Existential Verb Research Articles

Статические и динамические пространственные конструкции в удэгейском языке

The present paper describes Udihe verb predicates with the meaning of existence and location. Additionally, a number of verbs of motion and relocation are discussed. A classification of Udihe predicates is presented, taking into account the peculiarities of the syntactic government. Dynamic predicates can govern nouns in Accusative, Locative, Lative, Dative, as well as Ablative and Prolative cases. They may also govern denominal adverbs or postpositional phrases and even nouns in Instrumental case. Static predicates syntactically govern postpositional phrases or nouns in Locative, Lative, Dative, Accusative Spatial cases, as well as adverbs. Verbs of existence can govern nouns in Locative case or Comitative form. Verbs of storage or loss are used with the noun in Locative case. Verbs denoting the change of seasons coordinate with the noun in Nominative case or form a single-part sentence. Verbs of motion, embedding the seme of movement in the lexical meaning, can be used without a localizer in the Udihe language. This is due to the idea of the initial or final point of movement being obvious and embedded in the verb stem. The noun denoting the object of movement in constructions with such predicates is marked by the Accusative case. Some Udihe verbs can express a specific situation, denoting the degree of penetration of the object being moved into water or land.

The paradigmaticity of evidentials in the Tibetic languages of Khams

Abstract This article argues that the evidential system of Khams Tibetan, a cluster of Tibetic languages spoken in the south-eastern Tibetosphere, should be considered a verb paradigm. We propose a paradigm with six evidential categories (egophoric, statemental, visual sensory, nonvisual sensory, sensory inferential, and logical inferential) for all the verb classes. We focus on two varieties – rGyalthang and Lhagang – and examine how these evidential categories are encoded with distinct morphemes. We then discuss the main evidential forms of the copulative and existential verbs available in Khams Tibetan varieties as a whole, as well as their morphological relationship. Our analyses lead us to argue against a differential treatment of evidentiality depending on verb categories. The article concludes that describing the evidential paradigm may be the first essential task in writing a grammar of a Tibetic language.

The syntax of two existential unaccusative verbs in Polish

Abstract The paper examines the syntax of two unaccusative verbs in Polish – ubyć. perf/ubywać.imperf ‘to disappear, to decrease’ and przybyć. perf/przybywać.imperf ‘to arrive, to increase’ – with a view to shedding light on the structure of existential unaccusatives. The two above-mentioned verbs appear in two distinct paradigms – the disappearance/motion verb and the existential one – both of which are taken to represent subtypes of existential structure. Existential verbs are treated here as monadic predicates with a single small clause complement, whose internal structure may vary, depending on the predicate. The two existential unaccusatives analysed in the paper may select two different types of small clause complement, which are different from the small clause selected by the existential być ‘to be’. Thus, Polish seems to make use of three different small clause structures in existential clauses. The paper also provides evidence that in Polish, like in English, existential unaccusatives are structurally distinct from change of state unaccusatives, and thus in the two languages there is more than one way to be structurally unaccusative. The account bears on the analysis of the genitive of negation in Polish, especially the issue of its inapplicability to existential unaccusatives versus its presence with the existential być ‘to be’.

The diachronic evolution of posture verbs in Chinese

Abstract The linguistic properties of the three most common verbs of posture, which express positions, such as zuò ‘sit’, zhàn ‘stand’, tǎng ‘lie’ have been thoroughly studied in a wide range of languages belonging to typologically different language families, but they have never been extensively investigated in Chinese. Our article traces the diachrony of these verbs from the Archaic Chinese period (5th - 2nd centuries BCE, corresponding to the Classical Chinese by excellence) to the present-day Chinese, showing that they have very rarely been grammaticalized into aspect markers, as has been the case in other languages. We also examine the semantic distinction between the expression of a dynamic vs. static action, as well as the syntactic behavior of these positional verbs. We finally discuss their links with locative / existential verbs from the Early Medieval Chinese onwards (3rd c. CE) and the grammaticalization path that has been hypothesized according to which the posture verbs have been first reanalyzed into locative/existential verbs before being grammaticalized into aspectual markers will be tested.

English and Chinese existential constructions in contrast: A corpus-based semantic study

AbstractThis article contrasts existential constructions in English and Chinese in terms of semantic variability and dimensions of semantic variation, distribution of Definiteness Effect and existentiality on the basis of corpus instances and their contextual features. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses show that: (1) existential construction in English varies more widely than its Chinese counterpart; (2) existential constructions in English and Chinese differ in covert/overt expression of background information, semantics of the existential verb and the noun phrase (NP) whose existence is asserted as well as an interaction between presence of a coda and NP definiteness. Contextual features such as semantics, number, quantification and modifier of NP and covert/overt expression of background information are found to have a significant effect on the distribution of Definiteness Effect. The survey on existentiality indicates that the concept has multiple manifestations in form. Reasons for these linguistic phenomena are discussed from various perspectives.

Conceptualization of the Horizontal Position in Space in Russian and Greek Stative Verbs

The paper deals with the Russian and Greek verbs denoting the horizontal position of a person or an object in space. A comparative analysis of the Russian and Church Slavonic positional stative verb лежать/лежати with its Greek counterparts has been carried out in the diachronic perspective by means of the linguistic-textual method. The research is based on the material of six Church Slavonic and Russian translations as well as on four Modern Greek translations (editions) of the Gospel, in which 44 relevant contexts have been identified; besides additional material from some other Bible books has been used. Historical and comparative research has shown that the Greek language doesn’t possess lexical means of expressing a horizontal position in space. In Ancient Greek, the stative verb κεῖμαι was used in this function, in case spatial concretization of position was relevant, it used its prefixed derivatives. In Modern Greek this verb becomes obsolete and in most cases is replaced by the grammatical forms of the corresponding causatives and autocausatives or by abstract existential verbs. On the contrary, in Church Slavonic and Russian throughout the period under consideration, the position of a person or an object has played an important role in space conceptualization, finding its lexical manifestation in the positional stative verbs, widely used even when the concretization of the position in combination with a certain actant is redundant. On the other hand, the preservation of the stative semantics leads to a low derivative potential of the verb лежать in combination with spatial prefixes due to the meaning of finiteness (resultativity) which they developed. Consequently, the semantics of Greek prefixes has to be conveyed by additional (lexical and syntactic) means. Generally, the results of the work have revealed significant and deep differences in the conceptualization of the positional state in Greek and Russian, which has to be taken into account when developing nationally/culturally oriented methods of teaching a second (foreign) language.

Auxiliary Verbs of Nocte, Khappa, Ollo and Tutsa

The unit of study is Tirap district which lies in the south-eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh; and the languages or varieties are Nocte, Khappa, Ollo and Tutsa.Presently, Tirap is mainly inhabited by Nocte; few villages in the district show occupancy by Nocte-Ollo and Nocte-Khappa. Noctes form the bulk of population of Tirap. This study probes the so-called sub-tribes of Nocte – Ollo and Khappa. Khappa is regarded as a literary medium of Nocte; hence the variety is used in composing songs and poetry. Ollo seeks to be an independent tribe in near future. Tutsa was regarded as a sub-tribe of Nocte, until 1991 the former got registered as an independent tribe.The study is an attempt to lay out grammatical features based on the usage of auxiliary verbs and Be Verbs found in these languages/ varieties – Nocte, Khappa, Ollo and Tutsa; and trace how far the morphology of these languages bears the same source or show resemblances. The features taken into account here are as follows:The study illustrates the various auxiliary verbs featuring in these languages like toŋ, nyi, daŋ jaŋ, diaŋ. It brings into focus that the existential verbs and possessive verbs are derived from posture verb toŋ ‘sit’ and verb nyi/daŋ ‘live/stay’ and je ‘exist’. These verbs provide an understanding not only of the cognates which is interestingly shared among the four; but also, the usages of content and function words shared by the same.In addition, the study describes the Be verb hon in Ollo and Tutsa which perform inchoative functions.The description adds not only to the understanding of rich varieties of auxiliary verbs used in these languages.; but also, source of lexical/grammatical cognates shared by these languages despite retaining their uniqueness.

Предикативные формы прилагательных в ненецких предложениях качественной характеризации

Nenets adjectives and nouns in the position of the predicate take personal and tense affixes without a copula. The nominal predicate paradigm in sentences with semantics of characterization includes not only synthetic personal and tense forms, but also analytical constructions in which the adjective is combined with an auxiliary existential verb to express negation, modal and aspectual meanings. The nominal predicate paradigm is represented by two subsystems: the meanings of personality and temporality are expressed synthetically, while modal and aspectual meanings are expressed analytically, the corresponding affixes are attached to the auxiliary verb ŋes’ 'to be'. Personal and temporal forms do not belong to the word as a part of speech, but to the syntactic position of the predicate. Nenets adjectives show signs of transitivity, as they can take verbal affixes.

Existence verbs in the Yakut language as evidence of linguistic contacts

The article considers the verbs of being in the Yakut language as evidence of language contacts. The purpose of this article is to present the verbs of being in the Yakut language in the light of a comparative study of the verbs of being in related Turkic languages, which is important in solving the problem of defining the historical linguistic community. The novelty is their consideration in the aspect of the problem of linguistic contacts. Their presentation in the Yakut language is relevant in accordance with the principles and methods of linguistic analysis, comparative-comparative study of verbs of related Turkic languages. An overview of the state of study of the verbal lexicon of being in linguistics is presented. It has been determined that the presentation of the characteristics of the lexical-semantic groups of verbs as one of the fundamental components of the functional-semantic field of being in the Yakut language is important in the further presentation of the initial theoretical provisions, determining the fundamental conceptual and methodological principles and substantiating the conceptual and terminological basis for studying the verbs of being in the Yakut language and Turkology in general. It is indicated that the study of the verbs of being in the aspect of the problem of linguistic contacts is important in identifying the corpus of existential verbal lexemes in the Yakut language, determining the lexical-semantic group of verbs of being that are part of the functional-semantic field of the same name, studying the text-forming function of verbs of being in the Turkic languages. It was revealed that such studies are important in establishing a common Pra-Türkic language at the level of the system of lexicalsemantic groups of existential verbs, as well as general and specific in the functioning of existential verbs in the Yakut language and the Turkic languages of Southern Siberia.

Morphosyntactic Structures of Existential, Possessive and Locative Constructions in Amharic

This paper lays out the morphosyntactic structures of existential, locative and possessive constructions in Amharic. Amharic belongs to South Ethio-Semitic language subfamily. It is natively spoken in the Amhara region and used as the first and the second language for some urban dwellers in the country. It is a working language for the Federal Government of Ethiopia. It serves the same in Gambella, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ and Benishangul-Gumuz regional states. The Amharic existential, possessive and locative constructions are characterized by using the same existential verb stem all-‘exist’. The verb is defective in its derivation and conjugation. Unlike the prototypical verbs of the language, the existential verb uses a different verb for imperfective and past verb forms. Unlike the regular verbs of the language, the existential verb, which is perfective in form, conveys present tense. It has been observed that indefinite nominals appear as the E (Existent) in existentials and possessives, whereas definite ones appear in locatives. The morphosyntactic features of existentials and locatives are the same in every aspect except the use of definiteness of the E (Existent). The possessives differ from the two constructions in word order and morphological structure of the verb.

Aspect markings of Niesu, a dialect of Nuosu in Sichuan, China

This paper describes the aspectual markings of Niesu, an understudied Tibeto-Burman language, spoken in Sichuan, Southwest China. Niesu is the dialect of Nuosu, both of which are classified as Nuosu proper. By describing the data of the two subdialects of Niesu, namely Suondi and Adur, this paper categorizes Niesu aspectual markings into two types: simplex and complex. Except for the perfective o44 , which is an enclitic, all other aspectual markings are auxiliary. Unlike the simplex markers, the complex aspectual markers are formed through compounding or modification, making them further analyzable regarding the internal structure. Meanwhile, different nuances of meaning or function accompany the complex forms, compared with the basic forms. The grammaticalizations of the aspectual markings in Niesu are cross-linguistically well-attested phenomena, namely the continuous and progressive markings are grammaticalized from the existential verb, ‘be at, stay’, ‘put, place’, the motion verbs and the posture verbs. But the source and formation can be different. For example, Niesu metaphorically makes use of the verbs po55 ‘run’ (Suondi) in compound aspectual auxiliary ko33po55nɯ44kɯ44 (Suondi) to denote the progressive. The functions of the complex aspectual markings are determined by the grammaticalization of the core verbs in the construction.

Locative construals: topology, posture, disposition, and perspective in Secoya and beyond

Abstract This study has two aims. First, it lays out the synchronic patterning of four constructions that express static location in Secoya (Tukanoan). Each construction licenses different semantic verb types: topological verbs, postural verbs, an existential verb, and a copula. Second, this study explores the different construals encoded by these constructions and highlights the ways speakers use them creatively to elaborate on stage-level properties adjacent to location in locative utterances. Data collected from six speakers using visual stimuli reveal that each of the constructions elaborates on specific aspects of locative scenes. Responses for typical/atypical scenes, negative polarity statements, and frequency patterns show that speakers can choose conceptualizations that favor Ground geometry, Figure posture, more complex Figure dispositions, or marked perspectivizations. Similar phenomena are observed in other Amazonian languages. These results raise difficulties in identifying a basic locative construction, suggesting that Secoya may not fit squarely into any type in existing typologies of spatial expression (e.g., Ameka and Levinson 2007). Additionally, the Secoya system raises questions about the relationship between conceptual alternativity and the notion of “basicness” with respect to construal types.

The Introductive Baka/Bāki in Rural Palestinian Arabic

Abstract The article explores the structure and use of the existential verb baka in Rural Palestinian Arabic for the introduction of orientation sections and fragments in narrative discourse. In clause-initial position the existential verb presents a non-inflecting form, either the 3MSG perfect baka or the MSG active participle bāki. We argue that the noninflectability of baka and bāki is indicative of their syntactic detached-ness from the following unit and is explained by their discourse-disjunctive function. We show that the existential baka/bāki serves to introduce both narrative-initial and narrative-embedded orientation. It may initiate utterances containing simple nominals or whole clauses. The distribution of the specific patterns is determined, inter alia, by the genre of the narrative told. Finally, we propose that the preference of the participle bāki over baka in folktales and in less committed instances of personal narratives may be related to the evidential function of the active participle in the dialects under examination.

A Study of Negative Polarity Items in Chinese Existential Sentences

Negation is crucial to semantics. Negative polarity items (NPI) play an important role in negation. There are a few studies on NPIs in Chinese, but so far no research is on NPIs in Chinese existential sentences (ESs). Because the existential verb

Play it by ear? An ERP study of Chinese polysemous verb yǒu

Mandarin Chinese yŏu is a polysemous verb. It can be interpreted as meaning either ‘have’ or ‘there be/exist’ in sentences of the form ‘NP1yŏu NP2’, which can correspondingly be analyzed as either a Have-Possessive construction (‘NP1 has NP2’) or an existential/locative construction (‘(At/in) NP1 there is NP2’), or both. This study used event-related brain potentials to investigate whether and how the interpretation of yŏu in a given ‘NP1yŏu NP2’ construction is determined by the semantics of the nouns involved and their relationship. Twenty-seven participants read sentences of this construction. The results showed that there were different patterns of brain activity that can be attributed to the two functions of yǒu during sentence processing, in relation to the different roles yǒu plays in establishing a relationship between the nouns in the construction. In this way, the two functions of yǒu can basically be distinguished by their complementary distribution: the use of yǒu as a possessive verb ‘have’ is largely conditioned by the presence of human participants at the position of NP1 interpreted as possessors, while typical instances of its use as an existential verb are characterized by the absence of this property.

Exhaustivity and bare numeral phrases in Mandarin

AbstractA well-known generalization about bare numeral phrases (BNPs) in Mandarin is that they tend to require the existential verbyou‘have’ when in subject position, but there are some notable exceptions. This paper concentrates on the data cited byLi (1998)and proposes anExhaustivity Conditionaccording to which a subject BNP is felicitous if and only if it is interpreted exhaustively. It is shown how this condition generalizes to all the constructions under discussion, while at the same time they each belong to a particular type of quantificational construction or another (cumulativity, scalar focus, sufficiency, or conditional). I argue that the close relation between Mandarin subject BNPs and exhaustivity not only explains the restricted distribution of the former but also enables us to account for their so-called quantity readings in terms of exhaustive interpretation. Comparisons of the proposal with previous approaches will also be discussed.

The category of space in the genre of essay (based on the essays Of V. M. Peskov)

The subject of this research is the category of space – one of the intrinsic text categories that implies the meaning of location and spatial relations, and fulfills a plot-composing and semantic function. Essay is a peculiar genre, at the intersection documentary and fiction styles, which is an important factor affecting the analysis of the category of space. Examination of the category of space in essays is one of the relevant trends in linguistics. Essays of the prominent Soviet writer, photographer and journalist V. M. Peskov, which were recognized as the exemplary, serve as the material for this research. The categorical-textual approach towards studying V. M. Peskov's essays allowed determining the nuances of explication of the category of space in the genre of essay. Analysis of the specificity of the category of space in the genre of essay indicates the existence of objective and subjective space; namely the objective space holds the key place and plays a crucial role in text of the essay. In explication of the category of space are applied the direct spatial signifiers (spatial prepositions and toponyms), and indirect spatial signifiers. Texts of the essay simultaneously contain static and dynamic spaces: the author creates a static picture using existential verbs and statistical verbs of spatial location; the author describes local dynamics using the verbs of movement. The category of space is closely connected with the category of time and the category of theme; together they create a precise semantic division in accordance with the author's idea, as well help to give detailed description to the event and portray the character of the hero.

A Study on the Formation Process of the Compound Particles ‘엣’ in Middle Korean―focusing on the grammaticalization of ‘ㅅ’―

본고에서는 존재동사의 문법화 가능성에 기반하여 ‘NP1이 NP2에 있다’ 구성을 중심으로 통사 단위 결합체 ‘-에 # 이시/잇-(존재동사)/시-(존재보조동사)’에서 발달한 것으로 추정되는 중세국어 복합조사 ‘-엣’과 ‘-에셔’의 발달 과정을 통시적 관점에서 고찰하였다. 문법화가 일어나는 ‘통사 단위 결합체’ ‘에 # 이시/잇-(존재동사)’에서 ‘-에 이셔 > -엣’으로 발전하는 과정과 ‘-에 # 시-(존재 보조동사)’에서 ‘-에 # 시- + -어 > -에셔’로 발전하는 과정에 대해 검토하였다. 대부분의 선행 연구에서는 ‘NP1이 NP2에 있다’ 구성에서 ‘에셔’로 발달했을 가능성을 추정하였으나, 본고에서는 존재동사가 선행체언과 맺는 논항 관계와 ‘존재’, ‘소유’, ‘소재’의 의미를 통해 ‘-엣’으로 추정하였다.The purpose of this paper is to study the development process of ‘엣’ and ‘-에셔’, a compound particles in the Middle Korean language, which are assumed to have developed from the syntactic unit combination ‘에 # 이시/잇- (existential verbs)/시- (existing auxiliary verbs)’, based on the possibility of grammaticalization of existential verbs, focusing on the composition of ‘NP1이 NP2에 있다’ from a synchronic perspective. This paper examines the development process of the syntactic unit combination where grammaticalization occurs from ‘에 # 이시/잇- (existential verbs)’ to ‘에 이셔 > -엣’ and from ‘에 # 시- (existing auxiliary verbs)’ to ‘-에 # 시- + -어 > -에셔’. Most of the previous studies estimated the possibility of developing from the composition of ‘NP1이 NP2에 있다’ to ‘에셔’. However, this paper presumes that it is not ‘에셔’ but ‘엣’ through the argument relation between existential verbs and preceding noun phrases and the meaning of ‘existence’, ‘possession’, and ‘location’.

Dialogue vs. narrative in fiction

AbstractThis paper explores both comparable and translation data from the fiction part of the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus (ENPC) in a new way. Rather than studying fiction as a unified register, we investigate to what extent fiction can be seen to contain (at least) two distinct registers – dialogue and narrative – and to what extent this may have implications for contrastive studies based on a corpus such as the ENPC. Token counts show that, although the texts are predominantly narrative in nature, the Norwegian texts are even more so than the English ones. On the basis of word lists, two items proportionally more frequent in dialogue and that had previously been studied on the basis of the fiction texts in the ENPC were identified and chosen for further scrutiny:thereandsee. Results from these two case studies uncover some differences in the use ofthereandseein dialogue vs. narrative, most conspicuously forseewhere its preferred use in dialogue is the cognition sense and in narrative the perception sense. Forthere, a noticeable difference is the choice of verb in the Norwegian translations of existentialthere-clauses in dialogue and narrative. In narrative, verbs other than verbs of existence are sometimes chosen, while this is never the case in dialogue.

The acquisition of the locative subject construction in Mandarin: An aspectual account

Mandarin locative subject construction involves mismatches across argument structure and information structure, as well as complex interactions between event types and aspect markers. Acquiring the construction requires the integration of information across syntax–pragmatics and syntax–semantics interfaces, and thus it is predicted to be difficult. Based on the data of 151 children from age 1;7 (one year and seven months) to 6;0 (six years) in three child Mandarin corpora, we found that locative subject sentences (LSSs) emerged around 2;0, but the early verbs are exclusively existential verbs. Aspectually marked LSSs are extremely rare in child data, with only a few having placement verbs and posture verbs marked with the perfective aspect marker -le. In our modified forced-choice experiment, the children showed low sensitivity to this construction's aspectual properties: three-year-olds significantly differed from adults in rejecting aspectually marked LSSs; up to six years old, the children could not identify the aspectual clash between a manner-of-motion verb and -le, and the clash between a transitive process verb and Agent. Such low sensitivity is attributed to Mandarin-speaking children's insufficient exposure to aspectually marked LSSs in the input as shown by our corpus data and the complexity posed by the interface properties of this construction.