Precategoriality and syntax-based parts of speech

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 568-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Bisang
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Remarkable Property ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
Archaic Chinese ◽  
Lexical Items

Late Archaic Chinese is a precategorial language, i.e., a language whose lexical items are not preclassified in the lexicon for the syntactic functions of N and V. This will be shown on the basis of structural-conceptual criteria as those developed by Croft (2000) and Sasse (1993b) as well as on the basis of methodological criteria as those suggested by Evans & Osada (2005). As is claimed in Construction Grammar (Goldberg 1995, 2005), the meaning of lexical items is derived by integrating their own lexical meaning with the meaning contributed by the construction. The construction analysed in this paper is the argument structure construction. Linking between lexicon and syntax is subject to stereotypical pragmatic implicatures (Levinson 2000) that follow a version of the animacy hierarchy. As it will turn out, Late Archaic Chinese does not strictly lack parts of speech. In fact, without the distinction of nouns and verbs at the level of syntax it would not be possible to analyse utterances in Late Archaic Chinese. The only thing that Late Archaic Chinese can do without is noun/verb distinction in the lexicon. This typologically remarkable property is due to a process of morphological change. If such a historical process can take place irrespective of parts-of-speech distinctions, precategoriality in the lexicon cannot be a robust universal feature even if most theoretical approaches take it for granted.

scholarly journals A semantic analysis of modal DE 得 in pre-modern Chinese

Lingua Sinica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Barbara Meisterernst
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Modal Verb ◽  
Archaic Chinese ◽  
Auxiliary Verb ◽  
Sinitic Languages

Abstract In this paper, the lexical semantics of the pre-modal verb 得 dé and its development into a modal auxiliary will be discussed. Two different positions are available for the modal dé, the default preverbal position of modal auxiliary verbs and a post-verbal position. The analysis of the event and the argument structure of the lexical verb dé reveals that the different modal uses of dé originate from its functions as an achievement verb. In this regard, dé clearly differs from the other verbs of possibility in Late Archaic Chinese. The particular syntacto-semantic constraints of dé can account for its development into both a modal auxiliary verb, and for the particular functions it develops in the Modern Sinitic languages as a postverbal modal marker.

Observations On A New Classical Chinese Grammar

1959 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-571
Author(s):  
A. C. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Literary Language ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
Grammatical Analysis ◽  
Classical Chinese ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Archaic Chinese ◽  
Formal Basis ◽  
Surprising Fact

It is a surprising fact that the Chinesische Grammatik (1881) of G. v.d. Gabelentz remains the only grammar of Classical Chinese widely available in a Western language. Joseph L. M. Mullie's Grondbeginselen van de Chinese letterkundige taal is accessible only to those who read Flemish, and the Structural analysis of literary Chinese of H. E. Shadick and Hsin-min Wu has not yet appeared in printed form. The publication of this grammatical analysis of LAC (Late Archaic Chinese) by Professor Dobson, Head of the Department of East Asiatic Studies at Toronto, is therefore an event of great importance to sinologists and to linguists generally. Its object is to establish, on a purely formal basis, the grammar of the literary language of the fourth and third centuries B.C. For descriptive purposes this period is taken as a unity, ignoring the peculiarities of particular texts and the dialects which may underlie them. It excludes, not only the Early Archaic of the ‘Songs’ and ‘History’, but the Middle Archaic of the ‘Spring and autumn annals’ and the early ‘Analects’. Professor Dobson seeks to liberate the grammar of LAC from all the Western categories so far imposed on it (parts of speech, subject/predicate, subject/object, case, tense) and to establish, with the aid of a new and often alarming terminology, new categories distinguished by purely formal criteria.

scholarly journals LEXICAL MEANING AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION ON THE PRODUCT OF NESTLE DANCOW

Aksara ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
I Gusti Agung Istri Aryani ◽  
Sri Widiastutik
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Brand Name ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Consumer Attention ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Target Consumer ◽  
The Way

AbstractCommonly, an amazing and attractive advertisement intends to hypnotize their target consumer in seeing, reading, or even hearing the ads continually. Besides, the power of persuading and motivating in messages from the way of informing product benefit could also give impact to buyer in deciding to buy the product. This research discusses the contexts of advertising found on packages of two Nestle products, especially Nestle Dancow Actigo and Nestle Dancow Enrich. These products were analyzed based on pictures or symbols and text found on packages. It is aimed at finding out the context of discourse advertising on those packages. Data were collected from analysis of text, including pictures or symbols and additional questionnaires distributed to 50 respondents located at Denpasar and Gianyar. Urban society were used to evaluate concerning on their understanding of English even though Indonesian language mostly applied on packages of products. Method used in analyzing data is descriptive qualitative and quantitative with simple statistics and explanation. It showed that connotation and denotation meanings highlighted lexical items and its cultural adaptation using process of copy adaptation to fit the culture of their targeted consumers. Means found 6 words or phrases of English from 10 of them on packages understood by 50 respondents as of: 35 for Full Cream as highest score and 16 respondents for FortiGro as the lowest score. In addition, brand name, symbol and images showed producer seemed to have close relationship with consumer and able to attract target   consumer attention as majority of findings. It can be concluded that ads on packages of Nestle Dancow had succeeded to be understood by the society through the messages implied. 

Argument Structure

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Viau ◽  
Ann Bunger
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Developmental Research ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Current State ◽  
Thematic Relations

Children acquiring any language must develop an understanding both of how event components are encoded in verb meanings and of the argument structure of those verbs, that is, how the participants of the event that each verb describes map onto linguistic arguments. This chapter begins with an overview of the major issues in the study of argument structure, including a consideration of the balance of power between verbs and constructions as it pertains to the encoding of thematic relations and a comparison of theoretical approaches with an eye toward learnability. The core of the chapter consists of a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of developmental research on argument structure.

BOOK REVIEW: ALPATOV, V.M. (2018), SLOVO I CHASTI RECHI (WORD AND PARTS OF SPEECH), YASK, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-128
Author(s):  
Yakov G. Testelets ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Psycholinguistic Research ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
The Third ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Morphological Theory ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Grammatical Theories

Vladimir M. Alpatov’s new monograph addresses typological and theoretical issues related to the basic morphological units – word and parts of speech. It elaborates on his previous work on morphological theory, typology, and historiography of linguistic traditions. The monograph consists of an introduction and three chapters. The first two chapters, “The Problem of Word” and “The Problem of Parts of Speech” address the differences in theoretical approaches, evidence from independent linguistic traditions with particular reference to the Japanese indigenous linguistics, and data from psycholinguistic research. In the third chapter, “Anthropocentric and systemocentric approaches to language”, the author claims that the morphological logocentric and non-logocentric approaches are instances of the two more general approaches to language, respectively. In spite of some criticism, the reviewer concludes that the monograph makes much progress in understanding the structure and typology of the morphological elements, and similarities and difference among national linguistic traditions and grammatical theories.

Argument Structure and Morphology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Wood ◽  
Neil Myler
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Structure And Morphology ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The One ◽  
Theoretical Issues

The topic “argument structure and morphology” refers to the interaction between the number and nature of the arguments taken by a given predicate on the one hand, and the morphological makeup of that predicate on the other. This domain turns out to be crucial to the study of a number of theoretical issues, including the nature of thematic representations, the proper treatment of irregularity (both morphophonological and morphosemantic), and the very place of morphology in the architecture of the grammar. A recurring question within all existing theoretical approaches is whether word formation should be conceived of as split across two “places” in the grammar, or as taking place in only one.

scholarly journals Parts-of-speech systems and word order

2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEES HENGEVELD ◽  
JAN RIJKHOFF ◽  
ANNA SIEWIERSKA
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Lexical Structure ◽  
Order Constraints ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
Lexical Items

This paper argues that the word order possibilities of a language are partly determined by the parts-of-speech system of that language. In languages in which lexical items are specialized for certain functionally defined syntactic slots (e.g. the modifier slot within a noun phrase), the identifiability of these slots is ensured by the nature of the lexical items (e.g. adjectives) themselves. As a result, word order possibilities are relatively unrestricted in these languages. In languages in which lexical items are not specialized for certain syntactic slots, in that these items combine the functions of two or more of the traditional word classes, other strategies have to be invoked to enhance identifiability. In these languages word order constraints are used to make syntactic slots identifiable on the basis of their position within the clause or phrase. Hence the word order possibilities are rather restricted in these languages. Counterexamples to the latter claim all involve cases in which identifiability is ensured by morphological rather than syntactic means. This shows that there is a balanced trade-off between the syntactic, morphological, and lexical structure of a language.

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