The framework of this paper is Natural Syntax initiated by the author in the tradition of (morphological) naturalness as established by Wolfgang U. Dressler and Willi Mayerthaler. Natural Syntax is a pseudodeductive linguistic theory, and this is its most recent version. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or "axioms") listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in what are known as deductions, the chief components of each being a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignment is distinguished and related to Henning Andersen's early work on markedness. The basic idea is to illustrate how a (pseudo)deductive theory of syntax performs if it insists on avoiding abstract solutions, and in particular on excluding any generative component. Natural Syntax is exemplified here with selected English cases of transitivity. Special attention is given to relative-frequency phenomena.
The framework of this paper is Natural Syntax initiated by the author in the tradition of (morphological) naturalness as established by Wolfgang U. Dressler and †Willi Mayerthaler.Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or "axioms") listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in what are known as deductions, the chief components of each being a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values.Natural Syntax is here exemplified with selected language data bearing on the use of the English indefinite article.Some recent work related to Natural Syntax: Orešnik 2007a-e; 2008a-c; 2009a, b; 2009 (with Varja Cvetko-Orešnik). (Only work published in English is mentioned).
The paper deals with a topic which is not very frequent in kinanthropology; it concerns the phenomenon of the naked body in the environment of movement culture. Within the individual aspects of this cultural subsystem (sport, movement education, movement recreation, movement therapy, and movement art), it points out a variety of meanings and contexts adding sense to nudity on a continuum ranging from naturalness and functionality through erotization and sexualization to pornoization of particularly sport environment. The author prefers a functional naturalness of nudity and rejects the instrumentalization and changing human body into a thing and, thus, exceeding the characteristics of the sphere of movement culture.
The author of this paper defines the aspectual paradigms of Russian verbs as such grammatical structures whose formal aspect is correlated with the conceptual one, therefore being its cognitive counterpart. With a view to analysing these paradigms he uses the theory of markedness as an analytic tool. According to it, the grammatical changes that occur in natural languages originate from general principles of naturalness which are typologically relevant. They result in morphological shifts that are linked to the verbalisation of Russian aspectual paradigms and allow to predict the direction of their development. In particular, the principle of natural grammatical development should be considered crucial. It means that the grammatical changes in natural languages cause elimination of marked elements, so that these more complex linguistic structues are replaced with less complex ones. Such a principle manifests an unconscious desire of language users to minimise their linguistic efforts, as it would place an additional burden on interpersonal communication.
Recent studies on linguistic complexity (Miestamo 2006, 2009, Miestamo et al. 2008) offer me the opportunity for comparing and re-discussing some major theoretical concepts that were at the basis of my model on textual complexity (2002, 2003, 2004) and which are also fundamental assumptions in those studies. Comparability is limited by the different objects of analysis, text in my research vs. cross-linguistic grammars there, but it is justified by a strong similarity in the very conceptualisation of complexity and in the criteria for defining it. The aim of this paper is to re-propose and further elaborate on my theoretical approach and confirm its validity. Text complexity is viewed as an instance of system complexity and text as a complex system. The analysis of text complexity under this light presupposes conceiving of the text as a dynamic configuration of components that, in the course of the text progression, variously interplay and with varied effects. The theory of complex systems offers good instruments for modelling this type of interplay and for explaining the changes and readjustments that follow. A theory of naturalness/markedness can help motivate and predict the emergence, type and scope of textual complexity.
Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory, a branch of Naturalness Theory. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or "axioms") listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in what are known as deductions, whose chief components are a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignments are distinguished, in complementary distribution. Here almost only chiastic alignment is utilized, this being mandatory in derivations limited to unnatural environments. (This paper deals with relative clauses, which are dependent clauses, an area of low naturalness in Natural Syntax.)The exemplification is taken from English. The chief aim is to solicit predictions about various aspects of relative clauses. For instance, the known fact is made predictable that more English relative clauses are finite than non-finite. The most frequent issues addressed in the deductions are acceptability judgements, the behaviour of subordinators, the difference between integrated and supplementary clauses, movement ex situ, etc.Some related work: Orešnik (2003a, b; 2004; 2007 [with Varja Cvetko-Orešnik]; 2007).
Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory, a branch of Naturalness Theory. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or "axioms") listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in "deductions", whose chief components are a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignments are distinguished, in complementary distribution. Here almost only chiastic alignment is utilized, the latter being mandatory in derivations limited to unnatural environments. (This paper deals with negation, a phenomenon of low naturalness in Natural Syntax.)The exemplification is taken from English. The following pairs of variants are dealt with in deductions: (1) Is there somebody else? vs. Is there nobody else? (2) Nobody vs. nothing. (3) She is not lazy vs. She does not like ice cream. (4) Absence vs. presence of not with no and any. (5) The adverb nowhere clause-initially and clause-internally. (6) Nowhere expressing rest and movement. (7) Pronouns with no- used as subject or object vs. pronouns with any- used as object. (8) Not with finite and non-finite verbs. (9) He hadn't vs. he didn't have. (10) The adverb never in situ and ex situ. (11) No money vs. not any money in conversation. (12) The determiner no vs. the pronoun none.
This paper briefly surveys several conceptions of naturalness in phonology, touching primarily on typological frequency and the notion of "phonetic motivation". It is argued that typological frequency is not a reliable indicator of what is "phonetically motivated" as relative frequency patterns are the outcomes of more complex interactions, including non-phonetic factors. Phonetic motivations are diverse and include random variations, not only deterministic results, as is often desired. Models that view phonological patterns as emerging from complex interactions of a variety of natural factors are the most satisfying.
According to the standard interpretation of Lewis’s theory of predicate meaning (the U&N theory), the naturalness of meaning candidates should be stated metaphysically as a length of definition in terms of fundamental properties. Recently, Weatherson has criticized the U&N theory and argued that the criterion of naturalness should be stated epistemologically as the amount of evidence needed to form a belief. Despite the criticism, his attitude towards the U&N theory is quite relaxed. According to Weatherson, the U&N theory can be used as a good heuristic for delivering the correct verdicts when doing applied semantics, i.e., when we try to determine the best meaning candidate for a particular predicate. In this paper, I try to show that the “good heuristic strategy” is of no use because A) there is no guarantee that the epistemological and the metaphysical criteria of naturalness deliver the same verdicts and B) even if they deliver the same verdicts, the difference in their theoretical backgrounds may affect arguments which rely on the verdicts. The difference will be shown by drawing on the example of Theodore Sider and his use of the U&N theory.
The article is written to unveil the important values and understandings accepted in our deepest subconsciousness, which form the basis for speaking about traditional folk dancing as a ‘natural’ way of motion, and for the desire and suggestions to dance ‘naturally’. In contemporary urban culture, various dance styles have been described as ‘natural’, but the topic of this article is traditional folk dance today. My dance ethnographic fieldwork for this research was carried out in Estonia during the years 2008–2014, at the main traditional folk dance events such as festival dance nights, concerts, group rehearsals, and workshops, as well as in other dance learning environments. Spoken and written statements about traditional folk dance during the research period are also taken into account. In general, one can say that the ‘natural’ qualities of traditional folk dance in today’s Estonia spring from the fact that the individual freedom of the dancer is highly valued. The meaning of ‘naturalness’ is based on the dance knowledge and experience of each dancer or speaker, and may consist in • the sense of gravity and optimised work of muscles when the dancer has decided that it is sustainable and best for his/her living body; • posture and manners acquired by training in any other dance style if the dancer perceives it as comfortable, familiar, and normal; • goal-oriented imitation of parents or other cultural models when the dancer thinks this is the essence of learning the tradition; • spontaneous, unconscious, uncontrolled movement, which the dancer thinks to be with no rules and no need to learn or know something special. Various combinations of these meanings and their reasons are also possible. The study proves that today the ‘naturalness’ of traditional folk dancing is constructed by each dancer in light of their own beliefs and convictions, including faith in the primacy of individual freedom. This result is usable in ethnochoreological research into any more concrete issues concerned with traditional folk dances, but even more important for dance learning and teaching processes, with reference to the need to always ask and explain in detail what is meant by doing something ‘naturally’. Additionally, the analysed data also reveal the ambivalent position of traditional folk dance among other cultural practices in present-day Estonia. For one group of people interest in traditional folk dance and music is related to other aspects of ecological-organic lifestyles, such as place of residence, food, clothing, re-use and reduction of consumption; also there is another group whose traditional folk dancing is just an alternation in their mainstream urban lifestyle. In both cases, traditional folk dancing is considered more ‘natural’ than other dance styles due to its origin in peasant culture, allegedly unspoiled and cleaner than our contemporary environment. Thus, in present-day traditional folk dance practices, forgotten peasant dance texts are actualised again, but with new aspects emphasised, which refer to characteristic ideas in our society today, for example, a search for some fixed points in the general urban uncertainty. Through learning and performing ancestors’ dances people raise their self-awareness, sense of security and physical and mental well-being. Direct ways for improving and maintaining physical health are also seen in the ‘naturalness’ of traditional folk dancing, especially when compared to stage folk dance or other stage dance styles with higher risks of overload and injuries due to their external requirements or strenuous workout. Different perceptions are similar in the recognition that dancers today feel traditional folk dancing raise their subjective well-being. In spite of different reasons, in general, the cultural proposal that traditional folk dance can be a lifelong and healthy way of movement, has been accepted as cognitively adequate. Today, topics related to physical and mental health are usually rather intimate, and this once more explains the deeply individualistic character of ‘naturalness’, which traditional folk dancing seeks to achieve.
In this paper, I discuss a specifi c approach to measuring and comparing the simplicity of theories that is based on Lewis’s notion of fundamental properties. In particular, I discuss the criterion of simplicity as stated by Williams. According to Williams, the best candidate for a theory is the one which has the shortest defi nition in terms of fundamental properties. Th e aim of this paper is to show that the criterion thus specifi ed has two constraints. First, the criterion is not applicable to cases in which candidates for theories that specify fundamental properties are compared. Secondly, the applicability of the criterion in social sciences seems to be unwarranted.
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V tomto příspěvku se zabývám specifi ckým přístupem k měření a porovnání jednoduchosti teorií, který je založen na Lewisově pojetí fundamentálních vlastností. Zejména se zabývám kritériem jednoduchosti, jak ho prezentuje Williams. Podle Williamse nejlepší kandidát na teorii je ten, který má nejkratší defi nici z hlediska fundamentálních vlastností. Cílem tohoto příspěvku je ukázat, že takto specifi kované kritérium má dvě omezení. Zaprvé, kritérium není použitelné v případech, kdy porovnáváme kandidáty na teorie, které stanovují fundamentální vlastnosti. Zadruhé, aplikace tohoto kritéria v sociálních vědách se zdá být neopodstatněná.
The article deals theoretically with colloquial standard discourses in media. It adduces examples of colloquial standard means on the individual levels of the language system. The production of colloquial standard texts, in which naturalness together with responsibility of the speaker play an important role, is generally described. This production is characterised in a complicated situation of spoken media. „Good speech models”, necessary after restoration of social elites after 1989, are important in media for the broad strata of population and should become a subject of linguistic research more often.
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Článek se zabývá hovorovými spisovnými projevy v médiích teoreticky. Uvádí příklady hovorových spisovných prostředků na jednotlivých rovinách jazykového systému. Obecně se popisuje produkce hovorových spisovných textů, kdy se protíná přirozenost a odpovědnost mluvčího. Konkrétně se charakterizuje tato produkce v složité komunikační situaci mluvených médií. „Dobré řečové vzory”, které jsou potřebné s obnovením společenských elit po roce 1989, jsou v médiích důležité pro nejširší vrstvy obyvatelstva a měly by být častěji než dnes předmětem lingvistického výzkumu.
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