Predicative Adjectives Research Articles

PREDICATIVE POSITION OF ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS WHEN TRANSLATING INTO ALBANIAN

Predicative adjectives play a crucial role in language by providing additional information about the subject of a sentence. This paper explores the significance and characteristics of predicative adjectives in linguistic analysis. The paper examines the syntactic structures and patterns governing the translation of predicative adjectives from English into Albanian language. Through a comparative analysis, this paper investigates how syntactic differences between the two languages influence the placement and construction of predicative adjectives in Albanian language sentences. Furthermore, the paper explores the impact of word order, agreement, and syntactic hierarchy on the translation process. Drawing on linguistic theories and principles, this research clarifies the syntactic adjustments required to maintain grammatical coherence and preserve the intended meaning when rendering predicative adjectives into Albanian. Predicative adjectives in English typically exhibit a relatively minor difference from Albanian translation, with exceptions found among adjectives whose predicative only usage is specific to the English language. Adjectives falling into this category necessitate substantial adjustments during translation, often resulting in their representation not solely as adjectives but also as nouns, verbs, or adverbs within the translated context. By shedding light on the syntactic complexities of translation, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in conveying predicative adjectives across linguistic boundaries.

A categorisation solution to the incompleteness puzzle in Mandarin

Abstract This paper means to re-examine the source of incompleteness for a clause with a bare verb as predicate and no other markings in Mandarin. I propose that the reason comes from the need for categorial labels at the syntax-semantic interface to produce a clear interpretation. Since there are no grammatical affixes marking category V available in Mandarin, it has to make use of functional morphemes which shape their complement space categorially. The result is that overt (or at least inferable) morphemes from the extended projections of VP must occur to assign category V for the predicate phrase, while a root needs merge with degree morphemes to be a predicate adjective. The analysis shows that some issues traditionally related to finiteness may have a pure syntactic account.

Contrastive Analysis of Adjectives in English and Idọma Sentence Structures

English Language and its structural patterns share both similar and different features when contrasted with other languages. In this paper, the syntactic patterns of modification of the Noun Phrase (NP), a term rooted in Chomsky’s grammatical category, are examined in English and Idọma languages. The aim is to highlight potential implications for the Idọma learners of English language as a second language. Using Government and Binding theory for data analysis, the study draws insights from Contrastive Analysis. To provide data for analysis, two episodes of Okonone, a radio programme presented in Idọma and aired on Joy FM, are recorded and transcribed. Findings reveal that both languages have predicative adjectives and they function as subject and object complements. Adjectives can also occur after the indefinite pronouns in both English and Idọma sentence structures. Unlike in English language, adjectives are observed to predominantly occur post-nominally in Idọma Syntax. Similarly, while nouns can be used as adjectives in the English sentence structure, Idọma language does not provide for such a usage. To compare adjectives in English, standard morphological processes allow users to generate single words. Since Idọma speakers rely heavily on post-nominal modification, comparison is often embedded within the adjectival structure using two or three words. The study concludes that these similarities aid smooth learning of the English language while the dissimilarities impede the proficiency of Idọma learners of the English language.

MEDIA AND HATE SPEECH: A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF HATE SPEECH ON NAIRALAND FORUM

Digital communication has dominated a major space in our everyday discourses; reflecting how we create, organize, conduct, and express our identities in everyday activities. This study entails the discursive study of hate speech on the Nairaland forum. This study is hinged on Van Dijk's Socio-Cognitive theory (2016) and Ruth Wodak's (2009) Discursive Strategies. The data for this study comprises twenty-eight (28) participants' comments extracted from Nairaland. Findings revealed that commenters of hate discourse on Nairaland used five discursive strategies which include nominalization, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification to produce their hateful comments on the forum. Strategic devices used include nominals, appositions, relative clauses, pronouns, predicative adjectives, metaphors, giving reasons, questioning, and hyperbole. The study also revealed that ethnic, political party, and religious affinities are the major triggers of hate comments on Nairaland. Thus, the study recommended that technology experts should be engaged to design features, using information derived from language experts to block or filter hate comments on social media platforms. Also, standard laws should be established to curb the menace of hate speech on social media platforms in Nigeria.

That-complement clauses signalling stance in Nigerian Supreme Court lead judgements: a corpus-based study

Abstract The study investigates grammatical means of marking stance in Nigerian Supreme Court lead judgements. Specifically, it examines the frequency, form and stance functions of that-complement clauses in lead judgements using Du Bios’ stance triangle model (Du Bois, John. 2007. The stance triangle. In Englebretson Robert (ed.), Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction, 139–177. Amsterdam: John Benjamins) and Biber’s (Biber, Douglas. 2006. University language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. Amsterdam: John Benjamins) semantic domains of verbal and adjectival predicates controlling that-complement clauses. The study shows that that-complement clauses in the lead judgements are predominantly verb-based and they mainly signal epistemic and few alignment stances. Verb-based that-clauses are largely indexed by communication verbs which report prior stances, present the lead judges’ arguments and validate them. Adjective-based that-clauses signal evaluative and few affective stances. They are frequently signalled by certainty adjectives which express lead judges’ certitude on the issues argued. That-complement clauses signal few alignment stances and yet fewer affective ones, possibly due to judges’ need to assert their authoritative voice as experts in the discourse community. The frequency of certainty verbs and adjectives in the that-complement clauses underscores the centrality of certitude in judicial argumentation. I suggest that judgements are not only evaluative as has been noted in earlier studies but also epistemic based on the predominance of epistemic and certainty markers lexico-grammatically realised and indexed by verb and adjective based that-clauses.

Effects of pronominal reference on the integration of syntactic and semantic information in second language processing

AbstractThis study investigated the effect of pronominal reference on the integration of syntactic and semantic information in second language (L2) processing. We conducted a self‐paced reading task involving 60 adult Korean‐speaking learners of English and 44 native English speakers. The experiment manipulated the semantic congruity between a subject and its adjectival predicate, as well as the reference type (pronoun vs. full noun) within the intervening relative clause. The results showed that the native speaker group consistently displayed sensitivity to the incongruity between the subject and the predicate, regardless of the reference type. Similarly, the nonnative speakers exhibited sensitivity to the mismatch in the critical region. However, this effect did not persist in subsequent regions including the spill‐over and wrap‐up regions. Instead, in the wrap‐up region, the L2 learners’ processing patterns were affected by the reference type, with sensitivity exclusively observed in the pronoun condition. The L2 learners’ processing pattern remained consistent across varying levels of English proficiency. These findings provide insights into the role of pronominal reference in L2 sentence processing.

Predicative adjectives in the composition of expressions as tactics of positive and negative politeness strategies

The present research focuses on analyzing the mechanisms of politeness and the role of adjectives in interpersonal relationships, considering them as important tools for expressing attitudes, emotions, and cultural values. Based on the research results, it has been established that politeness strategies and the use of adjectives vary significantly depending on cultural contexts, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding of linguistic norms and variations. Special attention has been paid to the role of adjectives, which serve not only as descriptive elements but also as means of expressing evaluations and emotions, thus, playing a significant role in intercultural interaction. The research conclusions underscore the importance of integrating intercultural understanding into the process of linguistic interaction. It has been revealed that successful intercultural communication requires not only language proficiency but also a deep understanding of cultural differences in politeness strategies. The research also points to the need for further exploration in this field, in particular, in developing practical recommendations for enhancing intercultural communication. In this context, knowledge and application of relevant linguistic strategies can contribute to better understanding and respect among representatives of different cultures.

The production of adjectives in narratives by individuals with primary progressive aphasia

Adjectives (e.g., hungry) are an important part of language, but have been little studied in individuals with impaired language. Adjectives are used in two different ways in English: attributively, to modify a noun (the hungry dog); or predicatively, after a verb (the dog is hungry). Attributive adjectives have a more complex grammatical structure than predicative adjectives, and may therefore be particularly prone to disruption in individuals with grammatical impairments. We investigated adjective production in three subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA: agrammatic, semantic, logopenic), as well as in agrammatic stroke aphasia and a group of healthy control participants. Participants produced narratives based on picture books, and we coded every adjective they produced for its syntactic structure. Compared to healthy controls, the two agrammatic groups, but not the other two patient groups, produced significantly fewer attributive adjectives per sentence. All four patient groups were similar to controls for their rate of predicative adjective production. In addition, we found a significant correlation in the agrammatic PPA participants between their rate of producing attributive adjectives and impaired production of sentences with complex syntactic structure (subject cleft sentences like It was the boy that chased the girl); no such correlation was found for predicative adjectives. Irrespective of structure, we examined the lexical characteristics of the adjectives that were produced, including length, frequency, semantic diversity and neighborhood density. Overall, the lexical characteristics of the produced adjectives were largely consistent with the language profile of each group. In sum, the results suggest that attributive adjectives present a particular challenge for individuals with agrammatic language production, and add a new dimension to the description of agrammatism. Our results further suggest that attributive adjectives may be a fruitful target for improved treatment and recovery of agrammatic language.

Gender marking in the first-person singular: A case of paradigm (in)consistency

Since the sex of the speaker is normally as obvious as can be, there is no point in coding first-person singular gender – or so it may seem. This typological study examines the extent of sex-based gender marking in personal pronouns, possessive determiners, predicative adjectives, and verbs across first-, second-, and third-person singular. A worldwide perusal of grammars in addition to data elicitation yields a total of 115 languages with first-person gender. The paradigms of pronouns and possessives are found to be highly inconsistent, whereas those of verbs show a tendency towards consistency. Gender marking on adjectives is fully consistent. The likelihood of first-person gender is increased by a general sensitivity to gender and a dedicated gender morpheme. A distinction is made between pronouns and possessives as referential units and gender markers on verbs and adjectives as grammatical units. By their very nature, referential markers are sensitive to the contingencies of the extralinguistic world and subject to communicative constraints such as redundancy and economy. They therefore end up being organized in inconsistent paradigms. By contrast, grammatical units are largely untouched by these extraneous influences and may therefore develop consistent paradigms.

The long and the short of it: Russian predicate adjectives with zero copula

The present article presents an empirical investigation of the choice between so-called long (e.g., prostoj ‘simple’) and short (e.g., prost ‘simple’) forms of predicate adjectives in Russian, based on data from the syntactic subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus. The data under scrutiny suggest that short forms represent the dominant option for predicate adjectives. It is proposed that long forms are descriptions of thematic participants in sentences with no complement, while short forms may take complements and describe both participants (thematic and rhematic) and situations. Within the “space of competition” where both long and short forms are well attested, it is argued that the choice of form to some extent depends on subject type, gender/number, and frequency. On the methodological level, the approach adopted in the present study may be extended to other cases of competition in morphosyntax. It is suggested that one should first “peel off” contexts where (nearly) categorical rules are at work, before one undertakes a statistical analysis of the “space of competition”.

Noun Phrase Complexity in ESL Academic Writing

This study explores the relationship between second language proficiency and noun phrase complexity in the writing of students in an English for academic purposes (EAP) program. Based on a developmental progression index suggested by Biber et al. (2011), the project examined noun phrase complexity in the writing of intermediate and advanced students in an EAP program in Ghana. The study’s data consists of a corpus of 50 successful argumentative essays written by intermediate and advanced-level students. Findings from a comparative analysis corroborate the hypothesized developmental index. The intermediate group used more attributive and predicative adjectives, modifiers that have been predicted to occur early in the developmental index while the advanced group used more abstract phrases with relative and noun clauses, modifiers that have been predicted to occur late in the developmental index. Also, the use of noun modifiers by the advanced group was closer to the published frequencies of advanced writers as reported by previous studies (e.g., Lan & Sun, 2019). The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications for L2 academic writing instruction.

No Adjective Ordering Preferences in Jordanian Arabic Grammar.

This article offers evidence, which is based on acceptability judgement tasks, in favour of the absence of unmarked linear serializations of stacked, non-coordinated adjectives in Jordanian Arabic (JA). Results from 16 experiments of acceptability judgements from 197 native speakers of JA point to the fact that JA places no adjective ordering. However, two factors are found to be significant. The first factor pertains to the number of stacked, non-coordinated adjectives. All possible word order patterns of different stacked adjectives are (fully) acceptable with two stacked adjectives. However, constructions with three or more stacked adjectives are significantly degraded. This is universally held, regardless of the type of the stacked adjectives (size, color, shape, etc.). We ascribe this to the third-factor effects (Chomsky in Linguist Inq 36(1):1-22, 2005) (particularly with reference to working memory and processing load) in restricting the possible number of adjectives in a given construction. A second factor relates to the syntactic position of the adjectives (attributive vs. predicative). The results reveal that attributive adjectives are significantly more acceptable than predicative adjectives (which can also be freely stacked in JA). This is also attributed to the effects of these factors favoring minimal computations. We follow O'Grady (Front Psychol 12:660296, 2021) in that the processing of across-clausal phenomena (as is the case with predicative adjectives) is more demanding than intra-clausal ones (as is the case with attributive adjectives).

Adjectival predicate “bad/good” with the pronoun I

This article explores one type of construction in the Russian language, specifically the “I + adjectival predicate” structure. The adjectival predicate in this construction reflects the instability of self-identification and self-presentation. The composition of adjectives in this construction provides valuable insights into historical changes in self-perception. Using the examples “I am good” and “I am bad”, we examine the possibility of removing the restriction on negative self-characterization. Both adjectives can convey positive or negative evaluations of oneself, and these evaluations can be used for manipulative purposes. Through corpus data analysis, we uncover the cyclical nature of filling the frame of autocharacterization with evaluative adjectives. The dynamics of each variant of filling the frame is complex and follows a non-linear curve. This article is based on a paper presented at the 7th International Research Symposium “Russian Grammar: Constants, Contexts, Perspectives” (October 10–14, 2023, Tyumen, Russia).

"Я несчастный, но живой": адъективный предикат при местоимении "я"

The article describes the formation of the construction “I + adjectival predicate” and its existence in the Russian language for three hundred years. A person’s ideas about one’s Self are manifested in the choice of adjectives, the composition of which is updated. The need to characterize oneself is considered in the article in connection with the data of diachronic psychology on the growth of the individual’s social independence and the increase in the value of the “I” in the 18th and 19th centuries. The “top” list of adjectives (unhappy, alive, stupid, good, kind, young, evil, alien, old, poor) was formed by the beginning of the 20th century and has survived to the present day. Observations on the general chronology of the appearance of new components within the framework of the construction allowed establishing that until the mid-1820s the construction “I + adjectival predicate” was rare, and the adjective was usually a definition with a predicate noun, but not an independent predicate. Now the adjective began to characterize a person regardless of one’s type of activity or social role. The total use of the construction has been growing since the 1850s. Adjectives- predicates usually represent a characteristic of a person according to various parameters: moral self-esteem, character traits, intelligence, health status or physical data, features of self-perception. A positive evaluation in the predicate is less common than a negative one. In the first half of the 20th century, personality characteristics related to the socio-political situation are increasingly appearing in the structure of the construction) and testifying to the exit of the perception of the Self into the philosophical sphere. The second half of the 20th century is characterized by the active exploitation of cliched means of autocharacteristics formed in the previous period; the growing popularity of tautologies and repetitions, the spread of the predicate by specifying the manifestations of the declared quality or explaining possible cause-and-effect relationships, detailing negative / positive characteristics; the growth of the use of adjectives denoting characteristics understandable to a narrow circle of people or ambivalent characteristics, as well as qualities condemned by public opinion. Changes in the usual discursive practices caused by political and economic upheavals lead to an increase in the individual’s need for self-identification and self-presentation, which is reflected in the described constructions.

The Limburgian Converb as a Relic of the Predicative Adjective Inflection

The Limburgian Converb as a Relic of the Predicative Adjective Inflection

Intensifiers and epistemic adverbials – On the history of German echt ‘really, lit. real/genuine’

Adverbials of truth or reality such as really (en.), wirklich (de.), verdaderamente (sp.) are cross-linguistically assumed to be a rich source for intensifiers (degree words) as in: (i) Peter is really nice. The epistemic adverbial is reanalysed as a modifier of a predicative adjective in a syntactically ambiguous sentence as in (i). At the same time the emphasis on the truth of the proposition invites the inference that the property in question is amply present. This view on the emergence of intensifiers from adverbials of truth is challenged by the German intensifier echt ‘really, lit. genuine/real’ as in: (ii) Peter ist echt nett ‘Peter is really nice’. In contemporary German echt is very popular as an intensifier, a proposition modifier, a speech-act modifier and a response particle. However, a diachronic analysis of the use of echt as an adverbial in New High German reveals that the intensifier reading develops much earlier than the reading as a proposition modifier, i.e. an epistemic adverbial. The article offers a discussion of the development of echt which sheds a somewhat different light on the relation between intensifiers and epistemic adverbials, and it suggests a unified analysis of the uses of echt in contemporary German which supports Traugott’s view of grammaticalisation as also encompassing an extension of structural scope.

Пълни и кратки форми на прилагателните имена в руски и техните съответствия на български език

In Russian, unlike in Bulgarian, two forms of adjectives have been preserved – full and short, where the short form in the modern language can be used only in the predicative position. The proposed article on the basis of a parallel Russian-Bulgarian corpus examines the question by what means of expression in the Bulgarian language the opposition of the two forms of Russian adjectives is manifested, how the series of their semantic, stylistic and syntactic differences are translated, including their ability to express a temporary and / or permanent feature. It is shown that the Bulgarian language reacts differently in cases when the Russian full and short forms differ semantically, as well as when the difference between the Russian forms is stylistic or pragmatic. There are also discrepancies in the semantics of Russian and Bulgarian predicative adjectives with identical roots in view of their ability to indicate the stability of the feature (i.e. to mean a property, characteristic) or its actuality (temporary state).

UKRAINIAN EQUIVALENTS TO ENGLISH SENTENCES: WHAT THEY REVEAL ABOUT DATIVE EXPERIENCER AND EXPLETIVE CONSTRUCTION

This paper presents a comparative study of Ukrainian sentences with Dative experiencer and their English equivalents. While Ukrainian allows null-subject sentences, in English there is a structural subject it. Moreover, in Ukrainian, there are sentences with Dative experiencers in the sentence initial position. Interestingly, the same kind of predicates that licenses Dative experiencer construction in Ukrainian, licenses the it-extraposition in English. Thus, the objective of this research is to establish what predicates belong to this category and what there is in the structure of the predicate that allows or disallows the described kinds of construction. We suggest that the adjectival predicates that do not allow it (or Dative experiencer in Ukrainian) have CAUSE-head introducing a causing event in their structure which blocks it-insertion. Key words: Dative experiencer, expletive, CAUSE, it-extraposition, predicate, English, Ukrainian.

Morphological and semantic features of the words of semantics state in modern English

Different approaches to determining the status of words of semantics state in modern linguistics are analyzed, the partial lexical potential of words of semantics state is outlined, the morphological and semantic features of words of semantics state in English are described, the attempt to divide words of semantics state into lexical-semantic groups is made in the article. It was noted that words of semantics state give a description of natural phenomena, physical and mental states of man, the core of words of semantics state in English is predicative adjectives in the predicate function. The basis of the study of words of semantics state in English is morphological features. The morphological characteristics of words of semantics state were singled out. It was found that morphologically words of semantics of the state are derived from adjectives, nouns and Participles II. Human perception is the basis in the division of words of semantics state into lexical and semantic groups. The growth of words of semantics state in English is due to the transition to them other parts of speech.

Variation and change in Swiss German agreement morphology: Spatial, social, and attitudinal effects

AbstractThis paper investigates the occurrence of inflected predicative adjectives, an optional yet distinguishing feature of German dialects spoken in southern Switzerland. We provide an in-depth analysis of the patterns of change of this morphosyntactic marker with a particular focus on extralinguistic factors. Historical records from 1950 were compared to contemporary data collected from 192 speakers across 49 localities in 2020–21. Our results corroborate previous reports indicating a substantial, real-time decline in inflected forms. Logistic mixed-effects modeling suggests that the inflection of predicative adjectives occurs more frequently among speakers who report tight social networks, have a strong local dialect identity, and regularly use one or more Romance languages. These findings support the claim that tight social networks and local dialect identity construction may lead to the preservation of conservative grammatical forms. Additionally, the effect of Romance languages highlights the role of transfer phenomena induced by language contact.