The imperative and pragmatics

1977 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Downes
Keyword(s):  
Main Clause ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Pragmatic Theory ◽  
Single Level ◽  
Pragmatic Interpretation ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties

This article is a tentative exploration of the following question. In an account of the imperative construction in English, what should be accounted for in the syntax or semantics and what in the pragmatics?1 In the literature, we find descriptions of an imperative construction with certain specific syntactic properties. For example, there is a subjectless form and also a form with a second person pronominal subject and corresponding to both there are second person pro- nominal forms in reflexive and tag counterparts. Abstract underlying structures, in this case a you subject, which subsequently may be deleted by IMPERATIVE or EQUI, are postulated to explain these properties (Postal, 1964; Katz & Postal, 1964: 75; McCawley, 1968). My question is: if we postulate a general pragmatic theory, that is, a theory of the use of utterances in context (separate from but related to theories about the syntactic or semantic properties of sentences), how many of the properties of the imperative can be explained in such terms instead of in the syntax or semantics? My conclusion is that the proposed abstract structures are syntactically and semantically unmotivated and unnecessary for pragmatic interpretation. Each property that the abstract elements explain is better explained either as a non-arbitrary property of main clause infinitives when they are used to utter commands (non-arbitrary in that the facts could not be otherwise), or inherent properties of main clause infinitives in all their uses. In the former case at least, they are facts about men in situations, not about syntax. Thus, syntax and semantics require only a single level of representation and there is no imperative transformation.

The Tense, Mood, and Aspect System of Haitian Creole and the Problem of Transmission of Grammar in Creole Genesis

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Haitian Creole ◽  
Phonological Form ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties

It is often assumed that creolization involves a break in the transmission of grammar. On the basis of data drawn from the TMA system of Haitian creole, as compared with those of its source languages — French, the superstratum language, and Fongbe, one of the substratum languages — this paper argues that creolization does not involve a break in transmission of grammar. The properties of the Haitian creole TMA system are shown to reflect in a systematic way those of its contributing languages. While the syntactic and the semantic properties of the TMA markers of the creole parallel those of Fongbe, the markers' phonological form appears to be derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language. This systematic division of properties is predicted by the hypothesis that relexification has played a major role in the formation of the creole. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole have phonological representations which are derived from phonetic strings found in the superstratum language is the visible signal that creolization involves the creation of a new language. The fact that the lexical entries of the creole show semantic and syntactic properties that parallel those of the languages of the substratum argues that there has been no break in the transmission of grammar in the formation of the creole.

Il Y A ... Qui et C'est ... Qui

1986 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marcel Léard
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Features ◽  
Semantic Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Morphemes ◽  
Il Y A ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Compatibility ◽  
Semantic Properties

Il y a ... qui and c'est... qui: Syntax and compatibility between semantic operations In this paper, we show that il y a ... qui and c'est... qui have three meanings or values, that are suitable with only some operations of determination, modalization (like questions, negations) and with a number of syntactic categories and functions. Therefore, we use syntactic properties to point out semantic features, but we show, in return, that syntactic acceptability of sentences can be often explained by semantic compatibility between operations. That involves a basically semantic grammar. So we link syntactic and semantic properties, mainly the meaning of grammatical morphemes. In such a case, we consider that transformational hypotheses, which don't take into account these links, are not appropriate, and we propose a more realistic way (although theoretical) of doing syntax: syntax is also the compatibility between the meaning of morphemes.

scholarly journals Desintegration versus Parordination bei 'obwohl'- und 'weil'- Konstruktionen

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Werner Frey ◽  
Federica Masiero
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Discourse Units ◽  
Semantic Properties

In the paper, German disintegrated verb-final 'obwohl' (‘although’) and 'weil' (‘because’) clauses are compared with constructions in which 'obwohl' and 'weil' precedes clauses with main clause word order. The former constructions constitute independent, yet subsidiary speech acts. Thus, the subordinating connectors and the positioning of the verb do not indicate syntactic but textual dependency. The latter constructions are of a very different kind. Here, 'obwohl' and 'weil' do not form a constituent with the following clause. Instead, they appear as syntactically independent discourse markers connecting two discourse units. As discourse markers, 'obwohl' and 'weil' obtain their special syntactic and semantic properties as elements of the derived, but independent module of Thetic Grammar.  

scholarly journals A Case of Constructional Polysemy in Latin

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Michaelis
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties

In this paper, I will examine the syntactic and semantic properties of a Latin correlative construction, the so-called comparative conditional. I will investigate the extent to which this construction inherits its formal and interpretive features from constructions needed independently in the grammar. While the syntactic properties of the comparative conditional are highly motivated, the semantics of the construction is idiosyncratic: there is evidence to indicate that the construction is polysemous, having two related scalar interpretations.

Idioms and Phraseology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Teresa Espinal ◽  
Jaume Mateu
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Roles ◽  
External Structure ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Interesting Behavior

Idioms, conceived as fixed multi-word expressions that conceptually encode non-compositional meaning, are linguistic units that raise a number of questions relevant in the study of language and mind (e.g., whether they are stored in the lexicon or in memory, whether they have internal or external syntax similar to other expressions of the language, whether their conventional use is parallel to their non-compositional meaning, whether they are processed in similar ways to regular compositional expressions of the language, etc.). Idioms show some similarities and differences with other sorts of formulaic expressions, the main types of idioms that have been characterized in the linguistic literature, and the dimensions on which idiomaticity lies. Syntactically, idioms manifest a set of syntactic properties, as well as a number of constraints that account for their internal and external structure. Semantically, idioms present an interesting behavior with respect to a set of semantic properties that account for their meaning (i.e., conventionality, compositionality, and transparency, as well as aspectuality, referentiality, thematic roles, etc.). The study of idioms has been approached from lexicographic and computational, as well as from psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic perspectives.

From Phrase to Clause: The Active Participle in Ugaritic

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-581
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
Semantic Properties

This paper suggests a morphological, syntactic, and semantic analysis of the active participle in Ugaritic. The formally ambiguous cases are interpreted by taking into account the syntactic and semantic properties of explicit cases. The syntactic usages of the participle are the attributive phrase, the substantivized attributive phrase, the agent-noun, and the circumstantial participial phrase. The semantic analysis points at explicit verbal properties of some participial phrases in Ugaritic: they can denote a stage-level predicative core acquiring episodic interpretations and attaching temporal arguments. I hypothesize that the prototypical context for the development of the predicative participle (sporadically attested in the language of Ugaritic prose and consistently in later Northwest Semitic languages) is a participial phrase that suggests stage-level episodic interpretation and assigns subject that is co-referential with the main-clause subject.

The Syntax and Semantics of Nonfinite Forms

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-328
Author(s):  
John J. Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Finite Clause ◽  
Nonfinite Clauses ◽  
Verb Categories ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Finite Verb

The syntactic and semantic properties of nonfinite verb categories can best be understood in relation to and distinction from the corresponding properties of finite verb categories. In order to explore these issues, it is necessary to provide a crosslinguistically valid characterization of finiteness. Finiteness is a prototypical notion, understood in relation to a language-specific finite verb prototype; nonfiniteness is therefore understood in terms of degrees of deviation from this prototype. The syntactic properties of nonfinite verb categories, so defined, can be considered from two perspectives: the functions of nonfinite clauses within superordinate clauses (e.g., argument and adjunct functions) and the internal structure of nonfinite verb phrases. Typical of the second aspect is that nonfinite phrases tend to be defective in one or another respect, relative to finite phrases, which may be understood in terms of lacking functional projections or features which are an obligatory part of finite phrases. This defectiveness relative to the finite prototype plays out also in the semantics; typically, certain aspects of the meaning of nonfinite phrases are not independently specified, but must be derived from semantic properties of a superordinate finite clause.

scholarly journals Obligational Constructions in New Indo-Aryan Languages of Western India

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Liudmila V. Khokhlova
Keyword(s):  
Western India ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Long Distance Agreement ◽  
Semantic Properties

Abstract The paper describes historical roots as well as syntactic and semantic properties of the three main obligational constructions in modern Hindi-Urdu, Punjabi, Rajasthani 1 and Gujarati2 These constructions differ from one another by the degree and by the type of obligation. The main syntactic properties of obligational constructions discussed in the paper are Agent marking and long distance agreement rules. It will be demonstrated that the increasing frequency of the Dative instead of the Instrumental Agent marking in constructions of obligation was part of the gradual destruction of the ‘passive syntax’ typical for the climactic stage of ergative development.

Two Types of Functional Transfer in Language Contact

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Functional Alteration ◽  
Grammatical Functions

The aim of this article is to examine one kind of cross linguistic influence, or transfer, in language contact situations. This is “functional transfer”, defined as applying the grammatical functions of a morpheme from one language to a morpheme in another language that does not normally have these functions. With regard to language contact, most reported instances of this kind of transfer concern the creation of a new grammatical morpheme in an expanded pidgin or creole, resulting from the use of a lexical morpheme of the lexifier (here the recipient language, RL) with semantic and syntactic properties of a grammatical morpheme of the substrate language(s) (here the source language(s), SL).Another kind of functional transfer, however, results in an already existing grammatical morpheme in the RL being used with semantic properties, but not syntactic properties, of a grammatical morpheme in the SL that speakers perceive as equivalent. Thus, the two types of functional transfer differ in that the first entails morphological augmentation while the second involves functional alteration of an existing morpheme.Other differences between the two types of transfer are that certain constraints appear to apply to the first type but not to the second. In addition, the first type of transfer, as opposed to the second, does not commonly occur in the process of second language acquisition. Explanations proposed for these distinctions concern different strategies used for morphological expansion in the development of a contact language. Different contact languages can be placed along a continuum based on the prevalence and type of functional transfer.

Propositions, sentences and statements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Engel
Keyword(s):  
Propositional Attitudes ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Truth Conditions ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
What Is Said ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Semantic Properties

A sentence is a string of words formed according to the syntactic rules of a language. But a sentence has semantic as well as syntactic properties: the words and the whole sentence have meaning. Philosophers have tended to focus on the semantic properties of indicative sentences, in particular on their being true or false. They have called the meanings of such sentences ‘propositions’, and have tied the notion of proposition to the truth-conditions of the associated sentence. The term ‘proposition’ is sometimes assimilated to the sentence itself; sometimes to the linguistic meaning of a sentence; sometimes to ‘what is said’; sometimes to the contents of beliefs or other ‘propositional’ attitudes. But however propositions are defined, they must have two features: the capacity to be true or false; and compositional structure (being composed of elements which determine their semantic properties).

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