GRAMMATICALIZATION OF CONTRACTED COMPOUND VERB FORMS IN MALOKARACHKINSKIJ DIALECT OF CHUVASH LANGUAGE

Глаголы jar/jer ‘пускать’, jol ‘остаться’, il ‘брать’ и yk ‘падать’ в малокарачкинском говоре чувашского языка могут образовывать сложные глаголы — конструкции, состоящие из двух глагольных форм, но описывающие единую ситуацию. В малокарачкинском говоре в таких конструкциях происходит фонетическое явление стяжения: xəra za yk r ë (испугаться CV_SIM падать PST 3SG)> xəra z=yk r ë (испугаться CV_SIM падать PST 3SG) ‘упал(а)’. Стяжённые формы сложных глаголов отличаются от других сложноглагольных конструкций не только фонетически (выпадение последнего гласного деепричастия на -sa, выпадение начального j вершины, чередование гласных в основе вершины jar/jer ‘пускать’), но и по ряду морфосинтаксических признаков (место присоединения аффиксов каузатива и аттенуатива). На то, что появление стяжённых форм — это часть процесса грамматикализации сложных глаголов, указывает и то, что глаголы, не образующие стяжённых форм, но обладающие в составе сложноглагольной конструкции грамматическим значением, так же претерпевают фонетические изменения. В статье разобран пример глагола kaj ‘уходить’, у которого в сложноглагольной конструкции, как показал эксперимент с чтением диалектного текста, часто озвончается первый согласный. Это сближает глагол kaj ‘уходить’ с аффиксами, согласные в которых в малокарачкинском говоре обычно озвончаются в интервокальной позиции. В статье также рассматриваются семантические свойства глагола yk ‘падать’, образующего стяжённые сложные глаголы. Несмотря на общее грамматическое значение этого глагола в составе сложногагольной конструкции — вхождения в состояние или процесс, глагол yk ‘падать’ сохраняет некоторые элементы своего лексического значения, которые влияют на его сочетаемость как вершины сложного глагола: вхождение в состояние или процесс может быть только мгновенным, конструкции с пунктивными глаголами приобретают значение неожиданности и/или интенсивности, глаголы разрушения без семантики падения и глаголы с семантикой увеличения и повышения не могут сочетаться с yk ‘падать’. Материалы для статьи были собраны автором в экспедициях в село Малое Карачкино Чувашской Республики, кроме того используются примеры из экспедиционного корпуса и из литературы, приводятся некоторые сравнения с литературным чувашским языком. The article presents the results of the research of the contracted forms of compound verbs in Malokarachkinskij dialect of Chuvash language. Four verbs jar/jer ‘let’, jol ‘remain’, il ‘take’ and yk ‘fall’ can be the heads of the contracted forms of compound verbs. These forms differ from the full ones not only phonetically but also morphologically. At the same time, certain semantic features of these four verbs remain present even when they become heads of the compound verb constructions, thus restraining their distribution.

CIRI MORFOSEMANTIK AFIKS DERIVASIONAL {ME(N)-} DALAM KONSTRUKSI VERBA DENUMERAL BAHASA INDONESIA (Morphosemantic Features of Derivational Affix {Me(N)-} in The Indonesian Denumeral Verb Constructions)

Penelitian ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan ciri-ciri morfosemantik afiks derivasional {me(N)-} dalam konstruksi verba denumeralia bahasa Indonesia (bI). Konstruksi verba denumeralia dipahami sebagai kata kerja derivasional atau verba turunan. Sebagai konstruksi derivasional, sumber asal verba denumeralia adalah kata bilangan atau numeralia. Beberapa contoh konstruksi dalam bI antara lain (a) {menyatu} seperti dalam klausa “setiap reaksi hidup kita akan menyatu dengan Firman-Nya” dan (b) {mendua} seperti dalam klausa “banyak kata yang kini artinya mendua”. Data dalam penelitian ini berupa konstruksi verba denumeralia berpemarkah afiks {me(N)-}. Sumber data adalah korpus bI dengan identitas Leipzig Corpora Collection dengan alamat https://corpora.uni-leipzig.de/en?corpusId=ind_mixed_2013. Data dikumpulkan melalui teknik korpus. Data dianalisis berdasarkan teknik bagi unsur langsung dengan mengacu pada teori Morfologi Derivasional (Lieber, 2017) dan Semantik Transposisional (Lieber, 2015). Berdasarkan analisis, dihasilkan dua temuan sebagai berikut. Pertama, secara umum afiks derivasional {me(N)-} berstatus sebagai pembawa ciri morfosemantik pada proses derivasi numeralia ke dalam verba. Tanpa kehadiran afiks {me(N)-}, ciri-ciri verba tidak dapat disematkan pada numeralia. Kedua, secara khusus, konstruksi verba denumeralia berpemarkah {me(N)-} memiliki kecenderungan untuk (a) menderivasikan numeralia kardinal baik takrif maupun tak takrif, (b) membentuk tipe semantis verba ‘proses’ dan makna gramatikal “X menjadi Y”, dan (c) memberikan status peran ‘pengalam’ pada argumen letak kiri yang menyertai VDnum. Sebagai simpulan, dapat dinyatakan bahwa ciri morfosemantik afiks derivasional {me(N)-} dalam konstruksi VDnum tercipta melalui proses morfologi derivasional. Ciri tersebut dapat dideskripsikan ketika afiks {me(N)-} berdistribusi secara lengkap bersama numeralia kardinal dalam suatu konstituen verba bI. This study aims to describe the morphosemantic characteristics of derivational affix {me(N)-} in the construction of Indonesian denumeral verbs (bI). Denumeral verb construction is understood as a verb or derived verb. As a derivational construction, the source of the origin of denumeral verbs is the word number or numeralia. Some examples of constructions in bI include (a) uniting as in the clause that every reaction of our lives will unite with His Word and (b) ambiguity as in the clause of many words which now have two meanings. The data in this study are denumeral verb constructions with affix mark {me(N)-}. The data source is the bI corpus with the identity of the Leipzig Corpora Collection with the address https://corpora.uni-leipzig.de/en?corpusId=ind_mixed_2013. Data were collected through the corpus technique. The data were analyzed based on the technique for direct elements regarding the theory of Derivational Morphology (Lieber, 2017) and Semantics of Transposition (Lieber, 2015). Based on the analysis, two findings were produced as follows. First, in general, derivational affixes {me(N)-} have the status as carriers of morphosemantic characteristics in the derivation process of numerals into verbs. Signs of the presence of affixes {me(N)-}, verb characteristics cannot be attached to numerals. ralia. Second, in particular, the construction of denumeral verbs marked with {me(N)-} tends to (a) derive cardinal numerals both indicative and non-descriptive, (b) form the semantic type of the verb 'process' and the grammatical meaning of "x menjadi Y, and (c) assigns the role state 'experience' to the left position argument accompanying veba. In conclusion, it can be stated that the morphosemantic characteristics of derivational affix {me(N)-} in the construction of denumeral verbs are created through a derivational morphological process. These characteristics can be described when the affix {me(N)-} is completely distributed with cardinal numerals in a constituent verb of bI.

Negative constructions in theory and practice: Ukrainian-Belarusian parallels

In the article the material of monumental texts of the Ukrainian language of the 16th – the first half of the 17th century (business documents, artistic, polemical, chronicle, scientific and confessional literature) and the studied monuments of the Old Belarusian language are studied the diachronic aspect of the use of case forms (generic or accusative) in negative verb constructions; their functioning in modern Ukrainian and Belarusian languages is analyzed. It has been revealed that in the monuments of the Ukrainian language of the specified period the accusative case in denial is inferior to the generic one. The use of certain syntactic models (parallel use of genitive and accusative forms in the pre- and postposition) was determined by the general style and place of writing the monuments. In studies of monuments of the Old Belarusian language in this position the genitive was fixed, and sometimes in negative constructions the accusative and the genitive were allowed at the same time. In the linguistics of the 20th – early 21st century philologists have repeatedly drawn attention to the peculiarities of the use of genitive and accusative cases in negative constructions both on the All-Slavic background and on the material of individual languages. Synchronously, it has been revealed that in the modern Ukrainian language the literary norm in negative constructions is the use of the genitive case instead of the accusative. However, there is no noticeable tendency to replace the accusative and the genitive in verbs with a negative participle not, as there are many cases of using the possessive case in literature and in everyday speech. On the other hand, there is no unanimity in the grammars of the modern Belarusian language on this issue: some scholars believe that both generic and possessive cases are possible in negative constructions, while others believe that only generic is possible. However, from a sample of analyzed works of Belarusian writers of the twentieth century, artistic and journalistic posts, as well as conversational style records, it can be argued that there are only a few cases of use of the accusative case, in particular in proverbs and sayings, and only the genitive is dominant in the negative constructions.

Overlooked evidence for semantic compositionality and signal reduction in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Recent discoveries of semantic compositionality in Japanese tits have enlivened the discussions on the presence of this phenomenon in wild animal communication. Data on semantic compositionality in wild apes are lacking, even though language experiments with captive apes have demonstrated they are capable of semantic compositionality. In this paper, I revisit the study by Boesch (Hum. Evol. 6:81–89, 1991) who investigated drumming sequences by an alpha male in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) community in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. A reanalysis of the data reveals that the alpha male produced semantically compositional combined messages of travel direction change and resting period initiation. Unlike the Japanese tits, the elements of the compositional expression were not simply juxtaposed but displayed structural reduction, while one of the two elements in the expression coded the meanings of both elements. These processes show relative resemblance to blending and fusion in human languages. Also unlike the tits, the elements of the compositional expression did not have a fixed order, although there was a fixed distribution of drumming events across the trees used for drumming. Because the elements of the expression appear to carry verb-like meanings, the compositional expression also resembles simple verb-verb constructions and short paratactic combinations of two clauses found across languages. In conclusion, the reanalysis suggests that semantic compositionality and phenomena resembling paratactic combinations of two clauses might have been present in the communication of the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, not necessarily in the vocal modality.

A corpus-based study of directives in Taiwanese Southern Min

This study aims to examine the subtypes of directives and their realization patterns in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM). The data were drawn from a play script corpus published in the 20th century. Nine directive subtypes were identified: advice, begging, invitation, order, offer, request, suggestion, urge, and warning. The realization patterns were analyzed in terms of the main components in the directives: alerter, discourse marker, politeness marker, subject, modal expression, verb phrase, and utterance final particle. The analysis reveals a number of features: (1) Alerters mainly take the form of an address term; (2) Utterance-initial discourse markers are mainly realized by tan ‘now’; (3) The subject is either hearer-dominated or speaker- and hearer-dominated, with the latter expressing solidarity in casual situations; (4) the politeness marker chhiáⁿ tends to take an overt subject; (5) The modal verb tio̍h accounts for the majority of subtypes; (6) The dominant verb types include dynamic, stative, uttering, and ingesting verbs; (7) Complex verb constructions mainly include directional verbs, disposal markers, and benefactive verbs; (8) Directional verbs are pervasive across all directives. A metaphorical transfer is operative in the use of directional verbs. Those marking an action toward the speaker (e.g., lâi ‘come’) are strongly associated with a positive attitude, while those expressing movement away from the speaker (e.g., khì ‘go’) are highly connected to an adversative mood. The omnipresence of [lâi V] suggests that it has been conventionalized as a default bundle to express politeness.

Grammatical-pragmatic aspects of teaching verb forms to non-Georgian speakers

For non-Georgian speakers, in the process of teaching the Georgian language, it is crucial to overcome the problems that accompany the understanding, comprehension and mastering of verb forms. The complexity and diversity that is characteristic to the Georgian verb is conditioned not only by polypersonalism or even by the large number and functional richness of the prepositions, but also by the variety of lexical means. The Georgian language has inexhaustible means to produce new verb forms, in order to give the speaker (speaking individual) opportunity to express the new semantics more accurately, to specify the utterance and to add more clarity to the meaning. For example, if a language learner expresses a desire to perform an action, then it is better to first get him/her used to the infinitive constructions of the verbs including მინდა (მსურს) minda (msurs) I want (I would like), for example, I want (I would like) წაკითხვა tsakitkhva – to read (მუშაობა mushaoba – work... წასვლა tsasvla – go, დადგომა dadgoma – stand... თქმა tqma – say, ჩაცმა chatsma – dress...). In the next level of language learning, we can also introduce verb constructions expressing the desired action: I want (I would like) წავიკითხო tsavikitkho – to read (ვიმუშაო vimushao – to work... წავიდე tsavide – to go, დავდგე davdge – to stand... ვთქვა vtqva – to say, ჩავიცვა chavitsva – to put on)... This will also prepare the ground for the language learner to express the obligation with the help of a particle უნდა unda (I must): unda tsavikitkho – I must read (vimushao – work... tsavide – go, davdge – stand... vtqva – say, chavitsva – put on)... He/she could easily build relatively extensive constructions: qartuli ena kargad unda vistsavlo – "I must learn Georgian well"; dghes bevri unda vimushao – "I must work a lot today"; khval universitetshi unda tsavide – "I must go to university tomorrow"; dilit adre unda avdge – "I must get up early in the morning"; es teqsti zepirad unda vtqva? – "Should I say this text orally?"; Tbilad unda chavitsva – "I must dress warmly". The report will provide extensive material to demonstrate the grammatical and lexical means that will make the learning / teaching process of verb forms easier for non-Georgian speakers.

A Grammar of Nahavaq (Malakula, Vanuatu)

<p>This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Nahavaq, an Oceanic language spoken by about 700 people in the Sinesip cultural area of Malakula, Vanuatu. Nahavaq was previously undescribed, and this grammar is based on data collected by the researcher over a total of nine months in the Sinesip area. The thesis includes a sociolinguistic overview of the Nahavaq-speaking community and descriptions of phonetics, phonology, mophology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Noteworthy features of Nahavaq include: (i) two classes of bilabial consonants, which are distinguished by palatalisation and velarisation; (ii) two reduplicative verbal prefixes, which partially overlap in function; (iii) a base-20 numeral system with subbases of five and ten; (iv) nouns which include an accreted article; (v) serial verb constructions; and (vi) nine different surface forms for expressing possession relationships. The attached DVD contains a Nahavaq-English glossary, along with recordings and transcriptions of Nahavaq texts for reference purposes.</p>

A Grammar of Nahavaq (Malakula, Vanuatu)

<p>This thesis is a descriptive grammar of Nahavaq, an Oceanic language spoken by about 700 people in the Sinesip cultural area of Malakula, Vanuatu. Nahavaq was previously undescribed, and this grammar is based on data collected by the researcher over a total of nine months in the Sinesip area. The thesis includes a sociolinguistic overview of the Nahavaq-speaking community and descriptions of phonetics, phonology, mophology, syntax, semantics, and discourse. Noteworthy features of Nahavaq include: (i) two classes of bilabial consonants, which are distinguished by palatalisation and velarisation; (ii) two reduplicative verbal prefixes, which partially overlap in function; (iii) a base-20 numeral system with subbases of five and ten; (iv) nouns which include an accreted article; (v) serial verb constructions; and (vi) nine different surface forms for expressing possession relationships. The attached DVD contains a Nahavaq-English glossary, along with recordings and transcriptions of Nahavaq texts for reference purposes.</p>

The emergence of light verb constructions

This paper takes a data-driven perspective on the grammaticalization of German light verb constructions (LVCs) with kommen ‘come’. LVCs are complex predicates consisting of a semantically light verb and an eventive noun realized within a phrasal complement, e.g. German zur Vollendung kommen, lit. ‘come into completion’. We assume that (at least) two different processes interact in the emergence of LVCs: the desemanticization of the verb on the one hand and the realization of eventive nouns in the complement-PP of the verb on the other. In order to check whether these processes take place in parallel or if one precedes the other, we conduct a corpus study based on samples from the Reference Corpus of Middle High German (REM) and the Bonn Early New High German Corpus (FnhdC), focusing on the animacy and concreteness of the subject NPs and the PP-internal nouns. Our results indicate that we can first observe an increase in the use of abstract nouns in subject position and that only later – from Middle High German to Early New High German – eventive nouns in PP-internal position become more frequent.