Abstractions and exemplars: The measure noun phrase alternation in German

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-771
Author(s):  
Roland Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Experimental Validation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Prototype Model ◽  
Weak Effect ◽  
Specific Measure ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Large Corpus

AbstractIn this paper, an alternation in German measure noun phrases is examined under a varying-abstraction perspective. In a specific measure NP construction, the embedded kind-denoting noun either agrees in case with the measure noun (eine Tasse guter Kaffee‘a cup of good coffee’) or it stands in the genitive (eine Tasse guten Kaffees). Each of the two alternants is syntactically similar to a non-alternating construction. I propose a prototype model which assigns a common prototypical meaning to each of the alternants and its corresponding non-alternating construction. Based on this, I argue that lexical, morphosyntactic, and stylistic features help to predict the choice of the alternant. A large corpus study is presented which supports this analysis. However, in addition to the prototype effects, an exemplar effect is also shown to influence the choice, namely the relative frequencies with which lemmas occur in the non-alternating constructions. I argue that allowing both prototype and exemplar effects is more adequate than following radical prototype or exemplar approaches. It is also verified in two experiments that the corpus-derived model corresponds to the behaviour of native speakers. The weak effect size of the experimental validation is discussed in the context of corpus-based cognitive linguistics and the validation of corpus-derived models.

scholarly journals Acquisition of pronominal reference: a longitudinal perspective

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-191
Author(s):  
Peter Broeder
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
European Science Foundation ◽  
European Science ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Pronominal Reference ◽  
Adult Immigrants ◽  
Large Corpus

This article is based on a large corpus of data collected as part of the European Science Foundation Project on Second Language Acquisition by Adult Immigrants (Perdue, 1984; 1993). In this study, some empirical observations are discussed from a follow-up on the ESF project. This follow-up study dealt with the conceptual domain of people (Broeder, 1991; 1992). Mostly, the encoding of reference to people is done through nouns and pronouns. Nominal reference involves a set of proper names and more or less complex noun phrases (e.g. Ahmet, my brother, my neighbour's sister). Pronominal reference is based on an exhaustive list of frequently used and predominantly monosyllabic words (e.g., I, you, he, etc.). Learners necessarily have to use a restricted set of nouns and pronouns as efficiently as possible in daily interactions with native speakers. This study examines the acquistion of pronouns. The relevant questions are: how do people start our encoding pronominal reference, how does their repertoire of pronouns develop and why do they make the choices they make?

scholarly journals THE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE OF AWGNI NOUN PHRASES

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Berhanu Asaye Agajie
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
Labeling Algorithm

The objective of this study is to examine the syntactic structure of Awgni Noun Phrases. The assumption of Labeling Algorithm {XP, H} is holding on, and a descriptive research design was employed to explore the intended objective. Data for this research were enriched by interviewing 12 native speakers of Awgni specializing in the proposed language. Through expert samplings, 20 Noun Phrases were selected and illustrated. Results showed that the Noun Phrases in Awgni could be formed out of the head Nouns all along through other lexical categories reminiscent of the Noun Phrases, Adjective Phrases, Verb Phrases, Determiner Phrases, and Adverb Phrases.  These grammatical items were serving as dependents to the head Nouns. The head Nouns in Awgni are for all time right-headed. These heads are the only obligatory constituents, while the Phrasal categories are optional elements which could be either modifiers or complements to the head Nouns. In this regard, Labeling Algorithm explicitly chooses the contiguous Noun heads that are the label of the complete Syntactic Objects (SOs) anticipated for all Noun Phrase structures.

scholarly journals Noun Phrase In Minang Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1077
Author(s):  
Akmal Akmal ◽  
Jamaluddin Nasution
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
The People ◽  
Depth Interview

Phrase structure rules express the basic structural facts of the language in the form of “phrase markers”. This study discussed about the noun phrase in Minangkabau Language. The aim of this study is to find out the noun phrases of Minangkabau Language and how the noun phrases are used in the language. The used method is qualitative research design by interviewing the native speakers of Minangkabau by using the depth interview. the participants are the people who lived in Sukaramai Districts. They were born in Pariaman Districts and they are educated people who understand about the phrase structure.The researcher described the finding data more details. In this study, there are six noun phrase forms in Minangkabau Language and there is one unique form. The noun phrases are implicated in the daily activity of society. In fact, there was a unique noun phrase in Minang Language namely: Noun Phrase (NP) is  N1 + sa + N2.

scholarly journals The map of ti in Kituba - testing and expanding the typological model of the polysemy of conjunctive coordinators

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-132
Author(s):  
Alexander Andrason
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Dynamic Semantic ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Semantic Maps ◽  
Initial Stage

The present article analyzes the polysemy of the element ti in Kituba from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, by applying the framework of dynamic semantic maps and waves. The qualitative and quantitative corpus study, enhanced by evidence provided by Kituba native speakers, demonstrates the following: although ti spans most parts of the typological map of the polysemy of conjunctive coordinators, its center of prototypicality is located in the initial stage (comitative) and two intermediate stages (possessive and certain types of coordinate-hood) available along the grammaticalization pathway underlying the map. This suggests a semi-advanced grammaticalization profile for ti. The study also proposes certain changes in the typological map of the polysemy of conjunctive coordinators, postulating new components of the map (or grammaticalization stages), and alternative linking directions. Additionally, a possible manner of introducing quantitative data (related to prototypicality) to the qualitative map of polysemy is presented. The resulting model is argued to exhibit properties typical of complexity: structural intricacy, gradience, fuzziness, and multi-causality.

scholarly journals The Syntax of Anaphors in Ki-Imenti: A Bantu Language Spoken in Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Edna Kananu ◽  
Prof. Peter Muriungi ◽  
Dr. Ann Hildah Kinyua
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Binding Theory ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Bantu Language

This paper is an investigation of the distribution of anaphors in Ki-Imenti.  Ki- Imenti is a Bantu language spoken in Meru Central, North Imenti and Buuri sub-counties, Meru County. It is one of the dialects of Kimeru. The objective of this paper is to determine the syntax of anaphors in Ki- Imenti. The study is guided by Chomsky’s Binding Theory. The binding theory divides noun phrases into three basic categories anaphors, pronouns and R-expressions. This theory develops three binding principles to explain the distribution of these noun phrases. These are the binding principle A, binding principle B and binding principle C. This study is only limited to the distribution of anaphors. The study adopts a qualitative study research design as it gives detailed descriptions and explanations of the phenomena studied. The researcher generated the data for the study herself using self-introspection and the data was corroborated by ten native speakers who were purposively sampled. The paper has established that Ki-Imenti conforms to the binding principles. Anaphors are bound in their binding domain, whereby the binding domain is the inflectional phrase or the noun phrase containing the anaphor. This paper will make a contribution to the knowledge of the syntax of anaphors in Ki- Imenti and the description of the syntax of Bantu linguistics in general.

scholarly journals Discourse management

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeynep Azar ◽  
Aslı Özyürek
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Reverse Correlation ◽  
Supportive Evidence ◽  
Discourse Referent ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Discourse Management ◽  
First Time

Speakers achieve coherence in discourse by alternating between differential lexical forms e.g. noun phrase, pronoun, and null form in accordance with the accessibility of the entities they refer to, i.e. whether they introduce an entity into discourse for the first time or continue referring to an entity they already mentioned before. Moreover, tracking of entities in discourse is a multimodal phenomenon. Studies show that speakers are sensitive to the informational structure of discourse and use fuller forms (e.g. full noun phrases) in speech and gesture more when re-introducing an entity while they use attenuated forms (e.g. pronouns) in speech and gesture less when maintaining a referent. However, those studies focus mainly on non-pro-drop languages (e.g. English, German and French). The present study investigates whether the same pattern holds for pro-drop languages. It draws data from adult native speakers of Turkish using elicited narratives. We find that Turkish speakers mostly use fuller forms to code subject referents in re-introduction context and the null form in maintenance context and they point to gesture space for referents more in re-introduction context compared maintained context. Hence we provide supportive evidence for the reverse correlation between the accessibility of a discourse referent and its coding in speech and gesture. We also find that, as a novel contribution, third person pronoun is used in re-introduction context only when the referent was previously mentioned as the object argument of the immediately preceding clause.

The distribution of short and long pronouns in Maltese

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-220
Author(s):  
Benjamin Saade
Keyword(s):  
Weak Effect ◽  
Functional Diagnostics ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Short Forms ◽  
The Status

Abstract This study investigates the distribution of long and short independent pronouns in Maltese. By applying proposed positional and functional diagnostics to explain the variation between short and long pronouns (copular use, modification, coordination, peripheral positions) combined with a corpus study of pronominal form, person, and text type, this study sheds light on the factors that influence pronominal form and the status of reduced person forms in Maltese. While the copular use of pronouns does have a weak effect on pronominal form (long forms preferred), a stronger effect is observed with regard to grammatical person (1 sg prefers short forms, 2 sg & 3 sg prefer long forms) and text type.

The role of prosody in morphological change: The case of Hebrew bound numerals

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irit Meir
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
Modern Hebrew ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The One

AbstractThe morphological system of cardinal numerals in Modern Hebrew is currently undergoing rapid changes, enabling linguists to unravel the forces shaping the change as it takes place. In the free forms, gender marking on numerals is neutralized by collapsing both masculine and feminine forms into one paradigm, the feminine paradigm. In the bound (definite) forms, an opposite direction is attested, in that at least for some numerals, the masculine forms become more prevalent. The study reported here aims to determine whether the factor determining the change is prosodic or functional in nature, by eliciting production and grammaticality judgments of noun phrases containing bound numerals from five different age groups of native speakers. The results suggest that prosody plays a role in shaping the change, as forms with penultimate stress are favored over those with ultimate stress. In addition, processes of production and processes of grammaticality judgments seem to be subject to different kinds of constraints. This state of affairs indicates that the tension between the tendencies toward simplification on the one hand and maximal distinctness on the other occurs at the morphological level as well.

scholarly journals A Machine Learning Approach to Coreference Resolution of Noun Phrases

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wee Meng Soon ◽  
Hwee Tou Ng ◽  
Daniel Chung Yong Lim
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Coreference Resolution ◽  
Machine Learning Approach

In this paper, we present a learning approach to coreference resolution of noun phrases in unrestricted text. The approach learns from a small, annotated corpus and the task includes resolving not just a certain type of noun phrase (e.g., pronouns) but rather general noun phrases. It also does not restrict the entity types of the noun phrases; that is, coreference is assigned whether they are of “organization,” “person,” or other types. We evaluate our approach on common data sets (namely, the MUC-6 and MUC-7 coreference corpora) and obtain encouraging results, indicating that on the general noun phrase coreference task, the learning approach holds promise and achieves accuracy comparable to that of nonlearning approaches. Our system is the first learning-based system that offers performance comparable to that of state-of-the-art nonlearning systems on these data sets.

scholarly journals The Post-Modification of Noun Phrase: Types and Distributions on Abstracts of Local and International Journals

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Shanty A.Y.P.S Duwila
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Post Modification

Focusing on single and multiple post-modification of noun phrase complexity in academic writing, this study adopted Berlage’s (2014) types of single and multiple post-modification of noun phrase to investigate the types and distributionof noun phrase on 15 abstracts of accredited local journal and 15 international journal indexed by Scopus. Subjects, objects, and complements are coded manually and then extracted for noun phrases. The findings revealed that both groups of writers heavily relied on noun phrase involving prepositional phrase in single-post modification and noun phrase involving prepositional phrase(s) and coordination(s) in multiple-post modification. This finding may give contribution to EFL teachers and material developers in order to provide information and materials about NP post modifiers that can be used in academic writing.  

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