The origin of yes–no question particles in the Niuean language

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-212
Author(s):  
DONNA STARKS ◽  
DIANE MASSAM
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Extensive Range ◽  
Phonetic Reduction ◽  
Polynesian Languages ◽  
Historical Origins

This paper considers data from Niuean, a Polynesian language with VSO word order and an extensive range of grammatical particles. We focus on three question particles,nakai, kaandkia, examining their possible historical origins. In related languages the preferred means of forming a yes–no question is by intonation alone, while in the Polynesian languages that have yes–no question particles, the forms are lexically distinct from those found in Niuean. We argue that the Niuean unmarked question particlenakaiis derived from the negative, the pragmatically markedkiaconstruction from the polite form of the imperative, and thekaconstruction from a lexical item which signals confirmation. In all three cases, the question particles do not replace their original grammatical or lexical source words but rather co-exist with them in new contexts. The three question particles have all undergone a process of semantic bleaching, increased syntactic bonding, and in some cases, phonetic reduction. While two of the processes have occurred early in Niuean, one is a very recent development.

scholarly journals Syntactic patterns of πᾶς as a quantifier in New Testament Greek

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé ◽  
Jacobus A. Naudé
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Linguistic Terms ◽  
Universal Quantification ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In linguistic terms, a quantifier is an item that appears with a noun to specify the number or amount of referents indicated by the noun. In English, various kinds of quantification are lexically differentiated—universal quantification (all), distributive quantification (each), and universal-distributive (every). In Greek, however, quantification is conveyed syntactically using primarily one lexical item, namely πᾶς. In this article, we examine the syntactic patterns of πᾶς as a quantifier from a linguistic point of view with attention to the determination of the noun (articular versus anarthrous), the number of the noun (singular versus plural) and the phrasal word order. We also examine the phenomenon of ‘floating’ quantification in which the quantifier moves to a new position in the noun phrase. Finally, we compare the patterns found in New Testament Greek with those of the quantifier כל in the Hebrew Bible in order to determine the extent and type of Semitic interference with respect to quantification in New Testament Greek grammar.Contribution: The syntactic patterns of πᾶς as a quantifier are identified and the semantic import of each pattern is described. The relationship of πᾶς to the quantifier כל in the Hebrew Bible shows evidence of Semitic interference in New Testament Greek grammar.

scholarly journals Translating Word Order Variations in the Qurʾan: A Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ahmed Saleh Elimam
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Lexical Item ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
English Translations

Marked, unconventional word order is one of the most pertinent stylistic features of the Qurʾan, and is employed to realise certain discursive functions. This article identifies the verses which foreground a lexical item to (or towards) sentence-initial position, resulting in a marked word order, as well as the functions realised thereby, drawing on classical commentaries on the Qurʾan. Two of the most important English translations of the Qurʾan by Abdel Haleem (2004/2005) and Arberry (1955/1998) are selected for closer examination of the strategies they use to deal with the corpus of verses. The discussion is carried out against the backdrop of the translators’ stated aims and reviews of their output. Furthermore, the potential influences of the translators’ motivations, target readers’ expectations, and the historical context of their work on their respective output are also discussed.

Syntactic ergativity as absolutive movement in Tongic Polynesian

2021 ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Lauren Clemens ◽  
Rebecca Tollan
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Object A ◽  
Parametric Variation ◽  
Polynesian Languages

We propose a unified account of the presence of syntactic ergativity and the availability of variable post-verbal word order in the Tongic branch of Polynesian languages. In Tongan, ergative subjects cannot freely extract, and both VSO and VOS word orders are possible. By contrast, ergative subjects in Niuean freely extract, but word order with two full DP arguments is strictly VSO. We argue that these differences stem from a single point of parametric variation in the syntax: the locus of absolutive case assignment (Bittner & Hale 1996; a.o.). In Tongan, absolutive is assigned by T0, such that the object must A-move past the ergative subject, giving rise to extraction restrictions and the availability of VOS word order. In Niuean, absolutive is assigned by v 0; as such, there is no object A-movement, hence no extraction restrictions, and VOS is not possible.

Polynesian Syntax and its Interfaces

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Theoretical Syntax ◽  
Polynesian Languages ◽  
Theoretical Issues

This volume presents research in theoretical syntax and its interfaces with semantics and prosody within the Polynesian language family, with chapters focusing on Hawaiian, Māori, Niuean, Samoan, and Tongan. It includes in-depth analyses of issues within particular languages, as well as chapters that take a comparative-Polynesian approach. Theoretical issues addressed include ergativity and case systems, word order variations, modality and superlatives, causativization, negation, resumption and linearization, raising, the Extended Projection Principle (EPP), and the left periphery of both the sentential and nominal domains. The volume showcases the theoretical typology of Polynesian languages with their varying case systems, word orders, and isolating particle-based morphology.

Processing cost and its consequences

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Grady
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Proximity Effects ◽  
Processing Cost

AbstractI focus on two challenges that processing-based theories of language must confront: the need to explain why language has the particular properties that it does, and the need to explain why processing pressures are manifested in the particular way that they are. I discuss these matters with reference to two illustrative phenomena: proximity effects in word order and a constraint on contraction.

Phrase-Learning in Deaf and Hearing Subjects

1967 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 600-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope B. Odom ◽  
Richard L. Blanton
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Fifth Graders ◽  
English Word ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Twelfth Graders ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
Study Test ◽  
The Mean

Two groups each containing 24 deaf subjects were compared with 24 fifth graders and 24 twelfth graders with normal hearing on the learning of segments of written English. Eight subjects from each group learned phrasally defined segments such as “paid the tall lady,” eight more learned the same words in nonphrases having acceptable English word order such as “lady paid the tall,” and the remaining eight in each group learned the same words scrambled, “lady tall the paid.” The task consisted of 12 study-test trials. Analyses of the mean number of words recalled correctly and the probability of recalling the whole phrase correctly, given that one word of it was recalled, indicated that both ages of hearing subjects showed facilitation on the phrasally defined segments, interference on the scrambled segments. The deaf groups showed no differential recall as a function of phrasal structure. It was concluded that the deaf do not possess the same perceptual or memory processes with regard to English as do the hearing subjects.

Word Order

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Jung Song
Keyword(s):  
Word Order

On Word Order in the Vulgate 3: Discontinuities in the Order of Noun and Modifier

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
Roland Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Greek Version ◽  
Intermediate Area ◽  
Simple Combination

SummaryThe following study will show that in the Vulgate there are far from few discontinuous orders present without any indication in the Hebrew text. These instances include the following patterns: first many examples whose intermediate area is constituted by particles connecting the sentence. They have already been partly coined in the Septuagint, but also, especially in the case of quoque, formed by Jerome to avoid the simple combination of the original and the Greek version. In cases when other words stand in the intermediate area Jerome, even in poetical texts, finds new ways to emphasize the first element of a hyperbaton. Similarly, he often resorts to this method in original texts.

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