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Studies in Language. International Journal sponsored by the Foundation “Foundations of Language” - Current Issue
Volume 48, Issue 2, 2024
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The psycholinguistic realization of topic in Chinese
Author(s): Liulin Zhangpp.: 253–286 (34)More LessAbstractAn OSV word order that deviates from the canonical SVO word order is typically viewed as derived through movement. This theory has been widely supported by psycholinguistic studies showing that the displaced constituents are mentally reactivated at the gap positions. However, some cognitive-functionalists have proposed an alternative account: in a topic-prominent language like Chinese, topic is the basic unit of a sentence that delimits the frame within which the main predication holds. The present study adopts the cross-modal antecedent priming technique to test whether the sentence-initial object is structurally associated with the verb in native speakers’ online processing. Results of two experiments show that the sentence-initial object is not associated with the verb whatsoever, neither lexically nor structurally, shedding light on the typological characteristics of Chinese as a topic-prominent language. However, the processing of the antecedent object was shown facilitated at the post-quantifier position.
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Argument indexing in Kamang
Author(s): Katherine Walker, Pegah Faghiri and Eva van Lierpp.: 287–350 (64)More LessAbstractKamang (Alor-Pantar, non-Austronesian/Papuan) has a typologically unusual system of argument indexing, in which the S or P argument can be indexed on the verb by one of several prefix paradigms. Some verbs always show indexing, while others exhibit differential argument indexing (DAI). In DAI, the use of a particular prefix paradigm or zero marking depends on different (combinations of) factors. We investigate the effects of argument role (S, P), independent argument realisation, the animacy and topicality of the indexed argument, and lexical stipulation. We perform a quantitative analysis of these factors for the first time in Kamang discourse, drawing on an annotated corpus of spoken Kamang. A complex picture emerges in which Kamang argument indexing is best viewed not as a single system, but as multiple subsystems for which different factors are relevant in a given context, and which do not operate on all verbs or all indexing strategies equally.
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Comparing zero and referential choice in eight languages with a focus on Mandarin Chinese
Author(s): Maria Vollmerpp.: 351–389 (39)More LessAbstractMandarin has a low rate of overtly expressed arguments in all syntactic functions without agreement marking on the verb. It has been claimed that Mandarin exhibits higher rates of zero arguments than other languages. Most previous work has compared Mandarin with English, while comparison with other languages remains a desideratum. This study compares Mandarin with seven languages (Cypriot Greek, English, Northern Kurdish, Sanzhi, Teop, Tondano, Vera’a) taken from Multi-CAST (Haig & Schnell 2019). Results suggest that while Mandarin exhibits more zero arguments than pronouns, this is not unique, with e.g. Cypriot Greek having a higher rate of zero arguments. In addition, a relatively stable rate of lexical expressions can be found across languages, relativising Mandarin’s unique position with regard to referential choice even further.
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A binary inflectional voice contrast in Mabaan (Western Nilotic)
Author(s): Torben Andersenpp.: 390–435 (46)More LessAbstractIn Mabaan, a Western Nilotic language, there is a binary inflectional voice contrast in the morphology of verbs. In addition to a morphologically unmarked basic voice, there is a fully productive applicative voice, which is morphologically marked. This applicative voice may be called circumstantial in order to distinguish it from another applicative voice, which is derivational, namely benefactive. The circumstantial voice turns an adjunct into an object, making an intransitive verb transitive and a transitive verb ditransitive. In a main clause, however, a transitive verb needs to be detransitivized via antipassive derivation in order for an adjunct to become object through the circumstantial voice. In some types of subordinate clauses, by contrast, any verb can get the circumstantial voice, whatever its transitivity, derivational status and meaning. This voice is obligatory in relative clauses when the relativized constituent is an adjunct and in some types of adverbial clauses.
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Adjectival intensification in West Germanic
Author(s): Daniel Van Olmenpp.: 436–471 (36)More LessAbstractThis article investigates the forms and functions of adjectival intensification in West Germanic. With corpus data from different discourse types, we challenge claims that German tends to use synthetic means and Dutch is between German and English but more like English in its preference for analytic ones. Our results show that all three languages, and Afrikaans too, favor analytic intensifiers but also that only English employs synthetic ones to a lesser extent. The other languages are found to use synthetic forms more especially in literature. The study also offers corpus-based support for an earlier hypothesis that both English and German prefer amplifying to downtoning adjectives. We show that this tendency exists more pronouncedly in Afrikaans and Dutch too and that English speech stands out with more functionally ambiguous intensifiers. The article also explores possible explanations for its findings in (dis)similarities in word formation, discourse types’ linguistic potential and politeness
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A new converb originating from the locative noun in Beserman
Author(s): Maria Usacheva and Natalia Serdobolskayapp.: 472–512 (41)More LessAbstractIn Beserman, a new converb grammaticalizes from the possessive locative form of the locative noun in (o)ń-ńig. We show that the constructions with the converb have a clausal structure, while the constructions with the locative noun are mostly noun phrases, even if they include an indication of the agent and patient of the situation encoded by the locative noun. Semantically, the two types of constructions are also different. In the converb constructions the situations encoded by the main and the embedded clause must overlap, while with locative nouns this is not necessarily the case. The temporal reference of locative nouns is habitual/iterative, while converbs often have episodic (non-habitual) interpretation. The original locative noun denotes a reference to a fixed location where the situation usually takes place. In the constructions with the converb this meaning is bleached and generalized as an action which takes place in any possible location.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 48 (2024)
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Volume 47 (2023)
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Volume 46 (2022)
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Volume 45 (2021)
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Volume 44 (2020)
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Volume 43 (2019)
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Volume 42 (2018)
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Volume 41 (2017)
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Volume 40 (2016)
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Volume 39 (2015)
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Volume 38 (2014)
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Volume 37 (2013)
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Volume 36 (2012)
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Volume 35 (2011)
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Volume 34 (2010)
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Volume 33 (2009)
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Volume 32 (2008)
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Volume 31 (2007)
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Volume 30 (2006)
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Volume 29 (2005)
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Volume 28 (2004)
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Volume 27 (2003)
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Volume 26 (2002)
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Volume 25 (2001)
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Volume 24 (2000)
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Volume 23 (1999)
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Volume 22 (1998)
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Volume 21 (1997)
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Volume 20 (1996)
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Volume 19 (1995)
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Volume 18 (1994)
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Volume 17 (1993)
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Volume 16 (1992)
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Volume 15 (1991)
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Volume 14 (1990)
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Volume 13 (1989)
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Volume 12 (1988)
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Volume 11 (1987)
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Volume 10 (1986)
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Volume 9 (1985)
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Volume 8 (1984)
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Volume 7 (1983)
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Volume 6 (1982)
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Volume 5 (1981)
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Volume 4 (1980)
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Volume 3 (1979)
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Volume 2 (1978)
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Volume 1 (1977)
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Where Have all the Adjectives Gone?
Author(s): R.M.W. Dixon
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On thetical grammar
Author(s): Gunther Kaltenböck, Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
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On contact-induced grammaticalization
Author(s): Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
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Quotation in Spoken English
Author(s): Patricia Mayes
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