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- Volume 9, Issue, 2002
Functions of Language - Volume 9, Issue 2, 2002
Volume 9, Issue 2, 2002
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Grammatical relations in active systems: The case of Guaraní
Author(s): Maura Velázquez-Castillopp.: 133–167 (35)More LessAn active system is frequently analyzed as the most semantically transparent case-marking system, where the agent-patient opposition underlies case marking and/or cross-referencing patterns. It has also been claimed that transitivity and its prototypical manifestation of subject-object opposition are irrelevant for this language type. This paper examines these claims in the light of the grammatical system of Guaraní, an active language spoken in Paraguay. Based on lexical and morpho-syntactic data such as reflexivization, passivization, relativization, incorporation and external possession, the results suggest that grammatical relations are indeed semantically driven and that they do not correlate with subjects and objects. The paper clarifies the semantic underpinnings of the active-inactive distinction in this language and shows that the relevant opposition is not that of agent-patient but rather that of source-locative. The study argues for an analysis based on language-specific event typing and construal.
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English locative constructions: An exercise in neo-Firthian description and dialogue with other schools
Author(s): An Laffut and Kristin Davidsepp.: 169–207 (39)More LessIn this article, we set out to describe the general ‘lexicogrammar’ of English locative constructions within a broadly neo-Firthian theoretical frame. First, we look at the question of how the verb and its participants — nominal and prepositional — are structurally integrated with each other. To characterize the representational semantics of locative constructions, we develop Fawcett’s (1987) proposal that they express caused ‘circumstantial relations’. Both diachronic and synchronic data impose, we show, that English locative constructions also manifest a semantic extension into caused possessive relations, associated mainly with the statal passive of locative constructions with ‘container’-verbs. We then turn to the question of the main variants of the locative construction: the into/onto-variant versus the with-variant, and examples with container- versus content-verbs. Interesting but partly divergent claims about the relative markedness of these variants were made by Levin and Rappaport, and Pinker. We confront these with two corpus-based neo-Firthian descriptive heuristics: Halliday’s quantitative weighing of the terms in a system, and Sinclair’s collocational analysis of items in grammatical environments. The result is a pluridimensional characterization of the markedness of the variants. The with-variant is overall the most common and semantically more general variant because it subsumes a large number of statal passives, which attract meaning extensions into the possessive domain. With strict ‘action and event’ construals, however, the into/onto-variant is the unmarked one. Cross-classifying this dimension of variation is the semantic opposition between examples with content-verbs and examples with container-verbs, which are characterized by collocational orientation on the Locatum and the Location respectively.
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On the interaction of Linguistic Typology and Functional Grammar
Author(s): Jan Rijkhoffpp.: 209–237 (29)More LessResearch conducted within the wider theoretical framework of Dik’s Functional Grammar has resulted in important contributions to linguistic typology, and, vice versa, empirical facts from a wide variety of languages have significantly improved the theory of Functional Grammar, especially regarding its typological adequacy. This article discusses the following contributions to Linguistic Typology: the development of a sound sampling methodology, classification of noun categories (Seinsarten), an account of (so-called) number discord, the introduction of the new grammatical category of ‘nominal aspect’, a new typology of classifiers, and a universal concerning the occurrence of adjectives as a distinct word class. Conversely it will be shown that facts from many different languages have played an important role in the development of a layered model of the noun phrase in Functional Grammar and how currently these facts are used to test hypotheses concerning parallels between NPs and clauses.
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Clause-final negation: structure and interpretation
Author(s): Ger P. Reesinkpp.: 239–268 (30)More LessNegation in a number of Austronesian and Papuan languages with SVO order is expressed by a rather rigid clause-final position of the negative adverb. Some typological generalizations for negation are reviewed and the distribution of this trait in languages of different stocks is discussed, arguing that it most likely originates in Papuan languages. Some proposals for different types of negation, such as whether it is a verbal (or VP) operator, a constituent operator or a sentential operator are considered. The problem of determining the scope of negation is discussed, with the conclusion that hard and fast semantic meanings for NEG at different structural levels cannot be posited, suggesting that perhaps a solution can be found in the application of some universal pragmatic principles.
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Constructions in language description
Author(s): Eva Schultze-Berndtpp.: 269–310 (42)More LessThis paper addresses some rarely-discussed theoretical and methodological issues in the application of a monostratal, construction-based linguistic model to language description. Constructions, in this approach, are defined as complex, schematic signs which are non-compositional, i.e. which have to be learned in a way which is similar to lexical items. In principle, the construction-based model is well suited to language description, since constructions which are specific to a language can be dealt with in the same framework as constructions which are common cross-linguistically. Yet, identifying a construction and distinguishing it from a compositional combination of signs, or from a formally and functionally related construction, is not always a straightforward task in descriptive practice. This is particularly true for spoken language, where the interaction of prosody and grammar has to be taken into account. I will propose here that gestalt-based constructions or G-Constructions, for which coherence is ensured by contiguity and prosodic means, should be distinguished from R-Constructions, where a relational element is responsible for the coherence of the construction, and which may therefore be distributed among two (or more) intonation units. These issues are illustrated by applying a construction-based description to various multi-predicate expressions in the Australian language Jaminjung.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 31 (2024)
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Volume 30 (2023)
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Volume 29 (2022)
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Volume 28 (2021)
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Volume 27 (2020)
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Volume 26 (2019)
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Volume 25 (2018)
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Volume 24 (2017)
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Volume 23 (2016)
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Volume 22 (2015)
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Volume 21 (2014)
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Volume 20 (2013)
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Volume 19 (2012)
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Volume 18 (2011)
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Volume 17 (2010)
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Volume 16 (2009)
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Volume 15 (2008)
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Volume 14 (2007)
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Volume 13 (2006)
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Volume 12 (2005)
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Volume 11 (2004)
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Volume 10 (2003)
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Volume 9 (2002)
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Volume 8 (2001)
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Volume 7 (2000)
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Volume 6 (1999)
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Volume 5 (1998)
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Volume 4 (1997)
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Volume 3 (1996)
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Volume 2 (1995)
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Volume 1 (1994)
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Language patterns and ATTITUDE
Author(s): Monika Bednarek
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