On Agree without agreement as a source of reflexive voice constructions

Switch-reference has recently been argued to be the result of clausal functional heads entering into Agree with two nearby noun phrases, creating pointers to those noun phrases but not actually copying their morphosyntactic features. Instead, the semantic component interprets the pointers as referential dependency holding between pointed-to noun phrases. This article applies this analysis to reflexive voice constructions in which a feature-invariant affix appears on the verb to indicate that the (highest, direct) object is referentially dependent on the (thematic) subject of the same clause. First it surveys the properties that such constructions should have if reflexive voice is maximally like switch-reference. Then it argues that the Bantu language Lubukusu has just such a construction, the verbal affix i partnering with the overt anaphor omweene to create reflexive clauses. Dravidian reflexive voices are presented as another possible case. Finally, it turns to reflexive and reciprocal voice constructions in Shipibo (Panoan), which seem to have a detransitivizing effect. However, no major detransitivizing account fits all the facts. Rather, reflexive voice in Shipibo is like Lubukusu, except that the anaphor is phonologically null and deficient in phi-features, failing to trigger ergative case on the subject for that reason. True detransitivization may happen in some languages with reflexive voice, but not in all, and it will take considerable care to sort out which are which.

Disjunctive discourse referents in French Sign Language

Disjoined noun phrases, like indefinites, may introduce indeterminate discourse referents. Disjunction provides more flexibility in some respects than indefinites, though, as the two disjuncts may bear different morphological features, and a disjunctive discourse referent may have a split antecedent. Sign language, too, has been shown to bear on arguments pertaining to discourse anaphora. Notably, discourse referents may be established at locations in the signing space (loci), closely paralleling the use of variables in dynamic semantics. Here, we compare several theories of disjunctive anaphora and of space in sign language with new data from French Sign Language (LSF). We argue that loci must be mediated by a featural layer that iconically preserves mereological properties.

Noun Phrases in "Imaji Terindah" Novel By Sitta Karina: A Generative Transformation Analysis

This article is about noun phrases that basically consists of a noun. The data used in this article is taken from the novel "Imaji Terindah" by Sitta Karina with a generative transformation approach. The theory of generative transformation is a system of rules consisting of a limited set of rules but capable of generating or creating a limited number of sentences. There are three stages followed in this research method, namely the stage of providing data. In this step, the listening method is used. Then in analyzing the data analysis, the author uses the distributional method. And the last stage presenting the results of data analysis. At this stage the author uses a formal method. The characteristic of noun phrases in this novel is the noun as the main element. Noun phrases is functioned the subject, predicate, and object. Based on the characteristics of noun phrases in this novel, the elements of noun phrases are grouped into two types, namely primary elements and modifier elements. In the novel "The most beautiful image" by Sitta Karina, there are many sentences using the 'yang' relator.

The Translation Text of Drama “Macbeth”: Grammatical Transformation of Adjunct in Noun Phrase

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s play that used unique and dramatic choice of words in its adjective and noun. Grammatical transformation of adjectival adjunct in noun phrase in the translation text of drama Macbeth has caused the shift of phrase’s meaning. This study aims to identify the grammatical shift by using X-Bar theory. This study is a descriptive qualitative study. The data are collected by using documentation and note taking technique. There are 35 noun phrases collected. The results show that there are 3 types of shift of adjectival adjunct. First, the adjunct is omitted. Second, the adjunct shifts into complementizer phrase. Third, the adjunct shifts into prepositional phrase.

Latent semantic analysis for tagging activation states and identifiability in northwestern Mexican news outlets

The present work aims to study the relationship between measures, obtained from Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and a variant known as SPAN, and activation and identifiability states (Informative States) of referents in noun phrases present in journalistic notes from Northwestern Mexican news outlets written in Spanish. The aim and challenge is to find a strategy to achieve labelling of new / given information in the discourse rooted in a theoretically linguistic stance. The new / given distinction can be defined from different perspectives in which it varies what linguistic forms are taken into account. Thus, the focus in this work is to work with full referential devices (n = 2 388). Pearson’s R correlation tests, analysis of variance, graphical exploration of the clustering of labels, and a classification experiment with random forests are performed. For the experiment, two groups were used: noun phrases labeled with all 10 tags of informative states and a binary labelling, as well as the use of two bags-of-words for each noun phrase: the interior and the exterior. It was found that using LSA in conjunction with the inner bag of words can be used to classify certain informational states. This same measure showed good results for the binary division, detecting which sentences introduce new referents in discourse. In previous work using a similar method in noun phrases in English, 80% accuracy (n = 478) was reached in their classification exercise. Our best test for Spanish reached 79%. No work on Spanish using this method has been done before and this kind of experiment is important because Spanish exhibits a more complex inflectional morphology.

Effects of Differential Presentation of Noun Types on Sentence Processing in Elderly Adults: An Eye-tracking Study

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate how aging influences sentence processing when noun-phrases are presented differently.Methods: A total of 40 participants participated in the study ranging in age from 19 to 71. All were presented with sentences and pictures under either dative or accusative conditions. After that, they were asked to judge if the sentences were correct or incorrect.Results: First, there were significant differences between the older adults and younger adults in accuracy. The older group showed lower accuracy in the sentence judgment task. Second, there were significant differences between the older adults and younger adults in response time. The older group needed more time due to their lower cognitive resources. They made more errors when accusative noun phrases were provided. Third, the fixation proportion of the target stimulus between regions were significant in both types of dative and accusative noun phrase presentation. The older group showed lower proportions in the last region of the sentence.Conclusion: These results shows that both the elderly and the young gradually deal with the meaning of words through the noun phrase information. However, the elderly showed difficulty in assigning the correct thematic roles by using case-markers, given the lower proportion of fixation in the region where the target stimuli are presented. It is expected that difficulties in the communication process of the elderly will be better understood through this study.

THE DELETION OF THE HUMAN AGENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DISCOURSE: AN ECOLINGUISTIC STUDY

This study explores the use of the strategy of erasure in environmental science discourses to explore the deletion of the agent. Three environmental science textbooks have been chosen for analysis. Stibbe’s (2015) framework of erasure has been used as a model for analyzing the data. He asserts that the natural world is marginalized in texts through the use of certain linguistic strategies; these strategies run throughout the whole discourse to construct the erasure of the ecosystem. The researchers aim to identify erasure at the level of void, which is the complete erasure or deletion of the agent from these discourses. Stibbe mentions nine linguistic strategies for the construction of erasure in environmental discourses. These strategies are passive voice, nominalization, co-hyponymy, hyponymy, metaphor, metonymy, construction of noun phrases, transitivity patterns and massification. For the construction of void, the researchers have analyzed the strategies of passivization and nominalization. It has been found that these strategies are pervasive in the discourses, thereby deleting the agent and constructing void. The study suggests a new way to look at the language of ecological discourses and proposes further studies on how euphemistic language in these discourses can negatively influence readers. Keywords: erasure, mask, void, environmental discourse