The polyfunctional lexeme /fard/ in the Arabic dialects of Iraq and Khuzestan

The primary aim of this paper is to explore the functions of the word /fard/ in Iraqi and Khuzestani Arabic. The study is based on the analysis of various text corpora and the elicitation of further examples from native speakers of the varieties investigated. The analysis of these data has shown that /fard/ is a polyfunctional item. Its various functions are the result of several grammaticalization processes. In the first stage, the noun “individual” has become a quantifier that expresses singularity. From this stage it developed into an intensifier, a marker of approximation and the scalar adverb “only.” It has been demonstrated that, from its use as a presentative marker, it developed toward an indefinite article. In contrast to the definite article, which is a grammatical category in nearly every variety of Arabic, the use of an indefinite article is rarely found in spoken Arabic. In Iraqi and Khuzestani Arabic, /fard/ is an indefinite article that possesses a wide range of applications and only a limited set of constraints. Its use, however, remains optional to a very high degree. Its main function is that of a presentative—i.e., introducing a new referent into a discourse. In addition, it also functions as an individuation marker, as a marker for expressing the speaker’s epistemic status (knowledge/ignorance) regarding a referent, and indicating free choice from a set of potential referents. Related to this last function is its use as a mitigating device in imperatives and polite requests.

Defining Definiteness in Turoyo

This paper puts forth an expanded typology of definiteness marking, which includes not only ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ but also ‘super-weak’. It also proposes a methodology for identifying ‘super-weak’ definites, and applies it to Ṭuroyo, an endangered Semitic language. Data from questionnaires and interviews shows that Ṭuroyo’s definite article has a very wide distribution, including anti-uniqueness effects with exclusives, suggesting ‘super-weak’ status. Syntactic factors also affect their distribution: We find definiteness-spreading uses with demonstratives and possessives, even in non-contrastive environments, and superlative adjectives appear to compete for the article’s syntactic position. On the semantic side, we propose that Ṭuroyo’s definiteness-markers are not ‘weak’ but ‘super-weak’ articles. To explain their anaphoric uses, typical of ‘strong’ articles, we propose that the typology is arranged as a cline ordered by entailment, so that stronger articles entail weaker ones.

HERTA MULLER “BREATHING SWING”: TRANSLATION OF THE CATEGORY OF DEFINITENESS / INDEFINITENESS

This scientific research deals with a topical linguistic and translation problem – the category of definiteness / indefinitenessand ways of its reproduction in the German- Ukrainian translations of modern fiction. The purposeof this articleis to determine the ways one can employ to convey different meanings of German articles and other determinants into Ukrainian, as they are used to express the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the German language. To achieve this goal, there has been employed comparative and descriptive methodsof linguistic research as they allow to consider different ways of expression of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the Ukrainian translation. The objectof this research is the translation of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness which leads to a strictly defined subject. The subjectof the study are explicit means of expression of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in German (in the novel “Breathing Swing” by H. Muller) and implicit means of its expression in Ukrainian (in the Ukrainian translation of the respective novel).Results.The comparative analysis of the original and translated texts makes it possible to determine the main linguistic means of reprodution the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the Ukrainian translation. The analyzed material contains examples where the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the original text is expressed by a definite article which is translated by a pronominalized numeral “some of”, an indefinite-personal pronoun “someone”, or an indefinite pronoun; an indefinite article which is translated by pronouns; zero article is reproduced by a more detailed translation; pronouns are reproduced by their equivalents, as well as other pronouns; other cases of translation include a periphrasis, a descriptive, inaccurate or non-literal translation. Conclusions:Definite, indefinite, zero articles and pronouns serve as the main, most consistent, and regular means of realization of the category of definiteness / indefiniteness in the German language. While there are no certain morphological means of expression of this category in the Ukrainian language, the translator uses lexical and syntactic means for reproduction of the category definiteness / indefiniteness. The context also plays an essential role.Key words: category of determination, the definitness / indefinitness, article, pronoun, translation. У дослідженні порушується актуальна перекладознавча проблема – особливості відтворення категорії означеності / неозначеності на матеріалі німецько-українських перекладів творів сучасної художньої літератури. Метоюданої статті є визначення способів передачі українською мовою значень німецьких артиклів та інших детермінативів, за допомогою яких вира-жається категорія означеності / неозначеності в німецькій мові. Для досягнення поставленої мети застосовуються зіставний та описовий методи лінгвістичного дослідження, що дозволяють розглянути різні способи передачі засобів вираження катего-рії означеності / неозначеності в українському перекладі. Об’єктом дослідження постає категорія означеності / неозначеності, що виступає засобом позначення певного предмета. Предметом вивчення є експліцитні засоби вираження вищевказаної кате-горії в німецькій мові (в романі Г. Мюллер «Гойдалка дихання») та імпліцитні в українському перекладі зазначеного твору. За допомогою результатів, досягнутих внаслідок зіставного аналізу текстів оригіналу та перекладу, вдалося встановити основні мовні засоби відтворення категорії означеності / неозначеності в українському перекладі.Зокрема, зафіксовано такі випадки вираження категорії означеності / неозначеності в мові-оригіналі, а також засоби та способи їх відтвореня в мові перекла-ду: неозначений артикль перекладений прономіналізованим числівником «один із/з», неозначено-особовоим займенником «якийсь», вказівним займенником; означений артикль – за допомогою займенників; нульовий артикль відтворено деталізованим перекладом; детермінативи – їх відповідниками, а також іншими детермінативами; в деяких випадках перекладач вдається до перифрази, описового, неточного чи недослівного перекладу. Висновки:в німецькій мові означеність / неозначеність виражається за допомогою артиклів (означеного, неозначеного або нульового), а також інших детермінативів, якими часто виступають займенники. В той час як в українській мові певних морфологічних засобів вираження цієї категорії нема, перекладач вдається до використання лексичних та синтаксичних засобів, важлива роль при цьому відводиться контексту. Ключові слова: категорія детермінації, означеність / неозначеність, артикль, займенник, переклад.

Animacy, Anaphora and Language Change in Swedish

This paper considers the role of animacy in the overt marking of indirect anaphors, i.e., noun phrases (NP), which introduce new discourse referents, that are grounded in the preceding discourse by means of a grounding element, an anchor. The indirect anaphors are considered in a diachronic perspective with reference to the emergent definite article and the variation between the article and other marking elements, in particular possessive pronouns. The study is based on an annotated corpus of Swedish prosaic texts from 1200–1550, which is a period of time when the definite article undergoes the process of grammaticalization in this language. The material was sorted according to the different combinations of the animacy of the anchor and the anaphor.The indirect anaphors which are anchored by means of expressions referring to animate entities show more variation of expression than those expressions referring to inanimate entities at the onset of definite article grammaticalization, but as the grammaticalization progresses, all indirect anaphors are by default expressed by the definite article. This is connected with the ongoing grammaticalization of the definite article and its extended use in new contexts. Keywords animacy; indirect anaphora; language change; definite article; Swedish

Definiteness without determiners

The paper investigates conditions for the bare occurrence of noun phrases in the topic position of specificational copula clauses. It is shown that this is a predicate position for non-referential NPs. Specificational clauses in German are special because of the unusual alignment of the predicative position and the topic position. I show that the condition for the bare occurrence of NPs in this position is that the head noun denotes a functional concept. According to the theory of concept types by Löbner (2011), nouns denoting functional concepts are inherently relational and unique. I argue that relationality ensures the anchoring of bare NPs in the discourse via an anaphoric link to a bridging antecedent in previous discourse and qualifies them for being a topic in the sense of discourse-familiarity. The inherent uniqueness of functional concepts is the key to understanding why nouns denoting such concepts can occur bare without a definite article: Since the article in predicate NPs merely conveys uniqueness without referentiality as argued by Coppock & Beaver (2015) and functional nouns in predicate position are unique and non-referential, the definite article is redundant and can be omitted.