Intransitivity and the Development of Ergative Alignment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Common Source ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Case Licensing ◽  
Inherent Case ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Genitive Case

This chapter surveys pathways that have been proposed for how ergative alignment develops diachronically in an accusative language. The most common source cited for ergative alignment is a clausal nominalization. This is because the v (or n) in the nominalization has the same case-licensing featural composition as transitive v in an ergative language: 1) the external argument in the specifier is assigned inherent (typically genitive) case; and 2) there is no structural licensing capability for an object. After reanalysis, the external argument continues to receive inherent case, and the object values nominative case with T, resulting in an ergative pattern in transitive clauses. Other proposed sources are also typically intransitive constructions lacking accusative objects and in which the external argument is assigned inherent case or is packaged as a PP, for example possessive constructions and passives

scholarly journals Inherent case in Archaic Chinese

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Edith Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
First Person ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Archaic Chinese ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Inherent Case ◽  
Operator Movement

This paper proposes an analysis of subject case in Late Archaic Chinese (LAC). By examining the distribution of first person pronominal subjects, I conclude that there were two distinct morphological cases for subjects in LAC. One of these pronouns, 我 wǒ, valued structural nominative case, while the other one, 吾 wú, was marked with a different case. The occurrence of 吾 wú as the external argument of experiencer and modal predicates clearly suggests that this case was at least sometimes inherent case assigned to the external argument in [Spec, vP]. 吾 wú also functioned as the subject of relative clauses, embedded subjunctive clauses, and irrealis matrix clauses. Since the case valued in these clause types was not sensitive to predicate types, I propose that the source of the case valued by the subject in these environments was T. Working within Chomsky’s (2008) C-T Inheritance framework, I propose that Inheritance did not take place in indicative clauses, so the subject moved to [Spec, CP] to value nominative case. A first person pronoun with nominative case was spelled out as 我 wǒ. But Inheritance was forced if another constituent needed to occupy [Spec, CP]. I propose that relative clauses and irrealis/subjunctive clauses are all derived through operator movement. Because the operator must occupy [Spec, CP], C-T Inheritance must also take place, forcing the subject to move to [Spec, TP] to value its case. The case valued in this position was also the non-nominative form exemplified by the first person pronoun 吾 wú.

scholarly journals A New Argument for the Lexical Underspecification of Causers

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 803-824
Author(s):  
James E. Lavine ◽  
Leonard H. Babby
Keyword(s):  
Large Class ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Mere Presence ◽  
Causative Verbs

This article shows how a systematic impersonalization alternation in Russian provides additional evidence for underspecification in argument structure. In the case of a large class of lexically causative verbs, the causer is realized either as a volitional Agent in the nominative case or as an oblique-marked, nonvolitional causer, depending on how the event is construed. A causative theory of accusative is advanced, according to which the mere presence of external causation is a sufficient condition for accusative licensing, including those cases that lack an external argument altogether. The analysis is extended to explain accusative preservation in the Icelandic “fate accusative” construction.

scholarly journals Adnominal possessive constructions in Mordvin, Mari and Permic

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-168
Author(s):  
Polina Pleshak
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Syntactic Function ◽  
Genitive Case

This paper deals with adnominal possessive constructions in Moksha, Erzya, Meadow Mari, Hill Mari, Izhma Komi and Udmurt. The two main constructions that encode possessive relations in all the languages of the sample are the same: Dependentmarking and Double-marking. Izhma Komi also uses Head-marking and Juxtaposition. However, a more fine-grained analysis helps to find out many differences between the languages of the sample. Firstly, restrictions on the use of the genitive case and possessive markers can be slightly different in these languages. Secondly, there are factors that influence marking of NP elements (both the Head and the Dependent) in different ways. These factors are semantic relations, animacy hierarchy and syntactic function of an NP.Аннотация. Полина Плешак: Посессивные конструкции в мордовских, марийских и пермских языках. В данной статье обсуждаются результаты исследования приименных посессивных конструкций в мокшанском, эрзянском, луговом марийском, горномарийском, ижемском коми и удмуртском. Две основные стратегии, кодирующие посессивные отношения во всех рассматриваемых языках, – зависимостное маркирование и двойное маркирование, а также дополнительно вершинное маркирование и конструкция с соположением в ижемском коми. Однако более детальный анализ позволяет выявить большое количество различий между языками выборки. Во-первых, как генитив, так и посессивные показатели имеют разные области применения в разных языках. Во-вторых, существуют факторы, по-разному влияющие на маркирование членов ИГ (как вершины, так и зависимого). Таковыми являются семантические отношения, иерархия одушевлённости и синтаксическая позиция ИГ.Ключевые слова: внутригенетическая типология, посессивные конструкции, зависимостное маркирование, двойное маркирование, генитив, посессивный показатель, семантические отношения, иерархия одушевлённости, финно-угорские языкиKokkuvõte. Polina Pleshak: Adnominaalsed possessiivkonstruktsioonid mordva, mari ja permi keeltes. Artikkel käsitleb adnominaalseid possessiivkonstruktsioone mokša, ersa, niidumari, mäemari, ižmakomi ja udmurdi keeltes. Kaks põhikonstruktsiooni, mis possessiivseid suhteid väljendavad, on kõikides käsitletud keeltes samad: laiendi markeerimine ja topeltmarkeering. Ižmakomi keeles kasutatakse ka põhja markeerimist ja jukstapositsiooni. Peenekoelisem analüüs aitab aga käsitletavate keelte vahel leida rohkelt erinevusi. Esiteks võivad nendes keeltes mõneti erineda genitiivi ja possessiivmarkerite kooskasutuse piirangud. Teiseks on faktoreid, mille mõju tõttu markeeritakse NP elemente erinevalt (seda nii põhisõna kui ka laiendi puhul). Need faktorid on semantilised suhted, elususe hierarhia, ja NP süntaktiline funktsioon.Märksõnad: intrageneetiline tüpoloogia, possessiivkonstruktsioonid, laiendi markeering, topeltmarkeering, genitiiv, possessiivmarker, semantilised suhted, elususe hierarhia, soome-ugri keeled

Rethinking Verb Second and Nominative case assignment

2020 ◽  
pp. 575-593
Author(s):  
Ermenegildo Bidese ◽  
Andrea Padovan ◽  
Alessandra Tomaselli
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
Spreading Model ◽  
Traditional Argument ◽  
Case Licensing ◽  
Finite Verb

Cimbrian is a German(ic) VO heritage language that does not display the linear V2 restriction: the DP subject can show up before the finite verb together with other constituents, while German-like verb-subject inversion only obtains with clitic pronouns. In recent literature on Cimbrian, pronominal subject inversion has been taken as a traditional argument in favour of mandatory V-to-C movement (assuming a split-C configuration). Building on this assumption, the syntax of the enclitic expletive subject, -da/-ta, (which shows up whenever the DP subject does not raise in the C-domain) makes the Cimbrian data particularly relevant, since it casts light on the correlation between V2 and Nominative case licensing. The stance in this chapter is that Nominative case in Cimbrian is assigned by C—as generally assumed for Germanic V2 languages—but in an idiosyncratic way: (i) it applies within the C domain, i.e. FinP; (ii) expletive -da/-ta absorbs Nominative case and acts as a defective goal with respect to the ‘low’ subject. On the basis of the feature-spreading model in Ouali (2008), the phasal head C in Cimbrian is taken to ‘KEEP’ its relevant ϕ‎- and T-features, to assign Nominative case in [Spec,FinP], and to triggering mandatory V-movement.

PSIs with Head-Like Properties

2021 ◽  
pp. 171-210
Author(s):  
Ahmad Alqassas
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Case Theory ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Dependent Case ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Case Licensing ◽  
Polarity Sensitive ◽  
Genitive Case

This chapter discusses two main issues that arise from PSIs (polarity-sensitive items) with head-like properties. These PSIs seem to be outside the (immediate) domain of their licensor. The first issue is how these PSIs are licensed in syntax and how a unified analysis can handle their distribution. The author argues that these PSIs are adverbial phrases that do not project a clausal projection and that negation licenses these PSIs either in Spec-NegP or under c-command. This unified analysis does not appeal to the problematic head–complement relation as a putative licensing configuration. Another issue that arises from these NPIs (negative polarity items) with head-like properties is their ability to host clitics with accusative and genitive case marking. This issue raises interesting questions pertaining to case theory and dependent case licensing. The author argues that negation licenses the puzzling accusative case of the pronominal complement, a conclusion with far-reaching implications to dependent case licensing in natural language.

scholarly journals Du verbe au nom et du nom au verbe: Syntaxe et sémantique des maṣdars en arabe standard

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 19-57
Author(s):  
Fayssal Tayalati
Keyword(s):  
External Argument ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Internal Argument ◽  
Decomposition Model ◽  
Lexical Decomposition ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Genitive Case

The article describes the properties of deverbal nouns (maṣdars) in Standard Arabic. Prior accounts identify the following type (qaṣfu l-ʿaduwwi li-l-madīnati), among others, but neglect the maṣdar that introduces its internal argument as a direct complement in the genitive case and its external argument as a prepositional adjunct (taḥrīru l-madīnati ʿalā yadi l-jayši ). We argue that these two types reflect two different conceptu-alizations of ‘events’: bound-events, which describe a change that has taken place in the nature of a sub-stance represented by the internal argument; and unbound-events, which describe a change in the relation-ship between the internal and external arguments.Within the lexical decomposition model, we propose a semantic basis for explaining constraints on direct transitive verbs according to (i) the type of maṣdars they form; (ii) the possibility of deriving a resul-tative passive participle (ism al-mafʿūl); and (iii) the alternation, for some verbs, between a causative and non-causative use without any morphological variation.Keywords: lexical decomposition, deverbal noun (maṣdars), (un)bound-event

scholarly journals Anthroponyms and Surnames of the Nobility of the Grodno Powiat in 1565

Lituanistica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jūratė Čirūnaitė
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
First Time ◽  
Genitive Case

Patronyms could have been formed from the -sk- type anthroponyms in the generation of 1565: Друцкевичъ, Долъгошцичъ. Two surnames were found among the -sk- type anthroponyms: Халецки, Куровъски. Six more -sk- type anthroponyms are the first mention of later authenticated surnames: Завацъки, Каменъски, Новицъки, Петровъски, Свиръски, Снаръски. They were supposed to become surnames in the second half of the sixteenth century. Among the anthroponyms that are not names, patronymics, -sk- type anthroponyms, the surname Шышъко is unquestionable. Provisionally, four anthroponyms can also be considered surnames as, when changing into a surname, they dropped the patronymic suffix: Ейсмонтъ, Кобята, Стер[ъ]пейко, Толоч[ъ]ко. In the document of 1565, five more anthroponyms of this type, which were later authenticated, are mentioned for the first time: Белокозъ, Галабурда, Доха, Куликъ, Мицута. They had to become surnames in the second half of the sixteenth century. Four surnames are recorded among the first patronymics: Кгинюшевичъ, Киселевичъ, Моръдасовичъ, Носовичъ. There are two other first mentions of this type of later authenticated surnames: Бутрымовичъ, Полуяновичъ. Also, the rare patronymic form of the Christian anthroponym Хомичъ can be considered the first mention of the surname. These anthroponyms were to become surnames in the second half of the sixteenth century. The second patronymics, especially those recorded in the genitive case singular, represented the old naming system where they partially performed the function of the present surname. The surnames derived from the second patronymics, Ейсмон[ъ]товича and Сиръкгутевича (there is also a variant of the inscription Шыркгутевичъ), could have functioned already in the middle of the sixteenth century if they were written not in the genitive but in the nominative case. The anthroponym Почобутовича can be considered the first mention of a surname authenticated later among the second patronymics. Having dropped its suffix, this anthroponym had to become a surname in the second half of the sixteenth century. One person had two surnames: Халецъки Киселевичъ. Two people had two potential surnames: Новицъки Ейсмонътовича and Ейсмонътовича Снаръски. Both anthroponyms of those potential surnames of -sk- type, namely, Новицъки and Снаръски, were the first mention of later authentication, while Ейсмонътовича can be presumed to be a surname if written in the nominative case.

Two types of alignment change in nominalizations

Diachronica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Aldridge ◽  
Yuko Yanagida
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Internal Argument ◽  
Old Japanese ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Genitive Case ◽  
Object Relative

Abstract This paper investigates two instances of alignment change, both of which resulted from reanalysis of a nominalized embedded clause type, in which the external argument was marked with genitive case and the internal argument was focused. We show that a subject marked with genitive case in the early development of Austronesian languages became ergative-marked when object relative clauses in cleft constructions were reanalyzed as transitive root clauses. In contrast to this, the genitive case in Old Japanese nominalized clauses, marking an external argument, was extended to mark all subjects. This occurred after adnominal clauses were reanalyzed as root clauses. Japanese underwent one more step in order for genitive to be reanalyzed as nominative: the reanalysis of impersonal psych transitive constructions as intransitives. With these two case studies of Austronesian and Japanese, we show that reanalysis of nominalization goes in either direction, ergative or accusative, depending on the syntactic conditions involved in the reanalysis.

Notional Synonymy in Ukrainian Syntactic Terminology

2019 ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Oksana Vasetska
Keyword(s):  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
Simple Complex ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Formal Expression ◽  
Complex Word ◽  
Word Combination ◽  
Two Component ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Common ◽  
Genitive Case

The article reveals a section of terminological units of the variology, the analysis is given in specialized dictionaries and reference books in linguistics, i.e. it deals with the status of synonyms and variants in general variance theory, in particular, synonymy is recognised as a semantic variation and traditional variation is declared as a formal expression of a broader category of variability. The common phenomenon of describing a concept by several names is variability. It distinguishes into synonymy and doubling by such criterion as the interchangeability of terms in contexts. The way to avoid the terminological coincidence of terms which describe the general features of the language system and refer the indicator of the formal distinction of identical units by the meaning is proposed. Such group of synonymic terms as notional terms, i.e. analytical terms-synonyms with synonymous subordinative dependent components, are analized. This group is represented by simple two-component analytical terms and complex (three-component) terms-phrases. Components of simple phrases terms are formed in such ways “adjective + noun in the nominative case” and “noun in the nominative case + noun in the genitive case”. The peculiarity of presented terminological rows of complex word-combination is that each subsequent dependent synonymic component reduces the meaning of the previous word-combination. This group includes units formed in such ways “dependent word + simple word-combination”, “dependent word (Adj)” + simple word-combination (main word (noun) + dependent word (noun in the genitive case)” and “the main word + dependent from word-combination word” and the rows of units containing synonymous dependent components as word and a simple complex word-combination.

Use of Lidocaine Cream for Pain Management During Immunizations of Infants at an Urban Health Clinic

2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110178
Author(s):  
Trisha Lepa ◽  
Menogh Valentine ◽  
Abdullah O. Alshehry ◽  
Eva Paige Morgan ◽  
Kelly Sessa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pain Management ◽  
Pediatric Population ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
P Value ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Onset Of Action ◽  
To Receive

Background: Immunizations are a common source of pain and anxiety within the pediatric population. Implementation of lidocaine 4% cream, which has a short onset of action, as a standard of care for immunization practices may be feasible. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of lidocaine 4% cream as pain management during immunizations and to evaluate satisfaction of caregivers and nursing staff. Methods: This study was a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in an urban clinic, which included patients who were ≤ 14 months old accompanied by a caregiver who witnessed the patient receiving an immunization within the previous 7 months. Patients were randomized to receive either lidocaine 4% cream or placebo cream prior to vaccination. Time to cry and duration of cry were recorded. Caregivers completed surveys evaluating attitudes toward pain associated with immunizations as well as their satisfaction with the immunization process through Likert Scale ratings. Nurses completed a questionnaire assessing efficacy and feasibility of lidocaine 4% cream for pain management. Results: A total of 44 patients were included in the analysis in order to achieve 80% power with a p-value < 0.05. Mean duration of cry in patients receiving lidocaine 4% cream was 48.6 seconds in comparison to 65.9 seconds in patients receiving placebo (95%CI, −33.97 seconds to −0.48 seconds; p < 0.05). Conclusions: Lidocaine 4% cream decreased total duration of cry following vaccinations in comparison to placebo with both caregivers and nurses willing to utilize lidocaine 4% cream in a clinic setting if available

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