Instruments And Related Concepts At The Syntax Semantics Interface

Author : Koen Van Hooste
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2018-04-30
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110720365

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Instruments and Related Concepts at the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Koen Van Hooste Pdf

Instruments constitute a classic member of the thematic role inventory, yet they are usually analyzed only peripherally, taking a back seat to the more studied members such as Agent and Patient. This dissertation investigates the semantic reality behind the label instrument from the functionalist perspective of Role & Reference Grammar. Starting from a theoretical investigation of what instrumentality truly means when contrasted with related concepts like comitatives, this book explores the morphosyntactic realization of instruments across a wide range of typologically diverse languages. Apart from the standard occurrences of instruments that come to mind from languages such as Latin, German or English, this book delves into several less common constructions that feature the instrument relation. Such constructions include, amongst others, passives with instruments and particularly the Instrument-Subject Alternation, a construction where the instrument seemingly appears as the subject of the sentence. This construction displays variation along three dimensions: 1) The instrument can vary from a very simple tool to a complicated machine, 2) the predicate can vary substantially and 3) languages differ widely with respect to the construction's acceptability. This makes for a complex playing field where the animacy of the instrument but also the aktionsart class of the predicate play a major role. The last section of this book deals with linking the semantics of instruments and related concepts to their morphosyntactic realizations, including the various encoding strategies that are available in any given language. This book also features a concise introduction to Role & Reference Grammar. Dissertations in Language and Cognition: This series explores issues of mental representation, linguistic structure and representation, and their interplay. The research presented in this series is grounded in the idea explored in the Collaborative Research Center 'The structure of representations in language, cognition and science' (SFB 991) that there is a universal format for the representation of linguistic and cognitive concepts.

Author : Jens Fleischhauer,Anja Latrouite,Rainer Osswald
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2016-09-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110720297

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Explorations of the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Jens Fleischhauer,Anja Latrouite,Rainer Osswald Pdf

The articles in this volume present original research on the encoding of meaning in a variety of constructions and languages. Many of the contributions take the framework of Role and Reference Grammar as a point of reference, either by applying it to the analysis of linguistic data or by discussing, extending, and challenging some of its assumptions. The topics of the articles range from general questions concerning the relation of meaning and its syntactic realization to the study of specific grammatical phenomena in a number of typologically diverse languages, including Yucatec Maya, Kabardian, Tagalog, Murik-Kopar, Avatime, Whitesands, Tundra Yukaghir, and various Indo-European languages. The articles will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working on the interface between syntax, semantics and pragmatics. This series 'Studies in Language and Cognition' explores issues of mental representation, linguistic structure and representation, and their interplay. The research presented in this series is grounded in the idea explored in the Collaborative Research Center `The structure of representations in language, cognition and science' (SFB 991) that there is a universal format for the representation of linguistic and cognitive concepts.

Author : Robert D. Van Valin
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2005-07-07
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0521811791

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Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Robert D. Van Valin Pdf

This book looks at how syntax, semantics and pragmatics interact in different ways across human languages.

Author : Carol Tenny
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789401111508

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Aspectual Roles and the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Carol Tenny Pdf

All work is work in progress. The ideas developed in this work could be (and probably will be) developed further, revised, and expanded. But it was time to write them down and send them out. Some of these ideas about linking had their origins in my 1987 dissertation. However, this work has grown beyond the dissertation in a number of important ways. The most important of these advances lie in, first, articulating aspectual roles as linguistic objects over which lexical semantic phenomena can be stated, and over which linking generalizations are stated; second, recognizing that syntactic phenomena may be classified as to whether or not they are sensitive to the core event of event structure; and third, recognizing the modularity of aspectual and thematic/conceptual structure, and associating that modularity with a difference between language-specific and universal language generalizations. The three chapters of the book are organized around these ideas. I have tried to state these ideas as strong theses. Where they make strong predictions I have meant them to do so, as a probe for future research. I hope that other researchers will take up the challenge to investigate, test and develop these ideas across a wider realm of languages than I --as one person --can do.

Author : Pauline I. Jacobson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199677153

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Compositional Semantics by Pauline I. Jacobson Pdf

This book provides an introduction to compositional semantics and to the syntax/semantics interface. It is rooted within the tradition of model theoretic semantics, and develops an explicit fragment of both the syntax and semantics of a rich portion of English. Professor Jacobson adopts a Direct Compositionality approach, whereby the syntax builds the expressions while the semantics simultaneously assigns each a model-theoretic interpretation. Alongside this approach, the author also presents a competing view that makes use of an intermediate level, Logical Form. She develops parallel treatments of a variety of phenomena from both points of view with detailed comparisons. The book begins with simple and fundamental concepts and gradually builds a more complex fragment, including analyses of more advanced topics such as focus, negative polarity, and a variety of topics centering on pronouns and binding more generally. Exercises are provided throughout, alongside open-ended questions for students to consider. The exercises are interspersed with the text to promote self-discovery of the fundamentals and their applications. The book provides a rigorous foundation in formal analysis and model theoretic semantics and is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in linguistics, philosophy of language, and related fields.

Author : I. Comorovski
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 203 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-17
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789401586887

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Interrogative Phrases and the Syntax-Semantics Interface by I. Comorovski Pdf

Interrogative Phrases and the Syntax-Semantics Interface starts by analyzing the interpretation of interrogative phrases in single and multiple constituent questions, including their interpretation under adverbs of quantification. The results are then put to work in a novel approach to some of the constraints on dependencies between fronted interrogative phrases and the associated gaps: superiority, weak crossover, as well as the so-called `weak islands' (the WH-island, the negative island and the Factive Island). It is argued that the possibility of fronting an interrogative phrase out of these configurations is determined by a semantic/pragmatic condition on questions, which requires them to be answerable. The analysis is worked out principally on Romanian, a language which allows multiple wh-fronting. The results are then extended to English. Audience: Researchers and students in syntax, semantics and their interface, as well as linguists studying the relation between the acceptability of sentences and the larger discourse context.

Author : Delia Bentley,Ricardo Mairal Usón,Wataru Nakamura,Robert D. Van Valin, Jr
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 1014 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2023-06-07
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781009353557

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The Cambridge Handbook of Role and Reference Grammar by Delia Bentley,Ricardo Mairal Usón,Wataru Nakamura,Robert D. Van Valin, Jr Pdf

Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a theory of language in which linguistic structures are accounted for in terms of the interplay of discourse, semantics and syntax. With contributions from a team of leading scholars, this Handbook provides a field-defining overview of RRG. Assuming no prior knowledge, it introduces the framework step-by-step, and includes a pedagogical guide for instructors. It features in-depth discussions of syntax, morphology, and lexical semantics, including treatments of lexical and grammatical categories, the syntax of simple clauses and complex sentences, and how the linking of syntax with semantics and discourse works in each of these domains. It illustrates RRG's contribution to the study of language acquisition, language change and processing, computational linguistics, and neurolinguistics, and also contains five grammatical sketches which show how RRG analyses work in practice. Comprehensive yet accessible, it is essential reading for anyone who is interested in how grammar interfaces with meaning.

Author : Hajičová, Eva
Publisher : Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2018-03-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9788024637143

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Syntax–Semantics Interface by Hajičová, Eva Pdf

The volume SYNTAX-SEMANTICS INTERFACE is a collection of selected studies written by Eva Hajičová and published between the years 1973 and 2014. The contributions are based on the theoretical framework of the Functional Generative Description as proposed by Petr Sgall in early sixties and developed further by him and his followers since then. Thematically, the volume reflects the author’s research contributions to four main domains: (i) the specification of the underlying (deep) sentence structure (analyzed in terms of dependency relations), (ii) the information structure of the sentence (topic-focus articulation) and its relation to the specification of presupposition and negation and to other related phenomena, (iii) building of a scheme of annotated corpus of Czech to serve among other things for verification of linguistic theoretical claims, and (iv) some fundamental aspects of discourse structure, namely the notion of the hiearachy of elements in the stock of knowledge shared by the speaker and the hearer. All the papers except for one have been originally published in English and in they pay due respect to a comparison of the author’s original findings with the currrent state-of-the-art of linguistic theory at home and abroad.

Author : Lukasz Jedrzejowski,Ulrike Demske
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2017-06-26
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110518597

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Infinitives at the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Lukasz Jedrzejowski,Ulrike Demske Pdf

The major aim of this volume is to investigate infinitival structures from a diachronic point of view and, simultaneously, to embed the diachronic findings into the ongoing theoretical discussion on non-finite clauses in general. All contributions subscribe to a dynamic approach to infinitival clauses by investigating their origin, development and loss in miscellaneous patterns and across different languages.

Author : Naděžda Kudrnáčová
Publisher : Hledání flow
Page : 135 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : English language
ISBN : 9788021045224

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Directed Motion at the Syntax-semantics Interface by Naděžda Kudrnáčová Pdf

Author : Michael Cysouw
Publisher : Language Science Press
Page : 692 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2023-03-14
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783961104079

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Encyclopaedia of German diatheses by Michael Cysouw Pdf

Diathesis ("valency alternation") is a sentence structure that reshapes the roles of a verb. The prototypical example of such a diathesis is the well-known passive. However, there are very many other such role-remappings, like antipassives, applicatives, causatives, etc. This book presents an encyclopaedic survey of diathesis in German. The objective is to catalogue all diatheses that exist in this language. Currently almost 250 different German diatheses are described in this book, some highly productive, some only attested for a handful of verbs. The main goal of this book is to present this wealth of grammatical possibility in a unified manner, while at the same time attempting to classify and organise this diversity. A summary of the about 80 most prominent diatheses is also provided, including many newly-minted German names, because most these diatheses did not have a German name yet. It might come as a surprise that there are so many different diatheses in German, but my impression is that in this respect German is no exception among the world's languages. I expect that all languages have a similar abundance of different ways in which to construe a sentence around a lexical predicate. In a sense, a diathesis allows for the expression of a distinct perspective on the event described, something that is arguably a common desire of any language user. Except for diathesis this book also aims to completely catalogue its counterpart: epithesis. An epithesis is a derived sentence structure in which the marking of the verb roles remains constant. Basically, these are the grammaticalised constructions expressing tense-aspect-mood-evidentiality in German. The list of major epitheses is also quite long (about 40 constructions), but it is quite a bit smaller than the list of major diatheses (about 80 constructions). This indicates that from a purely grammatical perspective, diathesis ("grammatical voice") is about a two-times more elaborate topic than epithesis ("tense-aspect-mood marking") in German.

Author : Claudia Maienborn,Klaus Heusinger,Paul Portner
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 706 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2019-02-19
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110587296

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Semantics - Interfaces by Claudia Maienborn,Klaus Heusinger,Paul Portner Pdf

Explore the exciting research where semantics meets morphology, syntax and pragmatics. In this book, leading researchers use in-depth articles to explain a wide range of topics at these interfaces, including the semantics of intonation, inflection, compounding, argument structure, type shifting, compositionality, implicature, context dependence, deixis and presupposition. Now in paperback for the first time since its original publication, the highly cited material in this book is an ideal starting point for anyone interested in semantics where it crosses over with other dimensions of grammar.

Author : Chiara Gianollo,Agnes Jäger,Doris Penka
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 366 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2014-12-12
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110352306

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Language Change at the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Chiara Gianollo,Agnes Jäger,Doris Penka Pdf

Bringing together diachronic research from a variety of perspectives, notably typology, formal syntax and semantics, this volume focuses on the interplay of syntactic and semantic factors in language change - an issue so far largely neglected both in (mostly lexical) historical semantics as well as historical syntax, but recently brought into focus by grammaticalization theory as well as Minimalist diachronic syntax. The contributions draw on data from numerous Indo-European languages including Vedic Sanskrit, Middle Indic, Greek as well as English and German, and discuss a range of phenomena such as change in negation markers, indefinite articles, quantifiers, modal verbs, argument structure among others. The papers analyze diachronic evidence in the light of contemporary syntactic and semantic theory, addressing the crucial question of how syntactic and semantic change are linked, and whether both are governed by similar constraints, principles and systematic mechanisms. The volume will appeal to scholars in historical linguistics and formal theories of syntax and semantics.

Author : Pritty Patel-Grosz,Patrick Georg Grosz,Sarah Zobel
Publisher : Springer
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2017-10-18
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783319567068

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Pronouns in Embedded Contexts at the Syntax-Semantics Interface by Pritty Patel-Grosz,Patrick Georg Grosz,Sarah Zobel Pdf

This volume presents studies on pronouns in embedded contexts, and offers fundamental insights into this central area of research. Much of the recent research on pronouns has shown that embedded environments, such as clausal complements of attitude predicates, provide a window into the nature of pronouns. Pronouns in such environments not only exhibit familiar distinctions such as that between bound and referential pronouns; if they refer to the attitude holder, they also participate in a broader range of phenomena, e.g., distinguishing between a de se reading (involving a conscious self-directed belief) and a de re reading (involving an accidental belief about oneself). Topics covered include: the semantics of attitude reports that contain pronominal elements, the semantics of pronominal features and their connection to indexicality, new insights in the connection of pronominal typology and logophoricity or anti-logophoricity, and finally, the localization of embedded pronouns within a bigger picture involving the nature of perspective and the analysis of quasi-pronominal phenomena such as sequence of tense.

Author : Uli Sauerland,Hans-Martin Gärtner
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 298 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2008-09-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110207552

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Interfaces + Recursion = Language? by Uli Sauerland,Hans-Martin Gärtner Pdf

Human language is a phenomenon of immense richness: It provides finely nuanced means of expression that underlie the formation of culture and society; it is subject to subtle, unexpected constraints like syntactic islands and cross-over phenomena; different mutually-unintelligeable individual languages are numerous; and the descriptions of individual languages occupy thousands of pages. Recent work in linguistics, however, has tried to argue that despite all appearances to the contrary, the human biological capacity for language may be reducible to a small inventory of core cognitive competencies. The most radical version of this view has emerged from the Minimalist Program: The claim that language consists of only the ability to generate recursive structures by a computational mechanism. On this view, all other properties of language must result from the interaction at the interfaces of that mechanism and other mental systems not exclusively devoted to language. Since language could then be described as the simplest recursive system satisfying the requirements of the interfaces, one can speak of the Minimalist Equation: Interfaces + Recursion = Language. The question whether all the richness of language can be reduced to that minimalist equation has already inspired several fruitful lines of research that led to important new results. While a full assessment of the minimalist equation will require evidence from many different areas of inquiry, this volume focuses especially on the perspective of syntax and semantics. Within the minimalist architecture, this places our concern with the core computational mechanism and the (LF-)interface where recursive structures are fed to interpretation. Specific questions that the papers address are: What kind of recursive structures can the core generator form? How can we determine what the simplest recursive system is? How can properties of language that used to be ascribed to the recursive generator be reduced to interface properties? What effects do syntactic operations have on semantic interpretation? To what extent do models of semantic interpretation support the LF-interface conditions postulated by minimalist syntax?