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In this paper we investigate Greek, an optional clitic doubling language not subject to Kaynes generalization (Jaeggli 1982), and we argue that in this language, doubled DPs are in A-positions. We propose that Greek clitics are formal features that move, permitting DPs in argument positions. This leads to a typology according to which there are two types of clitic/agreement languages -configurational and nonconfigurational ones-, depending upon whether clitics are instantiations of formal features or not.
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2.1 introduces the basic classes of adjectives that constitute the factual core of the paper. Section 2.2 summarizes in greater detail the X° and the XP movement approaches to word order variation within the DP. Section 3 briefly discusses problems for both approaches. Sections 4.1, 5.1, and 5.2 draw from Alexiadou (2001) and contain a discussion of Greek DS and its relevance for a re-analysis of the word order variation in the Romance DP. Section 4.2 introduces refinements to Alexiadou & Wilder (1998) and Alexiadou (2001). Section 5.3. discusses certain issues that arise from the analysis of postnominal adjectives in Romance as involving raising of XPs. Section 6 discusses phenomena found in other languages, which at first sight seem similar to DS. However, I show that double definiteness in e.g. Hebrew, Scandinavian or other Balkan languages constitutes a different type of phenomenon from Greek DS, thus making a distinction between determiners that introduce CPs (Greek) and those that are merely morphological/agreement markers (Hebrew, Scandinavian, Albanian).
Class features as probes
(2008)
In this article, we adress (i) the form and (ii) the function on inflection class features in minimalist grammar. The empirical evidence comes from noun inflection systems involving fusional markers in German, Greek, and Russian. As for (i), we argue (based on instances of transparadigmatic syncretism) that class features are not privative; rather, class information must be decomposed into more abstract, binary features. Concerning (ii), we propose that class features qualify as the very device that brings about fusional infection: They are uninterpretable in syntax and actas probes on stems, with matching inflection markers as goels, and thus trigger morphological Agree operations that merge stem and inflection marker before syntax is reached.
The goal of this paper is to re-examine the status of the condition in (1) proposed in Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou (2001; henceforth A&A 2001), in view of recent developments in syntactic theory. (1) The subject-in-situ generalization (SSG) By Spell-Out, vP can contain only one argument with a structural Case feature. We argue that (1) is a more general condition than previously recognized, and that the domain of its application is parametrized. More specifically, based on a comparison between Indo-European (IE) and Khoisan languages, we argue that (1) supports an interpretation of the EPP as a general principle, and not as a property of T. Viewed this way, the SSG is a condition that forces dislocation of arguments as a consequence of a constraint on Case checking.
In this paper we compare the distribution of PPs introducing external arguments in nominalizations with PPs introducing external arguments in the verbal domain. We show that several mismatches exist between the behavior of PPs in nominalizations and PPs in the verbal domain. This leads us to suggest that while PPs in the verbal domain are licensed by functional structure alone, within the nominal domain, PPs can also be licensed via an interplay of the encyclopaedic meaning of the root involved and the properties of the preposition itself. This second mechanism kicks in in the absence of functional structure.
Structuring participles
(2008)
In this paper we discuss three types of adjectival participles in Greek, ending in -tos and –menos, and provide a further argument for the view that finer distinctions are necessary in the domain of participles (Kratzer 2001, Embick 2004). We further compare Greek stative participles to their German (and English) counterparts. We propose that a number of semantic as well as syntactic differences shown by these derive from differences in their respective morpho-syntactic composition.
In this paper we investigate the distribution of PPs related to external arguments (agent, causer, instrument, causing event) in Greek. We argue that their distribution supports an analysis, according to which agentive/instrument and causer PPs are licensed by distinct functional heads, respectively. We argue against a conceivable alternative analysis, which links agentivity and causation to the prepositions themselves. We furthermore identify a particular type of Voice head in Greek anticausative realised by non-active Voice morphology.
In the recent literature there is growing interest in the morpho-syntactic encoding of hierarchical effects. The paper investigates one domain where such effects are attested: ergative splits conditioned by person. This type of splits is then compared to hierarchical effects in direct-inverse alternations. On the basis of two case studies (Lummi instantiating an ergative split person language and Passamaquoddy an inverse language) we offer an account that makes no use of hierarchies as a primitive. We propose that the two language types differ as far as the location of person features is concerned. In inverse systems person features are located exclusively in T, while in ergative systems, they are located in T and a particular type of v. A consequence of our analysis is that Case checking in split and inverse systems is guided by the presence/absence of specific phi-features. This in turn provides evidence for a close connection between Case and phi-features, reminiscent of Chomsky’s (2000, 2001) Agree.
On the role of syntactic locality in morphological processes : the case of (Greek) derived nominals
(2008)
The paper is structured as follows. In section 2, I briefly summarize the facts on English and Greek nominalizations. In section 3, I discuss English nominal derivation in some detail. In section 4, I turn to the question of licensing of AS in nominals. In section 5, I turn to the issue of the optionality of licensing of AS in the nominal system.
The causative/anticausative alternation has been the topic of much typological and theoretical discussion in the linguistic literature. This alternation is characterized by verbs with transitive and intransitive uses, such that the transitive use of a verb V means roughly "cause to Vintransitive" (see Levin 1993). The discussion revolves around two issues: the first one concerns the similarities and differences between the anticausative and the passive, and the second one concerns the derivational relationship, if any, between the transitive and intransitive variant. With respect to the second issue, a number of approaches have been developed. Judging the approach conceptually unsatisfactory, according to which each variant is assigned an independent lexical entry, it was concluded that the two variants have to be derivationally related. The question then is which one of the two is basic and where this derivation takes place in the grammar. Our contribution to this discussion is to argue against derivational approaches to the causative / anticausative alternation. We focus on the distribution of PPs related to external arguments (agent, causer, instrument, causing event) in passives and anticausatives of English, German and Greek and the set of verbs undergoing the causative/anticausative alternation in these languages. We argue that the crosslinguistic differences in these two domains provide evidence against both causativization and detransitivization analyses of the causative / anticausative alternation. We offer an approach to this alternation which builds on a syntactic decomposition of change of state verbs into a Voice and a CAUS component. Crosslinguistic variation in passives and anticausatives depends on properties of Voice and its combinations with CAUS and various types of roots.
This paper deals with the variable position of adjectives in the Romanian DP. As all other Romance languages, Romanian allows for adjectives to appear in both prenominal and post-nominal position. In addition, however, Romanian has a third pattern: the so-called cel construction, in which the adjective in the post-nominal position is preceded by a determiner-like element, cel. This pattern is superficially similar to Determiner Spreading in Greek. In this paper we contrast the cel construction to Greek DS and discuss the similarities and differences between the two. We then present an analysis of cel as involving an appositive specification clause, building on de Vries (2002). We argue that the same structure is also involved in the context of nominal ellipsis, the second environment in which cel is found.
A commonly held view in the literature on Scrambling and Clitic Doubling is that both constructions are sensitive to Specificity. For this reason Sportiche (1992) proposes to unify the two, an approach which has become quite standard in the relevant literature ever since. However, the claim that clitic doubling is the counterpart of Germanic scrambling has never been substantiated. In this paper we present extensive evidence from Greek that Clitic Doubling has common formal properties with Germanic Scrambling/Object Shift. Our evidence consists mainly of binding facts observed when doubling takes place, which seem, at first sight, to be completely unexpected. On closer inspection, however, it turns out that these facts are strongly reminiscent of the effects showing up in Germanic scrambling. We propose that these properties can be derived under a theory of clitic constructions along the lines of Sportiche (1992) implemented into the framework of Chomsky (1995). Finally we suggest the that the crosslinguistic distribution of Scrambling as opposed to Clitic Doubling should be linked to a parameter relating to properties of Agr: Move/Merge XP vs. Move/Merge X° to Agr. We show that this parameter unifies the behaviour of subjects and objects within a language and across languages. The paper is organised as follows. In section 2 we present evidence from binding, interpretational and prosodic effects that doubling and scrambling display very similar properties. In section 3 we present Sportiches account and point out some problems for it. In section 4 we present our proposal.
Seitdem die Junggrammatiker den Begriff des Lautgesetzes geprägt haben, sind deren fast ebenso viele aufgestellt wie in der Folge hinterfragt, widerlegt und vielleicht am Ende sogar doch wieder erfolgreich verteidigt worden. Jedes Lautgesetz wirkt in einem unterschiedlichen Zeitraum. Ist aus dem Zeitraum des Wirkens mehrerer zeitlich benachbarter oder gar einander zeitlich überlappender Lautgesetze ein ausreichend großes Textkorpus erhalten, so ist es ein Leichtes, die Reihenfolge des Wirkens der Gesetze zu ermitteln, oder, im günstigsten Fall, den Zeitraum ihres Wirkens sogar mit gewisser Präzision datieren zu können. Anders verhält es sich hingegen, wenn schriftliche Überlieferungen der untersuchten Sprache in der entscheidenden Epoche nur spärlich oder gar nicht vorliegen. Hier muss daher traditionell darauf zurückgegriffen werden, die Reihenfolge anhand der allein möglichen Entwicklung einzelner Wörter, auf die besonders viele der betreffenden Lautgesetze gewirkt haben, zu bestimmen. Diese Methode birgt jedoch die Gefahr menschlicher Fehler, insbesondere in Fällen, in denen eine klare Reihenfolge nur unter Betrachtung mehrerer Wörter zu ermitteln ist. Die Forscher vergangener Jahrzehnte und Jahrhunderte hatten hier allerdings keine andere Wahl. Mit den heute verfügbaren Computern eröffnen sich jedoch ungeahnte Möglichkeiten. Zuvor in Programmiersprache umgeschriebene Lautgesetze können in Sekundenschnelle auf immense Textkorpora angewandt werden. Um aber – ohne jegliche Zuhilfenahme außersprachlichen Wissens – die eine oder mehrere mögliche Reihenfolgen verschiedener Lautgesetze zu bestimmen, ist es nötig, sämtliche Möglichkeiten anhand eines Wortkorpus durchzuspielen und die jeweiligen Ergebnisse mit den tatsächlichen, vorliegenden Ergebnissen zu vergleichen. Dieser Versuch soll im Folgenden unternommen werden. Auf diese Weise könnten dann relative Chronologien von Lautgesetzen, die als längst etabliert gelten, noch einmal auf den Prüfstand gestellt und möglicherweise sogar noch präzisiert werden. Nach einer kurzen Begriffsgeschichte des Lautgesetzes soll zunächst auf sprachliche Problemstellungen eingegangen werden, die das Vorhaben erschweren, bevor die Auswahl zweier den Untersuchungszeitraum begrenzender Sprachstufen sowie eine Beschreibung des Datenmaterials – Wortkorpus und Lautgesetze – folgen. Nun soll das Computerprogramm, von den Anforderungen bis hin zur Umsetzung, erläutert werden. Anschließen soll sich hieran eine Darstellung der Erkenntnisse, die die Ergebnisse des Programms gewähren. Im Schlussteil sollen die offen gebliebenen und die neu entstandenen Fragen noch einmal zusammengefasst und Möglichkeiten zur hierauf basierenden weitergehenden Forschung erörtert werden.
The limits of Cushitic
(1980)
Gegenstände der Untersuchung sind genetische Gliederung und historische Rekonstruktion im Kuschitischen. Nach dem Kriterium gemeinsamer sprachlicher Innovationen sind folgende Schlüsse möglich: (1) Ik ist keine kuschitische, nicht einmal eine afroasiatische Sprache. (2) Es ist durchaus nicht sicher, daß die Burji-Sidamo-Gruppe (Rift-Valley-Kuschitisch) mit dem Tieflandkuschitischen einen genetischen Zweig - das Ostkuschitische - bildet. Die Burji-Sidamo-Gruppe kannte am engsten mit dem Agaw verwandt sein und mit ihm einen anderen genetischen Zweig - das Hochlandkuschitische - bilden. (3) Die Iraqw-Gruppe - und mit ihr vermutlich das gesamte Südkuschitische - gehört zum Tieflandkuschitischen und bildet keinen selbständigen Zweig des Kuschitischen. (4) Obwohl das Beja zweifellos eine afroasiatische Sprache ist, ist jedoch nicht zuverlässig bewiesen, daß es zum Kuschitischen gehört. Seine genaue Stellung zum Kuschitischen (dem Kuschitischen nächstverwandter Zweig oder nicht einmal dies?) bleibt noch zu klären. Die Erörterung und Beweisführung beruht auf Rekonstruktionen des Verbalsystems und der Kasus, auf einem Systemvergleich der Determinationselemente und der Genitivmorpheme sowie auf anderen syntaktischen und morphologischen Merkmalen. Auch einige Prinzipien der linguistischen Typologie wurden herangezogen. Es handelt sich um vorläufige Ergebnisse.
Theories of cognition that are based on information processing and representation are reactive (Rosen, 1985) or backwards looking, not anticipatory. In a previous article (Thibault, 2005a), I looked at the reasons why humans and bonobos do not need an innate language faculty in order to be minded, languaging beings. The present article takes up some of the questions explored there, but, it asks, on the other hand, what sort of a minded agent has language and what kind of account of language and more broadly meaning do we need to explain minded, languaged agents and the activities they participate in? Following Rosen (1985), I also take up and further develop a point first raised in Thibault (2004a: 187) on language as an anticipatory system, rather than a reactively ‘representational’ one (see also Bickhard, 2005).
The paper focuses on business negotiation in settings in which participants from different mothertongue backgrounds choose French, English andfor German as one of their languages of communication. A general scheme of the action-pattem of buying and selling will be sketched out which allows us to analyze specific Courses of verbal actions according ta their communicative functions within the negotiation process. In particular, the discourse of business communication is to be specified as a decision making process on the part of the buyer which is executed in a step-by-step order, and which is Open to the application of a bundle of the seller's strategies, tactics, and communicative techniques. In international negotiations, effects of unobserved miscommunication are, among others, far-stretched communicative circles, prolongation of negotiation time, non-functional explanations and several other repetitive structures. 1. Languages of trade and commerce - languages of communication 2. Communication in a Buy-Sell-Context is patterned 2.1. Entering the Pattern 2.2. The Main Phase 2.3. The Bidding Phase 2.4. The Specifc Conditions 2.5. Negotiating the Contract 3. The Central Point 3.1. The Buyer's Decision-Making Process 3.2 Decision-Making and Role-Playing 3.3. Intercultural Difference of the Decision-Making Process 4. Bridging the Buyer's Gap of Knowledge 5. The Language of Trade and Commerce 6. The Needs of Further Research: Data References
What are the similarities and differences in the loss of grammatical systems across individual languages? To answer this question, I examine structural consequences of language attrition and the correspondences between language-particular and cross-linguistic phenomena under circumstances of severe attrition. However, the very formulation of this approach, involving "severe attrition", already warrants some clarification, It leads to the formuIation of two collateral questions. First, how can the level of language attrition be quantified? Second, which structural features are diagnostic of the decline of grammar? I present data on structural change in six attrited languages as compared to non-attrited control languages and demonstrate that there is significant parallelism in structural change across languages. Next, I show a correlation between levels of grammatical and lexical loss and introduce a simple test allowing us to measure the level of attrition.