Subsequent Clause Research Articles

Structural position affects topic transition

Abstract In an eye-tracking study, we used Chinese double-subject construction [NPa NPb PREDICATE] (e.g., [nage jiezhi]NPa [sheji]NPb [hen tebie]PREDICATE ‘that ring design very special’) in a concessive construction like suiran…dan… ‘although…but…’ to investigate how the syntactic position of the topic NP (i.e., that ring) affects the comprehension of topic transition in the subsequent clause. We contrasted topics located at a higher pre-connective topic position (e.g., that ring although) and those located at a post-connective subject position (e.g., although that ring). Topic transition was manipulated as either using a subtopic (e.g., workmanship of that ring) or a new topic (e.g., the wedding dress) in the second clause of concession. We found a main effect of topic transition in a batch of eye-movement measures showing that subtopic transition was preferred over new-topic transition. More importantly, we found interactions on total reading time and total fixations at the topic-suiran region and on total fixations at the post-critical region, with post hoc tests revealing a larger cost of topic transition in the high-topic condition than in the low-topic condition. The results suggest that when a topic NP is located at a higher topic position (i.e., above the connective), it binds the topics of both clauses and induces greater cost when the topics do not form a consistent chain. When the topic NP is located at a local (i.e., post-connective) position, the processing of topic shift or resolution of topic conflict in the second clause is less costly because the second topic is not syntactically bound by the higher topic. Together, the results support a prominent status of the before-connective position in Chinese discourse. Furthermore, they indicate that syntactically induced topicality constrains the processing of topic transition in the subsequent discourse.

Is it Possible to Maintain Information Flow in Japanese into Thai Translation? A Study of Connecting Clauses

Abstract This paper investigates the ordering of connecting subordinate and coordinate clauses in Japanese-Thai translation to examine whether it is possible to maintain information flow from the source text. Japanese preposed clauses were translated using both preposed and postposed clauses in the Thai translated text. Preposed clauses were used widely when they provided: 1) listed information; 2) grounded information for comprehending main clauses; 3) the framework within which main clauses are held; 4) temporal sequences; and 5) information linking prior context to a new discourse topic. Postposed clauses were used mainly to modify main clauses. In cases where clauses provided the information needed to comprehend subsequent clauses, professional translators attempted to place the clause sentence initially, despite a preference for sentence-final occurrence arising from Thai syntactic constraints. This demonstrated norms in Japanese-Thai translation in terms of awareness among professional translators of the significance of information flow in the source text.

중국어 『성경』 「마태복음」 ‘把’ 사동구의 후속 절 생략 현상 해석

This paper attempts to illustrate and interpret how economic principles, which humans display in various ways, are applied to language. This paper targets causative complex sentences found in Matthew in the Chinese Bible and interprets the phenomenon of frequent omission and/or deletion in subsequent sections when separate clauses are merged in the 把 compound from the generative grammatical point of view. By analyzing clauses of 把 in causative complex sentences in Matthew from the above-mentioned points, the deletions found in the script are categorized into three types. In other words, the “A把B” structure, which is explicitly shown in the antecedent clause, is in some cases omitted entirely in the subsequent clause. In other cases, only the “A把” element is omitted, or the argument element “A” is omitted.

On the big silent appositive time in dà NP de construction in Chinese: A compositional approach

This article explores the compositionality of [dà NP de] construction in Chinese. The NP should be a direct time-denoting NPtime or an indirect time-denoting NPitime. Following Kayne (2016), we assume there is a silent TIME following de. Meanwhile, a less-discussed use of de—that is, the equational/appositional use of de (Chao 1968), has been revived to link the silent TIME and NPtime/NPitime. This analysis of de helps explain why the NP is preferably time-related, as it is easier for a time-denoting NP to establish an equational/appositional relation with the silent TIME. Dà 'big' is neither a size-denoting adjective, nor an evaluative morpheme. It is analyzed as an element like the restrictive adjective very (e.g., the very book) in English. Dà modifies the appositive conjunction phrase [NP de TIME], bringing emphasis to the construction, which in turn imposes certain semantic and pragmatic constraints on its subsequent clauses.

Research and Implementation of Chinese Couplet Generation System With Attention-Based Transformer Mechanism

Couplet is a unique art form in Chinese traditional culture. The development of deep neural network (DNN) technology makes it possible for computers to automatically generate couplets. Especially, Transformer is a DNN-based “Encoder–Decoder” framework, and widely used in natural language processing (NLP). However, the existed Transformer mechanism cannot fully exploit the essential linguistic knowledge in Chinese, including the special format and requirements of Chinese couplets. Therefore, this article adapts the Transformer mechanism to generate meaningful Chinese couplets. Specifically, the contributions of our work are threefold. First, considering the fact that the words in the corresponding positions of the antecedent clause and the subsequent clause in a Chinese couplet always have same part-of-speech (pos, i.e., word class), pos information is intentionally added into the Transformer to improve the accuracy of the conceived couplet. Second, to deal with the large number of unregistered and low-frequency words in Chinese couplet, a specific unregistered/low-frequency word processing mechanism (UWP) is designed and combined with the Transformer model. Third, to further improve the coherence of couplets, we incorporate the polish mechanisms (PMs) into Transformer model. In terms of three evaluation criteria including bilingual evaluation understudy (BLEU), perplexity, and human evaluation, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our designed Chinese couplet generation system.

Image inspired Chinese couplet generation

Chinese couplets, as one of the traditional Chinese culture, is the treasure of Chinese civilization and the inheritance of Chinese history. Given a sentence (namely an antecedent clause), people reply with another sentence (namely a subsequent clause) equal in length. Because of the complexity of the semantic and grammatical rules of couplet, it is not easy to create a suitable couplet that meets the requirements of sentence pattern, context, and flatness. With the development of neural models and natural language processing, automatic generation of Chinese couplets has drawn significant attention due to its artistic and cultural value, most of these works mainly focus on generating couplet by given text information, while visual inspirations for couplet generation have been rarely explored. In this paper, we design a Chinese couplet generation model based on NIC (Neural Image Caption), which can compose a piece of couplet suitable to the artistic conception in an image. At first, we use the improved VGG16 model to predict the input image. The content of the image can be automatically recognized and the corresponding description are generated and translated into Chinese keywords. Then, the encoder-decoder framework is used repeatedly to process these keywords, and finally the couplet can be generated. Moreover, to satisfy special characteristics of couplets, we incorporate the attention mechanism into the encoding-decoding process, which greatly improves the accuracy of couplets generated automatically.

The role of information structure in the instantiation of objects: Evidence from Amazonian Spanish

AbstractThis study analyzes the instantiation of objects in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish (PAS) discourse in two communities with distinct linguistic contexts. We examine the impact of two social variables (gender and place) and nine linguistic variables (transitivity, animacy, definiteness, anaphora function, anaphora expression, cataphora function, cataphora expression, activation, topic persistence) on the speech of eight participants. Our findings indicate that null instantiation in PAS is pervasive, occurring with a range of verb lexemes. While neither gender nor place are significant predictors of null objects, various linguistic variables contribute to the instantiation of objects. The five significant variables as determined by a mixed model regression analysis include the following: animacy, definiteness, anaphora expression, cataphora expression, and activation status. Several findings are consistent with previous research (e. g. human and definite referents disfavor null objects), while other results differ (e. g. PAS propositions disfavor null objects). Activation status and anaphora expression are the most significant predictors of null objects in PAS. In particular, highly accessible referents in discourse and anaphoric null objects favored null objects in subsequent clauses. Thus, the results in the present study demonstrate the pivotal role of information structure in object instantiation, furthering the discussion on syntax-discourse interplay phenomena.

Implicit causality of action verbs at the interface between conceptual structure and discourse coherence relations

Abstract Implicit causality of interpersonal transitive verbs (IC) pertains to preferences to attribute the cause of a given action to the subject or the object referent in active clauses. Causal attribution is operationalized as the probability of referential continuation in a subsequent explanatory clause. This paper presents an explorative investigation into the causal biases of action verbs, which in contrast to affective verbs have received less attention in IC research. We approach implicit causality as a discourse level phenomenon based on the textual level of discourse representation and enriched by conceptual knowledge. In study 1, we targeted IC effects of German action verbs (N = 52) in sentences containing causal, additive and adversative connectives. Results showed that IC based categories of subject-object-, and non-biasing predicates were clearly discernable in causal contexts only. In study 2, we examined effects of situational knowledge (physical affectedness & social acceptability) and affective appraisals (valence & arousal) represented in the conceptual structure of the verbs on the construal of causality biases and their interplay with immediate contextual information such as gender of referents. Results show that higher degrees of physical affectedness were associated with causal attribution to the object referent. This effect was modulated by the affective properties of the verbs. Our findings revealed the influence of physiological arousal, an affective dimension not considered in previous investigations of IC. Actions with a strong physical impact that were characterized by high arousal, e.g., kick, or tickle were more likely to be explained with reference to the subject. Participants also considered the available contextual information, as indicated by the significant interactions of gender information with arousal. Within the subsample of non-biasing verbs, higher estimates for social behavior increased probabilities of causal attributions to the subject.

時量補語的句法及語用分析 - 以VCO结构和VOVC结构为中心 -

This paper analyzes the syntax and Chinese usage of VCO structure and VOVC structure.BR On the whole, the frequency of VCO and VOVC structure in VC structure is relatively low. The longer the modifier before the object, the harder it is to enter the VCO structure. It is not easy to add modifiers to the front of the VOVC structure. The “C” in the VCO structure provides background information for subsequent clauses, indicating that this amount exceeds the preset, the “VO” in the VOVC structure represents an event, the VO provides background information, and whether the focus is reread on “C” is determined by rereading. VOVC structure is mainly used in spoken language, especially in some high-frequency words, and VCO structure is used in written language and spoken language.BR It is hoped that this paper can also provide some reference for the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language.

오류 분석을 통한 한국어 목적 표현 ‘－을 겸’의 교육 방안 연구

This study aims to present implications for foreign Korean learners in order to effectively teach -eul gyeom through the analysis of error in usage. First, it examines how Korean textbooks and teachers’ guidebooks present the target grammar －eul gyeom. The investigation includes: the level at which this grammar is taught, the type of presentation, the explanation, and whether exercises can be used. In addition, the error patterns of -eul gyeom were analyzed in the Korean learners’ corpus of the National Institute of the Korean Language. The results of the error analysis suggest that learners should be more clearly aware of the meaning of the previous clause and the subsequent clause when learning -eul gyeom.

Ellipsis in English Coordinated Clauses in the Novel Entitled 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

The title of this undergraduate thesis is Ellipsis in English Coordinated Clauses in the Novel Entitled 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. The aims of the study are to classify the types of ellipsis and to analyze the position of ellipsis in coordinated clauses. The data of this study were in the form of the English coordinated clauses with coordinating conjunction and, or, and but which were found in a novel entitled 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. The data were collected by using documentation method which was done by close reading on the data source, taking note, and continued by classification. This study used the theory of ellipsis proposed by Quirk, et al (1972) presented by using qualitative method in analyzing the data. The collected data were identified according to the categories of the types and the occurrence of ellipsis in coordinated clauses. This study used descriptive method in presenting the data. The result of this study shows that the types of ellipsis in coordinated are divided into six major namely: ellipsis of subject, ellipsis of auxiliary, ellipsis of subject and auxiliary, ellipsis of predication, ellipsis of head of noun phrase, and ellipsis of subject complement. Ellipsis of subject is the most frequently used type of ellipsis that occur in the data. The ellipsis can occur in the first and in the subsequent clauses in coordinated clauses. However, the ellipsis in the data is mostly anaphoric with the realized items in the first of a series of the clauses.

THEME AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN STUDENTS’ RECOUNT TEXTS

This study aims to investigate the Theme and Thematic progression patterns in students’ recount text in a state vocational school in Bandung. This study employs a descriptive-qualitative research design. The data were obtained from a collection of students’ texts. This study uses the theory of Theme system developed by Halliday (1994) and the theory of Thematic progression proposed by Eggins (2004) as the framework to analyze the data. The findings showed that the Theme and Thematic progression supports the character of Recount text written by the students to some extents: the Topical Theme represents the students’ ability to deliver what the text is about, the Interpersonal Theme helps students declare their personal comments, while the Textual Theme showed the students’ ability to develop the logical relationship between clauses and make their texts more cohesive and coherent. In terms of thematic progression patterns, the Theme Reiteration pattern signposts that the students tend to make the text focus by repeating the same element as Themes; the Zig Zag pattern showed that the students introduce newly information by promoting the Rheme in a clause to the Theme in the subsequent clause, and the Multiple Theme pattern specifies that the students develop the texts well according to the prior plan before writing those ideas in the text.

‘Pivotage’ in French talk-in-interaction

French talk-in-interaction shows a recurrent patterning of utterances that can schematically be presented as [clause-NP-clause], as inelleiva s’effacer l’imageielleiva s’effacer(‘itiis going to fade away the image,iitiis going to fade away)’, whereisignals co-indexicality. In this pattern, the NP represents a pivot element which together with the preceding clause can be heard as forming a right dislocation ([clause-NP]), and together with the subsequent clause can be heard as forming a left dislocation ([NP-clause]). One interactionally consequential feature of the [clause-NP-clause] pattern is that it organizes specific types of units in specific ways during the temporal unfolding of talk: It allows speakers to proffer two subsequent predications about the same referent, typically within one TCU, whereby the temporally second predication may be either identical (mirror image-like pivot patterns) or different from the first. We demonstrate that speakers use the [clause-NP-clause] pivot pattern to accomplish a set of interactional jobs related to the management of repair, to stance taking, to the progressivity of talk, and to issues of recipiency. We also show that, recurrently, the pattern is configured on-line, following an emergent trajectory which is adapted to local interactional contingencies; this is what we refer to aspivotage(‘pivoting’), i.e. the grammatical shaping of pivot patterns ‘in the making’. Based on these findings, we argue that the [clause-NP-clause] pivot pattern testifies to the adaptive, emergent and thoroughly temporal nature of grammar.

This article argues that the agent position of bei must be occupied by a syntactic entity-overt or covert-by examining the backward-looking centers (Cb) and center transitions in Chinese discourse segments containing bei-utterances using Centering Theory. We show that discourse segments with overt or zero objects of bei all prefer center continuation, that both types of objects can function as the backward center so as to maintain discourse coherence, and that they both can function as the antecedent of a pronoun in the subsequent clause. Their difference lies only in the fact that an overt object of bei may provide a possible Cb for the following utterance, while the role of a zero object is only to maintain center continuation, hence keep the fluency of the information flow in question. With this data analysis, we aim to support the traditional 'Ellipsis Approach' regarding long and short passives, namely that both long and short passives have the same syntactic structure-with a syntactic bei object, and their difference only lies in their different roles in discourse.

Nun-Marked Remnant Allowing pro and Beyond in the Ciman Construction

The compatibility of the nun-marked remnants in the ciman-construction allowing null pronominalization is attributed to their counterparts’ syntactically independent state. The accusative-marked possessor or the adjunct is syntactically independent sate out of its immediately following nominal in the sentence-level context. That is, it is syntactically independent out of its following pro, modifying the verbal predicate, which induces it to allow pro (Lee 2013b). The counterpart of the nun-marked remnant undergoing null pronominalization allows a multiple case marking (i.e., MCM) type or adjunct type construction. The nun-marked remnant entailing the seeming possessum may also show up in the subsequent clause of the ciman construction even when the counterpart of the nun-marked remnant does not allow an MCM or adjunct construction. At this point, it is selected by the verbal predicate, which triggers a bleeding problem.

Milestone for Null Pronominalization in the Ciman-Construction: A Reply to An (2013)

The marker nun attached to the relevant nominal in the subsequent clause of the ciman construction is not a plain topic one, but rather a contrastive topic one (Lee 2013a). This induces its contrastive counterpart to be retrieved out of the preceding clause. If the counterpart is identified and may be syntactically independent of its following nominal, the next step is that the nun-marked remnant allows null pronominalization. Beyond the multiple case marking construction (i.e., MCM) context, this may even be extended to the non-MCM context. The nominative- or accusative-marked genuine possessor or the adjunct, which can be replaced by the genitive-marked element, acts separately from its immediately following nominal in the sentence-level context, which induces the nun-marked remnant in the second clause to allow null pronominalization. This is also what the nun-marked goal in the subsequent clause of the ciman construction allowing the double accusative construction shows. As a result, the null pronominalization of the Minor Argument (i.e., null pronominalization of sonkalak-ul in Tom-uy sonkalak-ul Tom-GEN finger-ACC which is Minor Argument Pronominalization (i.e., MAP) in Ans (2012a) term) in the MCM context and the other null pronominalization in the non-MCM context are both the same null argument phenomenon even though the former is involved in the nun-marked remnants ownership of the Minor Argument.

Contrastive Marker Nun and Minor Argument Pronominalization in the Ciman Construction

The so-called ciman construction requires the obligatory introduction of the contrastive (topic) marker nun to the relevant element in the subsequent clause when its Minor Argument (i.e., sonkalak ‘finger’ in Tom-uy sonkalak ‘Tom-GEN finger’) undergoes null pronominalization (i.e., pro). The contrastive marker nun attached to the relevant nominal in the subsequent clause induces its contrastive counterpart to be retrieved from the preceding clause. If it is identified, the next step is that the contrastive nun-marked remnant allows null pronominalization of the Minor Argument (i.e., Minor Argument Pronominalization (MAP) in Ans (2012a) term). Though the preceding genitive phrase allows a multiple case marking construction (i.e., MCM), the nun-marked remnant in the subsequent clause doesnt always allow MAP. It permits MAP only when it has ownership of the Minor Argument. This is in accordance with the observation that the nun-marked goal in the subsequent clause of the ciman construction allows MAP only when its counterpart is marked by the accusative case in the sense that the accusative-marked goal, for example, Chelswu-lul ‘Chelswu-ACC’, is also a prospective possessor of the referent of the direct object (i.e., Minor Argument here).

So mechanical or routine: The not original in Feist

AbstractThe United States Supreme Court case of 1991, Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Service Co., continues to be highly significant for property in data and databases, but remains poorly understood. The approach taken in this article contrasts with previous studies. It focuses upon the “not original” rather than the original. The delineation of the absence of a modicum of creativity in selection, coordination, and arrangement of data as a component of the not original forms a pivotal point in the Supreme Court decision. The author also aims at elucidation rather than critique, using close textual exegesis of the Supreme Court decision. The results of the exegesis are translated into a more formal logical form to enhance clarity and rigor.The insufficiently creative is initially characterized as “so mechanical or routine.” Mechanical and routine are understood in their ordinary discourse senses, as a conjunction or as connected by AND, and as the central clause. Subsequent clauses amplify the senses of mechanical and routine without disturbing their conjunction.The delineation of the absence of a modicum of creativity can be correlated with classic conceptions of computability. The insufficiently creative can then be understood as a routine selection, coordination, or arrangement produced by an automatic mechanical procedure or algorithm. An understanding of a modicum of creativity and of copyright law is also indicated.The value of the exegesis and interpretation is identified as its final simplicity, clarity, comprehensiveness, and potential practical utility.

The Role of Iconic Gestures in Speech Disambiguation: ERP Evidence

The present series of experiments explored the extent to which iconic gestures convey information not found in speech. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded as participants watched videos of a person gesturing and speaking simultaneously. The experimental sentences contained an unbalanced homonym in the initial part of the sentence (e.g., She controlled the ball ...) and were disambiguated at a target word in the subsequent clause (which during the game ... vs. which during the dance ...). Coincident with the initial part of the sentence, the speaker produced an iconic gesture which supported either the dominant or the subordinate meaning. Event-related potentials were time-locked to the onset of the target word. In Experiment 1, participants were explicitly asked to judge the congruency between the initial homonym-gesture combination and the subsequent target word. The N400 at target words was found to be smaller after a congruent gesture and larger after an incongruent gesture, suggesting that listeners can use gestural information to disambiguate speech. Experiment 2 replicated the results using a less explicit task, indicating that the disambiguating effect of gesture is somewhat task-independent. Unrelated grooming movements were added to the paradigm in Experiment 3. The N400 at subordinate targets was found to be smaller after subordinate gestures and larger after dominant gestures as well as grooming, indicating that an iconic gesture can facilitate the processing of a lesser frequent word meaning. The N400 at dominant targets no longer varied as a function of the preceding gesture in Experiment 3, suggesting that the addition of meaningless movements weakened the impact of gesture. Thus, the integration of gesture and speech in comprehension does not appear to be an obligatory process but is modulated by situational factors such as the amount of observed meaningful hand movements.

RE-EXAMINING THE WARNING OF ECCL. XII 12

AbstractThis article argues that the imperative "be warned" in Eccl. xii 12 should not be read as part of the opening clause, but rather as part of the subsequent clauses which thus become specific warnings against the tasks which occupied the sages of Qohelet's time.