Word order and parameter change in Romanian

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Alexandru Nicolae
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Parameter Change ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Methodological Difficulties

This chapter introduces the phenomena to be studied in detail in the monograph (verb–auxiliary inversion; pronominal enclisis; scrambling; interpolation; the low definite article; changes in the position and linearization of adjectives; hyperbaton; demonstrative specialization; emergence of the freestanding determiner cel) and the theoretical framework adopted; presents the methodology and methodological difficulties, the periodization of Romanian, and the corpus; and discusses the issue of ‘foreign’ syntactic features in the syntax of old Romanian.

Word Order and Parameter Change in Romanian

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandru Nicolae
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Parameter Change ◽  
Comprehensive Description ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Impact

The book provides a comprehensive description and in-depth analysis of the major word order changes affecting the clausal and the nominal domains in the transition from old to modern Romanian. The Romanian data are set in a comparative Romance perspective, and the impact of the Balkan Sprachbund and the influence of Old Church Slavonic on the word order changes taking place in the transition from old to modern Romanian are also analysed. The book examines a large number of phenomena: some of them are found across Romance (e.g. scrambling, interpolation, discontinuous constituents, variation in the position and linearization of DP-internal adjectival modifiers), others are rare in Romance (e.g. a low pronominal cliticization site), and still others are specific to old or modern Romanian (e.g. the double, proclitic and enclitic, realization of the same pronominal clitic, the low definite article, the adjectival article construction).

Typological overview of Estonian syntax

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mati Erelt
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
Verb Categories

AbstractThe paper presents a concise overview of the main syntactic features of Estonian. It deals with basic clause patterns, case marking of arguments, verbs and verb categories, non-verbal predication, word order, expression of speech acts and negation, noun phrases, p-phrases, subordinate clauses, and coordination.

Evidence for a DP-projection in West Greenlandic Inuit

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Manlove
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Landing Site ◽  
Semantic Feature ◽  
Functional Projection ◽  
Syntactic Features

AbstractEvidence for a DP-projection in West Greenlandic Inuit Abstract The goal of this paper is to argue in favor of a DP-layer in West Greenlandic Inuit noun phrases and in doing so contribute to the argument that the absence of overt D-elements is not directly indicative of the absence of a DP-layer. Inuit is a polysynthetic, ergative language with no overt articles; for this reason it has been argued that a D-head is unnecessary. Others have argued contrastively that a functional projection KP (Case) is necessary (often assuming DP). This paper differs from both camps in the sense that it considers syntactic features specific to D. I present three primary arguments in support of a D-head in West Greenlandic: (i) the D-head acts as the locus of agreement features in possessive DPs, (ii) the D-head is the locus of the syntactic/semantic feature of definiteness; and (iii) a DP-layer is needed to provide a landing site for movement in DP-internal word order variations.

Tigre Syntax and Semitic Ethiopian

1980 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eaz
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Semitic Language ◽  
Order Of Elements

It has long been argued that the peculiar syntactic traits which typify the modern Semitic Ethiopian languages can be accounted for by the Cushitic substratum, notably the word order of the sentence and the system of qualification (the qualifier-qualified order of elements). It has been suggested that among these languages Tigre is ‘more Semitic’ since (a) it is much less rigid as regards word order, and (b) ‘it may optionally have either the Semitic pattern or the Cushitic one’. A parallel diachronic statement would be that as regards its syntax Tigre was more successful in resisting Cushitic influence or, for some reason, less exposed to it. Here, to avoid the problem of measuring the syntactic features of Tigre in general Semitic terms, Gə'əaz is usually taken as the mode for a Semitic language. In this respect it follows that descriptively Tigre is more Gə'əz-like than the other modern Semitic Ethiopian languages. In spite of the plausibility of such an explanation, it seems to be a matter of scholarly tradition rather than the result of thorough investigation, i.e. the belief that Tigre is the odd man out among its modern relations by virtue of its syntax is an impression rather than a proven observation.

Pied-piping in cognition

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD HUDSON
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Special Relation ◽  
Dependency Grammar ◽  
Full Power

The paper offers an analysis of pied-piping within the theoretical framework of Word Grammar. This framework combines cognitive linguistics with dependency grammar, so it assumes that the full power of domain-general cognition is available for syntax, and that syntactic structure can be conceived as a network of relations between individual words. In this network, words are related by at least two kinds of link: dependencies and ‘landmark’ links that determine word order. To handle the special characteristics of pied-piping, the analysis also includes a single special relation, ‘pipee’, which links the ‘piper’ (the wh-type word) to the word which replaces it in the landmark structure. The analysis is applied in detail to English, and then compared with previous analyses and extended to accommodate both the pied-piping with inversion found in Meso-American languages, and the boundary markers found in other languages.

Reflexivized motion verbs in Old Saxon: Semantics, syntax and semiotics

1992 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148
Author(s):  
Laura Dale Clopton
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Strong Tendency ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Old Saxon ◽  
Verbs Of Motion ◽  
Reflexive Verbs ◽  
Peircean Semiotics

ABSTRACTThis paper examines four dative reflexive verbs of motion in Old Saxon:faran, gangan, kuman and giuuitan. The linguistic universals of GB syntax and the universal phenomenological categories of Peircean semiotics provide the theoretical framework for this paper. Various syntactic and semantic aspects of the dative reflexive verbs are targeted in the analysis: binding of the reflexive, word order patterns and subject types. The article suggests that a link exists between subject types, V1 syntactic configurations and the appearance of the dative reflexive — only human, animate subjects can license a dative reflexive and the reflexivized verbs exhibit a strong tendency to appear in the narratively visible V1 structure.

The syntax of participial adjuncts in Eastern Bengali

1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim Van Der Wurff
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Binding Properties ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Syntactic Properties

In this article I will discuss the syntactic properties of participial adjuncts in Eastern Bengali. From a GB-point of view, these constructions are quite interesting, because they can contain a nominative which is apparently not assigned by AGR, and because they show a quite intricate pattern of possibilities for coreference and disjoint reference, with some seemingly arbitrary differences among the three types of adjuncts. In Section 2, I shall present the empirical data for these constructions. In Section 3 I will discuss the relevant general syntactic principles of Eastern Bengali, specifically those responsible for Case-assignment, word-order, pro-drop (including ergative verbs) and binding properties. In Section 4, I will show that the characteristics of the participial constructions, including the apparently haphazard binding properties, follow from the general syntactic principles of Eastern Bengali, if we assume one simple statement for each type of adjunct. No further construction-specific stipulations need be made. To the extent that the analysis I propose can be upheld, it will constitute indirect support for the GB-mechanisms that are crucially involved in it. Apart from various principles of configurationality and binding, I will make use of the idea that there is no abstract AGR, in these cases at least, and also of the analysis of pro-drop as a silent clitic phenomenon, proposed in Safir (1985). It is of course a fact that the principles of grammar I appeal to still need to be investigated more carefully, and may have to be modified on the basis of data not yet taken into account or accurately analyzed. However, as they stand, the relevant principles of GB-theory appear to be able to account for the Eastern Bengali facts I discuss here. Apart from these more theoretical concerns, this paper naturally has an important descriptive component too, which I hope will make it also interesting to linguists working in a different theoretical framework and may stimulate linguists specifically concerned with Bengali to explore further the intricascies of this area of Bengali grammer.

Fronting, dislocation, and the syntactic role of discourse-related features

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Cruschina
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Syntactic Features

This paper focuses on the syntactic role of the features related to discourse and information structure. It is argued that information-structure notions are encoded in syntax as syntactic features projecting their own phrase structure, and are fundamental in accounting for cross-linguistic variation. The word order alternations and syntactic operations which are strictly dependent on the discourse/informational properties of the sentence, as well as the different grammatical properties characterizing different information-structure categories, can all be related to the syntactic role of discourse-related features, the functional projections with which they are associated, and the type of movement that these features trigger. Under this view, this paper offers an analysis of fronting and dislocation phenomena in Romance, which entails that variation with respect to these processes is correlated to the activation and to the attraction properties of the functional projections encoding information-structure distinctions. Keywords: discourse-related features; information structure; functional projections; topic; informational focus; contrastive focus; Romance; Sicilian

scholarly journals СТРУКТУРА ПРЕДЛОЖЕНИЯ В ФОЛЬКЛОРНОМ ТЕКСТЕ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ СЕЛЬКУПСКИХ ЧАСТУШЕК)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalya Polyakova ◽  
Elena Kryukova ◽  
Grigoriy Korotkikh
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Structural Organization ◽  
The Third ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Linguistic Methods ◽  
Descriptive Method ◽  
Relevant Material

Введение. Синтаксис селькупского языка долгое время оставался «белым пятном» на лингвистической карте самодийского языкознания. Фонология, морфология и лексический состав селькупских диалектов не раз становились предметом научных изысканий представителей различных научных лингвистических школ. Исследованию синтаксических особенностей селькупского языка посвящено гораздо меньше научных трудов, а большинство из этого небольшого количества базируются на материале северных диалектов, в то время как центральные и южные диалекты селькупского языка долгое время оставались вне поля зрения лингвистов. Данные факторы обусловливают актуальность предпринятого исследования. Материал и методы. Материалом исследования послужили 26 частушек на нарымском диалекте селькупского языка. Основными методами исследования выступили общенаучные (анализ, синтез, обобщение) и частнонаучные (лингвистические) методы: сравнительно-сопоставительный, описательный, метод анализа непосредственно составляющих. Результаты и обсуждение. Представлен краткий обзор исследований синтаксиса различных диалектов селькупского языка, осуществлен структурный анализ текстов частушек нарымских селькупов, проанализирован порядок слов, рассмотрен повтор как один из основных фольклорных приемов. По своей структуре 60,9 % проанализированных предложений представляют собой двусоставные предложения, 39,1 % – односоставные предложения. Самым частотным порядком слов в двусоставных предложениях является SVO (16,66 %), на втором месте SOV (7 %), на третьем OSV (4,7 %), единичны предложения с порядком слов OVS (2,38 %). Самыми частотными повторами, выявленными в ходе исследования, явились концентрирующие повторы. Заключение. Частушка как особый фольклорный жанр, заимствованный у русских, получила широкое распространение среди нарымских селькупов. Данный жанр предполагает наличие рифмы и накладывает отпечаток на структурную и синтаксическую организацию предложения. Повторы выполняют функцию структурной организации частушечного текста, выделяя наиболее значимые компоненты содержания, и в меньшей степени участвуют в его синтаксической организации.Introduction. The syntax of the Selkup language has long remained a “white spot” on the linguistic map of the Samoyed linguistics. Phonology, morphology and vocabulary of Selkup dialects have repeatedly been the subject of scientific researches by representatives of various scientific linguistic schools. Much fewer scientific works are devoted to research of the syntactic features of the Selkup language, and most of this small number are based on material from the Northern dialects, while the Central and Southern dialects of the Selkup language have long remained out of the view of linguists. These factors make the study relevant. Material and methods. The material of the study are 30 four-line racy folk rhymes in the Narym dialect of the Selkup language. The main methods of the research are popular scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and specific scientific (linguistic) methods: comparative, descriptive, method of immediate constituent analysis. Results and discussions. A brief overview of the syntax studies of different dialects of the Selkup language is presented, structural analysis of the texts of the four-line racy folk rhymes of the Narym Selkups is carried out, word order is analyzed, repetition as one of the main folklore techniques is considered. In terms of structure, 60.9 % of the sentences analyzed are two-part sentences, 39.1 % are one-part sentences. The most frequent word order in two-part sentences is SVO (16.66 %), in the second place is SOV (7 %), in the third - OSV (4.7 %); there are very few sentences with word order OVS (2.38 %). The most frequent repetitions revealed in the study are concentrating repetitions. Conclusion. A four-line racy folk rhyme as a special folklore genre borrowed from the Russians became widespread among the Narym Selkups. This genre is expected to have rhyme and influences the structural and syntactic organization of the sentence. Repetitions serve the function of structural organization of the text of a fourline racy folk rhyme, highlighting the most significant content components, and are less involved in its syntactic organization.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document