Types Of Ellipsis Research Articles

Unifying prosody and syntax for right- and left-edge coordinate ellipsis

In this article, two types of ellipsis with apparently quite different properties are accounted for in a derivational grammar model that employs both prosodic and syntactic tools for eliminating many of the surface dissimilarities. A central operation of this model is Copy α via Active Memory, adapted from work by Frazier and Clifton [Syntax 4 (2001) 1], whereby an initial conjunct of a coordinate structure is copied and later matched with the second (and subsequent) conjunct(s). Licensing of the ellipse at the right- and left-edges in the respective constructions occurs in a typical asymmetric c-command relation; in right-edge ellipsis, a syntactic feature, mapped to a focus feature in PF, is the licenser, while in left-edge ellipsis, the coordinating conjunction licenses the ellipse. In the derivation of both forms of ellipsis, cyclic rule application in the syntactic component precedes Copy α, i.e. derivation must precede conjunction, reflecting the surface-based properties of the ellipsis types. However, “deep” syntactic operations underlie the surface relations and play a crucial role in establishing the domains in which ellipsis operates. It will be shown that these are best accounted for in a derivational model.

Does Agrammatic Speech Constitute a Regression to Child Language? A Three-Way Comparison between Agrammatic, Child, and Normal Ellipsis

When children are in the process of learning their mother tongue, they show frequent use of nonfinite clauses, even though they produce finite clauses at the same time, thereby demonstrating the availability of the functional domain associated with finiteness. In this study the hypothesis was tested that this behavior results from an overuse of the normal elliptical repertoire that has also been observed in agrammatic aphasia. The purpose of this overuse is prevention of computational overload. In support of the hypothesis it was found that children behaved very similar to aphasics and normal adults with respect to the following parameters: (a) distribution of types of ellipsis, (b) elaboration of ellipses, (c) word order, (d) subject omission, (e) frequency of weak subject pronouns, and (f) verb type (eventivity). The results also support the Jackson/Jakobson regression hypothesis, at least at the grammatical level.

Another look at ellipsis Non-native recoverability of ellipsis and its implications for linguistic competence

Abstract In syntactically defined ellipsis words are ellipted if they are uniquely recoverable, i.e. if the words to be supplied are uniquely determined, and the antecedents of the ellipted words are usually found in the preceding linguistic context. This study examines samples of ellipsis which non-native speakers of English find difficult to process, and uncovers a different kind of ellipsis that has rarely been noted in traditional grammars. In this type of ellipsis, the antecedent of what is ellipted is not in the neighboring linguistic environment, and yet can easily be recovered by native speakers. The ellipted elements are often part of the constituents of so-called `collocations', and encyclopedic common-sense knowledge sometimes plays a crucial role to help retrieve what is ellipted. After the examination of various examples of this type of ellipsis it is concluded that native speaker/hearers' recoverability of ellipsis refers to the sum total of the knowledge that they have internalized, both linguistic and extra-linguistic, inextricably bound together.

Ellipse et sens littéral chez Searle

DOMINIQUE BEGUE: Ellipsis and literal meaning in SearIe's theory. Searle puts forward the idea that the postulates constitutive of meaning are basically incomplete and suggests that there is no such thing as a «zero or context» for an utterance. This annihilates Frege's contrast between potential reference and actual reference. Searle is thus led to distinguish two types of ellipsis connected to the speaker's activity: contextual ellipsis and contingent ellipsis. Contingent ellipsis is linked to the definition of the postulates that constitute meaning. Similarly, Searle is led to distinguish between «contingent» presupposition and contextual presupposition. Besides the reformulation of presupposition theory, Searle's questioning the existence of literal meaning compels him to take a stand on the relation between language and truth. Such a position, clearly deducible from Searle's proposals, eventually casts doubt on the linguistic specificity of the linguist's present field of study.

Language as a product of dialogue∗

Studies of adults' speech to language‐learning children indicate that children hear a language sample which is probably well suited to their developing linguistic needs. How to characterize the relationship between adult speech and child language development remains, however, an unsettled issue. This study proposes one important function for adult‐child dialogues in the developmental process. The dialogue provides the child with opportunities to participate with adults in creating linguistic relationships of which he/she would be incapable alone. This proposal is similar to the “zone of proximal development” discussed by Vygotsky and reviewed here. Data for the study come from dialogues between mothers and their children between the ages of 20 and 32 months. As a reflection of another proposal, that dialogue can only be adequately described in terms of discourse level relations, the specific area of investigation was the discourse level relation ellipsis. Dialogues were coded with categories of ellipsis and in terms of the sequential order of speakers. Results indicate that 1) Categories of ellipsis develop in an orderly manner simultaneously with the development of syntax (as measured by mean length of utterance); 2) Categories of ellipsis emerge in between‐speaker sequences; 3) Children participate in elliptical relations before they have developed syntax; 4) Mothers use all types of ellipsis in within‐speaker speech, regardless of their children's linguistic level, but their between‐speaker use of ellipsis is adjusted to child's level of language by virtue of the rules of ellipsis; and 5) The dialogue per se changes as the child develops.

A Type of Ellipsis in Old Norse

A Type of Ellipsis in Old Norse