The Concept of Intentional Action in the Grammar of Kathmandu Newari
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Not So Quirky: on Subject Case in Ice- Landic1
5 Not so Quirky: On Subject Case in Ice- landic 1 JÓHANNES GÍSLI JÓNSSON 1 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of subject case in Icelandic, extending and refining the observations of Jónsson (1997-1998) and some earlier work on this topic. It will be argued that subject case in Icelandic is more predictable from lexical semantics than previous studies have indicated (see also Mohanan 1994 and Narasimhan 1998 for a similar conclusion about Hindi). This is in line with the work of Jónsson (2000) and Maling (2002) who discuss various semantic generalizations about case as- signment to objects in Icelandic. This paper makes two major claims. First, there are semantic restrictions on non-nominative subjects in Icelandic which go far beyond the well- known observation that such subjects cannot be agents. It will be argued that non-nominative case is unavailable to all kinds of subjects that could be described as agent-like, including subjects of certain psych-verbs and intransitive verbs of motion and change of state. 1 I would like to thank audiences in Marburg, Leeds, York and Reykjavík and three anony- mous reviewers for useful comments. This study was supported by grants from the Icelandic Science Fund (Vísindasjóður) and the University of Iceland Research Fund (Rannsóknasjóður HÍ). New Perspectives in Case Theory. Ellen Brandner and Heike Zinsmeister (eds.). Copyright © 2003, CSLI Publications. 129 130 / JOHANNES GISLI JONSSON Second, the traditional dichotomy between structural and lexical case is insufficient in that two types of lexical case must be recognized: truly idio- syncratic case and what we might call semantic case. -
Are There Case S in Fifteenth-Century Dutch? a 'Case Study' of an Utrecht
397 Are there case s in fi fteenth-century Dutch? A ‘case study’ of an Utrecht manuscript (1464) Joost Robbe Aarhus University Abstract This article examines the case system in a fi fteenth-century Utrecht manuscript. It demonstrates that there is a functional case system in the manuscript. However, it also identifi es a relatively small number of mistakes – grammatical errors as well as hypercorrections – in how this case system is used in the manuscript. It argues that these mistakes indicate that the case system had lost its support in the underlying spoken dialect. The mistakes concern both the use of case forms in the nominative and the accusative, and the use of gender markers in the genitive and the dative. By examining the mistakes in the use of cases (accusative and nominative), it is possible to determine the conditions for syncretic n-deletion in the underlying spoken dialect; and, by examining the mistakes in the use of gender markers (in the genitive and dative), it is possible to determine an expansion of masculine fl exion in the genitive and dative in the underlying spoken dialect. 1. Introduction One of the most signifi cant changes that has taken place in the history of Dutch (and most of its relatives, such as English and Danish) is the loss of case distinctions. Like all Germanic languages, Dutch began with a system of four relatively distinct cases (nominative, genitive, dative and accusative). The use of these cases was very similar to other Germanic Sten Vikner, Henrik Jørgensen & Elly van Gelderen (eds.): Let us have articles betwixt us – Papers in Historical and Comparative Linguistics in Honour of Johanna L. -
When Dependent Case Is Not Enough
When dependent case is not enough András Bárány, [email protected] SOAS University of London Michelle Sheehan, [email protected] Anglia Ruskin University 9 May 2019, GLOW 42, University of Oslo Our claims • Even if dependent case exists, we need case-assignment via Agree • CPs can be case competitors, but do not get case-marking • Agreement-based case splits in Romance, Kashmiri and elsewhere suggests a closer link between φ-features and case than in dependent case theory • It is possible to adapt both Agree and dependent case to these patterns but we argue that Agree is often more parsimonious 1 The dependent case approach (1) Dependent case theory Morphologically marked cases (acc/erg/dat) result from a relationship between two DPs rather than from a relationship between a head and a DP. There are many different versions of this general approach, e.g. Anderson (1976), Yip, Maling & Jackendoff (1987), Marantz (1991), Bittner & Hale (1996), McFadden (2004), Baker & Vinokurova (2010), M. C. Baker (2015), Levin & Preminger (2015), Nash (2017). • M. C. Baker (2015) argues that dependent cases are determined at the phase level and as- signed at the transfer to spell-out bárány & sheehan — dep. case — GLOW 42 (2) Dependent case by c-command (M. C. Baker 2015: 48–49, our emphasis) a. If there are two distinct NPs in the same spell out domain such that NP1 c-commands NP2, then value the case feature of NP2 as accusative unless NP1 has already been marked for case. b. If there are two distinct NPs in the same spell out domain such that NP1 c-commands NP2, then value the case feature of NP1 as ergative unless NP2 has already been marked for case. -
From Volition to Obligation: a Force-Involved Change Through Subjectification
Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 42.2 (November 2016): 65-97 DOI: 10.6241/concentric.ling.42.2.03 From Volition to Obligation: A Force-Involved Change through Subjectification Ting-Ting Christina Hsu Chung Yuan Christian University This paper aims to show the importance of subjectification (Traugott 1989, Langacker 1990) for the emergence of deontic modals with the development of the deontic modal ai3 in Southern Min. Materials under examination are early texts of Southern Min in the playscripts of Li Jing Ji ‘The Legend of Litchi Mirror’ and a collection of folk stories in contemporary Southern Min. The deontic modal ai3 in Southern Min is assumed to have developed from the intentional ai3 through subjectification on the basis of their parallel force-dynamic structures which represent the preservation of their force interactions throughout the development of the deontic modal ai3 (Talmy 2000). Because subjectifica- tion is also known to contribute to the emergence of epistemic modals (Traugott 1989, Sweetser 1990), it can then be seen as a general process through which force-involved modals can emerge. Key words: subjectification, force dynamics, volition, deontic modal, intentional verb 1. Introduction The structure of human language is reflective of human cognition (Berlin & Kay 1969, Sweetser 1990) and determined by the perceptual system (Fillmore 1971, Clark 1973). The development of modals is also affected by cognitive processes. One of these processes is subjectification, which increases speakers’ involvement in the proposition or grounding of a predication (Traugott 1989, Langacker 1990). Subjec- tification is assumed to contribute to the emergence of epistemic modals since a speaker’s perspectives or roles are specifically important for epistemic modals (Sweetser 1990). -
Dative Constructions in Romance and Beyond
Dative constructions in Romance and beyond Edited by Anna Pineda Jaume Mateu language Open Generative Syntax 7 science press Open Generative Syntax Editors: Elena Anagnostopoulou, Mark Baker, Roberta D’Alessandro, David Pesetsky, Susi Wurmbrand In this series: 1. Bailey, Laura R. & Michelle Sheehan (eds.). Order and structure in syntax I: Word order and syntactic structure. 2. Sheehan, Michelle & Laura R. Bailey (eds.). Order and structure in syntax II: Subjecthood and argument structure. 3. BacskaiAtkari, Julia. Deletion phenomena in comparative constructions: English comparatives in a crosslinguistic perspective. 4. Franco, Ludovico, Mihaela Marchis Moreno & Matthew Reeve (eds.). Agreement, case and locality in the nominal and verbal domains. 5. Bross, Fabian. The clausal syntax of German Sign Language: A cartographic approach. 6. Smith, Peter W., Johannes Mursell & Katharina Hartmann (eds.). Agree to Agree: Agreement in the Minimalist Programme. 7. Pineda, Anna & Jaume Mateu (eds.). Dative constructions in Romance and beyond. ISSN: 25687336 Dative constructions in Romance and beyond Edited by Anna Pineda Jaume Mateu language science press Pineda, Anna & Jaume Mateu (eds.). 2020. Dative constructions in Romance and beyond (Open Generative Syntax 7). Berlin: Language Science Press. This title can be downloaded at: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/258 © 2020, the authors Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence (CC BY 4.0): http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ISBN: 978-3-96110-249-5 (Digital) 978-3-96110-250-1 -
How to Understand Conjugation in Japanese, Words That Form the Predicate, Such As Verbs and Adjectives, Change Form According to Their Meaning and Function
How to Understand Conjugation In Japanese, words that form the predicate, such as verbs and adjectives, change form according to their meaning and function. This change of word form is called conjugation, and words that change their forms are called conjugational words. Yōgen (用言: roughly verbs and adjectives) Complex Japanese predicates can be divided into several “words” when one looks at formal characteristics such as accent and breathing. (Here, a “word” is almost equivalent to an accent unit, or the smallest a unit governed by breathing pauses, and is larger than the word described in school grammar.) That is, the Japanese predicate does not consist of one word; rather it is a complex of yōgen, made up of a series of words. Each of the “words” that make up the predicate (i.e., yōgen complex) undergoes word form change, and words in a similar category may be strung together in a row. Therefore, altogether there is quite a wide variety of forms of predicates. Some people do not divide the yōgen complex into words, however. They treat the predicate as a single entity, and call the entire variety of changes conjugation. Some try to integrate all variety of such word form change into a single chart. This chart not only tends to be enormous in size, but also each word shows the same inflection cyclically. There is much redundancy in this approach. When dealing with Japanese, it will be much simpler if one separates the description of the order in which the components of the predicate (yōgen complex) appear and the description of the word form change of individual words. -
Course Reader
Language and Space Marcus Kracht Department of Linguistics, UCLA 3125 Campbell Hall PO Box 951543 Los Angeles, CA 90095–1543 [email protected] March 15, 2007 2 Introduction Foreword My own interest in space and language was sparked off by the regularities I ob- served in the case systems of Finnish and Hungarian. Though the facts are often obvious and have been pointed out many times in the literature, I was surprised to find that most literature is concerned only with the morphological aspects of space, and that there seemed to be very little on semantics. The more I looked into the matter the more I discovered how fascinating the area is; I also learned that there is a lot of material on space and language, but it tends to be somewhat lesser known. There is a noticeable trend to take the linguistics of space more serious also from a theoretical point of view. The present book does not attempt to provide a typological survey, nor is it uniquely theoretical in character. I have tried to create a synthesis between lin- guistically oriented investigation (involving syntax, morphology and historical de- velopment) and formal ones (which include the mathematical structure of space and other spatial concepts). Inevitably, some parts of the book will be hard going for a linguist and they might therefore disapprove of my overly formal stance. Yet, I hope that such readers will benefit nevertheless from this work even if they skip such sections. On the other hand, when formal accounts of meanings can be given I think they should be given. -
9 Argument Structure and Argument Structure Alternations Gillian Ramchand
9 Argument structure and argument structure alternations Gillian Ramchand 9.1 Introduction One of the major scientific results of Chomskian syntactic theory is the understanding that the symbolic representations of natural language are structured, by which I mean that symbols are organized in hierarchical constituent data structures, and are not simply linearly ordered strings or lists of memorized items. The semantic ‘arguments’ of predicates are expressed within natural language data structures, and therefore also form part of structured representations. This chapter is devoted to exam- ining the major theoretical results pertaining to the semantics of verbal predicate argument relations and their systematic patterning in lan- guage. However, we will see that even isolating the logical domain of inquiry will involve certain deep questions about the architecture of grammar, and the relationship between listedness and compositional semantics. Historically, the most important results in argument structure have come from those studying the properties of the Lexicon as a module of grammar, for a number of rather natural reasons as we will see. While this chapter will aim to give the reader a clear historical and ideological con- text for the subject matter and will document major influential strands of research, it will primarily concentrate on extracting the generalizations that I judge to be the lasting results of the past fifty years, and then secondarily, draw attention to the (still unresolved) architectural and theoretical issues that are specific to this domain. Section 9.2 gives the perspective on the issues from the vantage point of the Lexicon, i.e. the practical problem of deciding how much and what kind of information is necessary for the listing of verbal lexical entries. -
Introduction
Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction 1.1. Adpositions: Characteristics and classification This section provides a description of the main characteristics of Hungarian adpositions. Section 1.1.1. will describe their basic properties: those that distinguish them from other word classes and those that may be used as characteristics of the whole class. Section 1.1.2. then turns to the introduction of the various types of adpositions we will discuss in detail in the book and, and section 1.1.3. introduces their syntactic uses. Since this purpose of this section is to provide a background to the detailed description throughout the volume, it is inevitably… Idézend ők: Marácz, 1986; Marácz, 1989, ch. 8; Kenesei, 1992; Heged űs, 2006; Asbury et al., 2007; Asbury, 2008; Rákosi, 2010; Dékány, 2011; Heged űs, 2013; É. Kiss, 1999; É. Kiss, 2002, ch. 8; Creissels, 2006; Trommer, 2008; Spencer and Stump, 2013; Dér (2012, 2013); É. Kiss (2002) and Surányi (2009ab); Dékány-Heged űs 2015 1.1.1. The basic properties of adpositions The category of adpositions is different from the other main word classes; that is, from nouns, verbs and adjectives in important ways. This section will first list the most important distinguishing properties of the class and then will present … 1.1.1.1. Distinguishing properties The class of adpositions is a relatively closed class; although it is not impossible to add new members to it – new adpositions grammaticalize from members of other classes from time to time – new adpositions are not created by simple derivational processes or “closed” class – EZ PERSZE NEM IGAZ A RENDES ADVERBIUMOKRA, csak a névutókra, igeköt őkre… Adpositions have a relatively invariant form as well, the only expception being the group of “infelcting” postpositions that can bear agreement markers. -
Ditransitive Constructions Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (Germany) 23-25 November 2007
Conference on Ditransitive Constructions Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig (Germany) 23-25 November 2007 Abstracts On “Dimonotransitive” Structures in English Carmen Aguilera Carnerero University of Granada Ditransitive structures have been prototypically defined as those combinations of a ditransitive verb with an indirect object and a direct object. However, although in the prototypical ditransitive construction in English, both objects are present, there is often omission of one of the constituentes, usually the indirect object. The absence of the indirect object has been justified on the basis of the irrelevance of its specification or the possibility of recovering it from the context. The absence of the direct object, on the other hand, is not so common and only occur with a restricted number of verbs (e.g. pay, show or tell).This type of sentences have been called “dimonotransitives” by Nelson, Wallis and Aarts (2002) and the sole presence in the syntactic structure arises some interesting questions we want to clarify in this article, such as: (a) the degree of syntactic and semantic obligatoriness of indirect objects and certain ditransitive verbs (b) the syntactic behaviour of indirect objects in absence of the direct object, in other words, does the Oi take over some of the properties of typical direct objects as Huddleston and Pullum suggest? (c) The semantic and pragmatic interpretations of the missing element. To carry out our analysis, we will adopt a corpus –based approach and especifically we will use the International Corpus of English (ICE) for the most frequent ditransitive verbs (Mukherjee 2005) and the British National Corpus (BNC) for the not so frequent verbs. -
'Merge' Over 'Move'
Why Move? Preliminary Thoughts and Overview: <> How ‘Merge over Move’ informs Early Child Syntax Joseph Galasso [email protected] Incomplete Draft—December 17, 2012 Abstract, Preliminary Thoughts and Overview One of the leading questions burning in the minds of most developmental linguists is: To what extent do biological factors—such as a maturational brain— play a role in the early stages of syntactic development? This paper, pulled from chapter 2 of a monograph in preparation, summarizes the Chomskyan Minimalist Program framework regarding the theory of ‘Merge over Move’ and attempts to apply it to the earliest observable stages of English Child Syntax. In sum the conclusions reached in this paper suggest that early child syntax is structured in a flat (non-hierarchical manner) whereby (i) only sister-hood relations hold and (ii) that such a flat structure lexical projection would be what one would expect given the young child’s limited capacity to project only simple bricolage merge operations. As a result of a delimited flat structure, all forms of inflection (which are known ‘move’ operations which require higher functional projections)) should be absent in early child speech. Such a Non-INFLectional stage-1 is exactly what we find in the data below. But such prosaic structures are not exclusive to early child syntax alone. They too show up in adult target syntax. As an opener to subsequent discussion, consider the semantic vs. syntactic distinction in the following examples (to be expanded upon later in the sections): a. wine bottle > bottle of wine b. coffee cup > cup of coffee c. -
Progress in Language; with Special Reference to English
M- B Cornell University ^' 'j Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026448203 PROGRESS IN LANGUAGE — Of the Studier over Engelske Kasus, the Academy (2nd January, 1892) said : " Mr. Jespersen has long ago gained a high reputation as a phone- tician. The introductory essay will secure for him a distinguished position among philological thinkers. It is long since we read so brilliant a performance of its kind. ... It seems strange that this powerful and suggestive essay should be published as a mere introduc- series discussions English Grammar tion to a of on ; probably the author will at some time re-issue it in a riper form, and we hope in some language more widely known than Danish. [The body of the work] contains an extraordinary amount of acute and highly probable reasoning, and not a few observations of facts hitherto overlooked. We shall certainly look with keen interest for the succeeding instalments of his work." PROGRESS IN LANGUAGE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ENGLISH OTTO ]^ESPERSEN, Ph. Dr. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN AUTHOR OF *'THE ARTICULATIONS OF SPEECH SOUNDS" " CHAUCEr'S LIV OG DIGHTNING," ETC. LONDON SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. CO. NEW YORK : MACMILLAN & 1894 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. PREFACE. This volume is to a certain extent an English translation of my Studier over Engelske Kasus, med en Indledning : Fremskridt i Sproget, which was submitted to the University of Copenhagen in February, 1891, as a dissertation for the Ph.