From unit-and-ten to ten-before-unit order in the history of English numerals

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Berg ◽  
Marion Neubauer
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Old English ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Unit Order ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Number Words ◽  
Significant Structural Change ◽  
History Of ◽  
Order Change

AbstractIn the course of its history, English underwent a significant structural change in its numeral system. The number words from 21 to 99 switched from the unit-and-ten to the ten-before-unit pattern. This change is traced on the basis of more than 800 number words. It is argued that this change, which took seven centuries to complete and in which the Old English pattern was highly persistent, can be broken down into two parts—the reordering of the units and tens and the loss of the conjoining element. Although the two steps logically belong to the same overall change, they display a remarkably disparate behavior. Whereas the reordering process affected the least frequent number words first, the deletion process affected the most frequent words first. This disparity lends support to the hypothesis that the involvement or otherwise of low-level aspects of speech determines the role of frequency in language change (Phillips, 2006). Finally, the order change is likely to be a contact-induced phenomenon and may have been facilitated by a reduction in mental cost.

ROLE OF LIPID PROFILE IN OVARIAN CARCINOMA PATIENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Manisha ◽  
Dr. Ruchi Jindal
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Lipid Profile ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Ovarian Tumor ◽  
Ovarian Cancer Risk ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Group I ◽  
History Of

Background: The term "ovarian cancer" includes several different types of cancer that  arise from cells of the ovary, most commonly, tumors arise from the epithelium or lining cells of the ovary.  Ovarian cancer risk is positively associated with higher consumption of dietary cholesterol and eggs, and inversely associated with a higher intake of vegetables. High consumption of fats may increase circulating estrogen levels, thus increasing the possibility of cell damage and proliferation that is responsible for cancerous growth. Material & Methods: The present study was conducted at Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur (Rajasthan). Total  100 cases (females) attending the obstetrics and gynecology department for some gynecological and other problem  were selected for this study between the age of 40-60 years, who were attending cancer centre at GEETANJALI MEDICAL COLLEGE AND  HOSPITAL, Udaipur (Rajasthan).                GROUP I: - It consisted of healthy females control subjects (n=50) .By routine examination and tests, we ensured that all the subjects were healthy and there were no signs and symptoms or history of ovarian tumor and diseases GROUP II: - It consisted of ovarian cancer females subjects (n=50) with a history of ovarian tumor. Results:   Higher level of cholesterol, LDL, VLDL and low level of HDL are found in ovarian cancer patients. Conclusion: The present study we highlights the importance and role of serum lipid profile in diagnosis, prognosis and recurrence of the disease. The study shows that serum level of cholesterol, LDL, VLDL was elevated in  patients of ovarian cancer while low level of HDL are found in ovarian cancer patients. Key words: lipid profile, ovarian cancer.

Ambiguity avoidance as a factor in the rise of the English dative alternation

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Zehentner
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
Cue Reliability ◽  
History Of ◽  
Potential Impact

Abstract This paper discusses the role of cognitive factors in language change; specifically, it investigates the potential impact of argument ambiguity avoidance on the emergence of one of the most well-studied syntactic alternations in English, viz. the dative alternation (We gave them cake vs We gave cake to them). Linking this development to other major changes in the history of English like the loss of case marking, I propose that morphological as well as semantic-pragmatic ambiguity between prototypical agents (subjects) and prototypical recipients (indirect objects) in ditransitive clauses plausibly gave a processing advantage to patterns with higher cue reliability such as prepositional marking, but also fixed clause-level (SVO) order. The main hypotheses are tested through a quantitative analysis of ditransitives in a corpus of Middle English, which (i) confirms that the spread of the PP-construction is impacted by argument ambiguity and (ii) demonstrates that this change reflects a complex restructuring of disambiguation strategies.

scholarly journals The Hypothesis of Change from Above in the History of English: State of the Art and Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (s1) ◽  
pp. 251-266
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Lavidas
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Linguistic Ideology ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
New Directions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractThe present paper presents the state of the art of research related to hypothesized changes from above in the diachrony of English. A main aim of the paper is to show how the cooperation of various perspectives can open new directions in the research of language change. We examine the main aspects of a definition of the change from above. We investigate the various perspectives through which the concept of change from above, as an “importation of elements from other systems” (Labov 2007), has been considered a significant factor for the development of English. We show that any attempt to investigate the presence or role of change from above includes the parameters of prestige, distribution of old and new forms, diffusion, gender, and linguistic ideology. Finally, we discuss typical examples of development of patterns and characteristics of English that have been analyzed as influenced by change from above, as well as the prestige dialects / languages and contexts that have been regarded as facilitating a hypothesized change from above (Latin, Anglo-Norman, standardization, prescriptivism, networks and individuals). We argue that the articles of the present special issue provide stable criteria that are required in any attempt to test the hypothesis of change from above in the development of English.

Main and embedded clausal asymmetry in the history of English

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-140
Author(s):  
Elly van Gelderen
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Main Clause ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
History Of ◽  
Embedded Clauses ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Split Cp ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Matrix Verb

Abstract In this paper, I sketch the CP layer in main and embedded clauses in the history of English. The Modern English main clause is not as easily expandable as the Old English one, but the reverse is true in the subordinate clause, where Modern English has a more flexible embedded CP than Old English. I focus on the developments of the embedded CP. It has been claimed that Old English lacks an embedded split CP and therefore lacks embedded V2 and a host of other embedded root phenomena. I show this to be true for complements to both assertive and non-assertive verbs. In contrast, the Modern English matrix verb has an effect on the strength of the C-position. Assertive verbs in Modern English allow main clause phenomena in subordinate clauses whereas non-assertives typically do not. The main point of the paper is to chronicle the changes that ‘stretch’ the embedded clause and the changing role of main verbs. It is descriptive rather than explanatory, e.g., in terms of changes in phase-head status.

Old French declension

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Kihm
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Old French ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
French Language ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
History Of

Old French noun inflection emerged and disappeared early in the history of the French language. A number or reasons are examined including the nature of sound changes occurring between Late Latin and Old French. Paradigm structure is another reason. The declensional paradigms of masculine nouns produced a mismatch between morphological and semantic defaults for the number and case features. This was because the non-default values of these features came to be expressed by a morphologically default, uninflected word-form, thus resulting in a system that was both weird in terms of the morphology-semantics interface and probably hard to acquire and to process. Repairing the mismatch entailed giving up declension in favour of a simple number contrast where the semantic non-defaultness of plurality matches the inflectedness of the plural form. Default considerations thus played the role of analogy in the Neogrammarian scenario of language change, restoring order where sound change had created chaos.

New Perspectives on Structural Change

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
History Of ◽  
Critical Overview

This edited volume provides a comprehensive overview of the major debates on the role of structural change in economic development. The book begins by recounting the intellectual history of the notion of structural change, providing a critical overview of the arguments that link structural change to growth and development, before outlining the main historical trends in structural change and structural transformation to build an empirical base for the assessment and analysis of structural change. This analysis lays the foundation for an analysis of the drivers and determinants of structural change, with factors including technological change, changes in demand, trade, policy, class interests, and pressure groups being considered. The final part of the book contributes to recent debates on inclusive growth, poverty reduction, income distribution, and the environment. Whether development benefits all members of society in a fair way is one of the most important issues in the development debate, with this volume contributing to the analysis of how structural change affects the inclusiveness and sustainability of socio-economic development.

scholarly journals Special issue on mechanisms of French contact influence in Middle English: diffusion and maintenance

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-205
Author(s):  
OLGA TIMOFEEVA ◽  
RICHARD INGHAM
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The World ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
History Of

Recent years have seen a spate of publications that attempt to recontextualise the history of English in contact-linguistic (Miller 2012; Lutz 2013; Durkin 2014) and sociolinguistic terms (Millar 2012), and conversely to confront previous descriptions of contact phenomena with new data and theoretical insights available from situations of language shift and substratum influence (Filppula, Klemola & Paulasto 2008; Vennemann 2011), extensive bilingualism (Schendl & Wright 2011), language acquisition (Ingham 2012) and contact-induced grammaticalisation (Timofeeva 2010). Coupled with advances in our understanding of contact- and acquisition-induced language change (Heine & Kuteva 2005; Jarvis & Pavlenko 2008), and of the role of contact in the varieties of English around the world (Schreier & Hundt 2013), there is a clear need in this area of historical research for scholars to reinvestigate earlier stages of English as a contact language.

scholarly journals Problems with variable properties in syntax

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-19
Author(s):  
David Lightfoot
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Logical Form ◽  
Variable Properties ◽  
Generative Capacity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Evaluation Metric

Like those birds born to chirp, humans are born to parse; children are predisposed to assign linguistic structures to the amorphous externalization of the thoughts that we encounter. This yields a view of variable properties quite different from one based on parameters defined at Universal Grammar (UG). Our approach to language acquisition makes two contributions to Minimalist thinking. First, in accordance with general Minimalist goals, we minimize the pre-wired components of internal languages, dispensing with three separate, central entities: parameters, an evaluation metric for rating the generative capacity of grammars, and any independent parsing mechanism. Instead, children use their internal grammar to parse the ambient external language they experience. UG is “open,” consistent with what children learn through parsing. Second, our understanding of language acquisition yields a new view of variable properties, properties that occur only in certain languages. Under this open UG vision, specific elements of I-languages arise in response to new parses. Both external and internal languages play crucial, interacting roles:  unstructured, amorphous external language is parsed and a structured internal language system results. My Born to parse (Lightfoot 2020) explores case studies that show innovative parses of external language shaping the history of languages. I discuss 1) how children learn through parsing, 2) the role of parsing at the two interfaces between syntactic structure and the externalization system (sound or sign) and logical form, 3) language change, and 4) variable linguistic properties seen through the lens of an open UG. This, in turn, yields a view of variable properties akin to that of evolutionary biologists working on Darwin’s finches; see section 7.

Reconsidering the history of like

1986 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Semantic Roles ◽  
Clear Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
Image Position ◽  
Grammatical Roles

The history of the verb like has attracted a good deal of interest among linguists and students of the history of English, from Van der Gaaf (1904) and Jespersen (1927) up to Elmer (1981), Lightfoot (1981), and Fischer and Van der Leek (1983). The interest in this verb is caused by the fact that it presents a clear case of a verb changing its assignment of semantic to syntactic roles. In Modern English (ModE), this verb subcategorizes for a cause, which takes the grammatical role of object, and an experiencer, which plays the role of subject. But in Old English (OE), the semantic roles were assigned to the opposite grammatical roles:It is generally assumed (with an exception to be discussed below), that this change is an instance of syntactic reanalysis. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that no reanalysis of a structure has taken place; rather, a new subcategorization frame has been introduced and gradually ousted the old one.

scholarly journals On historical language contact in English and its types: state of the art and new directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (s2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Lavidas ◽  
Alexander Bergs
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Change ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Early Language ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Methodologies ◽  
Early English

AbstractThis article presents the state of the art of current research on the different types of language contact in early English. The article’s main aim is to show what kinds of phenomena have been investigated until now as possible areas of transfer/borrowing from other languages. We examine the main contact scenarios in Old and Middle English, which involve Latin, Celtic, French and Old Norse. We locate unanswered questions and underexamined hypotheses of historical language contact. We argue that the articles of the Special Collection on Language Contact in the History of English open new directions in the way we can investigate the role of early language contact in the development of English. New methodologies of research, the role of bilingualism in language change but also of the written types of contact, and the various domains of change in grammar, lexicon, and pragmatics offer insights into old and new hypotheses on scenarios of language contact.

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