scholarly journals Attractors of variation in Hungarian inflectional morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Rácz ◽  
Péter Rebrus ◽  
Miklós Törkenczy
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Algorithmic Learning ◽  
Word Shape

AbstractWe use algorithmic learning and statistical methods over a form frequency list (compiled from the Hungarian web corpus) to investigate variation in Hungarian verbal inflection. Our aims are twofold: (i) to give an adequate description of this variation, which has not been described in detail in the literature and (ii) to explore the range and depth of lexical attractors that potentially shape this variation. These attractors range from closely related ones, such as the shape of the word form or the behaviour of the verb’s paradigm, to broad ones, such as the behaviour of similar verbs or the phonotactics of related verb forms. We find that verbal variation is predominantly determined by similarity to related verb forms rather than by word shape or by word frequency. What is more, the effect of similarity is better approximated using inflected forms as opposed to base forms as points of comparison. This, in turn, supports a rich memory model of morphology and the mental lexicon.

Lithuanian Inflection

2015 ◽  
pp. 446-464
Author(s):  
Axel Holvoet
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Evidential Paradigm

The chapter gives an overview of Lithuanian nominal and verbal inflection and discusses a number of contentious issues involving the demarcation of case and adposition, inflection and derivation, affix and clitic. The first issue is illustrated by the local cases of Old Lithuanian. These involve original postpositions added to case-marked forms. Lithuanian reflexive verb forms raise questions concerning the demarcation of clitics and affixes as well as that of inflection and derivation. A similar indeterminacy between proclitic and affix adheres to aspect, scope, and negation markers added to the verb. Baltic evidentials are an interesting instance of a syntactic phenomenon becoming morphologized and giving rise to an evidential paradigm. Finally, Lithuanian derivational aspect raises problems analogous to those of Slavic aspect, but these are made more complex by the weaker degree of grammaticalization of aspect in Lithuanian.

Khalkha Mongolian

2020 ◽  
pp. 334-349
Author(s):  
Jan-Olof Svantesson
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Segmental Phonology

This chapter gives an introduction to the basic structures of Khalkha Mongolian, most of which are similar to those of Mongolian proper in general. Segmental phonology (vowels and consonants) and word structure are analyzed. Major changes from earlier stages of the language are described briefly, as is the writing system, based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Vowel harmony, based on pharyngeality (ATR) and rounding, has several interesting properties, including the opacity of high rounded vowels to rounding harmony. There is a rich derivational and inflectional morphology based on suffixes. Basic syntactic structures, including word order and case marking of arguments in simple and complex clauses, are described, as are the functions of different verb forms (finite verbs, converbs, and participles). The description emphasizes the central place of Mongolian proper in the typology of the Transeurasian languages.

Language as a complex algebra: Post-structuralism and inflectional morphology in Saussure’s Cours

Semiotica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (208) ◽  
pp. 133-154
Author(s):  
Raúl Aranovich
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Acoustic Image ◽  
Complex Algebra ◽  
Linguistic Sign ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Static Nature

AbstractIn Item-and-Arrangement models of inflection, morphemes are associations of form and meaning stored in a mental lexicon. Saussure’s notion of the linguistic sign as a unit of an acoustic image (signifier) and a concept (signified) immediately suggests such a model. But close examination of the examples of inflectional morphology throughout the Cours brings Saussure’s ideas more in line with Process morphology, a model in which recurrent elements in word forms are exponents of content features, and realizational rules license a word form inferentially from the word’s content. The Saussurean sign allowed French structuralists to revolutionize the methods of modern social science, eschewing the motives and intentions of human actors to focus on the system of oppositions that make signification possible in each domain. Eventually, post-structuralism rejected the static nature of the linguistic sign, forcing linguistics into relative isolation (since it held on to sign-based models of language). The criticism of structuralist treatments of morphology in Process models of inflection, however, stands as an exception to this tendency. In retrospect, I argue, similar ideas can be found in Saussure’s view of the langue as a complex algebra.

scholarly journals Even and the Northern Tungusic languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 288-304
Author(s):  
Brigitte Pakendorf ◽  
Natalia Aralova
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Amur Region ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Extensive System ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Large Case

This chapter provides a concise structural overview of the three Northern Tungusic languages spoken in the Russian Federation, namely Even, Evenki, and Negidal. Even and Evenki are spoken by people who traditionally were fully nomadic hunters and reindeer herders, whereas Negidal is spoken by a small group who were traditionally semi-sedentary fishers and hunters. Typical features of these languages are root-based vowel harmony, large case systems, an extensive system of verbal inflection and derivation, and the widespread use of nonfinite verb forms in subordination. The three languages discussed here share large numbers of cognate forms, but also have notable individual features, such as the indefinite accusative case found in Evenki and Negidal, the refactive verb derivation that Negidal shares with other Tungusic languages of the Amur region, or the use of evaluative morphology to express (in)definiteness in Even.

Head Movement and Morphological Strength

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Wouter Zwart
Keyword(s):  
Head Movement ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Verb Placement ◽  
Time Gap ◽  
The Rich ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Germanic Languages

In the Principles and Parameters framework of Generative Grammar, the various positions occupied by the verb have been identified as functional heads hosting inflectional material (affixes or features), which may or may not attract the verb. This gave rise to a hypothesis, the Rich Agreement Hypothesis (RAH), according to which the verb has to move to the relevant functional head when the corresponding inflectional paradigm counts as “rich.” The RAH is motivated by synchronic and diachronic variation among closely related languages (mostly of the Germanic family) suggesting a correspondence between verb movement and rich agreement. Research into this correspondence was initially marred by the absence of a fundamental definition of “richness” and by the observation of counterexamples, both synchronically (dialects not conforming to the pattern) and diachronically (a significant time gap between the erosion of verbal inflection and the disappearance of verb movement). Also, the research was based on a limited group of related languages and dialects. This led to the conclusion that there was at best a weak correlation between verb movement and richness of morphology. Recently, the RAH has been revived in its strong form, proposing a fundamental definition of richness and testing the RAH against a typologically more diverse sample of the languages of the world. While this represents significant progress, several problems remain, with certain (current and past) varieties of North Germanic not conforming to the expected pattern, and the typological survey yielding mixed or unclear results. A further problem is that other Germanic languages (Dutch, German, Frisian) vary as to the richness of their morphology, but show identical verb placement patterns. This state of affairs, especially in light of recent minimalist proposals relocating both inflectional morphology and verb movement outside syntax proper (to a component in the model of grammar interfacing between narrow syntax and phonetic realization), suggests that we need a more fundamental understanding of the relation between morphology and syntax before any relation between head movement and morphological strength can be reliably ascertained.

Intonation of the Altai language (simple one-component imperative utterances)

2021 ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Albina A. Dobrinina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Form ◽  
Fundamental Tone ◽  
Altai Republic ◽  
Tone Frequency ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Single Compound ◽  
Final Syllable ◽  
Phonetic Study

The paper presents the results of studying the Altai language intonation on the experimental material recorded from six speakers fluent in the Altai language from different regions of the Altai Republic. The recording program consisted of situational single-component imperative utterances. Twenty sentences were pronounced three times each in positive and negative versions, in singular and plural, having different degrees of imperativeness, but without any expressive emotional load. The single-compound motivational statements considered are expressed by imperative or desirable verb forms in the first-, second-, and third-person singular and plural in the affirmative and negative variants. The experimental phonetic study has revealed rising tone to be characteristic for positive and negative imperative one-component sentences, with fundamental tone frequency peaks at the last syllable and there being a possibility for intensity, presumably marking the stressed syllable, to shift within a word-form. The analysis showed the intonation marking of motivational statements to depend on their type: action stimulation, order or demand, are characterized by inclination, a request - by a combined ascending-descending tone, a ban - by a descending tone, advice - both by ascending-descending intonation and declination. In the negative version, in singular and plural, in three or more syllabic sentences on the negative particles -ba / -be, -pa / -pe, etc., there is an even tone or a decrease in the frequency of the fundamental tone. The peak of intensity in such sentences is realized on the last syllable of the verb. In addition, the vowel of the final syllable is usually prolonged.

Endoclitics in Andi

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timur Maisak
Keyword(s):  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The Republic

Abstract The paper provides evidence for the existence of endoclitics in Andi, a Nakh-Daghestanian language of the Avar-Andic branch spoken in the Republic of Daghestan, Russia. In Andi, the additive marker (‘also’) and the intensifying marker (‘even, at all’) behave as enclitics on various types of hosts and as endoclitics when they occur on negative verb forms. In the latter case, the additive and intensifying markers break up the word form and appear before the negation marker. I argue that both the additive and the intensifier are clitics, especially in view of their highly promiscuous attachment. I also show that negative verb forms are morphologically synthetic, so the additive and the intensifier are genuine endoclitics, i.e. clitics that occur inside morphological words. In addition I provide a few parallels for the unusual morphosyntactic behaviour of additive and intensifying clitics in some other Nakh-Daghestanian languages as well as in some languages of Northern Eurasia. Although in these cases the corresponding markers do not qualify as endoclitics proper, the available data hint at a cross-linguistic tendency towards word-internal placement of morphemes with meanings like ‘also’, ‘even’ or ‘only’.

All acquisition begins with the projection of a bare verb phrase

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Vainikka ◽  
Martha Young-Scholten
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
German Development ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Morphosyntactic Development ◽  
German Children

One of the main conclusions that we (Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 1994) make in regard to the second language (L2) German development of uninstructed Korean and Turkish adults was the resemblance of their morphosyntactic development to that of the German children under study at the time by Harald Clahsen and colleagues (see, e.g., Clahsen, Eisenbeiss, & Vainikka, 1994; Clahsen & Penke, 1992). Data from these L2 learners also indicated initial transfer of the headedness of their native language verb phrases (VPs), a claim then strengthened by research on L2 learners whose first language (L1) headedness differed from German, namely, Italian and Spanish (Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 1996). L2 learners' initial grammars were argued to consist of just a “bare” VP, based on comprehensive lack of inflectional morphology and complex syntax, and similar to children acquiring L1 German, these L2 learners' nonfinite verb forms were typically in final position, either early on (for head-final Korean and Turkish speakers) or a bit later, once headedness shifted to the German value from head-initial (for Italian and Spanish speakers). Similar to child L1 learners, the L2 morphosyntactic data pointed to subsequent projection of a head-initial underspecified functional projection and, with sufficient input, projection of higher functional projections. Apart from some details, the claim was that for children and adults learning German, acquisition is defined by the emergence of syntactic projections and the morphology associated with them.

scholarly journals How strong is the ban on non-finite verbs in V2? Evidence from early second language learners of German with and without SLI

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Schulz ◽  
Rabea Schwarze
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Verb Placement

AbstractUsing the standardized test LiSe-DaZ across four test rounds, we collected elicited production data from 22 typically developing early second language learners (eL2 TD) of German (mean age at T1: 3;7) and 11 older eL2 children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) (mean age at T1: 7;1). Focusing on the relation between verb placement and verbal inflectional morphology two questions were addressed: Do eL2 children obey the ban on non-finite verbs in verb-second position (V2) in German, and do eL2 SLI children differ from their eL2 TD peers in their morpho-syntactic behavior? This is the first study on this issue to systematically differentiate between V2 and verb-final position (Vf) and between bare verb forms and infinitives, based on a large sample of elicited production data. Results show that from the first test round onwards verbal inflectional morphology and verb placement were strongly related in the TD and the SLI group. Bare verb forms occurred in V2 only and are argued to be finite;

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