Contact-induced grammatical change?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Kosmata ◽  
Barbara Schlücker
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Formation Pattern ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Grammatical Change ◽  
Qualitative Changes

Abstract The paper discusses how language contact and borrowing can be established as a critical factor of quantitative and/or qualitative changes of abstract grammatical patterns, in particular if languages are genetically and areally closely related and thus structurally similar. More specifically, it deals with the question of whether the word-formation pattern of proper name compounding in German and Dutch is an instance of grammatical borrowing from English, as is often claimed in the literature. To this end, we conduct a structural analysis of the pattern in the three languages based on original and translation corpus data. We show that the pattern which, at first glance, seems to be identical in all three languages has in fact different properties in each language. Although this does not necessarily preclude transfer from English, we conclude that there is no evidence in favour of such an influence.

Does French have verbal-nexus Noun+Noun compounds?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-223
Author(s):  
Jan Radimský
Keyword(s):  
Word Formation ◽  
Regular Word ◽  
Semantic Relationships ◽  
Formation Pattern ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Noun Compounds

Abstract Though components of subordinate NN compounds may in principle display a wide variety of semantic relationships, data from Romance suggest that in languages where the NN pattern is still new and peripheral, the different subtypes of NN compounds do not necessarily emerge at the same rhythm. The aim of this article is to verify the assumption that French, unlike Italian, does not have an available word-formation pattern of verbal-nexus NN compounds (i.e. compounds in which the verb-argument relationship is featured). With reference to extensive corpus data, it will be demonstrated that in both languages many different subtypes of verbal-nexus NN compounds are attested, but Italian has already developed a consistent and regular word-formation paradigm based on one particular subtype of verbal-nexus NN compounds, while French data do not display such regularity, and the verbal-nexus pattern is much more peripheral in this language.

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.

scholarly journals A Study on a Group of Grammatical Features across Western Yue Dialects: Perspectives from Contact-induced Grammaticalization and Semantic Map Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-213
Author(s):  
Lin Huayong ◽  
Wu Xueyu ◽  
Liu Zhiling
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Guangdong Province ◽  
Semantic Map ◽  
Chinese Dialects ◽  
Grammatical Change ◽  
Linguistic Basis ◽  
Chinese Linguistics

The theory of contact-induced grammaticalization has been proposed to examine language contact and grammatical change, and was introduced into Chinese linguistic circles over 10 years ago. It contributes to a series of developments and breakthroughs in the domain of contact between Chinese and other languages as well as contact among Chinese dialects. Recent approaches to Chinese linguistics combine the theory with Semantic Map Model. In this paper, we focus on the Chinese linguistic studies benefitting from the theory and discuss a group of regional grammatical features which have provided the linguistic basis for cultural regionalization in Guangdong Province.

scholarly journals Кореферентные структуры, используемые для представления экономических субъектов в медийном дискурсе

2021 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Сергей Ключенович
Keyword(s):  
Structural Properties ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Text Linguistics ◽  
Synthetic Compounds ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
German Newspaper ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Communicative Approach ◽  
A Company

The subject of study in the article is the discourse specifics of representation of economic entities in German newspaper and magazine texts of the last two decades. The purpose of the analysis is to elucidate the factors that stimulate univerbation in connection with the generation and textual integration of co-referential structures different in genesis, structural properties, semantic characteristics and stylistic potential. The study, conducted on the basis of a functional-communicative approach to language, relies on methods and results of studies on text linguistics considering text as a whole structural-semantic unit. Conclusions. 1) Mentioning of a company name is accompanied by integration of the univerb indicating the relevant industry into the text. Along with a two-member chain of co-referential nominations, a three-member chain is also possible (the location of a company is mentioned). 2) Co-referential pairs of the type “company name ‒ collective designation of employees according to headquarters location” (Siemens ‒ Münchener) are characteristic, which demonstrates the lability of univerb toponym semantics. 3) The integration of a proper name into the text requires the usage of characterizing common nouns in order to prepare the reader for the perception of unique names, which is a factor motivating univerbation. 4) Synthetic compounds of the nomina agentis type (Autobauer, Stromversorger) are widely used to describe the kind of activity of an enterprise. In such cases a lexeme with the expected semantics is eliminated (Unternehmen ‘company’, Konzern ‘concern’ etc.). The reduction of the base lexeme of a compound as well as representation of the verb lexeme in the form of nomen agentis has an impact on the semantics and stylistics of the univerb. The results of the study can be used both in research activities on problems of word-formation, semantics and in the training of business translators.

Adjectival Suffixes: From Latin to Romance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Rainer
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
European Languages

All languages seem to have nouns and verbs, while the dimension of the class of adjectives varies considerably cross-linguistically. In some languages, verbs or, to a lesser extent, nouns take over the functions that adjectives fulfill in Indo-European languages. Like other such languages, Latin and the Romance languages have a rich category of adjectives, with a well-developed inventory of patterns of word formation that can be used to enrich it. There are about 100 patterns in Romance standard languages. The semantic categories expressed by adjectival derivation in Latin have remained remarkably stable in Romance, despite important changes at the level of single patterns. To some extent, this stability is certainly due to the profound process of relatinization that especially the Romance standard languages have undergone over the last 1,000 years; however, we may assume that it also reflects the cognitive importance of the semantic categories involved. Losses were mainly due to phonological attrition (Latin unstressed suffixes were generally doomed) and to the fact that many derived adjectives became nouns via ellipsis, thereby often reducing the stock of adjectives. At the same time, new adjectival patterns arose as a consequence of language contact and through semantic change, processes of noun–adjective conversion, and the transformation of evaluative suffixes into ethnic suffixes. Overall, the inventory of adjectival patterns of word formation is richer in present-day Romance languages than it was in Latin.

PROPER NAMES AS TERMINOLOGY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Maximova ◽  
Tatiana Maykova
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Derivational Morphemes

Proper names reflect the interaction between society and language. They identify unique entities and are used to refer to them. At the same time, it is not uncommon of proper names to serve as a source for word-formation. It should be noted, however, that while in a natural language (notably English) proper names mostly give rise to denominal verbs or adjectives, terminologies are different. Most units that count as terms are nouns, which makes their semantics somewhat special. The paper originates as one of a series towards a typology of sociological terminology and endeavors to analyze the terms whose etymology refers to a proper name (that is, eponymic terms). The research poses the following questions: whether this type of terms is common in Social Science, what are their structural and semantic distinctions as well as mechanisms behind their motivation, whether they are culture specific. The terms were manually retrieved from a set of data of 2500 terminological units extracted from a number of dictionaries and other sources. They were further grouped by structural criteria and the nature of eponymous components and made subject to morphological and semantic analyses. The research shows that structurally eponymic terms are morphological derivatives or two-(or more)-word compounds, with their prevalence estimated at 2%. The authors come to conclusion that terms of this type feature substantial diversity with regard to their eponymous components; they are motivated through the combination of encyclopedic knowledge of the entity, represented by the eponym, and the semantics of derivational morphemes or appellative components. Mythology-based eponymous terminology is represented by two groups, the first tracing back to Antiquity or biblical tradition, and the second of later origin, which requires a specific cultural experience for the meaning to be retrieved. Further analysis shows that the latter type along with toponym-based terminology is culture-specific in relation to American culture.

scholarly journals Language Contact and Morphosyntactic Complexity: Evidence from German

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Maitz ◽  
Attila Németh
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Corpus Data

The article focuses on the hypothesis that the structural complexity of languages is variable and historically changeable. By means of a quantitative statistical analysis of naturalistic corpus data, the question is raised as to what role language contact and adult second language acquisition play in the simplification and complexification of language varieties. The results confirm that there is a significant correlation between intensity of contact and linguistic complexity, while at the same time showing that there is a need to consider other social factors, and, in particular, the attitude of a speech community toward linguistic norms.*

scholarly journals Grammatical and Semantic Word-Formation of Toponymic Derivatives (on the Material of the Toponym “CИБИPЬ”)

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 01021
Author(s):  
Anna M. Litovkina
Keyword(s):  
Background Knowledge ◽  
Derived Categories ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Cultural Characteristics ◽  
World Picture ◽  
Proper Name

The paper presents morphemic-derivational structure of toponymic derivatives (toponymy-derived formations) of proper name “Cибирь”. In revealed derived words authors identify morphemes, specify the methods of their production, provide statistics on word-formation activity of morphemes in the process of secondary nomination of toponymy-derived appellatives. Based on regional material of dialectal dictionaries they define the peculiarities of toponym’s word-formation family of words, as well as its paradigmatic relations with derived categories. Horonym “Cибирь” is considered in the context of perception by regional linguistic persona in the national toponymic space. Examples of semantic toponymy-derived word-formation are given. Thereby, in Russian language world picture it is possible to identify a set of regionally marked background knowledge, perceptions of values as well as historical and cultural characteristics of the analyzed toponym.

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