Remarks on the Relation between Case-Alignment and Constituent Order

Author(s):  
Tarald Taraldsen

The topic of this chapter is a descriptive generalization indicating a connection between case-alignment and the linear order of the major constituents of a sentence. In particular, the generalization claims that no SVO language can have Ergative/Absolutive case-alignment (“Mahajan’s Generalization”). The discussion focuses on determining to what extent existing theories of case-alignment provide a basis for explaining the descriptive generalization as well as its exceptions, and some concrete proposals are examined. I also suggest ways of broadening the empirical foundations of the generalization so as to narrow down the range of analytical options. In particular, it should be determined whether neutral languages with Ergative/Absolutive agreement fall under the scope of the generalization, and also whether the generalization extends to tripartite languages.

Kratylos ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-156
Author(s):  
G. Keydana
Keyword(s):  

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Louveau

AbstractWe prove two results about the embeddability relation between Borel linear orders: For η a countable ordinal, let 2η (resp. 2< η) be the set of sequences of zeros and ones of length η (resp. < η), equipped with the lexicographic ordering. Given a Borel linear order X and a countable ordinal ξ, we prove the following two facts.(a) Either X can be embedded (in a (X, ξ) way) in 2ωξ or 2ωξ + 1 continuously embeds in X.(b) Either X can embedded (in a (X, ξ) way) in 2<ωξ or 2ωξ continuously embeds in X. These results extend previous work of Harrington, Shelah and Marker.


1976 ◽  
Vol 42 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1071-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Tuller ◽  
James R. Lackner

Primary auditory stream segregation, the perceptual segregation of acoustically related elements within a continuous auditory sequence into distinct spatial streams, prevents subjects from resolving the relative constituent order of repeated sequences of tones (Bregman & Campbell, 1971) or repeated sequences of consonant and vowel sounds (Lackner & Goldstein, 1974). To determine why primary auditory stream segregation does not interfere with the resolution of natural speech, 8 subjects were required to indicate the degree of stream segregation undergone by 24 repeated sequences of English monosyllables which varied in terms of the degrees of syntactic and intonational structure present. All sequences underwent primary auditory stream segregation to some extent but the amount of apparent spatial separation was less when syntactic and intonational structure was present.


2012 ◽  
Vol 610-613 ◽  
pp. 762-765
Author(s):  
Fu Chen ◽  
Shu Shen Liu

Assessments of the relative risks posed by chemicals are needed to assist in the development of management plans that minimize ecological impacts. A procedure scoring and screening chemicals entitled ranking procedure based on risk percentile index and concentration (rrpic) was developed based on inherent physico-chemical properties and toxicity as well as detection concentration. The properties and toxicity were transformed into risk percentile indices (rpi) and the rpi was then used to calculate risk score (rs) by multiplying the detection concentration. Using Hasse diagram, the chemicals having different rss were classified into several rank levels. The averaged rank (rav) of each chemical was calculated by using Local Partial Order Model (LPOM) and the risks of chemicals were arranged in a linear order. The rrpic was employed to scoring and screening 31 chemicals detected in Taihu Lake of China.


1967 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kruszewska ◽  
W. Gajewski

Mutants of the Y locus differed appreciably in their basic conversion frequencies (frequencies of conversion in one-point crosses) to wild type. The differences in the basic conversion frequencies in the opposite direction, i.e. from corresponding wild-type allele to mutant, were in general not pronounced. For some alleles frequencies of conversion in both directions were similar, but for the others they differed markedly. No evident correlation between the position of mutants on the map and their basic conversion frequencies was observed.In two-point crosses in repulsion, the great majority of recombinant octads were of conversion type. In these crosses symmetry or asymmetry of conversion depended mainly on similarity or differences in basic conversion frequencies of mutants crossed. In crosses between mutants from different clusters the recombination frequencies were near to the sums of their basic conversion frequencies. Such ‘mutant specificity’ makes it impossible to establish the linear order of mutants on the basis of recombination frequencies in two-point crosses.The results of two-point crosses in repulsion between mutants within clusters pointed to the influence of one allele on the frequency of conversion of another one. This ‘marker effect’ was also evident in some three-point crosses.The frequencies of simultaneous conversions in two-point crosses in coupling did not show negative correlation with the distances between the mutants involved.It seems that many of the data presented here are most easily explained by recently developed hybrid DNA models.


2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Takano

Since the emergence of Kayne's (1994) stimulating proposal for an antisymmetric theory of phrase structure and linear order, much work has been devoted to arguing for or against his theory as well as discussing its empirical predictions. As a result, for a number of phenomena involving rightward positioning, such as rightward adjuncts, heavy NP shift, extraposition, postverbal subjects, and postverbal constituents in OV languages, there now exist both an approach consistent with Kayne's theory (the antisymmetric approach) and another not consistent with it (the symmetric approach). In such a situation, it is often difficult to show on empirical grounds that one approach is superior to the other (see Rochemont and Culicover 1997). In what follows, I describe this situation with respect to two well-known phenomena in English: rightward positioning of adjuncts and heavy NP shift. For each of these phenomena, the symmetric and antisymmetric approaches have been proposed, and both approaches can correctly account for the data discussed in previous studies. Here, I examine the approaches from a novel point of view, showing that data involving the licensing of negative polarity items allow us to differentiate them and to decide which is the right one for each of the two empirical domains. Interestingly, the relevant facts lead to different conclusions for the two phenomena. The results have important implications for the antisymmetric view of syntax.


Author(s):  
Olga Pekelis

This paper presents an analysis of the pied-piping phenomenon in Russian relative clauses in the 18th–19th centuries and in present-day Russian. As is well-known, the relative pronoun kotoryj ‘which’ tended to precede its pied-piped head in the 18th–19th centuries and tends to follow it today. This difference, which has mainly been investigated for relativization on genitives, is demonstrated to be valid for a number of heterogeneous syntactic contexts. I propose to account for the syntactic shift undergone by the Russian relative clauses since the 19th century in terms of a more general shift in information structure: I argue that the linear order of the relative pronoun and its head that was acceptable in Russian two centuries ago, is now in contradiction with the modern inventory of felicitous information structure patterns.


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