Markers In Subjects Research Articles

Semantics and pragmatics of (not-)at-issueness in Yucatec Maya attitude reports

English attitude reports like “ x thinks that p ” can be used in two different types of contexts: ones where the Question Under Discussion (QUD) concerns whether or not p is true and ones where the QUD concerns x ’s mental state itself. Yucatec Maya (YM) has two different morphosyntactic forms differing superficially in the presence or absence of the morpheme -e’ , which serves as a topic marker elsewhere in the language. This paper argues that despite these two forms being truth-conditionally equivalent, their use is consistently correlated with which sort of QUD is present in the context. To account for these facts, I develop a particular conception of the relationships between QUDs, relevance, at-issueness, and assertion, building on the account of Simons et al. (2011). Given this theory, I propose a semantics where -e’ encodes that the attitudinal predication is parenthetical — that is, not part of the at-issue proposal (similar to English sentences like “It’s raining, I think”) and instead contributes to what I dub the basis of the proposal. I show that this semantics, together with plausible general pragmatic reasoning, provides an account of the meaning of the two attitude constructions in YM and their distribution in discourse. BibTeX info

A Dynamic Syntax modelling of Japanese and Rangi clefts: parsing incrementality and the growth of interpretation

Japanese and Rangi (a Bantu language) employ cleft constructions to encode pragmatic functions relating to discourse salience. In Japanese, a cleft is formed through the nominaliser ‘no,’ the topic marker ‘wa,’ and the copula ‘da.’ In Rangi, a cleft is formed through the copula ‘ní’ which appears before the focus. This article provides a description of clefts in these two unrelated languages; in particular, Rangi clefts have been understudied, and our description represents a first systematic treatment. The article also develops an account from the new perspective of how a cleft string is parsed left-toright in an online manner (Dynamic Syntax; Cann, R. et al. 2005. The Dynamics of Language. Elsevier). We propose that a number of seemingly idiosyncratic syntactic properties of clefts in these languages (including new data on case-marking patterns of foci in Japanese clefts and the auxiliary placement in Rangi clefts) can be accounted for by reference to left-to-right, online parsing, and the restriction on structural underspecification that is an integral part of the framework. Our account also models parallelisms and differences in Japanese and Rangi clefts in terms of parsing-dynamics.

Between syntax and discourse

AbstractThis article examines the knowledge of topic and subject particles in heritage speakers and L2 learners of Japanese and Korean. We assume that topic marking is mediated at the syntax-information structure interface, while subject marking pertains to narrow syntax. In comparing phenomena mediated at different levels of linguistic organization, we provide evidence for the hypothesis that information structure-level phenomena present greater challenges for bilingual speakers than those mediated within syntax. While these results may be interpreted as evidence of generalized interface-related deficits, we show that such a global explanation is not supported. Instead, a more nuanced account is developed, based on the recognition of different types of topic (anaphoric, generic, and contrastive) and different types of subject (descriptive and exhaustive). Under the proposed account, non-native speakers’ deficits follow from three unrelated effects: the status of topic as an interface category, structural complexity, and the memory demands necessary for its interpretation in context.

The Repeated Name Penalty, the Overt Pronoun Penalty, and Topic in Japanese.

When reading sentences with an anaphoric reference to a subject antecedent, repeated-name anaphors result in slower reading times relative to pronouns (the Repeated Name Penalty: RNP), and overt pronouns are read slower than null pronouns (the Overt Pronoun Penalty: OPP). Because in most languages previously tested, the grammatical subject is typically also the discourse topic it remains unclear whether these effects reflect anaphors' subject-hood or their topic-hood. To address this question we conducted a self-paced reading experiment in Japanese, a language which morphologically marks both subjects and topics overtly. Our results show that both repeated-name topic-subject anaphors and repeated-name non-topic-subject anaphors exhibit the RNP and that both overt-pronoun topic-subject and overt-pronoun non-topic-subject anaphors show the OPP. However, a detailed examination of performance revealed an interaction between the anaphor topic marking, reference form, and the antecedent's grammatical status, indicating that the effect of the antecedent's grammatical status is strongest for null pronoun and repeated name subject anaphors and that the overt form most similar to null pronouns is the repeated name topic anaphor. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of anaphor processing.

Topic and left periphery in Shanghainese

This paper aims to present a novel picture of the left periphery in Shanghainese with special reference to the position of topic. We find that, contrary to “major-vs.-sub-vs.-sub-sub-topic” distinction, all TopPs in Shanghainese land outside IP. The only landing site for pre-posed adverbs is Spec-TopP (rather than an independent Mod(ifier)P). Int(errogative)P is always generated lower than TopP. The difference between NP topics and AdvP topics lies in that the former can be headed by both spelt (with lexical topic marker) and silent (with comma intonation) heads, while the latter can only land in the Spec position of a spelt head. We also prove that there is a lower FocP within IP in Shanghainese. The FocP in CP and that in IP, however, allows of no co-occurrence. Finally, the left periphery in Shanghainese is described as: (Foc) Top (Foc) Int (Foc) … We find that up to three topics may be allowed in this dedicated position in Shanghainese.

When can Topics be Questioned?

The indirect object of the double object construction (DOC) cannot undergo wh-movement, but it can be extracted when the direct object is also a wh-phrase. This article proposes that this peculiarity follows from the fact that the indirect object is a topic. One of the characteristics of topic is that it is definite/specific, and so wh-phrases resist being attached by a topic marker. However, there are some contexts in which they can co-occur with the topic marker. If the members of the potential topics are all enumerated or universally quantified, wh-phrases can be questioned. It is because the topic phrase requires a presupposed set for interpretation, and this requirement can be satisfied if the members of the potential topics are universally quantified. This article shows that this claim sheds light on the peculiar pattern of the object in the DOC.

Mismatch of topic between Japanese and Korean

This paper presents a new analysis of Japanese and Korean topic markers, focusing on their mismatch in written narrative discourse. We argue against the common assumption that the Japanese topic marker wa and the Korean topic marker nun exhibit equivalent structural, semantic, and discourse-pragmatic properties by showing that they in fact involve different types of definiteness. In particular, we argue that the Korean topic marker encodes “episode-old” entities; it can only refer back to an entity that has been mentioned in the current episode, and an old entity is often re-introduced using the nominative marker ka across an episode boundary. On the other hand, the Japanese topic marker marks “hearer-old” entities; it often refers to an entity that is not explicitly mentioned but still inferred or assumed to be in the common ground. We present the evidence obtained from a comparison of Bible translations in Japanese and Korean and picture-elicited written narratives.

Topics and topic prominence in two sign languages

In this paper we describe topic marking in Russian Sign Language (RSL) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) and discuss whether these languages should be considered topic prominent. The formal markers of topics in RSL are sentence-initial position, a prosodic break following the topic, and non-manual markers, including eyebrow raise and backward head tilt. In NGT all these markers are used, too, but sometimes topics are also marked by clause-final pointing signs referring back to the topic of the sentence (sentence-final topic copying); this was not found in RSL. Topics in RSL and NGT are not marked obligatorily. Eyebrow raise and head tilt only mark shifted aboutness topics. In both RSL and NGT the VS order is used in thetic sentences. However, this strategy is optional, so the SV order is also accepted in thetic sentences. According to the criteria of topic prominence summarized by Sze (2008), RSL and NGT cannot be considered topic prominent. We argue that the notion of topic prominence should be considered gradual.

Construction Grammar and Corpus Linguistics: The Example of Spanish Con Respecto a/de ‘with Respect to’

This study adopts a constructionist approach to the diachronic development of the Spanish topic marker con respecto a/de ‘with respect to’. The study is on the one hand qualitative, on the other hand quantitative in nature. Con respecto a/de is considered a construction, and its characteristics as well as its use are described. It is shown that the topic marking construction is used in various syntactic positions and that its frequency in use has increased over time. The data are retrieved from the corpus programme Corpus del español.

The Overuse of the Copula “Be” in Talk-in-Interaction by Novice Korean Learners of English

The additional use of the copula be has been found in the oral and written data of novice Korean English learners. Several studies attributed the phenomenon to cross-linguistic influence; the transfer of topic and subject marker of the L1. This study examines the additional be and be-involving expressions found in the spoken data made by five low and low-intermediate level Korean English learners’ talk-in-interaction: one dyadic and the other quaternary. Additional be occurrences are thoroughly examined with the emic perspective of Conversation Analysis. Firstly, according to this study’s findings, an overgenerated be shows the developmental aspect of the L2 speakers, with regard to their interlanguage stage and the capacity of tense and negation inflection. Secondly, overgenerated be and be-involving expressions are deployed as an international resource in doing repair by novice speakers, as a way of enacting a turn-holding strategy to complete their turn successfully, with the aim of making time for thinking and planning their next utterances.

Characteristics of neurological status in children with schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder

To study characteristics of neurological status in children with schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder. A study included 80 children, aged from 5 to 10 years: 38 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia (ICD-10 F20.8хх3) and 42 with schizotypal disorder (F21). Children of both groups had a wide spectrum of neurological symptoms, diffuseness of which indicated the disintegration of the multilevel system of motor analyzer. No topical between-group differences were found whereas their intensity and frequency was not correlated to either the severity or a stage (exacerbation - remission) of disease. The more marked was disease progression and severity of mental disorders, the greater was the amount and clearness of neurological disorders. There was a predominance of disorders of motor regulation and integration, various extrapyramidal disturbances. As a consequence, in absence of paresis and paralyses, there was not merely the alteration of the function per se but rather of its integrity, completeness, consistency with other mental acts that turned to be the neurologic equivalent of discordance and inconsistency of mental functions specific of schizophrenia. These neurological symptoms may be considered as topic markers of the changes in the brain and dynamics of endogenous process. Transitory and instable character of these symptoms, along with the deficits of extrapyramidal and cortical regulation outside of the process exacerbation, indicates the insufficiency of neurotransmitter mechanisms.

English Raising Constructions and Their Korean Translations

This paper was to investigate subject-to-subject [SS] raising and subject-to-object [SO] raising constructions in English as well as the linguistic factors which affect the Korean translations of the raising constructions. This study mainly discussed four main concerns. First, there is difference in the markedness of the raising depending on the SS or SO raising in terms of the frequency of tokens in English and Korean. Second, SS raising constructions in both languages are prominently used for the topicality of the raised subject, and the topicality in the SS raising is reflected in the Korean translations by the choice of the topic marker or nominative marker. However, the topicality in the SO raising in English is not clearly reflected by the SO raising in the Korean translations. Third, it is claimed that the modality predicates in English induce much more SS raising than their corresponding non-raising construction. In the translated version, almost all instances of the SS raising are translated with the raising construction in Korean. Fourth, the SO raising in the translations are conditioned by the feature of contrastive meaning.

Is Korean -(n)un a topic marker? On the nature of -(n)un and its relation to information structure

Basic categories of information structure (e.g. topic, focus, contrast) are known to be crosslinguistically expressed by various linguistic devices such as special intonation contours, syntactic mechanisms, and morphological markers. However, the nature of the relation between the categories and their linguistic “markers” has been rarely discussed. To be more specific, despite the rich literature on information structure, whether the categories are directly or indirectly related to their markers has not been of much interest to linguists until quite recently. The main purpose of this paper is to unveil the nature of the relation between Korean -(n)un and the information-structural notions related to it, namely, topic and contrast. Based on a corpus study, it will be claimed that -(n)un is not a topic/contrast marker per se but its function is to impose salience on a discourse referent. Topicality and contrast, widely assumed to be directly marked by -(n)un, will be claimed to be only derived from the interaction of the proposed meaning of -(n)un and various syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors. Consequently, this paper provides a strong support for recent attempts to show that the information-structural categories are merely pragmatic effects rather than stable and discrete universal primitives.

Information structure, (inter)subjectivity and objectification

This paper discusses how information structure can be seen as a subjective and intersubjective concept in Verhagen's (2005) and Breban's (2010) definitions, though less so in Traugott's (2010) use of the terms. More difficult is the question of whethermarkersof information structure can be characterised as (inter)subjective; this is more easily determined for morphological markers than for prosody or word order. For unambiguous markers of information structure, I suggest that their emergence (e.g. copula > focus marker) is typically accompanied by (inter)subjectification, whereas their further development (e.g. topic marker > subject marker) displays objectification. The paper not only shows that grammatical items can undergo an increase as well as a decrease in (inter)subjectivity – thus denying strict unidirectionality – but also confirms that these processes are independent of grammaticalisation.

Embedded wa-phrases, predication, and judgment theory

Topic marking with the particle wa is a prevalent phenomenon in Japanese, and it is generally considered a root phenomenon, as its appearance is much more restricted under embedding. While it has been pointed out that there are some types of embedded clauses that allow wa-phrases, relative clauses present the most restricted linguistic environment for the particle. This exceptional restrictiveness cannot be attributed to a general constraint on wa in embedded contexts. Adopting Kuroda’s (Japanese syntax and semantics, 1992) theory of wa-marking, I argue that the restriction on wa in relative clauses is a result of the clash between two distinct notions of ‘predication’; the general understanding of the term relevant to the predicate abstraction process in a relative clause and Kuroda’s notion of predication, which is structurally manifested in a sentence with wa. Specifically, the lack of wa-marking in relative clauses is due to the illicit abstraction process that crosses over wa-phrases. It will be shown that the analysis has many consequences beyond relative clauses. In particular, it explains the wide scope tendency of topic phrases and the distribution of wa in as diverse sentence types as wh-interrogatives, scrambled sentences, cleft sentences, and clausal comparatives.

Las funciones pragmático-discursivas de <em>en este sentido</em>

This study analyse the real uses of the fixed construction en este sentido from a polyfunctional approach. The most frequent function consists of marking the continuation of topic and indexing the unit in a special frame, so en este sentido is linked with connectives and also with topic markers. In addition, en este sentido reduces its scope and works as a topic operator and as a contrastive focal particle.

Timing and magnitude of systolic stretch affect myofilament activation and mechanical work.

Dyssynchronous activation of the heart leads to abnormal regional systolic stretch. In vivo studies have suggested that the timing of systolic stretch can affect regional tension and external work development. In the present study, we measured the direct effects of systolic stretch timing on the magnitude of tension and external work development in isolated murine right ventricular papillary muscles. A servomotor was used to impose precisely timed stretches relative to electrical activation while a force transducer measured force output and strain was monitored using a charge-couple device camera and topical markers. Stretches taking place during peak intracellular Ca(2+) statistically increased peak tension up to 270%, whereas external work due to stretches in this interval reached values of 500 J/m. An experimental analysis showed that time-varying elastance overestimated peak tension by 100% for stretches occurring after peak isometric tension. The addition of the force-velocity relation explained some effects of stretches occurring before the peak of the Ca(2+) transient but had no effect in later stretches. An estimate of transient deactivation was measured by performing quick stretches to dissociate cross-bridges. The timing of transient deactivation explained the remaining differences between the model and experiment. These results suggest that stretch near the start of cardiac tension development substantially increases twitch tension and mechanical work production, whereas late stretches decrease external work. While the increased work can mostly be explained by the time-varying elastance of cardiac muscle, the decreased work in muscles stretched after the peak of the Ca(2+) transient is largely due to myofilament deactivation.

Timing and magnitude of prestretch strongly affect cardiac muscle tension development (545.2)

Ectopic ventricular pacing leads to regional myocardial prestretch. In‐vivo studies suggest that the timing of prestretch determines the effect on pump function and can lead to regional wall remodeling. Here we measure the direct effects of prestretch timing on the magnitude of tension development in isolated cardiac muscle. The effects of prestretch were simulated using excised murine right ventricular papillary muscles. A servo motor was used to impose precisely timed stretches, while a force transducer measured force output and strain was monitored using a CCD camera and topical markers. A critical stretch timing interval was observed to statistically increase peak tension by as much as 500%, while shortening during this interval inhibited peak tension significantly by as much as 40%. A simple model consisting of experimentally obtained time varying elastance and the force‐velocity relation could not completely explain the results. An estimate of shortening deactivation was measured by performing quick stretches to dissociate crossbridges. The results showed that the timing of shortening deactivation could explain the remaining differences between the model and the experimental results. These evaluations have led us to the conclusion that prestretches performed at slow physiologic velocities cause alterations in twitch kinetics that cannot be explained solely by time varying elastance.

Elevated percentage of HLA-DR+ and ICAM-1+ conjunctival epithelial cells in active Graves’ orbitopathy

BackgroundTo evaluate if conjunctival epithelial cells’ expression of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 could be helpful as early topical markers of inflammation in Graves’ orbitopathy (GO).MethodsThe ocular examination evaluated a clinical activity score (CAS) by assessment of clinical features, (e.g., eyelid or conjunctival inflammation, lid width, lid closure, proptosis, ocular motility). Conjunctival epithelial cell specimens for flow-cytometric evaluations of ICAM-I and HLADR expression were collected by impression cytology from ten eyes with active GO (CAS ≥ 4 and duration ≤ 12 months), from 15 eyes with Graves’ disease (GD) without active GO (CAS 0–2) and from 15 normal specimens without any ocular disorders.ResultsThe percentage of HLA-DR + conjunctival epithelial cells was significantly elevated in patients with active GO comparing to GD without active GO and healthy controls, 10.7 % (8.5–17.7) and 7.78 % (3.92–10.1) (p < 0.05) vs. control 4.89 % (3.5–5.5) (p < 0.005), respectively. The expression of ICAM − 1+ conjunctival epithelial cells was greater only in patients with GO vs. controls, 5.5 % (4.8–7.03) and 1.46 % (0.69–2.51) (p < 0.005), respectively.ConclusionThe percentage of HLA-DR+ and ICAM-1+ conjunctival epithelial cells in patients with the active GO may serve as a topical inflammation marker in Graves’ orbitopathy.

Long-axis rotation: a missing degree of freedom in avian bipedal locomotion.

Ground-dwelling birds are typically characterized as erect bipeds having hind limbs that operate parasagittally. Consequently, most previous research has emphasized flexion/extension angles and moments as calculated from a lateral perspective. Three-dimensional (3D) motion analyses have documented non-planar limb movements, but the skeletal kinematics underlying changes in foot orientation and transverse position remain unclear. In particular, long-axis rotation of the proximal limb segments is extremely difficult to measure with topical markers. Here, we present six degree of freedom skeletal kinematic data from maneuvering guineafowl acquired by marker-based XROMM (X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology). Translations and rotations of the hips, knees, ankles and pelvis were derived from animated bone models using explicit joint coordinate systems. We distinguished sidesteps, sidestep yaws, crossover yaws, sidestep turns and crossover turns, but birds often performed a sequence of blended partial maneuvers. Long-axis rotation of the femur (up to 38 deg) modulated the foot's transverse position. Long-axis rotation of the tibiotarsus (up to 65 deg) also affected medio-lateral positioning, but primarily served to either re-orient a swing phase foot or yaw the body about a stance phase foot. Tarsometatarsal long-axis rotation was minimal, as was hip, knee and ankle abduction/adduction. Despite having superficially hinge-like joints, birds coordinate substantial long-axis rotations of the hips and knees to execute complex 3D maneuvers while striking a diversity of non-planar poses.