DOCSLIB.ORG

Proquest Dissertations

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Proquest Dissertations INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quaiity of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6"x9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and teaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA UIVQ 800-521-0600 THE SYNCHRONY AND DIACHRONY OF THE ENGUSH PREPOSITIONAL PASSIVE: FORM, MEANING, AND FUNCTION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gwang-Yoon Go, B. A., M. A. $ * * * * The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Brian D. Joseph, Advisor Professor Alan Brown ( Advisor Professor Robert Kasper Linguistics Graduate Program UMI Number. 9982567 UMI* UMI Microform9982567 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and teaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Gwang-Yoon Go 2000 ABSTRACT The English language has been examined by scholars more than practically any other language, and both its synchronic and diachronic aspects are relatively well-known. Despite this intense scholarly activity, though, there are some areas of the syntax of English that remain as puzzles. One such area is the prepositional passive (P-Passive), in which the passive subject corresponds to the object of a preposition (P) in the active (e.g.. He was laughed at). This syntactic construction is noteworthy in many respects. In particular, it is cross- linguistically rare and even in English, it is not found before Middle English (ME). Furthermore, many non-syntactic factors affect the P-Passive, thus presenting analytic challenges to most current syntactic theories. For these reasons, the P-Passive and the changes it has undergone constitute an important topic in English synchronic and diachronic linguistics which can provide valuable insights into the general nature of language, and into the form and causes of language change. This study, which is aimed at showing how form, meaning, and function interact with one another in the synchrony and diachrony of language, pursues the following two primary goals: (a) to present an overall picture of the changes in the English P-Passive, showing the effects of various system-internal and system-external factors in bringing them about, and (b) to provide a new analysis of this syntactic construction in contemporary English which incorporates both formal and functional aspects of the construction. Specifically, this study proposes that the advent of the prepositional passive was a long-term, multi-faceted morphosyntactic change that was eventually triggered by a ii ‘subject-requirement constraint’ and the consequent obligatoriness of NP-movement out of PP in passive structures, which resulted in the syntactically-triggered incorporation of P into verb (V). In particular, it is shown that although both the P-Passive and the so- called reanalysis of V and P, in their periphrastic forms, began to develop in ME, their advent cannot be considered innovative purely within the ME period because they already had OE antecedents in disguised forms, which played significant roles in their emergence. As for the P-Passive in contemporary English, a set of new proposals are made to deal with not only the P-Passive type involving a complement PP (e.g.. It was looked into) but also the type involving an adjunct PP (e.g.. The bed was slept in). In particular, this study argues against both the Reanalysis Hypothesis and the No-Reanalysis Hypothesis about the unification of V and P into a single structural unit and proposes obligatory syntactic incorporation of P into V which is triggered by passive morphology. This study also explains what really determines the passivization possibilities of prepositional objects by proposing one formal and two functional factors (i.e., complementhood, affectedness, and characterization). Finally, a set of formally adequate formulations of the proposals made for the P-Passive are provided within the Head- Driven Structure Granunar framework, showing that the alternative account can be given a coherent treatment within a current theoretical framework. In conclusion, the results of this research demonstrate the interdependence between various components of the grammar by showing that a typical ‘syntactic’ change is not purely syntactic in nature, but rather requires input from practically every domain of the grammar in order to be fully understood. Further, the analysis proposed for the P-Passive in contemporary English illustrates how formal and functional factors interact with each other to form a major syntactic construction and to determine its grammaticality and acceptability. ui Dedicated to my parents IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS God has always been behind every up and down in my life, working in all things for my good and demonstrating the truthfulness of His Word that God has chosen to use the foolish and weak things of the world to shame the wise and strong things. I wish to thank those through whom God has helped me with my study at Ohio State University (OSU). First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my academic advisor, Brian Joseph. Throughout my study at OSU, he has guided and inspired me with his sincere attitude to learning and profound scholarship, making himself my role model as a scholar and as a person. Without his insightful guidance, patient and generous help, and constant encouragement, this thesis would not have been possible. I have greatly benefited from other dissertation committee members. Robert Kasper has always been readily available when I needed him and provided many helpful comments and suggestions on various aspects of this thesis. Alan Brown has helped me with Old English data and many valuable comments on literary issues. My thanks also go to other faculty members in the linguistics department at OSU who have taught me various areas of linguistics: Mary Beckman, Peter Culicover, David Dowty, Richard Janda, Keith Johnson, Robert Levine, David Odden, Carl Pollard, Craige Roberts, Don Winford, and Arnold Zwicky. In particular, Peter Culicover helped me recognize certain interesting issues resulting in a couple of conference papers related to this thesis. I have been more than generously supported by the linguistics department and OSU. The department has provided me not only with teaching and research associateships but also with all necessary travel funds and other expenses for attending numerous conferences inside and outside America. OSU and the graduate school awarded me a University Fellowship, a PEGS/SGAES Summer Dissertation Fellowship, and a Presidential Fellowship. Thanks are also due to my colleagues and friends at OSU; Ken Bame, Allison Blodgett, Mary Bradshaw, Mike Calcagno, Chan Chung, Nick Cipollone, Wesley Davidson, Karin Golde, Anthony Gonsalves, Craig Hilts, Tsan Huang, Martin Jansche, Hyeon-Seok Kang, So-Young Kang, Arlene Keeling, Steve Keiser, Hyeree Kim, No-Ju Kim, Sun-Hee Lee, Laurie Maynell, Moutoni Nashiombe, Panayiotis Pappas, Charlotte Schaengold, Mi-Sun Seo, Thomas Stewart, Nathan Vaillette, Peter Wagner, Pauline Welby, Philip Neal Whitman, Eun-Jung Yoo, Kyuchul Yoon, and Jae-Hak Yoon. I am especially grateful to two of my best friends, Steve Keiser and Craig Hilts. They have continued to be my most patient and generous supporters in the department and always been more than willing to help me out in many academic and nonacademic matters. I also owe much to the members of the department’s weekly prayer meeting: Mike Cahill, Shelome Gooden, Robert Kasper, Steve Keiser, Andy Saperstein, Charlotte Schaengold, Stephen Winters, and Peggy Wong. They have helped me stay closer to God and their prayer and brotherly love have made my otherwise often painful life more than enjoyable and thankful. I was fortunate to get acquainted with and learn from linguists and scholars outside the department: Hyunkee Ahn, David Denison, Eung-Cheon Hah, Kyoung-Min Han, Sungshim Hong, Nicholas Howe, Kyu-Han Kang, Hakan Kuh, Jeong-Hoon Lee, Jung- Min Lee, Byung-Jin Lim, Young-Bae Park, and Joseph Salmon. In particular, David Denison gave me many encouraging conunents on various aspects of my work and, along with Hakan Kuh and Joseph Salmon, kindly wrote a recommendation letter for the Presidential Fellowship. vi I am also indebted to my former teachers at Seoul National University: Professors Byung-Tae Cho, Choon-Hak Cho, In-Sook Kim, Suk-San Kim, Byung-Gun Lee, Sang- Oak Lee, Nahm-Sheik Park, and Dong-Whee Yang. In particular, I would like to express my special thanks to Professors Choon-Hak Cho, In-Sook Kim, Sang-Oak Lee, and Nahm-Sheik Park for their kind consideration and encouragement Finally, my appreciation goes to my family. I wish to thank my parents for their overwhelming love and trust.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Contact Morphology in Modern Greek Dialects
    Contact Morphology in Modern Greek Dialects Contact Morphology in Modern Greek Dialects Edited by Angela Ralli Contact Morphology in Modern Greek Dialects Edited by Angela Ralli This book first published 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2016 by Angela Ralli and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-8691-2 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-8691-8 CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................... vii Angela Ralli Headedness and/in Variation: Evidence from Italiot-Greek and Modern Greek Dialects ............................................................................................. 1 Marios Andreou The Morphological Marking of In-Definiteness: Evidence from Cappadocian and Pontic .................................................................... 21 Marianna Gkiouleka Internally- and Externally-Motivated Inter-Paradigm Levelling in Griko Verbal System ........................................................................................... 49 Nikos Koutsoukos Strategies and Patterns of Loan Verb Integration in Modern Greek Varieties ....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Grammar Review
    Greek Study Guide Some Step-by-Step Translation Issues I. Part of Speech: Identify a word’s part of speech (noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, particle, other) and basic dictionary form. II. Dealing with Nouns and Related Forms (Pronouns, Adjectives, Definite Article, Participles1) A. Decline the Noun or Related Form 1. Gender: Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter 2. Number: Singular or Plural 3. Case: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, or Vocative B. Determine the Use of the Case for Nouns, Pronouns, or Substantives. (Part of examining larger syntactical unit of sentence or clause) C. Identify the antecedent of Pronouns and the referent of Adjectives and Participles. 1. Pronouns will agree with their antecedent in gender and number, but not necessarily case. 2. Adjectives/participles will agree with their referent in gender, number, and case (but will not necessary have the same endings). III. Dealing with Verbs (to include Infinitives and Participles) A. Parse the Verb 1. Tense/Aspect: Primary tenses: Present, Future, Perfect Secondary (past time) tenses: Imperfect, Aorist, Pluperfect 2. Mood: Moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, or Optative Verbals: Infinitive or Participle [not technically moods] 3. Voice: Active, Middle, or Passive 4. Person: 1, 2, or 3. 5. Number: Singular or Plural Note: Infinitives do not have Person or Number; Participles do not have Person, but instead have Gender and Case (as do nouns and adjectives). B. Review uses of Infinitives, Participles, Subjunctives, Imperatives, and Optatives before translating these. C. Review aspect before translating any verb form. · See p. 60 in FGG (3rd and 4th editions) to translate imperfects and all present forms.
    [Show full text]
  • Antisymmetry and the Lefthand in Morphology*
    CatWPL 7 071-087 13/6/00 12:26 Página 71 CatWPL 7, 1999 71-87 Antisymmetry And The Lefthand In Morphology* Frank Drijkoningen Utrecht Institute of Linguistics-OTS. Department of Foreign Languages Kromme Nieuwegracht 29. 3512 HD Utrecht. The Netherlands [email protected] Received: December 13th 1998 Accepted: March 17th 1999 Abstract As Kayne (1994) has shown, the theory of antisymmetry of syntax also provides an explanation of a structural property of morphological complexes, the Righthand Head Rule. In this paper we show that an antisymmetry approach to the Righthand Head Rule eventually is to be preferred on empirical grounds, because it describes and explains the properties of a set of hitherto puzz- ling morphological processes —known as discontinuous affixation, circumfixation or parasyn- thesis. In considering these and a number of more standard morphological structures, we argue that one difference bearing on the proper balance between morphology and syntax should be re-ins- talled (re- with respect to Kayne), a difference between the antisymmetry of the syntax of mor- phology and the antisymmetry of the syntax of syntax proper. Key words: antisymmetry, Righthand Head Rule, circumfixation, parasynthesis, prefixation, category-changing prefixation, discontinuities in morphology. Resum. L’antisimetria i el costat esquerre en morfologia Com Kayne (1994) mostra, la teoria de l’antisimetria en la sintaxi també ens dóna una explicació d’una propietat estructural de complexos morfològics, la Regla del Nucli a la Dreta. En aquest article mostrem que un tractament antisimètric de la Regla del Nucli a la Dreta es prefereix even- tualment en dominis empírics, perquè descriu i explica les propietats d’una sèrie de processos fins ara morfològics —coneguts com afixació discontínua, circumfixació o parasíntesi.
    [Show full text]
  • The Linking Element and Swedish Complex Nominal Compounds
    THE LINKING ELEMENT AND SWEDISH COMPLEX NOMINAL COMPOUNDS Jeffrey Kline Gilbert A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Linguistics. Chapel Hill 2012 Approved by: Randall Hendrick Katya Pertsova J. Michael Terry © 2012 Jeffrey Kline Gilbert ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT JEFFREY KLINE GILBERT: The Linking Element and Swedish Complex Nominal Compounds (Under the direction of Randall Hendrick and Katya Pertsova) This thesis investigates the linking element that sometimes appears in Swedish compounds made up of three noun stems, also called complex nominal compounds. I present a comprehensive analysis of Swedish compounding and the nature of the linking element, and then argue that the appearance of the linking element, typically –s–, in complex nominal compounds is predictable. This thesis proposes that the linking element is a marker of a particular syntactic structure, and thereby a particular linear ordering of the nouns inside a complex compound. Two previous syntactic proposals (Josefsson, 1998; Mukai, 2008) for the linking element and Swedish complex compounds are discussed, and I argue that these proposals are partly problematic due to their application of Kayne’s (1994) antisymmetry theory of syntax. I discuss Kayne’s antisymmetry theory, with its restrictions to asymmetric c-command, and offer a solution to the problem found in the previous proposals. I contend that antisymmetry theory can account for both the subword structure and linearization of Swedish complex nominal compounds with and without the linking element. iii To my parents for their unconditional support of all my interests, which helped develop my love of language.
    [Show full text]
  • Student's Quick Guide to Grammar Terms
    Oxford Spanish Dictionary Skills Resource Pack Oxford Spanish Dictionary Skills Resource Pack Glossary H Review and questions Abbreviation A shortened form of a word Conjunction conj A word used to join indirectly affected by the verb: le escribí or phrase: Sr. = Mr clauses together: y = and; pero = but; una carta a mi madre = I wrote a letter to porque = Active In the active form the subject of the because my mother Finally, a brief review of the topics covered in the lecture: verb performs the action: Pedro besa a Consonant All the letters of the alphabet Indirect speech A report of what someone Ana = Pedro kisses Ana. See Passive. other than a, e, i, o, u has said which does not reproduce the • Important factors to bear in mind when choosing a bilingual [show slide 35] Adjectival phrase loc adj A phrase that Countable (count) noun [C] A noun that exact words: dijo que habían salido = she dictionary functions as an adjective: a ultranza = out- forms a plural and can take the indefinite said that they had gone out; he told me to • Navigating through an entry – English-Spanish, then Spanish-English and-out, fanatical; es nacionalista a article, e.g. a book, two books. See be quiet = me dijo que me callara ultranza = o Uncountable noun. he's a fanatical out-and-out Infinitive The base form of a verb: cantar = • Explaining abbreviations and symbols: nationalist, he's a nationalist through-and- Definite article def art: el/la/los/las = the to sing - common grammatical categories through Demonstrative adjective adj dem An Inflect To change
    [Show full text]
  • Atajo Workshops Outline
    Atajo for Students Atajo Basics: What does Atajo do? • Atajo is a reference keep Atajo open on the side of the computer while writing or studying in Spanish. • Dictionary search in either Spanish or English, see definition in opposite language, audio, examples and related links if available. • Verb Conjugator see correct conjugation in all tenses. If you’ve clicked on a word in Dictionary tab, it will automatically display when you go to Verb Conjugator. Click on the name of the tense to see detailed conjugation for all possible subjects (yo, tú, etc.). • Grammar read explanation and examples for grammar topics. • Vocabulary see words grouped by topic—useful for extending your vocabulary and finding synonyms or more precise words. • Phrases find expressions appropriate to use in different situations. Note: vocabulary tends to be casual rather than academic. • Search search within all of the above. • Accent Tool handy for inserting accented characters (or use keyboard shortcuts). • Help besides instructions for using the software, the Help document also lists all the abbreviations used in the dictionary (e.g., “nm” = “masculine noun”). Using Atajo to Develop Your Spanish Proficiency When writing (or preparing to speak): • Use search to look up words you’re not 100% sure of spelling, meaning, or pronunciation. • Check meanings in both languages to help you understand the connotation and ensure you’ve chosen the most appropriate word. • Reviewing the related topics in Vocabulary and Phrases can also help you to determine if your word usage is appropriate and discover more word options to choose from. • Check conjugation of verbs and subject-verb agreement.
    [Show full text]
  • ENGLISH AS an ANALYTIC LANGUAGE – the Importance of Word Order
    ENGLISH AS AN ANALYTIC LANGUAGE – the importance of word order In linguistic typology, an analytic language is a language that primarily conveys relationships between words in sentences by way of helper words (particles, prepositions, etc.) and word order, as opposed to utilizing inflections (changing the form of a word to convey its role in the sentence) (Wiki) AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES subject verb(s) object I speak English I can speak English subject verb(s) indirect object direct object place time I will tell you the story at school tomorrow. NEGATIVE SENTENCE The word order in negative sentences is the same as in affirmative sentences. Note, however, that in negative sentences we usually need an auxiliary verb*: subject verbs indirect object direct object place time I will not tell you the story at school tomorrow. *An auxiliary verb helps the main (full) verb and is also called a "helping verb." With auxiliary verbs, you can write sentences in different tenses, moods, or voices. Auxiliary verbs are: be, do, have, will, shall, would, should, can, could, may, might, must, ought, etc. INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES In questions, the word order subject-verbs-object is the same as in affirmative sentences. The only thing that is different is that you usually have to put the auxiliary verb (or the main verb “be”) before the subject. Interrogatives (Question Words) are put at the beginning of the sentences: interrogative auxiliary *verb subject other verb(s) indirect object direct object place time What would you like to tell me Did you have a party in your flat yesterday? When were you here? Question Words in English The most common question words in English are the following: WHO is only used when referring to people.
    [Show full text]
  • To Ba Or Not to Ba Differential Object Marking in Chinese
    î To ba or not to ba Differential Object Marking in Chinese Geertje van Bergen I To ba or not to ba Differential Object Marking in Chinese Geertje van Bergen PIONIER Project Case Cross-linguistically Department of Linguistics Radboud University Nijmegen P.O. Box 9103 6500 HD Nijmegen the Netherlands www.ru.nl/pionier [email protected] III To ba or not to ba Differential Object Marking in Chinese Master’s Thesis General Linguistics Faculty of Arts Radboud University Nijmegen November 2006 Geertje van Bergen 0136433 First supervisor: Dr. Helen de Hoop Second supervisor: Prof. Dr. Pieter Muysken V Acknowledgements I would like to thank Lotte Hogeweg and the members of the PIONIER-project Case Cross-linguistically for the nice cooperation during the past year; many thanks go to Monique Lamers for the pleasant teamwork. I am especially grateful to Yangning for the close cooperation in Beijing and Nijmegen, which has laid the foundation of ¡ £¢ this thesis. Many thanks also go to Sander Lestrade for clarifying conversations over countless cups of coffee. I would like to thank Pieter Muysken for his willingness to be my second supervisor and for his useful comments on an earlier version. Also, I gratefully acknowledge the Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research (NWO) for financial support, grant 220-70-003, principal investigator Helen de Hoop (PIONIER-project ‘Case cross-linguistically’). Especially, I would like to thank Helen de Hoop for her great support and supervision, for keeping me from losing courage and keeping me on schedule, for her indispensable comments and for all the opportunities she offered me to develop my research skills.
    [Show full text]
  • Variation in the Ergative Pattern of Kurmanji Songül Gündoğdu, Muş
    Variation in the Ergative Pattern of Kurmanji Songül Gündoğdu, Muş Alparslan University, Muş, Turkey LANGUAGE KEYWORDS: Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) AREA KEYWORDS: Middle East (Turkey) ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) Kurdish-Kurmanji (or Northern Kurdish) belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. This study is dedicated to a deeper understanding of a specific grammatical feature typical of Kurmanji: the ergative structure. Based on the example of this core structure, and with empirical evidence from the Kurmanji dialect of Muş in Turkey, I will discuss the issues of variation and change in Kurmanji, more precisely the ongoing shift from ergative to nominative-accusative structures. The causes for such a fundamental shift, however, are not easy to define. The close historical vicinity to Turkish and Armenian might be a trigger for the shift; another trigger is language-internal (diachronic) change. In sum, the investigated variation sheds light on a fascinating grammatical change in a language that is also sociopolitically in a situation of constant change, movement, and upheaval. ABSTRACT (DEUTSCH) Kurdisch-Kurmanci (oder Nordkurdisch) gehört zum iranischen Zweig der indoeuropäischen Sprachfamilie. Eine zentrale und charakteristische grammatische Struktur dieser Sprache ist der Ergativ; ihm ist der vorliegende Beitrag gewidmet. Am Beispiel des Ergativ werde ich Variation und Wandel im Kurmanci diskutieren und insbesondere auf den Dialekt von Muş (Türkei) eingehen. Dabei zeigt sich, dass sich derzeit im Kurmanci der Wandel von einer Ergativ- zu einer Nominativ-Akkusativ-Sprache vollzieht. Die Ursachen für einen derart grundlegenden Wandel sind nicht leicht zu benennen. Ein Grund mag in der schon historisch engen Nachbarschaft zum Türkischen und Armenischen liegen; ein anderer Grund mag im sprach-internen (diachronen) Wandel des Kurmanci selbst zu finden sein.
    [Show full text]
  • Analytic and Cognitive Language in Instagram Captions
    ISSN 2474-8927 SOCIAL BEHAVIOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICE Open Journal Brief Research Report What Were They Thinking? Analytic and Cognitive Language in Instagram Captions Sheila Brownlow, PhD1*; Makenna Pate, BA2; Abigail Alger, BA [Student]2; Natalie Naturile, BA2 1Department of Psychology, Catawba College, Salisbury NC 28144, USA *Corresponding author Sheila Brownlow, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, Catawba College, Salisbury NC 28144, USA; E-mail: [email protected] Article Information Received: June 15th, 2019; Revised: July 8th, 2019; Accepted: July 15th, 2019; Published: July 16th, 2019 Cite this article Brownlow S, Pate M, Alger A, Naturile N. What were they thinking? Analytic and cognitive language in Instagram captions. Soc Behav Res Pract Open J. 2019; 4(1): 21-25. doi: 10.17140/SBRPOJ-4-117 ABSTRACT Background We examined content and expression of Instagram captions of major celebrities who differed according to sex and status, with a focus on determining whether these variables influenced the use of analytic language and cognitive content. Method Instagram captions (n=942) were analyzed with the linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC), which delineated percentage of language reflecting analytical thought and various cognitive mechanisms, such as causality and discrepancy. Results Men and low-status persons used more functional analytic language, demonstrating critical thought; in contrast, high-status celeb- rities showed more causality. Women more than men “qualified” their speech with discrepancy. These findings were not a function of sentence length. Conclusion Status increased the tendency to construct and explain, perhaps because higher status celebrities (particularly women) knew that they could hold followers’ attention with complex content.
    [Show full text]
  • The Stress and Structure of Modified Noun Phrases in English MARK LIBERMAN and RICHARD SPROAT
    6 The Stress and Structure of Modified Noun Phrases in English MARK LIBERMAN AND RICHARD SPROAT 1 Introduction Our topic is the stress pattern of English noun phrases in which the head noun is preceded by a sequence of modifiers. 1 We assume a context of use that is rhetorically stress-neutral; the phenomena of FOCUS, CONTRAST and ANAPHORA-henceforth FCA-are taken to be perturbations of the patterns that we discuss. We attempt to establish the basic regularities that shape the complex data in this area, against the background of a broad (and thus complex) description. Our purpose is to establish an adequate set of descriptive categories, able to support a formal model of the syntax, semantics and prosody of complex nominals. We would like such a model to be adequate for parsing and assigning stress to modified noun phrases in unconstrained English text. We start with a careful description of the phenomena, followed by a more formal account of the proposed syntactic analysis, and a sketch of the implications for parsing and stress-assignment algorithms. Many syntacticians (e.g., Jackendoff 1977) have noted the existence of at least four distinct prenominal positions, arranged in a right-branching structure: (1) 4 3 2 1 0 the three exotic chess boards John's many large book bags those few Chinese store owners Position 4 is stereotypically occupied by articles, demonstratives, and pos­ sessive phrases; position 3 by certain quantifiers and numerals; position 1The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for useful comments, and Julia Hirschberg and Mats Rooth for some discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Hybridity Versus Revivability
    40 Hybridity versus revivability HYBRIDITY VERSUS REVIVABILITY: MULTIPLE CAUSATION, FORMS AND PATTERNS Ghil‘ad Zuckermann Abstract The aim of this article is to suggest that due to the ubiquitous multiple causation, the revival of a no-longer spoken language is unlikely without cross-fertilization from the revivalists’ mother tongue(s). Thus, one should expect revival efforts to result in a language with a hybridic genetic and typological character. The article highlights salient morphological constructions and categories, illustrating the difficulty in determining a single source for the grammar of Israeli, somewhat misleadingly a.k.a. ‘Modern Hebrew’. The European impact in these features is apparent inter alia in structure, semantics or productivity. Multiple causation is manifested in the Congruence Principle, according to which if a feature exists in more than one contributing language, it is more likely to persist in the emerging language. Consequently, the reality of linguistic genesis is far more complex than a simple family tree system allows. ‘Revived’ languages are unlikely to have a single parent. The multisourced nature of Israeli and the role of the Congruence Principle in its genesis have implications for historical linguistics, language planning and the study of language, culture and identity. “Linguistic and social factors are closely interrelated in the development of language change. Explanations which are confined to one or the other aspect, no matter how well constructed, will fail to account for the rich body of
    [Show full text]