EVOLUTION OF ABSOLUTE PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGES OF ROMANCE, GERMANIC, AND SLAVIC GROUPS

The study was carried out within the framework of the current problems associated with the evolution of the absolute participial construction in several living and extinct languages of the Romance, Germanic and Slavic groups. The controversial issues, versions of the origin and development of the structure in these languages ("Latin", "Greek" and "autochthonous") are discussed. The structural and semantic features of the absolute participial construction are compared. It has been established that in the languages under study, the construction has a binary structure that includes a name (noun or pronoun) playing the role of a logical subject, and a participle in the role of a logical predicate. Together with the main sentence, the construction forms a paratactic syntactic complex, the constituents of which are not connected with each other by means of service words. Similarities include the ability to express definitively or syncretically temporary meaning; as for the differences, they are the expression in some languages of a causal, conditional, concessive, target, connecting meaning. Depending on the peculiarities of the development of grammatical systems of languages, the structure may include participles of different types, prepositions may be present, the structure may take both the general case form and another case fixed by the language for this type of structures. The words order, which can be either direct or inverse or depend on the transmitted meaning or part of speech of the subject, also differs in the languages. In conclusion, the necessity of further comprehensive analysis of this type of structures is substantiated.

French missing object constructions

This paper discusses a class of French à-infinitival constructions, where the missing direct object corresponds to an external argument, either being the antecedent noun in an attributive use, or else a raised argument in a subject or object predication or in the tough construction.  We investigate the internal and external properties of these constructions and show that (i) the construction displays passive-like properties and (ii) control and raising verbs may intervene between the marker à and the missing object verb, as shown on the basis of a corpus study. We observe that while the construction as a whole behaves like a passive where the erstwhile logical object ends up being promoted to external argument, the logical subject is still accessible for control, both from within the à-infinitive and from outside. Building on Grover (1995), we analyse these double subjects by way of a two-step passivisation, where the direct object valency is lexically promoted to subject without concomitant subject demotion. Raising of the missing object as a secondary subject will make it available on the marker à, which finally promotes it to external argument, thereby completing the passivisation effect. The present analysis thus captures the full set of à-infinitival missing object constructions in a unified fashion, capturing its passive-like properties and the extended domain of locality.

Defining Aspects of the Logical Subject into the Sentence

Although linguistics, the science of language, has reached a high level of development, anyway in syntax there are still many unsolved problems. A very important problem is the one that identifies the parts of the sentences. Therefore, because of inconsistent application of principles, at the analysis of language acts, at the syntactic level, sometimes the extreme structural-grammatical formalism is reached, which, as a result, superimpose parts of sentences over parts of speech, the criterion which conducts to a morphological interpretation of syntax. Such a syntactical analysis is useless, because it makes impossible the real identification of text ideas. Grammarians, situated on morphological positions in syntax, are launching different methodological versions this way. One of them would be that the grammar case form is decisive for identification of the parts of sentences. Such a method is less applicable in Romanian, because at the same grammatical form of the case we have several syntactic functions and at the same function - several forms. In this study the author tries to analyze these morphological and syntactic aspects by demonstration, referring, in particular, to the semantic-syntactic status of the logical subject in the sentence.

A metafísica de 'Os Princípios da Matemática' de Russell e a controvérsia à respeito da suposta semelhança entre essa metafísica e a ontologia meinongiana

Resumo: No presente artigo, objetiva-se apresentar as principais características da metafísica do realismo lógico, desenvolvido por Russell em Os Princípios da Matemática, de 1903, e, principalmente, analisar a controvérsia sobre se os princípios dessa metafísica podem realmente ser interpretados como semelhantes aos princípios da ontologia meinongiana. São comparados os pontos de vista opostos dessa controvérsia à luz dos trechos de Os Princípios da Matemática que supostamente comprometeram Russell de ter elaborado uma gramática filosófica na qual todo e qualquer nome próprio ou descrição definida, ocupando a posição de sujeito lógico nas proposições, referem-se a objetos com alguma categoria de Ser. Ao realizar tal análise, conclui-se que o problema central diz respeito aos nomes próprios vazios e que, portanto, a metafísica de Os Princípios da Matemática expressa uma perspectiva instável da teoria da denotação de Russell. Palavras-chave: Russell; Ser; Existência; Significado. Russell’s The Principles of Mathematics metaphysics and the controversy over the supposed similarity between this metaphysics and the meinongian ontology Abstract: This article aims to present the main characteristics of the metaphysics of logical realism, developed by Russell in The Principles of Mathematics, of 1903, and, mainly, to analyze the controversy about whether the principles of this metaphysics can really be interpreted as similar to the principles of meinongian ontology. The opposing points of view of this controversy are compared in the light of the excerpts from The Principles of Mathematics that supposedly committed Russell to having elaborated a philosophical grammar in which all and any proper names or definite descriptions, occupying the position of logical subject in the propositions, refer to objects with some category of Being. In carrying out such an analysis, it is concluded that the central problem concerns empty proper names and that, therefore, the metaphysics of The Principles of Mathematics expresses an unstable perspective of Russell’s theory of denotation. Keywords: Russell; Being; Existence; Meaning. La metafísica de Los Principios de las Matemáticas de Russell y la controversia sobre la supuesta similitud entre esta metafísica y la ontología meinongiana Resumen: Este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar las principales características de la metafísica del realismo lógico, desarrollada por Russell en Los Principios de las Matemáticas, de 1903, y, principalmente, analizar la controversia sobre si los principios de esta metafísica pueden realmente interpretarse como similares a los principios de la ontología meinongiana. Los puntos de vista opuestos de esta controversia se comparan a la luz de los extractos de Los Principios de las Matemáticas que supuestamente comprometieron Russell a haber elaborado una gramática filosófica en la que todos y cualquier nombre propio o descripción definida, ocupando la posición de sujeto lógico en las proposiciones, se refieren a objetos con alguna categoría de Ser. Al realizar tal análisis, se concluye que el problema central concierne a los nombres propios vacíos y que, por lo tanto, la metafísica de Los Principios de las Matemáticas expresa una perspectiva inestable de la teoría de la denotación de Russell. Palabras clave: Russell; Ser; Existencia; Significado. Data de registro: 10/04/2020 Data de aceite: 08/12/2020

Cинтактични конструкции с логически субект ‘глагол + ми се’ в българския език

Syntactic structures with logical subject (of the type ‘verb + ми се’) in the Bulgarian language The paper analyses the most frequent group of syntactic structures of the type ‘verb + ми се’, namely impersonal structures that express a need or desire. The author offers a formal and semantic classification and semantic analysis, and identifies the lexical and grammatical constraints regarding the verbs which can be used in these structures. The analyzed material might be of use in the search for relations between the semantic specificity of the studied structures and the linguistic consciousness of modern Bulgarians. Konstrukcje składniowe z podmiotem logicznym (typu ‘czasownik + ми се’) w języku bułgarskim W artykule przebadano grupę konstrukcji składniowych typu ‘czasownik + ми се’ odznaczającą się najwyższą frekwencją, a mianowicie: konstrukcje bezosobowe, które wskazują na jakąś potrzebę albo chęć. Autorka proponuje ich formalną i semantyczną klasyfikację i analizę semantyczną, identyfikuje leksykalne i gramatyczne ograniczenia w łączliwości czasowników, jakie występują w omawianych konstrukcjach. Analizowany materiał może być przydatny w poszukiwaniu związku między specyfiką semantyczną analizowanych struktur a świadomością językową współczesnych Bułgarów.

The ACI construction in the history of German

The ACI (accusativus cum infinitivo) in Modern German is governed almost exclusively by perception verbs. For genuine OHG, the same can be said. In MHG and ENHG authors began to experiment with other verb classes as potentially governing ACIs, probably influenced by Latin, but this usage never made its way in ‘normal’ grammar. The tenacity of the exclusive association of ACI with perception verbs hints at an analysis in which the logical subject of the ACI is a constituent on its own, the predicate part of the ACI being a separate constituent. Other tests, e.g. tests for constituency, point in the same direction. This is different from Latin; here the ACI as a whole counts as constituent and can therefore as a whole function as direct object. The structural difference might account for the fact that the syntactic loan of an extended usage of the ACI never came to fruition.

“Depraved subjects and the maliciousness of objects,” i.e. quirky objects

The authors deal with a range of phenomena characterized by anomalies with respect to the mismatch between the surface realization of nominal phrases on the morphosyntactic level, i.e. the selection of cases, and their grammatical function. In connection with the subject function, traditional scholars generally regarded this kind of non-canonical relation between sentence structure and semantic interpretation as a categorial deviation and treated it under the cover terms grammatical versus logical subject. The eye-catching title of this paper makes allusions to rather dangerous, odd and sinister characters and topics in real life. On the one hand, therefore it should express the “irrational” use of well-established terms and categories. On the other hand, it may point at our attempt to group together and “telescope” different and mostly separate constructions such as

AN ANALYSIS OF THEME AND RHEME USED IN THE FIVE-STAR HOTELS’ WEB SITES IN SURABAYA

The study done by the writer observes the themes and rhemes used in the five-star hotels’ web sites in Surabaya. It includes the types of themes and the notions of subject which are under the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) proposed by Halliday and Matthiessen (2004). In addition, the data of the study are in the form of text and taken from seven Surabaya five-star hotels’ web sites. The writer also used a descriptive qualitative approach in analyzing the 155 data. From the analysis, it is found the two kinds of structure of theme and rheme used by the hotels in their web sites. The hotels also used three types of theme which are simple theme, clause as a theme, and thematic equative. In terms of the subjects (psychological subject, grammatical subject, and logical subject), the hotels are able to fulfill either one, two, or three notions of subject.

Terminological problems of sia-verbs usage in Ukrainian special texts

In next years, it is necessary to draft and adopt thousands of standards and other normative documents identical to the European ones. This makes it important to formulate and adopt clear and unambiguous rules for drafting these documents. These rules should fully meet the norms of the modern Ukrainian language. One of the problems is related to the usage rules for verbs with affixes -sia (hereinafter referred to as the sia-verbs), which represent about a third (33%) of the total number of Ukrainian verbs. The essence of the problem with these verbs is that under the influence of the Russian language sia-verbs are widely used in passive constructions, which, according to leading Ukrainian linguists, don’t meet the norms of the modern Ukrainian language. The problem with these verbs is that under the influence of the Russian language sia-verbs are still widely used in passive constructions, which, according to leading Ukrainian linguists, don’t meet the norms of the modern Ukrainian language. The purpose of this article is to suggest consistent terms and definitions of basic concepts, which are needed to draft these rules, and clear criteria that would allow clearly distinguish inherent Ukrainian constructions from intruded ones. In the article, the terms for denoting verbs with affixes –sia are analysed and the advantages of the term “sia-verb” over other terms are shown. The confusion behind the usage of the terms “process” and “action”, which are very important for the formulation of rules, is investigated. It is suggested to use the term “process” as a generic term denoting the categorical meaning of the verb as parts of speech, regardless of the specific lexical meanings of an individual verb, and to use the term “action” as specific term denoting the kind of process, which is generated and directly stimulated by a logical subject. It is noted that using these terms for denotation of other concepts is inappropriate, because it can lead to confusion. The difference is shown between the transitivity/intransitivity of a process as a semantic concept and the transitivity/intransitivity of verbs that name these processes. In semantics, the criterion of process transitivity is the direction of the process and its extension to a logical object other that the logical subject. Classification of verbs by transitivity is solely based on a formally morphological criterion associated with a grammatical object, which may or may not be required by the verb used in a certain meaning. Examples are given, which demonstrate that the semantic and grammatical approaches to transitivity do not always match. It is shown that for sia-verbs, the main and primary meaning is the reflexive one (broadly speaking, this is the meaning of an intransitive process, which is focused, looped within the realm of the logical subject that, at the same time, can be the logical object). There have been selected nine sub-meanings of the reflexive meaning, that convey different shades of reflexivety – from processes focused on the logical subject to the processes having a very wide general relation to it, including ones that convey permanent and defining intransitive possessive abilities (properties). The names for these sub-meanings present in the literature have been analyzed and a consistent system of Ukrainian terms is suggested for them. These terms are built based on a pattern, which, on the one hand, makes these specific concepts’ relation with the generic concept “reverse meaning” obvious thanks to the generic characteristic, and, on the other hand, explicitly shows the difference of every specific concept from other subordinate concepts via their delimiting characteristics. Five of these terms are generally accepted, one is chosen from the options available in the literature, but three more terms are suggested from the scratch to meet the requirement of being systematic. Thereby, the Ukrainian language naturally uses the sia-verb in the situations, where the speaker treats the process as intransitive one, i.e. there is no logical subject separated from the logical object. Therefore intransitivity / transitivity of processes is the criterion that makes it possible to distinguish inherent Ukrainian reflexive and impersonal constructions from intruded ones.