Linguistik
Refine
Document Type
- Article (3)
Language
- English (3) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (3) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (3)
Keywords
- Croatian (3) (remove)
The Intensifying Function of Modal Particles and Modal Elements in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective
(2015)
The aim of this paper is to analyze the intensifying function of German modal particles and equivalent modal expressions in Croatian and English. Our hypothesis is that some modal particles in German and their functional equivalents in Croatian and English can express different degrees of intensity and types of intensification. The presented study comprises two parts. First, the use of intensifying modal particles by a group of speakers of L1 Croatian and L2 German/English is investigated. On the basis of the results obtained, and by means of a previously conducted corpus analysis (cf. Kresić and Batinić 2014), an intensification scale with respect to the inventory of German modal particles and corresponding particles in Croatian as well as equivalent English expressions is suggested. Some German and Croatian modal particles and equivalent modal elements in English can be classified on the upper and partially on the lower part of the proposed intensification scale when compared to the norm, i.e. an utterance unmarked by a modal particle.
Croatian negative indefinite expressions, or the so-called ni-words, are complex forms made by adding the prefix ni- to simple forms of indefinite pronouns. The Croatian standard norm prescribes that in prepositional phrases involving negative idefinite pronouns (the so-called ni-pronouns), the negative element ni should be separated from the pronoun and put in front of the preposition. However, in everyday communication one may often notice the use of the word order P + negative indefinite pronoun, and this word order has also made its way into newspapers and other media. This paper attempts to determine whether there is a significant difference in meaning between the order ni + P + indefinite pronoun and the order P + negative indefinite pronoun to account for such a change in language. We also analyze the frequency of use of these two different word orders in the Croatian National Corpus, examining eleven most frequent prepositions and six simple indefinite pronouns.
Obligatory control refers to the relation of obligatory coreference between one of the arguments in the matrix clause and an unexpressed argument of the subordinate infinitive. This paper provides examples of subject and object control in Croatian that reveal significant differences between these two constructions. Subject control is understood as a purely syntactic relation, while the analysis of object control requires the introduction of semantic macroroles. The two constructions are therefore based on different basic principles, which results in various asymmetries with regard to restrictions on possible syntactic realizations. Moreover, the limitations on scope interpretation of temporal adverbs resulting from word order changes in object control constructions suggest that the two verbs in object control might form a tighter unit than those in subject control constructions.