Surprising dissociations in two Greek agrammatic speakers. Evidence from wh-questions and relative clauses

2011 ◽  
Vol 500 ◽  
pp. e44
Author(s):  
Michaela Nerantzini ◽  
Spyridoula Varlokosta ◽  
Despina Papadopoulou ◽  
Costantin Potagas ◽  
Ioannis Evdokimidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Wh Questions

scholarly journals Thematic Composition and Idiom Variation

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Attila Cserép
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
American English ◽  
Wh Questions

Abstract The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) has been studied to retrieve variant forms of semantically decomposable idioms that have no thematic composition for the purpose of determining whether thematic composition is a necessary criterion for idiom variation as claimed by Horn (2003). The syntactic variants searched for include passive, raising, tough-movement, relative clauses and wh-questions. Horn’s (2003) hypothesis is not fully confirmed, as some variation has been found.

Syntax

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-87
Author(s):  
Jochen Zeller
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Close Relation ◽  
African Languages ◽  
The Status ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Syntactic Properties

This chapter presents an overview of the most important syntactic properties of African languages and language families. It investigates the status of syntactic word categories (noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, etc.) and examines the different word orders and word order alternations that are observed phrase-internally and at the level of the clause. Also discussed are syntactic constructions such as the passive, wh-questions, and relative clauses, as well as morphological phenomena that bear a close relation to syntax, such as case and agreement. Special attention is drawn to syntactic traits which are attested in African languages but which occur rarely, or not at all, outside Africa, such as the SVO–S-Aux-OV word order alternation (found in Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan languages as well as in Northern Khoisan), the construct state nominal (a characteristic of Afro-Asiatic languages), or logophoricity (a feature of subgroups of Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic).

scholarly journals Stages rather than ages in the acquisition of movement structures: Data from sentence repetition and 27696 spontaneous clauses

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naama Friedmann ◽  
Julia Reznick
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Crossing Over ◽  
Syntactic Movement ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Repetition Task

This study explored the order of acquisition of various types of syntactic-movement and embedding structures in Hebrew, using a sentence-repetition task, in which 60 children aged 2;2-3;10 repeated 80 sentences (with a total of 4800 sentences), and an analysis of the spontaneous speech of 61 children aged 1;6-6;1 (27,696 clauses). The sentence repetition task revealed a set order of acquisition of the various types of syntactic movement: A-movement is acquired first, then A-bar-movement, and finally movement of the verb to C. The analysis of spontaneous speech revealed the same order: A-movement of the object of unaccusative verbs to subject position appears first, together with simple SV sentences; then, wh-questions appear, then relative clauses and topicalization, which appear together with embedding of finite clauses, and lastly, V-to-C movement. Previous studies have shown that Hebrew speakers under age six have difficulty comprehending and producing sentences with A-bar-movement in which a lexically-restricted object crosses over a lexically-restricted subject. And indeed, whereas children produced A-bar structures very early (wh-questions from age 1;6, relative-clauses and topicalization from age 2;6), until age 5;8 these structures never included a lexical DP crossing over another lexical DP. Both tasks indicated that the order of structure acquisition is fixed, creating Guttman scales between structures, but different children acquire the same structure at very different ages. It seems that whereas the syntactic path and the stages of structure acquisition along it are constant between children, each child walks this path in their own pace.

The syntax of subordination in Cimbrian and the rationale behind language contact

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ermenegildo Bidese ◽  
Andrea Padovan ◽  
Alessandra Tomaselli
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Unique Pattern ◽  
Syntactic Change ◽  
German Dialects ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Adverbial Clauses ◽  
First Time ◽  
Finite Verb

AbstractThe aim of this contribution is twofold: (i) providing a detailed description of subordination in Cimbrian and (ii) discussing the concept of language contact in terms of feature transfer. As has been recently pointed out, Cimbrian declarative and relative clauses display a unique pattern among the German dialects w.r.t. embedding. In fact, different complementizers trigger different syntax as regards the position of the finite verb. In our contribution, we extend the analysis to adverbial clauses for the first time and also investigate the double pattern of embedding in indirect wh-questions. Our data suggest that contact-induced syntactic change can be explained in terms of transfer of single abstract features.

Experimental Evidence on Island Effects in Spanish Relative Clauses

Probus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Stigliano ◽  
Ming Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Judgment Study ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract Research on islands has been central to linguistic theory for more than 50 years. Its importance relies on the theoretical consequences islands posit for movement and long distance dependencies. In this paper we aim to explore the contrast between a variety of islands in Spanish relative clauses to reveal whether there is any gradience in the strength of the island effects. In order to tease apart fine-grained contrasts we run an acceptability judgment study based on the factorial definition of island, an experimental paradigm that aims to isolate the various factors that can affect the acceptability of a sentence involving island violations. Overall, we found that the five constructions tested (embedded wh-questions, whether-clauses, adjuncts, complex NPs and relative clauses) show island effects in Spanish and that there are limited differences in the size of these effects, which points to a more categorical view of islands.

Experimental Evidence on Island Effects in Spanish Relative Clauses

Probus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-296
Author(s):  
Laura Stigliano ◽  
Ming Xiang
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Judgment Study ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract Research on islands has been central to linguistic theory for more than 50 years. Its importance relies on the theoretical consequences islands posit for movement and long distance dependencies. In this paper we aim to explore the contrast between a variety of islands in Spanish relative clauses to reveal whether there is any gradience in the strength of the island effects. In order to tease apart fine-grained contrasts we run an acceptability judgment study based on the factorial definition of island, an experimental paradigm that aims to isolate the various factors that can affect the acceptability of a sentence involving island violations. Overall, we found that the five constructions tested (embedded wh-questions, whether-clauses, adjuncts, complex NPs and relative clauses) show island effects in Spanish and that there are limited differences in the size of these effects, which points to a more categorical view of islands.

Pied Piping, Feature Percolation and the Structure of the Noun Phrase

1987 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Cowper
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Structural Index ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Feature Percolation

Ross (1967) showed that in relative clauses, not only may the WH-phrase be fronted, but an NP or PP containing the WH-phrase may also be fronted, as shown in (1): (1)a.This is the child [who]i I’ve been hearing stories about ti.b.This is the child [about whom]i I’ve been hearing stories ti.c.This is the child [stories about whom]i I’ve been hearing ti.Ross called this phenomenon “pied piping”. His statement of the pied piping convention is given in (2).(2)Any transformation which is stated in such a way as to effect the reordering of some specified node NP, where this node is preceded and followed by variables in the structural index of the rule, may apply to this NP or to any non-coordinate NP which dominates it, as long as there are no occurrences of any coordinate node, nor of the node S, on the branch connecting the higher node and the specified node. (1967:114)Notice that Ross’s statement applies to any transformation moving an element over a variable. Thus, the prediction is that WH-questions and relative clauses should behave similarly with respect to pied piping. This is not the case, as pointed out by Bresnan (1976:37). Questions seem to be much more limited in what can be pied piped than are relative clauses.

A′ constructions

2021 ◽  
pp. 166-194
Author(s):  
Peter W. Culicover
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Classical Sense ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Conceptual Work ◽  
Canonical Position

This chapter applies the theory of the preceding chapters to A’ constructions, such as wh-questions and relative clauses. The main result of this chapter is that there is a range of ways in which the conceptual ‘work’ associated with these constructions can be expressed in the correspondence between syntax, phonology, and meaning. None of them involve ‘movement’ in the classical sense, although some constructional devices do express links between constituents not in canonical position relative to their governing heads, giving the illusion of movement.

scholarly journals Comprehension Abilities in Greek-speaking Individuals with Probable Alzheimer's Disease. Evidence from wh-questions and Relative Clauses

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 131-132
Author(s):  
E. Molympaki ◽  
M. Nerantzini ◽  
V. Fyndanis ◽  
S. Papageorgiou ◽  
S. Varlokosta
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Wh Questions

Wh-questions and relative clauses in Greek agrammatism: Evidence from comprehension and production

Aphasiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Nerantzini ◽  
Spyridoula Varlokosta ◽  
Despina Papadopoulou ◽  
Roelien Bastiaanse
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Wh Questions
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