Functions of Language - Volume 28, Issue 2, 2021

Abstract

Complement clauses of verbs of fear often contain expletive negation, which is negative marking without negative meaning. Expletive negation in fear-complements regularly co-occurs with non-indicative moods, such as subjunctive, conjunctive, or conditional. The aim of this paper is to provide a diachronic explanation for the phenomenon of expletive negation in complement clauses of fear-verbs. Based on data from various languages, I will show that cases of expletive negation after verbs of fear can be divided into several groups, each with a different origin. Fear complement clauses can derive from embedded polar questions, paratactic constructions expressing a wish, or from negative purpose clauses. Complement clauses with polar questions usually contain an indicative verb form, while clauses based on the expression of a wish often have non-indicative verb forms. The paper also discusses cases in which expletive negation is lost.

Abstract

This paper explores the use of the discourse marker (DM) yaʕni (lit. ‘it means’) in spoken and written Egyptian-Cairene Arabic. The DM yaʕni originates in conversational interaction and is symbiotic with its socio-cognitive constraints and goals: it serves to facilitate the verbalization of new or hard-to-activate ideas and to optimize the verbalization of already-introduced ideas, so as to enhance participants’ mutual understanding and involvement. When carried over to written discourse, yaʕni undergoes various forms of adaptation. In casual-personal prose yaʕni is frequently used; however, the distribution of the tokens is different and their function recontextualized. Tokens introducing new ideas are few and acquire symbolic meaning, while tokens introducing elaboration of prior discourse are widely used and serve to evoke conversational interaction. In expository discourse, as reflected in Egyptian Wikipedia data, yaʕni is considerably less frequent and limited to elaborations of concepts and facts. The paper shows the highly context-sensitive function of the DM yaʕni and the ways in which its indexical force, as a marker of conversationality, is either heightened or weakened in writing, depending on the genre in which it is put to use.

Abstract

This article claims that the conjecturing clause-taking huaiyi predicate in Modern Chinese (e.g. Renmen huaiyi zheming taoyi de jingcha hen keneng canyu le zheqi anjian. ‘People conjecture that the escaped policeman had probably been involved in the case.’) is actually a parenthetical structure. Diachronically, it does not develop from an NP-taking huaiyi predicate (e.g. Wo hen huaiyi zhe ge shuofa. ‘I doubt the statement a lot.’) or a doubting clause-taking huaiyi predicate (e.g. Du Yifu changchang huaiyi ta yu erzi you guo nazhong ge’ermen yiqi de shiguang. ‘Du Yifu often doubted that he had had times of buddy loyalty with his son.’). Rather, it develops from a prosodically separated conjecturing huaiyi predicate. The goal of this paper is to show that its formation did not follow the commonly accepted matrix clause pathway, whereby a parenthetical clause-taking predicate develops from a corresponding matrix clause structure. Instead, it followed a hypothesized conjoining pathway, which involves the loss of a phonetic gap between a prosodically separated huaiyi predicate and the clause with which it occurs.

Abstract

This article deals with the Reaction Object Construction (ROC), as in She smiled disbelief, where an intransitive verb (smile), by adding an emotional object (disbelief), acquires the extended sense “express X by V−ing” (i.e. “She expressed disbelief by smiling”). Earlier research has suggested a diachronic connection between the ROC and Direct Discourse Constructions (DDCs) of the type She smiled, “I don’t believe you” (Visser 1963–1973). More recently, Bouso (2018) has shown that the ROC is primarily a feature of 19th century narrative fiction. This paper aims to bring together these insights. On the basis of a self-compiled corpus and De Smet’s Corpus of English Novels, it investigates the productivity of the ROC in 19th and 20th century fiction, and the role of DDCs in its development. The results reveal a peak in the productivity of the ROC that coincides with the development of the sentimental novel, and a correlation between the development of the ROC on the one hand and of those DDCs that have been mistakenly hypothesised to be its single source constructions on the other. Extravagance is proposed as a triggering factor for the use of the ROC in the 19th century as an alternative to DDCs.

This article reviews Inquisitive semantics978 0 19 881478 8978 0 19 881479 5

This article reviews War and its ideologies: A social-semiotic theory and description978 981 13 0996 0978 981 13 0994 6