scholarly journals Lexical Parametrization and Early Subjects in L1 Italian

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Paolo Lorusso
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Morphology Influence

Italian is a pro drop language, since it allows subject drop and subject inversion. The pro-drop parameter is fixed early on (Orfitelli,2008), but both grammatical and informational factors might regulate the distribution of overt clausal subjects. On the grammatical side, the verb class influences the distribution of overt subjects: overt subjects in Italian are more likely to be found with unaccusative verbs (Lorusso, Caprin & Guasti 2005). On the informational side, 1st and 2nd person pronouns are more likely to e dropped than 3rd person NPs because the latter are more informative (Serratrice, 2005): 1st and 2nd ab ne recovered by the discourse, while 3rd persons are totally event anchored and have to be identified referentially within the linguistic stimuli. The parametric differences encoded in the lexical items, for example the unaccusative vs unergative distinction for verbs or the person ‘informative’ morphology, influence the subject drop in Italian: we propose a Lexical Parametrization account (Manzini & Wexler 1987) for subject drop in Italian, since the characteristic of lexical items influence the likelihood of appearance of an overt syntactic structure. Furthermore the distribution of indefinite postverbal subjects found just with unaccusatives in early stages of acquisition of Italian (Lorusso, 2014) confirms that the lexical characteristics of both the subject NPs and the verbs (in a subset relation with other NPs and verbs respectively) determine the parametric overt variation across the different stage of the acquisition of Italian, as Lexical Parametrization predicts.

scholarly journals Reactivation of unaccusative and unergative verbs in Mandarin

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-252
Author(s):  
Yowyu Lin
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Lexical Priming ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Single Argument ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
Unaccusative Verbs ◽  
Limited Support ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Intransitives can be classified into two subclasses: unaccusative verbs and unergative verbs. According to the Unaccusative Hypothesis, the difference between unaccusatives and unergatives lies in where the single argument is generated in the underlying syntactic structure. Subjects of unaccusative verbs are base-generated in the object position and moved to the subject positions. Subjects of unergative verbs, however, are external and thus are not resulted from arguments moving from the object position. If the Unaccusative Hypothesis is correct, a trace is left at the original place for unaccusative verbs when movement occurs but no trace for unergative verbs. Friedmann et al. (2008) used the cross-modal lexical priming paradigm to examine the Unaccusative Hypothesis but their results could only lend limited support for the Unaccusative Hypothesis. Since the argument of Mandarin unaccusative verbs can occur preverbally and postverbally, it offers us a balanced testing ground to re-examine reactivation during sentence comprehension. Results of the current study lend support for the Unaccusative Hypothesis. When the argument occurred preverbally, a V-shaped line was observed. An inverted V-shaped line was observed when the argument occurred postverbally. For unergative verbs, the line showed a decay of reactivation.

Syncretism of plural forms in Spanish Dialects

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Mare
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Person Plural ◽  
Person Features ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
First Person Plural ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Third Person ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Spanish Dialects

Abstract One of the main discussions about the interaction between morphology and syntax revolves around the richness or poverty of features and wherever this richness/poverty is found either in the syntactic structure or the lexical items. A phenomenon subject to this debate has been syncretism, especially in theories that assume late insertion such as Distributed Morphology. This paper delves into the syncretism observed between the first person plural and the third person in the clitic domain in some Spanish dialects. Our analysis will lead to a revision of the distribution of person features and their relationship with plural number, while at the same time it will shed light on other morphological alternations displayed in Spanish dialects; that is, subject-verb unagreement and mesoclisis in imperatives. In order to explain the behavior of the data under discussion, I propose that lexical items are specified for all the relevant features at the moment of insertion, although the values of these features can be neutralized. I argue that the distribution proposed allows for some fundamental generalizations about the vocabulary inventories in Spanish varieties, and shows that the variation pattern exhibits an *ABA effect, i.e., only contiguous cells in a paradigm are syncretic.

scholarly journals General location across languages: On the division of labour between functional and lexical items in spatial categories

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco-Alessio Ursini
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Spatial Terms ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Case Markers ◽  
At Home

AbstractIn many languages, it is possible to describe the location of any entity with respect to a landmark object without specifying the exact place that the locatum occupies (e.g. English at in at home). Such vocabulary items usually contrast with items that belong to the same categories but have more restricted senses (e.g. on top of in on top of the shelf). Thus, the degree of “abstractness” that such spatial case markers can convey usually depends on the organization of the lexicon and grammar of spatial terms in each language. The goal of this paper is to explore these properties across a small sample of languages and offer an account of this variation that is connected to previous theories of spatial case markers (e.g. adpositions). Our key proposal is that the morpho-syntactic structure of spatial case markers and their phrases can license a clear division of labour between functional and lexical spatial senses. However, intermediate solutions blurring categories and semantic boundaries are shown to be possible. We formalize this proposal via a fragment of Lexical Syntax, and show that degrees of distinction between ‘functional’ and ‘lexical’ sense types and categories can be modelled via a unified account.

Again on relative clause and subordination in Latin

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gualtiero Calboli
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Central Point ◽  
Relative Pronoun ◽  
Case Theory ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

AbstractI started from the relative clause which occurs in Hittite, and in particular with the enclitic position of the relative pronoun. This is connected with the OV position and this position seems to have been prevailing in Hittite and PIE. The syntactic structure usually employed in Hittite between different clauses is the parataxis. Nevertheless, also the hypotaxis begins to be employed and the best occasion to use it was the diptych as suggested by Haudry, though he didn't consider the most natural and usual diptych: the law, where the crime and the sanction build a natural diptych already in old Hittite. Then I used Justus' and Boley's discussion on the structure of Hittite sentence and found a similarity with Latin, namely the use of an animate subject as central point of a sentence. With verbs of action in ancient languages the subject was normally an animate being, whereas also inanimate subject is employed in modern languages. This seems to be the major difference between ancient and modern structure of a sentence, or, better to say, in Hittite and PIE the subject was an animate being and this persisted a long time, and remained as a tendency in Latin, while in following languages and in classical grammar the subject became a simple nominal “entity” to be predicated and precised with verb and other linguistic instruments. A glance has been cast also to pronouns and particles (sometimes linked together) as instruments of linking nominal variants of coordinate or subordinate clauses and to the development of demonstrative/deictic pronouns. Also in ancient case theory a prevailing position was assured to the nominative case, the case of the subject.

scholarly journals Implementation of word-formative potential of the lexemes in social and economic activities

2020 ◽  
pp. 60-65
Author(s):  
Maryna Navalna ◽  
Olha Spys
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Economic Sector ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Political Vocabulary

The subject of the research is word-formative and semantic processes in the vocabulary of socio-economic sector. The aim of the study. To analyze the socio-political vocabulary and to determine the word-formative and semantic potential of these linguistic items. Research methods. The material of the research is a body of lexical items, selected from the language of all-Ukrainian and regional mass media. The descriptive research method and observation method were used as main in this scientific research. At different stages of the research the method of functional analysis was used to determine the stylistic load of lexical items. The comparative analysis of individual lexical positions, which are in different styles of Ukrainian literary language, was done by using a comparative method. Results of work. The article analyzes the word-formative potential of socio-political vocabulary, it distinguishes derivative and non-derivative verbs and presents formations. Application of the results. The results of the research can be used in teaching activities in the course “Scientific and Technical Terminology”, “Business Ukrainian” and others. Conclusions. Ukrainian and foreign-language verbs of the socio-economic sector have formed a great word-formative potential in the internal verbal word-formation, above all, the prefixal and postfixal. Ukrainian verbs are combined with most of the prefixes of the Ukrainian language, foreign-languages verbs – primarily with genetically homogeneous word-formative formats and some Ukrainian ones, in particular.

scholarly journals VALENCE OF PREDICATES IN THE ACTIVE-PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION IN GERMAN AND UKRAINIAN

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Tsymbalista L.R.
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Hand Position ◽  
Continuous Sampling ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Decisive Effect ◽  
Modern Fiction ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right

Валентність предиката має вирішальний вплив на структуру речення. Хоча активний і пасивний варіанти речення опису-ють одну й ту ж ситуацію, предикат проходить крізь трансформацію, яка тісно пов’язана з явищем валентності. У цій статті проаналізовано валентність предиката та її вплив на цю трансформацію у німецькій та українській мовах на прикладах із сучасної літератури.Мета. Метою статті є порівняння трансформації «актив – пасив» у німецькій та українській мовах та опис ролі валентності у цьому процесі.Методи. Для проведення дослідження було зібрано методом суцільної вибірки приклади пасивних конструкцій із сучас-них художніх текстів німецькою та українською мовами, які опісля було оброблено та проаналізовано з використанням типо-логічного, зіставного, описового методів, а також методу моделювання.Валентність предиката проявляється у його здатності формувати зв’язки з іншими елементами в реченні та дає змогу передбачити додаткові позиції у синтаксичній структурі речення, які можуть бути заповнені обов’язковими чи факультатив-ними компонентами. Для предиката властиві два типи валентності, які залежать від позиції поширювачів у реченні. Якщо лівобічну позицію переважно пов’язують із суб’єктом, то правобічна зазвичай стосується актантів з об’єктним, адресатним, локативним чи інструментальним значеннями.Результати. Зважаючи на те, що одна й та ж функція пасивних конструкцій у німецькій та українській мовах реалізується різними формами, валентні зміни у кожній з конструкцій мають свої особливості. Спільною рисою цих перетворень виступає зменшення облігаторних актантів на одну одиницю, яка може бути заповнена факультативно у разі комунікативної потреби у інформації про виконавця дії.Висновки. Можна зробити висновок, що валентність предиката є багатогранним феноменом, що підлягає впливу не лише формально-граматичних, а й семантико-синтаксичних чинників, а також мовленнєвої ситуації загалом. Відповідно, змін у валентності предикатів протягом трансформації з активу у пасив не можна уникнути. The valence of the predicate has a decisive effect on the structure of the sentence. Although the active and passive variant of the sentence describes the same situation, the predicate goes through a transformation that also has to do with valence. This article analyzes the valency of the predicate and its influence on such transformation in German and Ukrainian based on the examples from modern literature.Purpose. The purpose of the article is to compare the active-passive transformation in German and Ukrainian and to describe the role of valence in this process.Methods. For the research, we collected the examples of passive constructions from modern fiction in German and Ukrainian using the continuous sampling method, which were then processed and analyzed using typological, comparative, descriptive methods as well as the modelling method.The valence of the predicate verb shows in its ability to connect with other sentence elements and enables the prediction of the additional positions in the syntactic structure of the sentence, which can be supplemented by mandatory or optional components. The predicate is characterized by two types of valence, which depend on the position of the fillers in the sentence: the left-hand position is mainly connected the subject of the utterance, and the right-hand position has to do with actants which define object, addressee, location or have instrumental meaning.Results. Due to the fact that the same function of passive constructions in German and Ukrainian is realized in different forms, the valence changes in each of the constructions have their own features. A common feature of these transformations is the reduction of obligatory actants by one unit, which can be filled in optionally in case of communicative need for information about the performer of the action.Conclusions. We reach the conclusion that the valence of the predicate is a multilevel phenomenon that is influenced not only by formal grammatical but also by semantic and syntactic factors as well as the language situation in general. Accordingly, changes in the valence of predicates during the active-passive transformation are inevitable.

Punctual time adverbials in Italian

2020 ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
Valentina Bianchi
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Intervention Effect ◽  
Reference Time ◽  
Functional Projection ◽  
Event Time ◽  
Compositional Semantic ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
The Subject

In past and future perfect sentences, punctual time adverbials like at five o’clock can specify either the Event Time or the Reference Time. In Italian, their interpretation is affected by syntactic position: a clause-peripheral adverbial allows for both interpretations, while a clause-internal adverbial only has the E-interpretation. Moreover, for clause-peripheral adverbials the presence of the adverb già (already) blocks the E-interpretation. It is shown that this pattern can be accounted for under a smuggling analysis, in which (i) the adverbial is merged as a DP in a functional projection intervening between T and the subject in the edge of v/VP, thus blocking Agree between them; (ii) smuggling of v/VP past the adverbial solves the intervention effect; and (iii) an E-adverbial originates in a projection below già (already), while an R-adverbial originates in a projection above it. A compositional semantic analysis is provided for the proposed syntactic structure.

scholarly journals Rosmarinic Acid Interaction with Planktonic and Biofilm Staphylococcus aureus

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1300801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lívia Slobodníková ◽  
Silvia Fialová ◽  
Helena Hupková ◽  
Daniel Grančai
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Rosmarinic Acid ◽  
Antibacterial Activities ◽  
Microtiter Plate ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Microtiter Plates ◽  
Sole Agent ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Biofilm Development

The subject of study was the evaluation of antibacterial activities of rosmarinic acid (RA) on clinical Staphylococcus aureus strains obtained from catheter-related infections. Minimal inhibitory (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of RA were tested by broth microdilution assay. Biofilm-eradication activity was detected on 24-hour biofilm in microtiter plates using a regrowth technique; activity on biofilm formation was measured by a microtiter plate method after RA application to bacterial samples after 0, 1, 3 and 6 hours of biofilm development. RA had antimicrobial activity on all tested strains in concentrations from 625 to 1250 μg.mL−1 (MICs equal to MBCs). No biofilm-eradication activity on 24-hour biofilm was observed in the tested range of concentrations (from 156 to 5000 μg.mL−1). Subinhibitory RA concentrations suppressed the biofilm production, when applied at early stages of its development. Concentrations lower than subinhibitory stimulated the biofilm mass production in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Considering our results, RA could be a candidate for a topical antimicrobial agent with killing activity on planktonic forms of bacteria and suppressing activity in the early stages of biofilm development, but probably not for the therapy of catheter-related infections as a sole agent.

Comment on Vollon, Gimenez and Bonnet: ‘The psychotic transference in groups’

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-570
Author(s):  
Dieter Nitzgen
Keyword(s):  
Early Development ◽  
Melanie Klein ◽  
Small Child ◽  
Early Group ◽  
Psychotic Illness ◽  
Systematic Account ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mixed Groups ◽  
Brothers And Sisters

In his written work, Foulkes never gave a systematic account of psychosis, psychotic disturbances and psychotic transference(s). Instead we find scattered remarks and reflections on the subject of psychosis throughout his writings. However, it is noteworthy that his first psychoanalytic article (Foulkes, 1930) was dedicated to Observations on the significance of the name in a schizophrenic (Foulkes, 1990: 3–20). Moreover, in his first group analytic article (Foulkes and Lewis, 1944), he mentioned and encouraged the treatment of psychotic patients in mixed groups (Foulkes, 1984, case 8, 10, 11 and 12: 30–33) but cautioned that in a group ‘psychoses should not be in the majority’ and ‘groups with psychotics only were a different matter’ (Foulkes, 1984: 35). However, some his most consistent statements on psychosis are given in his late articles. For instance, the view that ‘undoubtedly, the person who later develops a psychosis, is also conditioned by his early group, and vice versa’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276). And the conviction that ‘psychotic mechanisms are operative in all of us, and that psychosis-like mechanisms and defences are produced very early’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276). However, he cautioned that ‘later psychotic illness’ should not be considered as ‘regressions to these early stages as one might say that neurosis or neurotic reactions are’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276; cf. Wälder, 1937). And although Foulkes acknowledged that ‘early development produces many of the phenomena that are stressed by Melanie Klein’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276; italics mine), he posited that they were ‘being brought about by the interaction of the whole family on these primitive levels’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276). ‘Complicated emotions’, he wrote, ‘can be felt even by the small child as actually represented and transmitted, however unconsciously, by the parents, brothers and sisters and so on’ (Foulkes, 1990: 276).

Sinclair, pattern grammar and the question of hatred

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Teubert
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Dependency Grammar ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Local Grammar

The view of pattern grammar is that syntactic structures and lexical items are co-selected and that grammatical categories begin to align very closely with semantic distinctions. While this is certainly a valid position when analysing the phenomenon of collocation, it does not really solve the problem for open choice issues. Not all language use can be subsumed under the idiom principle. The noun hatred, for instance, can co-occur with any discourse object for which hatred can be expressed. It can also co-occur with other lexical items standing for various circumstantial aspects. The grammatical structure itself often does not tell us whether we find expressed the object of hatred or some circumstantial aspect, as these structures tend to have more than one reading. Lexicogrammar, or local grammar, is more than equating a syntactic structure with a semantic pattern. We have to be aware of the different functions or readings a given grammatical structure can have. The framework of valency/dependency grammar can help us to make the necessary distinctions.

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