Diachronic change and the nature of pronominal null subjects

Author(s):  
Nerea Madariaga

This chapter focuses on the nature of null referential subjects (pro) through a case study in Russian. The loss of pro-drop in Middle Russian implied that: (i) null subjects (NSs) in non-embedded contexts became restricted to instances licensed by pragmatics. (ii) in embedded contexts, learners lost the possibility of parsing pro in the embedded subject gap, and started to parse the alternative null category available, PRO or trace. Afterwards, silent embedded subjects (both finite and non-finite) became licensed only by Obligatory Control. The unified way of licensing NSs in embedded contexts was determined by this diachronic process which confronted learners with two alternative elements to be parsed in the relevant gap, and had to imply some lexical or featural content for the referential pronoun (pro) as opposed to PRO or trace, contradicting views like the rich agreement hypothesis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
John Bosco Ngendakurio

Abstract This article seeks to reveal the primary barriers to fair economic development based on Kenyans’ perceptions of power and globalization. This search was initially sparked by the seeming disinterest of First World scholars to understand the reasons why poor countries benefit so little from the global market as reflected in a subsequent lack of a wide-ranging existing literature about the subject. The literature suggests that global capitalism is dominated by a powerful small elite, the so-called Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC), but how does this relate to Kenya and Africa in general? We know that the TCC has strong connections to financial capital and wealthy transnational corporations. It also pushes neo-liberalism, which becomes the taken-for-granted everyday language and culture that justifies state policies that result in a further class polarization between the rich and poor. Using Kenya as a case study, this article draws on original qualitative research involving face-to-face interviews with Kenyan residents in different sectors who spoke freely about what they perceive to be Kenya’s place in the world order. My interview results show that, on top of the general lack of economic power in the world order, the main barriers to Africa’s performance are neo-colonial and imperialist practices, poor technology, poor infrastructure, general governance issues, and purchasing power.


Multilingua ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke Vandenbroucke

AbstractThis paper focuses on how different historical stages of socio-economic development in Brussels are played out on the ground over time in one particular inner-city neighbourhood, the Quartier Dansaert. In particular, I document the history of this neighbourhood and how urban change and gentrification have impacted the outlook of multilingualism and the development of multilingual discourses and language hierarchies in its material and semiotic landscape over time. By using the rich history of multilingualism in the Quartier Dansaert as a case-study, I argue in favour of more historically-sensitive and longitudinal approaches to social and, in particular, linguistic change as played out in urban landscape.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Thi Minh Khue Nguyen ◽  
Thi Dien Nguyen ◽  
Thi Minh Hop Ho ◽  
Philippe Burny ◽  
Thomas Dogot ◽  
...  

This paper explores the links between migration and social differentiation in rural Vietnam after the reform period (2005–2015) through a case study of Maithon village, Chilang District, Bacninh Province. Since 2005, many villagers have left Maithon to work in cities, industrial zones or to find employment abroad. The migration process has transformed labour and income structures and supply in many households. However, 90 percent of Maithon households claimed on the positive contribution of remittance, while at the same time, they did not suffer from labour shortage due to the circular pattern of the migration. Therefore, rural out-migration is one of the diversification strategy which enables the villager to gain access to cash income in urban areas while still keep position in rural areas. It has resulted in the increase in the size of the middle class, rather than the generation of the gap between the rich and the poor. Through this process, migration becomes a developmental strategy, as a means for upward mobility rather than mechanism of social differentiation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mimi Zaleha Abdul Ghani ◽  
Yazid Sarkom ◽  
Zalina Samadi

This paper aims to explore the rich potential of interactive visualisation environment integrating GIS for modelling urban growth and spatio-temporal transformation of Malaysian cities. As a case study example, authors consider a 3-D GIS model of Ampang Jaya, Selangor to investigate the techniques of data acquisition, data reconstruction from physical to digital, urban analysis and visualisation in constructing a digital model ranging from low to high geometric content including 2-D digital maps, digital orthographic and full volumetricparametric modelling. The key aspect of this virtual model is how it would assist in understanding the urban planning and design of Ampang Jaya by translating complex spatial information that are currently used by the authorities for planning activities such as maps, plans and written information into responsive, easily understandable spatial information. It could serve as a new platform to disseminate information about Ampang Jaya, bridge gaps among professionals involved in planning processes, improve communications among decision makers, stakeholders and the public as well as support decision making about thespatial growth of Ampang Jaya. Demonstrations of Ampang Jaya will also provide a clearer picture of the importance of ownership and control of 3-D models by local councils in empowering them in decision making, for example, in improving transparency, and avoiding misuse by project developers (Shiffer 1993; Sunesson et al., 2008). Such environment will improve the subsequent digital models and research in the area of urban design and planning in Malaysia where visual communication is pivotal.


Author(s):  
Anitza Geneve

There is a need to understand the phenomenon of women's under-representation in the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI) workforce. This chapter presents the findings from an Australian case study where both women working in the industry and industry stakeholders were interviewed for their insight into the influences on women's participation. The rich empirical data and findings from the case study are interpreted using the Acts of Agency theory—an original theory by the author of this chapter. As the chapter reveals there are five ‘Acts of Agency' (containing 10 agent-driven mechanisms) identified as influencing women's participation. Agent-driven mechanisms recognise the causal effect of people themselves; that is, the role individuals play in their participation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalia Kangave

KANGAVE, JALIA, Improving tax administration: a case study of the Uganda Revenue authority, Journal of African Law, 49, 2 (2005): 145–176The prevalence of poverty in developing countries demands that these countries should improvise internal revenue generating projects to supplement, or better still, ultimately significantly reduce dependence on foreign funding. This way self-sustaining economies will be built. One such internal revenue-generating mechanism, and perhaps the most commonly used, is taxation. This paper makes a case for tax administration as a tool of increasing the contribution of tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product, and consequently, a means of reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. The goal of this paper is to propose ways in which the Uganda Revenue Authority (the URA) can improve its tax administration. To achieve this objective, the paper begins with a detailed discussion of the URA's structure and the procedures it follows in collecting taxes. It then highlights the problems that may arise from such structure and procedures, before making proposals on how the URA can reform its organizational structure and processes to maximize its potential in revenue collection capabilities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110273
Author(s):  
Molise David Nhlapo ◽  
Dipane Joseph Hlalele

Universities should conduct research and provide services to the society in their environment. In this article, the relational leadership model was used to evaluate a University-Community partnership in a semi-rural context in South Africa. The relational leadership model is an aspirational model supporting a healthy, ethical, and effective group. It comprises five components necessary for sustainable positive change in an organization. The model advocates for five components of which four were used to evaluate the project which the article is based on. Data were produced through interviews with two main university leaders of the project and the results show that the partnership has lost momentum in recent years based on non-conformity to some of the principles of the components suggested by the relational leadership. Through the rich experiences from participants, the article reflects on methods and recommendations in which the threads facing the partnership can be circumvented.


Author(s):  
Nilmini Wickramasinghe ◽  
Arthur Tatnall ◽  
Steve Goldberg

In an environment of escalating healthcare costs, chronic disease management is particularly challenging, since, by definition such diseases have no foreseeable cure and if poorly managed typically lead to further, complicated secondary health issues, which ultimately only serve to exacerbate cost. Diabetes is one of the leading chronic diseases and its prevalence continues to rise exponentially. Thus it behooves all to focus on solutions that can result in superior management of this disease. Hence, this article presents findings from a longitudinal exploratory case study that examined the application of a pervasive technology solution; a mobile phone, to provide superior diabetes self-care. Notably, the benefits of a pervasive technology solution for supporting superior self-care in the context of chronic disease are made especially apparent when viewed through the rich lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and thus the paper underscores the importance of using ANT in such contexts to facilitate a deeper understanding of all potential advantages.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hartmann

AbstractThe diachronic change of word-formation patterns is currently gaining increasing interest in cognitive-linguistic and constructionist approaches. This paper contributes to this line of research with a corpus-based investigation of nominalization with the suffix-ungin German. In doing so, it puts forward both theoretical and methodological considerations on morphology and morphological change from a usage-based perspective. Regarding methodology, the long-standing topic of how to measure (changes in) the productivity of a morphological pattern is discussed, and it is shown how statistical association measures can be applied to quantify the relationship between word-formation patterns and their bases. These findings are linked up with theoretical considerations on the interplay between constructional schemas and their respective instances.


Author(s):  
K. K. Yadav ◽  
Kumud Dhanwantri

In the present age of industrialization and unregulated urbanization, the Aravali ranges in India are facing deforestation and degradation. The major reasons behind this are the needs of the poor, and greed of the rich. Therefore, part of the Aravalli Ranges falling in different sub-regions of the National Capital Region, has been taken as case study. The chapter intends to provide an insight into the scenario of forests and wildlife in the sub-regions; the challenges, responses, and immediate initiatives taken up by the constituent state governments. It also discusses ways forward to engage the governments and local communities in the protection of forests and wildlife. The conclusion strives to provide probable strategies that can be adopted to transform the transitions of Aravalli into a positive one and ways for engaging government machinery for better governance to escape the grim future we foresee.


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