The mosaic acquisition of grammatical relations

ABSTRACTThe view that grammatical relations have substantial essence, designated as ‘subject’ or ‘object’ has difficulty in accounting for the variety of naturally acquirable grammatical relations. The acquisition of grammatical relations is examined from a theoretical framework, ROLE AND REFERENCE GRAMMAR, in which grammatical relations are decomposed into two separate types of structure: logical (semantic) structure and information (pragmatic) structure. The acquisition of grammatical relations from four languages is compared: (1) the definite accusative suffix and pragmatically motivated word order of Turkish; (2) Kaluli verb agreement, case and focus marking postpositions, and pragmatically motivated word order; (3) Hungarian definite and indefinite verb conjunction; and (4) Italian participial agreement and anaphoric, accusative case pronouns. Two conditions on structures are found to cause difficulty: the neutralization of a semantic or pragmatic distinction by interfering structures (e.g. Kaluli and Italian), and global case marking which forces the child to discover relevant semantic characteristics of both the actor and the undergoer (e.g. Hungarian and Kaluli). Structures that encode semantic or pragmatic distinctions independently are more easily acquired (e.g. Turkish). Piecing together discrete structures in a mosaic fashion, the child can acquire the great variety of grammatical relations that exist in human languages.

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Decoding Middle Welsh clauses or “Avoid Ambiguity”

Indogermanische Forschungen ◽

10.1515/if-2014-0008 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 119 (1) ◽

pp. 125-148

Author(s):

Axel Harlos ◽

Erich Poppe ◽

Paul Widmer

Keyword(s):

Present Article ◽

Word Order ◽

Morphological Features ◽

Syntactic Ambiguity ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Lower Tier ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

Narrative Context ◽

Free Word

Abstract Middle Welsh is a language with a restricted set of morphosyntactic distinctions for grammatical relations and with relatively free word order in positive main declarative causes. However, syntactic ambiguity rarely, if ever, arises in natural texts. The present article shows in a corpus-based study how syntactic ambiguity is prevented and how morphological features interact with two referential properties, namely animacy and accessibility, in order to successfully identify grammatical relations in Middle Welsh. Further lower-tier factors are the semantics of the verb and the wider narrative context. The article complements recent insights suggesting that subject-verb agreement is not only determined by wordorder patterns, but also by referential properties of subjects.

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Modality's semantic maps. An investigation of some Latin modal forms

Journal of Latin Linguistics ◽

10.1515/joll.2005.9.1.325 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Elisabetta Magni

Keyword(s):

Recent Literature ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

Semantic Maps ◽

Multiple Uses ◽

Lexical Items

SummaryIn the recent literature on grammaticalization we find that, since modal meanings arise from a restricted set of semantic sources (i.e. lexical items that refer explicitly to concepts related to possibility, necessity, etc.), cross-linguistically similar paths for the evolution of grammatical markers are predictable, and multiple uses of forms can be viewed as points on grammaticalization chains. The purpose of this investigation, which takes into account the data provided by extensive typological research and the theoretical framework offered by Role and Reference Grammar, is to test these findings and predictions about universal modal paths. Starting from the analysis of the modal forms

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The interrelation of semantic structure and syntactic variation in Old English verb classes: catalogue of syntactico-semantic constructions

Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses ◽

10.14198/raei.2005.18.05 ◽

2005 ◽

pp. 111 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marta González Orta

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Semantic Representation ◽

Semantic Structure ◽

Syntactic Variation ◽

Verb Classes ◽

Lexical Representations ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

Lexical Rules ◽

Core Meaning

The aim of this paper is to motivate the syntactic and morphological behaviour of the Old English verbs which share the core meaning of 'to remember', 'to emit a smell', 'to produce a sound' and 'to speak' from their semantic structure. Firstly, as a result of the analysis of these verb subclasses, I will propose a subclass-based lexical template for each lexical subclass. Within the Lexical Grammar Model, lexical templates are conceived as lexical representations where meaning description is encapsulated and interacts with the syntactic behaviour of lexical units. In order to construct a lexical template, Role and Reference Grammar logical structures will be complemented by a semantic decomposition which will define different lexical (sub-)classes. Secondly, the Lexical Template Modelling Process will stipulate the linking between the syntactic and semantic representation of these verbs. This process will establish the lexical rules that account for the mapping between the different semantic constructions and the syntactic structures and alternations in which these verbs participate and the lexical templates codified by these verb subclasses. As a result, a catalogue of the syntactico-semantic constructions exhibited by these Old English verbal predicates will be provided.

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On the dating and nature of verb agreement in Tibeto-Burman

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies ◽

10.1017/s0041977x00004638 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 298-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Randy J. LaPolla

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Language Family ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

The Many

This paper is part of an ongoing investigation into the nature of grammatical relations in the Sino-Tibetan language family. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to develop a hypothesis on the typological nature of word order and grammatical relations in the mother language which gave rise to all of the many languages within the Sino Tibetan language family. As the verb agreement (pronominalization) systems of Tibeto-Burman have been said to be a type of ergative marking, and to have been a part of Proto-Tibeto-Burman grammatical relations, the questions of the dating and nature of the agreement systems in Tibeto-Burman are relevant to the discussion of the nature of grammatical relations in Proto-Sino-Tibetan.

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Word Order Alignment in Three-Argument Constructions of Irish

Roczniki Humanistyczne ◽

10.18290/rh216911-8s ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 69 (11 Zeszyt specjalny) ◽

pp. 149-169

Author(s):

Brian Nolan

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Information Structure ◽

Functional Model ◽

Word Alignment ◽

Final Position ◽

Linguistic Complexity ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

New Information ◽

Irish Data

This study examines the ordering of the actor (A), theme (T) and recipient (R) arguments in three-argument clauses, the prepositional ditransitive constructions of Irish. The ordering of the A, T and R arguments in three-argument clauses is an area where linguistic complexity is manifest in the Irish grammar. Across languages, the factors which influence word order adjustments, from a basic word order of A-T-R, are known to include iconicity, information structure and topicalisation, the distinction between given and new information, the effects of the various referential hierarchies, and syntactic weight. We show that some, but not all, of these apply to the Irish data. Under certain conditions, the word order of these Irish three-argument clauses changes in a different alignment. Specifically, if the T is an accusative pronoun then the word order alignment changes and consequently the T occurs after the R in clause final position, yielding an A R-T word order. We argue that post-positioning of the theme PN is due to the alignment effects that can be explained by reference to the nominal and person hierarchies, and their intersection with the principle of syntactic weight. The Irish grammar seems to be disposed to place the accusative object PN T in clause final position in word order, adding an imposed salience. We characterise the effects of the nominal and person hierarchies, and syntactic weight, on word order within these constructions. We use elements of the functional model of Role and Reference Grammar in this characterisation. These word alignment effects raise important questions of the distribution of linguistic complexity across the grammar of Irish, and the interfaces between semantics, and syntax, as well as information structure.

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Extending Hawkins’ comparative typology: Case, word order, and verb agreement in the Germanic languages

Nordlyd ◽

10.7557/12.93 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Gunther De Vogelaer

Keyword(s):

Word Order ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Grammatical Relations ◽

Original Idea ◽

Germanic Languages ◽

Extra Parameter

In a well-known book, Hawkins (1986), expanding on an original idea by Sapir (1921), attributes a number of typological differences between German and English to the fact that German uses morphological means (i.e. case) to distinguish grammatical relations, whereas English makes use of a strict-SVO word order. Dutch seems problematic to Hawkins’ generalisation, in that neither case nor word order can be used consistently to express the basic grammatical relations. Using verb agreement as an extra parameter, Dutch can be integrated in Hawkins’ typology. In addition, data from Scandinavian languages and Afrikaans indicate that Hawkins’ notion of ‘grammatical word order’ can be replaced by a more precise word order feature, viz. the possibility to place verbs in between subjects and objects in all sentence types.

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Honorifics: A sociocultural verb agreement cue in Japanese sentence processing

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716410000111 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 551-569 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

YUKI YOSHIMURA ◽

BRIAN MACWHINNEY

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Sentence Processing ◽

Word Order ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Role Assignment ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Case Marking ◽

New Type

ABSTRACTCase marking is the major cue to sentence interpretation in Japanese, whereas animacy and word order are much weaker. However, when subjects and their cases markers are omitted, Japanese honorific and humble verbs can provide information that compensates for the missing case role markers. This study examined the usage of honorific and humble verbs as cues to case role assignment by Japanese native speakers and second-language learners of Japanese. The results for native speakers replicated earlier findings regarding the predominant strength of case marking. However, when case marking was missing, native speakers relied more on honorific marking than word order. In these sentences, the processing that relied on the honorific cue was delayed by about 100 ms in comparison to processing that relied on the case-marking cue. Learners made extensive use of the honorific agreement cue, but their use of the cue was much less accurate than that of native speakers. In particular, they failed to systematically invoke the agreement cue when case marking was missing. Overall, the findings support the predictions of the model and extend its coverage to a new type of culturally determined cue.

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Typology and diachrony of converbs in Indo-Aryan

Diachronica ◽

10.1075/dia.19067.str ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Krzysztof Stroński ◽

Leonid Kulikov

Keyword(s):

Recent Discussion ◽

Verbal System ◽

Holistic View ◽

Differential Object Marking ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

Depth Study ◽

History Of ◽

Object Marking ◽

The One

Abstract Non-finite forms constitute an important component of the verbal system of Indo-Aryan (IA) languages. On the one hand, some of them, such as e.g., converbs, have already received proper attention in historical linguistics and typological literature, with regard to Old Indo-Aryan (OIA), Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) and New Indo-Aryan (NIA) (cf. Tikkanen 1987; Peterson 1998; Subbarao 2012 among others). Other forms, such as participles, have usually been analysed in the wider context of reorganisation of a finite verbal system which led to alignment change (for recent discussion see Dahl and Stroński 2016). On the other hand, adverbial participles or infinitives have so far been under-studied (cf. Sigorski 2005), particularly within early NIA. This period in the history of IA languages witnessed several important morphosyntactic developments and still requires in-depth study, particularly due to the lack of well-edited corpora. The aim of the present paper is to partly fill this gap by highlighting major trends in the development of constructions based on various non-finite forms in early NIA. We focus on main argument marking in converbal chain constructions and its interplay with the animacy hierarchy. We demonstrate a relative stability of differential case marking (DCM), focusing mainly on conditions on differential subject marking (DSM) and differential object marking (DOM). In addition, we compare converbal chain constructions with participial absolute constructions (AC). Finally, in order to give a holistic view of converbal constructions, we verify the type of linking instantiated by them, focusing on three scopal parameters in converbal constructions (Tense, Illocutionary Force and Negation) and using the apparatus of Role and Reference Grammar and Multivariate Analysis.

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Automatically Representing TExt Meaning via an Interlingua-based System (ARTEMIS). A further step towards the computational representation of RRG

Journal of Computer-Assisted Linguistic Research ◽

10.4995/jclr.2017.7788 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 61 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ricardo Mairal-Usón ◽

Francisco Cortés-Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Language Processing ◽

Semantic Representation ◽

Analysis Data ◽

Logical Structure ◽

Automatic Generation ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

Level 1 ◽

Computational Resources ◽

Computational Representation

Within the framework of FUNK Lab – a virtual laboratory for natural language processing inspired on a functionally-oriented linguistic theory like Role and Reference Grammar-, a number of computational resources have been built dealing with different aspects of language and with an application in different scientific domains, i.e. terminology, lexicography, sentiment analysis, document classification, text analysis, data mining etc. One of these resources is ARTEMIS (Automatically Representing TExt Meaning via an Interlingua-Based System), which departs from the pioneering work of Periñán-Pascual (2013) and Periñán-Pascual & Arcas (2014). This computational tool is a proof of concept prototype which allows the automatic generation of a conceptual logical structure (CLS) (cf. Mairal-Usón, Periñán-Pascual and Pérez 2012; Van Valin and Mairal-Usón 2014), that is, a fully specified semantic representation of an input text on the basis of a reduced sample of sentences. The primary aim of this paper is to develop the syntactic rules that form part of the computational grammar for the representation of simple clauses in English. More specifically, this work focuses on the format of those syntactic rules that account for the upper levels of the RRG Layered Structure of the Clause (LSC), that is, the core (and the level-1 construction associated with it), the clause and the sentence (Van Valin 2005). In essence, this analysis, together with that in Cortés-Rodríguez and Mairal-Usón (2016), offers an almost complete description of the computational grammar behind the LSC for simple clauses.

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Semantic Parameters of Basque Split Intransitivity in Role and Reference Grammar

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society ◽

10.3765/bls.v20i1.1468 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 145

Author(s):

Lincoln Ward Cutting

Keyword(s):

Annual Meeting ◽

General Session ◽

Role And Reference Grammar ◽

Reference Grammar ◽

Split Intransitivity ◽

Semantic Parameters

Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session Dedicated to the Contributions of Charles J. Fillmore (1994)

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