The Quest for Cognates: A Reconstruction of Oblique Subject Constructions in Proto-Indo-European

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jóhanna Barðdal ◽  
Thomas Smitherman
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Early Archaic ◽  
Dative Subject ◽  
Semantic Alignment ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Partial Predicate ◽  
Object Status

The enigma of the origin of non-canonical subject marking in the world’s languages has been met with two competing hypotheses: the Object-to-Subject Hypothesis and the Oblique Subject/Semantic Alignment Hypothesis (cf. Eythórsson and Barðdal, 2005). The present article argues in favor of the Oblique Subject/Semantic Alignment Hypothesis, presenting five sets of cognate predicates in the early/archaic Indo-European daughter languages that occur in the Oblique Subject Construction. These cognate sets have not figured in the earlier literature. Not only are they stem cognates, but they also occur in a cognate compositional predicate and argument structure construction, with a dative subject, the verb ‘be’ and an adjective, a noun, or an adverb. The discovery of these cognate data sets immediately invalidates the axiomatic assumption that non-canonical subject marking must originate in an earlier object status of these arguments. The data, moreover, form the input of a correspondence set, on which basis we reconstruct predicate-specific oblique subject constructions, a partial predicate-specific oblique subject construction, as well as a more abstract schematic dative subject construction for Proto-Indo-European, using the formalism of Sign-based Construction Grammar. The evidence presented here thus suggests that oblique subjects are inherited from an early proto-stage and do not represent an individual development in the Indo-European daughter languages.

The origin of non-canonical case marking of subjects in Proto-Indo-European

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Pooth ◽  
Peter Alexander Kerkhof ◽  
Leonid Kulikov ◽  
Jóhanna Barđdal
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Long Bone ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Alignment System ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Semantic Alignment ◽  
The Subject

Abstract For a long time one of the most bewildering conundrums of Indo- European linguistics has been the issue of how to reconstruct the alignment system of this ancient language state, given the lack of distinction between s and o marking in the Proto-Indo-European neuter nouns and the problem of the Hittite ergative. An additional complication stems from the existence of argument structure constructions where the subject(-like) argument is marked in a different case than the nominative, like the accusative or the dative. Our aim with the present article is to fill two needs with one deed and offer a unified account of this century-long bone of contention. In contribution to the ongoing discussion in the field, we claim that a semantic alignment system, in the terms of Donohue & Wichmann (2008), might not only fit better with the morphological data that are currently reconstructed for the ancestral language, but also with the existence of non-canonically case-marked subjects in general (Barðdal, Bjarnadóttir, et al. 2013; Danesi, Johnson & Barðdal 2017).

A constructionist approach to the teaching of phrasal verbs

English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Torres-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Syntactic Parsing ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Transitive Verb ◽  
Initial Basis ◽  
Semantic Associations ◽  
Potential Mapping ◽  
Constructionist Approach

The central issue of the present article is the analysis of phrasal verbs (hereafter termed multiword verbs [MWVs]) from the perspective of construction grammars (Goldberg, 1995; Suttle and Goldberg, 2011). As is well known, English MWVs present special challenges to L2 learners due, among other things, to the shapelessness of their conceptual components and the ensuing impossibility to arrive at equivalent word-meaning correspondences (mappings) in the learners’ mother language (see Gillette et al., 1999). This brings us to the first theoretical claim of this paper – namely, that MWVs (also termed phrasal verbs, verb-particle collocations, verb-particle combinations etc.) are lexical chunks that can be retrieved by speakers either as wholes, without special recourse to syntactic parsing, or as verb-particle semantic associations (Cappelle et al., 2010). This idea is combined with the notion that MWVs inherit their syntax-semantics from prototypical Argument Structure Constructions (Goldberg, 2013a) within Verb Argument Constructions (VACs) frames. VACs are thus associated with prototype verbs like ‘go‘, ‘come’, ‘get’, ‘put’, etc., to project their meaning upon less-frequent verbs occupying a V-slot frame (a verbal position). It follows that MWVs function as hyponyms that express specific semantic nuances not available in prototype verbs. For example, in the sentence ‘Arya scooped up a rock and hurled it at Joffrey's head’ (George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones [1996]), the verb scoop up suggests a caused motion usually conveyed by the verb LIFT, i.e. the prototype of the simple transitive Verb Argument Construction. From this vantage, it is suggested that a way to activate the weak verb-object interface is through its assignation to specific prototypes bootstrapping (providing an initial basis for) both the conceptualisation of the MWVs and their potential mapping to specific words (which I term inherited surface forms).

Autonomous Decentralized FMS and its Efficient AGVs Control

2012 ◽  
Vol 516 ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Hidehiko Yamamoto ◽  
Takayoshi Yamada
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Conventional System ◽  
Hypothetical Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Process ◽  
Automatic Guided Vehicles ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Production Situation

This paper describes Autonomous Decentralized FMS (AD-FMS) and its method to control automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) by using a memory. The aim is to increase the reasoning efficiency of a system the authors call reasoning to anticipate the future (RAF) which controls AGVs in AD-FMS. This RAF applies hypothetical reasoning to the number of next actions that can be considered for the AGV (competing hypotheses). However, if the number of agents included in the hypothetical reasoning process in the RAF is increased, the number of next actions that are considered as competing hypotheses also increases. As a result, the replacement of true and false hypotheses and number of repetitions of discrete production simulations produced by these replacements are increased, giving rise to the problem of decreased reasoning efficiency of the RAF. The present article reports a method to solve these problems. The reported method, the authors call ranking by oblivion and memory (ROM), is based on the idea that when a production situation occurs that is the same as one in the past, the same destination as in the past is more likely to be selected; that is, it has a high probability of being selected as the true hypothesis. By applying the ROM to AD-FMSs constructed on a computer, it was found that under all conditions the ROM reduced the number of hypothesis replacements to half that of a conventional system, demonstrating the validity of this system.

Working framework of semantic interoperability for CRIS with heterogeneous data sources

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amed Leiva-Mederos ◽  
Jose A. Senso ◽  
Yusniel Hidalgo-Delgado ◽  
Pedro Hipola
Keyword(s):  
Heterogeneous Data ◽  
Semantic Interoperability ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Semantic Alignment ◽  
Technical Specifications ◽  
Open Archives

Purpose Information from Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) is stored in different formats, in platforms that are not compatible, or even in independent networks. It would be helpful to have a well-defined methodology to allow for management data processing from a single site, so as to take advantage of the capacity to link disperse data found in different systems, platforms, sources and/or formats. Based on functionalities and materials of the VLIR project, the purpose of this paper is to present a model that provides for interoperability by means of semantic alignment techniques and metadata crosswalks, and facilitates the fusion of information stored in diverse sources. Design/methodology/approach After reviewing the state of the art regarding the diverse mechanisms for achieving semantic interoperability, the paper analyzes the following: the specific coverage of the data sets (type of data, thematic coverage and geographic coverage); the technical specifications needed to retrieve and analyze a distribution of the data set (format, protocol, etc.); the conditions of re-utilization (copyright and licenses); and the “dimensions” included in the data set as well as the semantics of these dimensions (the syntax and the taxonomies of reference). The semantic interoperability framework here presented implements semantic alignment and metadata crosswalk to convert information from three different systems (ABCD, Moodle and DSpace) to integrate all the databases in a single RDF file. Findings The paper also includes an evaluation based on the comparison – by means of calculations of recall and precision – of the proposed model and identical consultations made on Open Archives Initiative and SQL, in order to estimate its efficiency. The results have been satisfactory enough, due to the fact that the semantic interoperability facilitates the exact retrieval of information. Originality/value The proposed model enhances management of the syntactic and semantic interoperability of the CRIS system designed. In a real setting of use it achieves very positive results.

Serto before Serto: Reexamining the Earliest Development of Syriac Script

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
Michael Penn ◽  
R. Jordan Crouser ◽  
Philip Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Visual Analytics ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Large Data Sets ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Digital Analysis ◽  
Sequential Development ◽  
Recent Scholarship

Abstract Scholars have traditionally categorised early Syriac manuscripts as either Estrangela or Serto. The same categories dominate the prevailing narrative of how Syriac script is thought to have developed. Most see Estrangela as the earliest strata of Syriac and Serto as a later development. More recent scholarship explores how early manuscripts support neither this stark division between script styles nor a sequential development. Of particular challenge to this paradigm are a series of securely dated colophons and notes which use a script style different than the main part of the text. But previous work has looked at only five examples of this phenomenon. By expanding this investigation to 30 examples and drawing upon a recent compiled digital corpus of over 100,000 early Syriac letter forms, the present article explores how large data sets, digital analysis, and visual analytics can help one better understand the development of Aramaic scripts.

scholarly journals Argument Structure of Classifier Predicates: Canonical and Non-canonical Mappings in Four Sign Languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 332-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadim Kimmelman ◽  
Vanja de Lint ◽  
Connie de Vos ◽  
Marloes Oomen ◽  
Roland Pfau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Canonical Mapping ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Event Structures ◽  
Classifier Predicates ◽  
German Sign Language

AbstractWe analyze argument structure of whole-entity and handling classifier predicates in four sign languages (Russian Sign Language, Sign Language of the Netherlands, German Sign Language, and Kata Kolok) using parallel datasets (retellings of the Canary Row cartoons). We find that all four languages display a systematic, or canonical, mapping between classifier type and argument structure, as previously established for several sign languages: whole-entity classifier predicates are mostly used intransitively, while handling classifier predicates are used transitively. However, our data sets also reveal several non-canonical mappings which we address in turn. First, it appears that whole-entity classifier predicates can be used unergatively, rather than unaccusatively, contrary to expectations. Second, our data contain some transitive uses of whole-entity classifier predicates. Finally, we find that handling classifier predicates can express various complex event structures. We discuss what these findings imply for existing theories of classifier predicates in sign languages.

The Inter-Nordic Study of Language Acquisition

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Strömqvist ◽  
Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir ◽  
Olle Engstrand ◽  
Helga Jonsdóttir ◽  
Elizabeth Lanza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Grammatical Morphemes ◽  
Relational Concepts ◽  
Typological Variation ◽  
The Impact

The typological variation between the Nordic languages offers a “natural laboratory” for the cross-linguistic study of first language acquisition. Based on an on-going inter-Nordic project, the present article discusses research designs for the exploration of this laboratory together with pilot analyses of acquisition data across Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. On the basis of evidence from longitudinal case studies, from narrative tasks, and from morphological and phonetic experiments, the project aims at producing an integrated picture of the development of grammatical morphology and its interaction with (a) the semantic domains of spatial and temporal relations and (b) the prosodic domains of tonal word accents and duration. In the present article the focus is on spatial relations and prosody. Comparisons of developmental data between languages that show considerable typological differences (Finnish vs Icelandic vs the Mainland Scandinavian languages) allow us to establish broad cross-linguistic commonalities in acquisition structure. It is shown that, across all five languages, very similar relational concepts are encoded by the first grammatical morphemes emerging in the field of spatial relations. The impact of linguistic details on acquisition structure can be explored with greater precision through comparisons between languages that show minimal typological differences (the internal differences between the Mainland Scandinavian languages: Danish vs Norwegian vs Swedish). Here, the early development of the Verb + particle construction in two Danish and two Swedish children is analysed. Language-specific effects on acquisition structure of syntactical and prosodic traits are demonstrated. Further, language-specific effects on the development of verb argument structure in spatial descriptions are discussed.

Constructions as Triads of Form, Function, and Agency: An Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar Study of English Modals

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Torres-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
American English ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Symbolic Form ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Objective Truth ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Mental Schemas ◽  
Cognitive Construction Grammar

The present article introduces anagentive cognitive construction grammarapproach to the analysis of English central modals. One of the premises of the new theory is that speaker meaning cannot be captured by looking at form-function relations only but through the integration of additional conceptual layers such as agency, embodiment, and argument structure construction. This theoretical turn is supported empirically by a corpus study aimed at identifying specific modal constructions in the 520 million wordCorpus of Contemporary American English. The results show that(i) English modals are reliably identifiable as constructions at a clausal level, and(ii) that, depending on the type of agency (motional or stative), modal constructions can be divided into two main categories, namelymodal agentive constructionsandmodal referential constructions. The results also support the idea that modal constructions are triadic, that is, that they display symbolic form-function relations based on iconic-indexical, and speaker-driven processes (all of which are possible thanks to the conceptualizer’s possession of the concept of objective truth). These constructions provide conceptualizers with the mental schemas necessary to construe meaning across mental spaces.

SELECTION OF α FOR α-HULL AND FORMULATION OF FUZZY α-HULL IN IR2

1995 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 401-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBA PRASAD MANDAL ◽  
C.A. MURTHY
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Selection Criterion ◽  
Single Parameter ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Pattern Class ◽  
Selection Of

A decade ago, Edelsbrunner et. al. introduced the concept of α-hulls for finding the shape of a planar set. But it still suffers from a major deficiency i.e., the single parameter α must be fine-tuned. The present article initially proposes a selection criterion of α for α-hulls in R2. Then the concept of α-hulls is extended to define the fuzzy α-hulls. The effectiveness of the fuzzy α-hulls and the proposed selection criterion of α is demonstrated on some artificially generated data sets. The convergence (with sample size) of both the crisp and fuzzy α-hulls, based on the proposed selection criterion of α, to the original pattern class has also been verified.

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