What drives morphological change?

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-289
Author(s):  
Stefan Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Change ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Formation Pattern ◽  
Early New High German ◽  
Diachronic Development ◽  
Deverbal Nominals ◽  
Lexical Factors

This paper investigates the role of syntactic, semantic, and lexical factors in the diachronic development of German nominalization patterns. Drawing on an extensive corpus analysis of Early New High German and New High German texts, it is shown that (a) deverbal nominals in the suffix -ung tend to develop more reified meaning variants, which is reflected in the syntactic patterns in which the word-formation products preferentially occur, and (b) infinitival nominalization becomes more productive and is established as the new default word-formation pattern deriving nouns from verbs. These considerations fit in neatly with a cognitively-oriented theory of word-formation change situated in the framework of Construction Grammar.

The diachronic development of the verbal bracket construction in German

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-176
Author(s):  
Elena Smirnova
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
General Level ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Functional Value ◽  
First Results ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Diachronic Development

Abstract This work-in-progress paper reports the first results of a study dedicated to the investigation of the cognitive status of the sentence bracket construction in German. The project aims at a comprehensive corpus analysis of diachronic data from the Early New High German period (ENHG, 1350–1650). The study focuses on the syntactic structures of German main clauses and is guided by two general research questions. First, on the conceptual level, it addresses the question of whether the sentence bracket construction can be considered a construction in its own right. Second, the paper deals with the issue of the diachronic source(s) of the sentence bracket construction. Based on ENHG corpus data, it examines the role of grammaticalization of verbal auxiliaries in the development of the bracket construction. On a more general level, the objective of the paper is to encourage the discussion on the cognitive status of syntactic phenomena which often escape a straightforward modelling in cognitive and constructionist terms, as they do not seem to bear a particular dedicated semantic and/or functional value.

Patterns of coining and constructions

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Delhem ◽  
Caroline Marty
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Measurement Methods ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Formation Pattern ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Do So

Abstract We develop the notion of pattern of coining found in some complete-inheritance models of Construction Grammar (Fillmore 1997; Kay 2013), which are processes used to coin new units based on analogy with an existing one. Unlike constructions, they cannot be considered systematically productive in synchrony. After providing measurement methods, we assess the productivity of three patterns (‧whelm, ‧licious and ‧holic). To do so, we carried out a statistical analysis using two web corpora. Unlike Kay, we show that the difference between constructions and patterns of coining is not so clear-cut, since patterns of coining may undergo constructionalization, and that qualitative aspects should be taken into account along with quantitative data when trying to assess the status of a word-formation pattern.

The emergence of disjunction: A history of constructionalization in Chinese

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Jing-Schmidt ◽  
Xinjia Peng
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Linguistic Typology ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diachronic Development

AbstractThis study investigates the diachronic development of Chinese disjunction, drawing implications both for principles of diachronic Construction Grammar, and for the linguistic typology of disjunction. Close examinations of data from historical corpora revealed non-linear, gradual constructional changes based on complex yet principled interactions of conceptual origin, constructional patterning, discourse pragmatics, and an isolating typology in the development of Chinese disjunction. Specifically, the results (1) show that construction is the source, unit and product of change, (2) demonstrate the pivotal role of syntactic and semantic reanalysis in the micro changes leading to the constructionalization of disjunction, (3) reveal a conceptual and diachronic continuity between epistemic uncertainty and disjunction, (4) highlight frequency of use as a driving force in the conventionalization and entrenchment of constructional schema, and (5) confirm the role played by an isolating typology in syntactic and categorial reassignment as a key step in grammatical constructionalization.

scholarly journals Die Entwicklungslogik der nominalen Determinativkomposition im Deutschen – verstanden als Grammatikalisierung

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Werner
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Change ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Language Typology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diachronic Development

Under the assumption of an individually grammatical semantics of word-formation types, this paper deals with the development of determinative compounding in the history of German from an inner-morphological perspective. Diachronically, the former research observed that German nouns have become “longer”, i. e. more complex (firstly been formulated by Wurzel 1996). Additionally, some morphological restrictions within nominal compounding have been documented for historical stages of German, but some of them cannot be attested in present-day German. This suggests a formally and semantically motivated, inner-morphological change which can be described in terms of grammaticalization theory. For this purpose, previ-ous results from historical word-formation and semantics will be combined with new observa-tions on morphological discontinuities in the history of German, especially by focussing on morphological restrictions from a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. Since this approach comprises various linguistic phenomena (such as the diachronic development of part of speeches, (de-)referencialization, definiteness etc.) and since morphological restrictions have merely not been documented empirically – neither for present-day nor for historical stages of German, the paper aims at sketching the most prominent lines of development from a theoreti-cal perspective, also by contrasting them with results from language typology, variational lin-guistics, and semantics. Additionally, the paper provides morpho-syntactical prospects for further theoretical and empirical research on historical morphology, also by conceiving word-internal language change as an integral part of the dynamics of morpho-syntactic structuring.

Niuean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Massam
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Noun Incorporation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Theta Role ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure

This book presents a detailed descriptive and theoretical examination of predicate-argument structure in Niuean, a Polynesian language within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family, spoken mainly on the Pacific island of Niue and in New Zealand. Niuean has VSO word order and an ergative case-marking system, both of which raise questions for a subject-predicate view of sentence structure. Working within a broadly Minimalist framework, this volume develops an analysis in which syntactic arguments are not merged locally to their thematic sources, but instead are merged high, above an inverted extended predicate which serves syntactically as the Niuean verb, later undergoing movement into the left periphery of the clause. The thematically lowest argument merges as an absolutive inner subject, with higher arguments merging as applicatives. The proposal relates Niuean word order and ergativity to its isolating morphology, by equating the absence of inflection with the absence of IP in Niuean, which impacts many aspects of its grammar. As well as developing a novel analysis of clause and argument structure, word order, ergative case, and theta role assignment, the volume argues for an expanded understanding of subjecthood. Throughout the volume, many other topics are also treated, such as noun incorporation, word formation, the parallel internal structure of predicates and arguments, null arguments, displacement typology, the role of determiners, and the structure of the left periphery.

Morphologie und Semantik der n-Erweiterung bei Muttern und Vatern im Deutschen

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-79
Author(s):  
Alexander Werth
Keyword(s):  
Word Formation ◽  
Limited Extent ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Low German ◽  
German Dialects ◽  
Semantic Concepts ◽  
Formation Pattern ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Comparative Constructions

Abstract: This paper deals with German kinship terms ending with the form n (Muttern, Vatern). Firstly, data from newspapers are presented that show that especially Muttern denotes very special meanings that can only be derived to a limited extent from the lexical base: a) Muttern referring to a home where mother cares for you, b) Muttern standing for overprotection, and c) Muttern representing a special food style (often embedded in prepositional phrases and/or comparative constructions like wie bei or wie von Muttern). Secondly, it is argued that the addition of n to kinship terms is not a word-formation pattern, but that these word forms are instead lexicalized and idiomatized in contemporary German. Hence, a diachronic scenario is applied to account for the data. It is argued in the present paper that the n-forms have been borrowed from Low German dialects, especially from constructional idioms of the type ‘X-wie bei Muttern’ and that forms were enriched by semantic concepts associated with the dialect.

THE ROLE OF PRODUCTIVE WORD-FORMATION MODELS IN COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Диана Григорьевна Акубекова
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Language Classes

В статье освещается проблема использования продуктивных словообразовательных моделей на занятиях иностранного языка. The article presents the problem of using productive word-formation models in foreign language classes.

‘A Victorian community overseas’ transformed: demographic and morphological change in suburban Melbourne, Australia, 1947–1981

Urban History ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-482
Author(s):  
SEAMUS O’HANLON
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Morphological Change ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Building Industry ◽  
Victorian Era ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Post War ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

ABSTRACTOne of the world's great Victorian-era suburban metropolises, Melbourne, Australia, was transformed by mass immigration and the redevelopment of some of its older suburbs with low-rise flats and apartments in the post-war years. Drawing on a range of sources, including census material, municipal rate and valuation books, immigration and company records, as well as building industry publications, this article charts demographic and morphological change across the Melbourne metropolitan area and in two particular suburbs in the mid- to late twentieth century. In doing so, it both responds to McManus and Ethington's recent call for more histories of suburbs in transition, and seeks to embed the role of immigration and immigrants into Melbourne's urban historiography.

scholarly journals COMPOUND NOUNS IN GERMAN LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (10(78)) ◽  
pp. 124-127
Author(s):  
Svitlana Korol
Keyword(s):  
Component Composition ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Regular Growth ◽  
German Language ◽  
New Words ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Compound Nouns ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Relationship Of

The article deals with one of the most common types of word formation in German as word compounding. Compound nouns have become the object of study, as this part of the language leads the way in the formation of new words in this way. The relevance of the research is reinforced by the fact that German compound nouns differ by their multicomponent structure and are in the process of regular growth of their numbers, so they are attracting the attention of Germanists of different generations continuously. The study has examined the nature of the component composition of composites, the types of bonding between components, the types of constituent components, the role of the connecting element, the syllable’s accentuation of components of the compound noun etc. The compound can be built from nouns, adjectives, verbs or an invariable element (prepositions). There is no limit of the number of the associated words. The last word in the compound always determines the gender and plural form of the compound noun. The connectors or linking elements in existing German compound words often correspond to old case endings (e.g., plural, genitive). These endings expressed the relationship of the compound parts to one another. The article considers the causes of the formation of complex nouns. Compounds make the German language more flexible. In general, compounds are used to convey more information in one word and for reasons of language economy. Special attention deserves such a phenomenon as Denglish. This is the mashing of words from the two languages to create new hybrid words.

scholarly journals Root desemantization as a problem of derivatology (based on the material of derived verbs in Russian dialects)

2021 ◽  
pp. 158-177
Author(s):  
Anatoly F. Zhuravlev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Formation ◽  
Russian Dialect

In derivatology (in a broader sense, in the theory of nomination), the role of an important factor in the emergence of lexical units — the semantic emptying of root morphemes — is underestimated. The article considers Russian dialect expressive verbs formed by confixation, in which there is no connection between the etymological meaning of the root and the semantics of the derived word. The meaning of such a word is not concentrated in the root, but is transmitted by the word-formation construction as a whole. According to the author, the theoretical ignoring of regular desemantization does not allow achieving adequacy in the description of the principles and mechanisms of nomination.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document