Cherchez Les Valences

1981 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
Wim Honselaar
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
East European ◽  
Systematic Description ◽  
Russian Verb ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Definition Of

One of the aims of every linguistic theory is to provide an exact and systematic description of the meaning of any sentence. The notion of "valence" is widely used in West- and East-European linguistics (Tesnière, Helbig/Schenkel, Apresjan, Mel'cuk, etc.) in order to account for the connection between syntactic structures and word meanings. So, in John saw the children it is due to the inherent valences of SEE that John is under-stood as 'seeing' and the children as 'seen': the referents of these two sentence elements carry specific meaning aspects of the verb. They only function in this way if they meet the formal characteristics set by the verb. In this paper I furnish a definition of "valence" and a corresponding discovery procedure. This procedure yields an explicit set of valences of any particular word. Valences are considered aspects of the meaning of a (set of) word(s) X, carried by the referent of a (set of) word(s) Y; as a corrolary, the meaning of this Y cannot be completely understood without taking into account the functioning of its referent as the carrier of the valence meaning. The discovery procedure does not assign a specific valence meaning to a verb if the functioning of the corresponding sentence element can be (completely) accounted for on the grounds of its own form. To illustrate this point, a valence labelled "price" which is claimed by Apresjan for the Russian verb ARENDOVAT' (='to lease'), would be rejected by the procedure because the corresponding sentence element has a form and a meaning which are not in function of its being dependent to ARENDOVAT', but would have the same form and meaning in other contexts. An analysis of the syntax and semantics of the Dutch verb WACHTEN (='to wait') illustrates the procedure. A short contrastive analysis of Russian and Dutch 'wait' shows some interesting differences in their comparable valences and in the syntactic peculiarities of adjuncts to these verbs.

Grammatik der Narration

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-494
Author(s):  
Sonja Zeman
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Narrative Fiction ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Narrative Syntax

AbstractIs there a ‚narrative syntax‘, i. e. a special grammar restricted to narrative fiction? Starting from this question which has been investigated since early structuralism, the paper focusses on grammatical characteristics of narrative discourse mode and their implications for a linguistic theory of narration. Its goal is two-fold: In a first step, the traditional accounts by Benveniste, Hamburger, Kuroda and recent typological studies are brought together in order to support the claim that the distinction between narrative and non-narrative discourse mode is a fundamental one that has consequences for the use of grammar. In a second step, I discuss three central questions within the intersection between narrative micro- and macro-structures, namely (i) the definition of narrativity, (ii) the status of the narrator, and (iii) the relation between narration and fictionality. In sum, the article argues that investigations on the ‘grammar of narration’ do not just offer insights into a specific text configuration next to others, but are deeply linked to fundamental theoretical questions concerning the architecture of language – and that the comparison between linguistic and narratological categories offers a potential for addressing them.

The challenge of Populist Radical Right Parties to Europeanization – the cases of Estonia and Latvia, 2018-2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-175
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik ◽  
Peteris F. Timofejevs
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
East European ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Definition Of

Over the last two decades, family law has undergone changes in Western Europe, widening the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. In addition, some East European countries offer a legal recognition of civil unions of same-sex couples, while others do not offer any legal recognition at all. This diversity in family law has been recently challenged by developments at the European level. It is argued here that this constitutes an adaptational pressure on those European Union (EU) member states that do not offer any or offer only formal recognition of same-sex couples. We examine two cases when member states faced such an adaptational pressure, namely Estonia and Latvia, focusing on the interplay of two types of factors. First is that of formal institutions which, due to their constitutional role or their expertise in the EU law, may act as facilitators of legal changes. On the other hand, there are also political actors which have tried to constrain such an adaptation. We examine here especially the role of two political parties which have made a considerable effort to oppose the change in the two countries. It is argued here that the ideological orientation of these parties explains, at least partly, their opposition to the ongoing Europeanization of family law. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main findings and their implications.

Through space, relations, and thoughts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Felipe Guerrero-Beltran ◽  
Katarzyna I. Wojtylak
Keyword(s):  
Mental State ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Cognitive Semantics ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Form Complex ◽  
The Third ◽  
Systematic Description ◽  
Basic Linguistic Theory ◽  
Cross Reference ◽  
Reference Person

Abstract This paper aims to describe the morphosyntax and semantics of postpositions in Karijona, a Cariban language from Northwest Amazonia. The data, collected in the Karijona settlement of Puerto Nare (Colombia), were analyzed according to Basic Linguistic Theory and Cognitive Semantics. Like other Cariban languages, Karijona has a typologically unusual system of postpositions, which can cross-reference person and number, and form complex stems consisting of locative roots and locative suffixes. In terms of their semantics, the system distinguishes among spatial, relational, and ‘mental state’ postpositions. The first type encodes noun classification, orientation, and distance. While the second type has prototypical relational meanings, the third refers to cognitive and emotional states. This paper presents the first systematic description of the Karijona postpositions.

On the Semantic Content of Subcategorization Frames

2020 ◽  
pp. 313-379
Author(s):  
Cynthia Fisher ◽  
Henry Gleitman ◽  
Lila R. Gleitman
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Additional Constraints

This paper investigates the relations between the meanings of verbs and the syntactic structures in which they appear. The investigation is motivated by the puzzle of how children discover verb meanings. Well-known problems with unconstrained induction of word meanings from observations of world circumstances suggest that additional constraints or sources of information are required. Five experiments are presented which investigate the hypothesis that the closer any two verbs are in their meaning, the greater their overlap should be in their licensed syntactic structures.

Dissimilarities in Perspective: a Reply to Kjøll

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-306
Author(s):  
Daniel Wedgwood
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Technical Level ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
Shared Content ◽  
Analytical Perspective ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractRelevance theorists have claimed that successful communication need result only in similarity, not identity, of mental representations across communicator and addressee. Cappelen and Lepore have criticised this stance, partly on the basis that any definition of similarity must make reference to identity. Accepting this point, Kjøll (2010) argued in this journal that Relevance Theory has an appropriate notion of identical "shared content", in the shape of relevant contextual implications. While this is convincing on a technical level, Relevance Theory owes no such concessions to Cappelen and Lepore, and Kjøll's observations would in any case fail to meet their theoretical requirements. This relates to an important but under-appreciated distinction in analytical perspective that is instantiated in the difference between the cognitive pragmatics of Relevance Theory and the philosophical-semantic approach of Cappelen and Lepore – a distinction that is worthy of further reflection, having significant implications for linguistic theory, within and beyond pragmatics.

Linguistic expressions as cultural units

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-145
Author(s):  
Elke Diedrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Sources ◽  
Communicative Interaction ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Culturally Based ◽  
Linguistic Conventions ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract The paper argues in favor of including cultural aspects in the description of communicative interaction. According to Eco (1976), a linguistic sign is a cultural unit. In order to use it properly, a speaker relies on communicative experience with this unit within a culture (Wittgenstein 1960; Feilke 1996, 1998; Everett 2012). We expand the notion of ‘cultural unit’ by including internet memes found in social media (Shifman 2013, 2014; Diedrichsen 2013a, 2013b, 2019a, 2019b). The term builds on Richard Dawkins’ 1976 definition of a ‘meme’ as a unit that is the cultural equivalent of a biological gene. The paper proposes three knowledge sources for the production and comprehension of these units. The first is semiotic knowledge, the second is common ground knowledge (Clark 1996), and the third knowledge source involves culturally shared cognitive conceptualizations on which word meanings and other linguistic conventions are founded (Sharifian 2003, 2011, 2015, 2017). These three knowledge sources are established through daily interactions and learning processes within a culture (Kecskés and Zhang 2009). The paper characterizes the application of these three knowledge sources for a variety of sign uses. We will also show that a cultural view on pragmatics, as suggested by Sharifian (2017), serves to describe speech acts by identifying their culturally based source. The paper therefore demonstrates that the inclusion of cultural knowledge enables a perspective on communication that goes beyond the analysis of spoken and written words within communities of speakers, as it includes emerging means of communicative interaction in the digital age.

The Role of Aggression in Somatic Symptom Formation

1974 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman Musaph
Keyword(s):  
Somatic Symptom ◽  
Behavior Pattern ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Psychosomatic Disorders ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Specific Meaning ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Symptom Formation ◽  
Critical Consideration

In searching for an operational definition of aggression, five different aspects of the concept of aggression are described: aggression as an instinct, as a behavior pattern, as an emotion, as a trait of character and as a defense. Discussion of the role of aggression is made very difficult because there still exist a great many unsolved fundamental problems in quantifying each aspect of the concept. Behaviorists and psychophysiologists have made important contributions toward solving the problem of quantification. The meaning of aggression for psychosomatic disorders has been intensively studied by psychoanalysts. The psychoanalytic model poses two hypotheses which are subject to critical consideration, namely: 1) the therapeutic meaning of the abreaction of repressed and suppressed strangulated affects [1] and 2) the pensée opératoire [2]. Psychotherapeutic practice is often disappointing in providing answers, but we can look for clarification by studying the specific meaning of patient-doctor relationships in which aggression as an emotion in interaction plays a leading role. In many cases the onset of the somatic symptom may be iatrogenic; the course and recovery may also be dependent on this or analogous relationships.

scholarly journals Syntactic Structures: formal considerations 60 years later

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Howard Lasnik
Keyword(s):  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Logical Structure ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Technical Details

Chomsky (1955), The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory (henceforth LSLT), laid out in great detail the formal foundations for a rigorous new way of looking at language scientifcally, transformational generative grammar. This awesome accomplishment was announced to the world in Chomsky (1957), Syntactic Structures (henceforth SS), a publication that revolutionized the feld, or really, created a new feld. Needless to say, syntactic theory has undergone vast changes since then, but certain fundamental ideas, and even a few technical details, persist. In this article, I will briefly discuss some instances of each sort.

scholarly journals Funktsionaalsemantiline väli kui modaaltähenduste liigitamise ja keelte võrdlemise alus

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Pille Eslon
Keyword(s):  
Object Classification ◽  
Semantic Field ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Systematic Description ◽  
Semantic Hierarchy ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Value Judgement

Kokkuvõte. Funktsionaalsemantiline väli on objektide klassifitseerimise ja võrdlemise universaalne vahend, mida saab kasutada nii ühe keele piires kui ka tüpoloogilises plaanis. Et välja konstrueerimise aluseks on loomulikud mõisteseosed, mitte grammati lised kategooriad ja lausesüntaks, siis sobib väli liigituste loomiseks, sh artiklis kirjel datud modaaltähenduste semantiline hierarhia, võimaldades täpsustada ja seletada ka mõningaid traditsioonilise keelekäsitluse raskuspunkte, näiteks tõeväärtushinnangu ambivalentsust. Modaalsuse välja konstrueerimiseks olen valinud tautoloogiliste ehk suletud ringide meetodi (ld idem per idem) ja semantilised hierarhiad. Semantilistes määrangutes võimaldab tähenduskomponentide lähedus-kaugus kombata leksikaalsemantilis(t)e rühma(de) piire, konstrueerida leksikaalsemantilisi mikrovälju ning neid omavahel siduda. Mõisteseoste üldistamisel olen modaalsuse funktsionaalsemantilise välja puhul kasutanud dialektilise loogika seadusi, mis aitavad leida objekti olulisi tunnuseid. Paigutatuna süntagmaatilisele ja paradigmaatilisele teljele, saab tunnuste ristumisest struktuur, mis on sobiv modaalliigituste loomiseks ja objekti süsteemseks kirjeldamiseks. Artiklis toon näiteid, mille põhjal saab järeldada, et ühe või teise modaaltähenduse väljendamisel on vene ja eesti keeles kasutusel lekseemide, vormide ning süntaktiliste struktuuride kindlad kooskasutusmallid, mille leksikaalsemantiline ja morfosüntaktiline varieerumine on piiratud. Keeliti esineb siin osalist või täielikku lahknevust, analoogiat ja kokkulangevusi.Abstract. Pille Eslon: The functional-semantic field as the basis for classifying modal meanings and comparing languages. The functionalsemantic field is a universal means for object classification and comparison that can be used both within a single language and typologically. Because the field is constructed using natural links between concepts, and not grammatical categories or sentence syntax, it lends itself to establishing classifications, including a semantic hierarchy of modal meanings discussed in the article. It allows us to clarify and elaborate on certain complexities of the construct of language, e.g. the ambivalence of the value judgement of truth. In order to establish and describe the links between concepts within a functional-semantic field, current research has resorted to lexicographical sources, corpuses and grammars of the Estonian and Russian languages. For the construction of the field of modality, the method of tautologic or closed circles (in Latin: idem per idem) was used. The proximity or distance of the components of meaning allows for the description of the bounds of lexicosemantic groups, for construction of lexicosemantic micro-fields and for their integration. Generalisation of conceptual links is based on the laws of dialectic logic that helps to identify the significant features of the object. Placed on syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes, intersection of such features produces a structure that is suitable for creating modal classifications and for a systematic description of the object. The article highlights the fact that while expressing modal meaning, the Estonian and Russian languages make use of particular adjaceny patterns of lexemes, structures and syntactic structures that have limited lexicosemantic and morphosyntactic variability.Keywords: functional-semantic field; modality; Russian; Estonian

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