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The article analyses the reasons why norms concerning phrases with the verb tapti (‘to become’) or the semantically contiguous verbs darytis (‘to turn’) and virsti (‘to convert, to become’) expressing state are not well-established. Four factors which in general determine the norms of expression – choice of the case used with various verbs – are indicated and illustrated with examples: 1) semantics of the verb and its forms; 2) expression of state using adjectival and nominal words; 3) the character of the state (permanent or temporary); 4) syntactical position. These factors interacting in various ways, complementing each other and intersecting create a space open for variations and make the system of norms complicated and difficult for language users to understand.The unsteadiness of norms concerning the expression of state is influenced not only by the difference between nominal and adjectival expression shown in works of linguistics, but also by the distinctive semantics of the verb tapti, by particularly strong competition in usage between adjectival instrumental (seen as the result of the influence of Slavic languages) and alternative cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and locative) and by the instrumental in the position of ordinary attribute as the real but not codified norm.The fourth factor – syntactical position – is proposed in this article as hypothetical. There are some cases in usage when the phrase expressing state is not in the position of predicate or predicative attribute, but in the position of ordinary attribute (cf. Mugė tapo tradicinė and Vėl surengta tradicinė tapusi mugė). Use of the instrumental in the position of attribute (second example) as well as in other phrases expressing state with the verb tapti is treated as a mistake, although alternative cases used in phrases with a double case in the position of an attribute could be viewed as prospectless codification. Double cases here look artificial: this is acknowledged by language users who ignore such codification as well as by language specialists. Therefore having in mind the semantics of the verb tapti (clear meaning of transformation, moving into a different state similar to the meaning of the verb virsti which is used only with the instrumental) two questions could be raised: 1) are there any arguments which would justify and validate the instrumental denoting state with the verb tapti in the position of an attribute? 2) what consequences could this have for the whole system of norms applied to phrases expressing state with the verb tapti or with other verbs?The reasons for varying expression of state with the verb tapti suggest that there are inner preconditions for the statement of structural changes in the system of the language, therefore there is a basis for reconsidering codification in some cases.In the new works of codification (for instance in Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas (Dictionary of Standard Lithuanian) which is being prepared) or in the new editions of existing works the verb tapti ought to have a more precise semantic description and a greater variety of examples of grammatical expression. After consideration of possible consequences a decision about a milder evaluation of some cases and a correction of the norms might be made.
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This article presents the Estonian Dependency Treebank (EDT) and discusses its language-theoretical basis. EDT contains ca 400,000 tokens of fiction, newspaper and science texts. Its syntactic annotation is based on principles of dependency syntax. Previous experiments with annotating Estonian sentences according to the principles of phrase structure syntax have shown that the resulting trees tend to be too shallow and thus do not encode the linguistic information in the best possible way. Therefore dependency-syntactic representation was chosen instead. Dependency relations are efficient for encoding typical head-dependent relations like verb-argument or head-modifier but are not so suitable for analyzing adpositional phrases, verbal chains, multi-word expressions or other constructs without clear internal syntactic relations. In such cases, there are arguments both for and against all possible solutions.
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The article discusses the patterns of language use of the Estonian literary language found on the right periphery of the verb. The discussion focuses on three-component structures both including and not including an adverb. On the basis of structures including an adverb both free and bound, or only just bound modifiers will joint to form lexico-grammatical units – analytical particles (e.g. just and ka will gravitate together to form a semantic-syntactic and phonological whole ei ole Ju ka engine), conjunctions (e.g. co-ordinating – correlative compound conjunction Mitte adult (enema üldse, Nii palju) .., valid (Kui) expressing concession), patterns (e.g. compound past tense forms), analytical expressions (e.g. compound words, phrasal verbs) and analytical constructions (e.g. compound verbs and verb syntagms). Te patterns not including an adverb are characterized by collocations and idiomaticity (e.g. terrane tüdruk, võõras very, also idiomatic expressions). Tese exemplifies two tendencies characteristic of the use of the Estonian language: the former refecting the principle of the agglutinative model – joining of morphemes and lexemes (processes linked to grammatisation and lexicalizing), the latter showing lexicosemantic restrictions in the formation of multi-word units. The patterns of the right periphery context of the verb have specific textual functions, which are based on the morphosyntactic and lexico-semantic restrictions of the fixed word-order structures. The actual links between the structural components, or the rules of use, are the narrower the freer language functioning is perceived to be. From this point of view, the patters containing an adverb and analytical units play an important part in the regulation of the so-called free word order of the Estonian language and in text generation. Once the patterns are established in a particular text function, components of those structures can be used as stereotypes and to form new stereotypes (e.g. times sell aastal, old sell Duvel; on kord juba, tuleb kord jälle).
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This paper looks comparatively at the Finnish kyl(lä) and Estonian küll, which function as an epistemic adverb and a particle in both languages, and have a common origin in the noun ‘abundance’. Even though the word is mostly used to formulate positive answers, it also occurs in negative utterances. This is the focus of the current paper, which at the same time touches on the complex area of word order. Even though both languages feature more or less free pragmatic word order, the patterns for negative utterances which contain both the negation word ei and kyl(lä)/küll are varied, especially regarding the placement of adverbs andparticles. On the basis of conversational data the study establishes four patterns for Finnish ((X +) ei, en + X + kyl(lä); ei + X + kyllä#; ei + V + kyl(lä) +Y; X +ei + kyl(lä) +Y, where X denotes one or several noun phrases and Y an adverbial) and three patterns for Estonian (X + ei + V (+X) + küll + other; ei + V + küll#(+ other); X/Y + küll + ei + V + other), where only the last one is frequent. Accordingly, Finnish reveals more (flexibility in word order and negation-initial patterns, while in Estonian ei regularly follows küll, which is impossible in Finnish. 'e negation word and the "nite verb have to occur near each other in Estonian but not in Finnish.In order to analyze the interactional functions of these patterns, the conversation analytic method is used which makes it possible to reveal participants’ local understanding of each prior action. 'e study shows that there are two relatively small functional areas where the word order patterns coincide in Finnish and Estonian: in a concessive use ((X+) ei, en + V + kyl(lä)/küll), and when kyl(lä)/küll is used as an utterance-"nal epistemic marker. 'e latter pattern, however, is extremely rare in Estonian and has developed a special implication of ‘as a matter of fact’ in Finnish. In other functions, the word order is di*erent. In particular, in answersto polar questions, the ordering of the negation word and kyl(lä) or küll is the opposite, with negation preceding kyl(lä) in Finnish and following küll in Estonian. While in Finnish the word kyl(lä) functions as an epistemic reassurance for the recipient, in Estonian, the küll + ei pattern is typically used for building contrast with the prior and setting the initial element into focus. Regardless of the phonological and historical similarity, the syntactic patterns for this adverb/ particle are different, which may reject more overarching differences in word order between the two languages – something that remains to be explored. At least when it comes to kyl(lä) and küll, Finnish word order is more flexible, while Estonian displays a distinct grammatical pattern. Accordingly, the function of the “same” epistemic word emerges in a more content-related manner in Finnish, where it expresses speaker certainty, and as more of a syntactic device in Estonian, where it marks another element in the clause as being contrasted. This illustrates the decisive role of interaction and syntactic context in (the development of) word meaning.
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Finnish word order is known to be syntactically relatively free, but it also has many discourse-conditioned functions (Vilkuna 1989: 9) that form part of the linguistic competency of Finnish native speakers. For those learning Finnish as a second language, it can be difficult to recognize which word order is neutral (unmarked) and what interpretation would be triggered using another, rarer (marked) word order in a specific context. In this paper, I concentrate on the Finnish existential (‘there is’) sentences,which were gleaned from the so-called Ceiling corpus (cf. Martin at all. 2010)containing texts written by two groups: adults and school children. %e texts in this corpus were judged as being of levels A1–C2 (adults) and levels A1–B2 (school children) with regard to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The most typical word order of the existential sentences is that in which the theme position of the sentence is occupied by a local or possessive adverbial and the subject of the sentence is post-verbal (AVS for short). %e theme position can also be empty (VS). Both of these word orders are also unmarked. First, I analyzed the variation of the (A)VS word order statistically. %e marked variations of the (A)VS word order become more common, as the writing skills(according to CEFR levels) increase. Statistically highly significant differences were found between the levels A & B as well as between the levels B & C in the adult group. %e variation in the school children group was not statistically significant. I then analyzed more closely the use of the marked SV-order in text context, using the so-called field description of word order (‘sanajärjestyksen kenttäkuvaus’) as presented in the ISK (2004: 1306–1345). (Cf. Vilkuna 1989 for the nearest equivalent of this model in English.) %e unmarked VS-order sentence is sometimes considered as being “theme less” since the theme field is not occupied. If the theme field is empty, the subject in the SV-type sentence could occupy the theme field. But also the so-called pre-field preceding the theme field could be occupied by the subject if the theme field were not really empty. This might seem marginal but could also have an influence on the interpretation of the sentence in context. The text samples reveal that a suitable theme can o(en be found for the empty theme slot – at least in the case of SV-order – in the text preceding this sentence. In this case, the “empty” theme field could be occupied by this continuous theme, and the subject theme) would be in the pre-field. %is word order is clearly marked and brings a contrastive or a convincing tone to the text. The text samples show that at least some of the higher-level L2 Finnish learners are able to use the marked SV order in texts this way quite correctly.The subject of the existential sentences is normally interpreted as a rhemeor “new information”. In some cases, however, the text samples show that the the subject of the existential SV sentence is not actually always a theme in the pre- field: it has been at least indirectly mentioned in the text before and perhaps that is why it rather seems to occupy the themed slot in some SV-order existential sentences. %ere are also some specific verbs with which the SV-order in the existential sentences seems to be well-established without necessarily being the marked order. This, as well as some learning-related issues of word order, requires further investigation.
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The ana-cataphora is the “youngest” among diaphoric relations, after anaphora and cataphora, and combines characteristics of its “older” endophoric relatives.The present paper identifies and describes this diaphoric relation by using various taxonomic parameters (vector, diaphoric expression, cotext or field, scope, referent identification manner, coreferentiality) in order to measure the potential of the demonstratives in question and to determine the most productive demonstrative form as an ana-cataphoric catalyst. Observations, remarks and conclusions are based on the analysis of research data extracted from the subcorpus Generale 1 of NUNC corpora, reflecting evolutionary tendencies observable in spoken/written Italian, used in discussion groups of the global network.
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This paper discusses relations between prepositions, conjunctions and junctors in Bosnian. Junctors are defined as words, or functionally related groups of words, that connect homofunctional units in a simple or complex sentence, or that introduce a dependent clause in a complex sentence structure. Conjunctions are defined as invariable words in the sentence. They functionas junctors, and do not perform the function of any basic sentence elements (subject, predicate, object, adverbial, attribute, apposition). The relation between conjunctions and junctors is succinctly summarized in the statement that all conjunctions can perform the function of junctors, but junctors are not always performed by conjunctions. Prepositions and conjunctions never have the same function in the sentence, and no words are both prepositions and conjunctions. Although a few words (such as osim, umjesto, namjesto) have been presented in grammatical literature as both prepositions and conjunctions, it is shown that these words are prepositions in every case. Even though prepositions as separate words in Bosnian never perform the function of junctor, analysis of the literature and corpus shows that prepositions can be a part of complex junctors with the structure preposition + conjunction.
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In this paper we present the results of agreement experiments conducted at the University of Sarajevo as part of the EMSS project (Experimental Morphosyntax of South Slavic Languages). We conducted two experiments:oral and written. Our hypothesis was that the written experiment would better reflect native speaker intuitions about agreement forms of the predicate when the subject contains conjoined noun phrases. This was based on the assumption that participants in the oral experiment may be more prone to performance errors than those in the written experiment. The first experiment was a computer assisted oral experiment, in which participants were recorded.They were prompted to continue by the computer, which did not allow enough time for excessive thinking, or making corrections. The second (written) experiment contained the same material and distribution of material as the oral experiment. It was administered immediately after the oral experiment, and did not impose any time limits. The participants had more time to consider each example and correct themselves, if necessary. As a result, we assumed that the written experiment would leave less space for performance errors, and may better reflect native speaker intuitions about agreement forms. The experiments confirmed our initial hypothesis: there were considerably fewer performance errors in written than oral tests
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The aim of this paper is to establish that the word uglavnom has a controversial (morpho)syntactic status, as can be seen from its description in grammars, dictionaries and scientific articles about the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian languages. Furthermore, this paper examines the fact that the word uglavnom is mostly neglected in syntactic descriptions of a sentence, while it is considered at the pragmatic level of sentence description. Finally, the pragmatic effects that can be achieved with the use of this word are described and exemplified.
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This article focuses on the analysis of the Greek verb λαμβάνω ‘take, capture, gain’ and its semantics of potential vertical movement through the prepositions ἀνά ‘up’ and κατά ‘down’. The verb λαμβάνω with the two prepositions is widely used in both Ancient and Modern Greek. Its meaning for the vertical movement can be observed both in the direct and modified and figurative sense, therefore observations based on language diachrony may also be possible. The investigated material is considered comparatively, by juxtaposing the meanings and developmental features of the compound verbs with ἀνά and κατά. It is concluded that the dimension of position/direction as represented by the semantics of the prepositions in composite verbs often turn into a time dimension, indicating either an initiated or repetitive (ἀνά), or a finite, completed action (κατά). Both prepositions in combination with different verbs can also express an emphasis or amplification of the action; however, in compounds with λαμβάνω, only the κατά element generally performs such a function.
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The article deals with the possible connection between the marking of noun predicatives and the modality expressed by moods. The material analyzed in the article consists of ascriptive finite sentences of the copula būti (to be) collected from the Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (CC LL) where a positive predicate is expressed in the forms of different moods. The opinion is followed that in respect of the evaluative and irreal modality, morphosyntactic marking is gradual and we can speak in preliminary terms about the relative tendency to use the instrumental of the noun used as the predicative in respect of the scales epistemic > deontic (indicative > imperative mood) and real > irreal (indicative > subjunctive mood).
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By creating syntactic analysis of the Lithuanian language revealed a new phenomenon, which has not been previously discussed in literature. If there are two words in a sentence governing the same case and that case stands in-between them, which of the words will form a word phrase with the governed case and which of them will remain unexpanded? The article describes the syntactic pull of the participle, the noun and the infinitive; comparisons of the cases identified and the equivalents from other languages are provided. The term of syntactic pull of words is defined as well.
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The article deals with the marking of secondary non-resultative predicates (depictives) in Lithuanian language. In this article, depictives are divided into two groups: syntactic depictives and semantic depictives, each group is discussed in detail: by every possible form of depictive. In this article, I laboured to show how depictives in Lithuanian language are different from depictives in other languages, and to supplement the data given in Lithuanian language grammars and studies of syntax. Based on the frequency of the use of certain depictives, two hierarchies are given: a hierarchy of cases of depictives and a hierarchy of forms of depictives.
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The aim of this paper is to examine the understanding of the Argument-Adjunct Distinction within the Polish Semantic Syntax (SS) tradition, associated with the name of Stanisław Karolak and presented in the nominally syntactic volume of the Grammar of contemporary Polish (Pol. Gramatyka współczesnego języka polskiego; Topolińska, 1984), especially in Karolak (1984) and Grochowski (1984), as well as in later work. Section 1 reviews the three approaches to determining the number and kind of arguments of a given predicate, as discussed in Karolak (1984), concentrating on the one that is endorsed there. Then, Sections 2–3 show that the key notions used in this approach have not been – and probably cannot be – made operational. Moreover, Section 4 briefly reviews some more recent Semantic Syntax work and shows that this lack of operational AAD in Karolak (1984) extends to the SS programme at large. Finally, Section 5 concludes that this deficiency, while common in linguistic theories, is particularly troublesome in the case of SS, which is founded on the notion of predicate-argument structure.
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This article investigates the role of syntactic variation in Albanian dialectology studies. Similarly to other dialectogical studies of different languages, variation of syntax in Albanian dialects has not been thoroughly and systematically reported. Studies have mainly looked at differences that dialects have in terms of phonology and lexical terms. In addition, the only four dialectological questionnaires, used for dialectological surveys for Albanian, were designed to address only a limited number of syntactic features differentiating dialects with one another. This study brings forth the contribution of these questionnaires to the study of syntax of Albanian dialects. In addition, it highlights several syntactic features that were not addressed through these questionnaires, emphasizing, thus, the importance of future systematic and comprehensive research in this area.
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The author presents the use of phrases such as nominative singular indefinite noun + ablative indefinite noun (e.g farë kosi, syze dielli, gjel deti) since early on to modem and concludes that a substantial (considerable) part of these word groups or phrases are frozen and mark a single item or concept. Moreover, she convinces the reader that not derivation and composition, but frozen phrases are the main tool of enrichment of the noun category of modem day Albanian. A good part of these formations appears already in the form of a composite, as a result of a prolonged use of its parts near each other as agglutinates that later on converted to a composite model. But this process is not always possible, since it gets impeded by different morphological factors. The author defines the main criteria that distinguish fixed/frozen word groups of this type from those of the same type, but which are not fixed. An important morphological feature of these word groups is this: in the definite form, the second element is set in the genitive case and the word group is transformed as follows: nominative singular definite noun + genitive definite noun. This is because ablative definite case does not exist in Albanian. Apparently, this is why uncertainties exist regarding the status of these word groups and their role in the formation of new nouns in the Albanian. This is also the reason why many errors have been observed in their usage in written and spoken language.
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In Albanian grammatical tradition, it is generally thought that synthetism is a feature of inflection. But this opinion does not hold true, because synthetism plays an important role not only in the inflectional morphology of Albanian, but also in its lexical morphology. Its role has been expounded by A. Kostallari in his writings about word-formation of Albanian. The author of this paper, based on a corpus of 7 thousand new words of the second publication of his ‘Orthographic dictionary of Albanian language'’ (2015), is making an effort to show that the coining of new words by affixation of the whole phrases and composition are the two main manners of enriching the vocabulary of Albanian.
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The possibility to be realized verbal functions using some defined verbal nouns is considered to be specific morphological and sintax appearance in arabic language. All deverbal nouns - infinitives, participles, adjectives and noun of preeminence - have, in some different degree, functions like that. The participles are separated as nouns by the most remarkable verbal value degree. In order to be kept verbal functions using those deverbal nouns by the presence of verbal governing other sintax elements - subject and object - some specific context conditions must be followed. In essence, they are in effect for each of those verbal nouns. More important condition for sintax mean is to stay unchanged when deverbal nouns be replaced by active verbal form. From the formal point of view, such verbal nouns can stand undefined and defined by article or annexation. The forms like these include temporal verbal values also.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the reflection of the language erosion on the workplace names within the context of the Siirt Province. The research population was composed of 3669 workplace names registered in the Licence and Control Department of the Siirt Province. The study sample, however, involves 370 workplace names chosen randomly from among the study population. Workplace names in the sample group were grouped as follows: workplace names consisting of Turkish words; those consisting of foreign words; workplace names consisting of Turkish+Foreign words; and workplace names grouped under the title of “others” , involving Global and National Brands, Companies, Abbreviations and Meaningless Words. The data obtained were analyzed through use of SPSS 20.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). In the assessment of the data, the number, percentage and frequency were used as descriptive statistical methods. In the study, it is concluded that workplace names that constitute contradiction to Turkish syntax have had the highest rate along with the group consisting of Turkish+Foreign words.
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