Pro-drop and subject pronouns in Assamese

In recent years a considerable attention has been given to the study of control and pro-drop. Languages with rich agreement patterns allow for phonetically empty subject which is called “pro”. This paper deals with the pro-drop phenomena of Assamese. The main objective of the paper is to give a descriptive analysis of the subject pronouns and their nature in the pro-drop phenomena. The paper also aims to give a basic idea of this pro-drop phenomenon and shows how certain subject pronouns behave differently in Assamese. Pro drop in Assamese is a major linguistic characteristic of the language. The findings of the study revealed that we can drop most of the subject pronouns in Assamese. Though Assamese is considered as a pro-drop language, this phenomenon is not acceptable in written language. The sentences should be in a full structural representation in written language. In other words, we can say that pro-drop is used in our daily conversations; it is more or less like informal conversations.

The Structure of Split Questions in Mandarin Chinese

This article proposes a pro analysis for split questions (SQs) in Chinese, dissimilar to the biclausal account employing focus movement and deletion in Arregi 2010 and the one employing the silent head in Kayne 2015 and Tang 2015. SQ consists of a wh-clause and a tag clause. We argue that the entire SQ is an information/confirmation-seeking question, represented by a Speech Act Phrase (SAP)-shell structure (Speas and Tenny 2003; Oguro 2017, etc.) with wh-clause in its specifier and the tag in its complement. The tag of Chinese SQ is a base-generated clause, [pro (copula) tag ma/ne], composed of an empty subject pro, an optional copula, a tag, and a final particle, instead of being derived from a fully-fledged structure parallel to the wh-part akin to those of English and Spanish SQs. Such a pro analysis overcomes difficulties encountered in the other accounts regarding the distribution of the final particles and their clause-typing, the optionality of the copula, the ubiquitous uses of tag, the connectivity effects, and the island-insensitivity. Analytically, two seeming variants of SQ imply that the derivation of an SQ depends on whether its tag moves and whether a copula exists.

Kesalahan Klausa Dalam Karangan Mahasiswa BIPA Tingkat Pemula

<p class="Abstract"><strong>Abstract:</strong> This study aims to find out the errors of clauses contained in essays by BIPA beginner level students at State University of Malang. This study uses a qualitative approach to the type of text analysis research. This research data in the form of error clauses with data sources in the form of essays from beginner level BIPA students. This research instrument is based on the error analysis guide, clauses. Data analysis was carried out qualitatively by reading the full essay of BIPA students, marking errors contained in BIPA student essays, grouping error data based on patterns of error clauses into prepared tables, reducing error data by sorting out error data made more than three data sources only, and a summary of results. The results showed that there were errors in clauses. Error clauses in beginner level BIPA student essays include (a) Pø clause errors (empty predicate), (b) Sø clause errors (empty subject), (c) Bitransitive verbal clause errors with meN-i, ber, and me error clauses -i, and meN-, and (d) Mistakes in monotransitive clauses with patterns of ber-, meN-, me-, per-, -i, –an, and –nya.<em></em></p><strong>Abstrak:</strong> Penelitian ini memiliki tujuan untuk mengetahui kesalahan klausa yang terdapat dalam karangan mahasiswa BIPA tingkat pemula di Universitas Negeri Malang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis penelitian analisis teks. Data penelitian ini berupa kesalahan klausa dengan sumber data berupa karangan mahasiswa BIPA tingkat pemula. Instrumen penelitian ini didasarkan pada panduan analisis kesalahan klausa. Analisis data dilakukan secara kualitatif dengan membaca karangan mahasiswa BIPA secara utuh, menandai kesalahan yang terdapat dalam karangan mahasiswa BIPA, mengelompokkan data kesalahan berdasarkan pola kesalahan klausa kedalam tabel yang telah disiapkan, mereduksi data kesalahan dengan cara memilah data kesalahan yang dilakukan lebih dari tiga sumber data saja, dan penyimpulan hasil. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan terdapat kesalahan pada klausa. Kesalahan klausa pada karangan mahasiswa BIPA tingkat pemula mencakup (a) Kesalahan klausa Pø (predikat kosong), (b) Kesalahan klausa Sø (subjek kosong), (c) Kesalahan klausa verbal bitransitif dengan pola kesalahan meN-i, ber-an, me-i, dan meN-kan, dan (d) Kesalahan klausa monotransitif dengan pola ber-, mem-, meN-, per-, -i, –an, dan –nya.

Leftward Stylistic Displacement (LSD) in Medieval French

It is argued that, contrary to recent analyses, there was no stylistic fronting of the Icelandic type in Medieval French but a number of leftward stylistic displacements (LSD). The arguments against a stylistic fronting analysis include the absence of intervention effects and the absence of an empty subject condition. It is also argued that the LSD expression may have a diversity of informational roles and that the variety of constructions observed may be accounted for by a combination of (remnant) VP movement and short scrambling. Finally, three distinct constructions are identified: a V2 construction, an LSDLeft construction, with the LSD expression to the left of the subject, and an LSDRight construction, with the LSD expression to the right of the subject. LSDRight is the unmarked construction, and it includes the case where the subject position is unfilled.

Latvian verbs of speaking and their relations to evidentiality

The paper offers a functional analysis of three Latvian verbs of speaking used in their indicative third person forms – saka, runā and stāsta ‘say(s), speak(s) and talk(s)’ – based on the Latvian language corpus online (www.korpuss.lv) and, additionally, on examples excerpted from Internet discourse. The article discusses semantic and syntactic similarities and differences between these words, the functions of particular constructions distinguished according to specific syntactic criteria (presence vs. absence of a subject), and the use of these verbs in combination with the Latvian verb form traditionally associated with (potential) evidential meanings, the oblique (atstāstījuma izteiksme). While the use of verbs of speaking for introducing reported speech is seen as unproblematic, the relationship between verba dicendi and evidentiality requires more attention and remains in focus throughout this study. In order to offer an in-depth overview of the nature of this relationship, the relations between reported speech and evidentiality, as well as the oblique and evidentiality, are also briefly considered. The paper concludes that the possibility of the three verbs functioning as evidential markers depends on considerations of theoretical/terminological nature (how to define evidentiality, should reported speech be considered part of it, etc.) and also, to some extent, on the way the subject is realized in verba dicendi constructions (specific human agent vs. non-specific empty subject and absent or zero subject).