scholarly journals On Agree without agreement as a source of reflexive voice constructions

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C Baker
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Semantic Component ◽  
The Subject

Switch-reference has recently been argued to be the result of clausal functional heads entering into Agree with two nearby noun phrases, creating pointers to those noun phrases but not actually copying their morphosyntactic features. Instead, the semantic component interprets the pointers as referential dependency holding between pointed-to noun phrases. This article applies this analysis to reflexive voice constructions in which a feature-invariant affix appears on the verb to indicate that the (highest, direct) object is referentially dependent on the (thematic) subject of the same clause. First it surveys the properties that such constructions should have if reflexive voice is maximally like switch-reference. Then it argues that the Bantu language Lubukusu has just such a construction, the verbal affix i partnering with the overt anaphor omweene to create reflexive clauses. Dravidian reflexive voices are presented as another possible case. Finally, it turns to reflexive and reciprocal voice constructions in Shipibo (Panoan), which seem to have a detransitivizing effect. However, no major detransitivizing account fits all the facts. Rather, reflexive voice in Shipibo is like Lubukusu, except that the anaphor is phonologically null and deficient in phi-features, failing to trigger ergative case on the subject for that reason. True detransitivization may happen in some languages with reflexive voice, but not in all, and it will take considerable care to sort out which are which.

Mismatching nominals and the small clause hypothesis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
PAUL ROGER BASSONG
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Small Clause ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Split Topicalization ◽  
Feature Checking

I propose a comprehensive analysis of what has been commonly referred in the literature to as split, discontinuous noun phrases or split topicalization. Based on data from Basaá, a Narrow Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, I partly capitalize on previous authors such as Mathieu (2004), Mathieu & Sitaridou (2005) and Ott (2015a), who propose that this morphosyntactic phenomenon involves two syntactically unrelated constituents which are only linked semantically in a predication relation in a small clause (Moro 1997, 2000; Den Dikken 1998). According to these analyses, split noun phrases are obtained as a result of predicate inversion across the subject of the small clause. Contrary to/but not against these views, I suggest that what raises in the same context in Basaá is rather the subject of the small clause as a consequence of feature-checking under closest c-command (Chomsky 2000, 2001), and for the purpose of labelling and asymmetrizing an originally symmetric syntactic structure on the surface (Ott 2015a and related work). The fact that the target of movement is the subject and not the predicate of the small clause follows from agreement and ellipsis factors. Given that the subject of predication is a full DP while the predicate is a reduced DP with a null head modifier, the surface word order is attributed to the fact that noun/noun phrase ellipsis is possible if the elided noun is given in the discourse and is recoverable from the morphology of the stranded modifier. This paper offers a theoretical contribution from an understudied language to our understanding of this puzzling nominal construction.

scholarly journals Bhadarwahi: A Typological Sketch

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-148
Author(s):  
Amitabh Vikram DWIVEDI
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Prominent Feature ◽  
Jammu And Kashmir ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Indirect Object ◽  
Main Verb

This paper is a summary of some phonological and morphosyntactice features of the Bhadarwahi language of Indo-Aryan family. Bhadarwahi is a lesser known and less documented language spoken in district of Doda of Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir State in India. Typologically it is a subject dominant language with an SOV word order (SV if without object) and its verb agrees with a noun phrase which is not followed by an overt post-position. These noun phrases can move freely in the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. The indirect object generally precedes the direct object. Aspiration, like any other Indo-Aryan languages, is a prominent feature of Bhadarwahi. Nasalization is a distinctive feature, and vowel and consonant contrasts are commonly observed. Infinitive and participle forms are formed by suffixation while infixation is also found in causative formation. Tense is carried by auxiliary and aspect and mood is marked by the main verb.

Indirect object in Manchu-Tungus languages: structural and semantic aspect (in the Orok language)

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-260
Author(s):  
L. V. Ozolinya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Object ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Indirect Object ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Object Composition ◽  
The Subject ◽  
First Time ◽  
Semantic Aspect ◽  
Trivalent Verbs

For the first time, the paper provides the analysis of the Oroc language object as a syntactic unit combining the semantic and functional aspects of transitive or non-transitive verbs. In the Manchu-Tungus languages, the object is found to be expressed in the morphological forms of the case: direct – in the accusative case and the possessive forms of the designative case, indirect – in the forms of oblique cases. Constructions with indirect objects, the positions of which are filled with case forms of nouns, designate the objects on which the action is aimed, objects from which the action is sent or evaded, objects-addresses, objectsinstruments, etc. Both transitive or non-transitive verbs can take the position of the predicate. The necessary (direct object) and permissible (indirect object) composition of objects in the verb is determined by its valences: bivalent verbs open subjective (subject) and objective (direct object) valences; trivalent verbs reveal subjective, subjective-objective (part of the subject or indirect subject) and objective (indirect object) valences.

scholarly journals Re-examining the relationship between the subject agreement morpheme and (in)definiteness in Northern Sotho

Literator ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mampaka L. Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement

The grammatical position of the subject noun phrase in Northern Sotho is to the left of the predicate. The subject agreement morpheme is a compulsory link between the subject noun phrase and the predicate. Scholars have examined the role of this morpheme from various perspectives. It is also extensively documented that the morpheme has dual functions. Its primary function is to mark agreement between the subject and the predicate. Its secondary function is pronominal, whereby it is co-referenced to some antecedent. This article reexamined the primary role of the subject agreement morpheme in Northern Sotho in relation to the interpretation of a subject noun phrase as definite or indefinite. This was accomplished by (1) revisiting existing works that are directly or indirectly linked to (in)definiteness and subject agreement, (2) analysing texts that may facilitate discussion on the issue, and (3) relating the findings from previous works to current analyses. The first hypothesis in this article was that when some class 9 subject noun phrases, denoting persons, agree with the verb stem by a class 1 agreement morpheme, the noun phrases are interpreted as definite. The second hypothesis was that although the subject position is considered predominantly topical and definite it may not categorically exclude indefinite noun phrases. Therefore some indefinite noun phrases may also agree with predicates by means of this morpheme.

Clitics as input to the acquisition of verbal transitivity in French

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-133
Author(s):  
Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux ◽  
Mihaela Pirvulescu ◽  
Yves Roberge ◽  
Nelleke Strik
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Verb Learning ◽  
Object Position ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Object Pronouns

Abstract We investigate the effect of French clitic construction on verb learning. In French, object pronouns precede the verb, and the canonical direct object position remains empty. We test whether children treat such contexts as input for transitivity (since a direct object is morphologically identified) or optional transitivity (due to the empty direct object position). Forty-eight monolingual French preschoolers heard verb input with clitics and noun phrases as direct objects, in two input conditions: obligatory transitivity, and mixed optional transitivity. Results show that children are sensitive to the input, but produce more sentences with null implicit objects in the clitic conditions. This provides evidence that specific properties of a language (e.g. clitic constructions), affect the acquisition of verbal classes.

Neuter gender in a sexless language

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Merijn de Dreu ◽  
Leston Buell
Keyword(s):  
Romance Languages ◽  
Class System ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Grammatical Functions ◽  
The Way

In some Germanic languages, neuter gender is used both as a lexical gender and for certain grammatical functions, while in Romance languages, neuter gender is only employed for grammatical functions. Zulu, a Bantu language, has a much more elaborate noun class system than those languages, but one not rooted in sex or animacy as in Germanic or Romance. However, it is shown that Zulu noun class 17 is used for the same range of grammatical functions as neuter gender in Indo-European. Specifically, Indo-European neuter gender and Zulu class 17 are used when the referent has no specific noun class properties, for expletive subjects, and as the subject of nominal predication, even when the referent is human. Aside from its use in some languages as a gender for nouns, then, neuter gender can be understood as a cluster of grammatical functions, independently of the way the lexicon is organized.

scholarly journals Possessive and transitive in Eskimo

1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Mey
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Deep Structure ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Surface Structures ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Indirect Confirmation ◽  
Relative Case ◽  
Grammatical Tradition ◽  
Natural Way

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to give an account of some hitherto unexplained phenomena connected with the use of the Eskimo ‘relative case’. A deep structure is proposed that not only will account for the occurrence of certain surface morphemes, but also, and in a natural way, for the semantic affinities that exist between certain types of noun phrases and the transitive sentence in Eskimo. In particular, it is shown that in phrases of the type ‘the man's house’, there exists evidence for considering ‘man’ as the subject noun phrase, ‘house’ as the object noun phrase of some deep structure. The transformational machinery involved in deriving the correct surface structures is shown in some detail. A discussion of older terminology in Eskimo grammatical tradition provides additional, indirect confirmation of the naturalness of the proposed explanation.

Trois Emplois du Verbe cuta (donner) en Coréen

1988 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-302
Author(s):  
Pak Hyong-Ik
Keyword(s):  
Direct Object ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Lexical Choice ◽  
Indirect Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Properties

In this paper, I distinguish three different uses of the verb cuta: dative verb, support verb, and causative operator verb. The syntactic properties of a sentence containing the verb cuta vary with the lexical choice of the direct object. The subject of the sentence in which cuta is a support verb is seman-tically the subject of the direct object. This special relationship subject -direct object doesn't exist in the sentence with a causative operator verb cuta in which the indirect object is semantically the subject of the direct object. Furthermore, the distribution of the subject in the sentence with a dative verb cuta is different from that in the sentence with a causative operator verb cuta. The causative operator verb cuta takes the subject of the type "unrestricted noun". I present the principal syntactic properties of the verb cuta in the columns of the table. The sign "+" indicates that the verb has the corresponding property: the sign "-" that the verb does not have this property.

scholarly journals Features of signs of the crime object provided by article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-198
Author(s):  
Алена Харламова ◽  
Alena Kharlamova ◽  
Юлия Белик ◽  
Yuliya Belik
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Right

The article is devoted to the problematic theoretical and practical issues of the content of the signs of the object of the crimes under Art. 166 of the Criminal Code. The authors determined the main direct object, revealed the essence of the right of ownership, use and disposal. Marked social relations that can act as an optional direct object. Particular attention is paid in the article to the subject of the crime. Attempts have been made to establish criteria that are crucial for the recognition of any vehicle as the subject of theft. The content of the terms “automobile” and “other vehicle” is disclosed. The analysis of the conformity of the literal interpretation of the criminal law to the interpretation of the law enforcer is carried out. It is summarized that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation narrows the meaning of the term “other vehicle”, including in it only vehicles for the management of which, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, is granted a special right. The authors provide a list of such vehicles and formulate a conclusion on the advisability of specifying them as the subject of a crime. The narration of the article is accompanied by examples of decisions of courts of various instances in cases of crimes under Art. 166 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

scholarly journals TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND SUBSTANTIATION OF THE SEMANTIC COMPONENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL PROFILE OF ANOFFICER-PSYCHOLOGIST OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-32
Author(s):  
A. Yurkov
Keyword(s):  
Professional Training ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Optimal Decisions ◽  
Semantic Component ◽  
Professional Profile ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Practical Analysis ◽  
The Military

The professional profile of an officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine clearly defines the activities of specialist, the dominate type of activities in his work, and qualities that ensure the successful performing of duties. The professional profile of an officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine generally answers the following questions: what activity is analyzed and what is the subject and purpose of this activity, what are the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of professional activities; what are the factors that affect the psyche of military specialist; what are the special requirements for soldiers. According to the results of the questionnaire survey of experts the professionally important qualities of readiness of the officer-psychologist for professional activity in the Armed Forces were determined on the basis of the obtained and mathematically processed results of the questionnaire. The indicators of professionally important (necessary) qualities were determined, namely moral-volitional and emotional traits of an officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The competencies, that are acquired during the formation of the readiness of future psychologists for professional activity in the Armed Forces and should be formed as a result of professional training, have been developed on the basis of scientific and practical analysis. They are the following: the navigate in difficult combat situations, the ability to take optimal decisions and set tasks to subordinate units in a combat situation based on the analysis of received information, the assessment of the situation and ability to provide tactical calculations, the ability to develop and maintain combat documents and records. The professional profile of the officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine clearly defines the activities of specialist, the dominate type of activities in his work, and qualities that ensure the successful performing of duties. The training of a modern officer-psychologist of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is aimed at ensuring the harmonious development of the personality of an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that implies the development of all potential opportunities inherent in a specialist. The military psychologist should be prepared for the practical activities as a result of mastering of professional knowledge, skills and abilities (planned result of education), theoretical competence, the formation of professional competencies of a soldier.

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