Clause Constructions Research Articles

Review of:] Y. Matsumoto, B. Comrie, P. Sells (eds.). Noun-modifying clause constructions in languages of Eurasia: Rethinking theoretical and geographical boundaries. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2017

Review of:] Y. Matsumoto, B. Comrie, P. Sells (eds.). Noun-modifying clause constructions in languages of Eurasia: Rethinking theoretical and geographical boundaries. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2017

Indemnities and modern corporate structures

Abstract This article considers the issue of trustee indemnity clauses and their interaction with the corporate structures which underlie many modern trusts. It considers the problems which can arise in relation to such clauses and the recent decision of First National Trustco (UK) Ltd v McQuitty [2020] EWCA Civ 107, in which the Court of Appeal gave guidance as to the construction of such clauses. Finally, it will conclude by addressing the wider impact of the decision on the ability of trustees to compel beneficiaries to make payment in respect of liabilities of underlying companies in order to ensure that taxes and other liabilities are paid.

Da eine oder mehrere betroffen …

AbstractBased on a corpus study conducted using the GerManC corpus (1650–1800), the paper sketches the functional and sociosymbolic development of subordinate clause constructions introduced by the subjunctorda‘since’ in different text genres. In the second half of the 17thand the first half of the 18thcentury, thedaclauses were characterized by semantic vagueness: Besides temporal, spatial and causal relations, the subjunctor established conditional, concessive, and adversative links between clauses. The corpus study reveals that different genres are crucial to the readings ofdaclauses. Spatial and temporal usages, for example, occur more often in sermons than in other genres. The conditional reading, in contrast, strongly tends to occur in legal texts, where it displays very high frequency. This could be the reason whydaclauses carry indexical meaning in contemporary German and are associated with formal language. Over the course of the 18thcentury, the causal usages increase in all genres. Surprisingly, these causaldaclauses tend to be placed in front of the matrix clause despite the overall tendency of causal clauses to follow the matrix clause.

Japanese embedded questions are nominal: Evidence from quantificational variability effect

AbstractThe exhaustivity of an embedded interrogative sentence can be altered by the presence of an adverb in the matrix clause. This phenomenon, known as Quantificational Variability Effect (QVE), manifests itself in a peculiar way in Japanese. A QVE-inducing adverb can take the form of a numeral classifier that agrees with the embedded Wh-phrase. While a QVE-inducing numeral classifier appears to be associated with an embedded wh-phrase, it is not clear how such an association can be established. I argue that Japanese embedded questions are implicitly nominalized in the fashion similar to the internally-headed relative clause construction, and that the nominalized embedded questions are treated as concealed questions. The proposed analysis gives a very simple account for the puzzling QVE construction, as the floated quantifier structure with a concealed-question-denoting NP is commonplace. The paper examines a variety of phenomena, such as doubly headed relative clause structure and selectional restrictions on QVE, which support the nominal structure of Japanese embedded questions.

내핵 관계절 구성과 분열문의 ‘것’의 통사론

내핵 관계절 구성과 분열문의 ‘것’의 통사론

Relative clauses in Agul from a corpus-based perspective

AbstractThis paper gives an account of participial clauses in Agul (Lezgic, Nakh-Daghestanian), based on a sample of 858 headed noun-modifying clauses taken from two text corpora, one spoken and one written. Noun-modifying clauses in Agul do not show syntactic restrictions on what can be relativized, and hence they instantiate the type known as GNMCCs, or general noun-modifying clause constructions. As the text counts show, intransitive verbs are more frequent than transitives and experiencer verbs in participial clauses, and among intransitive verbs, locative statives with the roots ‘be’ and ‘stay, remain’ account for half of all the uses. The asymmetry between the different relativization targets is also significant. Among the core arguments, the intransitive subject (S) is the most frequent target, patient (P) occupies second place, and agent (A) is comparatively rare. The preference of S and, in general, of S and P over A also holds true for most other Nakh-Daghestanian languages for which comparable counts are available. At the same time, Agul stands apart from the other languages by its high ratio of non-core relativization which accounts for 42% of all participial clauses. Addressee, arguments and adjuncts encoded with a locative case, as well as more generalplaceandtimerelativizations show especially high frequency, outnumbering such arguments as experiencers, recipients, and predicative and adnominal possessors. Possible reasons for the high ratio of non-argument relativization are discussed in the paper.

AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN CONSTRUCTING ADJECTIVE CLAUSE IN ESSAY WRITING

Grammar is an essential language component that should be concerned to create a good writing, no exception to the use of adjective clause. However, there are still some problems identified in the adjective clause construction. The purpose of the research is to figure out students’ ability in constructing adjective clause. The design used in this research is descriptive research with second year students of English Language Education Program of UNP as the research population. There were 31 students taken as the research sample selected by using stratified sampling technique out of 162 students. The data were collected through document analysis and Hortatory Exposition essays were chosen as the source of the data. The essays were analyzed by two raters and the score was classified based on score classification. Then, the problems were identified from the students’ adjective clause construction in the essays. The result of the study showed that the students’ ability in constructing adjective clause is categorized into excellent with the average percentage 87. 94%. The common problem found in the students’ adjective clause construction is in sentence element which has total 37.04% problems identified. Students tend to disregard the element of the sentence, such as subject and verb.

Construction of Relative Clause in Indonesian Language

Researchers are interested in the study of the syntactic typology of language. There is one problem in this research, namely how the types of constituents and the structure of Indonesian relative clauses. Words/phrases greatly affect the presence of relative clauses as constituent extension or explanation clauses. The constituents explained by the relative clauses certainly have a relationship that is in accordance with the meaning of the constituents. This study used descriptive qualitative method. The data source used is native Indonesian speakers. The data of this study are sentences containing relative Indonesian clauses. Data collection techniques used in this study are collaboration techniques with informants and questionnaire techniques. Data analysis method used is the method of sharing with lingual units. The analysis technique of this research uses x-bar theory analysis technique which produces a word/phrase structure into a tree diagram of the whole sentence/clause. The conclusion of the results of this study is the type of constituents that can be expanded with relative clauses. As well as the patterns produced by the construction. The results of this study are expected to update previous research relating to the relative clauses of the Indonesian language.

‘Different’ and ‘distinct’ as markers of otherness

The present study seeks to offer an understanding of how high-end hotel websites produce privilege, creating a sense of belonging and entitlement for their 4/5-star guests. The experience of tourism is intrinsically linked to embracing otherness, and as a reflection of this, hotel websites offer a characterization of cultural otherness in an attempt to make it resonate with the potential expectations of a socioeconomically privileged client. The study considers the question of what elements of experience of otherness the website will address, relying on a Critical Discourse Analysis perspective and drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of habitus as related to lifestyle, difference and distinction. Specifically, the words different and distinct are addressed in this study as markers of otherness and privilege. Based on Fairclough’s sociocultural approach, and specifically on Halliday’s transitivity system, the use of these words in clause construction patterns yields an understanding of how specific representations of reality revolving around the idea of otherness are built up. The research is corpus-driven and qualitative, its conclusions also offering some insight as to how hotel websites recreate forms of in-group similarity

Relativiser Alternation and Relative Clause Complexity: Insights from Nigerian and American Varieties

Idiosyncrasies and peculiarities distinguishing new Englishes from the established ones are often identified and measured by examining the extent to which structural choices and patterns vary across the board. The competition between relativisers wh- and that in the construction of relative clause, which itself is a structurally complex-versus-simple construction site, allows for showing the extent to which choice of a relativiser relates to the construction of a complex or simple relative clause, given different factors. On the other hand, such investigation can also shed some light on the extent to which structural com- plexity characterises new varieties of English. Relying on 628 relative clauses drawn from written academic corpus, the study shows that WH-relativiser is preferred to THAT-relativiser by the Nigerian speakers, and vice versa by the American speakers. It is also found that WH-relative clause is more likely to be complex-structured while THAT-relative clause is more likely to be simple-structured. Among eight factors tested for independent effects, the factors representing relativiser posterior syntactic form, syntactic function, and syntactic positioning of the relative clause appeared to be strong predictors of where we might (not) find a certain relativiser and whether a complex or simple relative clause will emerge.

The Syntax and Semantics of Relative Clauses in Kusaal

This paper looks at the syntax and semantics of relative clause constructions in Kusaal, a Mabia (Gur) language spoken in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Although extensive work has been done on sister Mabia languages on this topic, little can be said of same in relation to Kusaal. This paper presents a comprehensive discussion on the various elements, functions, and formations of Kusaal relative clauses and, among other things, shows that the language has both in-situ internally-headed relative clauses and left-headed internally-headed relative clauses (Hiraiwa et al. 2017). This is carried out with data collected on fieldwork, in addition to the author’s own native speaker intuitions.

Clause constituents, arguments and the question of grammatical relations in Auslan (Australian Sign Language)

AbstractThis study investigates clause constructions in Auslan. It looks at the alignment of constituent semantic role with constituent position and order in clauses, changes in the morphology of signs according to position and/or role, and the interpretation of omitted arguments. The aim is to determine if there are grammatical relations in Auslan. The most frequent constituent order parallels English, thus Auslan might be said to also instantiate a basic SVO word order. However, every possible constituent order pattern is also attested without there being other coding and behavioural properties associated with grammatical relations that could explain this flexibility. I conclude that constituent order in Auslan is the result of the interaction of pragmatic and semantic factors, visual representation, and language contact with English, rather than autochthonous grammatical relations. Auslan grammar draws on both so-called gestural and so-called linguistic resources at the clause level, not just at the word (sign) level.

A morfossintaxe do aspecto em línguas Jê: uma abordagem diacrônica

Este artigo examina a morfossintaxe de construções oracionais que empregam verbos auxiliares para expressão de aspecto, em diversas línguas Jê. Embora as orações com verbos auxiliares difiram sincronicamente em maior ou menor grau com respeito à constituição morfossintática e aos valores aspectuais codificados nas respectivas gramáticas, mostramos que boa parte dessas orações tenham se desenvolvido a partir de um padrão sintático comum. Assim, baseado na comparação de dados provenientes de várias línguas da família, estabelecemos correspondências formais e funcionais e propomos uma reconstrução histórica desse padrão sintático. Os resultados indicam que a variação sincrônica encontrada na expressão morfossintática do aspecto por meio de verbos auxiliares é reflexo de mudanças linguísticas contínuas e graduais que levaram a casos cada vez mais gramaticalizados dentro da família Jê como um todo.

Konstruksi Klausa Makian pada Partisipan Usia Tua dalam Bahasa Melayu Bengkulu

The purpose of this study is to describe the construction of invective clause markers in old age participants. The research method is qualitative. Data and data sources are insults derived from Bengkulu Malay language informants. Data collection methods and techniques through listening and introspection. The method of listening uses the basic techniques of tapping techniques outlined in the advanced technique, which is a free trial of competent involvement (SBLC), record, and record. Stages of providing data through three activities, namely collecting, selecting, and structuring. Analytical methods and techniques use contextual analysis, peer review, and distribution or distribution. There is a construct of marking invective clauses on parental participants: namely: 1) based on the position of the elements of the clause shows that the invective tends to be within the invective core clause, 2) based on function analysis, invective tends to occupy the predicate function (P) which is positioned in front of the subject (S) i.e. position (PS), 3) the use of the second persona pronominal as a mark of curse clauses indicates the tendency of invective use in intimate / intimate participants, 4) the use of clits - it is that the curse clause functions to emphasize imperative sentences and reinforcement designations in cursing sentences so that the utterances become coarser and the level of emotional expression of anger becomes higher. Conclusions, construction of invective clauses on parental participants includes; elemental position, function analysis, pronominal, and clit usage
 Keywords: Curse, Old Age, Clause, Bengkulu Malay Language

The ambiguity of projection and the chomskyan adjunction as a formal way of approaching predication in small clauses and secondary predication

This paper focus on the syntax of the predication relations in predicative constructions like secondary predication and small clause constructions. The goals are (i) to consider that an adjunction structures à la Chomsky (1986) and May (1985) (opposing category vs . segment of category) is an interesting solution to the syntax of predication, whenever combined with the idea that merge can be symmetrical in terms of projection (if α and β are merged, either α or β can project – Chomsky, 1995); and (ii) to present a formal and unified approach to the grammar of different kinds of predication, based on Carreira (2015), emphasizing specially cases of small clauses and secondary predication. The paper presents new data from BP, which challenges the classical analyses, as in Williams (1980), Stowell (1983) and Rothstein (1983) and minimalist analysis as Den Dikken (2006). This research is framed in the Minimalist Program of Chomsky (1995) and other. As we will argue, by exploring this mechanism, we might be able to provide a unified account for different types of predication.

The syntax of relative clause constructions in Runyankore-Rukiga: A typological perspective

This paper discusses the morphosyntactic properties of relative clause constructions in the Runyankore-Rukiga language cluster (Bantu, JE13/14, Uganda). Relative clauses in this paper are categorized into nominal and clausal relatives on the basis of their exhibited morphosyntactic properties. The nominal relative clause category comprises elements which have been previously regarded as adjectives (Morris and Kirwan 1972; Taylor 1985) which include some color terms among other lexical items. The second category, namely clausal relatives, is subcategorized into subject and object clausal relatives. The subject clausal relative is realized within the subject nominal prefix by differential tone marking while the object clausal relative is an obligatory agreement-bearing complementizer which stands alone in agreement with the object antecedent. This paper describes the properties and use of the object relative marker as it has previously been regarded as a demonstrative or a pronoun. The paper offers an alternative position to the status of the object relative clause marker, proposing that it is not a pronoun equivalent to the English Wh-relative pronoun, and that it is not a demonstrative per se, but rather an agreement-bearing complementizer that heads a CP. The paper further asserts that the augment is not a relative clause marker as it is stated in Morris and Kirwan (1972) and Taylor (1985) but expresses a restrictive relative clause when present. As part of syntax, the paper discusses agreement properties in relative clause constructions and reports that a clausal relative takes the agreement of the head of the relative clause, but this is not always the case since anti-agreement cases are reported. Data for the analysis comes from authentic written materials and elicited constructions.

How much is English relativization constrained pragmatically?

A number of recent experimental works on the nature of island effects have focused on the role of syntactic and processing factors, but little attention has been paid to pragmatic factors. The main purpose of this paper is to test the role of a pragmatic constraint, called the Characterization Constraint (CC), in English relativization. Based on an acceptability judgment task conducted on two types of relative clause constructions (RCCs), it is claimed that CC plays a significant role in constraining relativization in English. In addition, the paper further discusses two interesting issues: (1) difference between the two types of tested RCCs in terms of acceptability and (2) difference between Korean and English with respect to the degree of influence of CC in relativization.

Four-year-old Mandarin-speaking children’s online comprehension of relative clauses

A core question in language acquisition is whether children’s syntactic processing is experience-dependent and language-specific, or whether it is governed by abstract, universal syntactic machinery. We address this question by presenting corpus and on-line processing dat a from children learning Mandarin Chinese, a language that has been important in debates about the universality of parsing processes. The corpus data revealed that two different relative clause constructions in Mandarin are differentially used to modify syntactic subjects and objects. In the experiment, 4-year-old children’s eye-movements were recorded as they listened to the two RC construction types (e.g., Can you pick up the pig that pushed the sheep?). A permutation analysis showed that children’s ease of comprehension was closely aligned with the distributional frequencies, suggesting syntactic processing preferences are shaped by the input experience of these constructions.

Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia: Rethinking Theoretical and Geographical Boundaries

Noun-Modifying Clause Constructions in Languages of Eurasia: Rethinking Theoretical and Geographical Boundaries

The bottom line for review of an assessment - a case note on commissioner of taxation v Futuris Corporation Ltd

Decisions of the Taxation Commissioner are prima facie reviewable, pursuant to s 75(v) of the Constitution and s 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), for jurisdictional error. However, the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (‘ITAA 1936’) provides significant buffers to the ability of a court to review the Taxation Commissioner’s decisions. The tension between the general principle of the reviewability of the decisions of Commonwealth officers on the one hand, and the intention of Parliament to protect the Taxation Commissioner’s decisions from judicial review on the other hand, was addressed by the High Court in Commissioner of Taxation v Futuris Corporation Ltd (‘Futuris’). The context, scope and purposive approach to statutory construction, as refined by the Gleeson Court, is subtly underscored in Futuris by the policy consideration of protecting the public revenue. This is manifest in the Court’s construction of ss 175 and 177(1) of the ITAA 1936 which limits challenges to notices of assessment made under the Act. Despite refuting a privative clause construction on these provisions, the Court did not limit the protections that these provisions afford to assessments. Instead, the Court upheld the effectiveness of the provisions in both limiting and conditioning the exercise of a court’s jurisdiction to review taxation assessments. Challenging a court’s jurisdiction through the operation of a privative clause is fraught with difficulties; it is more effective to limit or condition the grounds of review.