Implicit Arguments in Ugandan English

In standard British/American English, some transitive verbs, which are ontologically specified for objects, may be used with the objects not overtly expressed (for example, leave), while other transitive verbs do not permit this syntactic behavior (for example, vacate). The former have been referred to as verbs that allow implicit arguments. This study shows that while verbs such as vacate do not ideally allow implicit arguments in standard British/American English, this is permitted in Ugandan English (a non-native variety), thereby highlighting structural asymmetries between British/American English and Ugandan English, owing mainly to substrate influence and analogization. The current study highlights those structural asymmetries and ultimately uncovers some characteristic features in the structural nativization process of English in Uganda, thereby contributing to the growing larger discourse meant to fill the gaps that had characterized World Englishes scholarship, where thorough delineations of Ugandan English have been virtually absent.

On the interplay between tense marking, aspect and temporal continuity in Udora Komi

The Udora dialect of Zyrian Komi lacks the morphological opposition between the present and future tenses that is found in other Komi dialects and the written standard. The morphemes corresponding to these tenses are, however, found in this dialect, with individual verbs showing a strong tendency to choose one of the two. This study shows that the two morphemes are not in free variation but rather carry various grammatical meanings, and that the variants are strongly connected to the lexical aspect of individual verbs. Due to the rigidity of the system, the authors refer to the variants here as conjugation types. The -as- conjugation type, which corresponds to the Standard Komi future marker, occurs with all transitive verbs and a majority of intransitive verbs. However, the study also identifies a group of intransitive verbs occurring with the conjugation type -e̮-. The verbs in the latter group can be analysed as temporally continuous. Additionally, there are other subgroupings that can be postulated, including verbs that describe involuntary actions. The system interacts in a predictable manner with Komi derivational morphology. The study also corroborates the previously proposed historical connection between this characteristic of verbal morphology in the Udora dialect and Old Komi. The authors suggest that the verbal morphology seen in these Komi varieties must predate the contemporary tense system. The study provides a new direction for analysing the development of the tense system in the Permic languages, as it is shown that the factors underlying the variation extend beyond transitivity. As a previously undescribed phenomenon, the study describes the use of the Udora conjugation types in narrative tense structuring and demonstrate parallels with Standard Komi.

The acquisition of argument structures of intransitive and transitive verbs in Japanese: The role of parental input

The present study investigated the role of morphosyntactic information in the acquisition of transitive and intransitive verb argument structures (VAS) in the Japanese language, which allows massive omissions of arguments and case markers. In particular, we investigated how the ‘variation sets’ proposed by Küntay and Slobin work in Japanese. Longitudinal interaction data from three Japanese-speaking mother–child pairs were collected at five different times between the ages of 0;10 and 3;01. Children’s acquisition of VAS and mothers’ use of verbs were examined, including morphologically related verbs in a variety of sentence frames with null and overt arguments. The results indicate that all three mothers showed an increase in overt arguments in different syntactic roles as well as lexical given arguments around the time that children started uttering words. However, the use of a variety of sentence frames with null and overt arguments was not uniform among the mothers, and such individual differences were related to the acquisition of VAS among children. These findings support the role of ‘variation sets’ in the acquisition of VAS in Japanese and suggest that the availability of morphosyntactic information in the input helps children to reconstruct VAS.

Growing trees: The acquisition of the left periphery

We suggest here a Growing Trees approach for the description of the acquisition of various syntactic structures in Hebrew, based on the main results reported in Friedmann and Reznick (this volume) and on our own research on a corpus of natural productions. The heart of our account is that stages of acquisition follow the geometry of the syntactic tree, along the lines of the cartographic analysis of the clause, with early stages of acquisition corresponding to small portions of the adult syntactic tree, which keeps growing with the growth of the child. The lower parts of the tree are acquired first, and higher parts are acquired later. We propose three stages of acquisition connected to the development of functional layers of the syntactic tree. In the first stage, the IP is acquired, including the lexical and inflectional layers. This allows for the appearance of A-movement structures, including SV/VS alternations with unaccusative verbs, alongside SV sentences with unergative/transitive verbs. The second stage involves the acquisition of the lower part of the left periphery, up to QP, which allows for the acquisition of subject and object Wh questions, some adjunct questions, yes/no questions, and sentence-initial adverbs. In the third stage, the rich structure of the left periphery is completely acquired, including the higher CP field. This is the stage in which sentential embedding (of finite declarative and interrogative clauses), subject and object relative clauses, why questions, and topicalization appear. A further, different type of stage, which occurs on the already-grown tree and which is independent of structure building, is the acquisition of intervention configurations, allowing for the mastery of structures involving movement of a lexically-restricted object across an intervening lexically-restricted subject. The paper illustrates the fruitful dialogue between the science of syntax acquisition and the cartography of syntactic structures.

English verbs can omit their objects when they describe routines

Which normally transitive verbs can omit their objects in English (I ate), and why? This article explores three factors suggested to facilitate object omission: (i) how strongly a verb selects its object (Resnik 1993); (ii) a verb's frequency (Goldberg 2005); (iii) the extent to which the verb is associated with a routine – a recognized, conventional series of actions within a community (Lambrecht & Lemoine 2005; Ruppenhofer & Michaelis 2010; Levin & Rapaport Hovav 2014; Martí 2010, 2015). To operationalize (iii), this article compares the writings of different communities to offer corpus and experimental evidence that verbs omit their objects more readily in the communities in which they are more strongly associated with a routine. More broadly, the article explores how the meaning and syntactic potential of verbs are shaped by the practices of the people who use them.

Семантика абсолютивной конструкции В русском языке и антипассив

Данная работа рассматривает абсолютивную конструкцию переходных глаголов в русском языке в соотношении с антипассивом. Переходные глаголы определяются как глаголы, имеющие возмож-ность сочетаться с прямым объектом, т. е. обладают пациентной валентностью. Однако по разным причинам они могут не реализовывать пациентную валентность.Поскольку безобъектное употребление глагола – это результат синтаксической невыразимости пациентного аргумента, логично подходить к нему как к результату сокращения валентностных потенций. С этой точки зрения можно предположить, что безобъектная конструкция переходных глаголов имеет определенные диатетические характеристики. Мы постулируем, что невербализа-ция пациентной валентности сигнализирует о переносе пациентного аргумента на семантическую, коммуникативную периферию, и, следовательно, о его синтаксическом понижении.Выделяются три типа невербализации пациентного аргумента: контекстный эллипсис, семанти-ческая инкорпорация объекта в значение глагола и генерализованная презентация ситуации. Нас интересует прежде всего третий тип, и именно относительно этого типа традиционно применяется термин «абсолютивная конструкция». В отличие от первого и второго типов, в которых невыражен-ный объект восстанавливается через контекст или семантику глагола, в абсолютивной конструкции объект действия не может быть специфицирован, или это делается с трудом. Поэтому абсолютивная конструкция не является неполной конструкцией.Aбсолютивное употребление переходных глаголов – это результат сокращения валентности ком-муникативно нерелевантного объекта, что порождает определенные семантические сдвиги; глагол обозначает не акциональное действие, направленное на какой-то объект, а нечто более стативное, постоянное свойство субъекта, что переносит глагол в иные семантические классы и обусловливает его употребление в определенных контекстах.Абсолютивная конструкция и антипассив имеют общее функциональное сходство, а именно низ-кую дискурсивную выделенность объекта действия и генерализованную репрезентацию ситуации как постоянного свойства субъекта. В русском языке типичным показателем антипассива являет-ся возвратная частица -ся. Поэтому в случаях несущественности, очевидности, неопределенности объекта действия абсолютивная конструкция и антипассивный возвратный глагол могут функцио-нировать синонимично. Ср.: Горчичник сильно жжет Ø / сильно жжется. Следовательно, в данной статье абсолютивная конструкция сравнивается с антипассивными рефлексивными глаголами типа Собака кусается. В русском языке семантический круг антипассивных рефлексивных глаголов от-носительно узок, и это объясняется тем, что их функцию вполне могут заменить невозвратные гла-голы в абсолютивном употреблении.Кроме того, остальные типы опущения пациентной валентности также имеют соотношение с возвратными глаголами других разрядов, но детальное обсуждение этого вопроса станет темой наших дальнейших исследований.This work examines the absolute construction of transitive verbs in Russian in relation to the antipassive. Transitive verbs are defined as verbs that can be combined with a direct object, i.e. they exhibit patient valency. However, for various reasons, this patient valency is not always realized.Since the objectless use of the verb is the result of the syntactic inexpressibility of the patient argument, it is logical to approach it as the result of valency-reducing derivation. From this point of view, it can be assumed that the objectless transitive construction has certain diathetic properties. We postulate that the non-verbalization of patient valency signals the transfer of the patient argument to the semantic, communicative periphery and, consequently, to its syntactic demotion.Three types of non-verbalization of the patient argument are distinguished: context ellipsis, semantic incorporation of an object into the meaning of a verb, and generalized presentation of the situation. We are primarily interested in the third type, for which the term absolute construction is traditionally used. Unlike the first and second types, in which the unexpressed object is reconstructed through the context or semantics of the verb, in the absolute construction, the object of action cannot be specified, or it is diffi cult to do so. Therefore, an absolute construction is not an incomplete construction.The absolute use of transitive verbs is the result of reducing the valency of a communicatively irrelevant object, which generates certain semantic shift s; a verb does not denote an action directed at a concrete object but instead denotes something more stative, a constant property of the subject, which transfers the verb to other semantic classes and determines its use in certain contexts.The absolute construction and the antipassive function similarly in that both rely on the low discursive saliency of the object of action and the generalized representation of the situation as a constant property of the subject. In Russian, a typical indicator of an antipassive is the reflexive -ся. Therefore, when the object of action is insignificant, obvious or ambiguous, the absolute construction and the antipassive reflexive verb can function synonymously (e.g. Горчичник сильно жжет Ø / сильно жжется). Therefore, in this paper, the absolute construction is compared with antipassive reflexive verbs such as Собака кусается. In Russian, the semantic circle of antipassive reflexive verbs is relatively narrow, and this is due to the fact that their function may be replaced by irreflexive verbs in absolute use.In addition, the remaining types of omission of patient valency also have a correlation with reflexive verbs of other categories but a detailed discussion of this issue will be reserved for future research.

Mechanism of Valence Change in Mandailing Language: Linguistics Typology

This paper described the mechanism of valence change in Mandailing language. The concept of valence refers to the number of arguments a verb that serves as a predicate in a clause can present. Changing the valence of verbs in Mandailing through a causative process causes the verbs to experience an increase in valence. This study was included a qualitative descriptive study, in which the method is a study of language typology and the data analyzed based on the problems discussed using the method Agih. The results of the data analysis of this study are presented using an informal method in the form of explanation or exposure using ordinary words or verbal language. The determinants used by this method are the language elements in the Mandailing language. The purpose of this study was to find what types of verbs in the Mandailing language can experience changes in valence, symptoms, and their process of change, and the semantic role of these verbs. The data analysis from this study was obtained through the observation method and the proficient method with informants; based on the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that changes in the valence of the Mandailing language occur mainly in intransitive, transitive, transitive verbs, which are grouped into symptoms that cause valence reduction and valence expansion. This study is also expected to inspire some researchers interested in the mechanism of valence change in Mandailing language, either micro or macro.

Fungsi, Peran, dan Kategori Sintaksis Bahasa Indonesia dalam kalimat Berita dan Kalimat Seruan pada Naskah Pidato Bung Karno 17 Agustus 1945

The manuscript of Bung Karno's speech on August 17, 1945 is an example of the use of Indonesian in official documents and state speeches so that the sentences in them are good to analyze. There are many syntactic symptoms found in it that are interesting to study, including the structure of descriptive sentences and imperative sentences which can be analyzed based on the functions, roles, and syntactic categories of Indonesian. This research consists of two problems, namely (1) regarding the functions, roles, and syntactic categories of news sentences in Bung Karno's speech on August 17, 1945, (2) regarding the functions, roles, and syntactic categories of exclamatory sentences in Bung Karno's speeches on August 17, 1945. This study aims to describe the types of functions, roles, and syntactic categories of news sentences and exclamations of Bung Karno's speech on August 17, 1945. The research method used is descriptive qualitative research method. Data collection was carried out using the note-taking technique and data analysis using content analysis techniques. The results of this study found that syntactic functions include subject, predicate, object, description, and complement; the roles that are found are as actors, tools, and experiences occupying the function of the subject; and categories include pronouns, nouns, transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, adverbial phrases, verbal phrases, nominal phrases, prepositional phrases, adjective phrases, and numeral phrases. From this research, it can be seen that one sentence can contain more than one type of function, role, and syntactic category. This research is expected to show the functions, roles, and syntactic categories in declarative and imperative sentences in Bung Karno's speech on August 17, 1945, which is the speech of the proclamation of Indonesian independence.

Kesalahan Sintaksis pada Teks Tanggapan Kelas IX B SMPN 12 Malang

This research aims to describe the syntactic errors in the response text of class IX B SMPN 12 Malang. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach. The data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model with three sub activities, namely (1) data reduction, (2) data presentation, and (3) conclusion drawing. The results of the data analysis on the syntactic errors found in the response text of class IX B SMPN 12 Malang took the form of (1) errors at the phrasal level and (2) sentences. Errors at the phrasal level include (1) incorrect use of prepositions, (2) excessive use of elements, (3) inappropriate use of elements, (4) improper wording, and (5) double pluralization. Syntactic errors at the sentence level include (1) ambiguous sentences, (2) illogical sentences, (3) inappropriate use of conjunctions, (4) excessive use of conjunctions, (5) omission of conjunctions, (6) zero-subject sentences, (7) unpredicated sentences, (8) use of prepositions in transitive verbs, (9) use of unnecessary interrogative words, and (10) incomplete sentences. Keywords: language errors, syntax errors, response text Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan kesalahan sintaksis dalam teks tanggapan kelas IX B SMPN 12 Malang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis deskriptif. Analisis data menggunakan model Miles dan Huberman dengan tiga alur kegiatan, yaitu (1) reduksi data, (2) penyajian data, dan (3) penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil penelitian kesalahan sintaksis pada teks tanggapan kelas IX B SMPN 12 Malang meliputi (1) kesalahan pada tataran frasa, dan (2) kalimat. Kesalahan pada tataran frasa meliputi (1) kesalahan penggunaan preposisi, (2) penggunaan unsur yang berlebihan, (3) penggunaan unsur yang tidak tepat, (4) susunan kata yang tidak tepat, dan (5) penjamakan ganda. Kesalahan sintaksis pada tataran kalimat meliputi (1) kalimat rancu, (2) kalimat tidak logis, (3) penggunaan konjungsi yang tidak tepat, (4) penggunaan konjungsi yang berlebihan, (5) penghilangan konjungsi, (6) kalimat tidak bersubjek, (7) kalimat tidak berpredikat, (8) penggunaan preposisi pada verba transitif, (9) penggunaan kata tanya tidak perlu, dan (10) kalimat tidak lengkap. Kata kunci: kesalahan berbahasa, kesalahan sintaksis, teks tangga

Transitive Word Order in Karonese Language

The research aims to look for word-formation from suffix -i and -pe and the prefix-ken. The problem of the research was whether the suffix -i and -ken and the prefix pe- can form transitive in sentences. This study used the qualitative approach. The complex predicate data were analyzed using the agih method which is part of the language itself which becomes the determining tool. This is an appropriate method of analyzing language. This study indicates that sentence formation in the Karo language initially uses the VOS word order. At the suffix-i, the transitive word order VOS is found, the suffix -ken used the VO word order and at the prefix pe- also used the VOS word order. The suffix -i was initially used with adjectives, intransitive verbs, and nouns to form a root word in the form of a locative transitive verb (referring to a place). If suffix –ken combined with a root word which is a group of adjectives, intransitive verbs, or nouns, the meaning becomes causative, making the sufferer become/do something. The prefix pe- functions to change adjectives, intransitive verbs, and nouns into transitive verbs. The derivative form produces a causative meaning.