Contrast in syntax and contrast in phonology

Author(s):  
Daniel Currie Hall

This chapter investigates the parallels and asymmetries between contrastive features in phonology and syntax, with particular reference to the notion of a contrastive hierarchy. In phonology, contrastive features can be assigned to segments by a recursive procedure that applies to the underlying phonemic inventory of a language. To apply such a procedure to morphosyntactic features, it is necessary to identify the inventory of items that the features serve to distinguish. This chapter argues that the relevant morphosyntactic inventory is the inventory of functional lexical items (in the sense used in Distributed Morphology), and not the inventory of vocabulary items. It further proposes that contrastive specification of functional lexical items is done separately on different dimensions of contrast—for example, that person features are specified separately from number features. This approach is illustrated by application to phi-features in Mi’gmaq, where it is shown to be consistent with patterns of agreement.

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Mare

Abstract One of the main discussions about the interaction between morphology and syntax revolves around the richness or poverty of features and wherever this richness/poverty is found either in the syntactic structure or the lexical items. A phenomenon subject to this debate has been syncretism, especially in theories that assume late insertion such as Distributed Morphology. This paper delves into the syncretism observed between the first person plural and the third person in the clitic domain in some Spanish dialects. Our analysis will lead to a revision of the distribution of person features and their relationship with plural number, while at the same time it will shed light on other morphological alternations displayed in Spanish dialects; that is, subject-verb unagreement and mesoclisis in imperatives. In order to explain the behavior of the data under discussion, I propose that lexical items are specified for all the relevant features at the moment of insertion, although the values of these features can be neutralized. I argue that the distribution proposed allows for some fundamental generalizations about the vocabulary inventories in Spanish varieties, and shows that the variation pattern exhibits an *ABA effect, i.e., only contiguous cells in a paradigm are syncretic.


2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 7-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hawkins ◽  
Saleh Al-Eid ◽  
Ibrahim Almahboob ◽  
Panos Athanasopoulos ◽  
Rangsiya Chaengchenkit ◽  
...  

Ionin, Ko and Wexler (2004a) have shown that L2 speakers of English whose L1’s lack articles (Russian and Korean) appear to fluctuate in their interpretation of the and a, allowing them to encode either definiteness or specificity. They argue that these are two options of an Article Choice Parameter offered by Universal Grammar, and that the Russian and Korean speakers fluctuate between them when they are acquiring English. In the present study it is shown that a similar pattern can be observed in L2 speakers of English whose L1 is Japanese (also a language that lacks articles) but not in speakers whose L1 is Greek, a language with articles that encode definiteness like English. It is also shown that while group results for the Japanese speakers suggest fluctuation, individual results do not. It is argued that an account can be given of both cases which does not require appeal either to an Article Choice Parameter or to the concept of ‘fluctuation’. The alternative proposal made here is consistent with Universal Grammar, and follows from an organisation of the grammar where phonological exponents are separated from the lexical items manipulated by syntactic computations, as in Distributed Morphology. It is suggested that a descriptively adequate account which avoids a construction-specific parameter like the Article Choice Parameter and departure from the normal assumptions of UG represented by fluctuation should be preferred.


Author(s):  
Dwight K. Romanovicz ◽  
Jacob S. Hanker

The presence of catalase-positive rods (Fig. 1) of different dimensions, which frequently have a crystalline appearance by light microscopy, has been reported. They seem to be related to peroxisomes which were characterized morphologically and cytochemically in parotid and other exocrine glands of the rat by Hand in 1973. Our light microscopic studies of these spherical microbodies and rods of different sizes, stained by virtue of the peroxidatic activity of their catalase, indicate that they are almost entirely confined to the cells of the striated and execretory ducts of the submandibular gland in the mouse. The rods were usually noted only in the proximity of the ductal microbodies. The latter frequently showed a tendency to appear in linear close array, or even to be contiguous (Fig. 2). This suggested that the rods could be formed by the fusion of microbodies.


1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Kouri

Lexical comprehension skills were examined in 20 young children (aged 28–45 months) with developmental delays (DD) and 20 children (aged 19–34 months) with normal development (ND). Each was assigned to either a story-like script condition or a simple ostensive labeling condition in which the names of three novel object and action items were presented over two experimental sessions. During the experimental sessions, receptive knowledge of the lexical items was assessed through a series of target and generalization probes. Results indicated that all children, irrespective of group status, acquired more lexical concepts in the ostensive labeling condition than in the story narrative condition. Overall, both groups acquired more object than action words, although subjects with ND comprehended more action words than subjects with DD. More target than generalization items were also comprehended by both groups. It is concluded that young children’s comprehension of new lexical concepts is facilitated more by a context in which simple ostensive labels accompany the presentation of specific objects and actions than one in which objects and actions are surrounded by thematic and event-related information. Various clinical applications focusing on the lexical training of young children with DD are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansjörg Znoj ◽  
Sandra Abegglen ◽  
Ulrike Buchkremer ◽  
Michael Linden

Abstract. There is a growing interest in embitterment as psychological concept. However, little systematic research has been conducted to characterize this emotional reaction. Still, there is an ongoing debate about the distinctiveness of embitterment and its dimensions. Additionally, a categorical and a dimensional perspective on embitterment have been developed independently over the last decade. The present study investigates the dimensions of embitterment by bringing these two different approaches together, for the first time. The Bern Embitterment Inventory (BEI) was given to 49 patients diagnosed with “Posttraumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED)” and a matched control group of 49 patients with psychological disorders with other dominant emotional dysregulations. The ability to discriminate between the two groups was assessed by t-tests and Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC curve analysis). PTED patients scored significantly higher on the BEI than the patients of the control group. ROC analyses indicated diagnostic accuracy of the inventory. Further, we conducted Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) to examine the different dimensions of embitterment and their relations. As a result, we found four characteristic dimensions of embitterment, namely disappointment, lack of acknowledge, pessimism, and misanthropy. In general, our findings showed a common understanding of embitterment as a unique but multidimensional emotional reaction to distressful life-events.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunyi Cho ◽  
Kari Wilson ◽  
Jounghwa Choi

This study investigated whether and how dimensions of perceived realism of television medical dramas are linked to perceptions of physicians. The three dimensions of perceived realism were considered: plausibility, typicality, and narrative consistency. Data from a survey of college students were examined with confirmatory factor analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. Across the three dramas (ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and House), narrative consistency predicted positive perceptions about physicians. Perceived plausibility and typicality of the medical dramas showed no significant association with perceptions about physicians. These results illustrate the importance of distinguishing different dimensions of perceived realism and the importance of narrative consistency in influencing social beliefs.


This research article focuses on the theme of violence and its representation by the characters of the novel “This Savage Song” by Victoria Schwab. How violence is transmitted through genes to next generations and to what extent socio- psycho factors are involved in it, has also been discussed. Similarly, in what manner violent events and deeds by the parents affect the psychology of children and how it inculcates aggressive behaviour in their minds has been studied. What role is played by the parents in grooming the personality of children and ultimately their decisions to choose the right or wrong way has been argued. In the light of the theory of Judith Harris, this research paper highlights all the phenomena involved: How the social hierarchy controls the behaviour. In addition, the aggressive approach of the people in their lives has been analyzed in the light of the study of second theorist Thomas W Blume. As the novel is a unique representation of supernatural characters, the monsters, which are the products of some cruel deeds, this research paper brings out different dimensions of human sufferings with respect to these supernatural beings. Moreover, the researcher also discusses that, in what manner the curse of violence creates an inevitable vicious cycle of cruel monsters that makes the life of the characters turbulent and miserable.


Corpora ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Yukiko Ohashi ◽  
Noriaki Katagiri ◽  
Katsutoshi Oka ◽  
Michiko Hanada

This paper reports on two research results: ( 1) designing an English for Specific Purposes (esp) corpus architecture complete with annotations structured by regular expressions; and ( 2) a case study to test the design to cater for creating a specific vocabulary list using the compiled corpus. The first half of this study involved designing a precisely structured esp corpus from 190 veterinary medical charts with a hierarchy of the data. The data hierarchy in the corpus consists of document types, outline elements and inline elements, such as species and breed. Perl scripts extracted the data attached to veterinary-specific categories, and the extraction led to creating wordlists. The second part of the research tested the corpus mode, creating a list of commonly observed lexical items in veterinary medicine. The coverage rate of the wordlists by General Service List (gsl) and Academic Word List (awl) was tested, with the result that 66.4 percent of all lexical items appeared in gsl and awl, whereas 33.7 percent appeared in none of those lists. The corpus compilation procedures as well as the annotation scheme introduced in this study enable the compilation of specific corpora with explicit annotations, allowing teachers to have access to data required for creating esp classroom materials.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Baeskow

For many decades there has been a consensus among linguists of various schools that derivational suffixes function not only to determine the word-class of the complex expressions they form, but also convey semantic information. The aspect of suffix-inherent meaning is ignored by representatives of a relatively new theoretical direction – Neo-Construction Grammar – who consider derivational suffixes to be either purely functional elements of the grammar or meaningless phonological realizations of abstract grammatical morphemes. The latter view is maintained by adherents of Distributed Morphology, who at the same time emphasize the importance of conceptual knowledge for derivational processes without attempting to define this aspect. The purpose of this study is first of all to provide support for the long-standing assumption that suffixes are inherently meaningful. The focus of interest is on the suffixes -ship, -dom and -hood. Data from Old English and Modern English (including neologisms) will show that these suffixes have developed rich arrays of meaning which cannot be structurally derived. Moreover, since conceptual knowledge is indeed an important factor for word-formation processes, a concrete, theory-independent model for the representation of the synchronically observable meaning components associated with -ship, -dom and -hood will be proposed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.O. Klar

The thesis of a single pillar or axis around which the longer Medinan suras are structured has been highly influential in the field of sura unity, and scholarship on the structure and coherence of Sūrat al-Baqara has tended to work towards charting the progress of a dominant theme throughout the textual blocks that make up the sura. In order to achieve this, scholars have divided the sura into discrete blocks; many have posited a chain of lexical and thematic links from one block to the next; some have concentrated solely on the hinges and borders between these suggested textual blocks. The present article argues that such methods, while often in themselves illuminating, are by their very nature reductive. As such they can result in the oversight of important elements of the sura. From a starting point of the Adam pericope provided in Q. 2:30–9, this study will focus on the recurrence of a number of its lexical items throughout Sūrat al-Baqara. By methodically tracing the passage of repeated, loosely Fall-related, vocabulary, it will attempt to widen the contextual lens through which the sura's textual blocks are viewed, and establish a broader perspective on its coherence. Via a discussion of the themes of ‘gardens’, ‘parable’, ‘prostration’, ‘covenant’, ‘wrongdoing’ and finally ‘blindness’, this article will posit ‘garments’, not as a structural pillar, but as a pivot around which many of the repeated lexical items of the sura rotate.


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