scholarly journals Case Valuation in Transitive Clauses: A Comparative Study of Punjabi and English Syntax

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Abdul Rafay Khan ◽  
Ghazala Kausar
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Interface Conditions ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Main Verb ◽  
The Subject ◽  
English Syntax ◽  
Structural Case ◽  
Inherent Case

Case is a morphological realization on a noun phrase (NP) to represent the NP's grammatical relationship with the main verb of the clause. With respect to case, languages, in many cases, can be broadly divided into two alignment systems, i.e., ergative-absolutive and nominative-accusative. In the former type of languages, e.g., Punjabi, the subjects usually receive an ergative post position in transitive clauses (with perfective aspect) while in the latter type of languages, e.g., English, the subject, i.e., in nominative case receives, no post position. There has been a widespread controversy on whether ergative is a structural case or a lexical/inherent case and how the arguments are, i.e., subject and objects valued case in case of ergative clauses. With this ongoing debate in the background, this study aims to compare the marking of case on the arguments, i.e., subjects and objects in the transitive clauses of English and Punjabi. The study is conducted under the minimalist framework of Chomsky (2008), who emphasized on Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT): language provides the best possible solution to the interface conditions imposed by other systems of the human mind, i.e., related to meaning and sound, which interact with language through their interfaces Conceptual Intentional (C-I) and Sensori-Motor (SM) respectively. In this framework, a feature valuation mechanism is induced by the probes, i.e., C and v*. The study finds that in split ergative languages (the languages which take both case patterns, i.e., nominative and ergative) like Punjabi, the EA, i.e., subjects of perfective transitive clauses are assigned the ergative case by the functional heads v* at [Spec-v*] while the IA, i.e., objects are valued accusative case by the same functional head v* under Agree operation. A consequence of this finding concludes that T has default agreement in such languages, which is possible because Punjabi (like its other South Asian counterparts, e.g., Urdu-Hindi, Bengali, and Kashmiri) is a pro-drop language. So, it is easy to assume that EPP and Agree features of T are an option

Nebrija’s syntatic theory in its historical setting

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
W. Keith Percival
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Syntactic Theory ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
Main Verb ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Grammatical Tradition

Summary Antonio de Nebrija (1444?–1522) inherited his syntactic theory from a grammatical tradition which had developed in Italy in the High Middle Ages more or less independently of the speculative tradition of northern Europe. The distinctive features of this system are the following: (1) The main verb in a sentence governs not only the oblique cases of the complements but also the nominative case of the subject. (2) Verbs are subclassified depending on the morphological cases of their nominal complements. Nebrija must have assimilated this system as a student in Italy in the 1460s.

scholarly journals The structural nature of non-structural case: On passivization and case in Lithuanian

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar Freyr Sigurðsson ◽  
Milena Sereikaite ◽  
Marcel Pitteroff
Keyword(s):  
Structural Conversion ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Dative Case ◽  
Structural Nature ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Structural Case ◽  
Inherent Case ◽  
The Voice

Dative case on indirect objects (IO) in Lithuanian is preserved under passivization, which is not the case with dative direct objects (DO) of monotransitive verbs, suggesting that the two datives are not alike. Although DAT-to-NOM conversion is taken as an indicator of structural case, we show that DO datives behave differently from DOs bearing structural accusative in that the former exhibit inherent case properties as well (see also Anderson 2015). We develop an account for the contrast between the two datives by using two types of derivational mechanisms: structure-building features, triggering Merge, and probe features, triggering Agree (Heck & Müller 2007; Müller 2010). This study demonstrates that structural vs. non-structural conversion can be dependent on not only how case is assigned but also on the Voice system of a language (in line with Alexiadou et al. 2014). We argue that the DO dative in Lithuanian is in fact non-structural. Even though the result of DAT-to-NOM conversion is structural nominative case, the derivation is different from that of structural ACC-to-NOM conversion.

scholarly journals Inherent case in Archaic Chinese

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Edith Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
First Person ◽  
External Argument ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Archaic Chinese ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Inherent Case ◽  
Operator Movement

This paper proposes an analysis of subject case in Late Archaic Chinese (LAC). By examining the distribution of first person pronominal subjects, I conclude that there were two distinct morphological cases for subjects in LAC. One of these pronouns, 我 wǒ, valued structural nominative case, while the other one, 吾 wú, was marked with a different case. The occurrence of 吾 wú as the external argument of experiencer and modal predicates clearly suggests that this case was at least sometimes inherent case assigned to the external argument in [Spec, vP]. 吾 wú also functioned as the subject of relative clauses, embedded subjunctive clauses, and irrealis matrix clauses. Since the case valued in these clause types was not sensitive to predicate types, I propose that the source of the case valued by the subject in these environments was T. Working within Chomsky’s (2008) C-T Inheritance framework, I propose that Inheritance did not take place in indicative clauses, so the subject moved to [Spec, CP] to value nominative case. A first person pronoun with nominative case was spelled out as 我 wǒ. But Inheritance was forced if another constituent needed to occupy [Spec, CP]. I propose that relative clauses and irrealis/subjunctive clauses are all derived through operator movement. Because the operator must occupy [Spec, CP], C-T Inheritance must also take place, forcing the subject to move to [Spec, TP] to value its case. The case valued in this position was also the non-nominative form exemplified by the first person pronoun 吾 wú.

Genealogy of Colonial Discourse: Hindu Traditions and the Limits of European Representation

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raf Gelders
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Colonial Discourse ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
The Core ◽  
European Culture ◽  
Eastern Cultures ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Core Issues

In the aftermath of Edward Said's Orientalism (1978), European representations of Eastern cultures have returned to preoccupy the Western academy. Much of this work reiterates the point that nineteenth-century Orientalist scholarship was a corpus of knowledge that was implicated in and reinforced colonial state formation in India. The pivotal role of native informants in the production of colonial discourse and its subsequent use in servicing the material adjuncts of the colonial state notwithstanding, there has been some recognition in South Asian scholarship of the moot point that the colonial constructs themselves built upon an existing, precolonial European discourse on India and its indigenous culture. However, there is as yet little scholarly consensus or indeed literature on the core issues of how and when these edifices came to be formed, or the intellectual and cultural axes they drew from. This genealogy of colonial discourse is the subject of this essay. Its principal concerns are the formalization of a conceptual unit in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, called “Hinduism” today, and the larger reality of European culture and religion that shaped the contours of representation.

Again on relative clause and subordination in Latin

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gualtiero Calboli
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Central Point ◽  
Relative Pronoun ◽  
Case Theory ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

AbstractI started from the relative clause which occurs in Hittite, and in particular with the enclitic position of the relative pronoun. This is connected with the OV position and this position seems to have been prevailing in Hittite and PIE. The syntactic structure usually employed in Hittite between different clauses is the parataxis. Nevertheless, also the hypotaxis begins to be employed and the best occasion to use it was the diptych as suggested by Haudry, though he didn't consider the most natural and usual diptych: the law, where the crime and the sanction build a natural diptych already in old Hittite. Then I used Justus' and Boley's discussion on the structure of Hittite sentence and found a similarity with Latin, namely the use of an animate subject as central point of a sentence. With verbs of action in ancient languages the subject was normally an animate being, whereas also inanimate subject is employed in modern languages. This seems to be the major difference between ancient and modern structure of a sentence, or, better to say, in Hittite and PIE the subject was an animate being and this persisted a long time, and remained as a tendency in Latin, while in following languages and in classical grammar the subject became a simple nominal “entity” to be predicated and precised with verb and other linguistic instruments. A glance has been cast also to pronouns and particles (sometimes linked together) as instruments of linking nominal variants of coordinate or subordinate clauses and to the development of demonstrative/deictic pronouns. Also in ancient case theory a prevailing position was assured to the nominative case, the case of the subject.

Turkey's Physicians' Attitudes Toward Euthanasia: A Brief Research Report

2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erdem Özkara ◽  
Hamit Hanci ◽  
Murat Civaner ◽  
Coskun Yorulmaz ◽  
Mustafa Karagöz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Turkish Population ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
The Subject

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are subject to an ongoing debate and discussed with various aspects. Because physicians are in a profession closely related to euthanasia, their attitudes toward this subject are significant. Thus, research intending to explore their opinions is carried out in many countries. In this study, opinions of the physicians regarding euthanasia's definition, contents, legal aspects, and acceptable conditions for its application are addressed. The questionnaire was given to 949 physicians, more than 1% of the total working in Turkey. Of the physicians who participated in the study, 49.9% agreed with the opinion that euthanasia should be legal in certain circumstances. In addition, 19% had come across a euthanasia request and the majority of physicians (55.9%) believed that euthanasia is applied secretly in the country despite the prohibitory legislation. In conclusion, the authors infer from the study itself and believe that euthanasia should be legal in certain circumstances and that the subject, which is not in the agenda of the Turkish population, should continue to be examined.

The Ethics of Accepting Gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1233-1237
Author(s):  
Lewis H. Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
The Subject

How physicians respond to the promotional activities of the pharmaceutical industry is the subject of ongoing debate and controversy. This paper postulates that the acceptance of gifts in virtually any form violates fundamental duties of the physician of nonmaleficence, fidelity, justice, and self-improvement. The medical community must articulate this position clearly, and it should act accordingly.

Two puzzles on the nominative particle ga in Japanese

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-243
Author(s):  
Noriko Kawasaki
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Conversational Implicature ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Nominative Case ◽  
Semantic Account ◽  
The Subject

Abstract Back in the 1970s, Kazuko Inoue observed that some active sentences in Japanese allow a prepositional subject. Along with impersonal sentences pointed out by S.-Y. Kuroda, such examples suggest that the nominative subject is not an obligatory element in Japanese sentences. While this observation supports the hypothesis that important characteristics of the Japanese language follow from its lack of (forced-)agreement, Japanese potential sentences require the nominative ga on at least one argument. The present article argues that the nominative case particle ga is semantically vacuous even where a ga-marked phrase is indispensable or the ga-marked phrase is construed as exhaustively listing. Stative predicates require a ga-marked phrase because they can ascribe a property to an argument only by function application. The exhaustive listing reading arises by conversational implicature when the presence of a ga-marked phrase signals that a topic phrase is being avoided. The discussion leads to a semantic account of subject honorification whereby the honorification only concerns the semantic content of the predicate, and does not involve agreement with the subject. It is also shown that sentences with a prepositional subject allow zibun only as a long-distance anaphor, which indicates that they do lack a subject with the nominative Case.

scholarly journals XXXI.—On the Limits of our Knowledge respecting the Theory of Parallels

1864 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-450
Author(s):  
Kelland
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Very Old ◽  
Metaphysical Problem ◽  
Pure Logic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
Negative Conclusion ◽  
Positive Results

The subject of this paper is a very old one, and may to many appear to be sufficiently worn; but I venture to hope, that there are some to whom a glimpse of the successive approaches of the human mind towards the right understanding of a question of pure logic, may have an interest,—even although the problem solved be an abstract one, and the conclusion a negative conclusion, having little practical application. Like the kindred problem of the quadrature of the circle, or the metaphysical problem of “Knowing and Being,” the theory of parallels has been attacked in various directions, and although it is true that no one ever reached the goal he aimed at, yet it is not the less certain that great and positive results have followed in the history of human attainment. If no other lesson has been learnt, this at least may have been: that in reasoning it is necessary to look warily around and abroad at every step, seeing that admissions, the most obviously inadmissible, or evasions the most palpable, have foiled generations of thinkers, whilst those who have detected their errors have fallen into others of an equally destructive character.

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