The major claim of this paper is that information structure related particles of Sinhala are distinct functional heads and they project in syntax. This is in line with the cartographic approach to syntax which claims that discourse related features are visible for computation (Rizzi 1997, 2004), a claim also supported by Miyagawa, (2010), and Aboh (2010), among others. The present paper seeks to validate the above claim with evidence from Sinhala, motivating the argument that discourse related features lexicalized in Sinhala drive the derivation, and these features are comparable to formal features in establishing an Agree relation.
The present study explores the acceptability of postverbal subjects by intermediate and advanced L2 English learners with L1 Macedonian, a pro-drop Slavic language with rich verbal morphology. The two languages differ regarding the distribution of subject-verb inversion (SVI): in Macedonian, it is a default pattern in thetic sentences, but English severely restricts SVI to specific contexts. To test the hypothesis that Macedonian learners encounter difficulties in acquisition of English SVI because of crosslinguistic influence, a grammaticality judgement and correction task was administered to two groups of Macedonian learners of English and a control group of English native speakers. The results revealed that L2 learners find English VS sentences and VS + it-insertion examples more acceptable than the native speakers, but the performance of the advanced group is closer to the native speakers than to the intermediate learners. Both non-native groups accept more readily inappropriate English sentences that conform to typical L1 structures.
In the present paper, different scales discussed in the relevant linguistic literature are characterized and compared, first of all those that are related in some way or another to the information structure of the sentence. We then introduce our scale based on a partial ordering of mental images in the stock of knowledge assumed by the speaker to be shared by him and the hearer during the discourse. This hierarchy has a cognitive background but is reflected in the structure of the sentence, be it its information structure, or the types of referring expressions. The activation scale and its impact is then illustrated on a segment of parallel English and Czech text.
The present paper aims to indicate the relation of focus particles także, też, również (auch) to their domains in the Polish sentence. The study is based on language examples taken from the National Corpus of Polish (NKJP). The investigation poses the question whether the basic patterns which were noticed in relation to the German focus particle auch can also be found as governing the use of również, także, and też. Such regularities, if shown and verified, can inspire further contrastive research in the area of foreign language learning. The findings of the present study shall be viewed as combining the semantic and pragmatic approach to language.
FR
Le numéro contient uniquement les résumés en anglais.
In this paper, we first review the existing evidence of gesture-prosody alignment in information structure marking, focusing on specific gestural patterns that were observed to co-occur with various information structure constructions. Then we complement the evidence with the results of a corpus-based study of gesture-speech alignment in Czech. Analyzing a sample of 80 minutes of personal narratives by 16 speakers collected from a Czech multimodal corpus, we observed that by far the most frequent information structure units accompanied by gestures were foci. In line with previous research, we observed that pitch and intensity peaks lag behind the gesture stroke onset (on average by 300 ms). We also provide new evidence for a systematic variation in the duration of the temporal shift related to the marking of discourse contrast.
This paper analyzes instances of use of conventionalized antonyms in sentences in which they generate a related contrast pair or enhance its contrast potential, e.g. All those young blonde American nurses who marry old film stars placed in their care are simply taking care of business. The theoretical framework adopted is that of Cognitive Linguistics, in which meanings are mental entities in conceptual space and arise through context-driven conceptual combinations. Contexts of antonym use in the sentence seem to be structured and can be explained if conceptual approach to antonymy is adopted. Sentences in which the well-established antonymous pair is employed to act as a contrast generating device actually contain two contrasting pairs. The article seeks to explain why we are able to interpret the second contrast pair in the relation of binary semantic contrast, whether any form-meaning pairings can become members of the binary contrast set, and whether there is a scale of antonymity of contrast pairs in those contexts. The results provide support to cognitive prototype approach to antonymy, which predicts a category with a continuum structure, with a number of prototypical antonym partners as core members and ad hoc couplings on the outskirts.
Based on the written part of the British Component of International Corpus of English (ICE-GB), this paper investigates the interrelationship between length and complexity of sentential constituents and their positions in the sentence. Results show that length and complexity affect sentential constituent ordering. Within the sentence, the longest and the most complex constituents tend to occur in the final position, and the relatively shorter and less complex constituents tend to be in the initial position. However, for sentential constituents in other positions, the length-complexity-position relationship appears to be random. Possible explanations for the findings are provided from different perspectives, especially from the distribution of given and new information.
Hungarian relevant-set based operators, such as universally quantified noun-phrases and the also-quantifier, signal a logico-pragmatic relation between their explicit meaning and a broader implicit set of relevant participants which property can be mentioned as “double referentiality” of the operator. Furthermore, they indicate the new or correcting information in a topic–predicate dimension which belongs to the broader world of the discourse. Our research aims to identify the differences by investigating the suprasegmental features of each-quantifiers and also-quantifiers on the Hungarian left-periphery indicating the two functions in the topic–predicate dimension. Short sentences in which quantifiers functioning either as the main (new/correcting) information or as a topic (anchor of relevant information) were read by 41 non-linguist native Hungarian subjects. The pitch, intensity and duration properties were analyzed by Praat. On the basis of paired t‑tests of the data, it can be stated that a two-dimension model of information structure is required to capture the phenomenon.
In recent years many lexical elements in the syntactic tree have been decomposed into formal features forming part of the functional sequence. This paper explores the effects of this change on the syntax-phonology interface, addressing two problems for language modularity and proposing that the Lexicon be the locus of communication between the two modules. The first issue is the sensitivity of prosody to edges of syntactic constituents and to lexical elements and projections but not to functional ones (cf. Selkirk 1995; Truckenbrodt 1999, 2007 inter alia). Lexicon subcategorisation is offered as the solution (cf. Bye 2006; Paster 2005). The second issue is the prosodic marking of Information Structure. In Prosodic Phonology, constraints (Align-F, Stress-Focus) "see" these syntactic features, which is undesirable if modularity is to be maintained. This paper uses the Nanosyntactic view that features are merged into the tree individually, and suggests that Lexical entries for e.g. F and CT features in English are suprasegmental affixes pairing a H* tone with F feature or a L+H*L-H% contour with a CT feature.
The article presents the recent initiative of the authors of the article to prepare the ground for setting up a corpus of texts annotated from the viewpoint of Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP). The authors are followers of Jan Firbas’s approach to information structure, who have carried out a parallel analysis of a text of fiction in search of concepts within the FSP theory that need elaboration. The article outlines the discrepancies between different interpretations of selected phenomena within the text and suggests a refinement of some FSP concepts. It presents a simple FSP tagging system, which allows the annotation of FSP functions and degrees of communicative dynamism carried by communicative units.
Parliamentary debate (PD) as a specific genre of parliamentary discourse exhibits a hybrid nature: part oral and part written discourse. It is performed orally, but planned ahead and formal. From the point of view of lexical cohesion, encapsulation by means of abstract and unspecific nouns (e.g. fact or reason) is an indicator of the informative density and the underlying written nature of PD. With the tools provided by Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Linguistics, this paper aims at describing and characterizing cross-linguistically lexical encapsulation’s potential to define the information structure of PD. In this regard, encapsulation is analyzed in relation to the notions of topic and focus in three PDs in Catalan, Spanish and English. In order to determine the contribution of encapsulation to the information structure of PD, we describe the properties of lexical encapsulation as a referential cohesion device and analyze the various lexico-grammatical and discourse patterns in which encapsulators occur. From a cross-linguistic point of view, the results show a higher frequency of encapsulation in the debate in English. In this respect, the Scottish debate exhibits a higher cohesive and informational density than the Catalan and the Spanish ones. However, there has also been observed a homogeneous crosslinguistic behavior of encapsulation with regard to weaving the information structure of PD. In fact, the different usage patterns uncover similar general trends in the three languages. These quantitative coincidences are interpreted as genre related features. On the other hand, some patterns unveil cross-linguistic differences linked to a more speaker-dependent style aiming at guiding the addressee (persuasive function) and to the lexico-grammatical features of each language.
Possibilities of Positioning Focus Particles nur/tylko in German and Polish and their Relation to the Domain Focus particles are distinctively characterized by their capability of changing positions in a sentence. Any change of the position involves a change in the sentence intonation and meaning. In German, focus particles can, as a rule, be attached to any type of the XP phrase, such as DP, PP, AP, VP, or CP. What can be identified as the domain depends on the structural integration of the particle in the sentence. The recognition of the domain is a prerequisite for a correct interpretation of a sentence. The present paper, using the findings of research on the focus particle nur, studies the positioning of the particle ‚tylko‘ in the sentence and its relation to the domain based on the National Corpus of Polish (NKJP).
DE
Eine besondere Eigenschaft von FPn ist Variabilität ihrer syntaktischen Positionen im Satz. Den verschiedenen Stellungsmöglichkeiten folgen unterschiedliche Akzentmuster wie auch Bedeutungsunterschiede. Im Deutschen können sich Fokuspartikeln grundsätzlich mit jeder X-bar-Phrase verbinden. Von der Art der strukturellen Einbettung hängt es ab, welcher Teil einer Äußerung als Bezugsausdruck der Fokuspartikel identifiziert wird, was wiederum für die korrekte Interpretation eines Fokuspartikelsatzes entscheidend ist. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht kontrastiv zu dem Deutschen die Positionierungsmöglichkeiten der polnischen Fokuspartikel tylko sowie ihr Stellungsverhalten zum Bezugsausdruck. Der Analyse wurden hierbei Sätze des nationalen Korpus der polnischen Sprache (NKJP) unterzogen.
The term postposing denotes any construction in which a phrasal constituent appears to the right of its canonical position, leaving its initial position either empty or occupied by an expletive. Ward and Birner (2004) argue that postposed constructions preserve the old-before-new information structure paradigm in English. The present paper investigates postposed constituents in Persian to find out the information structure paradigm of such constructions. The data have been taken from 34 interviews. The findings show that various constituents might undergo postposing in spoken Farsi (known as Tehrani dialect), and, in contrast to English, NPs were found to be triggered in postposed position when the referent was hearer-old.
The application of different language resources in professional communication reveals the role of cognition in information processing, the interpretive function of language in knowledge construction, and the interrelation of linguistic and extra-linguistic environments. The aim of the present paper is to examine the development of the language of science and the way it is influenced by history, technology, media, genre, and culture. Integrating cognitive approach and pragmatic analysis, the ways of meaning creation and meaning extension have been studied in the popular science texts. Creative thinking and imagination are considered responsible for innovative, creative and insightful thought in general, and, sometimes, for a much wider range of mental activities.
Reconstruction of connections at supraphrastic level of information structure in discourseThe aim of this paper is to analyse the connections between global theme and thematic segments which constitue the intermediate level of information structure in discourse. The information structures are defined as hierarchically organized thematic-rhematic structures and, in their thematic part, the author distinguishes three levels represented by: global theme, themes of thematic segments and themes of phrases. The author focuses her attention on explicite and implicite connections appearing in the place where global theme and different thematic segments contact. Rekonstrukcja nawiązań na poziomie ponadzdaniowym struktury informacyjnej dyskursuCel artykułu to analiza nawiązań między tematem globalnym a segmentami tematycznymi, które tworzą pośredni poziom struktury informacyjnej dyskursu. Struktura ta jest zdefiniowana jako hierarchicznie zorganizowana struktura tematyczno-rematyczna. W części tematycznej wyróżniono trzy poziomy reprezentowane przez temat globalny, tematy segmentów dyskursu i tematy zdań. Przeprowadzone analizy koncentrują się na eksplicytnych i implicytnych nawiązaniach wyższego rzędu pojawiających się w tych miejscach struktury informacyjnej dyskursu, w których spotykają się jednostki pierwszych dwóch poziomów: temat globalny i różne segmenty tematyczne.
This review presents a concise overview of the main issues treated in Migdalski’s book. Wackernagel’s conjecture that there is a close relationship between the verb second phenomena in Germanic and the clitic second phenomena in Slavic must be closely related and must be the result of the same type of grammatical process is found to be only partly true, but also partly on the wrong track. This conclusion is reached on the basis of minute study of the relevant phenomena in a variety of Germanic and Slavic languages, both synchronically and diachronially. The result is an immensely rich exploration of second position phenomena in two major Indo-European language families.
Der Beitrag ist der informationsstrukturell motivierten Entwicklung der Referenzidentität mit einem Diskursreferenten gewidmet. Untersucht wird hier die Herstellung der Bekanntheit mit einer Entität, die mit Hilfe von dem Demonstrativpronomen dasselbe und den deiktischen Determinativen derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe, Pl. dieselben realisiert wird. Als Untersuchungsgrundlage fungieren die Rechtsvorschriften des deutschen Handelsgesetzbuches.
EN
The article is devoted to the development of the reference identity with a discourse representative, which is motivated by information structure. The focus of the investigation is on determining givenness with an entity by means of the demonstrative pronoun dasselbe and deictic determinatives derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe, pl. dieselben. The basis of the analysis are the legal texts of the German Commercial Code.
Der Beitrag expliziert und exemplifiziert die Entwicklung der Bekanntheit mit einem Diskursreferenten, die auf der Ebene der deutschen normativen Rechtstexte aus dem Bereich des Handelsrechts vollzogen wird. Als grammatische Ausdruckmittel, die diese Art der Spezifizierung zum Ausdruck bringen, fungieren hier das Demonstrativpronomen derjenige und die deiktischen Determinative derjenige, diejenige, dasjenige, Pl. diejenigen. Erwähnt werden sollte, dass die Kennzeichnung eines Diskursreferenten als bekannt/alt hier auf zwei Ebenen zugleich entwickelt wird, was in informationsstruktureller Hinsicht ein interessantes Phänomen darstellt.
EN
This article describes and illustrates the formation of the “givenness” with a discourse representative, which is accomplished at the level of normative texts of the German Commercial Code. The grammatical means which illustrate such type of identification are the demonstrative pronoun derjenige and deictic determinatives derjenige, diejenige, dasjenige, pl. diejenige. It should be emphasized that the identification of a discourse representative as a given/new runs here on two levels, which – from a perspective of information structures – is a captivating phenomenon.
Dislocation structures are increasingly becoming an object of linguistic research. This interest is determined communicatively and pragmatically, i. e. it results from the awareness of these constructions in information-structural aspects of utterances. The aim of the present paper is to determine frequency of occurrence as well as complexity of dislocation structures in this function in German and Polish print media.
DE
Seit kurzem werden die Versetzungsstrukturen immer haufiger zum Untersuchungsgegenstand der linguistischen Forschung. Dieses Interesse ist kommunikativ-pragmatisch determiniert, d. h. es erfolgt aus dem Bewusstsein ihrer Bedeutung bei der informationsstrukturellen Gliederung von Auserungen. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist die Vorkommenshaufigkeit sowie Vielsichtigkeit der Herausstellungsstrukturen in der betreffenden Funktion in Pressetexten der beiden Sprachen (Deutsch-Polnisch) aufzuzeigen.
The paper aims at providing a syntactic analysis of one minor type of predicational clauses in Polish in which the logical subject figures as a complement of the preposition z ‘of’, whereas the predicate is marked for the nominative case. The theoretical model used here is the Minimalist Program of Chomsky (2000, 2001, 2008). Z-predicational sentences have not been systematically analysed so far and the only available analysis, that of Hentschel (2001), concentrates on determining the restrictions on the type of the PP complement and the nominative DP as well as on discovering the grammatical subject of this type of sentence. It is argued in the paper that the prepositional complement in the clauses under consideration tends to be definite and referential, while the nominative DP must always be indefinite and non-referential. Based on agreement and control, it has been demonstrated that it is the nominative DP that acts as a grammatical subject in this type of copular clauses. Moreover, this DP is always targeted for Agree by T and ends up in the canonical subject position, i.e. Spec, TP. Whenever the PP precedes the subject, it is topicalised and hence moved to Spec, CP. The different positions of the PP and the DP with respect to each other underline their different information structure in the given sentences.
PL
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie analizy składniowej jednego, dość rzadkiego, typu zdań predykatywnych w języku polskim, w którym podmiot logiczny znajduje się w pozycji dopełnienia przyimka z, predykat zaś występuje w mianowniku. Modelem teoretycznym użytym w artykule jest Program Minimalistyczny Chomsky’ego (2000, 2001, 2008). Zdania predykatywne z przyimkiem z nie były dotąd analizowane w sposób systematyczny, a jedyna dostępna dotychczas analiza, zaproponowana przez Hentschela (2001), koncentruje się na określeniu ograniczeń, co do typów dopełnień w ramach PP oraz mianownikowego DP, jak również na znalezieniu podmiotu gramatycznego tego typu zdań. W artykule przedstawione są argumenty za tym, że dopełnienie przyimkowe wanalizowanych zdaniach zwykle jest określone i posiada referencję, natomiast DP w mianowniku musi być zawsze nieokreślone i musi nie posiadać referencji. W oparciu o związek zgody i zjawisko kontroli zostało pokazane, że DP w mianowniku jest podmiotem gramatycznym tego typu zdań kopularnych. Ponadto owa DP jest zawsze celem dla T w operacji Uzgadniania i przesuwa się do kanonicznej pozycji podmiotu, tzn. Spec, TP. Jeśli PP występuje przed podmiotem, to podlega tropikalizacji i przesuwa się do Spec, CP. Różne pozycje PP i DP w stosunku do siebie wynikają zróżnic w strukturze informacji poszczególnych zdań.
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