title: Testing the boundaries of the middle voice: Observations from English and Romanian

authors: Calude, Andreea S.

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: The middle voice has received ample attention in the literature, yet the precise boundary between middle voice and other related constructions still remains elusive. For example, do sentences like Mary slept (*herself) well last night and Mary washed (herself) thoroughly and expertly belong to the middle voice or the reflexive domain, or are they simply intransitive one-participant structures? While ambiguity between reflexive and middles has been noted by (Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), I show that the problem is more widespread. Depending on the marking patterns available in a given language, such ambiguities can occur between middles and prototypical intransitive one-participant events, or between middles and reflexives. Using data from two languages with distinct marking patterns – English (a language with a reflexive marker but no middle marker) and Romanian (a language with one marker of each type) – I discuss the possibility of distinguishing middles from other related constructions. In English, it is shown that the him/herself test can be used to distinguish direct middles from intransitive one-participant events. In Romanian, we see middle and reflexive markers used together in the same construction without contradiction, bringing together both middle and reflexive semantics (as well as marking). In agreement with (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2000. Spanish reflexives. In Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Traci Walker (eds.), Reflexives: Forms and functions, 153–185. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.) and (Manney, Linda. 2001. Middle voice in Modern Greek: Meaning and function of a morphoyntactic category. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), the account given here supports the view of the middle voice as a unified phenomenon, and following (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2009. Middle as a basic voice system. In Lilian Guerrero, Ibáñez Sergio & Belloro Valeria (eds.), Studies in role and reference grammar. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, UNAM.), the main function of the middle is to profile the core properties of events (but not necessarily to reduce the relative elaboration of participants, as proposed by Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.). So, unlike active and passive voice which concern the focusing of various participants (namely, Agents and Patients, respectively), the middle voice focuses the event itself.

text: Testing the boundaries of the middle voice: Observations from English and Romanian The middle voice has received ample attention in the literature, yet the precise boundary between middle voice and other related constructions still remains elusive. For example, do sentences like Mary slept (*herself) well last night and Mary washed (herself) thoroughly and expertly belong to the middle voice or the reflexive domain, or are they simply intransitive one-participant structures? While ambiguity between reflexive and middles has been noted by (Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), I show that the problem is more widespread. Depending on the marking patterns available in a given language, such ambiguities can occur between middles and prototypical intransitive one-participant events, or between middles and reflexives. Using data from two languages with distinct marking patterns – English (a language with a reflexive marker but no middle marker) and Romanian (a language with one marker of each type) – I discuss the possibility of distinguishing middles from other related constructions. In English, it is shown that the him/herself test can be used to distinguish direct middles from intransitive one-participant events. In Romanian, we see middle and reflexive markers used together in the same construction without contradiction, bringing together both middle and reflexive semantics (as well as marking). In agreement with (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2000. Spanish reflexives. In Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Traci Walker (eds.), Reflexives: Forms and functions, 153–185. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.) and (Manney, Linda. 2001. Middle voice in Modern Greek: Meaning and function of a morphoyntactic category. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.), the account given here supports the view of the middle voice as a unified phenomenon, and following (Maldonado, Ricardo. 2009. Middle as a basic voice system. In Lilian Guerrero, Ibáñez Sergio & Belloro Valeria (eds.), Studies in role and reference grammar. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, UNAM.), the main function of the middle is to profile the core properties of events (but not necessarily to reduce the relative elaboration of participants, as proposed by Kemmer, Suzanne. 1993. The middle voice. Amsterdam &Philadelphia: John Benjamins.). So, unlike active and passive voice which concern the focusing of various participants (namely, Agents and Patients, respectively), the middle voice focuses the event itself.

year: 2017

title: A log analysis study of 10 years of ebook consumption in academic library collections

authors: Littlewood, Haley

subjects: computer science

abstract: Even though libraries have been offering eBooks for more than a decade, very little is known about eBook access and consumption in academic library collections. This paper addresses this gap with a log analysis study of eBook access at the library of the University of Waikato. This in-depth analysis covers a period spanning 10 years of eBook use at this university. We draw conclusions about the use of eBooks at this institution and compare the results with other published studies of eBook usage at tertiary institutes.

text: A log analysis study of 10 years of ebook consumption in academic library collections Even though libraries have been offering eBooks for more than a decade, very little is known about eBook access and consumption in academic library collections. This paper addresses this gap with a log analysis study of eBook access at the library of the University of Waikato. This in-depth analysis covers a period spanning 10 years of eBook use at this university. We draw conclusions about the use of eBooks at this institution and compare the results with other published studies of eBook usage at tertiary institutes.

year: 2014

title: Succeeding as Māori: Māori students’ views on our Stepping Up to the Ka Hikitia Challenge

authors: Berryman, Mere

subjects: Ka Hikitia

abstract: This paper examines the vision and intent of New Zealand’s Māori education policy, Ka Hikitia, and its implications on the daily lives of Māori students in New Zealand’s education system. Extensive information on the secondary school experiences of rangatahi Māori (youth) have been gathered—originally in 2001 and at the end of 2015, through Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success (Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success is a secondary school reform initiative that is fully funded by the Ministry of Education, however, this paper represents the view of the authors and is not necessarily the view of the Ministry). Based on the messages from these two points in time, the paper concludes that the promises of Ka Hikitia are yet to be fully realised. If we, as educators, are to leave a legacy of more Māori students fashioning and leading our future, the need for the system to step up still remains.

text: Succeeding as Māori: Māori students’ views on our Stepping Up to the Ka Hikitia Challenge This paper examines the vision and intent of New Zealand’s Māori education policy, Ka Hikitia, and its implications on the daily lives of Māori students in New Zealand’s education system. Extensive information on the secondary school experiences of rangatahi Māori (youth) have been gathered—originally in 2001 and at the end of 2015, through Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success (Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success is a secondary school reform initiative that is fully funded by the Ministry of Education, however, this paper represents the view of the authors and is not necessarily the view of the Ministry). Based on the messages from these two points in time, the paper concludes that the promises of Ka Hikitia are yet to be fully realised. If we, as educators, are to leave a legacy of more Māori students fashioning and leading our future, the need for the system to step up still remains.

year: 2017