English binominal NPs: A construction-based perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONG-BOK KIM ◽  
PETER SELLS
Keyword(s):  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Constraints ◽  
Semantic Properties

English binominal NPs (BNPs) (e.g., a giant of a man, a skullcracker of a headache) are of empirical and theoretical interest due to their complex syntactic and semantic properties. In this paper, we review some basic properties of the BNP construction, focusing on its headedness, semantic relations, and the role of the preposition of. We argue that these properties suggest an account in the spirit of construction grammar. In particular, we argue that the English BNP is a nominal juxtaposition construction with particular special syntactic constraints, linked to a semantic interpretation reminiscent of the subject–predicate relation.

scholarly journals The English binominal NP construction: A construction-based perspective

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Bok Kim ◽  
Peter Sells
Keyword(s):  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Syntactic Constraints ◽  
Semantic Properties

English Binominal NPs (BNP) (e.g., a hell of a problem) are of empirical and theoretical interest due to their complex syntactic and semantic properties. In this paper, we review some basic properties of the BNP construction, focusing on its headedness, semantic relations, and the role of the preposition of. We argue that these properties suggest an account in the spirit of construction grammar. In particular, we show that English BNP is a nominal juxtaposition construction whose special syntactic constraints are linked to semantic relations like a subject-predicate relation.

scholarly journals SUSZKO’S PROBLEM: MIXED CONSEQUENCE AND COMPOSITIONALITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMMANUEL CHEMLA ◽  
PAUL ÉGRÉ
Keyword(s):  
Structural Properties ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
General Representation ◽  
Representation Theorems ◽  
Consequence Relation ◽  
Truth Values ◽  
General Meaning ◽  
Semantic Properties

AbstractSuszko’s problem is the problem of finding the minimal number of truth values needed to semantically characterize a syntactic consequence relation. Suszko proved that every Tarskian consequence relation can be characterized using only two truth values. Malinowski showed that this number can equal three if some of Tarski’s structural constraints are relaxed. By so doing, Malinowski introduced a case of so-called mixed consequence, allowing the notion of a designated value to vary between the premises and the conclusions of an argument. In this article we give a more systematic perspective on Suszko’s problem and on mixed consequence. First, we prove general representation theorems relating structural properties of a consequence relation to their semantic interpretation, uncovering the semantic counterpart of substitution-invariance, and establishing that (intersective) mixed consequence is fundamentally the semantic counterpart of the structural property of monotonicity. We use those theorems to derive maximum-rank results proved recently in a different setting by French and Ripley, as well as by Blasio, Marcos, and Wansing, for logics with various structural properties (reflexivity, transitivity, none, or both). We strengthen these results into exact rank results for nonpermeable logics (roughly, those which distinguish the role of premises and conclusions). We discuss the underlying notion of rank, and the associated reduction proposed independently by Scott and Suszko. As emphasized by Suszko, that reduction fails to preserve compositionality in general, meaning that the resulting semantics is no longer truth-functional. We propose a modification of that notion of reduction, allowing us to prove that over compact logics with what we call regular connectives, rank results are maintained even if we request the preservation of truth-functionality and additional semantic properties.

Conjonctions de subordination et adverbes conjonctifs «  focalisateurs  »

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-328
Author(s):  
Mireille Piot
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Syntactic Properties

SummaryIn this paper, we present a unified hypothesis about «focusing» conjunctional adverbs and subordinating conjunctions in French. A similar hypothesis is to be taken to hold at all romance languages as we argue after Piot (2003) mentioned above. At first, differences are to be observed between this case (with “focus”) and another case in which the same conjunctional items are purely conjunctions (coordinating or subordinating, but without “focus”). Then, we point out which are the common semantic and syntactic properties of the global “focus” operation related to all these items (parallelism between sentences and nominal phrases correlated by these conjunctional items, inclusion or union semantic relations between nominal phrases in some respects ensembles theory relations alike: the addition of syntactic-semantic specific items shares this inclusion or union relation). In particular, this study highlights, as a result, the role of the subject nature of the conjoined first sentence and the syntactic-semantic nature of the verb-phrase in the second sentence. Another study (to appear) will present the results about distinctions in this operation according to the particular significance of each different item.

scholarly journals MODELING OF THE SEMANTIC RELATIONS IN COMPARATIVE STRUCTURES

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (9(77)) ◽  
pp. 269-272
Author(s):  
Tetiana Koropatnitska
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
German Language ◽  
Semantic Model ◽  
Formal Expression ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Quantitative Correlation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Subject

Two universal semantic formulas are approved and confirmed for comparison-assimilation and for contrastive comparison. They are relevant for different distributive comparison models, regardless of its formal expression. Our research is the part of the analysis of the comparative structures with wie/als Markers in Contemporary German Language and aims at revealing qualitative and quantitative correlation between components of the comparative frame models with the help of symbols. We try to model universal semantic formulae for comparison-assimilation and for contrastive comparison that are suitable for various distributive models of comparison and help to enable semantic interpretation of comparison irrespectively of the variety of their formal expression. To define the components of the semantics model of comparison we have selected such terms as referent, module and correlate that, in our opinion, explicitly illustrate the vast system of comparison verbalization in the contemporary German language. Category of comparison has a wide range of means of linguistic representation – morphological, word forming, lexical, syntax. However, three first ones do not exist beyond the framework of syntagmatics and their compatibility with other language units transfers them into the components of the syntax structures with comparative semantics. Comparison as cognitive mechanism and means of controlling mental representations implies the subject of the comparison. We have singled out the means for the subject of the comparison and stated that the element “subject of the comparison” unites two possible variants: “mentioned subject of the comparison” and “addresser”. These variants are the basis for the two ways of implementation of the semantic model of comparison: comparative structures with wie/als markers with subject of the comparison and structures with wie/als markers without subject of the comparison.

scholarly journals Efficient concrete increased water resistance modified with mineral and polymeric additives

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 02017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniy Velichko ◽  
Nikita Polkovnikov ◽  
Yuliya Sadchikova
Keyword(s):  
Portland Cement ◽  
Water Resistance ◽  
High Price ◽  
Underground Structures ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Polymeric Additives ◽  
Impervious Layer ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Cost

The article deals with issues of optimizing the composition of efficient concrete increased water resistance, reducing its cost without losing or increasing its basic properties. In recent years, the most effective method of tightness to water in the construction of buried and underground structures, as opposed to the use of bituminous and other traditional materials, is a method based on the use of concrete with increased water resistance. This type of tightness to water is called “White bath” in Europe. The essence of the technology is that the role of the impervious layer is performed directly by the concrete itself. The subject of the study is the composition of self-stressing concrete, which has a high density and fastness to water, but a high price compared to the concrete on Portland cement, which limits its wide application. The aim of the study is the development and optimization of the composition or stressing concrete with desired properties using a variety of mineral and polymeric additives to reduce the cost of the finished product while maintaining or improving the significant operational indicators.

scholarly journals The Syntax and Semantics of Prepositions in the Task of Automatic Interpretation of Nominal Phrases and Compounds: A Cross-Linguistic Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana Girju
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Classification Rules ◽  
Training Set ◽  
Automatic Interpretation ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Semantic Properties

In this article we explore the syntactic and semantic properties of prepositions in the context of the semantic interpretation of nominal phrases and compounds. We investigate the problem based on cross-linguistic evidence from a set of six languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. The focus on English and Romance languages is well motivated. Most of the time, English nominal phrases and compounds translate into constructions of the form N P N in Romance languages, where the P (preposition) may vary in ways that correlate with the semantics. Thus, we present empirical observations on the distribution of nominal phrases and compounds and the distribution of their meanings on two different corpora, based on two state-of-the-art classification tag sets: Lauer's set of eight prepositions and our list of 22 semantic relations. A mapping between the two tag sets is also provided. Furthermore, given a training set of English nominal phrases and compounds along with their translations in the five Romance languages, our algorithm automatically learns classification rules and applies them to unseen test instances for semantic interpretation. Experimental results are compared against two state-of-the-art models reported in the literature.

scholarly journals Lexical manifestation of the image of man in the Avar toponymy

Litera ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 210-216
Author(s):  
Zabikhat Magomedovna Otsomieva
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Behavior Pattern ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Special Contribution ◽  
Broad Theme ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lexical Composition

The subject of this research is the semantics of toponymic lexemes, methods of their formation, semantic relations of nominations in the lexical-thematic group “characteristics of man”, and their propensity to reflect the worldview of the Avar dialect speakers. The goal of this work consists in the analysis of various characteristics of man captured in toponyms, which is expressed in determination of lexical composition of nominations that describe man by certain personality traits, behavior patteerns, appearance, types of activities, property status, etc. The article also reveals the role of units that characterize a person from different perspectives, and reflect certain qualities of a man, which allow depicting his behavior pattern and lifestyle in the toponymy of Gergebilsky, Gumbetovsky, Kazbekovsky, and Khunzakhsky districts of Dagestan. The scientific novelty consists in determination of unites in the toponyms that characterize a person from different perspectives. Analysis is conducted on the Avar toponymic lexicon that reflects various characteristics of man. This work is a valuable and public source for information retrieval and further research within the framework of studying various aspects of the image of man. The author’s special contribution to the research of Avar toponymy lies in determination and systematization of the corresponding lexical-thematic subgroups in the context of broad theme “the characteristics of man" in the indicated dialects.

Binding and Indexicality in the Caucasus

2021 ◽  
pp. 872-907
Author(s):  
Dmitry Ganenkov ◽  
Natalia Bogomolova
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Reflexive Pronouns ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Binding

This chapter introduces the inventory of anaphoric expressions attested in languages of the Caucasus and discusses their basic properties. It shows that Nakh-Dagestanian, Kartvelian, and Northwest Caucasian differ in the division of labor between nominal expressions and verbal inflection in reflexive constructions. It demonstrates that exempt uses of anaphors are found in Nakh-Dagestanian, but not in Kartvelian or Northwest Caucasian, and that different types of reflexive pronouns in Nakh-Dagestanian have distinct restrictions on locality, while Kartvelian anaphors are strictly local. The chapter also describes the well-known pattern of ‘reverse binding’ in Nakh-Dagestanian, where the reflexive or reciprocal appears in the subject position above the antecedent. It is shown that some instances of reverse binding can be explained by factoring in the distinction between syntactic binding and coreference. Georgian reflexives are also known to be grammatical in the subject position, with non-trivial implications for the semantic interpretation. Personal pronouns in Nakh-Dagestanian and, possibly, other Caucasian languages can undergo indexical shift in finite embedded reports.

The Piaroa subject marking system and its diachrony

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Jorge Emilio Rosés Labrada
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Multiple Source ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Future Tense ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
Person Marking

Abstract Piaroa, a member of the Sáliban language family, is spoken on both sides of the Colombian-Venezuelan border. Based on unpublished fieldwork data for Mako and Piaroa and published Piaroa and Sáliba data, this article focuses on the Piaroa subject marking system and its origins. I show that the subject prefixes and inner suffixes used in future tense were inherited from Proto-Sáliban and must therefore have preceded the rise of the right-margin subject markers ‑sæ, -hæ and ‑Ø. Based on comparative Mako data, I propose that these markers are old copular suffixes that entered the verbal domain through a nominal predication construction whose use expanded to encode habitual aspect. This research not only constitutes an important contribution to the description of Piaroa but also expands, within a Diachronic Construction Grammar approach, our understanding of complex systems of person marking, the origins of multiple exponence, and the role of multiple source constructions in paradigm creation.

scholarly journals The Role of Sacred Landscape in Sufism: a Mountain

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 107-114
Author(s):  
L. E. Ismoilov ◽  
◽  
R. T. Yuzmukhametov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Mountain Landscape ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Historical Comparative

The article is devoted to the issue of a sacred landscape (a mountains) in the Sufi writings of Transoxiana of the 16th century. The pertinence of this theme is due to the need to study the issue of semantic interpretation of the concept of a sacred landscape, namely mountains, in Sufi writings. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to reveal various meanings of the concept of “a sacred landscape” in the manaqibs of Transoxiana of the 16th century by such authors as Khoja Iskhoki Kalobodi, Mahmud ibn Wali, Muhammad Alim al-Siddiqi al-Alawi and others, which contain important information on this topic. Main methods used in the study are the historical-comparative method, and the method of literary analysis, which allow us to create a holistic idea of the symbolism of landscapes (mountains, deserts, rivers) in the Sufi writings of Transoxiana in the 16th century. The subject of this study is specific features of a mountain landscape and the reasons for its attractiveness for a travelling Sufi. An inner spiritual search led the lonely Sufi to high and endless mountain surroundings where he found an answer to the needs of his mental and spiritual anxiety.

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