Various models for categorizing grammatical units exist in the literature. Particularly nebulous, however, are terminologies for conceptualizing categories at the level of the clause. For example, ...the term complement has been used, confusingly sometimes, as both a functional term and, on some occasions, as a structural term. In this study, a model of categorization is proposed, which keeps functional classification separate from structural classification, in order that concepts used in grammatical analysis can be clearly understood and be applied more easily in text analysis. Accordingly, the specific aim of this study is to examine some already ‘accepted’ subcategories of the dependent clause and, in the process, propose a new approach for the analysis of this clause type. This approach, it is hoped, will remove (a) semantic considerations from the analysis of these grammatical units and (b) the confusion between the notional and syntactic description of the units. In the end, this work involves a reconsideration of some traditional ways of doing grammatical categorization with the hope that it will ease identification of grammatical categories. The overall goal is to offer a more consistent and structured approach to the grammatical analysis of the clause in English.
In traditional linguistic research on German syntax the term “subordinate clause” is defined on the basis of its two distinguishing features, namely its syntactic-functional integration into the ...matrix, as well as its formal exponents (the presence of introductory elements and the placement of the finite verb at the end of the clause). However, this classical approach to subordination is in fact a descriptive simplification which leads to the exclusion of all reference to the scalar character of this category from syntactic description. In this paper, an alternative approach to subordination is presented through defining the dependent clause as a scalar category, encompassing a wide range of representatives differing in the degree of prototypicality. The proposed model consists of four interrelated components: a precisely defined set of integration features, type-independent general principles, a description of the type-specific clusters of integration features and the differences in the degree of integration between representatives of the same syntactic class, as well as construction-specific restrictions.
How is the (in)-dependence (or finiteness) of a clause identified in a language that has no tense, case, or agreement morphology, such as Chinese? This paper investigates the control verb ...construction and the generic sentential subject construction, bringing to light the special forms and interpretations of the subjects of the dependent clauses in the constructions. The special properties are not found in the subjects of independent clauses. Therefore, contrasts between dependent and independent clauses are attestable in the language. The paper also proposes a derived predication analysis of the interpretation patterns of embedded empty subjects of the language.
This study undertakes to examine the problem of the tenses in Classical Arabic. While aware of the long tradition which shaped the discussion of this subject, and building, in fact, on some important ...insights offered by medieval and modern grammarians, this study attempts to redefine the discussion and propose a new analysis of the tenses, based on a functional text-oriented investigation of a large corpus of Classical Arabic prose.
This article discusses word order of dependent clauses in Texas German, a German speech island on the brink of language death. The focus lies on dependent clauses that are introduced by subordinating ...conjunctions. The question is whether the verb placement differs from the Standard German word order, and, if such a difference can be established, whether the change is due to language internal or external factors. To answer this question, various theories from the general research on language contact are used to interpret the Texas German data, and to connect it to the larger discussion of language change in German speech islands in the US.
Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Verbstellung in Nebensätzen im Texasdeutschen, einer vom Aussterben bedrohten deutschen Sprachinsel. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf Nebensätzen, die von subordinierenden Konjunktionen eingeleitet werden. Die Frage ist, ob sich die Verbstellung von der des Standarddeutschen unterscheidet und, falls sich ein solcher Unterschied feststellen lässt, ob eine veränderte Verbstellung auf sprachinterne oder sprachexterne Gründe zurückgeführt werden kann. Zu diesem Zweck werden verschiedene Theorien aus der Sprachkontaktforschung herangezogen, um die texasdeutschen Daten zu deuten und sie in den größeren Zusammenhang des syntaktischen Standes deutscher Sprachinseln auf amerikanischem Boden zu setzen.
The goal of this paper is to compare spanish gerundio and polish adverbial imiesłów. We examine the morphological characteristics, origin and development of these word classes. Then we focus on it’s ...syntactic behaviour and we present some examples of discrepancies between the two languages.
This paper addresses the formation of wh-questions in Thetogovela Moro, a Kordofanian language spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Moro has both in-situ and ex-situ wh-questions, but exhibits a ...subject/non-subject asymmetry: while non-subjects may employ either construction, subjects must appear in the ex-situ form. Ex-situ wh-questions are analyzed as wh-clefts, and they share several properties with clefts and relative clauses. The fronted element is marked with a cleft particle and for noun phrases, a demonstrative that we analyze as a relative pronoun is used. Verbal tone patterns are those that are found in dependent clauses rather than main clauses. Subject questions, clefts and relative clauses are marked with a verbal prefix
, while non-subject questions, clefts and relative clauses are marked with a verbal prefix
. We analyze these prefixes as dependent clause markers and provide evidence of additional dependent clause uses in the language. Finally, non-subject wh-questions bear an optional particle
on the subject and/or verb. We offer several arguments that this is best analyzed as a complementizer
Departing from examples found in the language of Njegos and later writers
from a broader area, and on the theoretical premises of cognitive linguistics
as well as on transformational grammar ...methodology, author is discussing the
syntactic and semantic elements that enable the alternations of conjunctions
gde, sto, kako and da - mutually and with other dependent clauses
conjunctions the semantic basis of which are the notions ?cause?, ?space?,
?manner of an action? and ?object of an action?. According to author, in the
given process, with inner linguistic semantic and analogical factors, the
idiolectal experience of speaker / writer (listener / reader) and his/her
knowledge of language units in the common language of the given society -
have the most important role in the event of language perception.
Na gradji iz Njegosevog jezika i kasnijih pisaca sa sireg podrucja, a na
teorijskim stavovima kognitivne lingvistike i metodoloskim postavkama
transformacione gramatike, autor razmatra sintaksicko - semanticke elemente
koji omogucuju alterniranje veznika gde, sto, kako i da - medjusobno i sa
drugim veznicima zavisnih recenica cija je semanticka osnova pojam ?uzrok?,
?mesto?, ?nacin vrsenja radnje?, ?kvalitet stvari? i ?objekat radnje?. Po
autoru, uz delovanje unutarjezickih znacenjskih i analoskih cinilaca, u
datome procesu znacajnu ulogu ima idiolekatsko iskustvo govornika (citaoca) i
njegovo znanje o jezickim jedinicama opsteg jezika date zajednice.
Given a great variance of the number and percentage of test-takers with high band scores in the CSAT English tests for the 2015-2020 academic years, the present study compared these six tests in ...terms of facility index (FI), measures of lexical richness and syntactic complexity, distractor feasibility, information density in listening materials, familiarity of speakers’ pronunciation and accent, and levels of background knowledge required to understand reading passages, which are all said be major predictors of question item difficulty. One-way ANOVAs, independent sample Kruskal-Wallis H tests and chi-square tests showed that there was no significant difference concerning FI and any of the predictors not only between the six CSAT English tests but between their reading parts. There was also no significant difference between the listening tests except that the test for the 2017 academic year was significantly easier than for the 2016 and 2018 ones. These findings together mean that the introduction of criterion-referenced testing in the 2018 academic year has brought no substantial changes to CSAT English tests. Interestingly, however, there was a significant difference in FI between the six sets of the 13 most difficult questions drawn from each test, which was a reason for the great variance of high scorers between the six tests. The study concluded with some pedagogical discussions.
U radu se razmatra upotreba određenih vezničkih jedinica u jeziku Ivana Mažuranića. Posebna pažnja biće usmjerena na načine upotrebe, a takođe i na razlike u upotrebi datih vezničkih jedinica u ...odnosu na savremenu jezičku normu.
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