Contact at the treetops: syntactic borrowing and syntactic complexity

This special issue, focusing on different types of variation in syntactic complexity, offers a critical discussion of the role of variation in syntactic complexity research in SLA. Special attention is paid to inter‐learner variation (i.e., individual developmental trajectories of acquiring syntactic complexity) and to interactions with related constructs, for instance between syntax and morphology, and between syntactic and lexical complexity. The overarching focus of the different contributions is to investigate the possible variation of (syntactic) complexity according to various external factors, such as levels of linguistic proficiency (developmental variation), variation in task modality (i.e., oral, written), task types and genres, and variation in source and target languages (cross‐linguistic variation

In this paper, I deal with verb borrowing in a language-contact situation involving Greek as target and Romance and Turkish as source languages. More particularly, I discuss the reasons and techniques that make verbs of typologically and genetically different languages to be accommodated in a uniform way within the same linguistic system, and verbs of the same donor to be integrated in a different manner within the same recipient. I try to provide an explanation for the observed divergences and similarities by appealing to an interplay of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. For the purposes of this study, evidence is drawn from both written and oral sources from five Greek dialectal varieties: Grekanico, Heptanesian, Pontic, Aivaliot and Cypriot.

We examine spontaneous production data from the dialect of Modern West Thracian Greek (mwtg) (the local dialect of Evros) with regard to a hypothesis of syntactic borrowing of verbal transitivity. We argue that mwtg allows omission of the direct object with specific reference, in contrast to Standard Modern Greek (smg) and other Modern Greek (mg) dialects (spoken in Greece), but similar to Turkish. Object omission in mwtg is possible only in contexts where smg and other mg dialects show obligatory use of the 3rd-person clitic. We argue that syntactic borrowing in the case of language contact follows the transfer with second language learners: the relevant elements that host uninterpretable features are used optionally. Moreover, the definite article, in contrast to the indefinite article, is also affected by language contact. The 3rd-person clitic and the definite article are affected by contact as uninterpretable clusters of features. We claim that interpretability plays a significant role in transitivity in cases of language contact.

This study analyzed syntactic complexity development in learners in the initial step of learning Korean longitudinally and examined the aspects and characteristics of their syntactic complexity development. Syntactic complexity is a language’s structural complexity, and it can be investigated by converting the degree of complexity in the connection of sentences, phrases, or clauses into values. To analyze syntactic complexity development in learners’ spoken language longitudinally, the research team used <Korean learners’ longitudinal spoken language corpus> consisting of 85,620 phrases and 11,604 sentences from eight beginner-level Korean language learners’ free conversation utterances collected through seven sessions for five months. Also, analysis was done by setting analysis units of spoken language syntactic complexity as words, phrases, clauses (coordinate & subordinate clauses), and AS-unit. According to the analysis results, as their learning proceeded, their syntactic complexity increased in general, but temporarily, the development was either delayed or set back, too. Also, in sentential extension, the use of subordinate clause had more influence on the learner’s development of syntactic complexity than coordinate clause; however, individual difference existed in syntactic complexity development. Based on the findings, this study found implications about education for connective endings and the necessity to conduct research on personal variables regarding syntactic complexity development and follow-up research on syntactic complexity of Korean learner’s spoken language. Furthermore, this study verified the point that AS-unit can be used as a analysis unit to determine syntactic complexity of learner’s spoken language.

The point of departure of this article is the processes that front vocoids induce as triggers in language. We start with a description of palatalization, using Standard Modern Greek and other Greek dialects as an empirical basis. We then introduce a new, so far undescribed type of palatalization, dubbed strengthened palatalization. Despite its similarity to secondary palatalization, we argue that it is a different process because it is triggered by an unrealized high front /i/, unlike secondary palatalization, where the high vocoid is alongside the preceding consonant as a secondary gesture. Furthermore, the output of strengthened palatalization is different because it lacks the primary cue of secondary palatalization, that is, F2 raising in VC sequences. Next, we examine glide hardening, a process complementary to palatalization because it is also triggered by a high front vocoid. However, in glide hardening the glide is maintained as a separate segment and is strengthened into a palatal fricative (or even a stop). By focusing on the triggers – rather than the outputs, we attain a unified account of both palatalization and glide hardening as enhancement processes that aim at strengthening the phonetic cues of their targets for reasons of perceptual salience.

This corpus-based study examines the effect of syntactic complexity in the source language on simultaneous interpreters’ cognitive load and stress. Previous studies show contrasting results regarding the source text syntax and cognitive load in interpreting, while the link between syntactic complexity and interpreters’ stress remains unexplored. Our research aims to fill this gap by measuring cognitive load through filled and silent pauses, and stress through fundamental frequency. We evaluated syntactic complexity by calculating dependency distance, i.e., the number of words between syntactically dependent elements. We used PINC, the Polish Interpreting Corpus (Chmiel et al. 2022), as our dataset. We found that higher syntactic complexity in the source text increases stress and cognitive load among interpreters. Additionally, when interpreters produce complex syntax themselves, their stress increases. The study provides empirical evidence for simplification in interpreting and shows that syntactic complexity in interpreters’ own output does not necessarily lead to increased cognitive load.

This paper offers a morphological analysis of the borrowed derivational suffix -όζος [ózos], used in both a number of Modern Greek (MGr) dialects and in Standard Modern Greek (SMGr). It draws on an extensive corpus to examine the suffix from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. Our diachronic analysis emphasizes the geographical distribution, the etymological provenance of the suffix, and the loan accommodation strategies employed in various MGr dialects, thus providing some interesting etymological findings regarding the lexical stock of Modern Greek (Standard and dialects). Our synchronic analysis focuses on the stem categories with which the suffix combines and accounts for the phonological, morphological, and syntactic constraints that function during the derivational process.

In Cappadocian and Pharasiot, the two main members of the inner Asia Minor Greek dialect group, the head nouns of NPs found in certain syntactic positions are marked with the accusative if the relevant NPs are definite and with the nominative if the NPs are indefinite. This differential case marking (dcm) pattern contrasts with all other Modern Greek dialects, in which the accusative is uniformly used in the relevant syntactic positions. After revisiting recent proposals regarding the synchronic status of dcm in Cappadocian and Pharasiot, I show how the two dialects developed this ‘un-Greek’ feature in the model of Turkish, which marks the head nouns of direct object NPs with an accusative suffix only if they take a specific reading leaving non-specific direct object NPs unmarked. I subsequently trace the diachronic trajectory of this contact-induced innovation within the two dialectal systems, seeking to explain why dcm was gradually lost in Cappadocian but preserved in Pharasiot.

Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) research has provided ample evidence that cognitive complexity is an important aspect of task design that influences learner performance in terms of fluency, accuracy, and syntactic and lexical complexity. Task features such as the degree of structure and storyline complexity contribute to task complexity and affect different aspects of L2 performance. Two of the current models of task complexity (i.e. Skehan 1998, and Robinson 2001), have further encapsulated different dimensions of task complexity and have provided both a framework for evaluating and predicting task complexity and a detailed discussion of the factors that may affect cognitive complexity. These models by principle are assumed to be pertinent to all tasks regardless of their purpose, type, or mode. However, little is known about whether cognitive complexity affects writing and speaking tasks in similar ways, or whether it has similar influences on L2 oral and written performance. By replicating previous research in oral task performance (Tavakoli & Foster 2008), the current study investigates the effects of storyline complexity on L2 learners writing in narrative tasks. The findings indicate that, although cognitive complexity affects both written and spoken performances, the way it affects the syntactic complexity of writing and speaking differs to some extent. In addition to presenting empirical data that provides insights into the effects of cognitive complexity on L2 learners’ writing and speaking, the main contribution of the chapter is to help extend our understanding of how task complexity plays out with the syntactic complexity of L2 performance in the two different modes, and to allow for a more in-depth understanding of the ways in which task complexity contributes to L2 writing. In that fashion, the findings of the current study can also begin to answer the question of whether or not a single model of task complexity can account for both writing and speaking tasks.

To investigate the diachronic changes in syntactic complexity in argumentative writing by Chinese English-major students, this study takes the English-major writing subcorpus of the Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC) and a self-built contemporary corpus of argumentative writings by English-major students as research objects. Based on the 14 syntactic complexity measures proposed by Lu, a diachronic comparison is conducted on the syntactic complexity features in argumentative writing by junior English-major students two decades ago and at present. The results reveal that no significant differences exist between learners of the two periods in such measures as unit length, sentence complexity and the use of subordinate structures, and the complexity of verb phrases remains relatively stable. In contrast, the complexity of coordinate structures and noun phrase structures is significantly higher in contemporary texts than in texts from 20 years ago. The study indicates that changes in the teaching environment and language input conditions for writing in recent years have to some extent facilitated learners’ expansion of syntactic expressions, yet the development of subordinate structures remains relatively slow. The findings can provide references for optimizing the focus of syntactic complexity training in English-major writing instruction.

In this dissertation, I investigate a number of interrelated developments affecting the morphosyntax of nouns in Cappadocian Greek. I specifically focus on the development of differential object marking, the loss of grammatical gender distinctions, and the neuterisation of noun inflection. My aim is to provide a diachronic account of the innovations that Cappadocian has undergone in the three domains mentioned above. Αll the innovations examined in this study have the effect of rendering the morphology and syntax of nouns in Cappadocian more like that of neuters. On account of the historical and sociolinguistic circumstances in which Cappadocian developed as well as of the superficial similarity of their outcomes to equivalent structures in Turkish, previous research has overwhelmingly treated the Cappadocian developments as instances of contact-induced change that resulted from the influence of Turkish. In this study, I examine the Cappadocian innovations from a language-internal point of view and in comparison with parallel developments attested in the other Modern Greek dialects of Asia Minor, namely Pontic, Rumeic, Pharasiot and Silliot. My comparative analysis of a wide range of dialect-internal, cross-dialectal and cross-linguistic typological evidence shows that language contact with Turkish can be identified as the main cause of change only in the case of differential object marking. On the other hand, with respect to the origins of the most pervasive innovations in gender and noun inflection, I argue that they go back to the common linguistic ancestor of the modern Asia Minor Greek dialects and do not owe their development to language contact with Turkish. I show in detail that the superficial similarity of these latter innovations’ outcomes to their Turkish equivalents in each case represents the final stage in a long series of typologically plausible, language-internal developments whose early manifestations predate the intensification of Cappadocian–Turkish linguistic and cultural exchange. These findings show that diachronic change in Cappadocian is best understood when examined within a larger Asia Minor Greek context. On the whole, they make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the history of Cappadocian and the Asia Minor Greek dialects as well as to Modern Greek dialectology more generally, and open a fresh round of discussion on the origin and development of other innovations attested in these dialects that are considered by historical linguists and Modern Greek dialectologists to be untypically Greek or contact-induced or both.

Although there are many works on individual Modern Greek dialects, there are very few overall descriptions, classifications, or cartographical representations of Greek dialects available in the literature. This paper discusses some possible reasons for these lacunae, having to do with dialect methodology, and Greek history and geography. It then moves on to employ the work of Kontossopoulos and Newton in an attempt to arrive at a more detailed classification of Greek dialects than has hitherto been attempted, using a small number of phonological criteria, and to provide a map, based on this classification, of the overall geographical configuration of Greek dialects.

A postulated severe loss of coolant accident in a nuclear reactor can lead to significant core damage due to residual heat generation. Subsequently, melted core materials (i.e.; corium) could migrate downward and impinge upon the lower head of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). During this relocation, the complexity of the reactor structure could segregate the molten corium into various flow paths. A perforated flow plate could readily provide the mechanism to segregate the molten corium. The resulting small (a few cm) diameter melt streams, driven by gravity, could then penetrate the remaining coolant in the RPV and cause any of the following events: impingement of the high temperature melt streams on the lower head could breach the RPV; re-agglomeration of the corium melt on the lower head could influence the coolability of the debris bed; "pre-mixing" of the melt streams with the coolant could lead to a vapor explosion; or, sufficient quenching of the melt streams by the coolant could produce a stabilized debris bed. An overview of the thermo-science issues related to core-melt accidents is presented by Theofanous. Thus, insight into the melt stream breakup mechanisms (i.e.; interfacial conditions, fragmentation, and geometric spacing) during the melt-coolant interactions is necessary to evaluate the plausibility, and characteristics, of these events. Molten Fuel Stream Breakup Simulation (MFSBS) experiments have been performed at Argonne National Laboratory in which simulant materials were used to determine a `boiling` jet breakup length correlation and to visualize the melt fragmentation mechanisms during the penetration of a single molten metal jet into a volatile liquid. The goal was to characterize the hydrodynamics of the corium-water interactions in a postulated core melt accident. The present experiment closely follows the procedures of the MFSBS.

This study attempts to reveal the syntactic complexity of online English newspaper editorials across countries. The data was taken from ten online English newspaper and was analyzed by using L2 syntactic complexity analyzer (Lu, 2010). Second Language Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (L2SCA) program displays fourteen syntactic complexity measures. Those editorials were derived from ten online newspaper in the USA, UK, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and Singapore. All the editorials were written in English by the local newspaper editors, so they contain varied production units and grammatical structures from native English writers and non-native English writers. The results of the study reveal that the non-native online newspaper, The Vaguardgnr from Nigeria, shows the most complexity of sentence structure as indicated in the length of production unit which correlate with higher levels of proficiency. Meanwhile, the native online newspaper, The New York Times from USA, displays the highest score of subordination, which indicate complexity at the beginning and intermediate levels of proficiency. Hence, in most newspapers, the purpose of editorials is to influence the opinions of readers on some controversial issues.

Syntactic complexity is considered to be an important device for assessing the quality of writing in a second language (L2), as it indicates the diversity and complexity of production units or grammatical structures. This paper studies the development of Chinese college students’ syntactic complexity in essay writing by using an Automatic Writing Evaluation (AWE) tool, the Pigai system (www.pigai.org, which has been most widely used in China in the last ten years). The data analysis showed that the students’ syntactic competences in their final drafts outperformed that in their first drafts in three aspects: length of production unit, amount of subordination, and amount of coordination.