A reconsideration of the motivations for preferred argument structure

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb Everett
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Cognitive Motivations ◽  
Basic Semantic ◽  
General Restriction

Previous studies on Preferred Argument Structure have suggested (Du Bois 1987, 2002) and accepted (e.g. Goldberg 2004) specific cognitive motivations for PAS, namely that the general restriction of lexical arguments and new referents to the S and O roles facilitates the conceptually onerous task of referent introduction. In this paper, conversation data from English and Portuguese are analyzed. The data are generally inconsistent with the putative cognitive motivations for PAS presented in the literature. They suggest instead that PAS is most likely epiphenomenal and due to basic semantic and pragmatic factors, for example the correlation between human referents and given/non-lexical arguments, and the correlation between human referents and the A role.

scholarly journals Czasowniki mentalne i czasowniki emocji w opisie semantyczno-syntaktycznym

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 139-163
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Korytkowska
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Main Issue ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure ◽  
Basic Semantic

Mental and emotional verbs in semantic and syntactic descriptionThe main issue of this article concerns relations between the semantic plane of the sentence, which is presented by means of notions of predicate argument structure, and the plane of formal realisation of this structure. The existing attitudes to the studied verb classes are presented. Then rules governing the model of description used are specified (the article has been written within an elaborate scientific grant concerning Bulgarian, Polish and Russian). Obligatory semantic features of both classes are pointed out, followed by an elaboration on the scope of analysis of semantic and syntactic phenomena. This scope is determined by basic semantic sentence categories on which comparative, including contrastive, research is based. Drawing on examples of particular units studied, I then discuss the effectiveness of the analysis which enables comparing differences between sets of sentence structures allowable for each class studied. Those differences stem from semantic differences typical of those classes. Czasowniki mentalne i czasowniki emocji w opisie semantyczno-syntaktycznymTematyka artykułu dotyczy relacji między płaszczyzną semantyczną zdania, ujętą w terminach struktury predykatowo-argumentowej, a płaszczyzną realizacji formalnej tej struktury. Zarysowane zostały dotychczasowe podejścia do opisu badanych klas czasowników oraz sprecyzowano ustalenia dotyczące zastosowanego w artykule modelu opisu (artykuł powstał w związku z realizacją obszernego grantu dotyczącego języka bułgarskiego, polskiego i rosyjskiego). Wskazano obligatoryjne dla obu klas cechy semantyczne oraz scharakteryzowano zakres analizy zjawisk semantyczno-składniowych. Zakres ten wyznaczają podstawowe semantyczne kategorie zdaniowe, których badanie stanowi podstawę dla porównań, także porównań konfrontatywnych. Zaprezentowane zostały przykłady opracowania wybranych jednostek oraz wskazana skuteczność analizy, która pozwala ukazać różnice między zbiorami dopuszczalnych dla każdej z badanych klas struktur zdaniowych. Różnice te wynikają z charakteryzujących te klasy różnic semantycznych.

Spoken Narrative and Preferred Clause Structure

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Sutherland-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Information Flow ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Oral Narrative ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Du Bois

This study examines the spontaneous oral narrative of three native speakers of Hebrew for overall clause structure in terms of number and type of arguments per clause, following DuBois' (1985) theory of Preferred Argument Structure. The results indicate that there exists a preferred shape for narrative clauses in Hebrew and that it strongly parallels that which has been found in the ergative Mayan language, Sacapultec, upon which Du Bois' study is based. As Hebrew is a nominative-accusative language, the results point to the universality of pragmatic-cognitive factors and information flow in discourse.

scholarly journals Diachronic Aspects of Preferred Argument Structure in English and Broader Implications

2002 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reijirou Shibasaki
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Old French ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
History Of

Building on speculations from preceding studies, this study aims to determine whether Preferred Argument Structure (PAS, Du Bois 1987) holds for early stages of English. As Ashby & Bentivoglio (to appear) concede in their concluding remarks, a simple comparison of PAS, in Old French and Modem French for example, is not sufficient for uncovering and understanding the nature of PAS. Therefore, this study aims to show the gradual transition of PAS in the history of English.

scholarly journals The discourse motivation for split-ergative alignment in Dutch nominalisations (and elsewhere)

Pragmatics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freek Van de Velde
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Natural Consequence ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Discourse Grammar ◽  
Grammar Model

Dutch nominalisations of the type het eten van vlees (‘the eating of meat’) have ergative alignment. The alignment is functionally motivated, in that it is a natural consequence of the flow of discourse. The functional account that is put forward here draws on the notion of Preferred Argument Structure (Du Bois 1987) and on the distinction between foregrounded and backgrounded discourse (Hopper & Thompson 1980). Support for this account comes from other domains of ergativity in Dutch, such as causativised predicates and participial constructions and from the observation that the alignment in Dutch nominalisations is in fact split-ergative. The present study adduces corpus evidence to corroborate the claims. In the last section, the analysis is cast in a Functional Discourse Grammar model (Hengeveld & Mackenzie 2008), including its hitherto underdescribed Contextual Component.

scholarly journals Referential Choices in Narratives of 4-Year-Old Thai-Speaking Children

MANUSYA ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-59
Author(s):  
Theeraporn Ratitamkul
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Subject Positions ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Selection Of

This paper examines how 4-year-old Thaispeaking children made referential choices when referring to animate entities in a story. The aim is to answer two questions. First, do young Thai children’s narratives exhibit Preferred Argument Structure (PAS) patterns (Du Bois 1987)? And, second, do young Thai children differentiate their choice of referential forms based on discourse contexts? It was found that children’s selection of referential forms generally followed the PAS constraints. The only constraint that was not strictly observed was the Non-lexical A constraint. Furthermore, children were found to be influenced by discourse contexts when they expressed arguments in subject positions. The evidence also showed that, at 4 years of age, children showed a preference for lexical forms and were not yet fully capable of using referential forms to create coherence in narratives.

Overcoming preferred argument structure in written French

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Mazur-Palandre
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Du Bois ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
Production Part

Spoken and written French contrast in many ways. Our goal here is to show how later language development is profoundly impacted by experience with written language. More than 120 French-speakers/ writers, one group of children (mean age: 10;9) and two groups of adolescents (mean age: 12;7 and 15;2), participated in this study. Our analysis of noun phrases is inspired by the hypothesis of Preferred Argument Structure (Du Bois 1987) and examines referential cohesion in texts produced in contexts differing in modality (spoken – written) and text type (expository – narrative). Our aim is to demonstrate: (a) that spoken language production is governed by discursive constraints which control the flow of information; and (b) these discursive constraints differ for written and spoken production. Part of learning to become a literate user of French involves overcoming the discourse constraints governing spoken language production.

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