Genitive Marker Research Articles

Korpusbasierte Exploration der Variation der nominalen Genitivmarkierung

Abstract The variation of the strong genitive marker of the singular noun has been treated by diverse accounts. Still there is a consensus that it is to a large extent systematic but can be approached appropriately only if many heterogeneous factors are taken into account. Over thirty variables influencing this variation have been proposed. However, it is actually unclear how effective they can be, and above all, how they interact. In this paper, the potential influencing variables are evaluated statistically in a machine learning approach and modelled in decision trees in order to predict the genitive marking variants. Working with decision trees based exclusively on statistically significant data enables us to determine what combination of factors is decisive in the choice of a marking variant of a given noun. Consequently the variation factors can be assessed with respect to their explanatory power for corpus data and put in a hierarchized order.

Skewed distribution of Manchu genitive marker -i in Ilan gurun -i bithe

Skewed distribution of Manchu genitive marker -i in Ilan gurun -i bithe

英语属格的演变——两种去屈折化

英语属格在漫长的演变过程中同时受到了两种去屈折化机制的作用，这与大多数印欧语的单一的语法化方式并不相同。本文首先讨论了当代英语中的属格词尾“-’s”的语法地位的问题，认为-’s是不典型的附着形式，在此基础上系统地归纳了词尾演变的进程，分析了多种在属格发展过程中出现的重要现象以及问题，论证了s-属格的去语法化，进而揭示英语属格在语言接触下的独有的演变模式。The evolution of English genitive case has been influenced by two types of deflexion in the long course of language change. This varies from the mechanism possessed by most Indo-European languages. Starting with studying the grammatical status of the genitive marker –’s, this article argues that –’s is now an atypical clitic. After that, the development of genitive constructions is de-scribed from both the morphological and the syntactic perspectives and within such a description, several important phenomena are investigated. In consideration of the degrammaticalization of Saxon genitive and the emergence of Roman genitive, the unique developmental pattern of English genitives is revealed.

Dėl baltų kalbų nenominatyvinės praeities

ON THE NON-NOMINATIVE PAST OF THE BALTIC LANGUAGESSummaryThe article enumerates the main works (from 1901 up to 1970) on the non-nominative (ergative) structure of the Indo-European and Baltic parent languages; in the latter the lability of such verbs as virti, sverti, genetivus auctoris and impersonal constructions with object nominative are pointed out to be remnants of its ergativism. Genetivus auctoris shows that an action be­longs to its actor and so reflects the archaic Indo-European ergative case from which nominative and genetive have descended. Sentences of visa vagių išvogta type repeat the ergative pattern with vagių as a subject in the „ergative“ case, visa – an object in the „absolute“ case and with predicate išvogta as a seminominal form naming action. Impersonal variants of this pattern may be senten­ces of the type vãgos išarta and reikia vãgos išarti, the predicate of the latter being an extended predicate of the former: reikia = reikta (impersonal form naming action). A premise for the nomi­native mounting of the object was the developing of concording of the logical subject with intransitive verb in favour of acc./nom. neutrius as much as in favour of nom. communis in which concording of the logical subject with a transitive verb was developing. This fact weakened the differentiation between acc./nom. neutrius = acc. communis and nom. communis and stimulated the possibility to preserve the sameness of the logical object and the logical subject (the latter earlier connected with intransitive verb) also in the shape of nom. communis. The existence of similar constructions with object nominative in Slavic, Sanskrit, Uralic and Altaic languages is to be explained as coming from the ergative structure of the Boreal (nostratic) super-system. The ergative structure decaying, the homonymy of cases arising in the nominative system in place of the fewer number of former cases brought forth the appearing of synonymous case forms, e.g. I.-E. non-ergat. >nom., non-nom. *-ā = non-nom. *-āi (-i arisen at the same time as in o/e-stems) → nom. *-āi from what have developed Latin nom., dat. -ae, gen. -ae<-āi< *-āi (-i perceived as a genitive marker and so lengthen­ed at the same time as in (according to V. Mažiulis) gen. (lup)-ī< *(ulp?)-i) and Prussian nom. (st)ai. It seems possible that the „confusion“ of cases in the Prussian Catechisms is partly to be explained in the same way. All discussed has the best parallels in the history of Baltic pronouns (see tables).

Change of Accessory Genital Glands Markers in the Patients with Oligoasthenospermia

Objective To evaluate the effect of the accessory gential gland on the male fertility. Methods The relevant seminal parameters of 32 normal donors and 35 patients with olioasthenospermia were measured by seminal routine analysis, sperm morphology and accessory gentital glands markers. Results The percentage of normal spermatozoa, the function of sperm penetration through cervical mucus and the enzyme activity of neutral α-1,4-glucosidase significantly declined as compared with the control. There was a significant negative relationship between the semen volume and the sperm motility for the oligoasthenospermia (r=-0.415, P Conclusion The abnormal function of epididymis exists in patients with oligoasthenospermia. Sperm function for the oligoasthenospermia declines with an increase of the percentage of the abnormal sperm. The poorer the spermatogenises function of the testis is, the higher the percentage of the abnormal sperm appears.

The English genitive and double case

AbstractDouble case is a widespread phenomenon in which a feature, typically a case feature which originates on a noun phrase A, is realised externally to a feature which originates on a noun phrase B which is a subconstituent of A. Although not included in the above collection, examples of the English phrasal genitive such as [the girl who invited [me’s]] best friend and [a friend of [mine’s]] mother, in which the genitive case marker is realised externally to a pronoun in the accusative or genitive case, fit this paradigm exactly. In this paper, I argue therefore that any analysis of the English genitive must be consistent with the constraints imposed by the general typology of double case. Having outlined an edge‐feature analysis which satisfies these constraints, I further show that, in distinction to postlexical clitic analyses, it provides an account of Kruisinga’s observation that the English phrasal genitive, as in *the queens of England’s, is incompatible with (regular) plural marking.

Parts, Axial Parts, and Next Parts in Kannada

Nouns meaning ‘place, region’ and ‘part’ are compounded in Kannada with a `bleached’ noun (a putative postposition) to form AxPart and Part readings. As in other languages, the AxPart or ‘region’ reading does not pluralize, does not permit adjectival modification, and allows for MeasureP modification (unlike the part reading). AxParts may also be formed out of nouns by the fusion of a dative marker or a genitive marker with the N; these case markers introduce the Place element. The dative case may be optionally overt (e.g. &lt;em&gt;pakka-kke&lt;/em&gt; ‘side-dative,’ ‘to a side’), or covert (in AxParts like &lt;em&gt;munde&lt;/em&gt; ‘front’). The genitive marker gives a sense of immediate adjacency that we designate the NextPart reading. Interestingly, the dative and genitive cases in Kannada also allow nouns to assume the function of predicative and attributive adjectives.

The Generalization of Instruction on Genitive Relative Clause in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

This study examines the generalization of instruction in foreign language learning. A group of Japanese learners of English served as participants and received special instruction in the structure of genitive relative clauses. The participants were given a pre-test on combining two sentences into one containing a genitive relative clause wherein the relativized noun phrase following the genitive marker "whose" is either the subject, direct object, or object of preposition. Based on the TOEFL and the pre-test results, four equal groups were formed; three of these served as experimental groups, and one as the control group. Each experimental group was given instruction on the formation of only one type of genitive relative clause. The participants were then given two post-tests. The results indicated that the generalization of learning begins from structures that are typologically more marked genitive relative clauses to those structures that are typologically less marked, and not vice versa.

Study on the relationship between oligoasthenospermia and accessory genital glands markers

Objectives: To verify the effect of the accessory genital gland on male fertility. Methods: The relevant seminal parameters of 32 normal donors and 35 patients with oligoasthenospermia were measured by analyses of semen routine, sperm morphology and accessory genital glands markers. Results: The percentage of normal spermatozoa, the function of sperm penetration through cervical mucus and the enzyme activity of neutral α-1, 4-glucosidase significantly declined as compared with the control. There was a significant negative relationship between the semen volume and the sperm motility for the oligoasthenospermia (r=−0.415, P < 0.05) and a significant positive relationship between the sperm count and the sperm morphology (r= 0.393, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Abnormal function of epididymis exists in oligoasthenospermia. Sperm function for oligoasthenospermia declines with an increase in the percentage of the abnormal sperm. The poorer the spermatogenesis function of the testis, the higher the percentage of the abnormal sperm.

Serum and seminal markers in the diagnosis of disorders of the genital tract of the dog: a mini-review

Serum and seminal biologic substances that are produced either by normal or abnormal tissues of the organism and that can be used to diagnose pathological conditions are usually referred as markers. The aim of this article is to briefly review the most relevant clinical features of the main genital markers in the male dog: alkaline phosphatase (AP), carnitine and canine prostate-specific arginine esterase (CPSE). Carnitine and AP are markers for the presence of epididymal fluid in the ejaculate and their measurement in azoospermic dogs has been used as an indicator of tubular patency of the ductal network. Although AP is not present in high concentrations in the testis, this does not preclude the possibility that testicular cells might secrete some AP. If this were true, AP could also reflect, at least in some degree, germ cell function in this species. Prostate-specific arginine esterase, the major secretory product of the canine prostate, is a known marker of gland secretion in the dog. Tumor markers frequently used in human medicine, such as prostatic acid phosphatase and prostate-specific antigen, are is still controversial in the diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma of the dog. Although further research is necessary to define the exact role of CPSE, it seems to be a promising diagnostic tool in nonneoplasic canine prostatic disorders. Future studies should also address the quantitative relationship among serum and prostatic androgen levels, prostatic androgen-dependent problems and how these are affected by anti-androgen treatment. The aim of this article is to briefly review the most relevant clinical features of three main genital markers of the male dog.

The Numeral Confix i- -(e)n

The Numeral Confix *i- -(e)n David Mead Abstract In his 1981 paper on Austronesian numerals, Otto Dahl adduced evidence from Paiwan, Ma'anyan, and Malagasy for positing a numeral confix meaning 'so and so many days', which he reconstructed as *(ma)ka- -(a)N. In this squib, I discuss the evidence for reconstructing another numeral confix of the same meaning but having the form *i- -(e)n. As far as I know, reflexes of this other numeral confix are limited to the Bali-Sasak languages and five language groups of Sulawesi. This distribution suggests that *i- -(e)n was a local innovation within Western Malayo-Polynesian. 1. *itelun AND HIGHER FORMS. I begin with the evidence for reconstructing a temporal adverb of the form *itelun. This form referred to a period of time, 'in three days', or—if one believes the ancients were more likely to have counted the number of nights passing by—perhaps rather 'after three nights'. Both possibilities are reflected in the glosses for present-day forms supplied by my sources, which I have not attempted to harmonize. As one may note, in many cases another morpheme is present that disambiguates time in the past from time in the future. Owing to the considerable variability of this additional element, however, no such morpheme can be reconstructed at the same level as *itelun. SALUAN Balantak: r-itulun 'three days ago', itulun 'three days hence' TOMINI-TOLITOLI Dondo/Tialo: itoun-aa 'three days ago', me-itoun 'three days hence' Totoli: ko-itolom 'three days ago', itolom 'three days hence' KAILI-PAMONA Napu: na-italu 'three days hence' Moma: na-itolu 'three days hence' Pamona (Sigi dialect): itolu 'three days ago', ne-itolu 'three days hence' WOTU-WOLIO Wolio: na-italu 'third day from now' [End Page 167] SOUTHEASTERN CELEBIC Tolaki: wingi itolu 'memorial evening three days after death' (wingi = 'night') Padoe: itolu 'three nights' Mori Bawah: itolu 'after three nights' Moronene: n-itolu 'three days ago', itolu 'in three days' Muna: n-etolu-mo 'three days ago', na-etolu 'in three days' BALI-SASAK Balinese: itelun 'three days ago', buin telun 'in three days' (buin = 'again, yet to come') Present-day Kaili-Pamona, Wotu-Wolio, and Southeastern Celebic languages have for the most part lost final consonants, including all nasals; however, the reconstruction of final *-n is solidly based on the tomini-tolitoli, Balantak, and Balinese forms, in which languages final consonants were retained. Were this all, *itelun would make for a run-of-the-mill reconstruction, with perhaps its only notable feature being the distribution of its reflexes, which is highly skewed toward the island of Sulawesi. Other facets, however, make this an interesting case in historical reconstruction. First, there is clearly both a semantic and formal connection between *itelun 'period of three days' and the well-known Proto-Austronesian reconstruction *telu 'three', by which we may consider the temporal adverb to be a complex form to be parsed as *i-telu-n. Although the *-n suffix is reminiscent of some kind of genitive marker or ligature, all present-day languages suggest that *itelun was an independent form, and was not required to be followed by a morpheme meaning 'day' or 'night'. Balinese presents an interesting case in this respect, having preserved the form itelun 'three days ago' next to paraphrastic expressions like di petang dina 'four days ago' and the such. For that matter, in Balinese, itelun also contrasts formally with telung, the regular form of the numeral 'three' used before nouns or classifiers. In present-day Tolaki, itolu is preserved only in the expression wingi itolu 'memorial evening three days after death', where not only does wingi 'night' precede itolu, but it furthermore appears that the phrase did not originally mean 'three nights' but rather 'the night of the third (day)'. Although paraphrastic constuctions are used in Mori Bawah to express 'after one night' and 'after two nights', respectively, asa wongi and rua wongi, the equivalent expression for 'after three nights' is simply itolu, not *itolu wongi. Similar observations can be made, as far as I know, for all the other languages given above that reflect *itelun. Second, as mentioned at the beginning, *itelun did...

The Gothic Genitive Plural in -ēRevisited

In this brief paper it is proposed that the problematic Gothic genitive plural suffix in -ēmay derive from a grammaticalized deictic particle. Typological and specifically Indo-European evidence for the derivation of genitive markers from deictic particles is presented in support of this hypothesis.

Factors in the selection of compound-types in spoken and written Hebrew

This study investigates the factors that constrain and promote the selection of noun compound types in spoken and written Hebrew: Construct-state (e.g. anfey∧ha-ets ‘branches∧tree’, where ∧ stands for the bound genitive relation); analytic (e.g. ha-anafim šel ha-ets ‘the-branches of the-tree’, with the free genitive particle šel); and double anaf-av šel ha-ets ‘branches-its of the-tree’ with two genitive markers: a bound suffix and šel. Three types of data were examined, one spoken and two written (journalistic and school textbooks). Lexical, semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analyses revealed that construct-state compounds are the default form for expressing classifying relations, while analytic compounds typically denote possessive and partitive relations. Syntactic complexity promotes the selection of analytic compounds in written language owing to their relative transparency. Double compounds are the most marked of the three, and are very restricted owing to the close relationship between a bounded adjunct and its head. Implications of these findings for language acquisition and the development of literacy are discussed.

Unmarked possessives: Fact or fiction in Zulu grammar?

In the new school syllabus for Zulu mother-tongue speakers, a distinction is made between two types of possessives, namely, marked and unmarked possessives. Marked possessives are possessives constructed by means of a genitive marker which links the possessor noun to the possession noun while unmarked possessives are so-called because of the lack of a genitive marker in their construction, as for instance in the following example: UNo-malanga ugeze ingane ubuso ‘Nomalanga washed the child's face’. Older grammarians viewed these forms purely from a syntactic point of view while in more recent times the interrelationship between the two constituting nouns has become the focal point of investigation. This has sparked off conflicting views as to how the relationship between these nouns should be defined in order to best account for these syntactic structures. In this article the various possibilities proposed by authors are investigated and evaluated and the conclusion is reached that ‘possession’ is not the ...

Universals in the syntax of cardinal numerals

The cardinal numerals of Russian cannot be assigned to discrete syntactic categories; they form a continuum from those like adjectives to those like nouns. ‘Nouniness’ increases with numerical value. They can all be generated from an underlying structure similar to that suggested by Perlmutter and Crešnik consisting of two NPs (but lacking the genitive marker, for there is strong evidence that the genitive marker should be inserted only in certain circumstances). The Russian situation appears to be general; two universals are proposed: firstly, that the syntactic behaviour of cardinal numerals falls between that of adjectives and nouns and, secondly, that if numerals vary in behaviour then the higher will be nounier. Evidence to support these universals can be drawn from various phenomena: agreement, possible plurality of the number, case marking of the noun, 1-Deletion, word-order, number of the quantified noun, and the rules of distribution and deletion. The data are taken from a wide range of languages.

Universals in the syntax of cardinal numerals

The cardinal numerals of Russian cannot be assigned to discrete syntactic categories; they form a continuum from those like adjectives to those like nouns. ‘Nouniness’ increases with numerical value. They can all be generated from an underlying structure similar to that suggested by Perlmutter and Orešnik consisting of two NPs (but lacking the genitive marker, for there is strong evidence that the genitive marker should be inserted only in certain circumstances). The Russian situation appears to be general; two universals are proposed: firstly, that the syntactic behaviour of cardinal numerals falls between that of adjectives and nouns and, secondly, that if numerals vary in behaviour then the higher will be nounier. Evidence to support these universals can be drawn from various phenomena: agreement, possible plurality of the number, case marking of the noun, 1-Deletion, word-order, number of the quantified noun, and the rules of distribution and deletion. The data are taken from a wide range of languages.