L2 discourse functions of the Spanish subjunctive

2020 ◽  
pp. 252-268
Author(s):  
Joseph Collentine ◽  
Yuly Asención-Delaney
Keyword(s):  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
Discourse Functions

Features And Discourse Functions Of Good Academic Writign

2019 ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Ihssan Abdulkadhum Jabor Al-Muslimawi
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Functions

Non-canonical gender in Mopan Maya

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Contini–Morava ◽  
Eve Danziger
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Mopan Maya ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
And Gender

Mopan (Mayan, Belize/Guatemala) has two noun classifiers that resemble gender markers. However, the gender markers (GMs) violate expectations about canonical gender (Corbett and Fedden 2016): only a minority of Mopan nouns are gendered; gender is marked only together with the noun, not in multiple syntactic domains; gender marking can be omitted in certain syntactic contexts; and gender marking can be introduced when a normally non-gendered noun co-occurs with an adjectival modifier. We address the grammatical and discourse functions of Mopan GMs in relation to their non-canonical properties. Two productive functions—use as honorific titles with proper names and derivation of agentive nominals—are extended to various functions involving agentivity and differentiation, e.g. derivation of descriptive terms for non-human implements and terms for varietal subcategories. GMs are also employed creatively in discourse, e.g. to suggest animacy of inanimates or to introduce sex differentiation where it would not otherwise be signalled.

scholarly journals A Comparison of the Effects of Mindful Conceptual Engagement for the Teaching of the Subjunctive to Heritage- and Second-Language Learners of Spanish

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Antoni Fernandez Parera
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Group Feedback ◽  
Feedback Questionnaire ◽  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Didactic Models

This article investigates the effects that Mindful Conceptual Engagement (MCE) had on the teaching of the Spanish subjunctive on second (L2) and heritage language learners (HL) of Spanish. A total of 26 university-level undergraduate students participated in the study; 12 were advanced L2 students and 14 were intermediate HL students. The methodology used was MCE, which is based on the principles of Concept-Based Instruction (Negueruela 2003; Negueruela and Lantolf 2006). MCE has its origins in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and it proposes that the creation and manipulation of didactic models by students promotes the internalization of complex grammatical concepts that would otherwise require long grammatical explanations. Models need to be generalizable and informative and can include, for example, flowcharts, pictures, or schemas among others. In the present study, the concept of [±EXPERIENCE] (Bull 1965) was used to teach the variable uses of indicative and subjunctive in adjectival relative clauses (Busco unas tijeras que cortan/corten). Students had to create their own models and use them to complete a series of assignments in class and at home. Production and interpretation exercises were used in pre- and post-test questionnaires to gauge their improvement. Feedback questionnaires were administered three weeks after the intervention to measure the attitudes and perceptions towards the use of didactic models. Results indicate that both groups improved their indicative/subjunctive interpretation and production abilities after MCE. However, statistically significant differences exist between HL and L2 students according to type of task and student group. Feedback questionnaire results also show that MCE was regarded as positive and useful by both groups.

Bare classifier phrases in Thai and other mainland Asian languages: implications for classifier theory and typology

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitipong Pichetpan ◽  
Mark W. Post
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Function ◽  
Nominal Classification ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Referential Function ◽  
Asian Languages ◽  
Modern Standard

Abstract This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the little-known “bare classifier phrase” construction in Modern Standard Thai. It describes the syntax, semantics and discourse functions of Thai bare classifier phrases, and further proposes a diachronic account of their origin in reduction of post-posed numeral ‘one’. Following this synchronic and diachronic description, this article attempts to locate Thai within a working typology of bare classifier constructions in mainland Asian languages, and further argues for the importance of bare classifier constructions to the theory of classifiers more generally. Following Bisang (1999) and others, it argues that bare classifier constructions reveal the core function of classifiers in Asian languages to be individuation – a referential function. It therefore cautions against some recent proposals to merge classifiers and gender markers within a single categorical space defined on the semantic basis of nominal classification, and in favour of continuing to treat classifiers as a discrete linguistic category – in mainland Asian languages, at least.

scholarly journals A taxonomy of antonymy in Arabic: Egyptian and Saudi proverbs in comparison

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 200-222
Author(s):  
Hamada Hassanein ◽  
Mohammad Mahzari
Keyword(s):  
Main Clause ◽  
The Other ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Syntactic Frames

Abstract This study has set out to identify, quantify, typify, and exemplify the discourse functions of canonical antonymy in Arabic paremiography by comparing two manually collected datasets from Egyptian and Saudi (Najdi) dialects. Building upon Jones’s (2002) most extensive and often-cited classification of the discourse functions of antonyms as they co-occur within syntactic frames in news discourse, the study has substantially revised this classification and developed a provisional and dynamic typology thereof. Two major textual functions are found to be quantitatively significant and qualitatively preponderant: ancillarity (wherein an A-pair of canonical antonyms project their antonymicity onto a more important B-pair) and coordination (wherein one antonym holds an inclusive or exhaustive relation to another antonym). Three new functions have been developed and added to the retrieved classification: subordination (wherein one antonym occurs in a subordinate clause while the other occurs in a main clause), case-marking (wherein two opposite cases are served by two antonyms), and replacement (wherein one antonym is substituted with another). Semicanonical and noncanonical guises of antonymy are left and recommended for future research.

Two Types of Constructionalization Processes in Spanish and Portuguese Clefted wh-interrogatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-160
Author(s):  
Malte Rosemeyer
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Semantic Change ◽  
Puerto Rican Spanish ◽  
Question Under Discussion ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Madrid Spanish ◽  
Spanish Dialects

Abstract The present paper analyzes and compares the use of clefted wh-interrogatives in spoken Madrid Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. In a first step, a typology of the discourse functions of clefted wh-interrogatives is established. This typology is partially governed by the strength of the presupposition of the proposition of the wh-interrogative. The results suggest the existence of two distinct constructionalization processes 1 March 2021. First, in the Spanish dialects, clefted wh-interrogatives with copula deletion are specialized in the expression of interactional challenges. Second, both Puerto Rican Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese evidence a change in the use of information-seeking clefted wh-interrogatives towards contexts in which the proposition of the interrogative is not activated. Consequently, in these dialects clefted wh-interrogatives can be used to establish questions not related to the current Question Under Discussion. However, this semantic change can be characterized as a constructionalization process only in Brazilian Portuguese.

“You’re absolutely right!!”

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Carretero
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Propositional Content ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Maximal Strength ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Semantic Difference ◽  
Verbal Group ◽  
Discourse Functions

The English degree adverb absolutely and its Spanish equivalent absolutamente may function as modifiers of words of different kinds, as Adjuncts and as (parts of) minor clauses. This article sets forth a quantitative analysis, based on naturally-occurring linguistic data, of the distribution of these functions for both adverbs. Apart from distributional differences between the two adverbs and between their occurrences in spoken and written language, the results show that when they are modifiers of words or Verbal Group-oriented Adjuncts, their main function is to qualify (part of) the propositional content of the utterance; however, when they are clausal Adjuncts or (parts of) minor clauses, they are often geared to the performance of discourse functions such as contrast, concession or agreement. These functions are shared with some adverbs of certainty such as ‘certainly’ or ‘definitely’, which suggests that the semantic difference between degree and certainty tends to be blurred when adverbs of maximal strength of both types are used for performing discourse functions that enhance assertiveness.

scholarly journals Interrogating psychocentrism and the role of a white researcher

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordana Rovet
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Health Discourse

This work represents a culmination of experiences of individuals who have been subjected to adolescent psychiatrization and particularly, the influences of psychocentrism. This work builds upon the notion of psychocentrism as a social justice issue by exploring how its’ embeddedness within dominant mental health discourse functions to disregard the systemic, historical and cultural factors contributing to individual experiences of emotional distress. Through this analysis, the tensions of a white researcher with social justice aims is problematized and explored in tandem with the findings of this research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document