The attributive adjective in Zimbabwean isiNdebele

Progress Dube

doi:10.1080/02572117.2021.1948213

Adjectives as roots of nominal groups: the big mess construction in dependency grammar

Folia Linguistica ◽

10.1515/flin-2021-2075 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 55 (1) ◽

pp. 231-263

Author(s):

Timothy Osborne

Keyword(s):

Phrase Structure ◽

Current Approach ◽

Normal Position ◽

Phrase Structure Grammar ◽

Dependency Grammar ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Nominal Groups

Abstract The so-called ‘Big Mess Construction’ (BMC) frustrates standard assumptions about the structure of nominal groups. The normal position of an attributive adjective is after the determiner and before the noun, but in the BMC, the adjective precedes the determiner, e.g. that strange a sound, so big a scandal, too lame an excuse. Previous accounts of the BMC are couched in ‘Phrase Structure Grammar’ (PSG) and view the noun or the determiner (or the preposition of) as the root/head of the BMC phrase. In contrast, the current approach, which is couched in a ‘Dependency Grammar’ (DG) model, argues that the adjective is in fact the root/head of the phrase. A number of insights point to the adjective as the root/head, the most important of which is the optional appearance of the preposition of, e.g. that strange of a sound, so big of a scandal, too lame of an excuse.

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Acquisition of attributive adjectives and noun adjuncts by L3 learners of French and German: further evidence for the typological primacy model (TPM)

IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching ◽

10.1515/iral-2020-0013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Maryam Jamali ◽

Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽

Mohammad Hasan Razmi

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

First Language ◽

Facilitative Effect ◽

Third Language ◽

L3 Acquisition ◽

Proficiency Level ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

French Group ◽

The Impact ◽

Attributive Adjectives

Abstract This investigation explored the impact of prior acquired languages in the acquisition of third language (L3) at initial stages. The required data were gathered via two groups of L3 learners: 27 learners of L3 French and 26 learners of L3 German during a grammaticality judgement task (GJT) and an element rearrangement task (ERT) to test the placement of noun adjuncts and attributive adjectives. Both groups had acquired Persian as the first language and English as the second language. The participants were assigned to two L2 proficiency level groups (intermediate and advanced). The findings revealed that L3 German participants outperformed L3 French learners in the attributive adjective placement in both tasks as well as the noun adjunct in the GJT task. The L3 groups showed similar levels of performance in the ERT noun adjunct task. Additionally, the effect of L2 level of proficiency was not significant. The results also indicated that the typological similarity of L2 English to German rather than French rendered a facilitative effect on task performance in the L3 German group and a non-facilitative effect in the L3 French group. This study provides evidence for the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) of L3 acquisition suggesting that L3 learners are influenced by the typological similarities of the previous languages they have already acquired.

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ETHNONYMS IN THE SYSTEM OF PROPER NAMES OF LATGALE

Via Latgalica ◽

10.17770/latg2013.5.1639 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 115

Author(s):

Antra Kļavinska

Keyword(s):

Proper Names ◽

Social Processes ◽

Word Formation ◽

Rural Municipality ◽

Singular Form ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Proper Name ◽

Roma People ◽

The Baltic ◽

Dark Green

Proper names, including ethnonyms (folk, tribal and other ethnic community names), is an essential component of any language lexis, which particularly brightly reveals a variety ofextralinguistic processes. The aim of the paper is to analyze the conformity of ethnonym transonymization (the change of proper name class) and deonymization (the change of proper name into appellative) in the culture of Latgale, and linguistic techniques and extralinguistic factors. Linguo-culturological approach has been used in the research, and the link between cultural- historical and social processes in the research of linguistic processes has been taken into account. Determining the origin of ancient ethnonyms, the researchers of the Baltic languages acknowledge a transonymization model typical to the Balts: hydronym → name of region → ethnonym (Zinkevičius 2005, 186–187). This paper attempts to reveal various ethnonym (denoting mostly foreigners) transonymization models in the system of proper names of Latgale, nominating motivation, and the types of word-formation. It seems that the ethnonyms that denote the neighbouring nations (Estonians, Lithuanians, Russians) most frequently turn into other proper names. Transonymization models have been identifi ed as follows: 1) ethnonym → anthroponym → oikonym (or ethnonym → oikonym → anthroponym), for example, l ī t a u n ī k i ‘the Lithuanians’ → L ī t a u n ī k s ‘a surname’ → L ī t a u n ī k i ‘a village in Preiļi county’; 2) ethnonym → microtoponym, for example, ž y d i ‘the Jews’ → Ž y d a p ū r s ‘a marsh in Vārkava county’; 3) ethnonym → anthroponym, for example, č y g u o n i ‘the Roma people’ → Č y g u o n s ‘a nickname for a dark-haired man’; 4) ethnonym (→ oikonym) → ergonym, for example, l a t g a ļ i ‘The Baltic tribe’ → “L a t g a ļ i” ‘a farm in Mērdzene rural municipality of Kārsava county’. Transonymization of ethnonyms in the culture of Latgale is motivated by historical and social processes. Transonymization processes present the evidence of Latgalians’ stereotypical perception of foreigners, compact settlement of different ethnic groups in Latgale, and historical events. Various types of word-formation are used in the transonymization process: 1) semantic, i.e., only the meaning changes, the morphemic system of lexeme is notchanged, for example, ethnonym p o ļ a k i → oikonym P o ļ a k i (→ surname P o ļ a k s (the male singular form of the ethnonym)); 2) morphological, typically suffixes are added to ethnonyms (sometimes phonetic changes in the root occur), for example, i g a u n i ‘the Estonians’ → surnames I k a u n ī k s (ikaun-+-nīk-s); I g o v e n s (igov-+ - en-s); 3) syntactical, forming compound words, for example, the ethnonym k r ī v i ‘the Russians’ has motivated the oikonym K r ī v a s o l a <Krīva sola ‘Russian Village’, K r ī v m a i z e s <Krīvu maizes ‘Russian bread’; 4) formation of analytical forms, where one of the components has ethnonymic semantics and the second component is a nomenclature word (hill, meadow, marsh, lake, etc.), for example, Ž y d a p ū r s ‘Jew’s marsh’, an attributive adjective, for example, a village M a z i e L ī t a u n ī k i ‘small Lithuanians’, a substantive of other semantics, for example, a meadow Č i g o n e i c a s j ū s t a ‘Gypsy’s belt’. Proper names of foreign origin motivated by ethnonyms have taken their stable place in the system of proper names of Latgale, for example, L a t i š i, a village in Pušmucova rural municipality of Cibla civil-parish (in Russian латыши ‘the Latvians’). Proper names of ethnonymic semantics, used to name various phenomena and realities, are often included in the lexicon of various dialects of Latvian and even other languages. If to assume the fact that ethnonyms are proper names, then it can be concluded that the appellatives mentioned above have appeared in deonymization process: ethnonym → appellative. Moreover, the material of Latgalian dialects confirms the existence of deethnonymic proper names, for example, a lot of different realities are associated with the ethnonyms denoting Roma people: č y g u o n i ‘participants of masquerade parade’; č y g o n k a 1) a sort of winter apples, the apple of this sort (dark green and red); 2) the railroad; 3) achimenes (flower, Achimenes); 4) mushrooms: wild champignon (Rozites caperata) or ugly milkcap (Lactarius necator); č y g u o n a s a u l e ‘the moon’. Appellativeness of ethnonyms has an associative character. The names are reflecting the Latgalians’ stereotypical perception of appearance, occupation, character traits, and traditions of foreigners as alien and different, however, acceptable and assimilable phenomena.

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Exploiter un travail de corpus sur la place de l’épithète pour élaborer une progression didactique en FLE

Linguistik Online ◽

10.13092/lo.78.2949 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 78 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Marie-Armelle Camussi-Ni ◽

Annick Coatéval ◽

Juliette Thuilier

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Corpus Linguistics ◽

Learning Progression ◽

Corpus Study ◽

Learning Sequences ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Linguistic Skills

This paper sets out the convergence between two approaches – a theoretical one and an applied one – aiming to tackle the problem of attributive adjective position in French. We show how the results of a corpus study contribute to the understanding of the issues faced by traditional descriptions designed for learners of French as a foreign language. This reflection leads us to create a learning progression that aims to give learners the keys to the linguistic skills that they lack. Even if the objectives of researchers in corpus linguistics and researchers in education are different, we think that the gap between usage and grammar requires learning sequences to be drawn up on the basis of current works based on corpora. This approach allows us to avoid learning sequences that either are unrealistic simplifications or necessarily non-exhaustive inventories.

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Young children's difficulty with adjectives modifying nouns

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000904006191 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 255-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

ANAT NINIO

Keyword(s):

Basic Problem ◽

Semantic Integration ◽

Head Noun ◽

Choice Condition ◽

Integration Process ◽

Noun Pair ◽

Considerable Difficulty ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Correct Object ◽

Logical Semantic

In two experiments we tested the hypothesis that children have a basic problem in mastering the attributive relation because it involves a two-step logical–semantic integration process of the head-noun and the attributive adjective. Hebrew-speaking children were asked to interpret highly familiar adjective–noun combinations by selecting a photo that depicted the correct referent. In Experiment 1 there were four choices for each adjective–noun pair: correct object/correct property, correct object/wrong property, wrong object/correct property, wrong object/wrong property. 170 children (1;6–4;4) participated. Analyses of errors and spontaneous self-corrections indicated that children initially ignored the adjective and based their responses only on the noun. In Experiment 2, in addition to the 4-choice condition, there were two simpler conditions with only two choices: the correct object/correct property, and either the correct object/wrong property, or the wrong object/correct property. 30 children (1;9–4;11) were tested. The children, and in particular the lowest-scoring third of the sample, did significantly better in the 2-pictures conditions. The results suggest that young children do possess a basic adjective vocabulary and can use it in simple discriminations, but have a considerable difficulty in integrating the information furnished by the adjective with information furnished by the noun.

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Formell og semantisk adjektivkongruens i norsk

Oslo Studies in Language ◽

10.5617/osla.8516 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 527-540

Author(s):

Tor A. Åfarli ◽

Øystein A. Vangsnes

Keyword(s):

Head Noun ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Predicative Adjective ◽

Semantic Agreement

This article provides an empirically based overview and discussion of types of adjectival agreement in attributive and predicative posisitions in Norwegian. In particular, we focus on two empirical facts that are quite striking: 1) With semantic agreement in predicative position, there are apparently no formal agreement features in the predication subject that trigger agreement on the predicative adjective; 2) Even though there is not alway formal agreement betwen the predication subject and a predicative adjective, there is always strict formal agreement between the head noun and an attributive adjective.

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Three-year-olds can predict a noun based on an attributive adjective: evidence from eye-tracking

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000915000173 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

pp. 425-441 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

ELENA TRIBUSHININA ◽

WILLEM M. MAK

Keyword(s):

Eye Tracking ◽

Noun Phrases ◽

Head Noun ◽

Visual World ◽

Visual World Paradigm ◽

Attributive Adjective ◽

Attributive Adjectives

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates whether three-year-olds are able to process attributive adjectives (e.g., softpillow) as they hear them and to predict the noun (pillow) on the basis of the adjective meaning (soft). This was investigated in an experiment by means of the Visual World Paradigm. The participants saw two pictures (e.g., a pillow and a book) and heard adjective–noun combinations, where the adjective was either informative (e.g., soft) or uninformative (e.g., new) about the head-noun. The properties described by the target adjectives were not visually apparent. When the adjective was uninformative, the looks at the target increased only upon hearing the noun. When the adjective was informative, however, the looks at the target increased upon hearing the adjective. Three-year-olds were as fast as adult controls in predicting the upcoming noun. We conclude that toddlers process adjective–noun phrases incrementally and can predict the noun based on the prenominal adjective.

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