Morphological fusion without syntactic fusion: The case of the “verificative” in Agul

Linguistics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timur Maisak

AbstractA crosslinguistically unusual case of morphological fusion, in which two clauses fuse morphologically in the absence of preceding syntactic fusion or clause union, is found in the East Caucasian language Agul. This phenomenon involves a set of “verificative” verbal forms (forms that seek ‘to find out the truth value or the value of an unknown variable’). The verificatives are completely morphologically bound, but manifest clear biclausal properties: in particular, the introduction of a new agentive argument by the verificative (the ergative “verifier”) causes no change in the argument structure of the embedded clause. This article argues that the Agul verificative has grammaticalized from the matrix verb ‘see’ plus an indirect question complement in the conditional form: over time, the two verbal heads have fused into one form. Partial parallels to this development can be found in the related languages Archi and Lezgian, where a semantic shift from ‘see’ to ‘check, find out’ is attested, together with a change in subject encoding from typically experiential (dative) to canonically agentive (ergative). Still, the complete morphologization of the verificative structure in Agul dialects remains exceptional given its comparatively recent origin, the infrequency of the construction, and the general absence of observed cases in which matrix verbs become fused with their complements.

2020 ◽  
pp. 297-322
Author(s):  
Rebecca Woods

This chapter compares embedded verb movement phenomena in English with embedded Verb Second clauses in German and Swedish. Close examination of the syntactic—but more particularly the semantic and pragmatic—properties of these phenomena reveals striking similarities, and the claim is made that these phenomena exhibit independent illocutionary force in the sense that the perspective holder for the embedded proposition or question is disambiguated—a departure from the claim that embedded verb movement structures are asserted (cf. Julien 2015 and Chapter 11 of this volume). It is proposed, following recent innovations in speech act syntax (Wiltschko and Heim 2016; Woods 2016) that these structures are dependent, as the ‘embedded’ clause contains less structure than full a root clause, yet is still structurally larger than a typical embedded clause. However, they are not selected and are instead in an apposition relation with a (usually covert) nominal complement to the matrix verb.


Author(s):  
Jila Ghomeshi

AbstractIn this article it is shown that Persian has core control constructions in which the obligatorily empty subject of an embedded clause takes its reference from an antecedent in the next higher clause. Evidence is provided that these embedded clauses are relatively transparent for scrambling and lack independent tense. It is therefore argued that core control verbs in Persian take complements that lack CP, TP, and a Case position for their subjects. Control complements do manifest subject agreement, however, suggesting that agreement checking takes place within vP. The implications of this view are explored with respect to the periphrastic progressive construction, in which both the auxiliary and the main verb bear subject agreement, and raising constructions, in which preposed subjects do not trigger agreement on the matrix verb. The relevant contrast is presented in minimalist terms as the idea that agreement in Persian is checked within a strong phase (CP or vP).


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 9-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Holvoet

The article deals with the ‘permissive middle’, a permissive construction characterized by the coincidence of the permittor and the embedded clause patient (as in They allowed themselves to be cheated) and belonging to the middle voice in the sense that its formal markers, though originating as reflexive pronouns, have lost their original reflexive function. Such permissive middles can be clearly set apart from permissive reflexives in those languages which have a formal differentiation of reflexive pronouns proper and originally reflexive markers that have shifted to middle or mediopassive function. The data of the Baltic languages are used in the article to illustrate the formal properties of permissive middles (a characteristic feature is the oscillation between reflexive marking on the matrix verb and on the embedded verb) and the tendencies in their development. Permissive middles are also shown to be attested outside Baltic, e.g. in East Slavonic. The second part of the article is devoted to a discussion of the place of the permissive middle on the semantic map of the middle voice, and in particular to its relationship to the ‘curative’ middle (the ‘causative-reflexive’).


Author(s):  
Brian Nolan

This paper characterises complex predicates and light verb constructions in Modern Irish. Light verbs are attested in many of the world’s languages (Alsina, Bresnan & Sells, 2001; Butt, 1995, 2003). Cross linguistically, there appears to be a common class of verbs involved in these constructions and generally there is agreement that light verbs contribute to the formation of complex predicates. Light verbs seem have a non-light or ‘heavy’ verb counterpart. In this paper we discuss the light verb constructions (LVC) as found in modern Irish and how they form complex predicates. We claim that the light verb (LV) encodes the event process initiation (or cause) and the matrix verb indicates the bounded component or result. In light verb constructions, the matrix verb appears in Modern Irish syntax as a verbal-noun form. The function of light verbs in these constructions is to modulate the event and sub-event semantics. We distinguish between auxiliary verbs constructions (AVC) and those constructions involving complex predicated and light verbs (Aikhenvald & Dixon, 2006; Anderson, 2006). We provide evidence based on an analysis of Irish data that shows how aspect and argument structure considerations are resolved for the complex predicate within the light verb construction via the linking system between semantics and syntax. We motivate a functional account, based on Role and Reference Grammar (Nolan, 2012; Nolan & Diedrichsen, 2013; Van Valin, 2005; Van Valin & LaPolla, 1997), that appeals to the analysis of complex predicates within a consideration of the layered structure of the clause.


1992 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Hendershot ◽  
L. Mendes ◽  
H. Lalande ◽  
F. Courchesne ◽  
S. Savoie

In order to determine how water flowpath controls stream chemistry, we studied both soil and stream water during spring snowmelt, 1985. Soil solution concentrations of base cations were relatively constant over time indicating that cation exchange was controlling cation concentrations. Similarly SO4 adsorption-desorption or precipitation-dissolution reactions with the matrix were controlling its concentrations. On the other hand, NO3 appeared to be controlled by uptake by plants or microorganisms or by denitrification since their concentrations in the soil fell abruptly as snowmelt proceeded. Dissolved Al and pH varied vertically in the soil profile and their pattern in the stream indicated clearly the importance of water flowpath on stream chemistry. Although Al increased as pH decreased, the relationship does not appear to be controlled by gibbsite. The best fit of calculated dissolved inorganic Al was obtained using AlOHSO4 with a solubility less than that of pure crystalline jurbanite.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Longenbaugh ◽  
Maria Polinsky

Abstract Modern generative linguistic theory furnishes a variety of general principles that appear to be at work in the grammar of all the world’s languages. One of the most basic and uncontroversial of these principles is that Agree/Move operates according to the constraint Attract Closest, which dictates that the closest suitable goal must be the target for the relevant operation (Rizzi 1990; Chomsky 1995, 2000; Richards 1998). The Polynesian language Niuean (Tongic subgroup, predicate initial word order, ergative-absolutive case system) presents a well known challenge to the universality of {Attract Closest}. The challenge manifests in a variety of distinct constructions in Niuean, but the best known case involves an operation first documented by Seiter (1980), which he terms “raising.” Specifically, Niuean raising appears to license an A-type dependency between the subject position of the matrix clause and the object position of an immediately embedded clause. This is illustrated in (1), where the semantic object of the embedded subjunctive clause, Sione, appears as the syntactic subject of the matrix predicate maeke. (1) To maeke a Sione$_{1}$ [ke lagomatai he ekekafo $t_{1}$]. fut possible abs Sione sbj help erg doctor ‘It’s possible the doctor can help Sione.’ (lit.: Sione is possible that the doctor help [him]) Granting that the filler-gap dependency in (1) is A-type, this is both a clear violation of {Attract closest} (Rizzi 1992; Chomsky 1995; Richards 1998) and a typological anomaly. Our aim in this paper is to argue that such apparent violations of {Attract Closest} are only that. Specifically, we show first that the challenge inherent in Seiter’s raising construction is pervasive throughout the language: in general, objects are accessible to syntactic operations even if the intervening clause-mate subject is also a licit target. In other words, Niuean clause-mate subjects and objects are equally accessible to syntactic operations. Then, we argue that this typologically uncommon equal-accessibility follows from the convergence of several otherwise independently attested operations: (i) a configurational system of case licensing, with a $v$P as the case computation domain; (ii) obligatory object shift to Spec($v$P); (iii) an EPP on T triggering V/VP-raising rather than DP externalization. The resulting basic clause structure is then as below, so that Niuean adheres to standard locality constraints. (2)


Virittäjä ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saara Huhmarniemi

Tunnekausatiivilauseet luokitellaan usein omaksi lausetyypikseen, johon kuuluu tunnetta tai tuntemusta ilmaiseva verbi (tunnekausatiivi), partitiivisijainen kokija ja nominatiivimuotoinen aiheuttaja. Tunnekausatiivilauseen aiheuttaja- ja kokija-argumenttien asemaa syntaktisessa rakenteessa on pidetty avoimena kysymyksenä ja rakenteen on arvioitu jopa olevan muutoksessa. Tässä artikkelissa käydään generatiivisen kieliopin kehyksessä läpi argumentti-rakenteeseen liittyviä kieliopillisia testejä, jotka koskevat esimerkiksi kongruenssia, anaforien sidontaa ja sanajärjestystä. Testien perusteella voidaan havaita, että kun tunnekausatiivilauseen aiheuttaja on NP, se sijaitsee tyypillisesti argumenttirakenteessa ylempänä kuin partitiivimuotoinen kokija. Tätä tulosta verrataan Suomi24-korpusaineistosta tehtyihin havaintoihin, joiden perusteella kokija esiintyy useammin verbin edellä kuin aiheuttaja. Tunnekausatiivilauseen sanajärjestyksen vaihtelun katsotaan olevan sidoksissa puhetilanteeseen ja argumenttien ominaisuuksiin.  Tämä artikkeli on osa kahden artikkelin sarjaa. Sarjan toisessa osassa tarkastellaan lausemaisten aiheuttajien asemaa tunnekausatiivilauseen argumenttirakenteessa.   The argument structure of the Finnish experiencer construction I: An NP causer This article investigates the Finnish experiencer construction, which involves a psychological predicate and two optional arguments: the nominative causer and the partitive experiencer. The argument structure of the Finnish experiencer construction has ­remained an open question in syntactic theories. In this paper, several grammatical tests concerning congruence, binding and word order are applied in the framework of generative syntax. They suggest that when the nominative causer is an NP, it typically occupies a higher position in the argument structure than the partitive experiencer. This result is evaluated against data from the Suomi24 corpus, which reveals that the partitive experiencer occurs preverbally more frequently than the nominative causer. The article asserts that the word order of the Finnish experiencer construction reflects contextual factors and discourse features of the arguments. This article is the first in a series of two. The second article investigates experiencer constructions with an embedded clause as a causer argument.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzana Fong

Hyper-raising consists in raising a DP from an embedded finite clause into the matrix clause. HR introduces a phase problem: the embedded clause is finite, which is supposed to be impervious to raising. This can be overcome by postulating A-features at the C of the the embedded clause. They trigger the movement of the subject to [Spec, CP]. Being at the edge of a phase, it is visible to a matrix probe. If successful, this analysis provides support for the claim that syntactic positions are not inherently A or A-bar; they can be defined featurally instead.


Author(s):  
Joe Hollinghurst ◽  
Alan Watkins

IntroductionThe electronic Frailty Index (eFI) and the Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) have been developed in primary and secondary care respectively. Objectives and ApproachOur objective was to investigate how frailty progresses over time, and to include the progression of frailty in a survival analysis.To do this, we performed a retrospective cohort study using linked data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank, comprising 445,771 people aged 65-95 living in Wales (United Kingdom) on 1st January 2010. We calculated frailty, using both the eFI and HFRS, for individuals at quarterly intervals for 8 years with a total of 11,702,242 observations. ResultsWe created a transition matrix for frailty states determined by the eFI (states: fit, mild, moderate, severe) and HFRS (states: no score, low, intermediate, high), with death as an absorbing state. The matrix revealed that frailty progressed over time, but that on a quarterly basis it was most likely that an individual remained in the same state. We calculated Hazard Ratios (HRs) using time dependent Cox models for mortality, with adjustments for age, gender and deprivation. Independent eFI and HFRS models showed increased risk of mortality as frailty severity increased. A combined eFI and HFRS revealed the highest risk was primarily determined by the HFRS and revealed further subgroups of individuals at increased risk of an adverse outcome. For example, the HRs (95% Confidence Interval) for individuals with an eFI as fit, mild, moderate and severe with a high HFRS were 18.11 [17.25,19.02], 20.58 [19.93,21.24], 21.45 [20.85,22.07] and 23.04 [22.34,23.76] respectively with eFI fit and no HFRS score as the reference category. ConclusionFrailty was found to vary over time, with progression likely in the 8-year time-frame analysed. We refined HR estimates of the eFI and HFRS for mortality by including time dependent covariates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Claudio Gambardella ◽  
Valentina Sapio

“Sacred” is an Indo-European word meaning “separate”. The Sacred, therefore, [. . . is] a quality that is inherent in that which has relation and contact with powers that man, not being able to dominate, perceives as superior to himself, and as such attributable to a dimension [. . . ] thought however as ”separate” and ”other” with respect to the human world » Galimberti, (2000). The so-called votive altar, autonomous or attached to a major building often present in the Mediterranean countries, belong to the dimension of the Sacred.Votive altars - present in an old neighborhood of peasant origin in the suburbs of Naples called Ponticelli - are almost always placed in the interstices between street and courtyard (a self-built residential typology modeled over time by the inhabitants and which often forms the matrix of many neighborhoods popular Neapolitan). They keep and exhibit little sculptures and drawings of Jesus, Madonnas, and Saints of the Catholic religion, mixed with ancestors portraits and photos of relatives dead of the inhabitants, drawing on the ancient domestic cult of the Romans of Lari and Penati; it is certainly not a consciously cultured reference, but a mysterious ”feeling” that is common among primitive and popular cultures and that unravels through the centuries unscathed. Placed at the entrance of the living space, the altar expresses the sign of a difference, of a territorial change, separates ”ours” from ”yours”, welcomes, does not reject, but marks an open and inclusive threshold.With the paper, we want to study this phenomenon of ”primitive” culture and not regulated by laws, a mix of diffuse sacredness and popular magic, deepening the ”design” aspects of it, building an abacus in which to highlight potential and free references to the visual arts of these ”design works without designers”, and finding out new signs of the Sacred in the City in our time.


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