Perception and control: a Minimalist analysis of English direct perception complements

1998 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA FELSER
Keyword(s):  
Functional Category ◽  
Direct Perception ◽  
Event Argument ◽  
Perception Verbs ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
And Control ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Control Relation

In this article I argue that both bare infinitival and participial complements of perception verbs in English are clausal constituents headed by the functional category Aspect, and differ only with respect to their aspectual value. Further, I argue that perception verbs license aspectual complements by virtue of being able to function as event control predicates, that is, they allow a control relation to be established between their own and the event argument provided by the predicate of the complement clause. It is shown that the entire cluster of syntactic and semantic properties that characterize direct perception constructions follows from the proposed analysis, in conjunction with independently motivated principles of grammar.

scholarly journals Verbal means of information and psychological warfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 251-258
Author(s):  
Vitalina Tarasova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Military Operations ◽  
Information Campaign ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Psychological Warfare ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Process Event ◽  
Human Desire ◽  
And Control ◽  
Semantic Properties

The article focuses on linguistic and cognitive peculiarities of the information and psychological warfare and its manifestation in the Ukrainian and Russian languages with the help of innovative verbal means. The paper analyses Russia’s information campaign against Ukraine, covering the period from the Euromaidan (2014) until 2020. It is stated that Russia’s information campaign is to be analysed in the context of the strategic narrative of the Russian government, reflected in pro-Russian mass media. It has been revealed that Russia’s information campaign was related to Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. Russia has demonstrated that in the current and continually evolving information environment, power and control can be easily gained by manipulating information to influence societal perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. The Russian narrative includes several dominant themes: promoting the Russian World which unites the Eastern Slavs, implies that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation, and recognizes the natural supremacy of Russia; portraying Ukrainians as a pseudo-nation who are unable to administer their own country and sustain their statehood, and labelling the Euromaidan protesters as nationalists, Nazis and fascists posing a threat to the ethnically Russian part of the Ukraine’s population. Narratives are supported by utilising so-called thematic communication frames. The thematic frames are a way of associating a particular impression or opinion with an object or a subject. The characteristics of thematic frames are their close relationships within a particular context and interpretation. Thematic framing can be applied to an individual, to a group of people (the inhabitants of Western Ukraine are followers of Bandera and neo-Nazis), or to a process, event or particular place in time and space. The creation of thematic frames is related to the human desire to simplify the outside world and to easily distinguish friends from foes. Thematic framing can be used to manipulate audiences. It has been proved that the means of verbalization of the information and psychological warfare reflect the perception of reality in the light of a certain ideology and mentality. The conceptualization of conflicting parties takes place in terms of such eternal values as the Good and the Evil which is here based on the dichotomy ONE’S OWN / ALIEN (Ukraine / Russia), reflecting the opposition between western and eastern civilizations. The paper determines ontological features of the dichotomy ONE’S OWN / ALIEN, introduces its model, exposes semantic structure of the key lexemes that denote ONE’S OWN / ALIEN. The investigation of neologisms allows revealing the ways and means of languages enrichment. It also exposes the semantic properties of innovations and highlights the phenomenon of the war of linguistic signs which includes the war of form and the war of meaning.

scholarly journals Semantic and structural aspects of complement control in Korean

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 81-123
Author(s):  
Thomas Gamerschlag
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Analysis ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Matrix Argument ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
And Control ◽  
Additional Constraints ◽  
Structural Aspects

In this article, I will present a survey of control structures in Korean. The survey is based on a sample of seventy SOA-argument-taking predicates, which are classified with respect to their complementation patterns and control properties. As a result, Korean is characterized as a language in which semantically determined control is predominant, whereas constructionally induced control is only marginal. In the discussion of the sample, I will show that there are two major classes of verbs exhibiting semantic control: the first class consists of matrix verbs such as hwuhoyhata 'regret' or kangyohata 'force', which require obligatory coreference between a matrix argument and the embedded subject due to their lexical meaning. The verbs of the second class are utterance verbs such as malhata 'tell', which select clauses headed by the quotative complementizer ko. With these verbs, subject, object, or split control arises if specific modal suffixes are attached to the verb heading the complement clause. In the second part of the paper, I will provide a lexical analysis of control in Korean, which adopts the Principle of Controller Choice proposed by Farkas (1988) as well as additional constraints which have to be assumed independently.  

scholarly journals Syntax and semantics of “thôi” and “ngừng”

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-118
Author(s):  
Pho Van Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Control ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
Semantic Properties

The paper gives a comparative analysis of the syntax and semantic features of “thôi” and “ngừng” – two Vietnamese egressive verbs where their aspectual value will moderately be focused. Accordingly, “thôi” and “ngừng” have several syntac-semantic properties in common, but also several differences. Both “thôi” and “ngừng” denote “not continue” or “not recur”; but unlike “thôi” which implies a termination, “ngừng” implies a possible resumption of the event in question. They both presuppose the event which has been in progress. However, “”thôi” can refer to an intention, but “ngừng” can’t. “Thôi” manifests the event of Activity or State (eventual types), but “ngừng” manifests the event of Activity or State or Accomplishment. They both can be followed in complement clause. In case of “thôi”, the complement clause refers to events [+dynamic] [+control] while “ngừng” requires events [+dynamic] [±control]. Both “thôi” and “ngừng” show some similarities but also differences. That is why foreigners have trouble learning Vietnamese.

scholarly journals HIERARQUIA TEMÁTICA: UMA PROPOSTA PARA O PB

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcia Cançado
Keyword(s):  
Current Literature ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Complex Predicate ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
In Memoriam ◽  
Per Se ◽  
And Control ◽  
Semantic Properties

Primeiramente, eu dedico este artigo à memória do Prof. Carlos Franchi. Apresento, aqui, uma proposta alternativa para o Princípio da Hierarquia Temática. A proposta é diferente de outras no sentido que, para construir o Princípio da Hierarquia, uso somente quatro propriedades semânticas – desencadeador, afetado, estado e controle – e suas combinações. Além disso, o princípio não é construído por papéis temáticos como o usual na literatura corrente. Diferentemente de outras propostas, a localização de um argumento em uma posição sintática específica deve-se à propriedade que compõe o papel temático (e não o próprio papel temático). Papel temático aqui, é definido como uma relação estabelecida entre um predicador simples ou complexo e seus argumentos. Abstract First of all, I dedicate this paper to Prof. Carlos Franchi (in memoriam). It presents an approach for the Thematic Hierarchy Principle applied to BP. The approach is different from others in the sense that, to construct the Thematic Hierarchy Principle, I deal only with four semantic properties – trigger, affected, state, and control – and their combinations. Besides, the principle is not constructed by thematic roles as is usual in the current literature. Differing from other proposals, the localization of an argument in a specific syntactic position is due to the property that composes the thematic role (and not to the thematic role per se). Thematic roles here are defined as a set of entailments (the semantic properties) derived from the relation established between a single or complex predicate and its arguments.

Kumam

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-629
Author(s):  
Osamu Hieda
Keyword(s):  
Direct Perception ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Perception Verbs ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Indirect Perception

Kumam is a Western Nilotic language that is spoken in central Uganda. This chapter focuses on the formation of a double downstep high tone, the function of middle sentences, and evidentiality in complementation. Kumam is a tone language with a low and a high toneme, exhibiting a double downstep high tone as a feature. Aspect (imperfective vs. perfective) is marked obligatorily with a suprasegmental morpheme, while tense is not marked in verbal complexes. Tense is expressed lexically. Kumam has no passivization, but middle sentences function as a passive equivalent instead. Kumam has two types of complementation, “paratactic” and “hypotactic”, that are different syntactically and semantically. For instance, when perception verbs are followed by a “paratactic” clause, they express direct perception. When they are followed by a “hypotactic” clause, they express indirect perception. There is the relationship between the complement types and evidentiality.

An Account of Discourse Markers

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Functional Category ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Core Meaning ◽  
Semantic Properties

AbstractDiscourse Markers (DMs) have been a topic of research for 30 years under many different names. The present paper presents an account of one view of DMs with the aim of providing researchers in the field with a coherent definition of DMs and a presentation of the syntactic and semantic properties of this functional category that will enable them to compare their work on DMs with other researchers. In addition, an analysis of the uses of the DM but supports the claim that there is one core meaning relationship, contrast, with the interpretation of the more than 10 different uses of but being signalled by context and pragmatic elaboration.

scholarly journals Complementation

Linguistics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Achard
Keyword(s):  
Argument Position ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
Spoken Text ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Realistic Representation ◽  
Good For ◽  
Waking Up ◽  
And Control

In its more general sense, a complement is an argument of a predicate, and generally opposed to an adjunct, a non-argument position. In this bibliography, however, complementation more narrowly refers to complement clauses, namely clausal arguments of predicates. For example, in I believe that she came back, the complement clause she came back functions as the object of the predicate believe. The study of complementation involves the detailed investigation of the different types of clauses that follow specific semantic classes of predicates. Obviously, complement forms vary greatly across languages; in English, they includes bare infinitives (I saw John eat a cookie, Mary made John eat a cookie), gerunds (I hate waking up early), as well as instances where the complement clause is introduced by the complementizers that, wh, POSS-ING, to, and for to, respectively illustrated in I think that coffee is good for you, I wonder whether coffee is good for you, I am worried about John’s being angry all the time, The president ordered the clerk to resign, and I would like for the board to recognize your promotion. The literature on complementation reflects the theoretical eclecticism of the field. Syntactic research primarily focuses on the mechanisms by which complement clauses acquire their surface forms. More semantically oriented analyses concentrate on the possible pairing of the various complement forms with specific semantic classes of predicates, as well as on the semantic import of the different components of complement constructions (predicates, complementizers, the complement forms themselves). The main focus of usage-based accounts is to provide a realistic representation of the frequency and distribution of the various constructions in written and spoken text. This overview of the complementation literature is organized in a way that captures this eclectic research and separates the different orientations in different sections. In particular, the syntactic and semantic solutions to the issues of raising and control are presented separately.

scholarly journals Seeing vs. Seeing That: Children's Understanding of Direct Perception and Inference Reports

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
E. Emory Davis ◽  
Barbara Landau
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Direct Perception ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Contextual Cues ◽  
Perception Verbs ◽  
Conceptual Distinction ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
To Come ◽  
Visually Based

Young children can reason about direct and indirect visual information, but fully mapping this understanding to linguistic forms encoding the two knowledge sources appears to come later in development. In English, perception verbs with small clause complements ('I saw something happen') report direct perception of an event, while perception verbs with sentential complements ('I saw that something happened') can report inferences about an event. In two experiments, we ask when 4-9-year-old English-speaking children have linked the conceptual distinction between direct perception and inference to different complements expressing this distinction. We find that, unlike older children or adults, 4-6-year-olds do not recognize that see with a sentential complement can report visually-based inference, even when syntactic and contextual cues make inference interpretations highly salient. These results suggest a prolonged developmental trajectory for learning how the syntax of perception verbs like see maps to their semantics.

scholarly journals Deep learning and control algorithms of direct perception for autonomous driving

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-247
Author(s):  
Der-Hau Lee ◽  
Kuan-Lin Chen ◽  
Kuan-Han Liou ◽  
Chang-Lun Liu ◽  
Jinn-Liang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Direct Perception ◽  
Control Algorithms ◽  
And Control

Where Syntax and Semantics Meet: A Typological Investigation of Old Egyptian Causatives

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 183-213
Author(s):  
Silvia Štubňová
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Complement Clause ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Lexical Causative ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Peculiar Nature ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Comprehensive Study ◽  
Causative Verbs

The earliest stage of the ancient Egyptian language attested in writing, i.e., Old Egyptian, had two productive causative mechanisms that increase the valency of verbs: morphological (mono-clausal) and periphrastic (bi-clausal). The former is characterized by the prefix s-, while the latter employs the lexical causative verb rḏj ‘give’ followed by a complement clause. Despite the fact that both causative strategies have been known to scholars since the inception of the study of the ancient Egyptian language, any systematic or comprehensive study of Egyptian causative verbs is lacking. This paper thus aims to provide a new insight into the Old Egyptian morphological and periphrastic causatives by examining their syntactic as well as semantic properties. The results of this analysis show which types of verbs have a preference for which of the two causative strategies and demonstrate the semantic differences between the morphological and periphrastic causative types. Furthermore, this paper clarifies the peculiar nature of the morphological causatives of transitive verbs, whose valency does not increase. I suggest a possible solution to this issue that lies in the function of the n-prefix in Old Egyptian.

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