions → morphologically complex words
In particular, then, there is an intimate relationship between (a) and (b), which means that inflectional morphology not only arises together with the phenomena that Givon labels “Syntaxis” but also to a significant extent is restricted to it.
The ontogeny of complex verb phrases
Authors: Givón T.
Published: March 2014

This paper investigate the acquisition of V-complement constructions (complex VPs) by English-speaking children ca. age 1;8-to-2;9. It suggests that the child acquires these constructions during intensive epistemic or deontic modal negotiations with the adult. In the earliest stage, the main-plus-complement construction is spread over adjacent child-adult or adult-child conversational turns ( Ochs et al. 1979). The early precursor of the complex VP construction is thus paratactic, with the two clauses falling under separate intonation contours. Only later on is the construction condensed into a complex syntactic construction under a single intonation contour, produced by the child alone. The early use of these constructions is as direct speech acts, be they epistemic or deontic (Diessel 2005), whereby the semantic focus resides in the complement clause, and the main clause acts as a modal operator. But this is true of both the children and their adult interlocutors, and is also characteristic, at the text-frequency level, of adult oral language (Thomson 2001). However, this characterization of complex VPs is semantic rather than syntactic.
Tracking topics
Authors: Berge Anna
Published: March 2014

This paper presents some preliminary thoughts on comparative discourse structure between Greenlandic and Aleut. Greenlandic is a typical ergative–absolutive language, with coindexing of participants on the verb and typical patterns of information flow which allow topic tracking across clauses (as described in Berge 1997). In Aleut, however, topics are not tracked via case marking on nouns or pronominal inflection on verbs. Instead, Aleut uses a combination of anaphoric marking, passive constructions, and underspecificity in texts which is quite unique in the Eskimo–Aleut language family.
Grammatical structures in Greenlandic as found in texts written by young Greenlanders at the turn of the millennium
Authors: Langgård Karen
Published: March 2014

This paper focuses on examples of change in the morphosyntactic structures of possessors and subjects of transitive verb phrases in West Greenlandic. Changes from ergative case to absolutive case are seen in the language of young Greenlanders and even in written language. The examples do not, however, correlate with noncomplex language or other deficiencies. The changes do not appear to be a language-contact phenomenon, but may rather be the final stage of a shift from ergativity to a morphologically nominative–accusative language. A Greenlandic grammar-checking program is in the offing, and the Greenlandic Language Board will need to decide whether to accept the accusative structure or not; use of the checker over time will show the impact of this tool.
Chat – New rooms for language contact
Authors: Jacobsen Birgitte
Published: March 2014

The chat room is a new locus of contact between local languages and the global web language, English. The present paper investigates how Greenlandic chat language responds to contact not only with English, but also with Danish, the former colonial language in Greenland. The data compiled in 2006 comprises 56 pages of chat from 12 chat sessions. Greenlandic chat language is characterized by nonstandard spellings, innovative lexicon, and in addtion, by innovative morphology which challenges the principles of polysynthesis and of word formation in general. Especially, the range of linguistic elements which may be involved in word formation is wider in chat language than elsewhere.
Negation patterns in Kanuri
Authors: Cyffer Norbert
Published: March 2014

In Kanuri the marking of negation is defined by genetic, however only playing a
marginal role, as well as areal factors. Processes of grammaticalization play another
significant role. In order to conceive the whole complex of negation, aspects of
language change must also be accounted for. For example, the locative concept of the
Imperfective explains that this TAM applies a different negation strategy. On the other
hand negation neutralizes the different moods of the Perfective, i.e. only allowing one
negative TAM. Kanuri also rejects the clash of negation and focus. In order to bring
together the two more complex constructions, e.g. by embedding a focus construction in a
negative clause. Indefinite pronouns are inherently affirmative. Here, negation is only
possible by application of a verb or predicator in a negative mood. However, this
negation process is additionally marked by a specific marker a the indefinite
pronoun.
Aspects of discontinuous negation in Santome
Authors: Hagemeijer Tjerk
Published: March 2014

This paper provides an overview of the expression of negation in Santome, one of the
four Portuguese-based creole languages spoken in the Gulf of Guinea, focusing especially
on its standard discontinuous sentence negation pattern. It will be shown that the
distribution of the final negation marker is strongly related to complementation and
adjunction, thereby providing evidence for the syntactic position of the negation
markers in the clause. Other topics addressed are the negation cycle in the Gulf of
Guinea creoles, negative concord and minimizers, and negative coordination.