Automatic Acquisition of Semantic Classes for Adjectives
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Animacy and Alienability: a Reconsideration of English
Running head: ANIMACY AND ALIENABILITY 1 Animacy and Alienability A Reconsideration of English Possession Jaimee Jones A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Spring 2016 ANIMACY AND ALIENABILITY 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. ______________________________ Jaeshil Kim, Ph.D. Thesis Chair ______________________________ Paul Müller, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Jeffrey Ritchey, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Brenda Ayres, Ph.D. Honors Director ______________________________ Date ANIMACY AND ALIENABILITY 3 Abstract Current scholarship on English possessive constructions, the s-genitive and the of- construction, largely ignores the possessive relationships inherent in certain English compound nouns. Scholars agree that, in general, an animate possessor predicts the s- genitive while an inanimate possessor predicts the of-construction. However, the current literature rarely discusses noun compounds, such as the table leg, which also express possessive relationships. However, pragmatically and syntactically, a compound cannot be considered as a true possessive construction. Thus, this paper will examine why some compounds still display possessive semantics epiphenomenally. The noun compounds that imply possession seem to exhibit relationships prototypical of inalienable possession such as body part, part whole, and spatial relationships. Additionally, the juxtaposition of the possessor and possessum in the compound construction is reminiscent of inalienable possession in other languages. Therefore, this paper proposes that inalienability, a phenomenon not thought to be relevant in English, actually imbues noun compounds whose components exhibit an inalienable relationship with possessive semantics. -
The Function of Phrasal Verbs and Their Lexical Counterparts in Technical Manuals
Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1991 The function of phrasal verbs and their lexical counterparts in technical manuals Brock Brady Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Applied Linguistics Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Brady, Brock, "The function of phrasal verbs and their lexical counterparts in technical manuals" (1991). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4181. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6065 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Brock Brady for the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (lESOL) presented March 29th, 1991. Title: The Function of Phrasal Verbs and their Lexical Counterparts in Technical Manuals APPROVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: { e.!I :flette S. DeCarrico, Chair Marjorie Terdal Thomas Dieterich Sister Rita Rose Vistica This study investigates the use of phrasal verbs and their lexical counterparts (i.e. nouns with a lexical structure and meaning similar to corresponding phrasal verbs) in technical manuals from three perspectives: (1) that such two-word items might be more frequent in technical writing than in general texts; (2) that these two-word items might have particular functions in technical writing; and that (3) 2 frequencies of these items might vary according to the presumed expertise of the text's audience. -
Classifiers: a Typology of Noun Categorization Edward J
Western Washington University Western CEDAR Modern & Classical Languages Humanities 3-2002 Review of: Classifiers: A Typology of Noun Categorization Edward J. Vajda Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/mcl_facpubs Part of the Modern Languages Commons Recommended Citation Vajda, Edward J., "Review of: Classifiers: A Typology of Noun Categorization" (2002). Modern & Classical Languages. 35. https://cedar.wwu.edu/mcl_facpubs/35 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Humanities at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Modern & Classical Languages by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. J. Linguistics38 (2002), I37-172. ? 2002 CambridgeUniversity Press Printedin the United Kingdom REVIEWS J. Linguistics 38 (2002). DOI: Io.IOI7/So022226702211378 ? 2002 Cambridge University Press Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, Classifiers: a typology of noun categorization devices.Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000. Pp. xxvi+ 535. Reviewedby EDWARDJ. VAJDA,Western Washington University This book offers a multifaceted,cross-linguistic survey of all types of grammaticaldevices used to categorizenouns. It representsan ambitious expansion beyond earlier studies dealing with individual aspects of this phenomenon, notably Corbett's (I99I) landmark monograph on noun classes(genders), Dixon's importantessay (I982) distinguishingnoun classes fromclassifiers, and Greenberg's(I972) seminalpaper on numeralclassifiers. Aikhenvald'sClassifiers exceeds them all in the number of languages it examines and in its breadth of typological inquiry. The full gamut of morphologicalpatterns used to classify nouns (or, more accurately,the referentsof nouns)is consideredholistically, with an eye towardcategorizing the categorizationdevices themselvesin terms of a comprehensiveframe- work. -
Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, and Adverbs
Unit 1: The Parts of Speech Noun—a person, place, thing, or idea Name: Person: boy Kate mom Place: house Minnesota ocean Adverbs—describe verbs, adjectives, and other Thing: car desk phone adverbs Idea: freedom prejudice sadness --------------------------------------------------------------- Answers the questions how, when, where, and to Pronoun—a word that takes the place of a noun. what extent Instead of… Kate – she car – it Many words ending in “ly” are adverbs: quickly, smoothly, truly A few other pronouns: he, they, I, you, we, them, who, everyone, anybody, that, many, both, few A few other adverbs: yesterday, ever, rather, quite, earlier --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Adjective—describes a noun or pronoun Prepositions—show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. Answers the questions what kind, which one, how They begin a prepositional phrase, which has a many, and how much noun or pronoun after it, called the object. Articles are a sub category of adjectives and include Think of the box (things you have do to a box). the following three words: a, an, the Some prepositions: over, under, on, from, of, at, old car (what kind) that car (which one) two cars (how many) through, in, next to, against, like --------------------------------------------------------------- Conjunctions—connecting words. --------------------------------------------------------------- Connect ideas and/or sentence parts. Verb—action, condition, or state of being FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) Action (things you can do)—think, run, jump, climb, eat, grow A few other conjunctions are found at the beginning of a sentence: however, while, since, because Linking (or helping)—am, is, are, was, were --------------------------------------------------------------- Interjections—show emotion. -
91 Order of Degree Word and Adjective
TWAC091.qxd 28/01/2005 14:38 Page 370 91 Order of Degree Word and Adjective MATTHEW S. DRYER 1 Defining the values Sneddon (1996: 177–81) lists fifteen degree words that precede the noun, four that follow, and one that either precedes or follows, so This map shows the position of degree words with respect to the Indonesian is coded on the map as placing the degree word before adjective that they modify. For the purposes of this map, the term the adjective. Conversely, Wari’ is coded as a language with both adjective should be interpreted in a purely semantic sense, as a word orders where neither order is dominant. denoting a property, since in many languages the words in question In some languages, the order of degree word and adjective do not form a separate word class, but are verbs or nouns. Degree depends on whether the adjective is being used attributively, i.e. words are words with meanings like ‘very’, ‘more’, or ‘a little’ that modifying a noun, or predicatively. This is the case in Ndyuka modify the adjective to indicate the degree to which the property (Creole; Suriname), in which a degree word precedes an adjective denoted by the adjective obtains. Degree words are traditionally used attributively, as in (4a), but follows an adjective used predica- referred to as adverbs, though in many languages the degree words tively, as in (4b). do not belong to the same word class as adverbs; even for English there is little basis for saying that degree words belong to the same (4) Ndyuka (Huttar and Huttar 1994: 173, 175) word class as adverbs which modify verbs. -
The “Person” Category in the Zamuco Languages. a Diachronic Perspective
On rare typological features of the Zamucoan languages, in the framework of the Chaco linguistic area Pier Marco Bertinetto Luca Ciucci Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa The Zamucoan family Ayoreo ca. 4500 speakers Old Zamuco (a.k.a. Ancient Zamuco) spoken in the XVIII century, extinct Chamacoco (Ɨbɨtoso, Tomarâho) ca. 1800 speakers The Zamucoan family The first stable contact with Zamucoan populations took place in the early 18th century in the reduction of San Ignacio de Samuco. The Jesuit Ignace Chomé wrote a grammar of Old Zamuco (Arte de la lengua zamuca). The Chamacoco established friendly relationships by the end of the 19th century. The Ayoreos surrended rather late (towards the middle of the last century); there are still a few nomadic small bands in Northern Paraguay. The Zamucoan family Main typological features -Fusional structure -Word order features: - SVO - Genitive+Noun - Noun + Adjective Zamucoan typologically rare features Nominal tripartition Radical tenselessness Nominal aspect Affix order in Chamacoco 3 plural Gender + classifiers 1 person ø-marking in Ayoreo realis Traces of conjunct / disjunct system in Old Zamuco Greater plural and clusivity Para-hypotaxis Nominal tripartition Radical tenselessness Nominal aspect Affix order in Chamacoco 3 plural Gender + classifiers 1 person ø-marking in Ayoreo realis Traces of conjunct / disjunct system in Old Zamuco Greater plural and clusivity Para-hypotaxis Nominal tripartition All Zamucoan languages present a morphological tripartition in their nominals. The base-form (BF) is typically used for predication. The singular-BF is (Ayoreo & Old Zamuco) or used to be (Cham.) the basis for any morphological operation. The full-form (FF) occurs in argumental position. -
Syntactic Variation in English Quantified Noun Phrases with All, Whole, Both and Half
Syntactic variation in English quantified noun phrases with all, whole, both and half Acta Wexionensia Nr 38/2004 Humaniora Syntactic variation in English quantified noun phrases with all, whole, both and half Maria Estling Vannestål Växjö University Press Abstract Estling Vannestål, Maria, 2004. Syntactic variation in English quantified noun phrases with all, whole, both and half, Acta Wexionensia nr 38/2004. ISSN: 1404-4307, ISBN: 91-7636-406-2. Written in English. The overall aim of the present study is to investigate syntactic variation in certain Present-day English noun phrase types including the quantifiers all, whole, both and half (e.g. a half hour vs. half an hour). More specific research questions concerns the overall frequency distribution of the variants, how they are distrib- uted across regions and media and what linguistic factors influence the choice of variant. The study is based on corpus material comprising three newspapers from 1995 (The Independent, The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald) and two spoken corpora (the dialogue component of the BNC and the Longman Spoken American Corpus). The book presents a number of previously not discussed issues with respect to all, whole, both and half. The study of distribution shows that one form often predominated greatly over the other(s) and that there were several cases of re- gional variation. A number of linguistic factors further seem to be involved for each of the variables analysed, such as the syntactic function of the noun phrase and the presence of certain elements in the NP or its near co-text. -
A First Order Semantic Approach to Adjectival Inference
A first order semantic approach to adjectival inference Marilisa Amoia Claire gardent INRIA/Universite´ de Nancy 1 & CNRS/Loria University of the Saarland Campus Scientifique BP 239 Saarbrucken,¨ Germany 54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France [email protected] [email protected] Abstract der automated reasoners that could be put to use to reason about the meaning of higher-order formulae. As shown in the formal semantics litera- In this paper, we present a semantics for adjec- ture, adjectives can display very different tives that adopts an ontologically promiscuous ap- inferential patterns depending on whether proach and thereby supports first order inference for they are intersective, privative, subsective all types of adjectives including extensional ones. or plain non subsective. Moreover, many Indeed, traditional semantic classifications of ad- of these classes are often described using jectives such as (?; ?; ?) subdivide adjectives second order constructs. In this paper, we into two classes namely extensional vs. intensional adopt Hobbs’s ontologically promiscuous adjectives, the latter grouping together adjectives approach and present a first order treatment which intuitively denote functions from properties of adjective semantics which opens the way to properties i.e., second order objects. for a sophisticated treatment of adjectival We present a compositional semantics for ad- inference. The approach was implemented jectives which both (i) defines a first order repre- and tested using first order automated rea- sentation and (ii) integrates interactions with other soners. sources of linguistic information such as lexical se- mantics and morpho-derivational relations. We then 1 Introduction show that the proposed semantics correctly predicts As has often been observed, not all of natural lan- the inferential patterns observed to hold of the var- guage meaning can be represented by first order ious adjective subclasses identified in the literature logic. -
Double Classifiers in Navajo Verbs *
Double Classifiers in Navajo Verbs * Lauren Pronger Class of 2018 1 Introduction Navajo verbs contain a morpheme known as a “classifier”. The exact functions of these morphemes are not fully understood, although there are some hypotheses, listed in Sec- tions 2.1-2.3 and 4. While the l and ł-classifiers are thought to have an effect on averb’s transitivity, there does not seem to be a comparable function of the ; and d-classifiers. However, some sources do suggest that the d-classifier is associated with the middle voice (see Section 4). In addition to any hypothesized semantic functions, the d-classifier is also one of the two most common morphemes that trigger what is known as the d-effect, essentially a voicing alternation of the following consonant explained in Section 3 (the other mor- pheme is the 1st person dual plural marker ‘-iid-’). When the d-effect occurs, the ‘d’ of the involved morpheme is often realized as null in the surface verb. This means that the only evidence of most d-classifiers in a surface verb is the voicing alternation of the following stem-initial consonant from the d-effect. There is also a rare phenomenon where two *I would like to thank Jonathan Washington and Emily Gasser for providing helpful feedback on earlier versions of this thesis, and Jeremy Fahringer for his assistance in using the Swarthmore online Navajo dictionary. I would also like to thank Ted Fernald, Ellavina Perkins, and Irene Silentman for introducing me to the Navajo language. 1 classifiers occur in a single verb, something that shouldn’t be possible with position class morphology. -
PARTS of SPEECH ADJECTIVE: Describes a Noun Or Pronoun; Tells
PARTS OF SPEECH ADJECTIVE: Describes a noun or pronoun; tells which one, what kind or how many. ADVERB: Describes verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs; tells how, why, when, where, to what extent. CONJUNCTION: A word that joins two or more structures; may be coordinating, subordinating, or correlative. INTERJECTION: A word, usually at the beginning of a sentence, which is used to show emotion: one expressing strong emotion is followed by an exclamation point (!); mild emotion followed by a comma (,). NOUN: Name of a person, place, or thing (tells who or what); may be concrete or abstract; common or proper, singular or plural. PREPOSITION: A word that connects a noun or noun phrase (the object) to another word, phrase, or clause and conveys a relation between the elements. PRONOUN: Takes the place of a person, place, or thing: can function any way a noun can function; may be nominative, objective, or possessive; may be singular or plural; may be personal (therefore, first, second or third person), demonstrative, intensive, interrogative, reflexive, relative, or indefinite. VERB: Word that represents an action or a state of being; may be action, linking, or helping; may be past, present, or future tense; may be singular or plural; may have active or passive voice; may be indicative, imperative, or subjunctive mood. FUNCTIONS OF WORDS WITHIN A SENTENCE: CLAUSE: A group of words that contains a subject and complete predicate: may be independent (able to stand alone as a simple sentence) or dependent (unable to stand alone, not expressing a complete thought, acting as either a noun, adjective, or adverb). -
Number and Adjectives : the Case of Activity and Quality Nominals Delphine Beauseroy, Marie-Laurence Knittel
Number and adjectives : the case of activity and quality nominals Delphine Beauseroy, Marie-Laurence Knittel To cite this version: Delphine Beauseroy, Marie-Laurence Knittel. Number and adjectives : the case of activity and quality nominals. 2012. hal-00418040v2 HAL Id: hal-00418040 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00418040v2 Preprint submitted on 11 Jun 2012 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 1 NUMBER AND ADJECTIVES: THE CASE OF FRENCH ACTIVITY AND QUALITY NOMINALS 1. INTRODUCTION This article is dedicated to the examination of the role of Number with regards to adjective distribution in French. We focus on two kinds of abstract nouns: activity nominals and quality nominals. Both display particular behaviours with regards to adjective distribution: activity nominals need to appear as count nouns to be modified by qualifying adjectives; concerning quality nominals, they are frequently introduced by the indefinite un(e) instead of the partitive article (du / de la) when modified. Our analysis of adjectives is based on the idea that they can have two uses, which correlate with syntactic and semantic restrictions and are distinguishable on semantic grounds. Adjectives are understood either as taxonomic, i.e. -
1 Noun Classes and Classifiers, Semantics of Alexandra Y
1 Noun classes and classifiers, semantics of Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne Abstract Almost all languages have some grammatical means for the linguistic categorization of noun referents. Noun categorization devices range from the lexical numeral classifiers of South-East Asia to the highly grammaticalized noun classes and genders in African and Indo-European languages. Further noun categorization devices include noun classifiers, classifiers in possessive constructions, verbal classifiers, and two rare types: locative and deictic classifiers. Classifiers and noun classes provide a unique insight into how the world is categorized through language in terms of universal semantic parameters involving humanness, animacy, sex, shape, form, consistency, orientation in space, and the functional properties of referents. ABBREVIATIONS: ABS - absolutive; CL - classifier; ERG - ergative; FEM - feminine; LOC – locative; MASC - masculine; SG – singular 2 KEY WORDS: noun classes, genders, classifiers, possessive constructions, shape, form, function, social status, metaphorical extension 3 Almost all languages have some grammatical means for the linguistic categorization of nouns and nominals. The continuum of noun categorization devices covers a range of devices from the lexical numeral classifiers of South-East Asia to the highly grammaticalized gender agreement classes of Indo-European languages. They have a similar semantic basis, and one can develop from the other. They provide a unique insight into how people categorize the world through their language in terms of universal semantic parameters involving humanness, animacy, sex, shape, form, consistency, and functional properties. Noun categorization devices are morphemes which occur in surface structures under specifiable conditions, and denote some salient perceived or imputed characteristics of the entity to which an associated noun refers (Allan 1977: 285).