Full Verb Research Articles

CROSS-CULTURAL VARIATION IN THE EXPRESSION OF PERSUASIVE POWER IN THE GENRE OF TECHNICAL MANUALS: THE CASE OF DIRECTIVES

The paper provides a cross-cultural analysis of selected linguistic realizations of persuasion in technical manuals as typical representatives of technical discourse. It aims to identify differences and similarities between the ways persuasive power is expressed in this type of specialized discourse in English and Czech L1 texts. The data comprises manuals to various technical devices and amounts to slightly more than 200,000 words. This specialized corpus (15 manuals in English and 15 in Czech) is assumed to enable the comparison of the ways in which technical communicators express persuasion. The investigation, which is conducted from the perspectives of corpus analysis and discourse analysis, focuses on the ways in which the interactive and dynamic process of persuasion is explicitly manifested: 1. directly (i.e. using directives expressed by imperatives of full verbs, modals of obligation, necessity, prohibition, and predicative adjectives expressing the writer’s judgement of the necessity to perform an action) and 2. indirectly (i.e. using other language means than directives, such as other modals than those related to obligation, necessity or prohibition, conditional clauses, rhetorical questions). The findings are expected to be relevant and applicable in the education domain to raise technical writers’ awareness of directives as useful persuasive strategies suitable for the production of effective well-written technical manuals since their quality including the appropriate degree of persuasiveness can influence prospective consumers to make a purchase of a particular technical device.

Grammaticalization as a Factor of Formation of the Semantics of Modal Verbs in the Modern German Language

The article points out the modal verbs of the German language, which in their historical development have passed a way from full verbs (lexemes) to auxiliary verbs (grammemes) and demonstrated the ability to rethink their linguistic meanings. Peculiarities of new grammatical meaning of the modal verbs confirm the fact of existence of grammatical precedential meaning as its prototype – the first grammatical meaning. The process of redefining the first grammatical meanings into the secondary ones is carried out in the course of grammaticalization of the modal verbs.

Модальные глаголы желания китайского языка (на примере глаголов 要 yào，想xiǎng, 愿意 yuànyì, 敢 gǎn，敢于 gǎnyú, 肯 kěn)

This article analyzes Chinese modal verbs of wish, such as 要 yao (‘need’, ‘ask’, ‘want’, ‘need’, ‘will’, ‘to’)， 想 xiǎng (‘think’, ‘suppose’, ‘want’, ‘miss’)， 愿意 yuanyi (‘willing to want’, ‘desire’), 敢 gǎn (‘dare’, ‘not to be afraid’, ‘dare’)， 敢于 gǎnyu (‘dare’, ‘not to be afraid’, ‘dare’), 肯 kěn (‘agree’, ‘willingly’); investigates their grammatical characteristics, semantics and features of their actual use. Goals. The paper aims to examine the similarities and differences in the use of the above mentioned Chinese modal verbs of wish. Methods. The article surveys a number of various works by Chinese scholars dealing with modal verbs of wish in the Chinese language, and applies the generalizing and comparative research methods. Results. The modal verb 要 yao can express wish, necessity and possibility; the verb 敢 gǎn, besides expressing courage to do something, also expresses confidence in assessments. But acting as modal verbs, 要 yao and 敢 gǎn have the meaning of wish, as well as 想 xiǎng, 愿意 yuanyi, 敢于 gǎnyu, 肯 kěn. The first meaning of 要 yao is that of wish and decision of a subject of action, i.e., ‘intention to do something’. The second meaning of要yao is ‘must, should’, the modal meaning being ‘need and duty’ as external conditions make it necessary to perform the action. The third meaning that the verb 要 yao expresses is a modal meaning of possibility. The verb 想 xiǎng can act not only as a full verb but also as a modal verb. As a modal verb, 想 xiǎng can only express the meaning of wish. The verb 想 xiǎng expresses an indefinite assumption of the subject of action. Consequently, the verb 想 xiǎng, in addition to the modal meaning of wish, also expresses the meaning of assumption. At the same time, the meaning of ‘speculation and evaluation’ does not cluster with modal use patterns of the verb想 xiǎng. The verb 愿意 yuanyi (‘wish’) fully meets the criteria for the classification of modal verbs of wish. The modal verb 敢 gǎn expresses the meaning ‘courage to do something’, it also stands for ‘confidence in evaluating something’. The verb 敢于 gǎnyu can only express courage. The verb 肯 kěn expresses the subjective wish to do something voluntarily; expresses approval of requirements. Conclusions. The paper concludes that the grammatical characteristics of the verbs 要 yao, 想 xiǎng, 愿意 yuanyi, 敢 gǎn，敢于gǎnyu, 肯kěn coincide with those of modal verbs of wish, therefore these verbs can well be classified as modal verbs of wish. Thus, in modern Chinese, typical verbs of wish include the following verbs: 要 yao, 想 xiǎng, 愿意 yuanyi, 敢 gǎn , 敢于 gǎnyu, 肯 kěn.

Каузативные глаголы с пермиссивным значением в бурятском и русском языках

The article provides a comparative study of causative verbs in structurally different languages. The article aims to identify some semantic and functional features of causative verbs with permissive meanings in the Buryat and Russian languages. The main methods applied hereto include the comparative method, method of component and distributive analysis, and survey of informants. The actual materials for the study have been data contained in Buryat-Russian interlingual dictionaries, examples selected through continuous sampling from Buryat-language literary works, messages of informants. The paper presents a theoretical research base dealing with semantics of the permissive, describes its main expressive ways (means) in the Buryat and Russian languages, it also suggests contextual conditions for updating the permissive in the Buryat discourse, combinability and some grammatical signs. The permissive serves to express a situation when the causer permits an action but does not compel anyone to perform it. Permissive patterns revealed for the majority of Russian full verbs are rare enough, Buryat-language full verbs being able to express a permissive meaning within one lexeme only. The Russian and Buryat languages also provide a possibility to express permissive meanings of causation analytically, i.e., with the aid of poly-predicative constructions involving the verbs of volitional influence, such as зүбшөөхэ ‘permit’, хорихо ‘forbid’, үгэхэ ‘give’. And this method is actually central to the Russian language. Furthermore, the article proposes to consider the contextual conditions of actualization of permissive meanings in the Buryat language. Thus, such conditions included the imperative situation with a speaker without denial, the meaning of negligence, meaning of ‘unpleasant’ action, meaning of assumption. For the Buryat language, contextual interpretations of verbs of factitive and permissive causation with the aid of the sign ‘pleasantness / troublesomeness’ of action for the subject are important. The permissive is most often associated with the value of ‘pleasantness’ of action. In the Buryat language there are causative verbs containing — in their lexical meanings — semes of both the permissive and factuality. The compatibility (co-occurrence) of permissive verbs is rather wide, and the latter have limited compatibility with verbs of emotional state only since this sphere is difficult to manage, and to influence an individual through allowing to express certain emotions. At the morphological level, Buryat affixes are not divided into ones to express factitive causation and ones with permissive meaning. The same causative morpheme can serve to denote both the meanings. The article shows that double causation can be a means to express the permissive in the Buryat language.

INTEGRAÇÃO DE PREDICADOS NOMINAIS EM PARSER: UMA EXPERIÊNCIA COM AS CONSTRUÇÕES COM O VERBO-SUPORTE DAR EM PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO

RESUMO Este artigo descreve a metodologia para a integração de predicados nominais, do tipo construções com verbo-suporte (CVS), no analisador sintático automático XIP, que é utilizado pela cadeia de processamento do Português STRING. Trata-se, mais especificamente, de 580 CVS com o verbo dar e um nome predicativo, cujas propriedades sintático-semânticas foram descritas, formalizadas e, em seguida, integradas à gramática do XIP, por meio de regras, a fim de extrair a dependência SUPPORT entre o nome predicativo (Npred) e o verbo-suporte (Vsup). A necessidade de tratar automaticamente as CVS decorre do fato de que elas são diferentes de construções com verbo pleno, possuem estruturas sintáticas complexas, possuem propriedades sintático-semânticas específicas e admitem transformações sintáticas sistemáticas, ainda que lexicalmente determinadas. O conceito de CVS, bem como a abordagem léxico-sintática adotada, segue os princípios teóricos e metodológicos do Léxico-Gramática. Como resultado da integração desses dados ao parser XIP, o sistema atingiu precisão de 85%, abrangência de 87%, acurácia de 80% e medida-F de 86%.

중국어 경험상 표지 ‘過’의 유형학적 특징과 문법화 과정

There is an Experiential Aspect Marker -GUO(過) in Chinese, which is a peculiar feature in the Aspect Systems of the world’s languages. -GUO is divided into –GUO₁ which denotes the completion of an action and experiential -GUO₂ . -GUO₁ and -GUO₂ are all derived from the full verb GUO(to cross). Before the Tang Dynasty, GUO is only used as verb. In the Tang Dynasty, -GUO came to be used as Completive Aspect Marker -GUO₀ . In the Song Dynasty, -GUO₁ and -GUO₂ came to appear, and in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, these two functions are the main functions of -GUO. So we can conclude that -GUO₁ and -GUO₂ are simultaneously evolved, and while -GUO₂ is fully grammaticalized to Experiential Aspect Marker, -GUO₁ is still in the gradual stage from Completive Aspect Marker to Perfective Aspect Marker because of the existence of the fully grammaticalized Perfective Aspect Marker -LE.BR Then what is the mechanism of grammaticalization from -GUO₀ to -GUO₁ and -GUO₂? In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, about 80% of -GUO₁s are used in the prior clauses of sequential clauses. The prior events are viewed as bounded temporally, and -GUO included in these contexts are reanalysed as perfective aspect marker. -GUO₂ indicates that something has been experienced during some time prior to a particular reference time. Completive -GUO₀ only views the internal process of an event, so it can be used at some time in the past, this is why -GUO₀ evolves to -GUO₂.

Beyond decomposition: Processing zero-derivations in English visual word recognition

Four experiments investigate the effects of covert morphological complexity during visual word recognition. Zero-derivations occur in English in which a change of word class occurs without any change in surface form (e.g., a boat-to boat; to soak-a soak). Boat is object-derived and is a basic noun (N), whereas soak is action-derived and is a basic verb (V). As the suffix {-ing} is only attached to verbs, deriving boating from its base, requires two steps, boat(N) > boat(V) > boating(V), while soaking can be derived in one step from soak(V). Experiments 1 to 3 used masked priming at different prime durations to test matched sets of one- and two-step verbs for morphological (soaking-SOAK) and semantic priming (jolting-SOAK). Experiment 4 employed a delayed-priming paradigm in which the full verb forms (soaking and boating) were primed by noun and verb phrases (a soak/to soak, a boat/to boat). In both paradigms, different morphological priming patterns were observed for one-step and two-step verbs, demonstrating that morphological processing cannot be reduced to surface form-based segmentation.

Uma análise composicional da acionalidade das construções com verbos leves

Este trabalho examina a acionalidade das construções com verbos leves, analisando as propriedades que fazem que uma mesma situação verbal pertença a classes acionais distintas quando expressa por um verbo pleno ou por uma construção com verbo leve. Assim, assumindo pressupostos da semântica formal e da semântica lexical, o objetivo deste trabalho é examinar os recursos linguísticos que desempenham algum papel na composição aspectual das construções com verbos leves. A partir disso, este trabalho conclui que (i) os verbos leves apresentam uma certa preferência por determinada classe acional que pode influenciar a interpretação semântica do predicado; (ii) o tipo de determinante influencia tanto o tipo de interpretação quanto a constituição acional do predicado; (iii) as construções com verbos leves podem fazer que um determinado predicado mude de classe acional.

Distanz-Strukturen – Eine psycholinguistische Annäherung an Klammerkonstruktionen im Deutschen

Abstract In this paper, I provide an alternative psycholinguistic interpretation of so-called brace constructions in German. Brace constructions (e. g. “Thomas muss morgen eine Klausur schreiben.” or “… wenn Thomas morgen eine Klausur schreibt.”) can be regarded as the typical structural features of German. The analysis proposed in this article is based on linguistic phenomena which can be observed in language production of both L2 learners and native speakers. The aim of my analysis is to develop a preliminary model that reflects aspects of human language processing. The model is based on the concept of tension that arises during the language production process in case of the analytical realization of certain lexical concepts (in the case of so-called separable verbs) or grammatical concepts (including tense, passive, modality, subject). The elements involved in an analytical realization are conceptually (lexically or grammatically) combined but they have to be separated from one another in serialization and placed in a distance structure. From this interpretation, the typical structural features of German are, above all, distance structures, which consist of the finite auxiliary or modal verb and the full verb in main clauses, and in subordinate clauses of the subject and the finite verb due to subject-verb agreement. The proposed Model provides explanations also for other interlanguage phenomena associated with structural aspects in other languages. On the basis of this concept of tension, other learning difficulties can also be predicted, which can arise in the learning of certain corresponding structures in certain languages.

Polissemia nos usos do verbo 'ter': arbitrariedade ou iconicidade? Uma questão de ponto de vista

Considerando o fenômeno da polissemia nos usos de ter, em que o verbo apresenta estatutos categoriais pleno e auxiliar, esta pesquisa propõe descrever e analisar os usos de ter no Português Brasileiro (PB) sob uma ótica diacrônica. Sob uma perspectiva funcionalista, os usos auxiliares teriam se desenvolvido um do outro, a partir da noção de posse do verbo. A hipótese é que, no PB, esse desenvolvimento não ocorreria; não haveria iconicidade entre ter e as suas funções; ele teria ocorrido num momento anterior ao da implantação do português no Brasil, pois muitos fenômenos linguísticos arbitrários advêm de estruturas icônicas no passado. Assim, esta pesquisa assume um ponto de vista funcionalista, com base nos postulados de Heine et al. (1991), Hopper (1991), entre outros. A pesquisa apoia-se em textos do século XVI ao XX, extraídos do Corpus do Português (disponível em: <www.corpusdoportugues.org.br>). Os usos do verbo são descritos e analisados pelo cruzamento entre o seu estatuto categorial e o seu valor semântico e, em seguida, quantificados. A análise revela usos de ter com estatutos categoriais [+ auxiliar] e [+ pleno] nos textos de todas as sincronias. Um processo de mudança nos usos do verbo não é verificável no PB.

Usage of biti sem ‘to be, am’ in sixteenth-century standard Slovenian

This article outlines the basic morphological, semantic, and related syntactic characteristics of the usage of the verb biti sem ‘to be, am’ in sixteenth-century standard Slovenian. Based on materials collected for lexicographic purposes, it includes a complete list of all preserved Slovenian printed works from the second half of the sixteenth century. Due to its double functionality (full verb and auxiliary verb), the verb biti ‘to be’ was one of the most frequently used words in the sixteenth century.

The grammaticalization of -kotok- into a negative marker in Manda (Bantu N.11)

AbstractIt is common both crosslinguistically and specifically in Bantu languages for the prohibitive to be formed by a construction consisting of a cessative verb in collocation with a non-finite verb. This is also the case in Manda, an understudied Southern Tanzanian Bantu language. In Manda, a negative imperative is expressed by the auxiliary -kotok-, with the (lexical) meaning ‘leave (off), stop’, operating on an infinitive full verb. Intriguingly, there is variation in this construction, as -kotok- may be both formally reduced and may be used more broadly to denote non-factivity in other “non-main” (or non-standard) contexts. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that this functional and formal variation reflects a historical and ongoing process of grammaticalization along the verb-to-affix cline. Drawing on field data, the available historical data and (micro-)comparative data, this study argues that -kotok- is transforming into a more general non-main negation marker. These changes corroborate Güldemann’s hypothesis (Güldemann, Tom. 1999. The genesis of verbal negation in Bantu and its dependency on functional features of clause types. In Jean-Marie Hombert & Larry Hyman (eds.), Bantu historical linguistics, 545–587. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications) that the salient category of non-standard secondary negative markers in Bantu is derived from constructions with an auxiliary and a non-finite verb.

ПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЕ ФУНКЦИИ АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНЫХ КЛАУЗ С ИНВЕРТИРОВАННЫМ ПОРЯДКОМ СЛОВ

The article reveals the meaning of the notion “clause”. The authors tackle the problem of differentiating between different types of clauses and criticize the viewpoint, according to which the clauses are divided into finite, non-finite and non-verbal. The clause is considered in the paper as a two-component unit, the verbal component of which contains a finite verb. The clauses are differentiated into two-member sentences containing a full verb and representatives of two-member sentences, in which the predicate is represented by an auxiliary verb. The paper identifies pragmatic functions of clauses with inverted word order.

Morphosyntaktische Variation in Verbalkomplexen des Verbslassenund der Modalverben im Infinitiv II. Eine Analyse aus der Perspektive von Zentrum und Peripherie

AbstractThis paper deals with a morphosyntactic variable of German verb clusters containing a full verb and an infinitive perfect of the verblassenor of modal verbs (gelassen haben, gekonnt haben). The corpus-based analysis draws upon the concept of center and periphery as it was developed by the Prague School. The main research question underpinning the synchronic analysis concentrates on the use of the IPP (infinitivus pro participioequivalent to the German termErsatzinfinitiv) and the word order of the auxiliary verb within the cluster. In total, there is empirical evidence for four variants in which this variable is realized. Two of them fully correspond to the system of German infinitive constructions (full verb +gelassen/gekonnt haben, orhaben+ full verb + IPPlassen/können). However, these systemic constructions are used (much) less frequently in contemporary written German than the other two constructions (past participle of full verb +haben+lassen/können, or full verb +haben lassen/können). Whereas the former ones can be counted to the center of the German infinitive system from the structural point of view, the latter ones are classified as peripheral, because they are not derivable from the rules of this system. In spite of that, the paper explores one of identifiable epicenters within the periphery of the system, arguing with the highest frequency and further regularities of the third type of the construction (past particple of full verb +haben+lassen/können). The structural analysis takes the functional equivalency of subordinate clauses and the corresponding infinitive constructions into consideration. This contributes to better clarification of both morphology and word order of the elements creating the analyzed verb clusters.

Valency Potential of Slovak and French Verbs in Contrast

Abstract The paper presents results of synchronous contrastive study of fifteen most frequent Slovak full verbs and their French equivalents by the method of corpus analysis aimed at observation and comparison of their valency potential in relation to their semantic structure. The inventory of valency structures of Slovak verbs and their French equivalents shows not only differences, but also, to a great extent, identical semantic-syntactic connectivities. The main apport of the study lies in the contrastive research perspective and the interdisciplinary character on the crossroads of grammar, semantics, syntax, cognitive and corpus linguistics. Findings can be of use to linguists, terminologists, lexicographers, authors of textbooks and grammars, translators and interpreters, as well as to French-speaking learners of Slovak and Slovak students of French.

'Ver' como marcador pragmático em português brasileiro

Este trabalho discute construções ambíguas do português brasileiro com o verbo ver em que esse verbo pode ser um verbo pleno com o signifcado de verifcar ou pode ser um marcador pragmático. A hipótese defendida no trabalho é a de que essas leituras estão associadas a duas estruturas sintáticas distintas: as sentenças em que ver tem sentido de verifcação são bioracionais, ao passo que as sentenças em que ver funciona como marcador pragmático são mono-oracionais. Com base nas propostas de Speas e Tenny (2003) e de Hill (2007, 2014) acerca da existência de uma projeção associada ao ato de fala (denominada Speech Act Phrase – SAP) e visível para a computação sintática, propomos que, quando funciona como um marcador pragmático, ver é uma expressão que sofreu um processo de mudança linguística denominado pragmaticalização (Erman e Kotsinas 1993; Dostie 2004; Dievald 2011) e, em consequência disso, é inserido diretamente no núcleo de SAP, projeção que faz a interface da sintaxe com a pragmática conversacional.

Lexical Diffusion and Gramaticalization: The Case of Tibetan slob sbyong byed

Lexicalization and grammaticalization are two of the most important processes in linguistic change (Laurel and Traugott, 2005; Hopper and Traugott, 2003). Spoken Standard Tibetan (SST) offers an example of both these processes applying sequentially to the phrase slob sbyong byed, 'to study; to learn.' This phrase is an instance of a full verb byed becoming a light verb (grammaticalization) after compounding (lexicalization). In Tibetan, three light verbs: byed, rgyag and gtong compete lexically. This lexical competition can be treated under the Lexical Diffusion Theory proposed by Wang (1969; 1979).

GRAMATIKALISASI VERBA HEIN DAN SEIN

Linguistic units in any language will develop at a certain time. Such development can occur in the field of phonology, (morpho) syntax, and semantics. However, not all of linguistic units can develop in parallel on these three areas. It also occurs at the language units of German like verbs haben ‘have’ and sein ‘to be’. The verbs haben ‘have’ and sein ‘to be’ can have function as a full verb. In addition to a full verb, the verbs haben ‘have’ and sein ‘to be’ also serve as an auxiliary verb, a functional verb and a modality verb. The various functions of verbs especially the origin of their formation certainly created problems for language expert and observer, and also German language teachers/learners. In connection with the issue, this article tries to describe the development of verbs haben ‘have’ and sein ‘to be’. The theory used in the analysis is the theory of grammaticalization in the field of syntagmatic/paradigmatic (morpho) syntax and semantics.

The Use of Hedging in Discussion Sections of Applied Linguistics Research Articles with Varied Research Methods

The discourse of the discussion in research articles is regarded to be of considerable significance—as in this section the findings are interpreted in light of previous research and the authors’ argumentations are put forward as a major contribution (see Hyland, 1999). For this reason, the content and structure of the discussion section have been explored in several studies; however, little attention has been focused on a comparative analysis of how hedges are used in the discussion sections of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies. To address this gap, the present study explored the use of hedges in 150 applied linguistics articles (50 qualitative, 50 quantitative, and 50 mixed methods studies). To this end, the study investigated forms and pragmatic functions of the hedges in the discussion sections, utilizing Varttala’s (2001) and Hyland’s (1998) models. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively through use of rigorous coding and memoing strategies. The results of the study indicated that hedging forms in the discussion sections of quantitative applied linguistics articles had the highest frequency, followed by mixed methods studies and qualitative articles, respectively. Also, full verbs, auxiliaries, and adverbs were the most frequent categories of hedging; moreover, the results of Chi square test proved the significance of observed differences. The findings demonstrated that mixed methods studies tended to show similarities with quantitative articles regarding the use of hedging strategies. The results are interpreted in relation to the nature of each research method.

The role of DO-auxiliary in subject-auxiliary inversion: Developing Langacker’s notion of existential negotiation

AbstractThis paper builds on Langacker’s (in press. How to build an English clause.Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics2(2)) analysis of subject-auxiliary inversion (SAI) as involving “existential negotiation”. Langacker’s account is completed by relating it to full verb inversion (FVI). In FVI, non-core elements are fronted, resulting in inversion without an auxiliary, as inInto the room walked Mary; however, non-core elements are also frontable in SAI, as inBitterly did we regret our decision.Dois treated as denoting full actualization and SAI is accounted for by focus on an exceptionally intense mode of actualization, whence the use ofdoto explicitly express what is focused on. The role ofinto the roomin the FVI example is to define a locus into which an entity is introduced. Since this does not involve focus on the fact or manner of the verbal event’s actualization,dois not used. This leads to a different division of inverted structures than that of Chen (2013. Subject auxiliary inversion and linguistic generalization: Evidence for functional/cognitive motivation in language.Cognitive Linguistics24. 1–32), who distinguishes those that merely reverse subject and auxiliary (argued to denote non-indicative mood) from those where the inverted auxiliary-subject order is accompanied by fronting of a non-subject element (treated as involving focus on the fronted item). It is argued here that frontingdo-auxiliary marks focus on the actualization of the verbal event itself.