scholarly journals Clause Structure and Word Order in Ákè

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-131
Author(s):  
Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Determiner Phrase ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Variable Position ◽  
Feature Checking ◽  
Independent Existence

Ákè is by historical and linguistic facts a dialect of Edo which has not received significant linguistic attention. This neglect informs an inquiry into the in ternal structure and organization of its basic clause. This paper studies data of everyday usage of competent speakers of Ákè and argues that it displays a subject-verb-object order. The study provides a not too elaborate description of the nominal and verbal constructions in Ákè and reduces the description to analysis using the X-bar theory as conceived within the Minimalist Program. It therefore states that nominal phrases can be analysed as a projection of Determiner Phrase (DP) because independent existence is not a requirement for considering an element as the head of a projection. The variable position which the head D occupies in the superficial syntax of Ákè is analysed as the effect of movement for feature checking. In the spirit of the Minimalist Program, this study recognizes the head of the clause as Tense (T), which could be overt or null and predicts that it dominates Negative Phrase (NegP) as Neg is assumed to c-select the Verb Phrase (VP).  

scholarly journals Antisymmetry and word order in double object constructions in Zarma

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Linear Order ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Double Object Construction ◽  
Object Construction ◽  
Canonical Order ◽  
Salient Features ◽  
Feature Checking

Double Object Construction in Zarma sometimes allows alternations in the order of its internal arguments and the order in some cases may also be fixed. This tendency does not make predictions about a canonical order for the occurrence of Theme and Recipient objects within the VP simple. The same condition applies to monotransitive structures which vary between a complement-head and a head-complement order. It is the aim of this paper to present and analyse the most salient features of the kind of variations found in Zarma word order, particularly the ones associated with the verb that encodes three-participant events. The paper adopts the minimalist program proposed by Chomsky and is complemented with the Antisymmetry Hypothesis proposed by Kayne (1994). The study shows that the language has a uniform linear order where the recipient canonically precedes the theme on the basis of animacy factor. This is particularly common with the pronoun as the recipient in double object structures. Employing different diagnostics, the paper concludes that the recipient only follows the theme when the theme is associated with a more prominent discourse status. It is also argued that asymmetric C-command always occurs between the theme and the recipient. It implies that the language symmetry is altered by movement to designated positions for the purpose of feature checking.

Clause Structure and Word Order in the History of German

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Right ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

Over roughly the last decade, there has been a notable rise in new research on historical German syntax in a generative perspective. This volume presents a state-of-the-art survey of this thriving new line of research by leading scholars in the field, combining it with new insights into the syntax of historical German. It is the first comprehensive and concise generative historical syntax of German covering numerous central aspects of clause structure and word order, tracing them throughout various historical stages. Each chapter combines a solid empirical basis and valid descriptive generalizations with reference also to the more traditional topological model of the German clause with a detailed discussion of theoretical analyses couched in the generative framework. The volume is divided into three parts according to the main parts of the clause: the left periphery dealing with verbal placement and the filling of the prefield (verb second, verb first, verb third orders) as well as adverbial connectives; the middle field including discussion of pronominal syntax, order of full NPs and the history of negation; and the right periphery with chapters on basic word order (OV/VO), prosodic and information-structural factors, and the verbal complex including the development of periphrastic verb forms and the phenomena of IPP (infinitivus pro participio) and ACI (accusativus cum infinitivo). This book thus provides a convenient overview of current research on the major issues concerning historical German clause structure both for scholars interested in more traditional description and for those interested in formal accounts of diachronic syntax.

Minimalisme et variation syntaxique

1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-95
Author(s):  
Juvénal Ndayiragije
Keyword(s):  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Empirically Supported ◽  
Internal Focus ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Feature Checking ◽  
Focus Projection ◽  
Formal Features

AbstractThis article argues for a very restrictive theory of feature checking whereby only formal features of functional heads need to be checked for convergence. This theory, which enables us to dispense with most of the economy conditions assumed within the minimalist program (Chomsky 1995), is empirically supported by two syntactically and semantically related constructions in Kirundi: the Subject-Object Reversal and the Transitive Expletive Constructions. On parametric grounds, we argue that such constructions derive from the existence in Kirundi of a TP-internal focus projection whose [+focus] feature must be checked for convergence.

On Some Special Adverbs, Word Order, and CP: Variation vs. Micro-Variation

2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 143-179
Author(s):  
Manuela Ambar
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Clause Structure

AbstractFor some adverbs, European and Brazilian Portuguese sharply differ, with consequences for the syntax of tense, quantification, word order, quantifier floating, wh-extraction, and clause structure. Evidence is provided for the architecture of the left, for remnant IP movement, and for the claim that “micro-” lexical differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese reduce to syntactic “macro-” variation: absence vs. presence of V-movement.

Case and word order in Lithuanian

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN FRANKS ◽  
JAMES E. LAVINE
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Unusual Case ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Case Assignment ◽  
General Clause ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Case Licensing ◽  
Do So

This paper examines the unusual case and word order behavior of objects of infinitives in Lithuanian. In addition to lexically determined case idiosyncrasy, Lithuanian exhibits syntactically determined case idiosyncrasy: with infinitives in three distinct constructions, case possibilities other than accusative obtain. These cases (dative, genitive, and nominative) depend on the general clause structure rather than on the particular infinitive. Moreover, unlike ordinary direct objects, these objects appear in a position preceding rather than following the verb. It is argued that they move to this position in order potentially to be accessible for Case assignment by some higher Case-assigning head. In this way we unify the two superficially unrelated properties of non-canonical word order and Case. This movement, however, is not feature-driven in the sense of standard minimalist Case-licensing mechanisms. We characterize it as ‘agnostic’ in that it applies to an object with unvalued Case features, if that object reaches a point in the derivation where it has no recourse but to move because failure to do so would be fatal.

L1 effects on the emergence of ESL sentence processing skills of Chinese and Korean ESL learners

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Fender
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
English Sentence ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
On Line ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Chinese Esl Learners

This study examines the emergence of lower-level ESL sentence processing skills involved in integrating English words into predicate structures on-line. The aim of the present study is to examine how the L1 phrase structure and corresponding L1 word integration skills of ESL learners influence their corresponding ESL sentence processing skills in an on-line English sentence reading task. The study examined the English predicate and verb phrase processing skills of a group of Chinese ESL learners whose language has right-branching L1 verb phrase structures (head-complement word order) and a group of proficiency-matched Korean ESL learners whose native language only allows left-branching L1 verb phrase structures (i.e., complement-head word order). The Chinese ESL group (n = 20) was significantly faster than the Korean ESL group (n = 18) in reading and integrating direct object nouns into English predicate phrase structures, though there were no significant differences comprehending the sentences. In addition, the Chinese ESL group was significantly more accurate in reading and comprehending transitive sentences in which the direct objects had an embedded relative clause. The results suggest that L1 word integration skills influence and shape the emergence of on-line ESL word integration

scholarly journals GRAMMATICAL ERRORS MADE BY THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMK GRAFIKA BINA MEDIA MEDAN IN WRITING ADVERTISEMENT TEXT

2021 ◽  
pp. 126-137
Author(s):  
Angeline Elisabeth Samosir ◽  
Viator Lumban Raja ◽  
Fiber Yun A Ginting
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
Tenth Grade ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Research Analysis ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

This research is an attempt to find out the types of errors made by the tenth grade students of SMK Grafika Bina Media Medan based on linguistic category, morphology and syntax and the dominant errors in each category. The population of this research is the tenth grade students amounting 56 students of three classes. As many as 30 students are taken as a sample which is randomly taken 10 students from each class. The research employed the descriptive qualitative research analysis. Based on the result of the analysis, there are 117 errors found in the students’ writing advertisement text. In the morphological area, there are errors in article, possessive case, third person singular and comparative so there are 35,90% errors. Meanwhile, in syntax area the writer found noun phrase, verb phrase, noun and verb construction, word order and some transformation, there are 64,10%. in conclusion, the dominant errors made by the tenth grade students of SMK Grafika Bina Media Medan is syntax errors namedly noun phrase.

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