Copular clauses in Dene languages: Argument structure and interpretation

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-254
Author(s):  
Nicholas Welch ◽  
Marie-Louise Bouvier White
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Compositional Semantics ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Lifetime Effects ◽  
Copular Clauses

AbstractA widely accepted assumption in both the syntactic and semantic literature is that copulas lack semantic content. A consequent question is how to explain the existence in certain languages of two copular verbs that give rise to different interpretations. Such is the case in numerous languages of the Dene family (formerly known as Athapaskan). We explain this situation with the hypothesis that the copulas realize an underlying three-copula system differing in argument structure. Differences between the interpretations of copular clauses in these languages originate in the compositional semantics of these structures, not in any lexical semantic differences.This hypothesis successfully predicts the distributional differences between the surface forms of the Dene copulas, such as their compatibility with adjuncts of time and intentionality, interactions with accusative case, and semantic lifetime effects.

The KEY to lexical semantic representations

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN-PIERRE KOENIG ◽  
ANTHONY R. DAVIS
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Semantic Representations ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Natural Language Semantic ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Recursive Predicate ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure ◽  
Difficult Cases

It is widely accepted that the semantic content of a lexical entry determines to a large extent its syntactic subcategorization or other contexts of occurrence. However, clarifying the precise extent to which this hypothesis holds has proven difficult and on occasion controversial. To maintain this hypothesis, scholars have in many difficult cases introduced syntactic diacritics in their lexical semantic representations, thereby running the risk of rendering it vacuous. Our answer to this challenge is two-fold. First, on the substantive side, we argue that the problem lies in the assumption that the semantic content of lexical entries consists of a recursive predicate-argument structure. In contrast, we claim that the semantic content of lexical entries can consist of a set of such structures, thus eschewing semantically unmotivated predicates that merely ensure the correct semantic geometry. Second, on the structural side, we suggest that the semantic content of words can idiosyncratically select one of those predicate-argument structures for the purposes of direct grammatical function assignment. We show that this hypothesis, which builds on independently motivated proposals regarding the form of underspecified natural language semantic representations, provides a clean account of linking phenomena related to several classes of predicators: verbs whose denotata require the presence of an instrument, the semantic role of French ‘adjunct’ clitics, commercial event verbs, the spray/load alternations, and lexical subordination constructions.

From scalar semantics to implicature: children's interpretation of aspectuals

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNA PAPAFRAGOU
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Degree Modifiers ◽  
Aspectual Verbs

One of the tasks of language learning is the discovery of the intricate division of labour between the lexical-semantic content of an expression and the pragmatic inferences the expression can be used to convey. Here we investigate experimentally the development of the semantics–pragmatics interface, focusing on Greek-speaking five-year-olds' interpretation of aspectual expressions such as arxizo (‘start’) and degree modifiers such as miso (‘half’) and mexri ti mesi (‘halfway’). Such expressions are known to give rise to scalar inferences crosslinguistically: for instance, start, even though compatible with expressions denoting completion (e.g. finish), is typically taken to implicate non-completion. Overall, our experiments reveal that children have limited success in deriving scalar implicatures from the use of aspectual verbs but they succeed with ‘discrete’ degree modifiers such as ‘half’. Furthermore, children are better at spontaneously computing scalar implicatures than judging the pragmatic appropriateness of scalar statements. Finally, children can suspend scalar implicatures in environments where they are not supported. We discuss implications of these results for the scope and limitations of children's ability to both acquire the lexical semantics of aspectuals and to compute implicatures as part of what the speaker means.

Roles of verb and construction cues

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-362
Author(s):  
Gyu-Ho Shin ◽  
Hyunwoo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Verb Semantics ◽  
Sentence Meaning ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Constructionist Approach

Abstract This study investigates how speakers of English and Korean, two typologically distinct languages, derive information from a verb and a construction to achieve sentence comprehension. In a sentence-sorting task, we manipulated verb semantics (real versus nonce) in each language. The results showed that participants from both languages were less inclined to sort sentences by a verb cue when the lexical-semantic information about a verb was obscured (i.e., nonce verb). In addition, the Korean-speaking participants were less likely affected by the verb semantics conditions than the English-speaking participants. These findings suggest the role of an argument structure construction in sentence comprehension as a co-contributor of sentence meaning, supporting the constructionist approach. The findings also imply language-specific mechanisms of sentence comprehension, contingent upon the varied impact of a verb on sentence meaning in English and Korean.

Portuguese converted deverbal nouns: Constraints on their bases

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-107
Author(s):  
Alexandra Soares Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
The Third ◽  
Lexical Conceptual Structure ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this paper is to analyse the constraints that govern the formation of Portuguese converted deverbal nouns (‘CDNs’). To this end, we have analysed a total of 1323 converted deverbal nouns. The first type of constraints investigated are those found at the prosodic level: these deal with the configurational formatting of the minimal root. We will focus on the relationship between these constraints and the semantic and phonological identification of the lexical item in perceptual terms. The second level of constraints may be characterised as morphophonological-pragmatic. Many verbs contain morphological units that block the formation of CDNs because their [+Latinate] character has a certain stylistic effect in terms of pragmatic usage. The third level of constraints pertains to lexical-conceptual structure combined with argument structure.We will show that (i) the constraints on the bases of CDNs are not exclusively founded on morphological incompatibilities between derivational affixes and other morphological units with which they join. Thus, a derivational mechanism that does not involve affixation, such as conversion, is also ruled by restrictions on the bases. (ii) Structural constraints – based on argument structures and on prosodic, morphological and lexical-semantic structures – are interwoven with processing and pragmatic conditions. (iii) Word formation is organised in structures that have interfaces with each other.

The procedural syntax of fake modification constructions in Chinese

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-128
Author(s):  
Wenshan Li
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Theoretical Account ◽  
Dynamic Syntax

AbstractThe clitic morpheme de in Mandarin Chinese has various uses. Typically, it is cliticized to a phrase whether the phrase is nominal or adjectival; it can also occur between two noun phrases when there is no relation of semantic modification. The constructions that involve the latter use of de, known as fake modification constructions, have been theoretically characterized many a time. In the existing characterizations, the morpheme is treated either as a mysteriously inserted lexical item, a modification marker, or a genitive morpheme. The existing accounts suffer from a variety of theoretical and empirical problems. Evidence is presented that in some other constructions and in fake modification constructions, de, while having no lexical semantic content of its own, occupies a position that is otherwise occupied by a two-place predicate. Based on this observation, a partially unitary theoretical account of fake modification constructions is formulated from a parsing perspective in the framework of Dynamic Syntax. In this account, four de-morphemes in fake modification constructions are recognized with different syntactic distributions; however, they all contribute a semantically underspecified predicate that is updated by syntactically constrained or context-based inference.

scholarly journals Argument structure, conceptual metaphor and semantic change

Diachronica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-508
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Johnson ◽  
Peter Alexander Kerkhof ◽  
Leonid Kulikov ◽  
Esther Le Mair ◽  
Jóhanna Barðdal
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Careful Scrutiny ◽  
Semantic Development ◽  
Historical Semantics ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract In contrast to grammaticalization studies of lexical verbs changing into auxiliaries, the realm of semantic changes associated with lexical verbs is an understudied area of historical semantics. We concentrate on the emergence of verbs of success from more semantically concrete verbs, uncovering six conceptual metaphors which all co-occur with non-canonical encoding of subjects in Indo-European. Careful scrutiny of the relevant data reveals a semantic development most certainly inherited from Indo-European; hence, we reconstruct a dat-‘succeeds’ construction at different levels of schematicity for Proto-Indo-European, including a novel reconstruction of a conceptual metaphor, success is motion forward, and the mapping between this metaphor and the verb-class-specific argument structure construction. Hence, this article offers a systematic analysis of regularity in semantic change, highlighting the importance of predicate and argument structure for lexical semantic developments.

scholarly journals Ohionim of the Mother of God in poetic discourse of Taras Shevchenko

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Mykola Stepanenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Poetic Discourse ◽  
The Core ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Semantic Compatibility ◽  
Resource Semantics

The object of the proposed article is the Christian ohionim of the Mother of God in the poetic discourse of Taras Shevchenko. This proper name, together with the propriatives God, the Lord, forms the core of the sacredness of the studied texts. An indepth analysis of the “Kobzar” gives grounds to claim that its author was a deeply religious man who knew the Scriptures well and used it creatively in artistic practice. Evidence of this are the historical and philosophical poems “Mary” and “Neophytes”, in which biblical and secular motifs are organically intertwined, which is directly reflected in the level of verbalization (active use of Old Slavonic, God’s names, biblical expressions). On the basis of the theantropocentric approach, the peculiarities of the existence of the ohionim of the Mother of God in the texts of different genres are clarified. Up to the aim, a paradigmatic approach is used: all the names of the Mother of Jesus Christ recorded in the discourse are embedded in a nominative paradigm, each component of which (Mary, Mother, Mother of God, Mother Mary, Virgin, Immaculate, Queen of Heaven, Ever-immaculate, Good, All-Good, All-Holy, worthy, pure in wives, blessed in wives, great in wives mourning joy, holy power of all saints, our world unseen, my most glorious paradise, our beauty, world green, fragrant green lily) is characterized in terms of its semantic content and semantic specification, established correlations between them. A comparative analysis based on the semasiological procedure of the lexical resource that is part of the appellation and at the same time exists as a propriative unit was done. Special attention is paid to the connecting capabilities of the described ohionim, its ability to appear in the subjective, object, attributive function and thus to identify the features of semantic-syntactic valence. Episodes from the earthly and heavenly life of Mother Mary are clearly based on the valence pattern. The lexical-semantic compatibility of the theonym of the Mother of God with attributive modifiers in the form of agreed and uncoordinated definitions is comprehensively interpreted, their constitutive possibilities are clarified. It is proved that sacredness is one of the immanent features of Taras Shevchenko’s poetic idiostyle. Keywords: ohionim of the Mother of God, nominative paradigm, poetic discourse of Taras Shevchenko, syntagmatic resource, semantics.

scholarly journals COMPATIBILITY AS A MEANS OF DETERMINING LEXICAL MEANING OF DIALECT WORDS: BASED ON THE POLYSEMANTIC ADJECTIVE "PARNOI" IN THE DIALECTS OF OLD BELIEVERS OF THE AMUR REGION

2017 ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Nina G. Arkhipova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Amur Region ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Old Believers ◽  
Language System ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Born Baby

The problem of differentiating all-Russian and dialect vocabulary, the latter being based on all-Russian one, is traditionally one of the most discussed in dialect studies and dialect lexicography. In the dialects of Old Believers of the Amur region there is a large group of adjectives possessing structural and semantic characteristics different from the corresponding ones of the words of the literary language. Lexical-semantic content of dialect adjectives determined by the nature of their compatibility with the noun and synonymy, antonymy, hypo/hypernymy etc relations within the language system, reveals their distinctive features. Distinctive function of compatibility is largely performed while differentiating between lexical-semantic variants of all-Russian and dialect adjectives. The results of the study of a polysemic adjective parnoi indicate its special lexicographic status characterized by limited use in the literary language and wider compatibility in dialects, besides it did not appear in early Russian manuscripts. In addition to traditional meanings of ‘fresh’, ‘humid, hot, stuffy’, ‘melted’, the adjective parnoi demonstrated unexpected meanings determined by the following compatibility: parnoi rebjonok (newly-born baby) and parnaja rodilnitsa (a woman who has just given birth to a child). The obtained results have certain implication for illustrating word meanings in dictionaries more adequately.

scholarly journals (сопоставительный анализ фразеологических единиц лексико-семантического поля " на материале арабского и русского языков") (comparative analysis of phraseological units in the lexical-semantic field "on the material of Arabic and Russian languages")

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (42) ◽  
pp. 133-145
Author(s):  
Mahmood Mosleh Mohammed ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Semantic Field ◽  
Lexical Semantic

Установление системного характера лексики, ее взаимосвязи с другими языковыми системами, их взаимозависимость создают возможность всестороннего научного изучения и описания лексической системы каждого языка, а также контрастивно-сопоставительного изучения нескольких языков, в том числе их фразеологического состава. Известно, что не все слова-компоненты фразеологизмов равнозначны по своей роли в формировании семантического содержания фразеологизмов. В связи с этим необходимо ввести понятие лексической доминанты. К ним мы относим слова, являющиеся своеобразными центрами, вокруг которых формируется весь семантический комплекс фразеологизмов, весь набор его слов-компонентов. Abstract Establishing the systemic character of vocabulary, its relationship with other language systems, their interdependence creates the possibility of a comprehensive scientific study and description of the lexical system of each language, as well as contrastive comparative studies of several languages, including their phraseological composition. It is known that not all words-components of phraseological units are equivalent in their role in the formation of the semantic content of phraseological units. In this regard, it is necessary to introduce the concept of a lexical dominant. To this we include words, which are kind of centers around which the entire semantic complex of phraseological units, the entire set of its words-components are formed

scholarly journals Atenuación y posibilidad: interacciones entre dos contenidos procedimentales

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 125-155
Author(s):  
Catalina Fuentes Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Para Determinar

El estudio de la atenuación implica tener en cuenta el contenido léxicosemántico de las expresiones, las construcciones en las que aparecen y la presencia de operadores especializados. El presente trabajo analiza dos construcciones, en la medida de lo posible y en lo posible, describe sus usos y los contenidos procedimentales que expresan, que van en dos direcciones: la limitación de la referencia (función marco, argumentativa, ligada al concepto de posibilidad) y la atenuación discursiva (estrategia a la que sirven cuando la minimización afecta a la fuerza ilocutiva). Además, se plantea el grado de fijación de ambas construcciones para determinar si pueden ser consideradas ya operadores discursivos  The study of attenuation implies taking into account the lexical-semantic content of the expressions, the constructions in which appear and the presence of specialized operators. This paper analyzes two constructions, en lo posible and en la medida de lo posible, describes their uses and the procedural meanings they convey, which goes in two directions: the limitation of the reference (argumentative framework function, linked to the concept of possibility) and the discursive attenuation (strategy they serve when minimization affects the illocutive force). The degree of fixation of both constructions is also discussed in order to determine whether they can already be considered discursive operators.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document