Mood

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Portner
Keyword(s):  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Pragmatic Theory ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
Verbal Mood ◽  
The Way

The category of mood is widely used in the description of languages and the formal analysis of their grammatical properties. It typically refers to features of a sentence’s form (or a class of sentences which share such features), either individual morphemes or grammatical patterns, which reflect how the sentence contributes to the modal meaning of a larger phrase or which indicates the type of fundamental pragmatic function it has in conversation. The first subtype, verbal mood, includes the categories of indicative and subjunctive subordinate clauses; the second sentence mood, encompasses declaratives, interrogatives, and imperatives. This work presents the essential background for understanding semantic theories of mood and discusses the most significant theories of both types. It evaluates those theories, compares them, draws connections between seemingly disparate approaches, and with the goal of drawing out their most important insights, it formalizes some of the literature’s most important ideas in new ways. Ultimately, this work shows that there are important connections between verbal mood and sentence mood which point the way towards a more general understanding of how mood works and its relation to other topics in linguistics, and it outlines the type of semantic and pragmatic theory which will make it possible to explain these relations.

scholarly journals Philosophical Considerations and Research Ideas About Comparing the Two Approaches: Messer’s Comments Point the Way Forward

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-122
Author(s):  
Michael A. Westerman ◽  
Kenneth L. Critchfield
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Case Formulation ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Pragmatic Theory ◽  
Reflex Arc ◽  
Defense Theory ◽  
The Way

In his commentary, Stanley Messer (2021) posed the question of whether it is possible to evaluate the relative merits of different case formulation approaches to psychotherapy. He went on to maintain, based on the pragmatic theory of truth, that it is possible to compare different case formulation approaches, and pointed to a program of research that he and his collaborators conducted as an example for possible future research (Collins Messer, 1991; Holland, Roberts, Messer, 1998; Messer, Tishby, Spillman, 1992; Tishby Messer, 1995). In this reply, we express our appreciation for Messer’s remarks, with which we agree in large measure, and attempt to highlight and build upon some of the points he made. We discuss Dewey’s (1896) classic critique of the reflex arc concept to point out other ways the philosophical perspective of pragmatism supports the view that different approaches to therapy are not incommensurate. We also offer a number of suggestions for future research comparing psychotherapy based on Interpersonal Defense Theory and IRT, or any two case formulation approaches to therapy. At many points, our suggestions follow along the lines of Messer’s research. We also emphasize the value of case formulation-based studies, not only with regard to research comparing approaches to treatment, but for investigating other issues about therapy as well.   

A formal analysis of the intonation of modern colloquial Russian (Part II)

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
J. R. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Testing Hypotheses ◽  
Probability Of Occurrence ◽  
Russian Part ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Functional Units ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Fundamental Requirement ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

With the corpus organized in the way described in the first part of this article (JIPA 4.2, December 1974) it was possible to move on to the main objective, namely the extraction of a system of intonation from the corpus. In the present work it was a fundamental requirement of the eventual system of intonation that it should account for all the intonation patterns observable in the corpus. It is suggested that this system provides a very adequate means of describing the intonation of modern colloquial Russian in the broader context, although it is not, of course, possible within the limits of this article to test that proposition. If the system is to be descriptive of the intonation of Russian in the widest sense it seems essential that as few assumptions as possible should be made about what is and what is not functional in an intonation system. The problems involved in setting up and testing hypotheses about the function of intonation are considerable, and the only assumption made in this work is that perceivably different intonation patterns could have different functions in the conversational situation—the definition of those functions is not a necessary part of the task here. Given this approach it follows that an intonation system is not regarded as comparable to a phonemic system, in which a relatively small set of functional units will be realized in a very large number of different but not necessarily contrastive ways. Rather it is viewed here as a very much larger set, graded in terms of probability of occurrence.

Exploring Interpretation and Misinterpretation of Garden-Path Sentences in Polish

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-127
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Solska ◽  
Arkadiusz Rojczyk
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Way

The paper reports on an experiment designed to investigate the interpretation and misinterpretation of Polish sentences such as Gdy Jan pisał list spadł z biurka (e.g. “While John was writing the letter fell off a desk”), paralleling English garden path sentences such as While John hunted the deer ran into the woods. The locally ambiguous NP-V-NP region in sentences of this sort may result in the key noun phrase being incorrectly interpreted as the object in the fronted temporal clause. The experiment was conducted using E-Prime software and involved comparing the participants’ comprehension of garden path sentences in three different conditions with their comprehension of equivalent non-garden path sentences. This was achieved by examining the participants’ performance on comprehension questions probing the interpretation of the subordinate clauses, establishing the times they needed to answer the questions and checking the level of their confidence in their responses. The goals of the experiment were to establish whether the Polish sentences in question force the comprehender to form erroneous interpretations which persist in his mind and to determine to what extent the persistence of the initial incorrect interpretation is influenced by the morphosyntactic properties peculiar to Polish. The results of the experiment indicate that though the Polish sentences under investigation do not trigger a particularly strong garden path effect, the information carried by the case endings and the thematic roles nouns are likely to have in specific contexts affect the way locally ambiguous sentences are analysed.

scholarly journals Decomposing distribution across dimensions: evidence from Libras

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Donazzan ◽  
Luciana Sanchez-Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Native Signer ◽  
Related Distribution ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the investigation of the meaning of reduplication in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) analyzing the contribution of each of its forms: repetition (\rep) and alternation (\alt). In order to check their role, we proceeded a data collection with a native signer during elicitation sessions following the methodology for semantic elicitation (Matthewson, 2004). We also collected a spontaneous datum with another signer. We show that \rep is related to aspectual distribution, and \alt is associated to two pieces of information - participant-related distribution and aspectual distribution. We propose a formal analysis for each of the forms as well as of the way they interact compositionally.

A Pragmatic Argument for a Pragmatic Theory of Truth

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Capps
Keyword(s):  
Pragmatic Theory ◽  
Theories Of Truth ◽  
Pragmatic Argument ◽  
The Way

Even though pragmatic theories of truth are not widely held, they have advantages not found elsewhere. Here I focus on one such advantage: that a pragmatic theory of truth does not limit the range of truth-apt beliefs and thereby “block the way of inquiry.” Furthermore, I argue that this speaks for a particular formulation of the pragmatic theory of truth, one that shifts away from Peircean approaches and their emphasis on temporal independence, and toward a theory that instead emphasizes truth’s subject independence.

The Emergence of Epenthesis: An Incremental Model of Grammar Change

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Morley
Keyword(s):  
Research Methodology ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Phonological Process ◽  
Learning Mechanism ◽  
Incremental Model ◽  
Part Model ◽  
The Way

AbstractIntervocalic consonant epenthesis is used as a case study for investigating grammar change. An emergentist framework is adopted, whereby a simple learning mechanism transforms a phonetically-based sound change into a synchronic phonological process. A two-part model of such 'grammaticalizing' change is developed, along with a formal analysis of the necessary model properties. This work demonstrates that perception-based consonant loss could, in principle, lead to synchronic epenthesis. However, the larger number of historic conditions required for its emergence are predicted to make it less likely than other outcomes such as deletion or suppletion (unpredictable alternation). An important corollary of the latter result is that theoretically dispreferred grammars do not necessarily have to be explicitly marked or removed from the learning space. Input to the hypothetical learner is automatically filtered by asymmetries in the way sound changes occur, the way sounds are organized in words, and the way words are organized in paradigms. The conclusion is that mechanisms other than Universal Grammar are sufficient to produce the observed epenthesis typology without overgenerating. Furthermore, it is argued that the research methodology is a promising one in general for explaining the universal tendencies of human languages.

scholarly journals PROBLEMS OF GENERAL THEORY AND METALANGUAGE OF COMPOSITE SENTENCES WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CLAUSE

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Muzaffar KHOSHIMOV
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Complicated Structure ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Natural Surface ◽  
The Status ◽  
Simple Sentences ◽  
The Way

The article touches upon the problems of general theory and metalaguage of one more invariant type of the sentence, that is, a composite sentence with an introductory clause along with the three traditionally accepted structural-semantic (compound, complex and mixed /semi-composite/) types and the taxonomy of the latter in language. The main focus here is made on the so called parenthetical, rather introductory constructions represented by introductory words, phrases and sentences, specifically verbalizing the universal concept of subjective modal assessment” of the fact (action, quality, quantity, state, etc.) expressed in the main body of the sentences, to which the latter are canonically introduced. The author here makes an accent on the status of the so called simple sentences with an “introductory element”, expressed by a clause in language(s) which have been traditionally treated as “simple sentences of the complicated structure”, although they are characterized by their natural surface and deep structures like a composite sentence with at least two predicative units, each of which having its own grammatically expressed subjectpredicate structure. Critically approaching the treatment of such composite sentences as “complex sentences with a parenthetical clause” in special literature, the author considers them to be “composite sentences with an introductory clause”, for the latter can’t be segmented into principle and subordinate clauses, and proves his own approach by illustrating them through convincing examples from fiction materials, which paves the way to four–membered taxonomy of composite sentences replacing the traditional three –membered one.

scholarly journals Embedded imperatives in Semitic, Germanic, and other languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Lutz Edzard
Keyword(s):  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Direct Speech ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Pronominal System ◽  
Germanic Languages

Several Semitic and Germanic languages, just as languages belonging to other language families (Slovenian, Korean), embed imperatives and thus use direct speech in syntactical context, where most other languages would use subordinate clauses. This kind of embedding can entail “shifting indexicals” and “imposters”, i.e. the reference to one and the same person with different persons in the verbal and pronominal system, even within one and the same phrase. In this paper, departing from the Germanic and other data presented so far in this context, I attempt a descriptive analysis of this phenomenon focusing on Semitic, with only hints to elements of a formal analysis.

Methodical recommendations for the training of cadets of the universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to work with formal and subordinate sentences in modern German

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Наталья Башлуева ◽  
Natalya Bashlueva
Keyword(s):  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Internal Affairs ◽  
The Way

This article is an attempt to give methodological recommendations on the training of cadets of non-linguistic universities to work with formal and subordinate clauses in modern German, methods of their explanation and translation. These clauses, usually considered in grammar as a type of subordinate clauses, differ from the latter, in terms of the degree of communication with the main sentence and the way they are translated into Russian.

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