“Expletives” as Discourse Markers: Semantic and Pragmatic Considerations in “It” and “There”

doi:10.33195/jll.v5ii.258

“Expletives” as Discourse Markers: Semantic and Pragmatic Considerations in “It” and “There”

University of Chitral Journal of Linguistics and Literature ◽

10.33195/jll.v5ii.258 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (I) ◽

pp. 108-127

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Approach ◽

Discourse Markers ◽

Syntactic Structures ◽

Form Model ◽

Syntactic Theories

This paper explores the syntactic and semantic configurations of expletives “it” and “there.” It attempts to show that expletives are not just syntactic fillers; they are semantic markers and are pragmatically bound NPs that can be co-indexed with covert referents. The study follows a theoretical approach and applies Bolinger’s (1977) Meaning and Form model to the syntactic configurations of expletives. The syntactic structures of expletives are based on the syntactic theories of generativist linguists, namely Chomsky (1986). Chomskyan syntactic theories describe the various formal characteristics of expletives without analyzing their semantic and pragmatic implications. This study premises that Bolinger’s theoretical modal can fill these missing gaps and can provide a conclusive yet not final description of these gaps. The study recognizes expletives as discourse-bound markers and authenticates their contextual and sociological significance.

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Syntactic Categorization of Roots

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.257 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Terje Lohndal

Keyword(s):

Building Block ◽

Central Issue ◽

Distributed Morphology ◽

Consonant Clusters ◽

Semitic Languages ◽

Syntactic Structures ◽

Fundamental Building Block ◽

The Status ◽

Relevant Category ◽

Syntactic Theories

A root is a fundamental minimal unit in words. Some languages do not allow their roots to appear on their own, as in the Semitic languages where roots consist of consonant clusters that become stems or words by virtue of vowel insertion. Other languages appear to allow roots to surface without any additional morphology, as in English car. Roots are typically distinguished from affixes in that affixes need a host, although this varies within different theories. Traditionally roots have belonged to the domain of morphology. More recently, though, new theories have emerged according to which words are decomposed and subject to the same principles as sentences. That makes roots a fundamental building block of sentences, unlike words. Contemporary syntactic theories of roots hold that they have little if any grammatical information, which raises the question of how they acquire their seemingly grammatical properties. A central issue has revolved around whether roots have a lexical category inherently or whether they are given a lexical category in some other way. Two main theories are distributed morphology and the exoskeletal approach to grammar. The former holds that roots merge with categorizers in the grammar: a root combined with a nominal categorizer becomes a noun, and a root combined with a verbal categorizer becomes a verb. On the latter approach, it is argued that roots are inserted into syntactic structures which carry the relevant category, meaning that the syntactic environment is created before roots are inserted into the structure. The two views make different predictions and differ in particular in their view of the status of empty categorizers.

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The conception of Interaction through Skype Social Networks in Learning English as a Second Language

المجلة العربية للعلوم ونشر الأبحاث مجلة العلوم التربوية والنفسية ◽

10.26389/ajsrp.a260217 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Arwa AbdulAziz AL-Dawood

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Nonnative Speakers ◽

Discourse Markers ◽

Communication Tool ◽

Syntactic Structures ◽

Online Technologies ◽

Grammatical Errors ◽

National University ◽

Quantitative And Qualitative Methods ◽

Learning English

This study aimed to investigate the influence of using written interaction through Skype to facilitate learning English Language, It focused on using Skype as a social networking program to act as communication tool for individuals. This study combined the quantitative and qualitative methods to achieve research purposes. Quantitative data was established by using questionnaire. It designed to evaluate the student responses towards the class activity. Qualitative data attempted to analyze the conversations between students through screenshots. Thirty Korean nonnative speakers, both male and female, from Kangwon National University were randomly assigned into five groups, six students for each group. Participants attended two Skype chat sessions per week. It continued for two weeks. Every Skype chat activity spent about twenty minutes. The results of this study illustrated that Learners showed the tendency of using fragmented syntactic structures. They were able to use some of the discourse markers. In addition, a Skype Chat supported participants to recover common grammatical errors. According to SPSS analysis, there were a lot of effective aspects of using Skype for learning English. Some of them were: space of convenience and increasing the motivation between students by using the online technologies.

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Semantic and Pragmatic Structures in Chomsky’s Binding Theory

University of Chitral Journal of Linguistics and Literature ◽

10.33195/jll.v5iii.320 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (II) ◽

pp. 16-33

Keyword(s):

Semantic Model ◽

Binding Theory ◽

Central Question ◽

Syntactic Structures ◽

Syntactic Representation ◽

Form Model

The central question that this paper attempts is to describe the conditions under which the anaphor can be determined grammatically or contextually. The issue at hand is whether anaphoric forms can be distinguished from indexical ones within Binding theory. The syntactic representation of bindees are characterized by the use of indices. But what role does the context play in assigning co-referential or non-coreferential properties to anaphors? Furthermore, ellipses are also context-bound. An elliptical structure is indexical, rather than anaphoric. The study analyzes the syntactic structures of Chomsky’s Binding theory within Bolinger’s (1979) semantic model Meaning and Form. It seeks the support of other semanticists in order to fill possible semantic gaps in Binding theory. Keywords: binding theory, elliptical structures, meaning and form model

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Laboratoriumzinnen in het tijdperk van de kwantitatieve taalkunde

Nederlandse taalkunde ◽

10.5117/nedtaa2020.2-3.002.barb ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 177-179

Author(s):

Sjef Barbiers

Keyword(s):

Natural Language ◽

Theoretical Approach ◽

Large Scale ◽

Paper Briefly ◽

Syntactic Structures ◽

Quantitative Linguistics ◽

Depth Analysis

Abstract Laboratory sentences in the era of quantitative linguisticsThis paper briefly compares an early (1996) and a later (2010) article that I published in Nederlandse Taalkunde, concentrating on the different methodologies underlying the two papers: A formal theoretical in-depth analysis of one idiolect in the first paper and a large-scale quantitative and theoretical approach in the second. It is argued that the two methods make different contributions and are both necessary to develop a theory of (im-)possible syntactic structures in natural language.

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Differential polarization imaging of sickled cells

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100102390 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 62-63

Author(s):

Marcos F. Maestre

Keyword(s):

Optical Properties ◽

Theoretical Approach ◽

Polarized Light ◽

Polarization Microscopy ◽

Spectroscopic Techniques ◽

Polarization Imaging ◽

Circularly Polarized Light ◽

Circularly Polarized ◽

Microscopic Scale ◽

Chiral Structures

Recently we have developed a form of polarization microscopy that forms images using optical properties that have previously been limited to macroscopic samples. This has given us a new window into the distribution of structure on a microscopic scale. We have coined the name differential polarization microscopy to identify the images obtained that are due to certain polarization dependent effects. Differential polarization microscopy has its origins in various spectroscopic techniques that have been used to study longer range structures in solution as well as solids. The differential scattering of circularly polarized light has been shown to be dependent on the long range chiral order, both theoretically and experimentally. The same theoretical approach was used to show that images due to differential scattering of circularly polarized light will give images dependent on chiral structures. With large helices (greater than the wavelength of light) the pitch and radius of the helix could be measured directly from these images.

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