Relevant bibliographies by topics / English language – Auxiliary verbs / Dissertations / Theses
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: English language – Auxiliary verbs.

Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English language – Auxiliary verbs'

Author: Grafiati
Published: 4 June 2021
Last updated: 17 February 2022

Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles

Select a source type:

Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'English language – Auxiliary verbs.'

Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.

You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.

Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

1

Caines, Andrew Paul. "You talking to me? : zero auxiliary constructions in British English." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.609153.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
2

Davis, Henry. "The acquisition of the English auxiliary system and its relation to linguistic theory." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26987.

Full text
Abstract:
This thesis explores the connection between linguistic theory, as embodied in a version of the Government - Binding (GB) model of syntax, and the parameter-setting theory of language acquisition. In Chapter 2, it is argued that by incorporating the criterion of epistemological priority, syntactic theory can move closer towards becoming a plausible model of language acquisition. A version of GB theory is developed which adopts this criterion, leading to several modifications, including the derivation of X-bar theory from more "primitive" grammatical sub-components, and a revision of the Projection Principle. This model is converted into a procedure for phrase-structure acquisition, employing sets of Canonical Government Configurations and Percolation Principles to map Case- and θ-relations onto phrase-structure trees. The chapter ends with a discussion of the "missing-subject" stage in the acquisition of English. Chapter 3 concerns auxiliaries. It is argued that parametric variation in auxiliary systems can be reduced to levels of association between INFL and V. The question of irregularity is dealt with through the Designation Convention of Emonds (1985), which makes a distinction between open- and closed- class grammatical elements, and a Parallel Distributed Processing model of learning. The last part of the chapter investigates the learning of the English auxiliary system, and in particular the errors known as "auxiliary overmarking". Chapter 4 investigates the syntax of Subject Auxiliary Inversion (SAI)-type rules. An account of inversion is developed based on the theory of predication, in which inversion-inducing elements are treated as "A'-type" subjects which must be linked to AGR in order to satisfy conditions on Predicate-licensing. A parametrization is developed based on the cross-linguistic examination of SAI-type rules. Chapter 5 concerns the acquisition of SAI. It is argued that there are no invariant "stages" in the development of inversion; rather, a proportion of children misanalyze (WH + contracted auxiliary) sequences as (WH + AGR-clitic) sequences and formulate grammars in which SAI is unnecessary. A "two-tiered" theory of syntactic acquisition is proposed to account for the observed developmental patterns.
Arts, Faculty of
Linguistics, Department of
Graduate
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
3

Chaphole, Solomon Rampasane. "A study of the auxiliary in Sesotho." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15827.

Full text
Abstract:
Bibliography: pages 208-219.
The Auxiliary is a sadly neglected field of study in Southern African languages. The study investigates the syntactic and semantic behaviour of Auxiliaries in Sesotho. Having established that there is a category AUX in Sesotho, we then developed a descriptive framework in which auxiliaries in Sesotho participate. In this framework we posit as basic the three grammatical-semantic categories of verb phrases, namely, Tense, Aspect and Modality. The next major step was to develop formal tests which we used as defining characteristics for auxiliaries. We had to do this because the formal tests developed for English, for instance, do not work for Sesotho. The data used in this study represents samples of Sesotho as spoken by the native speakers. This work makes contributions in two areas. First, to language studies in Southern Africa and then to general linguistic theory. Since Tswana, Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho form one language group predict that the formal 'tests' we have suggested can be applied in the two Sotho languages as well. As far as Aspect, Tense and Modality are concerned, it is where this study makes a major contribution. Nowhere in Sesotho grammatical studies has either a tense or aspectual system of Sesotho been suggested or discussed. Modality has not even been referred to. In this regard the study is breaking new ground. We hope that a fresh debate will be initiated leading to vibrant discussions on comparative work. A number of studies on syntactic typology have been made. This study affords Sesotho its rightful place in the AUX debate.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
4

Sookgasem, Prapa. "Morphology, syntax and semantics of auxiliaries in Thai." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185107.

Full text
Abstract:
This dissertation presents a study of three linguistic areas--morphology, syntax and semantics--of what have traditionally been called auxiliaries or auxiliary verbs in Thai, but what I call temporal verbs. My morphological analysis offers answers to long-term questions: What is the grammatical category of temporal verbs? What is the structure of sequences of these elements? And how are their syntactic discontinuities to be handled? My syntactic analysis investigates all possible positions of temporal verbs in both Subject-Verb-(Complement) and Verb-Subject-(Complement) sentences (Sookgasem 1989). Using Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (Pollard & Sag 1987) for my analysis, I focus on three interesting points: First, a problem with the Head Feature Principle when describing a temporal verb in a sentence. Second, a problem with the linear order of the VP constituent in the Verb-Subject-(Complement) constructions of temporal verbs. And third, a position of some temporal verbs in relation to part of its VP complement. For the semantic analysis of temporal verbs, I focus on the temporal interpretation of the Future and Aspect verbs. I argue that Thai is a tense language. To support this, I analyse Aspect in Thai and examine tense interpretation in simple sentences and all types of complex sentences. Based on the evidence, I propose a tense system in Thai. I provide definitions of Reference Time and Tenseness. I propose a Tense Assigner Hierarchy, a relation named Overlap, a semantic model for tense interpretation, and the truth conditions for tensed sentences and clauses. To provide an accurate account of tense interpretation in Thai, I analyse eventualities which include Activities, Accomplishments, Achievements and States.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
5

Kovitz, David Immanuel. "Looking into phrasal verbs." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2003. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2362.

Full text
Abstract:
The phrasal verb is a unique type of verb phrase that consists of a main verb, usually of only one or two syllables, followed by a particle, that works as a single semantic unit. Such meaning, however, is characteristically expressed in idomatic terms, which poses a formidable problem for students of English as a second language. To be understood, this meaning must be figuratively interpreted as well as literally translated.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
6

Kiraz, Meryem. "A Construction Grammar Approach to How Turkish Learners of English Use Auxiliary Verbs in Terms of Tense, Aspect and Voice." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1279589745.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
7

Byron, Shelagh Anne. "Linguistic perspectives on the pedagogical problems of English 'have' verbs." Thesis, [Hong Kong] : University of Hong Kong, 1989. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B1275268X.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
8

Thibeau, Tully Jude. "English prepositions in phrasal verbs: A study in second language acquisition." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284018.

Full text
Abstract:
This study examines whether grammar instruction treatment, input processing, facilitates in learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) a distinction among sets of phrasal verbs containing prepositions. Input processing emphasizes difficult grammatical forms and provides a model for the behavior of the varying roles of phrasal verb prepositions. Such instruction follows three steps: (i) explaining the relation between a grammatical form and its meaning, (ii) informing learners of language processes that adversely influence the form-meaning relation, and (iii) implementing "structured input" activities that target the form in linguistic input, facilitating form-meaning relations. Prepositions in phrasal verbs perform specific roles for exclusive purposes, for instance in verb-particle constructions eat up, clean out, send on where prepositions mark aspectual properties for "completion-of-activity" (telicity) as well as "affectedness" of phrasal verb objects. ESL students were selected for the control and treatment groups. Each group participated in a pretest and posttest. Each test included three tasks: one comprehension (yes/no multiple choice) and two production (sentence completion and written narration). Time (pretest/posttest) and instruction (informal IP/formal explanation) were independent variables. Scores were the dependent variable. Preposition use is difficult for ESL learners, yet no generalizations explain learning difficulty nor has instruction addressed this difficulty. Input Processing furnishes needed instruction and is consonant with current linguistic theory (Minimalism): Word-order phenomena obey "frame alternations" that shift meaning by varying syntactic configuration (movement to alternate sites in phrase structure). Language acquisition centers on mapping functions linking semantics with syntax; thus, pedagogical practice and linguistic theory are united. Structured input activities are likened to natural input that children are exposed to when they acquire language. Acquisition processes link meaningful items in a mental lexicon to grammatical patterns constructed by a mental computer. Second language learners create links between meaning and form because they make decisions about meaning in input structured to highlight the form in which meaning is conveyed. Statistical analyses show treatment effect for input processing instruction on the comprehension task, so subjects' ability is improved through attention to mapping. Production task data were inconclusive yet revealed significance of frequency of prepositions' functions.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
9

Pierce, Robert D. "Phrasal verbs in academic lectures." PDXScholar, 1990. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4140.

Full text
Abstract:
Phrasal verbs are a pervasive and distinctly Germanic part of the spoken English language that has been alive for centuries. They have preceded American history, and yet considered to be "the most active and creative pattern and word formation in the American language" (Meyer, 1975). Distinctly colloquial, idiomatic and varying in shades of literalness and figurativity, phrasal verbs are largely dominant in casual usage, such as conversation, while the Latinate verbs of English are dominant in formal usage, such as in making reports (McArthur 1989). While foreign educators and their students, such as from Chinese countries, are found to emphasize English study for formal and academic purposes, the acquisition of phrasal verbs may not be considered instrumental to the purposes of the students coming to the United States in pursuit of academic degrees. Because of the pervasiveness of phrasal verbs in spoken English language, and because of the largely conversational nature of American lectures, this study is intended to answer the following research questions: 1. In university classrooms, are the phrasal verbs spoken by native English speaking lecturers? 2. Are figurative phrasal verbs in academic lectures significantly greater in frequency than non-figuratively classified phrasal verbs in the academic lectures? 3. Do certain academic subjects tend to generate a significant increase in the number of phrasal verbs spoken by instructors, of either figurative phrasal verbs, or the more literal non-figuratively classified phrasal verbs?
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
10

Verde, Erica. "Investigating Miami English-Spanish Bilinguals' Treatment of English Deictic Verbs of Motion." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1229.

Full text
Abstract:
This investigation focused on the treatment of English deictic verbs of motion by Spanish-English bilinguals in Miami. Although English and Spanish share significant overlap of the spatial deixis system, they diverge in important aspects. It is not known how these verbs are processed by bilinguals. Thus, this study examined Spanish-English bilinguals’ interpretation of the verbs come, go, bring, and take in English. Forty-five monolingual English speakers and Spanish-English bilinguals participated. Participants were asked to watch video clips depicting motion events and to judge the acceptability of accompanying narrations spoken by the actors in the videos. Analyses showed that, in general, monolinguals and bilinguals patterned similarly across the deictic verbs come, bring, go and take. However, they did differ in relation to acceptability of word order for verbal objects. Also, bring was highly accepted by all language groups across all goal paths, possibly suggesting an innovation in its use.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
11

Grace, Sabine Thepaut. "Do Non-Native Grammars Allow Verbs to Raise to Agreement?" Thesis, University of North Texas, 1995. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278814/.

Full text
Abstract:
The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the setting of the verb movement parameter in L2 is dependent on agreement acquisition. The Optionality hypothesis (Eubank, 1994) is tested by examining the L2 grammar of Chinese learners of English. To test this hypothesis, the sentence matching procedure originally described in Freedman and Forster (1985) is used. It is found that no current theory truly accounts for the results that are obtained.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
12

Dongilli, Sophia J. "Separable English phrasal verbs: a comparison of L1 English speakers and L1 Spanish speakers of L2 English." Kansas State University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/19120.

Full text
Abstract:
Master of Arts
Department of Modern Languages
Earl K. Brown
How to teach phrasal verbs to L2 learners of English has been the subject of debate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) courses and materials alike. These multi-part verbs, consisting of a verb and one or more particles, convey a new lexical meaning different from their individual parts. Further complicating this is the fact that some transitive phrasal verbs can be separated from their particles to varying degrees by a direct object. Though variables affecting verb-particle separation lie below the level of consciousness for most native speakers, they make the acquisition of particle placement difficult for L2 English language learners. Additionally, the presentation of these verbs in EFL textbooks and university English language programs (ELPs) is inadequate. TEFL textbooks tend to place emphasis on the lexical acquisition of phrasal verbs, ignoring separable versus non-separable distinctions. However, native English speakers separate phrasal verbs from their particles about 66.5% of the time in spoken conversation. In order to determine whether traditional textbook problems associated with phrasal verb presentation persist, I analyzed eleven TEFL textbooks used in Kansas State University’s ELP. I also administered a grammaticality judgment survey in order to find out whether L1 Spanish speakers of L2 English view separation of transitive phrasal verbs and their particles to be grammatical. L1 Spanish Speakers of L2 English are disadvantaged by the fact that their native language is verb-framed, meaning that it does not make use of particles in the same way that English does. It is for this reason that native Spanish-speakers of L2 English constitute the experimental group in this study. The results of the TEFL textbook analysis reveal that none of the eleven textbooks analyzed could stand alone in the classroom to effectively teach phrasal verbs. The results of the grammaticality judgment survey show that L1 Spanish speakers of L2 English differ at a statistically significant level from L1 American English speakers in their acceptability of phrasal verb-particle separation. These findings have pedagogical implications for TEFL instructors, textbook writers, and English language programs, and demonstrate the need for more extensive and authentic phrasal verb instruction.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
13

Sikorska, Margaret P. "Unaccusative and unergative verbs in the Spanish interlanguage of French and English speakers." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/6347.

Full text
Abstract:
Esta tesis es un estudio de la morfo-sintaxis de los Ilamados verbos inacusativos e inergativos de la interlengua castellana de hablantes francofonos y anglofonos. La Hipotesis de la Unacusatividad (Perlmutter 1978) afirma que, en terminos sintacticos, la clase de los verbos intransitivos se divide en dos sub-clases: los verbos inergativos (dormir, cantar) y los verbos inacusativos (llegar, florecer) y que esta diferencia entre inacusatividad e inergatividad se plasma universalmente en et plano semantico. Sin embargo, las lenguas se diferencian en el grado de la representacion sintactica y morfologica de esta distincion. El objeto de nuestro estudio es investigar si nuestros aprendices conocen las consecuencias sintActicas de que un verbo pertenezca a una clase semantica u a otra. Dado que los verbos intransitivos no se clasifican del mismo modo en las lenguas maternas de nuestros aprendices, es de esperar que se enfrenten de distinta forma a los verbos del castellano. De hecho, vamos a explorar la hipotesis de que las semejanzas y diferencias entre sus lenguas maternas y et castellano nos permitan prever las dificultades con que habran de enfrentarse.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
14

Brody, Parker. "INFERENTIAL-REALIZATIONAL MORPHOLOGY AND AFFIX ORDERING: EVIDENCE FROM THE AGREEMENT PATTERNS OF BASQUE AUXILIARY VERBS." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/ltt_etds/2.

Full text
Abstract:
“No aspect of Basque linguistics has received more attention over the years than the morphology of the verb.” (Trask 1981:1) The current study examines the complex morphological agreement patterns found in the Basque auxiliary verb system as a case in point for discussion of theoretical approaches to inflectional morphology. The traditional syntax-driven treatment of these auxiliaries is contrasted with an inferential, morphology-driven analysis within the Paradigm Function Morphology framework. Additionally, a computational implementation of the current analysis using the DATR lexical knowledge representation language is discussed.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
15

Condon, Nora. "Investigating a cognitive linguistic approach to the learning of english phrasal verbs." Université catholique de Louvain, 2008. http://edoc.bib.ucl.ac.be:81/ETD-db/collection/available/BelnUcetd-08222008-102049/.

Full text
Abstract:
This dissertation investigates an area of notorious difficulty for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. Research from previous studies has indicated that phrasal verb learning may be more effective if a Cognitive Linguistic approach is adopted. However, the quantitative and qualitative research in this dissertation demonstrates that the approach, once integrated into a regular, classroom-based EFL programme, does not consistently yield significant learning gains. Further qualitative investigations highlighted the fact that the benefits of the approach have less to do with the Cognitive Linguistic explanations than with their compatibility with other learning strategies, such as employing imagery and grouping information. In addition, the approach is most suited to phrasal verbs that are already partially familiar to students. However, for other phrasal verbs the Cognitive Linguistic approach may even impede learning. In addition, the implications for phrasal verb pedagogy are then presented and discussed.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
16

Tchizmarova, Ivelina. "Verbal prefixes in Bulgarian and their correspondences in American English : a cognitive linguistic analysis." Virtual Press, 2005. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1317920.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
17

Choi, Chi Ha. "Translating animal verbs from English to Chinese :a corpus-assisted study." Thesis, University of Macau, 2018. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b3953658.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
18

Oger, Kimberly. "La grammaire de DO et ses emplois dans l'anaphore verbale." Thesis, Sorbonne université, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019SORUL121.

Full text
Abstract:
Cette thèse propose une étude transversale des principales réalisations de DO dans l'anaphore verbale en anglais, à savoir : do this/that/it, do so, ellipse post-auxiliaire (EPA) et DO britannique. Chaque anaphorique fait l'objet d'une étude approfondie fondée sur un échantillon de plusieurs centaines d'occurrences authentiques prélevées dans le BNC et le COCA, ainsi que le corpus de Bos & Spenader (2011). Plusieurs variables sont analysées, notamment le registre, la nature grammaticale de DO, les propriétés sémantiques et syntaxiques du déclencheur d'antécédent, l’identité de sujet et d'état de choses, les alternances de polarité, de modalité, d'aspect, de temps et de voix ainsi que la présence éventuelle d'adjoints contrastifs ou non contrastifs.Une attention particulière est portée au DO britannique, c'est-à-dire l'emploi de formes non finies de DO anaphorique essentiellement limité au registre conversationnel de l'anglais britannique, qui n'a jamais fait l'objet d'une étude empirique auparavant. A partir d’un échantillon de 483 occurrences prélevées dans la composante orale du BNC et vérifiées systématiquement à l'écoute, cette étude met en lumière certaines caractéristiques socio-culturelles et situationnelles qui favorisent son utilisation, en plus de ses propriétés linguistiques et discursives. Ainsi, cette étude aboutit à la conclusion que le DO britannique constitue une réalisation particulière de l'EPA, qui met en œuvre des formes non finies du DO auxiliaire
This dissertation presents research across the main types of verb-phrase anaphora involving DO, viz. do this/that/it anaphora, do so anaphora, post-auxiliary ellipsis (PAE) and British English DO. Each anaphor underwent close analysis based on a sample of several hundreds of occurrences retrieved from the BNC and the COCA, as well as Bos & Spenader's (2011) corpus. Different variables were studied including register, the grammatical status of DO, semantic and syntactic properties of antecedent triggers, identity of subjects and states of affairs, the presence or absence of contrastive and non-contrastive adjuncts, as well as polar, modal, aspectual, temporal and voice alternations.One item of particular interest involves British English DO which bears a strong resemblance to PAE, except that it involves non-finite forms of DO and is generally restricted to British conversational English. Unlike PAE, British English DO has never before been the focus of study based on empirical data. In this research, 483 naturally-occurring examples taken from the Spoken component of the BNC as well as the accompanying metadata and recorded material were fully examined. Sociolinguistic and situational information was investigated, as were the linguistic properties and discourse conditions that make the use of British English DO felicitous. The result has led to a far better understanding of the phenomenon. In particular, it was found that British English DO can be considered a sub-type of PAE, which involves non-finite forms of auxiliary DO
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
19

Kim, Hyeree. "The synchrony and diachrony of english impersonal verbs : a study in syntactic and lexical change /." The Ohio State University, 1996. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487936356157758.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
20

Van, Hattum Marije. "Irish English modal verbs from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2012. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/irish-english-modal-verbs-from-the-fourteenth-to-the-twentieth-centuries(1d718180-f025-473e-8ed3-7b7ccc4ac0de).html.

Full text
Abstract:
The thesis provides a corpus-based study of the development of Irish English modal verbs from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries in comparison to mainland English. More precisely, it explores the morpho-syntax of CAN, MAY, MUST, SHALL and WILL and the semantics of BE ABLE TO, CAN, MAY and MUST in the two varieties. The data of my study focuses on the Kildare poems, i.e. fourteenth-century Irish English religious poetry, and a self-compiled corpus consisting of personal letters, largely emigrant letters, and trial proceedings from the late seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The analysis of the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries is further compared to a similar corpus of English English. The findings are discussed in the light of processes associated with contact-induced language change, new-dialect formation and supraregionalization. Contact-induced language change in general, and new-dialect formation in particular, can account for the findings of the fourteenth century. The semantics of the Irish English modal verbs in this century were mainly conservative in comparison to English English. The Irish English morpho-syntax showed an amalgam of features from different dialects of Middle English in addition to some forms which seem to be unique to Irish English. The Irish English poems recorded a high number of variants per function in comparison to a selection of English English religious poems, which does not conform to predictions based on the model of new-dialect formation. I suggest that this might be due to the fact that the English language had not been standardized by the time it was introduced to Ireland, and thus the need to reduce the number of variants was not as great as it is suggested to be in the post-standardization scenarios on which the model is based. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ireland, increased Irish/English bilingualism caused the formation of a second-language (L2) variety of English. In the nineteenth century the bilingual speakers massively abandoned the Irish language and integrated into the English-speaking community. As a result, the varieties of English as spoken by the bilingual speakers and as spoken by the monolingual English speakers blended and formed a new variety altogether. The use of modal verbs in this new variety of Irish English shows signs of colonial lag (e.g. in the development of a deontic possibility meaning for CAN). Additionally, the subtle differences between BE ABLE TO and CAN in participant-internal possibility contexts and between epistemic MAY and MIGHT in present time contexts were not fully acquired by the L2 speakers, which resulted in a higher variability between the variants in the new variety of Irish English. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the use of modal verbs converged on the patterns found in English English, either as a result of linguistic accommodation in the case of informants who had migrated to countries such as Australia and the United States, or as a result of supraregionalization in the case of those who remained in Ireland.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
21

Guo, Ling-Yu Tomblin J. Bruce Owen Amanda J. "Acquisition of auxiliary and copula BE in young English-speaking children." [Iowa City, Iowa] : University of Iowa, 2009. http://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/370.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
22

Inagaki, Shunji. "Transfer and learnability in second language argument structure : motion verbs with locationaldirectional PPs in L2 English and Japanese." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=38492.

Full text
Abstract:
This thesis investigates how the outcomes of the acquisition of second language (L2) argument structure will vary depending on the nature of the learner's first language (L1). The focus is on motion verbs appearing with a prepositional/postpositional phrase that expresses the final endpoint of the motion (goal PP). In English, manner-of-motion verbs (e.g., walk ) and directed motion verbs (e.g., go) can appear with a goal PP as in John walked (went ) to school. In contrast, Japanese allows only directed motion verbs to occur with a goal PP. Thus, Japanese motion verbs with goal PPs form a subset of their English counterparts. I propose an analysis of these crosslinguistic differences in terms of different incorporation patterns in lexical-syntax (Hale & Keyser, 1993). L1 transfer and learnability considerations (White, 1991b), then, lead me to hypothesize that Japanese-speaking learners of English will be able to acquire the L2 representation on the basis of positive evidence, but that English-speaking learners of Japanese will have difficulty acquiring the L2 representation due to the lack of positive data motivating the restructuring of the L1 representation to the L2. A series of experiments tested these hypotheses using grammaticality judgment and picture-matching tasks. Results in general supported this prediction, suggesting that whether the L1 constitutes a subset of the L2 or vice versa indeed affects the outcomes of L2 argument structure. The results indicate full involvement of L1 and UG in L2 acquisition, thus supporting the Full-Transfer/Full-Access model of L2 acquisition (Schwartz & Sprouse, 1994).
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
23

Bahrami, Yar Mohammad. "Marking of English verbs for past tense : a study of Afghan learners' production." Thesis, Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/1516.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
24

Jeong, Young-Kuk. "Conceptual relations of English verbs in an electronic dictionary for the productive use of EFL learners." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.307296.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
25

Chan, Hoi Fung Fonnie. "A contrastive study in Cantonese and English modality by analyzing the modal auxiliary, ho yi 可以." HKBU Institutional Repository, 1998. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/103.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
26

Guo, Ling-Yu. "Acquisition of auxiliary and copula BE in young English-speaking children." Diss., University of Iowa, 2009. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/370.

Full text
Abstract:
This study tested the unique checking constraint hypothesis and the usage-based account concerning why young children produced tense and agreement morphemes variably via three experiments. Experiment 1 investigated whether subject types influenced the production accuracy of auxiliary 'is' in three-year-olds through an elicited production task. The rate of use of auxiliary 'is' increased as children's tense productivity increased, but the pattern was different for each subject type. The rate of use increased more rapidly with tense productivity for lexical NP subjects than it did for pronominal subjects. Experiment 2 further examined the role of subject types, predicate types, and predicate word frequency on the use of copula 'is' in three-year-olds via an elicited production task. Overall, the production accuracy of copula 'is' was higher with nominal predicates than with permanent- or temporary-adjectival predicates, followed by locative predicates. Children also produced copula 'is' more accurately with low-frequency predicate words than with high-frequency predicate words. Moreover, the effect of subject types on the use of copula 'is' varied with children's tense productivity. For sentences with nominal, permanent-adjectival, or temporary-adjectival predicates, children with lower tense productivity used copula 'is' more accurately with lexical subjects than with pronominal subjects in. In contrast, children with higher tense productivity produced copula 'is' more accurately with pronominal subjects than with lexical subjects. Experiment 3 extended Experiment 1 by exploring the degree of abstractness of representations of auxiliary BE via a structural priming task. The production accuracy of auxiliary 'is' in three-year-olds increased above the baseline when the prime-target pair shared the same structure and subject + auxiliary 'is' combinations, but not when the prime-target pair only shared the same structure. However, the production accuracy of auxiliary 'are' did not change with prime types. These experiments suggest that young children have only lexically-specific representations of auxiliary BE. Frequency, rather than structural properties, of sentence elements influenced the production accuracy of auxiliary and copula 'is' in young children. These findings support the usage-based approach that young children use tense and agreement morphemes variably because they have not yet learned adult-like abstract representations and use highly frequent/ lexically-specific constructions for the production of these morphemes.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
27

Ke, Yushan. "The phraseology of phrasal verbs in English : a corpus study of the language of Chinese learners and native English writers." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2014. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/5458/.

Full text
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to supplement existing research on phraseology in learner language by exploring the behaviours of phrasal verbs, a notorious hurdle for learners of English. This thesis compares a Chinese learner corpus (CLEC) with an English native speakers’ corpus (LOCNESS), with a reference corpus, the Bank of English (BoE), being consulted where necessary. A series of quantitative and qualitative investigations are conducted on phrasal verbs: calculation of frequency distribution and type-token ratios; identification of phraseological information, including collocation, semantic preference, semantic sequence and prosody. The results are discussed in full. Additionally, a framework utilising degrees of idiomaticity and restriction strength to group phrasal verbs is proposed and the issue of distinguishing synonymous counterparts is tackled as well. The results generally indicate that Chinese learner language tends to have more phrasal verb tokens but fewer types than written native speaker English does. Detailed case studies of phrasal verbs show, however, that the phraseological behaviours of phrasal verbs as used by learners are so individualised that the findings are mixed. Learner uses are characterised by idiosyncrasies of different phraseological units, suggesting that the links (between lexis and lexis, or lexis and concepts) in the lexicon of L2 are different from those in L1.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
28

Takizawa, Kumiko. "Stance-taking: JFL Learners and Benefactive Verbs." PDXScholar, 2018. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4481.

Full text
Abstract:
This study explores how JFL learners take a benefactive stance in Japanese. As Jaffe (2009) observes, stance-taking "plays a complex role with respect to the naturalization of social and linguistic ideologies and the social structures they legitimate." The way in which language is used to take a stance always concerns the social context in which a speaker finds her/himself. In Japanese, benefactive verbs (kureru, ageru, morau and their honorific and humble equivalents) are indispensable stance indicators for showing gratitude or indebtedness. Such expressions do not really exist in English and their grammar is complex. It is assumed that JFL learners will struggle with taking a benefactive stance using those expressions. In order to analyze JFL learners' stance-taking, data were collected from narrative interviews with ten JFL learners who are currently in 300- and 400-level university courses. In order to explore how learners attempt to show stance-reflecting benefaction, they were asked questions that aimed to elicit a speaker's feelings of gratitude. Some examples of such questions are, "Who do you appreciate the most in your life?" or "Who is the most generous person you know?" The data show that (1) learners do use (or attempt to use) benefactive verbs to indicate stance, (2) they also fail to use benefactive verbs in contexts where they are called for, and (3) they misuse benefactive verbs, e.g., using ageru instead of kureru. Furthermore, it revealed that learners tend to show stance using evaluation such as adjectives, adverbs, or ritual expressions that show appreciation but they fail to utilize benefactive verbs. This failure to project a benefactive stance can lead to miscommunication and/or misunderstanding between learners and Japanese speakers. I offer possible ways to promote learners' awareness of the benefaction in Japanese culture.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
29

Gibbs, D. A. "Second language acquisition of the English modal auxiliaries can, could, may and might by Punjabi-speaking pupils." Thesis, Birmingham City University, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.381600.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
30

Louhichi, Imed. "The 'motionisation' of verbs : a contrastive study of thinking-for-speaking in English and Tunisian Arabic." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/55282/.

Full text
Abstract:
This thesis investigates the idea that the grammatical system of a language influences aspects of thought patterns and communicative behaviour. It examines the linguistic conceptualisation of motion events in English and Tunisian Arabic (TA) in order to contribute to current debates in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research and its associated field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The main research questions are whether in learning a typologically different language, the conceptualisation acquired through first languages (L1) interferes with the learning of the conceptualisation inherent in a second language (L2). In order to address these questions, I adopt three analytical frameworks: a grammatical framework based on Talmy's (1985, 2000) binary distinction between verb-framed and satellite-framed languages, a discourse framework based on Berman and Slobin's (1994) application of Talmy's typology to verbal behaviour; and a ‘Whorfian' framework based on Slobin's (1987, 1996b) Thinking-for-Speaking' (TfS) hypothesis. A fundamental claim of the TfS hypothesis is that the grammar of a language and the discourse preferences of its speakers play a fundamental role in shaping linguistic thinking. From this follows the prediction that L1-based conceptualisation resists change when a typologically different L2 is learnt in adulthood. A comparison of the TfS behaviours of speakers of L1-English (L1-Eng), L1-TA, and ‘advanced' L2-English (L2-Eng) whose L1 is TA support this prediction. Based on the notion of ‘motionisation' – a term I coin in order to describe a conceptual strategy L1 speakers of English use when TfS about events – I show that linguistic habits are not only decisive in how the same TfS content is expressed (e.g. run from the jar versus run out of the jar), but more importantly, it is decisive in situations where speakers are ‘forced' to pick out different aspects of the same reality for TfS purposes. The findings reported here have implications for L2 English learners, in general, and, in particular, for learners of English whose L1 may be characterised as a verb-framed language.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
31

Brady, Brock. "The function of phrasal verbs and their lexical counterparts in technical manuals." PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4181.

Full text
Abstract:
Much recent attention has been devoted to the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic properties of phrasal verbs--those two-part lexical items like "put on" and "tighten up", along with suggestions regarding effective methods of teaching them to non-native speakers. According to Cornell (1985), phrasal verbs, "have been 'discovered' as an important component in curricula for English as a Foreign Language" (p. 1). However, it is very possible that they have become objects of current research primarily because of their complexity: their polysemy, their idiomaticity, their syntactic restraints, a complexity that means covering phrasal verbs in an ESL/EFL course can be a time-consuming process.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
32

Plant, Christopher Simon. "Semantic representations of English verbs and their influence on psycholinguistic performance in healthy and language-impaired speakers." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1498.

Full text
Abstract:
Background – English verbs are linguistically more complex than nouns and this has contributed to the dearth of in-depth investigation into similarities and differences between their representations within semantic memory and subsequent implications for language processing. However, recent theoretical accounts have argued that verbs and nouns are represented within a unitary semantic system. Aims – This thesis investigates the semantic representations of English verbs with particular attention to how verbs are inter-related as a consequence of semantic similarity. This is achieved through a series of psycholinguistic experiments with healthy adult speakers and an intervention study with adults with aphasia (i.e. acquired communication impairment). Throughout the thesis, comparisons are made to the semantic representations of nouns either directly (i.e. through parallel experimentation) or indirectly (i.e. through the existing literature). Methods – The experiments conducted with healthy adult speakers included: (1) category listing of verbs; (2) typicality rating of verbs within categories; (3) similarity rating of verb pairs; (4) an analysis of verbs’ semantic features; (5) category verification of verbs; and (6) semantically primed picture naming of actions. The intervention study carried out with adults with aphasia compared patterns of improvement in verb and noun retrieval following a semantically-based therapy task. Results and discussion – The results of the experiments shed light on the nature of semantic representations of verbs, in particular, in relation to the similarity between the semantic representations of verbs and those of nouns and also where they differ. These insights are considered in terms of how they provide evidence for or against a unitary semantic system for verbs’ and nouns’ semantic representations and parallel mechanisms for accessing these representations. Two themes emerged in terms of future research potential: (1) the influence of polysemy on speaker’s performance in psycholinguistic tasks; and (2) the nature and influence of typicality within categories/cluster of verbs.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
33

Sörensen, Susanne. "Five English Verbs : A Comparison between Dictionary meanings and Meanings in Corpus collocations." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för humaniora (HUM), 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-6091.

Full text
Abstract:
In Norstedts Comprehensive English-Swedish Dictionary (2000) it is said that the numbered list of senses under each headword is frequency ordered. Thus, the aim of this study is to see whether this frequency order of senses agrees with the frequencies appearing in the British National Corpus (BNC). Five English, polysemous verbs were studied. For each verb, a simple search in the corpus was carried out, displaying 50 random occurrences. Each collocate was encoded with the most compatible sense from the numbered list of senses in the dictionary. The encoded tokens were compiled and listed in frequency order. This list was compared to the dictionary's list of senses. Only two of the verbs reached agreement between the highest ranked dictionary sense and the most frequent sense in the BNC simple search. None of the verbs' dictionary orders agreed completely with the emerged frequency order of the corpus occurrences, why complementary collocational learning is advocated.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
34

Lakaw, Alexander. "The use of arise and rise in present-day British & American English : A corpus based analysis of two verbs." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1374.

Full text
Abstract:

This corpus based investigation deals with the present-day usage of and the semantic relation between the two verbs rise and arise. Concordance lines containing various forms of the two verbs in question have been taken from six different (sub)corpora and were examined in view of their collocational and semantic characteristics. The basic aims were to investigate the nowadays status of the verbs rise and arise and whether they (still) can be regarded as synonyms. The results show that both verbs can sometimes be used synonymously. Their general semantic relation appeared to be near-synonymy. Furthermore, both verbs seem to have developed a semantic specialisation, which is regarded a counterargument for the thesis that the verb arise is on the verge of dying out.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
35

Rydblom, Oskar. "Onomatopoeic phrasal verbs : A corpus study of their meanings and usage in American English." Thesis, Linnaeus University, School of Language and Literature, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-6360.

Full text
Abstract:

This study examines how the meanings of onomatopoeic phrasal verbs are created and in which register these verbs are most frequently used. Through the study of previous research on the subject qualities of onomatopoeia and phrasal verbs are identified. Based on this a framework for identifying phrasal verbs and categorizing the meanings of onomatopoeic verbs and particles was created. Using the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), a study of concordance lines and frequency in different registers was carried out on 50 onomatopoeic phrasal verbs. These verbs were constructed from ten mono-syllabic onomatopoeic verbs and three opposite pairs of spatial adverbs. The study found that several metaphorical meanings of the onomatopoeic verbs examined were not listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The meanings of the particles were strongly linked to metaphorical structures.The conclusion of this study was that onomatopoeic verbs possess a flexibility that allows them to create a variety of different meanings. Furthermore, the types of meaning can be categorized after a pattern, although this pattern is often not found in the dictionary. The onomatopoeic phrasal verbs studied were most frequent in the fiction register, more so than other phrasal verbs. Understanding of the metaphorical nature of particles such as up and down is imperative to understand how the meaning of a phrasal verb is created. This should be taken into consideration when teaching English as a second language or creating a dictionary.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
36

Batluk, Liilia. "Modality and Method: A Comparison of Russian and English Epistemic Modal Verbs through SFL and its Implications for Second Language Learners." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för humaniora (HUM), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-17810.

Full text
Abstract:
This study is intended to shed light on similarities and differences in terms of functional structure of the clause when modality is expressed by use of modal operators in Russian and English, in order to arrive at findings which inform, and are applicable to, the process of English language acquisition by the Russian learner. The need for the investigation was prompted by the author’s work experience in the field of English teaching, and the lack of explicit guidance in available textbooks currently used in Russian schools and institutions with regard to the particular issue highlighted. While learning the subject of Systemic Functional Linguistics, I drew parallels between the functional structures in the two languages, the purpose of which is to provide a roadmap which facilitates the learning and teaching of English modality to the Russian learner. The approach of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), focusing on the metafunctions as the correspondence in the sociolinguistic message of the clause, is used as a basis for comparing the functional structures in both languages. The investigation of functional grammar features is carried out in order to spotlight  both the similarities and the differences inherent in expressing a degree of probability of an event or statement indicated, not only by the choice of an appropriate modal verb, but also its placement within the clause. The role of the social context in which the text is set is noted as significant for delivering the precise meaning of the message. Hence, the proposition will be pursued through further investigation in the field of modality, and viewed from perspectives of sociolinguistics.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
37

Cantmo, Kristoffer. "Comparison of two Learner’s Dictionaries regarding Delexical verbs." Thesis, Halmstad University, School of Humanities (HUM), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-4419.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
38

Lysén, Frej Ulrika. "Verb Dynamics : a Study of Gender Roles in Blueprint A." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Ämnesavdelningen för svenska språket och engelska, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-5476.

Full text
Abstract:
The teaching book is a very important device in schools and its potential impact can be considerable. This essay analyses how gender is established in one of the most common teaching books in upper secondary school, Blueprint A. The study aims to find out if the teaching book is stereotypical concerning the issue of gender equality. The analysis is made with Halliday’s Functional Grammar Theory as theoretical approach and is compared to the guidelines of the Curriculum and the Educational Act. To fulfil the aim of this essay, three texts are analysed from a gender perspective. If the verbs are dynamic/stative, and if the subjects function as agents or not are the factors used to establish if there is a difference between how females and males are represented in the texts. The hypothesis is based on a previous study on the same teaching book but regarding another edition and course (Odén 2005). It is hypothesised that there are differences in how men and women are presented in the texts and that women are described as more stative while men are described in more dynamic terms. The conclusion of this essay is that females are established as more stative than males and therefore it can be argued that the teaching book does not satisfy the goals of the Curriculum or the Educational Act.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
39

Bertucci, Roberlei Alves. "A auxiliaridade do verbo chegar em português brasileiro." Universidade Federal do Paraná, 2007. http://repositorio.utfpr.edu.br/jspui/handle/1/551.

Full text
Abstract:
Este trabalho analisa o verbo chegar em sentenças do PB, quando ele é seguido de a+infinitivo. Na literatura, não há consenso no tratamento do verbo na perífrase em foco. Enquanto alguns o consideram um auxiliar, outros não. Esta pesquisa retomou essa discussão e mostrou que o verbo chegar, no contexto estabelecido, responde afirmativamente a todos os critérios apontados como caracterizadores de auxiliaridade. Tendo isso estabelecido, observamos que são atribuídos aos auxiliares os valores de tempo, voz, modo e aspecto. Assim, fomos investigando, uma a uma, todas essas possibilidades. Os valores de tempo e voz foram facilmente descartados. Em seguida, buscamos numa descrição genérica de modalidade alguma pista que nos fizesse ir mais a fundo. Não encontramos e, por isso, descartamos também essa possibilidade. A análise de chegar como auxiliar aspectual tomou mais tempo e espaço neste trabalho, porque há alguns autores que assumem uma análise desse tipo. Primeiro, buscamos caracterizar o aspecto gramatical e ver se as sentenças objetos de investigação poderiam denotar as categorias de aspecto incluídas aí. Concluímos que não. Analisamos, depois, a possibilidade de chegar restringir alguma classe acional. Novamente, os resultados foram negativos. Tendo em vista o comportamento da perífrase nos diferentes contextos, afirmamos que não era possível assumir um valor aspectual para o verbo em questão. Por fim, propomos uma análise para esse verbo que leva em conta não apenas os aspectos sintáticos e semânticos, mas também os pragmáticos: mostramos que o falante, ao utilizar o auxiliar chegar deseja apontar para uma escala, mais precisamente para o ponto argumentativo mais forte dessa escala. Dessa forma, teríamos um auxiliar que não é temporal, modal ou aspectual, mas essencialmente pragmático. O corpus desta pesquisa é composto por sentenças do português brasileiro, falado e escrito, além de sentenças criadas para verificar a compatibilidade de chegar em contextos mais específicos.
This work approaches the verb chegar when it is followed by the preposition a and the infinitive form in Brazilian Portuguese. In the literature, there is no consensus about the treatment of the verb in this periphrasis. While some authors consider it an auxiliary verb, others do not. Our research resumed this discussion and showed that chegar, in the context above, confirms all the criteria indicated as indicators of auxiliarity. After that, we noticed that the values of tense, modality, voice and aspect are given to the auxiliaries. Then, we investigated, one by one, all the possibilities. The values of tense and voice were easily rejected. After this, we searched, in a general description of modality, a clue to conduct us deeper in the research. We did not found one and then we rejected this possibility too. The analysis about chegar as an aspectual auxiliary took more time and space in this work, because there are some authors who argues for this kind of analysis. First, we tried to characterize the grammatical aspect and observe whether the sentences could mean the aspectual categories included there. We concluded that they could not. Later, we analyzed the possibility of chegar to restrict some actional class. Again, the conclusions were negative. Bearing in mind the behavior of the periphrasis in the different contexts, we affirm that it was not possible to accept an aspectual value to chegar. At the end, we propose an analysis to this verb that takes into consideration not only the syntactic and semantic aspects, but also the pragmatic one: we show that when the speaker uses the auxiliary chegar, this speaker wishes to point to a scale, more specifically to its strongest argumentative point. In this way, we might have an auxiliary verb which is not temporal, modal or aspectual, but essentially pragmatic. The corpus of this research is composed of sentences from Brazilian Portuguese, spoken and written, and other sentences created to verify the compatibility of chegar in specific contexts.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
40

Eriksson, Louise. "Why begin when you can commence - Aspects of near-synonymous verbs of Germanic and Romance origin." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1030.

Full text
Abstract:

This essay is a corpus study, the aim of which is to investigate the usage of two near-synonymous verb pairs that descend from Germanic and Romance languages. The four verbs begin, commence, hate, and detest were chosen for the study. The analysis is based on occurrences of the verbs in five subcorpora in the COBUILDDIRECT corpus; two subcorpora consist of British and American books and three subcorpora are composed of British and Australian newspapers. Occurrences were also collected from the novel Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë. The primary aims of the essay are to investigate the frequency and occurrence of the verbs in different text types as well as in British and American books, to reveal if the verbs are synonymous and whether they occur with the same collocates. Furthermore, the novel Wuthering Heights gives a diachronic view of the usage of the verbs.

This analysis suggests that a usage of the verbs of Germanic origin is more frequent than the verbs of Romance origin. The Romance verbs are more common in novels and books, but also in the British newspaper The Times. Furthermore, the usage of commence and detest seems to be restricted to certain contexts which are connected to the field of the English language in which the verbs occurred at first. The Germanic verbs are clearly favoured in all kinds of texts investigated, even though Wuthering Heights has a high number of occurrences of commence.

On the topic of synonymy, begin and commence have been found to be further apart from each other than hate and detest. This is due to the fact that begin and commence are constructed grammatically different, as well as a restriction in contextual usage of commence. Despite this, commence is used more freely in American books than in British books. The synonymy of hate and detest is connected to the fact that detest expresses a stronger feeling than hate, which makes the two verbs near-synonymous but also gradable. The verbs in the two pairs also collocate with different words, which underlines that they are not real synonyms. These findings support the claim that one should not call the verb pairs synonyms but near-synonyms, and that one has to be careful when choosing a verb.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
41

Eriksson, Louise. "She likes doing what he likes to do - A corpus study of like and its complementation." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1373.

Full text
Abstract:

The following paper has been dedicated to the verb like, which is one of the verbs in the English language that can take either a to-infinitive or an -ing participle as a complement. The purpose of the paper is to examine if there are any differences in distribution and meaning between the two complements. The focus also lies on the different verbs occurring as complements, and the contrast between the verbs occurring as to-infinitives and as -ing participles. There are many theories which have been proposed on the subject that lie as a basis for the investigation.

The analysis was carried out by means of an investigation of sentences taken from the COBUILDDIRECT corpus, and includes both spoken and written British and American English. The outcome of the analysis has demonstrated that there is usually agreement between the theories and the results; however, there is not always a difference of meaning between the two complements. Moreover, the analysis suggests that there is a difference of verbs occurring as to-infinitives and -ing participles; the would like to construction represents a fixed expression and often occurs together with performative verbs. Finally, the conclusion has been drawn that there is a small but visible difference between the occurrences of the spoken and the written subcorpora when discussing both meaning and verbs occurring as complements. Since the to-infinitive complement is more common than the -ing participle in newspapers, books, and spoken English, the difference includes both detached and involved style as well as a regional difference between British and American English.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
42

Sun, Lei. "The literate lexicon in narrative and expository writing : a developmental study of children and adolescents /." Thesis, Connect to title online (Scholars' Bank) Connect to title online (ProQuest), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/8443.

Full text
Abstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-149). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
43

Mello, Aline. "Articulação semântico-cognitiva por meio de papéis semânticos." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/10820.

Full text
Abstract:
Articulação Semântico-Cognitiva por Meio de Papéis Semânticos realiza a comparação de enunciados retirados do meio jornalístico nas línguas portuguesa e inglesa, analisados com base nas teorias propostas pela gramática de casos e semântica cognitiva. A partir das idéias de background e foreground propostas por Fillmore, é possível a interpretação de tais enunciados como eventos. Pretende-se, aqui, categorizar os predicadores, verificar seus possíveis efeitos de sentido dentro do contexto em estudo, determinar as relações temáticas que envolvem os núcleos preposicionais, analisar e dimensionar os dados qualitativamente. A análise procedeu-se tendo como corpus editorial da revista National Geographic, nas versões em língua portuguesa e inglesa, donde se concluiu que o ambiente enunciativo tanto na fala quanto na escrita sofre alterações, mas, apesar de flutuações sintáticas (como indicações de tempo e gênero), o campo semântico mantém-se inalterado, ou seja, estável e produtivo.
Cognitive -Semantic Articulation by Semantic roles compares sentences from publications in Portuguese and English Languages, analyzing them through the theories proposed by The Case Grammar and Cognitive Semantics. The concepts of background and foreground presented by Fillmore allow an interpretation of such sentences as events. The intention is to categorize the verbs, verify their possible effects within the analyzed context, determine the thematic relations involved in the prepositional nucleons and qualitatively analyze the data. The analyses had the Portuguese and English versions of a National Geographic editorial as a corpus, from which we concluded that although the discourse environment can differ, the semantic field remains unaltered.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
44

Nygren, Åsa. "Essay on the Linguistic Features in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of English, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-1283.

Full text
Abstract:

The literature on J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is prolific. People have written on various topics dealing with issues such as translation, etymology and diverse areas concerning the language. In this essay, I examine whether linguistic features such as reporting verbs, adverbs of manner and adjectives contribute to the depiction of heroic and villainous characters. Before conducting this research, my assumptions were that there would be a great difference in the value of the words depending on the character they were associated with. I wanted to see if the heroic characters used verbs and adverbs with positive connotations, and the villainous characters verbs and adverbs with negative connotations. I also wanted to know if the adjectives describing the characters could, in themselves, clearly indicate whether a character was a hero or a villain.

The results of my research suggested that the choice of particular verbs and adverbs contributed only indirectly to the depiction of the characters. Without context, it was not possible to know if the character was a hero or a villain simply by identifying the verbs and adverbs used to describe their speech. By contrast, the choice of particular adjectives did appear to indicate more clearly whether a character was hero or villain. Finally, the results of my research indicated that context, rather than the use of particular linguistic features was often the most important factor in contributing to the portrayal of characters in the novel.

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
45

Larsson, Caroline. "What to do with should : A Translation Study of the Modal Verb Should." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-77685.

Full text
Abstract:
Due to vague boundaries, a diversity of meanings and variations of modal strength, the translation of modals might be challenging. This paper investigates the translation of the modal should in a text with recommendations on horse feeding. The translations of deontic and epistemic meanings of should expressing an obligation or necessity are analysed using a framework based on grammatical definitions and linguistic theory. The translation strategies are based on Reiss’ text typology and strategies recommended for informative and operative texts (2000), and Newmark’s communicative translation (1988). Also, procedures of Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) are used to describe some of the translations. The study reveals that majority of the examples are used in the deontic sense and that should is mostly translated as bör and ska. The high frequency of ska might be related to its flexibility and multifunctional properties. Possible translation problems involve differences in the interpretation, where a modal might come across as too strong or too weak to target readers. Another translation problem may arise if the chosen modal can be perceived as less moralising than intended. There are also ambiguous cases that could be said to have both deontic and epistemic meanings. The analysis shows how deontic and epistemic meanings can be determined by context. However, even though a deeper understanding of the topic and an evaluation of the context might support the translation choices, some ambiguity can still be said to remain. The paper concludes that the translation of modals requires thoughtful consideration. A thorough interpretation of meaning related to context and profound knowledge on the topic are equally important in the translation of should.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
46

Lysén, Frej Ulrika. ""But one day she met this wonderful boy,he make her smile and believe in her self": : An Investigation into the Construction of Gender in School pupils' essays." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-6466.

Full text
Abstract:

This essay analysed how gender is established in students’ texts. The aim of the study was to find out if the students in a class in an upper secondary school were able to produce texts where female and male subjects were not influenced by prevailing gender roles. The analysis was based on Halliday’s Functional Grammar Theory. Furthermore, the results are interpreted in the light of the guidelines of the Curriculum and the Education Act. To fulfil the aim of this essay 32 texts were analysed from the extra linguistic factor of gender.

                      The linguistic factors examined were verbs (dynamic/stative, transitive/intransitive), if the subjects function as actors or not were the factors used to establish if there is a difference between how females and males are represented in the texts. Furthermore the use of adjectives, nouns and predicatives modifying the grammatical subjects were also taken in consideration in the analysis. The hypothesis was based on a previous study made on the teaching book Blueprint A and the results from this current study were compared to the results from that study. The study finds that in the texts examined females are established as more stative than males and because of that it is possible to draw conclusions that the teaching book can influence the student in their writing but also that school not always uphold the goals of the Curriculum and the Education Act in the issue regarding gender equality.  

 

 

APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
47

Sarmento, Simone. "O uso dos verbos modais em manuais de aviação em inglês : um estudo baseado em corpus." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/15568.

Full text
Abstract:
Este trabalho trata do uso dos verbos modais em manuais de aviação em inglês sob uma perspectiva da lingüística de corpus. O objetivo é gerar subsídios que permitam elaborar materiais didáticos que reflitam as estruturas lingüísticas como aparecem em seu contexto de uso. Parte-se da hipótese de que o uso dos verbos modais no corpus de estudo apresenta peculiaridades com relação à freqüência de ocorrência, estrutura sintática e sentidos. O corpus de estudo é composto de três manuais técnicos da aeronave BOEING 737, sendo dois manuais de operações destinados a pilotos e um manual de manutenção destinado a mecânicos. A pesquisa é realizada em três etapas. Na primeira etapa é realizado um contraste entre o corpus de estudo, um corpus de referência de inglês geral e um corpus de contraste composto de manuais de sistemas operacionais para computadores pessoais. Esse contraste visa a verificar as diferenças de ocorrências entre os verbos modais e as suas estruturas sintáticas. Depois, são realizadas comparações entre os três manuais que compõem o corpus de estudo também com relação às freqüências dos modais e suas estruturas sintáticas. Na terceira etapa são verificadas as colocações principais de cada VM no manual de manutenção e em um dos manuais de operações. Outro objetivo desta investigação é contrastar o manual de manutenção e um livro didático que tem por objetivo ensinar inglês técnico para mecânicos de aeronaves. Nesse sentido, é feita uma análise do livro no que tange os verbos modais e sugeridas algumas modificações. O trabalho reúne referenciais teóricos da Lingüística de Corpus, Lingüística das Linguagens Especializadas e Verbos Modais. Os resultados do trabalho mostram que há diferenças entre a presença dos modais nos três corpora pesquisados e principalmente entre os três manuais que compõe o corpus de estudo. O estudo mostra a importância de realizar pesquisas baseadas em corpus para revelar as peculiaridades de uma linguagem especializada e assim fornecer subsídios para a elaboração de material didático com propósitos específicos mais de acordo com as necessidades do público alvo.
This thesis is about the use of modal verbs in aviation manuals in the light of corpus linguistics. The goal is to gather subsides to enable the creation of classroom material which presents the linguistic structures as they appear in their natural context. The hypothesis is that the use of modal verbs in the corpus has peculiarities in terms of frequency, syntactic patterns, and meanings. The aviation corpus is composed of three manuals from the BOEING 737 aircraft: two operations manuals directed to pilots and one maintenance manual directed to mechanics. The research has been carried out in three stages. In the first stage, the aviation corpus is contrasted to a reference corpus and another specialized corpus composed of personal computer operational systems. Such contrast aims at verifying the differences in the number of modal tokens and their syntactic patterns. In the second stage, the three manuals that make up the aviation corpus are compared in terms of modal frequencies and their syntactic patterns. In the third stage, the main collocations of each modal are checked. This thesis also aims at contrasting the maintenance manual and a course book designed to teach aviation English to mechanics. Thus, an analysis of the modal verbs in the course book is carried out and changes to the book are suggested. This thesis brings together theoretical assumptions from Corpus Linguistics, the Linguistics of Specialized languages and Modal Verbs. The results point out that there are differences in the use of modal verbs in the three investigated corpora and mainly among the three manuals that compose the aviation corpus. This study shows the importance of corpus based research to reveal the peculiarities of a specialized language and, therefore, provide input to produce specific pedagogical material which better meets the needs of the target public.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
48

Warbey, Margaretta. "The Acquisition of Modal Notions by Advanced-Level Adult English as a Second Language Learners." Thesis, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/5254.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
49

Li, Anqi. "A Study on English-speaking Learners' Acquisition of Three Chinese Modal Auxiliary Verbs: NENG, HUI ,And KEYI." 2019. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/842.

Full text
Abstract:
This study aims to investigate the acquisition of three Chinese modal auxiliary verbs: NENG, HUI, and KEYI by English-speaking learners who study Chinese as a foreign language and attempts to examine the following issues. 1) Are English-speaking learners able to distinguish the semantic difference between NENG, HUI and KEYI and realize their corresponding syntactic constraints? Does leaner’s acquisition of these three auxiliary verbs increase with the improvement of their Chinese proficiency level? Can these three auxiliary verbs be mastered completely by English-speaking leaners? 2) What is the acquisition order when they are learning NENG, HUI and KEYI? Furthermore, what is the acquisition order of the multiple semantic meanings within one single Chinese modal auxiliary verb? 3)What is the relationship between English-speaking learners’ comprehension and production, in regard to their performance on learning these three auxiliary verbs? 4) whatpedagogical implication does this study reveal? This research is composed of a comprehension test and production analysis. A questionnaire is designed to test English-speaking learners’ comprehension of NENG, HUI and KEYI, including fourteenmultiple choices questions. In addition, 275 essays from the participants are collected anonymously as production database to be analyzed. In total, 90 English-speaking learners who enrolled in Chinese courses at University of Massachusetts Amherst in Spring 2019 were participated, and they were divided into three experimental groups: beginning level, intermediate level, and advanced level. 60 native Chinese speakers were also invited into this research, served as a control group. The result in this research shows that 1) English-speaking leaners’ acquisition of NENG, HUI and KEYI do not always increase with the improvement of their Chinese proficiency level. Both HUI and KEYI present the same trend, which rises rapidly and significantly after experiencing a relatively flat stage, while the development of NENG is shown by U-shape learning curve. 2) For English-speaking learners, the acquisition order is(from the easiest to hardest): HUI > KEYI > NENG. 3) English-speaking learners’ production of NENG, HUI, and KEYI is not always parallel to their comprehension. Also, some implications for teaching NENG, HUI and KEYI are discussed in this thesis.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
50

"The development and use of English modal auxiliaries in Chinese EFL learners." 1989. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5886200.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
You might also be interested in the bibliographies on the topic 'English language – Auxiliary verbs' for other source types:
Journal articles Books
We offer discounts on all premium plans for authors whose works are included in thematic literature selections. Contact us to get a unique promo code!

To the bibliography