Constraints on multiple center-embedding of clauses

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED KARLSSON
Keyword(s):  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Design Feature ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Common View ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Theoretical Syntax ◽  
Center Embedding

A common view in theoretical syntax and computational linguistics holds that there are no grammatical restrictions on multiple center-embedding of clauses. Syntax would thus be characterized by unbounded recursion. An analysis of 119 genuine multiple clausal center-embeddings from seven ‘Standard Average European’ languages (English, Finnish, French, German, Latin, Swedish, Danish) uncovers usage-based regularities, constraints, that run counter to these and several other widely held views, such as that any type of multiple self-embedding (of the same clause type) would be possible, or that self-embedding would be more complex than multiple center-embedding of different clause types. The maximal degree of center-embedding in written language is three. In spoken language, multiple center-embedding is practically absent. Typical center-embeddings of any degree involve relative clauses specifying the referent of the subject NP of the superordinate clause. Only postmodifying clauses, especially relative clauses and that-clauses acting as noun complements, allow central self-embedding. Double relativization of objects (The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt) does not occur. These corpus-based ‘soft constraints’ suggest that full-blown recursion creating multiple clausal center-embedding is not a central design feature of language in use. Multiple center-embedding emerged with the advent of written language, with Aristotle, Cicero, and Livy in the Greek and Latin stylistic tradition of ‘periodic’ sentence composition.

scholarly journals Embedded Imperatives in Kajkavian Dialects of Croatian

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-400
Author(s):  
Josip Galić
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Internal Argument ◽  
Minimalist Approach ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Embedded Clauses

Embedded imperatives are cross-linguistically very rare. They are attested, for instance, in modern languages such as Slovenian and High German and historical languages such as Ancient Greek and Old Scandinavian. In the literature, it has long been established that imperatives can also be embedded in some Kajkavian dialects of Croatian, but to date, this phenomenon has not been thoroughly analyzed. The paper deals with the material collected by field research and analyses it within the framework of Medeiros’ (2015) minimalist approach to embedded imperatives, according to which the embedding of imperatives is possible only in the languages in which imperative morphology does not depend on the directive operator. In the researched Kajkavian dialects, embedded imperatives can occur only in complement clauses, but older texts show that in the written language, embedded imperatives are also possible in relative clauses. Unlike many other languages in which imperatives may be embedded, in the researched Kajkavian dialects, embedding is relatively free. Both true and surrogate imperatives may be embedded, the subject of embedded clauses can be null and overt and does not necessarily have to co-refer to the internal argument of the matrix predicate.

Pengaruh Teacher Feedback terhadap Kemampaun Murid dalam Pembelajaran Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Muh Arief Muhsin ◽  
Ika Sastrawati
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Teacher Feedback ◽  
Metalinguistic Feedback ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The research aimed to describe the phenomena of feedback given by the teacher in learning writing. In addition, this study was also described how the response given by the student when receiving feedback from the teacher. The long term goal to be achieved was the improvement of the teaching system so that every educational institution had aimed at teaching concepts to form an intelligent generation. This study was a descriptive qualitative research to be carried out in SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Unismuh Makassar which one of top schools Muhammadiyah. The ability of students in the school had been considered good in communication, but their ability to write was still lacking , especially in terms of grammatical . Therefore, the researcher was described the feedback given by the subject teachers of English subjects at the time of writing , especially when students learned making mistakes in the process of teaching and learning in the classroom . The extent, the teacher can give feedback to the students.  The research was described the positive feedback and negative feedback given by the teacher so that it can be information and feedback in the learning process.Giving feedback subject teachers more English language based situation in the classroom. In writing instructional materials for example, most teachers use an explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback. This is because students are using written language than spoken language. Almost kinds of feedback used in teaching but not as often as with the two types of feedback. The students have different conditions, but most were more likely to agree given feedback after speaking or after making a mistake. The most powerful reason is the lack of experience of students in learning English so want to get direct feedback.Key words: Teacher Feedback, murid, Writing

scholarly journals A Grammar of Punctuation in Poetry: Modern Computational Linguistic Perspectives

Elements ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Doyle Calhoun
Keyword(s):  
Computational Linguistics ◽  
American English ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Proper Interpretation ◽  
Present Understanding ◽  
Over Time

The field of linguistics focuses on the spoken incarnation of language and considers written phenomena as an imperfect approximation of the former. The author argues that present understanding of punctuation as a subsystem of human language is inadequate, and that even when studies examine punctuation from a linguistic standpoint, they emphasize modern written language and American English in particular. It is, however, quite possible to describe the behavior of punctuations with the same methodology that was until recently reserved for spoken language. Just as language develops over time and changes from place to place, so too does punctuation. This paper argues for the compatibility between recent developments in computational linguistics' approaches to punctuation and textual criticsm that attends to punctuation in poetry. A full understanding of its conventions is crticial for a proper interpretation of meaning. Furthermore, the author shows that the relevance of these studies to literary analysis remains unexplored. Nevertheless, with the developing techniques made possible through computational linguistics, the potential for in-depth study is expanding.

Experimental Methods for Measuring Intelligibility of Closely Related Language Varieties

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Gooskens
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Speech Pathology ◽  
Speech Technology ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Related Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Single Number

To test intelligibility, a large number of tests have been developed. By means of such tests, the degree of intelligibility can be expressed in a single number, often the percentage of input that was correctly recognized by the subject. This chapter presents an overview of methods for measuring the intelligibility of closely related languages, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. It focuses on spoken-language comprehension, but many tests can also be applied to the comprehension of written language. Methods for investigating mutual intelligibility can be taken from other disciplines, for example in the area of speech technology, second language acquisition, and speech pathology.

Hybridité et variation dans les SMS : Le corpus Texto4Science et l’oralité en français montréalais

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Blondeau ◽  
Mireille Tremblay ◽  
Patrick Drouin
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Double Standard ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Written Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Clitics ◽  
French Corpus

AbstractThis article presents an analysis of a Montreal French corpus of text messages and considers the link between text messaging, and both spoken and written language. This corpus is part of a larger corpus of text messages sent by mobile phone (Texto4-Science). Our study focuses on two morphosyntactic variables for which an important sociostylistic variation has been reported in Montreal French: the alternation between the strong pronounsnous/nous autres ‘we/us’ (as non clitics), and between the subject cliticson/nous ‘we’. Their comparison in the text messages corpus and in spoken corpora shows that while text messages tend to approximate spoken language, they are not a perfect reflection of it. Generally, the hybridity of text messages can be conceived in the following manner: text messages obey a double standard (spoken and orthographic) and allow for occasional transgressions (formal markers associated with the written language and nonstandard spelling reflecting the spoken language).

scholarly journals PENGARUH TEACHER FEEDBACK TERHADAP KEMAMPAUN MURID DALAM PEMBELAJARAN WRITING

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
Muh Arief Muhsin ◽  
Ika Sastrawati
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Teacher Feedback ◽  
Metalinguistic Feedback ◽  
The Subject

ABSTRACT The research aimed to describe the phenomena of feedback given by the teacher in learning writing. In addition, this study was also described how the response given by the student when receiving feedback from the teacher. The long term goal to be achieved was the improvement of the teaching system so that every educational institution had aimed at teaching concepts to form an intelligent generation. This study was a descriptive qualitative research to be carried out in SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Unismuh Makassar which one of top schools Muhammadiyah. The ability of students in the school had been considered good in communication, but their ability to write was still lacking , especially in terms of grammatical . Therefore, the researcher was described the feedback given by the subject teachers of English subjects at the time of writing , especially when students learned making mistakes in the process of teaching and learning in the classroom . The extent, the teacher can give feedback to the students.  The research was described the positive feedback and negative feedback given by the teacher so that it can be information and feedback in the learning process.Giving feedback subject teachers more English language based situation in the classroom. In writing instructional materials for example, most teachers use an explicit correction and metalinguistic feedback. This is because students are using written language than spoken language. Almost kinds of feedback used in teaching but not as often as with the two types of feedback. The students have different conditions, but most were more likely to agree given feedback after speaking or after making a mistake. The most powerful reason is the lack of experience of students in learning English so want to get direct feedback.Key words: Teacher Feedback, murid, Writing ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk menggambarkan fenomena umpan balik yang diberikan oleh guru dalam belajar menulis. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga menggambarkan bagaimana respon yang diberikan oleh siswa saat menerima umpan balik dari guru. Tujuan jangka panjang yang ingin dicapai adalah peningkatan sistem pengajaran sehingga setiap lembaga pendidikan telah ditujukan untuk konsep mengajar untuk membentuk generasi yang cerdas. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kualitatif yang akan dilaksanakan di SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Unismuh Makassar yang salah satu sekolah top Muhammadiyah. Kemampuan siswa di sekolah telah dianggap baik dalam komunikasi, tetapi kemampuan mereka untuk menulis masih kurang, terutama dalam hal tata bahasa. Oleh karena itu, peneliti digambarkan umpan balik yang diberikan oleh guru mata pelajaran mata pelajaran bahasa Inggris pada saat menulis, terutama ketika siswa pelajari membuat kesalahan dalam proses belajar mengajar di kelas. Sejauh ini, guru dapat memberikan umpan balik kepada siswa. Penelitian ini menggambarkan umpan balik positif dan umpan balik negatif yang diberikan oleh guru sehingga dapat menjadi informasi dan umpan balik dalam proses pembelajaran.Memberikan umpan balik guru mata pelajaran situasi berdasarkan bahasa lebih Inggris di dalam kelas. Dalam menulis bahan ajar misalnya, sebagian besar guru menggunakan koreksi eksplisit dan umpan balik metalinguistik. Hal ini karena siswa menggunakan bahasa tertulis dari bahasa lisan. Hampir jenis umpan balik yang digunakan dalam mengajar tapi tidak sesering dengan dua jenis umpan balik. Para siswa memiliki kondisi yang berbeda, tetapi kebanyakan lebih cenderung setuju diberikan umpan balik setelah berbicara atau setelah melakukan kesalahan. Alasan paling kuat adalah kurangnya pengalaman siswa dalam belajar bahasa Inggris sehingga ingin mendapatkan umpan balik langsung. Kata kunci: Guru Feedback, murid, Menulis

On Using Written Language Training Data for Spoken Language Modeling

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Schwartz ◽  
L. Nguyen ◽  
F. Kubala ◽  
G. CHou ◽  
G. Zavaliagkos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spoken Language ◽  
Language Modeling ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Language Training

Sinitic in a Global Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Francis Kornicki
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
The Common

This chapter focuses on the language rupture in East Asia, that is to say, the loss of the common written language known as literary Chinese or Sinitic. The gradual replacement of the cosmopolitan language Sinitic by the written vernaculars was a process similar in some ways to the replacement of Latin and Sanskrit by the European and South Asian vernaculars, as argued by Sheldon Pollock. However, Sinitic was not a spoken language, so the oral dimension of vernacularization cannot be ignored. Charles Ferguson’s notion of diglossia has been much discussed, but the problem in the context of East Asia is that the only spoken languages were the vernaculars and that Sinitic was capable of being read in any dialect of Chinese as well as in the vernaculars used in neighbouring societies.

The relative verb forms of Cuwabo (Bantu P34) as contextually oriented participles

Linguistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-491
Author(s):  
Rozenn Guérois ◽  
Denis Creissels
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Subject ◽  
North Western

AbstractCuwabo (Bantu P34, Mozambique) illustrates a relativization strategy, also attested in some North-Western and Central Bantu languages, whose most salient characteristics are that: (a) the initial agreement slot of the verb form does not express agreement with the subject (as in independent clauses), but agreement with the head noun; (b) the initial agreement slot of the verb form does not express agreement in person and number-gender (or class), but only in number-gender; (c) when a noun phrase other than the subject is relativized, the noun phrase encoded as the subject in the corresponding independent clause occurs in post-verbal position and does not control any agreement mechanism. In this article, we show that, in spite of the similarity between the relative verb forms of Cuwabo and the corresponding independent verb forms, and the impossibility of isolating a morphological element analyzable as a participial formative, the relative verb forms of Cuwabo are participles, with the following two particularities: they exhibit full contextual orientation, and they assign a specific grammatical role to the initial subject, whose encoding in relative clauses coincides neither with that of subjects of independent verb forms, nor with that of adnominal possessors.

scholarly journals Comprehension and Eye Movements in the Processing of Subject- and Object-Relative Clauses: Evidence from Dyslexia and Individual Differences

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Marianna Stella ◽  
Paul E. Engelhardt
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Sentence Type ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Difficulty ◽  
Object Relative

In this study, we examined eye movements and comprehension in sentences containing a relative clause. To date, few studies have focused on syntactic processing in dyslexia and so one goal of the study is to contribute to this gap in the experimental literature. A second goal is to contribute to theoretical psycholinguistic debate concerning the cause and the location of the processing difficulty associated with object-relative clauses. We compared dyslexic readers (n = 50) to a group of non-dyslexic controls (n = 50). We also assessed two key individual differences variables (working memory and verbal intelligence), which have been theorised to impact reading times and comprehension of subject- and object-relative clauses. The results showed that dyslexics and controls had similar comprehension accuracy. However, reading times showed participants with dyslexia spent significantly longer reading the sentences compared to controls (i.e., a main effect of dyslexia). In general, sentence type did not interact with dyslexia status. With respect to individual differences and the theoretical debate, we found that processing difficulty between the subject and object relatives was no longer significant when individual differences in working memory were controlled. Thus, our findings support theories, which assume that working memory demands are responsible for the processing difficulty incurred by (1) individuals with dyslexia and (2) object-relative clauses as compared to subject relative clauses.

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