Four Swedish verbs and a functional distinction

Dalrymple and Lødrup (2000) propose that (tensed) clausal complements have the OBJ function in some languages, the COMP function in others and both functions in still another set. They treat Swedish as a mixed language. In this chapter, Zaenen and Engdahl look more closely at Swedish data discussed in the chapter and supplement them as more electronic data have become available and some of the criteria used have been refined (as is also documented in more recent work by Lødrup (2002), Lødrup (2004), and Lødrup (2012) for Norwegian). Their investigation also illustrates that two related issues need further study: the status of agent phrases in the various forms of passive in Swedish and the status of DP complements in some of the alternations with sentential complements.

Montague Grammar Induction

We propose a computational model for inducing full-fledged combinatory categorial grammars from behavioral data. This model contrasts with prior computational models of selection in representing syntactic and semantic types as structured (rather than atomic) objects, enabling direct interpretation of the modeling results relative to standard formal frameworks. We investigate the grammar our model induces when fit to a lexicon-scale acceptability judgment dataset – Mega Acceptability – focusing in particular on the types our model assigns to clausal complements and the predicates that select them.

Negation raising and mood. A corpus-based study of Polish sądzić ‘think’ and wierzyć ‘believe’

The paper describes the distribution of two negation raising predicates in Polish: sądzić ‛think’ and wierzyć ‛believe’ in the National Corpus of Polish with a particular focus on their morphosyntax and the mood of their clausal complements. The aim was to examine whether there are any correlations between these two parameters, and to what extent negation raising with those verbs exhibits performative features (in terms of Prince, 1976). The results of the study support the performative approach to negation raising as per Prince (1976) only for cases with subjunctive complements. The corpus findings further imply that Polish negation raising predicates encode two different degrees of (un)certainty concerning the truth of the embedded proposition depending on the mood of their complements. Structures with indicative complements express weaker uncertainty than structures with subjunctive complements.

Systemic ambiguity as a motivation in the emergence of logophoricity

Chapter 4 demonstrates that a systematic ambiguity within a domain may constitute a motivation in the emergence of a function. The functional domain discussed is the domain of reference. The systematic ambiguity at play is the coding of reference in clausal complements of verbs of saying. More specifically, the question is whether the participants in the complement clause are coreferential with the participant in the matrix clause or whether they are not coreferential. Some languages deploy pronouns in the complement clause to code disjoint reference and person, number, and gender agreement on the verb to code coreference (Polish). Other languages deploy pronouns in the complement clause to code coreference and nouns to code disjoint reference (English). The specific solution described in Chapter 4 are logophoric pronouns which code not only coreference with the subject of the matrix clause but also coreference with other arguments of the matrix clause. The Chapter describes how logophoric coding emerged from the de dicto reference markers.

Remarks on prepositional object clauses in Germanic

This paper analyses the variation we find in the realization of finite clausal complements in the position of prepositional objects in a set of Germanic languages. The Germanic languages differ with respect to whether prepositions can directly select a clause (North Germanic) or not and instead need a prepositional proform (Continental West Germanic). Within the Continental West Germanic languages, we find further differences with respect to the constituent structures. We propose that German strong vs. weak prepositional proforms (e.g. drauf vs. darauf) differ with respect to their syntax, while this is not the case for the Dutch forms (ervan vs. daarvan). What the Germanic languages under consideration share is that the prepositional element can be covert, except in English. English shows only limited evidence for the presence of P with finite clauses in the position of prepositional objects generally, but only with a selected set of verbs. This investigation is a first step towards a broader study of the nature of clauses in prepositional object positions and the implications for the syntax of clausal complementation.

Non-relational Embedding Verbs: Quotes and Reports

Some verbs cannot have their clausal complements replaced by referential expressions salva congruitate and/or veritate. This makes it difficult to analyse them as denoting relations of the type expressed by run-of-the-mill transitive verbs. The main goal in this work is to find an explanation for why some English embedding verbs are relational while others fail to be so. The question is, why can the latter, but not the former verbs have their embedded clauses replaced by direct speech complements? A comparison in the relevant contexts of the related categories of direct and indirect quotation reveals an important degree of coincidence that calls for (a) an overlapping semantic treatment, and (b) an interpretation of their often invoked differences as due to the contrasting semantic requirements of the class of verbs that fails to express a relation, non-relational ones. For us, the key distinguishing factor is utterance denotation, the differences between the two main classes of verbs identified in the work deriving from reliance on either the form or the content of the utterances involved. In order to account for these facts, we propose a substantial revision of the Davidsonian approach to clausal complementation.

The Oxford Turkish Grammar

The point of departure of this book is the fundamental observation that actual conversations tend to consist of loosely connected, compact, and meaningful chunks built on a noun phrase, rather than fully fledged sentences. Therefore, after the treatment of elementary matters such as the Turkish alphabet and pronunciation in part I, the main points of part II are the structure of noun phrases and their function in nominal, existential, and verbal sentences, while part III presents their adjuncts and modifiers. The verbal system is extensively discussed in part IV, and in part V on sentence structure the grammatical phenomena presented so far are wrapped up. The first five parts of the book, taken together, provide for all-round operational knowledge of Turkish on a basic level. Part VI deals with the ways in which complex words are constructed, and constitutes a bridge to the advanced matter treated in parts VII and VIII. These latter parts deal with advanced topics such as relative clauses, subordination, embedded clauses, clausal complements, and the finer points of the verbal system. An important advantage of this book is its revealing new content: the section on syllable structure explains how loanwords adapt to Turkish; other topics include: the use of pronouns in invectives; verbal objects classified in terms of case marking; extensive treatment of the optative (highly relevant in day-to-day conversation); recursion and lexicalization in compounds; stacking of passives; the Başı-Bozuk and Focus-Locus constructions; relativization on possessive, dative, locative, and ablative objects, instrumentals and adverbial adjuncts; pseudo-relative clauses; typology of clausal complements; periphrastic constructions and double negation.

Experimental study of the construction o tom, čto as a clausal complement of verbs and nouns in non-standard Russian

The spread of the complementation construction o tom, čto in non-standard Russian in recent decades has been attested in previous work. It has been established that the construction has a wide distribution and can replace not only ordinary complement clauses introduced by the complementizer čto (so-called čto-clauses), cf. podtverždat’ o tom, čto + p ‘confirm that p’ instead of podtverždat’, čto + p, but also so-called to, čto-clauses (čto-clauses preceded by a demonstrative), including those embedded in prepositional phrases introduced by a preposi- tion other than o, cf. ostanovit’sja o tom, čto + p ‘settle on the fact that p’ instead of ostanovit’sja na tom, čto + p. The construction can also appear as a clausal complement of nouns, cf. podtverždenie o tom, čto + p ‘confirmation that p’ instead of podtverždenie togo, čto + p. The latter uses have been reported to lead to a milder violation, compared to the uses of the con- struction with verbs. The present study tested the latter hypothesis experimentally by using acceptability judgment data. The experiment tested the effect of the subcategorization of the matrix predicate (in standard Russian), i. e., whether it takes a direct object/čto-clause or a prepositional phrase (embedding a to, čto-clause). The findings suggest that there is a contrast in the status of clausal complements of verbs and nouns, specifically, that the latter are not genuine complements as has been earlier suggested in literature.