Nominal Modifiers Research Articles

Merge (Late and Parallel) and Agree (Closest and Multiple): A view from Polish relative clauses with conjoined heads

My main goal in this paper is to examine agreement in relative clauses with conjoined heads. Since there are many elements that can potentially agree with the conjoined head (i.e., the relative pronoun, the verb, nominal modifiers if present), there are many logically possible agreement patterns, only a subset of which is attested. I focus on the question of what the available (and unavailable) patterns tell us about the nature of the Agree, the mechanism responsible for agreement. The more theoretical question I examine is why sometimes Agree between a single Probe and multiple Goals surfaces as Resolved Agreement, and other times as agreement with a single Goal. Focusing on coordinate structures, I argue that Agree between a single Probe and multiple Goals in a Parallel Merge structure obligatorily leads to Single Conjunct Agreement, whereas Agree between a single Probe and multiple Goals in a non-Parallel Merge structure can result in either Single Conjunct Agreement or Resolved Agreement. This proposal has implications that go beyond Polish relative clauses, which I also discuss in the paper.

Complements and modifiers: Implications for typologies of pronouns

This paper argues for a distinction between two categorially distinct types of personal pronouns in natural language. It demonstrates that overt nominal content surfaces as (i) a complement or (ii) a modifier of a personal pronoun. The distinction in the way nominal content merges is reflected in two types of pronouns. Pronouns taking nominal complements are full-fledged determiners, while pronouns surfacing with nominal modifiers are pronouns proper, i.e., pronominal forms that do not exhibit the determiner syntax. Four novel diagnostics underlying the complement/modifier distinction are introduced: (i) binding, (ii) genericity requirement, (iii) availability of pro-drop, and (iv) size of the pronoun. The paper contributes to a longstanding debate on the representation of nominal content in pronouns and a close connection between pronominal forms and determiners.

Iconicity as the motivation for the signification and locality of deictic grammatical tones in Tal

We present novel evidence for iconicity in core morphophonological grammar by documenting, describing, and analysing two patterns of tonal alternation in Tal (West Chadic, Nigeria). When a non-proximal deixis modifies a noun in Tal, every tone of the modified noun is lowered. When the nominal modifier is a proximal deixis, the final tone of the modified noun is raised. The tone lowering and raising are considered the effects of non-proximal and proximal linkers, which have the tone features [–Upper, –Raised] and [+Raised] as their respective exponents. The realisation and maximal extension of the non-proximal tone features are considered effects of morpheme-specific featural correspondence constraints. Similarly, the exponent of the proximal linker docking on the final TBU is due to the relative ranking of the proximal-specific correspondence constraints. The association of the tone features [–Upper, –Raised] and [+Raised] with non-proximal and proximal linkers, respectively, is in line with crosslinguistic patterns of magnitude iconicity. Given that the local and long-distance realisations of the proximal and non-proximal featural affixes respectively are perceptually similar to deictic gestures, the locality of the featural affixation is considered a novel pattern of iconicity. To motivate this pattern of iconicity, we extend the notion of perceptual motivation in linguistic theory to include the crossmodal depiction of sensory imagery. Consequently, Tal presents evidence for iconicity as a motivation for morphophonological grammar.

Nominal linkers in Sangesari

This paper describes nominal constructions in Sangesari (Northwestern Iranian). In Sangesari, similar to the pattern found in Caspian languages, some nominal modifiers as well as the complement of nominal postpositions are linked to the head of the phrase by a linking elementknown as Reverse Ezafe (Stilo 2004). In this paper, we show that the Reverse Ezafe used with attributive adjectives is different from the one used with possessors and adpositions. The former has a restricted usage, limited only to certain lexical and phonological contexts, while the latter is obligatory in nominal contexts. The examination of adpositional phrases in particular illustrates a different property of Reverse Ezafe in Sangesari compared to its counterpart in other Reverse Ezafe languages examined in this volume (i.e., Balochi and Caspian languages).

Nominal linkers in Taleshi

This chapter describes nominal constructions in the Central variety of Taleshi (Northwestern Iranian). In Taleshi, noun phrases and the majority of adpositional phrases are head-final. Some nominal modifiers as well as the complement of postpositions are linked to the head of the phrase by a linking element––known as Reverse Ezafe (Stilo 2004). In this chapter, we show that the Reverse Ezafe appearing with possessors and adpositions is different from the Reverse Ezafe appearing with attributive adjectives. We also address some of the phonological constraints on the occurrence of the two types of Reverse Ezafe.

Nominal linkers in Gilaki

This paper provides a description of noun phrases in the Eshkevarat variety of Gilaki (Northwestern Iranian). In Eshkevarat Gilaki, noun phrases and the majority of adpositional phrases are head final. Some nominal modifiers as well as the complement of postpositions are linked to the head of the phrase by a linking element––known as Reverse Ezafe (Stilo 2004). We show that the Reverse Ezafe appearing in possessive and adpositional contexts has different properties compared to the one appearing on attributive adjectives.

Nominal linkers in Persian

This chapter examines nominal constructions in (Iranian) Persian with the special focus on the distribution of Ezafe. Ezafe is an element which links a nominal to its modifiers and arguments. Persian has nominal modifiers of different types. They can be either prenominal or postnominal. The modifiers appearing in a postnominal position, always require Ezafe. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the use of Ezafe is not restricted only to modification, since it also links a noun to its complement. The use of Ezafe is not restricted only to noun phrases either since Ezafe can link a nominal preposition to its complement as well.

Textual entailment classification using syntactic structures and semantic relations

In this paper, we propose a method exploiting syntactic structure, semantic relations and word embeddings for recognizing textual entailment. The sentence pairs are analyzed using their syntactic structure and categorization of sentences in active voice, sentences in passive voice and sentences holding copular relations. The main syntactic relations such as subject, verb and object are extracted and lemmatized using a lemmatization algorithm based on parts-of-speech. The subject-to-subject, verb-to-verb and object-to-object similarity is identified using enhanced Wordnet semantic relations. Further similarity is analyzed using modifier relation, number relation, nominal modifier relation, compound relation, conjunction relation and negative relation. The experimental evaluation of the method on Stanford Natural Language Inference dataset shows that the accuracy of the method is 1.4% more when compared to the state-of-the-art zero shot domain adaptation methods.

Nominal Modifiers in Tὲὲ

The paper analyzed nominal modifiers in Tὲὲ within a formal linguistic framework. The paper identified ten discrete nominal modifiers in the grammatical structure of Kana. The paper found that pre-head and post-head modification are attested in the grammar of Tὲὲ as seven of the modifiers occur before the head noun while three occur after the head noun in the grammatical structure of the noun phrase. The paper reported that there is no distinction between mass and count nouns in the use of quantifiers in Tὲὲ. The paper noted that there can be no intervening element between the prepositional phrase modifier and the head noun. The study also showed that the demonstrative can only co-occur with the head noun in the maximal projection of the noun phrase in mutually exclusive distribution with the prepositional phrase. The study also noted that the numeral modifier does not participate in the maximal expansion of the NP. The paper, therefore, recommended a detailed investigation of numerals and numeracy in Tὲὲ in order to ascertain the structural status of the numeral element in Tὲὲ.

Nominal Agreement Class Assignment in Tikuna (Isolate, Western Amazonia): a Dynamic Process Conditioned by Both Lexicon and Context

Abstract Tikuna (isolate, western Amazonia) features a system of five nominal agreement classes: Feminine, Masculine, Neuter, Salientive, and Non-Salientive. Like in well-known Indo-European gender languages, the targets of class agreement (nominal modifiers and pronominal morphemes, essentially) obligatorily agree in class with the participant they relate to. Tikuna, however, usually offers several options of class assignment to given participants in discourse, and even allows participants to change class over the course of a single discourse performance. A participant designated by means of the noun kŏwǘ ‘deer’ may thus be assigned to any class except Neuter, suggesting that lexical properties of nouns cannot fully account for class assignment. I argue that the primary factor underlying class assignment (and reassignment) in Tikuna are the inherent semantic and pragmatic values of each class. Lexical properties and, occasionally, the class assignment of other participants in the immediate context, do come into play, but as secondary factors. Flexibility and secondary reliance on lexical information are the most visibly divergent characteristics of class assignment in Tikuna relative to typical Indo-European gender systems.

Word Order in Turiturian of Batak Toba Language

Aims: This research is aimed to investigate the word order in Turiturian of Batak Toba language
 Study Design: Qualitative research was applied in this research.
 Place and Duration of Study: It is library research. So, it was completed in Universitas HKBP Nommensen and the research was conducted from February to June 2022.
 Methodology: In this research data was taken from the folklore entitled ‘Sigalegale’. The data in this research was clause or sentences found in the folklore. The data was analyzed by using Miles and Huberman analyses. Tree stages that used in analyzing the research, namely data reduction, data display, and data conclusion drawing/verification.
 Results: The result of the research shows that the basic word order found in Turiturian of Batak Toba language consists of two types, namely VSO and SVO. The other pattern also found, namely SV and SVC.
 Conclusion: Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that the structure of the clause patterns of Turiturian in Batak Toba language includes SV, SVC, SVO and VSO. The structure of SV and SVC patterns occurs in transitive clauses, namely sentences that do not require objects in the sentence but already had meaning. At the same time, the structure of SVO pattern occurs in the active sentence. In this case, a morphological process occurs which is marked by the prefix -'mam' in the 'verb'. Furthermore, the structure of VSO pattern occurs in passive sentence which is indicated by the addition of the prefix -'di' on the ‘verb'. In addition, the VSO structure is also marked with a nominal modifier. From these findings, it can be said that the basic word order of Batak Toba language is SVO and VOS. The structure SV and SVC patterns exists if there is no object in the clause/sentence. This research is only limited to the word order in the clause/sentence. Therefore, it is necessary to do further research on the word order in phrases.

This might be the PLACE. Spelling out a covert D in Fodom spatial PPs

This article presents novel data on the yet unnoticed phenomenon of article-drop in the variety of Livinallongo/Fodom (Ladin). The fundamental aim is to provide a morphosyntactic analysis capturing the following: a) omission of the definite article is only possible in (spatial) PPs and with a specific set of data; b) the noun can be interpreted as a specific definite as well as a weak definite; c) omission interacts with structural properties of the nominal complement like Number features and the structural type of nominal modifiers. The account developed here builds on the hypothesis that despite appearances article-drop contexts in Fodom feature an active D category in their structure, which is licensed by the head noun via phrasal Spell Out (cf. Starke 2009a; 2011a; Baunaz and Lander 2018b; Caha 2009a; 2018a; Pantcheva 2011a, a.o.) and is argued to be superior to alternative accounts in terms of selection of a null D by the P0 head or movement of the noun.

Word Order Variation is Partially Constrained by Syntactic Complexity.

Previous work suggests that when speakers linearize syntactic structures, they place longer and more complex dependents further away from the head word to which they belong than shorter and simpler dependents, and that they do so with increasing rigidity the longer expressions get, for example, longer objects tend to be placed further away from their verb, and with less variation. Current theories of sentence processing furthermore make competing predictions on whether longer expressions are preferentially placed as early or as late as possible. Here we test these predictions using hierarchical distributional regression models that allow estimates of word order and word order variation at the level of individual dependencies in corpora from 71 languages, while controlling for confounding effects from the type of dependency (e.g., subject vs. object), and the type of clause (main vs. subordinate) involved as well as from trends that are characteristic of individual languages, language families, and language contact areas. Our results show the expected correlations of length with position and variation only for two out of six dependency types (obliques and nominal modifiers) and no difference between clause types. These findings challenge received theories of across‐the‐board effects of complexity on word order and word order variation and call for theoretical models that relativize effects to specific kinds of syntactic structures and dependencies.

Introducing Arguments and Modifiers in the Noun Phrase

Noun phrases, such as this photo, can often appear both with modifiers, such as the adjective old, and with arguments, typically PPs such as of the queen. Most of the literature on the syntax of DPs has adopted the hypothesis that adjectives are base-generated higher than nominal arguments, just as adverbs are merged higher than arguments in the clause. This squib looks at the syntax of the Italian DP, focusing on the distribution of modifier PPs and argument PPs, and offers novel evidence that, contrary to the received view, nominal modifiers such as adjectives are in fact base-generated lower than nominal arguments.

Concord begets concord: A Bayesian model of nominal concord typology

Nominal concord is a phenomenon whereby nominal modifiers (e.g., adjectives, demonstratives, numerals) agree with their nominals along various dimensions (e.g., gender, number, case, definiteness). Here, drawing on a rich and typologically diverse database of nominal concord (Norris 2020), we build a Bayesian mixed effect model of nominal concord. Specifically, we consider two competing hypotheses regarding the statistical relationship between different types of concord within a language: (1) concord begets concord: the presence of some type of concord in a language makes it more likely that it has other types of concord vs. (2) a little concord goes a long way: if a language has some kind of concord, it is less likely to have other types of concord. We present evidence strongly in favor of the first hypothesis, that concord begets concord. Languages with nominal concord tend to have concord in more than one place and of more than one type. Using posterior draws from our model, we also provide quantitative evidence for a number of the tendencies described by Norris (2019a). Future work will build on this model to understand the functional role of nominal concord in language systems, how it evolves, and how it co-evolves with other typological features.

Across-the-board tonal polarity in Kipsigis: Implications for the morphology-phonology interface

Using novel data from Kipsigis (Southern Nilotic; Kenya), we present the first attested case of across-the-board paradigmatic tonal polarity. The nominative case forms of nominal modifiers (adjectives, possessives, and demonstratives) are segmentally identical to their oblique case counterparts but have the opposite tonal pattern across the board: nominative and oblique modifiers differ in not just one but every tonal specification. Kipsigis polarity thus results in maximal tonal contrast between two morphologically related words. We show how the Kipsigis pattern may be captured in an item-and-process theory of morphology with dedicated exchange mechanisms and in an item-and-arrangement theory that allows for morpheme-specific phonology; we suggest that an item-and-process approach may provide a more straightforward account.

Aspects of the phonology and morphosyntax of Kyak, an Adamawa language of Nigeria

This paper provides a preliminary analysis of a few aspects of the phonology and morphosyntax of Kyak [bka], a largely undocumented Adamawa language spoken in the northern part of Taraba State in Nigeria. The paper is divided into four main sections. The first section deals with the phonology, focusing on consonant and vowel inventories, some phonetic processes, and syllable structure. The second section looks at nominal morphology, particularly nominal modifiers and possessive constructions, which show a distinction between alienable and inalienable possession. The third section describes the verbal morphosyntax, identifying the various forms that encode the expression of tense-aspect and person-number. The fourth part looks at a couple of clause/sentence level features, namely the clitic -ŋ, which is associated with the marking of assertiveness, and the use of logophoric pronouns. This is the first description of the phonological and grammatical features of the language, and one of the first for the Jen cluster. It thus adds to the knowledge of the cluster and to the evaluation of genealogical and areal hypotheses which involve languages of this region.

Towards a unified analysis of Katcha nominal modifiers

Abstract This paper presents a description and analysis of the syntax of nominal modifiers in Katcha. The three main types of nominal modifiers in Katcha, demonstratives, possessive noun phrases and relative clauses, all agree with their head noun in gender, are morphologically marked when their head noun is a peripheral argument of the verb, and can occur in ‘headless’ constructions where there is no overt head noun. In the latter case they have a pronominal interpretation. The paper argues that a unified account of all nominal modifiers can be provided by adopting two premises: firstly, the possessive and relative markers are allomorphs of the proximal demonstrative; secondly, demonstratives in Katcha are pronouns rather than determiners. All nominal modifiers can then be characterized as appositional phrases headed by demonstrative pronouns. This characterization allows the inclusion of the medial and distal pronouns into the system, explaining why they have a different form to all other nominal modifiers, but identical distribution. The final section adds cross-linguistic perspective by discussing the relationship between this analysis of Katcha and the notion of construct state, most familiar in Semitic, but which has been argued to be a concept appropriate to a number of African languages.

Nominal Modifiers in Argumentative Essays as Discriminators for Writing Course Placement Decisions

Grammatical complexity constitutes an indispensable subconstruct of L2 writing ability. Nonetheless, rating scale descriptors for grammatical complexity have heavily relied on degree modifiers or adjectives. Thus, this study attempts to explore the potential for the use of nominal modifiers as discriminators for adjacent levels of L2 writers in the context of an English Placement Test. This study analyzed 374 argumentative essays written by international undergraduates. Seven nominal modifiers in the developmental stages of grammatical complexity were examined and a cumulative ordinal logistic regression model with proportional odds was fitted to explore the relative effects of those grammar features on placement decisions. Four nominal modifiers were found to be positively associated with placement decisions, after adjusting for the effects of other variables. One educational implication is for the use of nominal modifiers to be incorporated into rating scale descriptors as discriminators for L2 writers who are not advanced enough to be exempted from an English Placement Test.

Experimental evidence for the influence of structure and meaning on linear order in the noun phrase

Recent work has used artificial language experiments to argue that hierarchical representations drive learners’ expectations about word order in complex noun phrases like these two green cars (Culbertson & Adger 2014; Martin, Ratitamkul, et al. 2019). When trained on a novel language in which individual modifiers come after the Noun, English speakers overwhelmingly assume that multiple nominal modifiers should be ordered such that Adjectives come closest to the Noun, then Numerals, then Demonstratives (i.e., N-Adj-Num-Dem or some subset thereof). This order transparently reflects a constituent structure in which Adjectives combine with Nouns to the exclusion of Numerals and Demonstratives, and Numerals combine with Noun+Adjective units to the exclusion of Demonstratives. This structure has also been claimed to derive frequency asymmetries in complex noun phrase order across languages (e.g., Cinque 2005). However, we show that features of the methodology used in these experiments potentially encourage participants to use a particular metalinguistic strategy that could yield this outcome without implicating constituency structure. Here, we use a more naturalistic artificial language learning task to investigate whether the preference for hierarchy-respecting orders is still found when participants do not use this strategy. We find that the preference still holds, and, moreover, as Culbertson & Adger (2014) speculate, that its strength reflects structural distance between modifiers. It is strongest when ordering Adjectives relative to Demonstratives, and weaker when ordering Numerals relative to Adjectives or Demonstratives relative to Numerals. Our results provide the strongest evidence yet for the psychological influence of hierarchical structure on word order preferences during learning.