Salience and shift in salience as means of creating discourse coherence

Pragmatics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Hannß
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The Chipaya language, an endangered isolate of the Bolivian highlands, has a set of three enclitics, =l, =m and =ʐ, which are coreferential with the subject of a clause but are not necessarily attached to it and are not obligatory. In this paper, I investigate the pragmatic function of these forms. The salience-marking enclitics (henceforth SMEs) occur at paratactic and hypotactic discourse transitions, where they indicate a shift in salience, thereby contributing to creating discourse coherence. Discourse transitions without a shift in salience are not accompanied by the enclitics. Those enclitics that occur at paratactic transitions have scope over at least the segment whose beginning and/or end they occur in, whereas SMEs at hypotactic transitions have scope over the clause they appear in. Use of the SMEs is genre-specific.

Subject expression and discourse embeddedness in Emirati Arabic

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Owens ◽  
Robin Dodsworth ◽  
Mary Kohn
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Relevant Parameter ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Single Episode ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Expression ◽  
The One

AbstractSince Prince (1981) and Givón (1983), studies on discourse reference have explained the grammatical realization of referents in terms of general concepts such as “assumed familiarity” or “discourse coherence.” In this paper, we develop a complementary approach based on a detailed statistical tracking of subjects in Emirati Arabic, from which two major categories of subject expression emerge. On the one hand, null subjects are opposed to overt ones; on the other, subject-verb (SV) is opposed to verb-subject (VS). Although null subjects strongly correlate with coreferentiality with the subject of the previous clause, they can also index more distant referents within a single episode. With respect to SV vs. VS, morpholexical classes are found to be biased toward one or the other: nouns are typically VS, pronouns SV. We conclude that the null subject variant is the norm in Emirati Arabic, and when an overt subject is appropriate, lexical identity biases the subject into SV or VS order, generating word order as a discourse-relevant parameter. Overall, our approach attempts to understand Arabic discourse from a microlevel perspective.

scholarly journals Sign-Pragmem as a Semiotic Dominant of the Axiological Field

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-592
Author(s):  
Tatyana V Markelova
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Standard Character

The study tested the semiotic approach to the system of evaluation marks allocated on the basis of pragmatic function. Traditional triad - semantics, syntactics, pragmatics - is accompanied by sigmatech as a branch of semiotics, determining the relationship between sign and object, which has not been properly studied yet. The system of evaluation of signs - function, connotation, pragmem, their functional and semantic differences are described through the prism of the semantic structure of the word influenced by the pragmatic function. Non-standard character of pragmatic mark is denotative-significative, expressing the nature convoluted judgment is focused on the subject of speech and its axiological intentions. The article demonstrates semantic, syntactic and pragmatic nature of Prameny sign evaluation with special feaches of its semiotic nature. Three types of evaluation signs - functions, connotations, pragmem -are compared and the role of pragmem in the system is defined. The leading role of pragmem in the axiological fragment of the linguistic picture of the world is determined.

Implicit causality of action verbs at the interface between conceptual structure and discourse coherence relations

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-35
Author(s):  
Milena Kuehnast ◽  
Eva Meier
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Causal Attribution ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Gender Information ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Implicit Causality ◽  
Physical Impact ◽  
Action Verbs

Abstract Implicit causality of interpersonal transitive verbs (IC) pertains to preferences to attribute the cause of a given action to the subject or the object referent in active clauses. Causal attribution is operationalized as the probability of referential continuation in a subsequent explanatory clause. This paper presents an explorative investigation into the causal biases of action verbs, which in contrast to affective verbs have received less attention in IC research. We approach implicit causality as a discourse level phenomenon based on the textual level of discourse representation and enriched by conceptual knowledge. In study 1, we targeted IC effects of German action verbs (N = 52) in sentences containing causal, additive and adversative connectives. Results showed that IC based categories of subject-object-, and non-biasing predicates were clearly discernable in causal contexts only. In study 2, we examined effects of situational knowledge (physical affectedness & social acceptability) and affective appraisals (valence & arousal) represented in the conceptual structure of the verbs on the construal of causality biases and their interplay with immediate contextual information such as gender of referents. Results show that higher degrees of physical affectedness were associated with causal attribution to the object referent. This effect was modulated by the affective properties of the verbs. Our findings revealed the influence of physiological arousal, an affective dimension not considered in previous investigations of IC. Actions with a strong physical impact that were characterized by high arousal, e.g., kick, or tickle were more likely to be explained with reference to the subject. Participants also considered the available contextual information, as indicated by the significant interactions of gender information with arousal. Within the subsample of non-biasing verbs, higher estimates for social behavior increased probabilities of causal attributions to the subject.

scholarly journals Cleft as a Marker of a Thetic Sentence: Evidence from Irish and Russian

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 51-63
Author(s):  
Maria Shkapa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Normal Position ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Sentence Construction ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
Celtic Languages ◽  
Verbal Statement ◽  
The Subject

P. Mac Cana in his paper on Celtic word order notes that modern Celtic languages preserving VSO have a special construction where “the emphasis expressed by the abnormal word-order applies to the whole verbal statement and not merely, or especially, to the subject or object which takes the initial position” (Mac Cana 1973: 102). He gives examples from Welsh and Irish: ‘Faoi Dhia, goidé tháinig ort?’ ars an t-athair. by God what.it happened to.you said the father “In God's name, what happened to you?” asked the father. ‘Micheál Rua a bhuail mé,’ ars an mac. Micheál Rua rel hit me said the son “Micheál Rua gave me a beating,” said the son. In recent literature sentences of this kind acquired the name thetic. Thetic (Sentence Focus) construction is a “sentence construction formally marked as expressing a pragmatically structured proposition in which both the subject and the predicate are in focus; the focus domain is the sentence, minus any topical non-subject arguments” (Lambrecht 1997: 190). Cleft construction “designed” for focussing one XP of a clause is used in the sentence above to mark the whole clause as focussed. The effect is achieved by extracting the usual topic of a sentence – its subject – from its normal position and thus ascribing to it and to the whole clause a new pragmatic function. Such usage of cleft is by no means universal (e.g. it is not possible in English) but meets a parallel in Russian eto-cleft which has the same two meanings – focussing an XP and forming a thetic sentence. These two usages are generally regarded as two different constructions having different syntactic structures (see [Kimmelmann 2007] and literature cited there). However, existence of a typological parallel enables us to view it as a case of pragmatic homonymy.

Clause-Chaining, Switch-Reference and Action/Event Continuity in Japanese Discourse

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuko Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Basic Property ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Action Event ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Finite Verb

This paper investigates the clause-chaining mechanism exhibited in Japanese. Clause-chaining is characterized by a string of clauses with non-finite (or partly non-finite) verb forms followed by a clause with a finite verb. The basic property of clause-chaining devices is to conjoin two or more clauses in a (more or less) chronological order. In this paper, the discourse function of the clause-chaining devices, te, to and zero-conjunction, is interpreted in terms of the notion of action/event continuity. First, general properties of the clause-chaining devices, including various degrees of clause integration, are discussed. Then, the notion of action/event continuity in discourse is introduced, and a hypothesis that the clause-chaining devices in Japanese are coding action/event continuity or discontinuity is advanced. The hypothesis will be tested by examining continuity of referent, aspect, time, and location. Firstly, this paper studies switch-reference properties of the clause-chaining devices along with their correlations with subject marking devices (wa, ga and zero anaphora). As a corollary of the hypothesis, I offer a functional explanation of a well-known phenomenon: that generally only the subject marking device ga appears in a subordinate clause. Later, the paper will investigate the significance of aspectual coding in clause-chaining. Finally, it will investigate how referential, aspectual, temporal, and locational continuity correlate with the overall discourse coherence of action/event continuity.

scholarly journals THE STRUCTURAL AND PRAGMATIC FEATURES OF CODE-SWITCHES IN THE DIALOGUES OF THE NOVEL “THE MARSEILLE CAPER” BY PETER MAYLE

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
LYUDMILA A. GUNKO ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Simple Sentence ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Switch Type ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

This article studies the interdependence between structural and pragmatic aspects of code-switches (CS) observed in the dialogic speech of the novel «Marseille Caper» by Peter Mayle. The matrix language of bilingual utterances is English and the embedded language is French. The article provides a detailed description of the classification of code-switches according to types and the functions they perform. Different types of code-switches have been identified: intersentential (44 units), intrasentential - within a phrase (insertions - 25 units, embedded language islands - 36 units), parenthetical switches - 20 units. The study has shown that the intrasentential type (81 units) is the most frequently used code-switch type in the bilingual characters’ speech. Besides, intrasentential type occurring within a simple sentence is more popular in comparison with parenthetical switches with the embedded language islands being predominant. It is argued that the most common pragmatic function in the bilingual characters’ speech is the subject-thematical one represented by the embedded language islands. It is revealed that the code-switches in the novel perform mainly subject-thematic (62 units), emotional (18 units) and emphatic (18 units) functions. The subtype of intrasentential type - parathentical switches - is represented by the greatest variety of functions (7).

scholarly journals L’accord du participe passé dans les langues romanes

Revue Romane ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Le Bellec
Keyword(s):  
Direct Object ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Pragmatic Function ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Pragmatic Factor

This study aims at describing past participle agreement rules in the Romance languages. These are mainly considered as being an arbitrary set of rules; however, this study is based on the hypothesis that this kind of agreement has primarily a pragmatic function. Indeed, based on the hypothesis that past participle agreement is an example of verb-argument agreement, such as the subject-verb one, we will demonstrate that this agreement is triggered by a subject or a direct object with topic function. The pragmatic factor will be then integrated with those traditionally recognised in the literature, namely nuclear syntactic functions and the auxiliary selected. Finally, we will show why such a variation exists in the Romance languages.

Words

PMLA ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1320-1327
Author(s):  
Colbert Searles
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
The Subject

THE germ of that which follows came into being many years ago in the days of my youth as a university instructor and assistant professor. It was generated by the then quite outspoken attitude of colleagues in the “exact sciences”; the sciences of which the subject-matter can be exactly weighed and measured and the force of its movements mathematically demonstrated. They assured us that the study of languages and literature had little or nothing scientific about it because: “It had no domain of concrete fact in which to work.” Ergo, the scientific spirit was theirs by a stroke of “efficacious grace” as it were. Ours was at best only a kind of “sufficient grace,” pleasant and even necessary to have, but which could, by no means ensure a reception among the elected.

Artificial satellite orbit computations

1966 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 363-371
Author(s):  
P. Sconzo
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Satellite ◽  
Satellite Orbit ◽  
Artificial Satellites ◽  
Orbital Elements ◽  
Differential Correction ◽  
Gravitational Effects ◽  
Short Intervals ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Introductory Discussion ◽  
Orbit Computation

In this paper an orbit computation program for artificial satellites is presented. This program is operational and it has already been used to compute the orbits of several satellites.After an introductory discussion on the subject of artificial satellite orbit computations, the features of this program are thoroughly explained. In order to achieve the representation of the orbital elements over short intervals of time a drag-free perturbation theory coupled with a differential correction procedure is used, while the long range behavior is obtained empirically. The empirical treatment of the non-gravitational effects upon the satellite motion seems to be very satisfactory. Numerical analysis procedures supporting this treatment and experience gained in using our program are also objects of discussion.

C. Wire Cabling for Telescope Systems

1966 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 159-161
Keyword(s):  
The Subject ◽  
Data Multiplexing

Rule: I'd like at this point to bring up the subject of cables and wireways around the telescope. We've touched upon this twice during previous sessions: the cable wrap up problem, the communications problem, and data multiplexing problem. I think we'll ask Bill Baustian if he will give us a brief run down on what the electrical run problems are, besides doubling the system every year.

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