Whence subject-verb agreement? Investigating the role of topicality, accessibility, and frequency in Vera’a texts

Linguistics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Schnell
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Reduced Forms

Abstract While the grammaticalization of subject agreement appears to be a diachronic near-universal, there has been little agreement on usage-based motivations for this crosslinguistic tendency. Three usage-based approaches – Givón’s NP detachment under topicalization, Ariel’s accessibility theory, and a set of accounts in terms of frequency-driven morphologization – are examined here in the light of corpus data from the Oceanic language Vera’a. The high frequency of overt pronouns in 1st and 2nd person subjects, as well as formal reduction in some 1st-person pronouns, observed in the corpus seem suggestive of grammaticalization of subject agreement in speech-act participants (SAPs). Yet, the remaining variation between pronominal and zero forms and the distribution of reduced forms do not appear to reflect functional factors in the way of topicalization or accessibility. Overall, frequency-driven accounts appear to fare better in explaining the Vera’a facts, in particular the distribution of 1st person zero subjects and the formal reduction of 1st person subject pronouns. The overall high levels of subject pronouns, however, are not fully accounted for by any of the three approaches; I suggest that, in addition to genre effects, the deictic and shifting nature of reference to speech-act participants may be a relevant factor.

scholarly journals Microvariação na resolução de sujeitos pronominais: português europeu vs. italiano

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-167
Author(s):  
Ana Madeira ◽  
Alexandra Fiéis ◽  
Joana Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Results ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Choice Tasks

The present study investigates the resolution of null and overt subject pronouns in intrasentential contexts, considering the role of animacy in antecedent assignment. Participants were 15 native speakers of EP and 14 of Italian. Each language group was administered two multiple choice tasks (speeded and untimed), which had a 2x2 design, crossing the following variables: animacy of the matrix object (animate vs. inanimate) and type of pronominal embedded subject (overt vs. null). Results indicate that there is microvariation in the resolution of overt pronominal subjects in EP and in Italian: the position of the antecedent is the most relevant factor in EP, whereas, in Italian, the animacy of the antecedent is the preponderant factor. Results also show that there is microvariation in the resolution of null subjects (contra previous claims in the literature): the bias for subject antecedents is weaker in Italian than in EP. Possible reasons for the observed microvariation are discussed in detail.

NATIVE AND NONNATIVE INTERPRETATION OF PRONOMINAL FORMS

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Schimke ◽  
Saveria Colonna
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Overt Pronouns

This study investigates the influence of grammatical role and discourse-level cues on the interpretation of different pronominal forms in native speakers of French, native speakers of Turkish, and Turkish learners of French. In written questionnaires, we found that native speakers of French were influenced by discourse-level cues when interpreting ambiguous overt subject pronouns in French, whereas native speakers of Turkish were mainly influenced by a syntactic cue—subjecthood—when interpreting null subjects (pro) in Turkish translation equivalents. When interpreting implicit subjects of nonfinite dependent clauses (PRO), native speakers of both French and Turkish were influenced by subjecthood. Finally, Turkish learners of French were influenced by discourse-level cues in the interpretation of overt pronouns as well as PRO and showed no subject preference in either case. These results are in line with approaches to second language (L2) acquisition that stress the role of discourse-level principles in the processing and use of a L2 (Clahsen & Felser, 2006; Klein & Perdue, 1997).

Verb Agreement in Gexi Horpa

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-223
Author(s):  
Jackson T.-S. Sun ◽  
Qianzi Tian
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid System ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Original System ◽  
Intermediate Stage ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Number Marking ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Verbal Agreement ◽  
Person Marking

The Rgyalrongic languages (Qiangic branch, Sino-Tibetan family) are prime examples of a split verb agreement system grounded in the pragmatic salience of speech act participants. However, the Horpa language in this group presents a hybrid system involving a more intricate interplay of functional and syntactic factors, despite having less elaborate morphological material than some related languages. Many fundamental issues of Horpa verb agreement remain to be adequately explored, despite preliminary descriptions in the literature. This paper provides a new study of verb agreement in the Gexi variety of Horpa based on first-hand fieldwork data. Compared with Shangzhai Horpa of Rangtang County, Gexi displays many points of difference in its agreement system, including reduplication as a number-marking device, and functionally differentiated special and general sets of person-marking suffixes, the former restricted to transitive singular actants. Gexi verb agreement is undergoing typological transition from pragmatics-driven split agreement to syntax-driven subject agreement, as part of a global morpho-syntactic shift from a head-marking to a dependent-marking grammatical type. The conversion, possibly catalyzed by contact influences from Tibetan, is still ongoing with traces of the original system preserved in the form of alternating patterns. The phenomena under analysis constitute an intermediate stage in the evolution of Qiangic verbal agreement typology between the conservative Rgyalrong, Lavrung, and Shangzhai Horpa split-agreement type and the innovative subject-agreement type observed in Qiang and Prinmi.

Calculation-and-experimental estimation of the role of the frequency ratio in changing the endurance at two-frequency deformation modes

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (1(I)) ◽  
pp. 64-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Gadenin
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Reduction Factor ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Cyclic Loads ◽  
Small Ratio ◽  
Harmonic Components ◽  
Deformation Modes

The cycle configuration at two-frequency loading regimes depends on the number of parameters including the absolute values of the frequencies and amplitudes of the low-frequency and high-frequency loads added during this mode, the ratio of their frequencies and amplitudes, as well as the phase shift between these harmonic components, the latter having a significant effect only with a small ratio of frequencies. Presence of such two-frequency regimes or service loading conditions for parts of machines and structures schematized by them can significantly reduce their endurance. Using the results of experimental studies of changes in the endurance of a two-frequency loading of specimens of cyclically stable, cyclically softened and cyclically hardened steels under rigid conditions we have shown that decrease in the endurance under the aforementioned conditions depends on the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation low-frequency low-cycle and high-frequency vibration stresses, and, moreover, the higher the level of the ratios of amplitudes and frequencies of those stacked harmonic processes of loading the greater the effect. It is shown that estimation of such a decrease in the endurance compared to a single frequency loading equal in the total stress (strains) amplitudes can be carried out using an exponential expression coupling those endurances through a parameter (reduction factor) containing the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation cyclic loads and characteristic of the material. The reduction is illustrated by a set of calculation-experimental curves on the corresponding diagrams for each of the considered types of materials and compared with the experimental data.

scholarly journals ONLINE PRONOUN RESOLUTION IN L2 DISCOURSE: L1 Influence and General Learner Effects

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Roberts ◽  
Marianne Gullberg ◽  
Peter Indefrey
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Final Interpretation ◽  
Subject Pronoun

This study investigates whether advanced second language (L2) learners of a nonnull subject language (Dutch) are influenced by their null subject first language (L1) (Turkish) in their offline and online resolution of subject pronouns in L2 discourse. To tease apart potential L1 effects from possible general L2 processing effects, we also tested a group of German L2 learners of Dutch who were predicted to perform like the native Dutch speakers. The two L2 groups differed in their offline interpretations of subject pronouns. The Turkish L2 learners exhibited a L1 influence, because approximately half the time they interpreted Dutch subject pronouns as they would overt pronouns in Turkish, whereas the German L2 learners performed like the Dutch controls, interpreting pronouns as coreferential with the current discourse topic. This L1 effect was not in evidence in eye-tracking data, however. Instead, the L2 learners patterned together, showing an online processing disadvantage when two potential antecedents for the pronoun were grammatically available in the discourse. This processing disadvantage was in evidence irrespective of the properties of the learners' L1 or their final interpretation of the pronoun. Therefore, the results of this study indicate both an effect of the L1 on the L2 in offline resolution and a general L2 processing effect in online subject pronoun resolution.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Oxidation of Reduced Forms of CO2 under Electrochemical and Open-Сircuit Conditions on Polycrystalline Pt in H2CO3

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Smolin ◽  
Мikhail N. Mikhailov ◽  
Aleksey F. Gadzaov ◽  
Leonid M. Kustov
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Chemical ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Oxidation Reaction ◽  
Density Functional ◽  
Oxidation Process ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Organic Substances ◽  
Oxidation Of Co ◽  
Reduced Forms

The problem of identifying correlations between catalytic and electrocatalytic processes is one of the fundamental problems of catalysis among “simple” organic substances, and the oxidation of CO and rCO2 is of great interest, since CO and CO2 are considered in pairs both during catalytic and electrocatalytic transformations. In the case of electrocatalysis, this analysis is important in the study of fuel cells. In this paper, we studied the correlation between the oxidation of reduced forms of CO2 (rCO2) under potentiodynamic-galvanoctatic electrochemical and open-circuit conditions of measurements on polycrystalline (pc)Pt in H2CO3. Periodic oscillations are revealed at the oxidation of Had and rCO2 on (pc)Pt. Quantum chemical calculations were carried out on the Pt13 cluster in order to identify the mechanisms of the rCO2 oxidation reaction. The correspondence in the energy parameters of the oxidation process of rCO2 under open-circuit conditions and electrochemical conditions is shown. The preliminary analysis of the system using density functional (DFT) calculations is carried out and the most stable systems that are based on Pt13 are found, namely rOH-Pt13-(CO)n, rOH-Pt13-(COH) and rOH-Pt13-(rCOOH). OH• species was chosen as the most likely candidate for the role of the oxidant for rCO2. Preliminary calculations for the expected reactions were carried out, and the optimal PES is revealed.

scholarly journals How Can We Manage Gallbladder Lesions by Transabdominal Ultrasound?

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 784
Author(s):  
Shinji Okaniwa
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Wall Layer ◽  
Pancreaticobiliary Maljunction ◽  
Doppler Imaging ◽  
Wall Thickening ◽  
Contrast Enhanced ◽  
Postural Changes ◽  
Venous Phase

The most important role of ultrasound (US) in the management of gallbladder (GB) lesions is to detect lesions earlier and differentiate them from GB carcinoma (GBC). To avoid overlooking lesions, postural changes and high-frequency transducers with magnified images should be employed. GB lesions are divided into polypoid lesions (GPLs) and wall thickening (GWT). For GPLs, classification into pedunculated and sessile types should be done first. This classification is useful not only for the differential diagnosis but also for the depth diagnosis, as pedunculated carcinomas are confined to the mucosa. Both rapid GB wall blood flow (GWBF) and the irregularity of color signal patterns on Doppler imaging, and heterogeneous enhancement in the venous phase on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) suggest GBC. Since GWT occurs in various conditions, subdividing into diffuse and focal forms is important. Unlike diffuse GWT, focal GWT is specific for GB and has a higher incidence of GBC. The discontinuity and irregularity of the innermost hyperechoic layer and irregular or disrupted GB wall layer structure suggest GBC. Rapid GWBF is also useful for the diagnosis of wall-thickened type GBC and pancreaticobiliary maljunction. Detailed B-mode evaluation using high-frequency transducers, combined with Doppler imaging and CEUS, enables a more accurate diagnosis.

Parasites in Antarctic krill guts inferred from DNA sequences

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison C. Cleary ◽  
Maria C. Casas ◽  
Edward G. Durbin ◽  
Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
The West ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThe keystone role of Antarctic krill,Euphausia superbaDana, in Southern Ocean ecosystems, means it is essential to understand the factors controlling their abundance and secondary production. One such factor that remains poorly known is the role of parasites. A recent study of krill diet using DNA analysis of gut contents provided a snapshot of the parasites present within 170E. superbaguts in a small area along the West Antarctic Peninsula. These parasites includedMetschnikowiaspp. fungi,Haptoglossasp. peronosporomycetes,LankesteriaandParalecudinaspp. apicomplexa,Stegophorussp. nematodes, andPseudocolliniaspp. ciliates. Of these parasites,Metschnikowiaspp. fungi andPseudocolliniaspp. ciliates had previously been observed inE. superba, as had other genera of apicomplexans, though notLankesteriaandParalecudina.In contrast, nematodes had previously only been observed in eggs ofE. superba, and there are no literature reports of peronosporomycetes in euphausiids.Pseudocolliniaspp., parasitoids which obligately kill their host, were the most frequently observed infection, with a prevalence of 12%. The wide range of observed parasites and the relatively high frequency of infections suggest parasites may play a more important role than previously acknowledged inE. superbaecology and population dynamics.

The role of feature-number and feature-type in processing Hindi verb agreement violations

2007 ◽  
Vol 1164 ◽  
pp. 81-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Nevins ◽  
Brian Dillon ◽  
Shiti Malhotra ◽  
Colin Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Verb Agreement
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