Typologizing nominal expressions: the noun phrase and beyond

Linguistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Louagie ◽  
Uta Reinöhl
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Motivating Factors ◽  
Structural Types ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article develops foundations for a new typology of nominal expressions. Despite the significant diversity attested in languages around the world, a view traditionally and sometimes still found holds that languages either have ‘classic’, rigidly structured noun phrases (NPs) or lack them. A simple dichotomy, however, does not adequately represent the significant language-internal and crosslinguistic diversity of forms and functions of nominal expressions. While many linguists may not in fact think in such binary terms, a comprehensive typology is still wanting. This article offers foundations towards such a typology, with a particular emphasis on language-internal diversity. This diversity within languages has received little attention in previous studies, even while it reveals much about the actual complexity in the nominal domain. Besides surveying structural types and their motivating factors across as well as within languages from around the world, this article approaches nominal expressions also from a variety of other perspectives to enrich our understanding of them. This includes approaching nominal expressions from the perspective of word class systems as well as diachronically. We round off the article by looking at the impact of orality-literacy dimensions and communicative modes.

scholarly journals Clausal modifiers in noun phrases: A comparison of English and Norwegian based on the Oslo Multilingual Corpus

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Elsness
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Multilingual Corpus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
General Fact

The structure of the noun phrase has many common features in English and Norwegian. One feature shared by the two languages is that noun phrases often contain clausal postmodifiers. However, there are marked differences in the types of clauses occurring: Postmodifying clauses in Norwegian tend to be finite relative clauses, while in English there is much more variation, connected with the general fact that -ing clauses and past-participle clauses are common non-finite alternatives in that language, in addition to infinitive clauses. These all tend to be less explicit modifiers than relative clauses, in terms of both their semantic content and their syntactic structure. The study reported in this article confirms that Norwegian noun phrases are often characterised by a higher degree of explicitness than corresponding English ones. A major finding is a tendency for information which is expressed by clausal noun-phrase modifiers in English to be expressed by other means in Norwegian, sometimes outside the same noun phrase, which can often be seen as the extreme case of explicitness. The study is based on an investigation of corresponding noun phrases in the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus (ENPC), part of the Oslo Multilingual Corpus. In an attempt to offset the impact of individual translators’ preferences, the Multiple-translation Corpus, consisting of ten different Norwegian translations of each of two English Original texts, is also examined.

The role of noun phrases in misunderstandings in Brunei English in ELF settings

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishamina Athirah ◽  
David Deterding
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
The World ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Main Factor

AbstractInnovative usage of noun phrases is among the most widely reported features of new varieties of English throughout the world and also in discourse in ELF settings, but its effect on intelligibility has not been extensively investigated. In an attempt to remedy this, ten conversations in English between Bruneians and people from elsewhere were recorded, and a total of 153 tokens were identified in which the non-Bruneians did not understand the Bruneian speakers. In twenty of these tokens, the grammar of a noun phrase may be one factor in giving rise to the misunderstanding, involving added or absent articles, innovative use of plurals, and the unexpected gender of a pronoun. Further analysis suggests that non-standard grammar was probably the main factor in just four of these tokens, two involving an added article before a proper noun, one with a spurious

scholarly journals Indirekta Anaforer I Inlärarsvenska: Analys Av Korta Texter Skrivna Av Svenskstuderande I Polen

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21
Author(s):  
Natalia Kołaczek
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
General Knowledge ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Doctoral Thesis ◽  
The World ◽  
Picture Story ◽  
Adam Mickiewicz

Abstract Definiteness appears to be one of the most difficult categories for learners of Swedish. Particularly difficult are the so-called indirect anaphors, definite noun phrases without any explicit antecedent in text. The choice of a definite noun phrase in such contexts requires language skills on a higher level and even some general knowledge about the world. Such phrases make a very nuanced category, yet they are marginalised in textbooks for learning Swedish. This paper presents the results of a study conducted among a group of Polish students of Swedish at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The analysis considers noun phrases used in contexts for indirect and direct anaphors excerpted from short texts written by the students based on a picture story. The results reveal that the students’ use of indirect anaphors is not stable. It can be assumed that indirect anaphors concerning body parts are easier to acquire for the learners. Another important factor is the relation of possession between anaphors and triggers. Students often omit the suffixed definite article in context for both indirect and direct anaphors. The study is included in my doctoral thesis written on this topic.

“Holding Grudges Is So Last Century”: The Use of GenX So as a Modifier of Noun Phrases

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Stange
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
American English ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Soap Operas ◽  
Distributional Pattern ◽  
Language Variation And Change ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Token Frequency ◽  
The World

This article focuses on the X is so NP-construction in American English, as exemplified by “Holding grudges is so last century” (SOAP, As the World Turns, 2002). Drawing on the Corpus of American Soap Operas (Davies 2011-), the aim of this study is to provide an account of the distributional pattern of noun phrase modification with so, including preferences in modified noun phrase (NP) types and concomitant differences in the meaning of so. The analyses reveal that, in line with subjectification theory on intensification (Athanasiadou 2007), so is expanding its functional range from intensification to emphasis. The findings suggest a near-complementary distribution of these meanings, with intensifying so (‘very’) dominating in affirmative sentences (especially with object pronouns and names; “It’s so Star Trek”; SOAP, Days of Our Lives, 2004), and emphatic so (‘definitely’) in negated utterances (especially with pre-modified NPs, such as “It is so not a date”; SOAP, One Life to Live, 2007). Furthermore, intensifying uses of so are restricted to NPs that exhibit adjective-like characteristics and invite metonymic referencing (Gonzálvez-García 2014). So is attested almost exclusively with the copula be, which might hint at restrictions at work in this construction. With respect to the distribution of GenX so across the character groups, the scriptwriters attributed most utterances to (younger) women, in terms of both token frequency and dispersion within the group. This paper shows that the observations pertaining to language variation and change made for adjective intensification (“ so good”) also apply to NP intensification (“ so 2020”).

The interaction of notional number and morphophonology in subject–verb agreement: A role for working memory

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 890-900
Author(s):  
Heidi Lorimor ◽  
Carrie N Jackson ◽  
Janet G van Hell
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact

Research shows that cross-linguistically, subject–verb agreement with complex noun phrases (e.g., The label on the bottles) is influenced by notional number and the presence of homophony in case, gender, or number morphology. Less well-understood is whether notional number and morphophonology interact during speech production, and whether the relative impact of these two factors is influenced by working memory capacity. Using an auditory sentence completion task, we investigated the impact of notional number and morphophonology on agreement with complex subject noun phrases in Dutch. Results revealed main effects of notional number and morphophonology. Critically, there was also an interaction between morphophonology and notional number because participants showed greater notional effects when the determiners were homophonous and morphophonologically ambiguous. Furthermore, participants with higher working memory scores made fewer agreement errors when the subject noun phrase contained homophonous determiners, and this effect was greater when the subject noun phrase was notionally singular. These findings support the hypothesis that cue-based retrieval plays a role in agreement production, and suggests that the ability to correctly assign subject–verb agreement—especially in the presence of homophonous determiners—is modulated by working memory capacity.

Exploring the World Trade Organisation's Trade and Environment/Public Health Jurisprudence as a Model for Incorporating a Trade–Labour Linkage into the Organisation's Multilateral Trade Regime: Should African Countries Accept a Policy Shift?

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Tapiwa V. Warikandwa ◽  
Patrick C. Osode
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Impact

The incorporation of a trade-labour (standards) linkage into the multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been persistently opposed by developing countries, including those in Africa, on the grounds that it has the potential to weaken their competitive advantage. For that reason, low levels of compliance with core labour standards have been viewed as acceptable by African countries. However, with the impact of WTO agreements growing increasingly broader and deeper for the weaker and vulnerable economies of developing countries, the jurisprudence developed by the WTO Panels and Appellate Body regarding a trade-environment/public health linkage has the potential to address the concerns of developing countries regarding the potential negative effects of a trade-labour linkage. This article argues that the pertinent WTO Panel and Appellate Body decisions could advance the prospects of establishing a linkage of global trade participation to labour standards without any harm befalling developing countries.

Modernism, Empiricism, and Rationalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Squires
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Modern Poetry ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Irish Poetry ◽  
Dimensional Spectrum ◽  
Culture History ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rule Out

Modernism is usually defined historically as the composite movement at the beginning of the twentieth century which led to a radical break with what had gone before in literature and the other arts. Given the problems of the continuing use of the concept to cover subsequent writing, this essay proposes an alternative, philosophical perspective which explores the impact of rationalism (what we bring to the world) on the prevailing empiricism (what we take from the world) of modern poetry, which leads to a concern with consciousness rather than experience. This in turn involves a re-conceptualisation of the lyric or narrative I, of language itself as a phenomenon, and of other poetic themes such as nature, culture, history, and art. Against the background of the dominant empiricism of modern Irish poetry as presented in Crotty's anthology, the essay explores these ideas in terms of a small number of poets who may be considered modernist in various ways. This does not rule out modernist elements in some other poets and the initial distinction between a poetics of experience and one of consciousness is better seen as a multi-dimensional spectrum that requires further, more detailed analysis than is possible here.

Mechanisms of liver damage in COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
T. V. Pinchuk ◽  
N. V. Orlova ◽  
T. G. Suranova ◽  
T. I. Bonkalo
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Transplantation ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Function ◽  
Liver Damage ◽  
The World ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Analyze Data

At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered in China, causing the coronavirus infection COVID-19. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge to health systems around the world. There is still little information on how infection affects liver function and the significance of pre-existing liver disease as a risk factor for infection and severe COVID-19. In addition, some drugs used to treat the new coronavirus infection are hepatotoxic. In this article, we analyze data on the impact of COVID-19 on liver function, as well as on the course and outcome of COVID-19 in patients with liver disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma, or those on immunosuppressive therapy after liver transplantation.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George E. Dutton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
The World ◽  
Catholic Mission ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Main Figure

This chapter introduces the book’s main figure and situates him within the historical moment from which he emerges. It shows the degree to which global geographies shaped the European Catholic mission project. It describes the impact of the Padroado system that divided the world for evangelism between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns in the 15th century. It also argues that European clerics were drawing lines on Asian lands even before colonial regimes were established in the nineteenth century, suggesting that these earlier mapping projects were also extremely significant in shaping the lives of people in Asia. I argue for the value of telling this story from the vantage point of a Vietnamese Catholic, and thus restoring agency to a population often obscured by the lives of European missionaries.

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