Built-in Argument Positions in Bulgarian and Polish

Built-in Argument Positions in Bulgarian and PolishThe issue of built-in argument positions is not particularly popular in contemporary Slavic studies. However, some developments have occurred since the introduction of predicate-argument logic in semantic-syntactic studies. This paper focuses not only on theoretical developments but also on conclusions arising from the study of two Slavic languages: Bulgarian (an analytic language) and Polish (a synthetic language). Until now, the issue of incorporating an argument position in the form of a predicative expression has been viewed as a lexical issue. However, both lexical and morphological means can be used to express a type of proposition. The peculiarities of the distinction between word and sentence are also discussed. Wbudowane pozycje argumentowe w języku bułgarskim i polskimKwestia wbudowanych pozycji argumentowych nie jest szczególnie popularna we współczesnej slawistyce. Jednak od czasu wprowadzenia logiki predykatowo-argumentowej w badaniach semantyczno-składniowych nastąpiły pewne zmiany. W niniejszym artykule skupiono się nie tylko na opracowaniach teoretycznych, lecz również na wnioskach wynikających z badania dwóch języków słowiańskich: bułgarskiego (język analityczny) i polskiego (język syntetyczny). Dotychczas zjawisko wbudowania pozycji argumentowych w wyrażenie predykatywne było postrzegane jako zagadnienie leksykalne. Jednak zarówno środki leksykalne, jak i morfologiczne mogą służyć wyrażaniu pewnego typu propozycji. Omówiono również osobliwości rozróżnienia wyrazu od zdania.

A Theoretical Framework for a Hybrid View of the N400

In this study, we present a novel theoretical account of the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component. Hybrid views interpret this ERP component in terms of two cognitive operations: (i) access of information, which is related to predictions (predictability component), and (ii) integration of information, which is related to plausibility (plausibility component). Though there is an empirical evidence for this view, what has been left open so far is how these two operations can be defined. In our approach, both components are related to categorization. The critical word and the argument position it is related to are associated with categories that have a graded structure. This graded structure is defined in terms of weights both on attributes and values of features belonging to a category. The weights, in turn, are defined using probability distributions. The predictability component is defined in terms of the information gain with respect to non mismatched features between the two categories. The plausibility component is defined as the difference in the degree of typicality between the two categories. Finally, the N400 amplitude is defined as a function of both components.

Representing Representations

This chapter champions the priority of objectual representations and reference to the world over fine-grained “inner” mental representations. The main argument rests upon demonstrating that our attitude ascriptions practices give priority to de re ascriptions of mental contents over de dicto ascriptions of mental contents. The argument thereby advances a rejection of the Fregean tradition that construes modes of presentations of objects as essential to the characterization of mental contents within attitude ascriptions. A novel argument is advanced invoking the evaluative commitments expressed with embedded referential slurring terms in argument position, showing them to reveal derogatory attitudes of the ascriber, not the ascribee, and then showing by analogy that the same obtains for existential and referential commitments: they do not typically invoke Fregean modes of presentation by which the ascribee cognizes the world. The chapter ends by reexamining substitution puzzles and the nature of de re belief.

Processing cataphors: Active antecedent search is persistent

Cataphors precede their antecedents, so they cannot be fully interpreted until those antecedents are encountered. Some researchers propose that cataphors trigger an active search during incremental processing in which the parser predictively posits potential antecedents in upcoming syntactic positions (Kazanina et al., Journal of Memory and Language, 56[3], 384–409, 2007). One characteristic of active search is that it is persistent: If a prediction is disconfirmed in an earlier position, the parser should iteratively search later positions until the predicted element is found. Previous research has assumed, but not established, that antecedent search is persistent. In four experiments in English and Norwegian, we test this hypothesis. Two sentence completion experiments show a strong off-line preference for coreference between a fronted cataphor and the first available argument position (the main subject). When the main subject cannot be the antecedent, participants posit the antecedent in the next closest position: object position. Two self-paced reading studies demonstrate that comprehenders actively expect the antecedent of a fronted cataphor to appear in the main clause subject position, and then successively in object position if the subject does not match the cataphor in gender. Our results therefore support the claim that antecedent search is active and persistent.

Subordinate clauses filling an argument position

Chapter 15 deals with subordinate clauses, both finite and non-finite, which function as argument of their governing verb (traditionally called complement clauses). A distinction is made between declarative, interrogative, and imperative subordinate clauses. They are discussed according to the various subordinating devices: subordinators (e.g. quod, ut), question particles, infinitives (including accusative and infinitive clauses), gerunds, gerundives, and nominal clauses.

Die Nominalisierung von Nebensätzen im Tschechischen

Summary The present article ties in with an earlier study by Chomsky (1970) on nominalizations in English, which was then refined primarily in the influential work of Jane Grimshaw (1990) and is dealt with in detail in Borer (2013) and in Kosta (2020). In contrast to the English gerundives, which do not lose verbal behavior due to the derivation in the syntax and maintain all grammatical categories and characteristics of verbs, which is why one can speak of a real conversion while preserving the verbal semantics, the situation is somewhat different in Czech. In the deverbal, deadjective and other derivations, the Czech apparently made the transition to the noun with its critical properties, which is shown by certain restrictions in the aspectuality marking of deverbal noun phrases on -ní-, -tí-, which, e. g., do not pass the progression durativity test (Vendler 1967). In passive constructions, as is well known, a valence point in the position of the external argument is reduced compared to the corresponding active sentences, while the external argument position in anti-causatives is also not available in the deep structure. In addition to the syntactic restrictions that are evident in nominalizations in the context of simple sentences of different sentence types (causative, anti-causative, passive) and demonstrate the nominal character of certain types of deverbal noun phrases in the first part of this article, the second part of the essay deals with more complex structures and extends its analytical and theoretical part to the phenomenon of nominalizing subordinate clauses. The aim of the central part of this contribution is therefore to test the nominal properties of embedded conjunctional sentences and of embedded headless relative sentences on the basis of empirical data and thus contribute to the knowledge of whether certain types of relative sentences can (or must) be nominalized.

What does and doesn’t affect L2 overt pronoun production

This study examined corpus data from learners of Japanese whose L1s are English, Korean, and Mandarin (as well as native-speaker Japanese controls), in order to investigate the effect of two separate (but sometimes conflated) potential influences on overt pronoun production in the L2: (i) whether or not the L1 is a topic-drop language (like Japanese), and (ii) the properties of overt pronouns in the L1 compared to those of Japanese. In order to investigate (i), the rate of overt pronoun use in topic/argument position for all three learner groups was tabulated and compared to that of native speakers. In order to investigate (ii), total rate of overt pronoun use in all positions was tabulated, as well as the type of case-/discourse-marking particles that accompanied overt pronouns in each learner group, compared to native speakers. Results show no influence of L1 topic-drop status, but some influence of L1 overt pronoun properties, in the form of (a) interactions between the morphosyntax of pronouns and broader DP/NP structure in the L1 and L2, and (b) shared discourse properties of the overt pronoun in the L1 and L2.

Generic bare plurals in Russian and beyond

This paper focuses on indirect reference to kinds achieved by means of bare plural nominal expressions in Russian, which is a language without articles. These NPs refer to sums of individuals, whose denotation is built on Number. Their default interpretation is indefinite, while generic and definite readings are a result of a pragmatic strengthening, i.e. these readings appear only in certain environments (argument position of k-level predicates, subject position of characterising statements) and depend on the world knowledge of interlocutors. Generically and definitely interpreted expressions are similar to each other, being characterised by maximality, identifiability and presupposition of existence. However, the former ones cannot be spatiotemporally localised or anaphorically anchored. Going beyond Russian, it is suggested that in some languages genericity (along with definiteness) may be encoded semantically by means of a definite article, while in others it is pragmatically inferred on bare NPs; this difference can account for the inter- and intra- linguistic variation in the expression of genericity.

Philippine Clitic Pronouns and the Lower Phase Edge

Pronominal paradigms in Philippine-type Austronesian languages show a robust and curious gap: in transitive clauses, pivot arguments and nonpivot agents may have bound pronominal forms, appearing as second-position clitics, but pronominal nonpivot themes must be full, free pronouns. This gap is instructive regarding the organization of the lower phase edge. As cliticization involves a syntactic dependency between the host and argument position and all syntactic dependencies are constrained by phases, the gap is explained if pivots and nonpivot agents are specifiers of the phase head, making them the only DPs accessible for operations from outside of the lower phase.

Bagvalal place names as adverbs

In Bagvalal (East Caucasian), native place names show strongly reduced morphological inflection. They combine with spatial suffixes identical to those used on nouns and spatial adverbs and with attributive and plural suffixes identical to those of nominal genitive and plural and thus have mixed adverbial nominal morphology. Place names are unmarked in spatial function but marked in argument position. To occur in the latter, they require a nominal head with an abstract meaning such as ‘village’ or ‘place’. Bagvalal place names are syntactically adverbs rather than nouns. Considering syntax and morphology together, they constitute a morphosyntactic class intermediate between nouns and adverbs. Mixed properties of Bagvalal place names are functionally motivated. Place names are, first of all, locations (hence spatial inflection), but also territories associated with specific ethnic and sub-ethnic groups (hence attributive and plural inflection). I conclude by briefly reviewing evidence from some other East Caucasian languages, to show that Bagvalal is not an exception.