Predicates Of Clauses Research Articles

A collostructional approach to Japanese noun-modifying clause construction use and acquisition: a learner corpus study

Abstract Japanese features a general noun-modifying clause construction (NMCC) with a more versatile range of semantic and pragmatic interpretations than equivalent constructions in other languages. Motivated by the learning challenge NMCCs pose to Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) learners, this article examines speech data from the International Corpus of Japanese as a Second Language (I-JAS) to compare learner use of NMCCs against a large L1 Japanese corpus. Instances of the construction from both corpora were analyzed to identify high-frequency part-of-speech categories and subcategories in the modifying clause predicate and head noun slots. A simple collexeme analysis was then employed to identify strongly attracted and repelled lexical items among those identified in realizations of the construction. Taken together, findings from these analyses revealed an important connection between the semantic weight of head nouns in NMCCs and the idiomaticity of the construction, with learner productions demonstrating a tendency toward heavy head nouns. This study lays the groundwork for future research seeking to explore the NMCC at different levels of granularity and to improve its treatment in JFL pedagogical materials.

Структурная и функционально-семантическая классификация корякских полипредикативных конструкций со скрепой тите ‘когда’

The paper presents structural and functional-semantic classifications of Koryak polypredicative constructions with the clause linkage marker tite ‘when’. These are syntactic units prototypically comprising two clauses linked by the word tite and encoding the relation between the events expressed by these predicative units. Given the endangered status of the Koryak language, it seems imperative to document its grammar. Furthermore, the Koryak syntax is particularly intriguing from a typological perspective due to its polysynthetic nature and extensive use of non-finite verb forms with nominal case affixes directly attached to the verb stem. This study employed the methodology developed by the scholars of the Institute of Philology of the SB RAS. The classifications were developed by analyzing the constructions concerned in the texts of the three native speakers. The three main parameters of the analysis were the forms used as predicates of clauses, the morphological nature of the clause linkage markers, and the semantic relation between the events. In terms of the morphology of clause linkage markers, the constructions can be categorized into proper analytic and analyticsynthetic types, while the forms of the predicates determine whether they are bi-finite, monofinite, or bi-nonfinite. The non-finite verb form system exclusively employs negative, locative, dative converbs, and converbs of simultaneity. When considering its functional aspects, the author regards tite as a versatile marker of clause linkage, encompassing temporal-conditional and complement constructions. Posteriority, partial simultaneity, and reality condition are among the most prevalent semantic types. Ultimately, this study emphasizes the correlations between structure and meaning.

Small clause predicates and sluicing

AbstractThis Commentaire bears out a prediction of Anand et al.'s (to appear) syntactic identity condition on sluicing. Identity is calculated over argument domains as small as small clauses. With extraction of a small clause subject, sluicing is possible where only a small clause predicate has an antecedent.

Редукция как механизм варьирования сравнительных аналитико-синтетических полипредикативных конструкций с послелогом шылап // щылап // щынап ‘как, как будто’ в чалканском языке

The Chalkan language employs analytical-synthetic polypredicative constructions with the postposition shylap // shylap // shynap ‘as if’ to express comparative relations, indicating an equivalent relationship between two events. These constructions comprise a main clause (the subject of comparison), a subordinate clause (a standard of comparison). А dependent subject expressed by the name in the nominative, and a dependent predicate expressed by a participle with the affix =atan combined with a postposition. When both clauses express the events from the same denotative sphere and indicate similar actions, the dependent predicate is most often omitted, as it nominates the same action already expressed by the predicate of the main part, with the postposition directly after the dependent subject. When the events are from different denotative spheres, the structure and semantics of the utterance are asymmetric: comparative relations link the main clause and the missing component, symbolizing an accepted or associative standard for events of this class. The subordinate clause expresses conditional or temporal relationships with an explicitly non-expressed component. The postposition of the subordinate clause semantically correlates with the implicit standard of comparison. A two-clause structure semantically involves three components: comparison subject, comparison standard, and the consequence implied by the unexpressed component. Comparative analytical-synthetic polypredicative constructions feature the reduction of either the subordinate clause predicate or the component indicating the reference standard. Also, reduction may affect the parameter restored by the context or guessed by traditional associative relations. The main clause, the dependent subject, and the postposition are never reduced.

Expression of Aboutness Subject Topic Constructions in Turkish Sign Language (TİD) Narratives

In the visual-spatial modality, signers indicate old, new, or contrastive information using certain syntactic, prosodic, and morphological strategies. Even though information structure has been described extensively for many sign languages, the flow of information in the narrative discourse remains unexplored in Turkish Sign Language (TİD). This study aims to describe aboutness subject topic constructions in TİD narratives. We examined data from six adult native signers of TİD and found that TİD signers mainly used nominals for reintroduced aboutness subject topics. The optional and rare non-manual markers observed on reintroduced topics mainly included squint, brow raise, and backward head tilt. Maintained aboutness subject topics, which have higher referential accessibility, were often omitted and tracked with zero anaphora. Finally, we found that constructed action is more frequently present on the predicates of clauses with a maintained aboutness subject topic than with a reintroduced aboutness subject topic. Overall, these results indicate that the use of constructed action and nominals in aboutness subject topics correlates with referential accessibility in TİD. While the former has been observed more in maintained contexts, the latter has been observed mainly in reintroduced contexts. In addition to the syntactic and prosodic cues that may distinguish old information from new or contrastive information in narratives, we suggest that pragmatic cues such as referential accessibility may help account for the manual and non-manual articulation strategies for information structure in TİD narratives.

Taking time with thetough-construction

I provide a syntactic analysis of the take-time construction (It took an hour to complete the test). The investigation provides insight into well-known issues concerning the relatedtough-construction. Using a battery of standard syntactic diagnostics, I conclude that the take-time construction and thetough-construction require a predication analysis of the antecedent-gap chain, not a movement analysis. I also conclude that the nonfinite clause is in a modificational relationship with the main clause predicate, not a selectional relationship. Broadly, this study expands the class oftough-constructions, illustrating crucial variation among predicates, and pointing the way to a unified analysis. The investigation also reveals undiscussed aspects of English syntax, including the fact that English has a high applicative position.

Verbal Clause Construction of Ciacia Language: Syntactic Typology Study

Typology study of Ciacia language (CL) in various linguistic aspects has not been conducted yet. It is the first study that focus on syntactic typology. Ciacia language is one of local languages in Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province. The study focuses on five main problems, they are (1) How is the base construction of verbal clause in CL? (2) How are the predicate and structure argument constructions of verbal clause in CL, (3) How are the simple predicate and complex predicate constructions of verbal clause in CL? (4) How are valency and valency change mechanism of verbal clause construction in CL? (5) How are complex sentence construction and grammatical alliance system?. The oral data of this study is obtained through recording and elicitation techniques. Written data is obtained through the previous studies. The study also used synthetic data which is verrified by the informants. The data was analyzed by apportion (distributional) method.
 The investigation of clause base construction shows that verbal clause construction of Ciacia language is always filled by subject and aspect markers (PS/A) that is affixed to PRED verb. Base structure of verbal clause in CL consists of verbal predicated clause and non-verbal predicated clause. Non-verbal predicated clause can be constructed through base nominal and adjective categories. Verbal clause predicate can be filled by intransitive base verb, mono transitive base verb, ditransitive base verb, and ambi-transitive base verb.
 Predication and argument structure of verbal clause construction in CL can be classified in to verbal clause: (i) intransitive with one main argument in terms of SUBJ and as A or OBJ systematically; (ii) semi-transitive with one main argument as A/ACT and with the presence of OBJ argument optionally; (iii) mono-transitive with two main arguments, namely SUBJ as A/ACT with one OBJ argument as UND, (iv) ditransitive with three main arguments, namely SUBJ as A/ACT before PRED and two arguments after PRED, in terms of OTL (indirect object) and OL (direct object); and (v) ambi-transitive with one main argument, namely SUBJ, either as Sa or as So.
 Valency and transitivity of verbal clause construction in CL consists of (i) valency and intransitive verb transitivity with one argument or verb with one valency; (ii) semi-transitive verb with one argument before verb and the presence of argument after Pred verb optionally; (iii) transitive with the obligatory of O presence after Pred verb, so it has two main arguments or verb that has two valency arguments, namely S and O; (iv) ditransitive with three main arguments or verb that has three valency arguments; (v) ambi-transitive with only one argument or verb that has one valency.
 Verbal clause construction in CL can be filled by simple Pred verb and complex Pred verb. Simple predicate is created by base verb/intransitive verb and non-verb category, semi-transitive verb, and transitive verb with PS/A. Complex predicate is created through verb (i) intransitive; (ii) semi-transitive verb; and (iii) transitive integral verb. The valency change mechanism of verbal clause construction in CL can be done through formal causativation and semantic causativation, applicative, and resultative.

Transitivity construction of verbal clause in Ciacia language

Typology study of Ciacia language (CL) in various linguistic aspects has not been conducted yet. It is the first study that focuses on syntactic typology. Ciacia language is one of the local languages in Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province. The study focuses on verbal clause construction of CL. This construction covers several subject and aspect markers, intransitive and transitive verb, and argument as consequence of verb valencies in the clause construction. The study used written and oral data. The oral data of this study is obtained through recording and elicitation techniques. Written data is obtained from the previous studies. The study also used synthetic data which is verified by the informants. It was analyzed by using distributional and match methods with change and loss techniques. Based on the result of this study, it found that verbal clause construction of Ciacia language is always filled by subject and aspect markers (S/AM) that are affixed to PRED verb. The base structure of verbal clause in CL consists of the verbal predicated clause and non-verbal predicated clause. The non-verbal predicated clause can be constructed through base nominal and adjective categories. Verbal clause predicate can be filled by an intransitive base verb, monotransitive base verb, ditransitive base verb, and ambitransitive base verb. Those verbal clause construction of Ciacia language always uses S/AM, either with affix or without affix. The roles of argument semantic in verbal clause construction in CL are (i) the main argument acts as A/ACT, O/UND, benefactive (BEN), and thema and (ii) peripheral argument acts as benefactive (BEN), temporal (TEMP), and locative (LOC). Based on the semantic features, the verb in the intransitive clause is classified based on verbal clause with argument SUBJ as A/ACT and verbal clause with argument SUBJ as O/UND. Semi-transitive verbal clause construction in CL can be formed from (i) semi-transitive base verb with S/AM, (ii) intransitive integral verb which is formed from transitive base verbs and base nominal by using affix {pi-} with S/AM. Construction of ditransitive verbal clause in CL is filled by PRED verb in the form of monotransitive with affix BEN {-aso} and IO with features [+human/soul].

Predicative Possession and Existentials on the Oregon Coast: Alsea, Hanis, and Miluk

Abstract: Possessive (‘have’) clauses with indefinite possessees are surveyed in three now-extinct languages of the Oregon coast–Alsea, Hanis Coos, and Miluk Coos. Adjectival or verbal denominals marked by prefix-suffix combinations are employed when the possessee is unmodified; when it is modified, a different construction is used in which the modifier is treated as the clause predicate. Similar constructions also express existence and location of unpossessed entities. Negative possession and negative existentials involve negators distinct from ordinary negation, but the syntax of these differs in Alsea versus Hanis and Miluk. Few or no other languages in the southerly Northwest Coast show quite the same configuration of constructions as either Alsea or Hanis and Miluk.

Locative phrases

10.1. Distribution A locative phrase consists of either a locative noun, which may or may not have syntactic dependents on the left, or a noun phrase with a locative postposition. On top of that, locative phrases also usually have a deictic marker on the right edge, see 10.3. Locative phrases occur in a variety of contexts: as postverbal modifiers, as predicates in clauses of adverbial type (see 12.4), as prenominal modifiers, or referentially in all NP positions. 10.2. Semantics Locative phr...

Language universals without universal categories

In this article, the authors present their views on an article by author Sandra Chung related to lexical categories. According to them, Chung's article critiques an analysis of word classes in Chamorro by author Donald M. Topping. They discuss the restatements made by Chung on Topping's criteria for defining two word classes. According to them, Chung defined that the words from Class I form predicates of passive clauses with the infix in or the prefix ma but Class II words do not. The words from Class II serve as predicates of clauses whose subject is a weak pronoun but Class I words do not.

Small Clause as Unified TP-AgrP Structure

This paper is to defend for the unified clause structure in which nonfinite clauses including ECM and small clauses are all analyzed as constituents formed by the combination of two functional categories of TP and AgrP. The main purpose of the unified TP-AgrP approach is to simplify and generalize the various clause structures. For this, I propose the verbal predication mediated by functional heads and copulars. In verbal predication mediated by copulars, the small clause subject occurs in the Spec(TP) position and the small clause predicate is AgrP with the head Agr containing a predication operator or a predicate particle that turns small clause predicate into a predicate, and copulars move from VP to the predicational phrase head, Agr. In this proposal, the structure of the small clause parallels to that of infinitival ECM clause so that both clauses are proposed to be TP-AgrP. Accordingly, the parallel interpretations of ECM and small clauses can be explained by parallel structures. In a unified TP-AgrP structure, we can uniformly say that T is the head of finite clauses as well as infinitival clauses including ECM and small clauses. The small clause predicate is the verbal predication, so it is different from non-verbal predication. Therefore, the proposed verbal predication gives rise to satisfactory solutions to the problems previously raised by non-verbal predication. The proposed uniform structure TP-AgrP also explains the different behavior in predicate raising of ECM and small clauses with the argument that predicate raising is allowed only to A`-position. (Hanbat National University)

THE DEVIATIONS OF MORPHOSYNTAX OF GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES IN THE ESSAYS OF THE ENGLISH GRADUATE STUDENTS OF STATE UNIVERSITY OF PADANG

This research dealt with deviations or errors of morphosyntax of grammatical categories which consist of structural properties and distributional properties of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs made by the first semester English graduate students of State University of Padang (UNP) in writing their essays. It aimed at explaining what errors of morphosyntax of grammatical categories committed by those students in writing their essays. The subjects of this research were the first semester English graduate students of 2008/ 2009 academic year of UNP. There were 15 randomly selected students who took the course of Academic Writing as the subjects of the research. The instrument used was through a test with one administration where the lecturer asked the students to construct essays based on the topics given. The analysis of data was based on theories proposed by Payne (1997) describing morphosyntax, error analysis method by James (1998) and Scovel (2001). It was found out that deviations of morphosyntax of grammatical categories mostly occurred. First, in the mis-formation of verbs (54.45%) as a structural property that exhibits subject agreement and in the omission of verbs which serves as predicates of clauses as a distributional property. Second, in the misformation of nouns (32.07%) exhibiting number as structural property and in the omission of nouns as a distributional property which serves as heads of noun phrases. Third, in the misformation of adjective (8.33%) which exhibits predicative function; and fourth in the errors of omission suffix –ly in adverbs (5.05%) modifying verbs. The findings reveal that the use of correct morphosyntax of grammatical categories of the first semester English graduate students of 2008/ 2009 academic year of UNP in writing essays is low implication?

Explaining Grammatical Variation and Change: A Case Study of Complementation in American English over Three Decades

This article examines sentential complements of the adjective accustomed involving subject control in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s on the basis of the TIME Magazine Corpus. Two specific principles are identified to explain the argument structure properties of accustomed. The first is the role of extractions, which is shown to have played a significant role in the 1930s in favor of to infinitives.The other principle is semantic: when the situation encoded by the lower clause predicate involves agentivity and choice on the part of the lower subject, the complement is likely to be of the to infinitive form in the 1930s, whereas a lower clause with a [—Choice] predicate is likely to be of the to -ing type. In the 1940s and 1950s, the to infinitive declines rapidly in frequency, with the to -ing pattern becoming entrenched even in contexts that had favored to infinitives earlier.

On the relation between noun prefixes and grammaticalisation in Nguni relative clauses*

Abstract. This paper discusses morphological and syntactic aspects of relative clauses in two related Southern Bantu language groups. In Sotho‐Tswana, object relative clauses are formed by means of clause‐initial relative complementisers which agree with the head noun. In contrast, object relatives in the Nguni languages are formed by means of relative concords which are attached to the relative clause predicate and express agreement with the subject. I suggest that the Nguni relative concords are the result of a grammaticalisation process in which early Nguni relative complementisers first turned into clitics and then into relative concords. On the basis of a detailed analysis of this process I further argue that the syntactic difference between Sotho‐Tswana and Nguni relative clauses is correlated with a morphological difference between nouns in these languages.

On the Quantification over Times in Natural Language

The aim of this paper is to seek the optimal way to represent time in natural language. It discusses whether or not natural language employs a temporal system that explicitly quantifies over times at the level where semantic interpretation takes place. I first argue that a single-index theory is not empirically adequate for natural language. I then propose a system in which times are syntactically represented. The system works in such a way that tense morphemes saturate the time argument slots of the predicates they attach to. Consequently it predicts that only the times of the main tensed predicates of clauses are accessible. Empirical evidence is presented showing such a distinction between tenseless and tensed predicates in terms of the accessibility to the times introduced by them.

Conceptual blending and the interpretation of relatives: A case study from Greek

Abstract This article examines instances of the pu relative construction in Modern Greek in which the semantic role of the head is underspecified by the syntax. Such cases include sentences whose nominal head corresponds to some complement of the relative clause predicate and sentences in which the head does not have any sort of syntactic relationship with the relative. The latter, which are characteristic of oral, informal discourse, have been completely ignored in the previous literature, which has defined relatives on the basis of exclusively structural criteria. It is argued that a unified account of the pu-construction (including gapped and gapless relatives) can be achieved if we analyze it as a conventional instruction for a particular kind of conceptual integration. Semantic and pragmatic factors influencing successful construal (one which leads to the construction of a unique blend) are systematically examined. The lack of a clear cut-off point in acceptability for such utterances tallies with the conclusion reached here, namely that the constraints governing such uses are constraints on interpretability.

Syntactic structure of predicatives: clues from the omission of the copula in child English

This paper explores the syntax of main clause predicatives from the perspective of trying to account for an asymmetry in copular constructions in certain languages. One of the languages in which we find such an asymmetry is child English (around age 2). Specifically, new results show that children acquiring English tend to use an overt (and inflected) copula in individual-level predicatives, but they tend to omit the copula in stage-level predicatives. The analysis adopted to account for this pattern draws on evidence from adult English, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese that stage-level predicates are Aspectual (they contain AspP) while individual-level predicates are not (they involve only a lexical Small Clause predicate). Children's omission of the copula in structures with AspP is linked to the fact that at this stage of development, children fail to require finiteness in main clauses. In particular, Asp0 is temporally anchored in child English, thereby obviating the need for a finite (temporally anchored) Infl, i.e. an inflected copula.

There, happens, to, be, have

This paper argues for an analysis of experiencer have and presentational there constructions based on a small clausal structure of which the predicate — a dative PP in the former and the ‘expletive’ there in the latter — inverts with its subject. This subject can be a simple nominal phrase (as in simple possessive John has the car or there is no solution) or a proposition. This paper will concentrate on have and there constructions in which the subject of the small clause is propositional, analysing in detail more complex there constructions like there walked a strange man into my office and so-called experiencer have constructions like I had a strange man walk into my office, both of which feature the verbal proposition [a strange man walk into my office] as the subject of the there/dative small clause. The structure assigned to these constructions will be seen to correctly predict their extraction properties, in conjunction with a few independent hypotheses concerning the semantics of experiencer have constructions. The analysis brings forth a typology of there and have constructions which will be seen to be empirically attested. It lends support to an analysis of ‘expletive’ there as a small clause predicate, and to a decompositional (have = be + to) approach to have.

FACTIVE, IMPLICATIVE VERBS AND THE ORDER OF OPERATORS

SummaryTo account for the semanties of complement constructions requires meaning properties that are not restricted to individual lexical items and their sense relationships. In dealing with subject and object sentences one has to pay attention to semantic properties that define a subordinate clause in relation to the predicate of the main clause. The distinction between factives and implicatives, which has been drawn in recent studies on English complement constructions boils down to the question originally asked by Frege whether the complement is semantically a sentence or not. In case it is Frege distinguished between two groups. Sentences which have the truth value for their reference and sentences which have the truth value for their presup‐position. In case it is not the complement sentence has no reference at all. Factive and implicative predicates differ in that complement sentences of the former constitute a sentence semantically the truth value of which is its presupposition, while the latter do not. This difference shows up in various restrictions on operators like negation, tense, time and locative adverbials. Whereas the complement of an implicative falls within the scope of the operator of the main clause predicate, the order of main clause predicate and complement is reversed for factives.