Lexical semantic constraints on noun roots and noun borrowability

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 683-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Natural Kind ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Grammatical Complexity ◽  
Artifact Type

While nouns are thought to be more easily borrowed than verbs, this investigation demonstrates that there may be limitations on noun borrowing into certain languages. The case of Zuni is examined, in which conditions of contact similar to that of neighboring languages nevertheless result in a different treatment of the noun lexicon. The possibility of borrowing natural kind nouns into Zuni exists alongside a tendency against borrowing nouns of the artifact type. It is argued that the source of this tendency against artifact noun borrowing in Zuni is the grammatical complexity of the lexical semantic representation for these nouns: grammatical complexity in Zuni noun roots appears to be dispreferred. These findings belie the claim of Thomason and Kaufman (1988) that “any linguistic feature can be transferred to any other language” given an appropriate degree of contact.

A Property Level Analysis of Lexical Semantic Representation in Alzheimer′s Disease

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Smith ◽  
M. Faust ◽  
M. Beeman ◽  
L. Kennedy ◽  
D. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Level Analysis

Linguistic Feature Development Across Grades and Genre in Elementary Writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Hall-Mills ◽  
Kenn Apel
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Expository Writing ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Grammatical Complexity ◽  
Lexical Density

Purpose As children develop skills in writing across academic contexts, clinicians and educators need to have a fundamental understanding of typical writing development as well as valid and reliable assessment methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the progression of linguistic elements in school-age children's narrative and expository writing development. Method Narrative and expository writing samples produced by 89 children in Grades 2 through 4 were analyzed at the microstructure and macrostructure levels. Measures of receptive vocabulary, word-level reading, and reading comprehension were obtained. Results Exploratory factor analyses revealed 4 microstructure factors (e.g., productivity, grammatical complexity, grammatical accuracy, and lexical density) and 1 macrostructure factor (e.g., a combination of organization, text structure, and cohesion). Multivariate analyses of covariance with reading comprehension as a covariate showed that productivity and macrostructure were sensitive to grade-level and genre differences and that expository grammatical complexity was sensitive to grade-level differences. Conclusions Findings are discussed in light of grade-level standards for narrative and expository writing and current practices in writing assessment. Multiple suggestions are offered for clinical and educational implications, and specific directions are provided for future research.

Delimiting durative events with manner

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chu-Ren Huang ◽  
Siaw-Fong Chung
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Text ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Original Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lexical Meaning ◽  
Limited Availability ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Temporal Concepts ◽  
Generative Lexicon ◽  
Activity Verb

Abstract Durative events by default are atelic. However, temporal targets are typically required for durative verbs with a rushing manner, such as ‘We are catching the 3:30 flight’ and ‘The farmer rushed to harvest before the storm’. Why and how does manner introduce delimiting temporal concepts to durative verbs? This puzzle is addressed by our current study of two near-synonymous Mandarin durative verbs describing events carried out in a rushing manner: 赶 gǎn and 抢 qiǎng. Our event-base account will examine both their compositional meanings and their constructional patterns. We will show that 赶 gǎn and 抢 qiǎng not only coerce eventive readings from their nominal objects, but also require certain delineating temporal targets. The verb 赶 gǎn requires an understood deadline, while the verb 抢 qiǎng requires the presupposition of the limited availability of the object. As neither temporal targets mark the time of the actual activities, these are exceptional cases of aktionsart. We will show that the different ways to delineate event meanings of the constructions [gǎn/qiǎng+ noun] can be predicted from the lexical meaning of the two verbs and can in turn predict the event types represented by the object with the MARVS theory. Based on this lexical semantic representation, we further show that the Generative Lexicon theory predicts the coercions of the rushing meaning from the original activity verb senses, and that the Construction Grammar theory accounts for their sharing of the same syntactic configuration.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE EFFECTIVENESS AND FACTORS INFLUENCING SCIENTIFIC WRITING OF INDONESIAN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Saniago Dakhi ◽  
Horas Hutabarat
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Scientific Writing ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Determinant Factors ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Grammatical Complexity ◽  
Lexical Density ◽  
Undergraduate Thesis

The linguistic feature distinction between written and spoken discourse, like scientific writing, narrative text, discussion text, oral speech, etc. has been a longstanding discussion among scholars. However, there is limited number of studies on Indonesian undergraduate thesis context. This article reports the language effectiveness, i.e. lexical density and grammatical complexity of undergraduate thesis using the Flesch�s Analysis of the Readability of Adult Reading Materials (1974) and the determinant factors influencing them. This descriptive study, applying online system application, was conducted in an Indonesian pseudonym university. Forty-two undergraduate theses were used as data source of lexical density and grammatical complexity, and four English lecturers participated on interview. Results showed that the average lexical density ratio was 42.14 and the grammatical complexity was 14.54. On the other hand, the determinant factors of academic writing holistically encompass; (1) psychological factors including identity awareness, motivation, and conceptual competency, (2) sociocultural factor covering personal experience, and (3) linguistic factors, namely linguistic awareness and application, and mechanical competency. To sum up, three important conclusions are drawn. Firstly, there is no exactly the same lexical density and grammatical complexity across chapters of the undergraduate theses. Secondly, the undergraduate theses are lexically acceptable, but grammatically are not as they are interpreted as American students� slick fiction product. Finally, variables affecting academic writing are not only linguistic factors, but also psychological and sociocultural ones.Keywords: lexical density; grammatical complexity; undergraduate thesis; Indonesian context; academic writing; language effectiveness.

Meaning, metaphor, and argument structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-662
Author(s):  
TIM NISBET
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Parallel Architecture ◽  
News Report ◽  
Semantic Constraints ◽  
Syntactic Representation ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Verbal Idioms ◽  
Semantic Properties

This paper challenges what it calls the semantic determinist hypothesis (SDH) of argument licensing, according to which the syntactic realisation of a verb’s arguments is a function of its semantic properties. Specifically, it takes issue with ‘event schema’ versions of the SDH applied to the English ditransitive alternation (give/send {Jesse the gun/the gun to Jesse}), which claim a systematic, syntactically predictive distinction between ‘caused possession’ and ‘caused motion’. It is first shown that semantic and syntactic irregularities among the alternating verbs disconfirm such a mapping. More crucially, however, it is argued that ‘non-prototypical’ (metaphorical and idiomatic) usage (The news report gave Walt an idea, Walt’s actions gave the lie to his promises, The discovery sent Jesse into a fury) is fatal to the SDH, since the hypothesis entails the existence of semantic constraints on argument realisation which these expressions violate.Based on an analysis of the semantically-related verbs give, send, and put, it is claimed that prototypical, metaphorical and idiomatic expressions of a verb can all be licensed straightforwardly, but only if theory maintains separate syntactic and semantic representation of arguments in lexical entries, observing the ‘parallel architecture’ of Jackendoff (1997, 2002), and only if argument tokens are licensed by the syntactic representation alone. A type of structure called a Lexical Argument Construction is proposed, which can describe all the relevant properties of verbs and verbal idioms.

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