Indefinites and free choice

Indefinites display a great functional variety and they give rise to different pragmatic effects. We focus on free choice indefinites and in particular on the Italian qualsiasi. Our aim is to reconstruct the grammaticalization path of this item and understand how diachronic data might shed some light on existing semantic theories of free choice. We employ corpus-based tools to build a database containing occurrences of qualsiasi from its origin and early forms to its current usage. We show that qualsiasi emerged from a particular unconditional construction and we outline the different stages which led to its grammaticalization. We analyze the compatibility of our diachronic study with formal accounts of free choice inferences, with a focus on Alternative Semantics analyses for indefinite pronouns and so-called grammatical theories of free choice. Our work shows that an integration between formal semantics and historical linguistics is fruitful and worth pursuing.

Universal Dependencies

Universal dependencies (UD) is a framework for morphosyntactic annotation of human language, which to date has been used to create treebanks for more than 100 languages. In this article, we outline the linguistic theory of the UD framework, which draws on a long tradition of typologically oriented grammatical theories. Grammatical relations between words are centrally used to explain how predicate–argument structures are encoded morphosyntactically in different languages while morphological features and part-of-speech classes give the properties of words. We argue that this theory is a good basis for cross-linguistically consistent annotation of typologically diverse languages in a way that supports computational natural language understanding as well as broader linguistic studies.

BOOK REVIEW: ALPATOV, V.M. (2018), SLOVO I CHASTI RECHI (WORD AND PARTS OF SPEECH), YASK, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Vladimir M. Alpatov’s new monograph addresses typological and theoretical issues related to the basic morphological units – word and parts of speech. It elaborates on his previous work on morphological theory, typology, and historiography of linguistic traditions. The monograph consists of an introduction and three chapters. The first two chapters, “The Problem of Word” and “The Problem of Parts of Speech” address the differences in theoretical approaches, evidence from independent linguistic traditions with particular reference to the Japanese indigenous linguistics, and data from psycholinguistic research. In the third chapter, “Anthropocentric and systemocentric approaches to language”, the author claims that the morphological logocentric and non-logocentric approaches are instances of the two more general approaches to language, respectively. In spite of some criticism, the reviewer concludes that the monograph makes much progress in understanding the structure and typology of the morphological elements, and similarities and difference among national linguistic traditions and grammatical theories.

The method of prohibition in the Book of Purification from Sunan Al- Nasa'i, An applied rhetorical study: أسلوب النهي في كتاب الطهارة من سنن النسائي: دراسة بلاغية تطبيقية

The research was monitored under the title: (The Method of Forbidding in the Book of Purification from Sunan Al- Nisai, An Applied Rhetorical Study) Although rhetorical and grammatical theories are apparent, they serve one goal, It is to preserve the tongue in Arabic speech or to speak the case as necessary, so it is considered a means to tighten the legal rulings, but it has been sufficient for many to learn it only without applying it in the legal texts, especially in the noble Hadith, for this reason I traced this modest study so that the topic is more accurate As an illustration in a few separate pages for students to benefit from in the easiest opportunity and in the least possible time, it became clear to me through this study that the end has a high position and high importance in the science of grammar and rhetoric, and when applied in the content of the hadiths of the Prophet, he reaches the desired goal. It is worth noting that I found in the research, hadiths that contain the method of prohibition (3) hadiths, And the reason for the lack of hadiths that include the prohibition, the Messenger- may God bless him and grant him peace- was building judgments with wisdom and good advice, and it was not heavy-hearted for the companions around the companions and the Islamic nation to be dispersed, but- peace and blessings be upon him- was attained with the mercy of God be blessed and exalted, and he was wise Islamic Nation. This study monitored citizen aspects of the statement of the method of prohibition and its application in the Book of Purification from Sunan Al-Nasa'i, so that this work is a prelude to me to do the same work in the future in all prophetic traditions, and it became clear to me after examination, study and analysis that it is indispensable to know this method in the texts of the noble prophetic traditions in The sites, in turn, determine the grammatical and rhetorical meanings for which they were established, and the results of the research are shown as follows: And the Messenger- may God’s prayers and peace be upon him- has increased many of the construction methods by adopting a means to express his ideas issued intentionally and intentionally, and this is due to the enjoyment of these methods and workmanship due to their effective role and ability to report and achieve understanding, The study showed that the position of the prohibition is a high position because the legal rulings include the prohibition. The prohibition of other methods is not less important because it includes the purpose that is to direct the Companions to finish an act, as well as discipline them, and the tendency to adopt the methods of prohibition was one of the most prominent formal characteristics prominent in the hadiths of the Prophet; Because the Messenger- may God’s prayers and peace be upon him- cared to the two addressees in the succession of prohibiting methods to provoke them, and they were persuaded to do what was assigned to them.

A Linguistic Issue In By NafīS AL-Dīn Abū L-Faraj Ibn Al-Kaṯār (Thirteenth Century)

The treatise by Nafīs al-Dīn Abū l-Faraj Ibn al-Kaṯār, also known as Shams al-Ḥukamā, active circa the end of the thirteenth century CE, is written in Middle Arabic in the Arabic script. Verses of the Torah and quotes from Samaritan religious poems are written in Samaritan Hebrew letters. The treatise is extant in a number of Samaritan manuscripts kept in various libraries in Israel and abroad. While the title of this work is , its contents encompass numerous topics in a variety of fields: linguistics, exegesis, religious law and more. Among the linguistic issues it addresses, for example are topics in phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. The present article discusses two interrelated linguistic issues in phonology and morphology, the first dealing with the conjugation of irregular verbs: the phonological discussion focuses on the concept of ‘iwaḍ (compensation) and in morphology we discuss I/y verbs and, by the way, also I/n verbs. In addition, I examine this work's affinities with the grammatical theories expounded by the Samaritan grammarian Ibn Mārūṭ and the rabbinic grammarian Yehuda Ḥayyūj.

The Nature of Subtractive Processes in Morphology

This article discusses several important phonological issues concerning subtractive processes in morphology. First, this article addresses the scope of subtractive processes that linguistic theories should be concerned with. Many subtractive processes fall in the realm of grammatical theories. Subsequently, previous processual and affixal approaches to subtractive morphology and nonconcatenative allomorphy are reviewed. Then, theoretical restrictiveness is taken up. Proponents of the affixal view often claim that it is more restrictive than the processual view, but their argument is not convincing. We do not know enough to discuss theoretical restrictiveness. Finally, earlier analyses of subtractive morphology in parallel and serial Optimality Theory are reviewed. We have not accomplished enough in this respect, so no conclusive choice of parallelism or serialism is possible at present. As a whole, there are too many unsettled matters to conclude about the nature of subtractive processes in morphology.

Bilderlosigkeit und anthropomorphe Darstellungen in den deutschen und niederländischen Grammatiken des Barock: sprachwissenschaftlich verursachte und konfessionell motivierte Sichtweise

Human figures were a suitable means of assigning human qualities to non-human entities, thereby making an abstract phenomenon more concrete and easier to understand. During the baroque period, one of the widely used techniques in the works of German and Dutch grammarians was visual presentation of their material in tables. Illustrative examples or tables and dichotomies were differently preferred as visual material in the language teachings of representatives of the confessions as well as the most important philosophical and grammatical theories, which were respected and had authority in the 17th century. The iconoclasm of the Calvinist authors, that is, aniconism and removal of images from churches, correlated with the reluctance of the grammarians to visualise their subjects in pictures. For presenting the contents, language teachers chose a frugal form, namely the tables and the dichotomic method, which is usually manifest in the composition of grammar books and description of the most important characteristics of the parts of speech.

Neg-raising

Neg-raising is “the strong tendency in many languages to attract to the main verb a negative which should logically belong to the dependent nexus [=clause]”: a speaker uttering I don’t believe that p is typically taken to have conveyed ‘I believe that not-p’. Such lower-clause understandings of higher-clause negations are possible across certain predicates (believe, think, want) but not others (realize, regret, deny) in English and other languages. Grammatical theories of Neg-raising posit a movement rule based on evidence from the interaction of higher negation with strict negative polarity items, negative inversion, negative parentheticals, and syntactic islands. Semantic and pragmatic approaches cite the relation of Neg-raising to other processes involving contrary negation in contradictory form, the availability of excluded middle presuppositions (I believe that p v I believe that not-p), the Neg-first conspiracy, and the role of politeness or euphemism in motivating Neg-raising.