Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Igbo language Grammar, Generative'

Standard Arabic exhibits 'that trace' effect in one instance in the extraction of the subject from an 'anna' clause while the extraction of the object and the subject of an 'an' clause may be extracted freely in the formation of WH-question. The extraction of the subject of an 'anna' clause may not be extracted unless the extracted position is marked by a clitic on the complementizer 'anna'. If the clitic appears in place of the moved NP in an 'an' clause it renders the sentence ungrammatical. The adoption of the Government and Binding Framework, Chomsky (1981), (1982) and in particular Case Theory, Government theory and the Empty Category Principle (ECP) enable us to explain this distinct behaviour in the extraction of the subject of an 'anna' clause and show that the appearance of the clitic is predicted by the proposed analysis. It is argued that the clitic appears in the extraction of the subject of an 'anna' clause in order to properly govern the trace left by the extracted subject, and so as not to violate ECP. Since verbs are proper governors in SA, extraction of the subject of an 'an' clause must apply from a governed position. In fact this is exactly what our analysis predicts. Since 'an' is not a case assigner and since we are assuming that government and case are assigned only to the right, AGR and verb preposing are obligatory in an 'an' clause to assign case to the subject NP. Therefore extraction of the subject leaves a trace properly governed by the verb. In the extraction of the subject of an 'anna' clause on the other hand, since 'anna' is a case assigner and assigns a cusative case to its subject, AGR and verb preposing may not apply. Thus, the extraction of the subject leaves a trace which is not properly governed in violation of ECP, and the clitic must appear in order to properly govern the trace left by movement.
Arts, Faculty of
Linguistics, Department of
Graduate

The lexicon of modern Chinese is composed mainly of disyllabic compound words; some of the compounds are separable, while others are not. Hindered by problems with the definition of the Chinese word and by the concept of separate grammatical levels on which morphological, syntactic and semantic processes occur, previous linguistic studies have been unable to fully account for the separability of some compounds and for the relationship of compound separability to phrase separability. This dissertation finds that, with morphemes having the same syntactic association with other morphemes that words or phrases have with other words or phrases, categorial rules logically explain the common syntax of Chinese words and phrases. In categorial grammar analysis based on the work of Ajdukiewicz (1935), Montague (1974), Partee (1972; 1975), and Bach (1983; 1984), categories are determined by functions associating the expressions in component sets, and syntactic operations build categories up into larger derived categories according to specified functor-argument relations. In the present analysis of Chinese, to the set of the non-verb general category belong morphemes, words and phrases whose form classes are not verbs and which are generic names. Argument expressions, both compound words and verb phrases which belong to this category, combine with the intransitive/non-verb general functor to form the IV category. Rules operating by concatenation, cliticization and wrapping account for the occurrence of resultative expressions, aspect markers, and expressions of time duration or time frequency between the components of separable compounds. Further, the hierarchy of thematic roles devised by Jackendoff (1972) is applied to account for cases in which the functors in IV combine with more than one argument. In this way, an analysis which combines principles of morphology, syntax and semantics is able to account for the identity of compound and phrase separability and derive grammatical sentences for the language.

Resultative verb constructions RVCs (hereafter) are a special type of serial verb construction in Mandarin Chinese, in which the verbs hold an action-result relation. On the one hand, they behave like compounds, e.g., the verbs can be questioned as a single verb but cannot be separately modified, and no NP can possibly intervene. On the other hand, they also behave like phrases, i.e, for some types, the verbs can be split by an NP and can be separately modified. There has been controversy about the best way to analyze RVCs. There are two general positions: the pre-lexical syntactic approach and the pre-syntactic lexical approach. The former holds that resultative verb constructions are a syntactic phenomenon which can be derived by transformational rules. The latter, claims that RVCs are best considered a lexical phenomenon, i.e., verb compounds.This dissertation argues that neither approach sufficiently accounts for this phenomenon, in that both only shift the problem from one level of linguistic description to another. I propose a linguistic prototype analysis in which RVCs are seen as conventionalized serial verb constructions. I argue that the properties of the prototype and the conventionalized serial verb construction are subject to constraints in three areas: the semantic and syntactic dependency of the verbs, iconicity, and clause linkage. Through the analysis of the syntactic, semantic, and phonological behavior of various types of serial verb constructions, it is shown that serial verb constructions are on a structural continuum, i.e., from syntax to lexicon. RVCs are seen as close to the lexicalization end on the continuum.This dissertation shows the interplay of syntax, semantics, and phonology in the processes of syntactization and morphologization in Mandarin. It not only helps account for serial verb constructions but also has implications for other serial type phenomena on the word level, such as compounding and incorporation in Mandarin.
Department of English

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2007.
"A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, MARCS Auditory Laboratories in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Includes bibliography.

Switch-Reference (SR) is a phenomenon in which the coreferentiality of two (or more) subjects in a complex sentence is indicated by a morphological device. The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss recent work which deals with SR within the Government and Binding Theory, and propose an alternative analysis to it. The framework I will adopt for such an alternative analysis of SR is Categorial Grammar. A basic notion underlying Categorial Grammar is that an expression is divided into a functor and an argument, and each functor and argument are further divided into a functor and an argument until the division reaches to an undividable element. Given the assumptions that a functor and its argument must be compatible and that a functor has some subcategorization properties, I argue that "Agreement" phenomenon (subsuming agreement and disagreement) can be handled insightfully. Furthermore, I propose that such a treatment of "Agreement" can be extended to SR systems in general if we consider the "same subject" and "different subject" phenomena as cases of agreement and disagreement, respectively. I claim that a composite in which a SR morpheme appears forms a functor which takes another composite as its argument, and that the relation between the functor and its argument and the relation between some parts of the functor and its argument are characterized as "agreement" or "disagreement": The functor and the argument must be compatible as assumed above, and the nature of compatibility (whether "agreement" or "disagreement") is controlled by the subcategorization properties of the SR morpheme associated with the functor (i.e., if "same subject", the relation is agreement, and if "different subject", it is disagreement). By treating SR in this fashion, I intend to provide a unified analysis for apparently different SR systems in three diverse languages, namely, Tairora, Hopi, and Warlpiri.

Thesis (MA (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
This study focuses on the internal structure of the CP in Afrikaans. Rizzi’s (1997) Split-CP Hypothesis serves as the starting-point; however, careful consideration is also given to the more recent proposals of Beninca’ and Poletto (2004). The aim of the study is to determine whether the proposals of Rizzi (1997) and Beninca’ and Poletto (2004) provide an adequate framework for the description of the CP-domain in Afrikaans. The study is presented within the theoretical framework of Minimalist Syntax. Specific adaptations to the Split-CP Hypothesis are suggested throughout the course of the discussion in an attempt to make the Split-CP Hypothesis compatible with the facts of Afrikaans. Finally, attention is also given to three problematic issues in Afrikaans that require further investigation.

This study is part of the IN.MIGRA-2 CM project, which studies the sociolinguistic integration of the immigrant population of Madrid. The present study focuses on the language attitudes of 16 residents of Alcalá de Henares, a community of Madrid. The participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with the following affirmations: (1) The Spanish of Madrid is more correct than the forms of speech of Latin American immigrants; (2) Mastery of the Spanish language is the principal demonstration of the integration of immigrants; (3) Immigrants of Latin American origin are integrated because they speak the same language. The study finds a connection between higher levels of contact with immigrants and lower ratings of agreement with the affirmations. This investigation supports others that show connections between social networks and language attitudes, and it adds to the sparse research on language attitudes in Madrid. Adverbial adjectives modify both a verb and the subject of that verb. Their purpose is to describe a quality that pertains to both the subject and the way the subject is performing the verb. Because they modify both the verb and the noun, adverbial adjectives agree with the noun in number and gender. The generativist approaches to this linguistic phenomenon do not provide a sufficient explanation of verb + adverbial adjective constructions nor do they predict which subjects and predicates that can be used in these constructions. This paper takes a usage-based approach to adverbial adjectives. It explores the token frequencies of use of different verb + adverbial adjective phrases and attempts to categorize the components of these phrases based on these frequencies.

Orientadores: Juanito Ornelas de Avelar, Sonia Maria Lazzarini Cyrino
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T07:18:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Moreno_BrunaSanchez_M.pdf: 919712 bytes, checksum: 45b4197097b0b00f8a5763f725c6dbbd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014
Resumo: À luz do Programa Minimalista (Chomsky 1995, 2001, 2004, 2008), o presente trabalho se propõe a examinar orações infinitivas preposicionadas em construções com predicados de natureza adjetival do tipo "difícil/ fácil", denominadas tough-construtions na literatura gerativista. Parte-se da observação de Galves (1987) acerca da ambiguidade que tais sentenças desencadeiam no Português Brasileiro (PB), mas não no Português Europeu (PE), com a finalidade de responder por qual motivo o PB admite a interpretação em que o sujeito nulo da oração encaixada pode ser correferente ao DP na posição de sujeito da oração matriz. A hipótese que orienta este trabalho considera a proposta de Ouali (2008) a respeito de retenção, doação ou compartilhamento de traços-? na relação entre os núcleos C(omplementizador) e T(empo) para apontar que, no PB, a preposição "de" introdutora da oração infinitiva é um C que pode reter ou compartilhar traços-? com T. Esse núcleo funciona, nesse sentido, como uma fonte provedora de Caso, licenciando um pronome nulo pro como argumento externo da oração encaixada, o qual pode ser correferente ao sujeito da oração matriz. O mesmo não se aplica ao PE, cuja única categoria permitida como sujeito da oração infinitiva é um PRO arbitrário, tendo em vista que, nessa gramática, o núcleo C introdutor da oração infinitiva em tough-constructions não é uma fonte provedora de Caso
Abstract: In light of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995, 2001, 2004, 2008), this study aims to examine infinitive sentences introduced by a preposition in constructions centered in a "hard / easy" predicate, so-called tough-constructions in the generative literature. This dissertation assumes Galves¿ observation (1987) about the ambiguity triggered by such sentences in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), but not in European Portuguese (EP), in order to account for the reasons why BP admits the interpretation in which the null subject of the embedded non-finite sentence can be correferent to the DP in subject position in the matrix sentence. The present hypothesis that guides this work considers Ouali (2008) in regard to to keeping, donating or sharing the ?-features between C(omplementizer) and T(ense) to point out that, in BP, the preposition "de", which introduces the infinitive sentence, is a C that can keep or share its features with T. In this sense, this C provides Case to a null pronoun pro, licensed as external argument in the embedded sentence and correferent to the subject in the matrix sentence. The same does not apply to EP, which just allows an arbitrary PRO as the subject of the non-finite sentence, given that, in this grammar, the introducer C of the infinitive sentence in tough-constructions does not assign Case to any element in Spec-T
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestra em Linguística

Orientador: Charlotte Marie Chambelland Galves
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T20:46:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cavalcante_SilviaReginadeOliveira.pdf: 705251 bytes, checksum: 03b5546f8db580f0ad6dbcc37df82172 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006
Resumo: A análise sincrônica da variação 0 j se com infinitivo em amostras de fala (NurcjRJ e Português Fundamental) e de escrita (jornais) do Português Brasileiro (PB) e do Português Europeu (PE) revela uma diferença no percentual do uso de se com infinitivo: PE apresenta uma média de 8% de presença de se nas amostras de fala e de escrita, ao passo que PB apresenta uma média de 25% e de .50% de se na fala e na escrita respectivamente. partir de tais resultados, esta tese procura entender a evolução diacrônica de se com infinitivo que dá lugar a esse uso diferenciado em PE e PB. Para isso, trata da variação 0 j se numa amostra de textos de autores portugueses nascidos entre os séculos 16 e 19, que compõem o Corpus Anotado do Português Histórico - Corpus Tycho Emhe. Nesta amostra, a média de se com infinitivo sofre uma mudança: até o século 18 (período do Português Clássico - PCI), há 20% de presença de se nas infinitivas; a partir do século 18 (Português Europeu), há 10% de presença de se nas sentenças infinitivas. A análise se fundamenta (a) no tipo de se que pode aparecer junto ao infinitivo: sepassivo, se-indefinido e se-impessoal (cj. Raposo e U riagereka 1996 e Martins 2003), e (b) na natureza de AGR não finito em PB e PE (cj. Moreira da Silva 1983, Galves 1993 e Figueiredo Silva 1996). Com base neste quadro teórico e nos resultados de um conjunto de mudanças ocorridas na gramática do PB, é possível argumentar a favor de que, enquanto no PE, um sistema em que AGR é forte, capaz de licenciar e identificar sujeitos nulos, aparecem o se-indefinido e o se-impessoal; no PB, um sistema de AGR fraco no traço [pessoa], o se é o se-impessoal e aparece para identificar o referente indeterminado da posição sujeito de infinitivo, em variação com os pronomes a gente e você. No PCI, diferentemente, aparece o se-passivo nas infinitivas. Com esses resultados, procuro contribuir para uma descrição mais acurada das diferenças paramétricas existentes entre PE e PB. Esses resultados, aliados às pesquisas desenvolvidas dentro do quadro teórico gerativista, contribuem para se postular que estamos diante de três gramáticas distintas: a do PCI, a do PE e PB
Abstract: The synchronic analysis of 0/ se variation in infinitival sentences in spoken and written dialects of both Brazilian and European Portuguese samples reveals a different rate of se: Brazilian Portuguese presents a higher rate of se in infinitival clauses than European Portuguese. Taking in consideration this difference, this dissertation tries to explain the diachronic evolution of se in infinitival clauses that causes this different usage in EP and BP. Thus, this research deals with the variation 0/ se in a sample of portuguese writers bom between the 16th and 19th centuries, which makes Tycho Brahe Parsed Corpus of Historical Portuguese - Tycho Brahe Corpus. In this sample, the avarage of se in infinitivals undergoes a change: up to the 18th century (the sq-called Classical Portuguese period), there is 20% of se in infinitivals: whereas from the 18th century on (European Portuguese), there is 10% of se in infinitival clauses. The analysis is based on (a) the kind of se that may appear with infinitive: passive-se, indefinite-se and impersonal-se (cf Raposo e Uriagereka (1996), Martins (2003)), and (b) the nature of non-finite AGR in BP and EP (cf Moreira da Silva (1983), Galves (1993) and Figueiredo Silva (1996)). Based on this theoretical framework and on the results of the changes undertaken on the grammar of BP, it is possible to argue that, in EP, with a rich AGR system, able to licence and identify null subjects, we find indefinite-se and impersonal-se. ln BP, a weak AGR system with regards to the [person] feature, there is only impersonal-se and this pronoun appears to identify the indeterminate referent to the subject position of the infinitive, in variation with the arbitrary pronouns a gente and você. ln Classical Portuguese, we find the passive-se in infinitival sentences
Tese (doutorado) - Univers
Doutor em Linguística

Orientador: Charlotte Marie Chambelland Galves
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T14:28:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Antonelli_AndreLuis_M.pdf: 667155 bytes, checksum: 621ef4e55ddf2aac93ab1ba883160023 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007
Resumo: No Português Europeu, do século 16 ao 19, é atestado em textos escritos que a ênclise e a próclise podem co-ocorrer no contexto sintático das orações afirmativas finitas não-dependentes XP-V, sendo XP um sintagma de natureza [+ referencial]. Galves, Britto & Paixão de Sousa (2005) já observaram que, até por volta de 1700, o uso da próclise é quantitativamente maior que o da ênclise. No entanto, a partir do início do século 18, começa a haver uma inversão nessa proporção, de tal modo que, no Português Europeu Moderno, os mesmos contextos que outrora admitiam a colocação proclítica apresentam agora a ênclise de maneira categórica. Em textos escritos antes do século 18, Galves, Britto & Paixão de Sousa já notaram que a opção pela ênclise está fortemente associada ao uso do clítico se. Elas mostram que, em textos dos séculos 16 e 17, um alto percentual de ênclise em sentenças sujeito-iniciais tipicamente traduz-se em uma alta proporção da ordem ?sujeito + verbo + clítico se?. Esse mesmo paradigma, porém, não é observado para os textos dos séculos 18 e 19, já que, nos textos escritos por autores nascidos após 1700, a distribuição da ênclise com se e com os outros clíticos é muito mais balanceada. Dada essa particularidade no fenômeno da colocação de clíticos do Português Europeu envolvendo o pronome se, procuro investigar, dentro do quadro teórico da gramática gerativa, a dinâmica da alternância ênclise/próclise especificamente em sentenças com esse clítico entre os séculos 16 e 19, buscando entender melhor em que circunstâncias a ênclise aparece e como isso se relaciona com o clítico se.
Abstract: In European Portuguese, from the 16th to the 19th century, it is noticed that, in written texts, enclisis and proclisis may co-occur in non-dependent affirmative sentences XP-V, XP being a [+ referential] phrase. Galves, Britto & Paixão de Sousa (2005) already observed that, up to about 1750, the use of proclisis is quantitatively higher than that of enclisis. However, from the beginning of the 18th century on, an inversion of this proportion started to occur in such a way that, in Modern European Portuguese, enclisis is categorical in all those contexts where the proclitic placement was allowed earlier. In texts written before the 18th century, Galves, Britto & Paixão de Sousa already noticed that the enclitic choice is strongly correlated with the use of the clitic se. They show that, in 16th and 17th century texts, a high rate of enclisis in subject-initial sentences typically translates into a high proportion of the word order ?subject + verb + clitic se?. However this same paradigm is not observed in relation to the 18th-19th century texts since, in the texts written by authors born after 1700, the distribution of enclisis with se and with other clitics is much more balanced. Given such particularity of the clitic-placement phenomenon in European Portuguese involving the clitic se, I try to investigate, within the theoretical framework of the generative grammar, the dynamics of enclisis/proclisis variation specifically in this kind of sentence between the 16th and 19th century, trying to improve the understanding about the circumstances in which enclisis arises and how it relates to the clitic se.
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

Este trabalho tem como objetivo a descrição dos elementos que caracterizam a singularidade da linguagem arquitetônica de Oscar Niemeyer. Argumenta que a identificação de tais elementos passa pelo escrutínio de aspectos não visíveis da obra do arquiteto. A identificação foi possível a partir da análise de edifícios caracterizados pelo perfil curvilíneo e da construção de um modelo que associa os elementos compositivos utilizados por Niemeyer a uma Gramática de Formas. A utilização do modelo possibilitou revelar os princípios generativos - conjunto de regras, vocabulário e relações geométricas – que caracterizam o estilo – ou linguagem arquitetônica de Niemeyer. Ajudou ainda a demonstrar como a linguagem de Niemeyer associa de forma original, operações de transformação como rotação, reflexão, e translação a um vocabulário de curvas. A associação é parametrizada segundo um traçado regulador baseado na seção áurea. Em suas conclusões o trabalho sugere possibilidades de desenvolvimento desta gramática para todas as figuras utilizadas por Niemeyer e a aplicação de princípios generativos no ensino de arquitetura.
This work aims at describing the elements that characterize Oscar Niemeyer’s singular architectural language. It argues that the identification of these elements passes for the scrutiny of non-visible aspects of his work. The identification was possible taking into consideration from the analysis of buildings characterized for curved profile and the construction of a model that associates the compositional elements utilized by Niemeyer to a Shape Grammar. The utilization of the model made it possible to reveal the generative principles - set of rules, vocabulary and geometric relations - that characterize Niemeyer’s style and architectural language. It also helped showing how Niemeyer’s language associates, in an original way, operations of transformation such as rotation, reflection, and translation to a vocabulary of curves. The association has its parameters on a drawn line which acts as a regulator based on the golden section. As its conclusion, the work suggests possibilities of development of this grammar for all the forms utilized by Niemeyer and the aplication of generative principles in the teaching of architecture.

Orientador: Maria Filomena Spatti Sandalo
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T10:28:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nonato_RafaelBezerra_M.pdf: 1899555 bytes, checksum: 67bfb1503c04b05419e372bde5e6e1de (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008
Resumo: A língua bororo tem cerca de 700 falantes, distribuídos em cinco aldeias na região de Rondonópolis, MT. O bororo é a última língua viva da família Bororo (as outras, de acordo com Kaufman (1994) eram o umutina, cujo último falante morreu recentemente, o otuké, e um suposto dialeto chamado bororo ocidental). Essa dissertação começa com uma breve introdução (seção 1) e um sumário das atividades realizadas em campo (seção 2). Em seguida, debruça-se sobre seus dois principais assuntos: na primeira parte (seção 3), é uma gramática descritiva da língua bororo e, na segunda (seção 4), propõe um modelo teórico com base nos dados da língua. Por último, inclui três apêndices: um léxico bororo-português (Apêndice 1), as sentenças elicitadas em trabalho de campo (Apêndice 2) e as narrativas coletadas em campo e analisadas (Apêndice 3). A gramática da seção 3 emprega sobretudo os termos provenientes da tradição gramatical que vem dos gregos. A simbologia da gramática de linha gerativa foi usada somente em alguns pontos que ela permitia apresentar de forma mais elegante e precisa. O modelo apresentado na segunda parte dessa dissertação se baseia na teoria delineada em Chomsky (2000, 2001). Dadas as evidências de que essa teoria não é capaz de explicar os fenômenos de caso, concordância e movimento da língua bororo, são propostas revisões que, em essência, resgatam à sintaxe o movimento dos núcleos verbais (o qual fora relegado ao componente fonológico em Chomsky 2001), ligando-o explicativamente aos fenômenos de caso e concordância e movimento de argumentos. Além de dar conta dos dados de uma língua ergativa ativa como bororo, esse modelo é estendido para outros sistemas de caso e concordância (ergativos e acusativos) e explica a Generalização de Holmberg
Abstract: Bororo has around 700 speakers, living in five villages in the region of Rondonópolis, MT. It is the last living language of the Bororoan family (the others, according to Kaufman (1994) were Umutina, whose last speaker died recently, Otuké, and a supposed dialect called West Bororo). This dissertation begins with a brief introduction (section 1) and a summary of the activities developed in the field (section 2). After that, it concentrates on its two main subjects: in the first part (section 3), it is a descriptive grammar of Bororo and, in the second (section 4), it proposes a theoretical model based on the data from this language. At last, it includes three appendixes: a Bororo-Portuguese lexicon (Appendix 1), the sentences elicited in the field (Appendix 2) and the stories collected and analyzed (Appendix 3). The grammar in section 3 employs mostly the terms from the grammar tradition that comes from the Greeks. Symbolism of the generative grammar is used only in some parts that it allowed to present in a more elegant a precise way. The model presented in the second part of this dissertation is based on the theory sketched in Chomsky (2000, 2001). Given the evidence that this theory doesn't account for the phenomena of case, agreement and movement of Bororo, some revisions are proposed in order to, essentially, rescue head movement to the syntax (head movement had been left to PF by Chomsky 2001), linking it explicatively to the phenomena of case and agreement and argument movement. Besides accounting for the data of an ergative active language as Bororo, this model is extended to other systems of case and agreement (ergative and accusative alike) and explains Holmberg Generalization
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

This thesis is essentially a portfolio of four disjoint yet thematically related articles that deal with some semantic aspect or another of natural language conditionals. The thesis opens with a brief introductory chapter that offers a short yet opinionated historical overview and a theoretical background of several important semantic issues of conditionals. The second chapter then deals with the issue of truth values and conditions of indicative conditionals. So-called Gibbard Phenomenon cases have been used to argue that indicative conditionals construed in terms of the Ramsey Test cannot have truth values. Since that conclusion is somewhat incredible, several alternative options are explored. Finally, a contextualised revision of the Ramsey Test is offered which successfully avoids the threats of the Gibbard Phenomenon. The third chapter deals with the question of where to draw the so-called indicative/ subjunctive line. Natural language conditionals are commonly believed to be of two semantically distinct types: indicative and subjunctive. Although this distinction is central to many semantic analyses of natural conditionals, there seems to be no consensus on the details of its nature. While trying to uncover the grounds for the distinction, we will argue our way through several plausible proposals found in the literature. Upon discovering that none of these proposals seem entirely suited, we will reconsider our position and make several helpful observations into the nature of conditional sentences. And finally, in light of our observations, we shall propose and argue for plausible grounds for the indicative/subjunctive distinction.distinction. The fourth chapter offers semantics for modal and amodal natural language conditionals based on the distinction proposed in the previous chapter. First, the nature of modal and amodal suppositions will be explored. Armed with an analysis of modal and amodal suppositions, the corresponding conditionals will be examined further. Consequently, the syntax of conditionals in English will be uncovered for the purpose of providing input for our semantics. And finally, compositional semantics in generative grammar will be offered for modal and amodal conditionals. The fifth and final chapter defends Modus Ponens from alleged counterexamples. In particular, the chapter offers a solution to McGee’s infamous counterexamples. First, several solutions offered to the counterexamples hitherto are all argued to be inadequate. After a couple of observations on the counterexamples’ nature, a solution is offered and demonstrated. the solution suggests that the semantics of embedded natural language conditionals is more sophisticated than their surface syntax indicates. The heart of the solution is a translation function from the surface form of natural language conditionals to their logical form. Finally, the thesis ends with a conclusion that briefly summarises the main conclusions drawn in its preceding chapters.

Esta dissertação aborda a questão da transferência entre línguas na aquisição de segunda língua/língua estrangeira (L2/FL), mais especificamente, a influência do Português Brasileiro (PB) como língua materna (L1) na aquisição de inglês como L2/FL no que diz respeito ao preenchimento da posição de sujeito pronominal. Esse fenômeno é investigado à luz da teoria linguística gerativista nos moldes do Programa Minimalista (CHOMSKY, 1995) e da psicolinguística, no âmbito das questões de aquisição de L2/FL, ciência responsável por fornecer modelos procedimentais de como a produção e a compreensão de sentenças podem ser entendidas. A discussão sobre o modo como se dá a aquisição de L2 tem se mostrado complexa na literatura. O PB e o inglês diferem em relação à satisfação do traço EPP, responsável pelo preenchimento da posição de sujeito sintático nas línguas naturais. O PB tem se aproximado do inglês quanto ao preenchimento de sujeitos referenciais, mas não no que concerne aos sujeitos expletivos, apresentando ainda construções de tópico-sujeito, características que podem interferir na aquisição do valor paramétrico negativo para sujeitos nulos no inglês. A fim de investigar as mudanças que vêm afetando o PB nesse âmbito e observar o quanto aprendizes de inglês como FL falantes de PB se mostram sensíveis à agramaticalidade de sentenças com sujeito nulo no inglês em diferentes contextos, foram realizados dois experimentos, ambos com uma tarefa de julgamento de gramaticalidade. O experimento piloto foi realizado com aprendizes dos níveis básico e avançado e apresentava dois tipos distintos de sentenças (Tipo 1: sujeito nulo e Tipo 2: tópico + sujeito nulo); e um experimento final com aprendizes dos níveis básico, intermediário e avançado, com três tipos de sentenças (Tipo 1: sujeito nulo, Tipo 2: tópico + sujeito nulo e Tipo 3: conjunção + sujeito nulo). Dada a complexidade da gramática do PB, nossa hipótese de trabalho é de que não se observe uma transferência total, mas o surgimento de uma interlíngua que ora se aproxima, ora se afasta da gramática-alvo, refletindo a sobrecarga de processamento que lidar com as duas gramáticas impõe. Os resultados sustentam a hipótese ao indicar que (i) o valor do parâmetro do sujeito nulo parece ser transferido da L1 para a L2, uma vez que foi encontrado um alto número de respostas incorretas; (ii) a interferência se dá mais fortemente no âmbito dos sujeitos expletivos; (iii) há interferência de restrições gerais da gramática da L1 (restrições a V1) na L2; e (iv) a interferência diminui em função do aumento da proficiência em L2. Além disso, nas sentenças do tipo 2, parece haver uma possível interferência do PB que acaba por mascarar a omissão do expletivo, o que indica uma dificuldade de integração de informações provenientes das limitações decorrentes da necessidade de processar duas línguas em momentos específicos de modo a evitar a interferência da língua indesejada, no caso a L1, que por ainda ser dominante exige mais recursos para ser inibida (SORACE, 1999, 2011).
This study focuses on language transfer, more specifically, on the interference of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) as the native language (L1) on the acquisition of English as a second language/foreign language (L2/FL). The phenomenon under investigation is the use of null vs. overt pronominal subjects. The theoretical framework adopted is the generative linguistic theory based on the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 1995) and psycholinguistics, responsible for providing procedural models in order to explain how production and comprehension of sentences can be understood. There are different proposals in the literature on L2 acquisition. Considering the phenomenon under investigation, the satisfaction of an EPP feature, responsible for the projection of syntactic subjects in natural languages, would be differently parametrized in BP and in English. BP has become similar to English for referential subjects, but not in respect to expletive subjects. Moreover, it presents topic-subject constructions that may interfere in the acquisition of the negative parametric value for null subjects in English. In order to investigate the changes that have affected BP and observe how learners of English as FL that have BP as their native language are sensitive to the grammaticality of sentences with null subjects in English in different contexts, two experiments were conducted, both with a grammaticality judgment task . The pilot experiment was conducted with learners of basic and advanced levels and presented two distinct types of sentences (Type 1: null subject and type 2: topic + null subject), and a final experiment with learners of basic, intermediate and advanced levels, with three types of sentences (Type 1: null subjects, Type 2: topic + null subject and type 3: conjunction + null subject) .Given the complexity of BP grammar, our hypothesis is that full transfer will not be observed, but rather the emergence of an interlanguage that sometimes is closer to the target language, sometimes differs from it, reflecting processing difficulties imposed by the heavy demands of dealing with the two grammars. The results support the hypothesis indicating that (i) the value of the null subject parameter seems to be transferred from L1 to L2 since we found a high number of incorrect responses, (ii) the interference occurs more strongly in the context of expletive subjects, (iii) there is interference of general restrictions of the L1 grammar (V1 restrictions) in L2, and (iv) the interference decreases with the increasing proficiency in L2. Furthermore, in type 2 sentences, there seems to be a possible interference of BP which leads to the omission of the expletive, indicating a difficulty in integrating information from the constraints imposed by the need to process two languages at specific times in order to prevent the interference from the unwanted language, in this case L1, which requires more resources to be inhibited once it is still the dominant language (SORACE , 1996, 2011).

Orientador: Ruth Elisabeth Vasconcellos Lopes
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T03:33:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mendes_Fernanda_D.pdf: 6435015 bytes, checksum: dd66221b24cf9005f43c82ecc56266d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015
Resumo: Examinando a aquisição de estruturas possessivas inalienáveis em português brasileiro (PB), a presente pesquisa, baseada na Teoria Gerativa e, consequentemente, na Hipótese Inatista, estabelece um paralelo com outras línguas, tais como francês, espanhol e inglês. É interessante notar que, neste contexto, o PB parece apresentar um padrão oposto ao do inglês ¿ ao menos no que diz respeito à coocorrência entre nomes de partes do corpo e determinantes definidos ¿, porém tampouco exibe um comportamento similar às outras línguas românicas, tais como o francês e o espanhol, mostrando uma maneira única de realizar estruturas de posse inalienável. Baseando-se, entre outros, em Guéron (1985), Vergnaud e Zubizarreta (1992), Pérez-Leroux et al. (2002a,b), Floripi e Nunes (2009) e Mendes (2010), o presente estudo testa a aquisição de estruturas de posse inalienável em PB e inglês, assumindo que crianças falantes nativas de inglês teriam disponível, num primeiro momento, a mesma gramática disponível para crianças falantes nativas de PB, em que a leitura inalienável poderia ser vinculada tanto na presença de pronomes possessivos quanto na presença de determinantes definidos com qualquer tipo de nome ¿ seja de parte do corpo, seja relacional. O estudo experimental foi constituído por duas séries de testes, uma contendo nomes de partes do corpo, em que foram aplicados os métodos de Tarefa de Julgamento de Valor de Verdade e Tarefa de Seleção de Figura; e outra contando nomes relacionais, em que foi aplicado apenas o método de Tarefa de Julgamento de Valor de Verdade, sendo ambos métodos que permitem que se extraia julgamentos interpretativos indiretamente, o que se coloca como indispensável quando os participantes envolvem crianças. De fato, a distinção entre as gramáticas das duas línguas apareceu por volta dos 6;0 anos de idade, quando crianças falantes de inglês restringiram o uso do determinante definido de acordo com a gramática alvo, não permitindo o seu uso nas estruturas contendo nomes de partes do corpo, quando foi veiculada a interpretação inalienável. Neste caso, o determinante definido foi substituído pelo pronome possessivo. Em relação ao mesmo uso com nomes relacionais, também examinados nesta tese, observou-se que estes, diferentemente dos nomes de partes do corpo, podem coocorrer, inclusive na gramática adulta do inglês, vinculando a leitura inalienável. Isso indica, portanto, que, nesta língua, o estatuto dos determinantes definidos que constituem tais estruturas é diferente, sendo determinantes definidos substantivos, no caso em que há um nome de parte do corpo envolvido, e determinantes definidos expletivos, no caso em que há um nome relacional envolvido. Já em PB, esses determinantes poderiam ser expletivos em ambos os casos
Abstract: In order to examine the acquisition of inalienable possessive structures in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), this research, based on the Generative Grammar approach and, consequently, on the Innateness Hypotesis, establishes a parallel with other languages, such as French, Spanish and English. It is an interesting fact that, in this context, BP seems to present the opposite pattern found in English ¿ at least in which concerns to cooccurrences of body-parts names and definite determiners ¿ and also does not behave similarly to Spanish and French, showing a unique way of building inalienable possession constructions. Following, among others, Guéron (1985), Vergnaud and Zubizarreta (1992), Pérez-Leroux et al. (2002a,b), Floripi and Nunes (2009), and Mendes (2010), the current study tests the acquisition of inalienable possessive structures in BP and English, assuming that English-speaking children start with the same grammar as BP-speaking children do. This first grammar would allow inalienable interpretation being carried by possessive pronouns as well as definite determiners introducing any kind of name ¿ body-parts names or relationship names. The experimental study consisted of two sets of tests, one of them with body-parts names under Truth Value Judgment Task and Picture Selection Task, and another one with relationship names under Truth Value Judgment Task. Both types are techniques that allow one to obtain interpretational judgments indirectly, which is indispensable when it comes to trials involving children. Confirming the literature findings, the difference between BP grammar and English grammar appeared around the age of 6;0, when English-speaking children approach the target grammar, in which the presence of the possessive pronoun is what allows the inalienable interpretation and the use of definite determiners is restricted to alienable possession constructions with body-parts names. In other hand, when relationship names are present in the structure, it was noted that they can cooccour with definite determiners even when carrying inalienable interpretation. Therefore, it indicates a difference in the status of definite determiners in such language: there are substantive definite determiners occurring with body-parts names, while there are expletive definite determiners occourring with relationship names. In BP, however, in both cases it could be the case in which there are expletive definite determiners occurring
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutora em Linguística

Orientador: Ruth Elisabeth Vasconcellos Lopes
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T20:07:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sancassani_Maisa_M.pdf: 3562931 bytes, checksum: ac041df9cb5848219cb23f520dccff1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014
Resumo: A literatura (Tanenhaus et al., 1995) aponta que adultos, quando apresentados a contextos referenciais tendenciosos, utilizam informações extralinguísticas para processar ambiguidades sintáticas, demonstrando sensibilidade ao Princípio do Suporte Referencial (Altmann & Steedman, 1985). Quando crianças são submetidas a teste semelhante (Trueswell et al., 1999), elas baseiam suas decisões de processamento em princípios estruturais ou em propriedades lexicais e desconsideram informações de ordem referencial. Neste trabalho, testamos o efeito do contexto visual e do viés lexical durante o processamento de ambiguidades. 36 crianças e 31 adultos foram solicitados a manipular brinquedos em resposta a instruções verbais ambíguas como "limpe a zebra com o pincel", em que o sintagma preposicionado pode ser interpretado como instrumento da ação (adjunção-VP) ou modificador do objeto (adjunção-NP). Empregamos a técnica do paradigma do mundo visual em que gestos e olhares dos participantes são monitorados para observação do processamento on-line e off-line. Nossos resultados demonstram que informações globais de alto nível (contexto referencial) influenciam o processamento em tempo real de adultos e crianças igualmente, enquanto informações locais de baixo nível (viés lexical) exercem influência apenas com estímulos tendenciosos. Na presença de propriedades lexicais neutras, adultos executam ações correspondentes a estruturas de adjunto adnominal nos contextos referencias competitivos e crianças optam pela interpretação de adjunto adverbial em todos os casos. Consideramos que a neutralidade lexical permite a manifestação do Princípio do Suporte Referencial em adultos e, para crianças, manifesta-se um efeito (ainda a ser definido) em que estruturas de adjunto adverbial são preferidas. Esses achados se alinham a teorias lexicalistas, como a de Satisfação de Condições, em que múltiplas informações competem para a geração de uma única estrutura e preveem que, no curso do desenvolvimento linguístico, informações estruturais emergem mais cedo e de forma mais robusta do que outras menos confiáveis como as discursivo-pragmáticas
Abstract: Tanenhaus et al. (1995), among many others, point out that adults, when presented to biased visual contexts, use extralinguistics information in order to process syntactic ambiguities, showing that they are sensitive to the Principle of Referential Support (Altmann & Steedman, 1985). When five-year-old children undergo similar tests (Trueswell et al., 1999), however, they rely on syntactically based parsing principles or on the lexical properties of the input and ignore referential information. Here, we tested the effect of visual context and lexical bias during the processing of ambiguities. 36 children and 31 adults were asked to manipulate toys in response to globally ambiguous verbal instructions like "clean the zebra with the brush", in which the prepositional phrase can be interpreted as an instrument of the action (VP-attachment) or modifier of the object (NP-attachment). We used the technique of the Visual World Paradigm in which eye-gazes and gestures are monitored in order to obtain measures of the final processing of the sentences and measures of the real-time processing. High-level global cues (reference bias) influence real-time processing equally in adults and children, while low-level local cues (lexical bias) interfere with biased stimuli. In the presence of neutral lexical properties, adults perform actions that correspond to NP-attachment only in competitive referential contexts and children prefer VP-attachment interpretation in all cases. We concluded that the lexical neutrality allows for the manifestation of the Principle of Referential Support in adults; children, on the other hand, manifest a certain effect (still to be defined) in which VP-attachment structures are preferred. These findings align with the lexicalist theories such as the constraint-satisfaction, in which multiple information compete for generating a single interpretation. This theory predicts that during the development of the parser, structural information such as verbs bias emerge earlier and more robustly than less reliable ones such as the discourse-pragmatic cues
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestra em Linguística

Orientador: Ruth Elisabeth Vasconcellos Lopes
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T06:36:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Faria_Pablo_M.pdf: 1248984 bytes, checksum: 9609dfcb9ddec33250dfdefdb367fb5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009
Resumo: Nesta dissertação de mestrado, o objetivo principal é refletir sobre algumas propriedades da linguagem e do processo de aquisição, tomando como ponto de partida questões que surgiram durante o processo de implementação do modelo proposto em Berwick (1985). O quadro teórico geral em que esta pesquisa se situa é o da Gramática Gerativa - na linha chomskiana - e, em particular, o modelo implementado aqui tem como principal base teórica a Gramática Transformacional (Cf. CHOMSKY, 1965). Entre as propriedades da linguagem que discutimos estão: os traços distintivos dos itens lexicais, a assimetria entre especificadores e complementos, categorias vazias e o papel da informação temática na sintaxe. A idéia subjacente que permeia as reflexões é a busca por um olhar mais abstrato sobre o conhecimento gramatical, procurando rever ou até eliminar dispositivos que, em primeiro lugar, aparecem como obstáculos significativos para o analisador e, em segundo lugar, resistem à identificação de evidências para sua aquisição, do ponto de vista do aprendiz da língua. Para atingir estes objetivos, a primeira metade do trabalho faz uma breve discussão teórica, para em seguida trazer uma apresentação razoavelmente detalhada do modelo de Berwick, incluindo exemplos de funcionamento. A segunda metade inclui a discussão dos resultados juntamente com as reflexões sobre a linguagem, procurando apontar caminhos que não apenas possam tornar o modelo de aquisição mais robusto, mas que levantem questões para investigação em teoria gramatical. Neste sentido, este trabalho - por se situar numa área multidisciplinar, a saber, a lingüística computacional - procura tornar explícitas as contribuições que esse tipo de investigação pode fazer à teoria lingüística.
Abstract: The main goal of this MA thesis is to discuss some properties of language and its acquisition process, taking as a starting point some issues that emerged during the implementation of the acquisition model proposed by Berwick (1985). Our general theoretical framework is the Generative Grammar - as proposed in Chomsky's works - and, in particular, the Transformational Grammar model (Cf. CHOMSKY, 1965). Some of the language properties discussed here involve: the set of distinctive features for lexical items, the asymmetry between specifiers and complements, empty categories and the role of thematic information in syntax. The subjacent idea surrounding the reections on language is the search for a more abstract view of the grammatical knowledge such that some of the theoretical devices can be revised or even abandoned. Two main goals drive this effort: first, the elimination of some significant obstacles in the parser's task to analyze sentences. Second, the elimination of those devices for which we cannot find proper evidence for their acquisition, considering the learner's perspective. In order to pursue these goals, in the first part of this work we set out the theoretical background for the whole discussion and give a somewhat detailed presentation of Berwick's acquisition model and examples of its functioning. In the second part we include a discussion of the results upon which the reection is built, whereby we point out some ways not only to increase the robustness of the acquisition model, but also to raise questions for further research in grammatical theory. In this sense, this work - which pertains to an interdisciplinary field, i.e, computational linguistics - tries to make explicit the contributions that this kind of investigation can offer to linguistic theory.
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

Orientador: Charlotte Marie Chambelland Galves
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T00:49:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silveira_DamarisMatias_M.pdf: 1438611 bytes, checksum: 4b295492d8cc20de61171e5c77b9ec6d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014
Resumo: Esta pesquisa investiga diacronicamente as sentenças utilizadas para focalizar constituintes sintáticos, as Clivadas e Pseudo-clivadas, sob o ponto de vista da Gramática Gerativa, através de 16 textos do Corpus Histórico do Português Anotado Tycho Brahe. Tais sentenças caracterizam-se pelas sequências Cópula+Foco+que+IP (clivadas canônicas) e SentençaWh+Cópula+Foco (pseudo-clivadas canônicas). Porém, outras sentenças de mesma sequência podem ser confundidas com clivadas e, por isso, apresentamos uma série de requisitos para que tais sequências sejam analisadas como resultado do recurso da clivagem. O período considerado para a busca dessas sentenças é o que se estende do século 16 ao19, indo do Português Clássico ao Português Moderno e incluindo a fase transição entre os dois períodos. Seguindo a argumentação de diversos autores, assumimos que, até o momento dessa transição, o Português tem um funcionamento de língua V2, ou seja, licencia o movimento do verbo para uma posição alta na periferia esquerda da sentença (Cf. Torres Moraes (1995), Galves (1997), Paixão de Sousa (2004), Galves, Brito e Paixão de Sousa (2005), Cavalcante, Galves e Paixão de Sousa (2010), Gibrail (2010), Antonelli (2011), Galves e Gibrail (2013) e Galves e Paixão de Sousa (2013)). De acordo com Kato e Ribeiro (2005), Kato e Ribeiro (2006) e Kato (2009), o padrão Canônico de Clivadas inexistia no período em que o Português era uma gramática V2, por restrição desse sistema gramatical. Para as autoras, este é o único padrão incompatível com V2. Porém, o licenciamento de estruturas V1 nesse período nos leva a questionar tal restrição, uma vez que sentenças clivadas são estruturas V1. O que fazemos neste estudo é, portanto, sintetizar tanto as características sintáticas dessas construções quanto as do sistema gramatical dos períodos relevantes, observar a ocorrência das estruturas clivadas nos textos do corpus e, por fim, traçar um paralelo analítico entre esses pontos, buscando apresentar evidências de que a ausência das clivadas canônicas não ocorre por restrição para seu licenciamento, mas por opção do falante, uma vez que a sua língua disponibiliza outro recurso gramatical de focalização
Abstract: This research investigates diachronically the sentences used to focus syntactic constituents, the Cleft and Pseudo-cleft ones under the Generative Grammar point of view, through 16 texts from Tycho Brahe Parsed Corpus of Historical Portuguese. Such sentences are characterized by the sequence copula+Focus+que+IP (canonic clefts) and wh sentence+Copula+Focus (canonic pseudo-clefts). However, other sentences of the same sequence can be confused with the cleft ones and, therefore, a number of requisites is shown so that such sequences can be analyzed as a result of a cleavage resource. The period considered to the search of such sentences is the one which goes from the 16th to the 19th centuries, from Classic Portuguese to the Modern one and it includes the transition phase between these two periods. By following the argumentation of several authors it is assumed that up to the time of this transition, Portuguese had presented a V2 language functioning, that is, it permits the verb movement to a high position on the left peripheral of the sentence (Cf. Torres Moraes (1995), Galves (1997), Paixão de Sousa (2004), Galves, Brito and Paixão de Sousa (2005), Cavalcante, Galves and Paixão de Sousa (2010), Gibrail (2010), Antonelli (2011), Galves and Gibrail (2013) and Galves and Paixão de Sousa (2013)). According to Kato and Ribeiro (2005), Kato and Ribeiro (2006) and Kato (2009) the Canonic Clefts pattern was inexistent in the period when Portuguese was a V2 grammar because of this grammatical system. To the authors cited this is the only incompatible pattern with V2. However, the license of V1 structures in this period takes one to question such restriction since such cleft sentences are V1 structures. Therefore, what this study does is to synthesize syntactic characteristics of these constructions as well as the grammatical system of the relevant periods, observe the occurrence of the cleft structures in the corpus texts and, finally, trace an analytical parallel among these points, and it presents evidence that the absence of canonic clefts do not occur by restriction of license, but by the speaker¿s choice, since his/her language makes it available another grammatical resource of focusing
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestra em Linguística

Orientador: Sonia Maria Lazzarini Cyrino
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T04:51:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeixeiradeSousa_Lilian_D.pdf: 3506329 bytes, checksum: e5635d7c31b15e173507503856816bd4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012
Resumo: A negação sentencial no Português Brasileiro (PB) pode ser realizada através de três tipos diferentes de estruturas considerando o número e a posição de partículas negativas: [Neg V], [Neg V Não] e [V Não]. Essa distribuição é bastante rara nas línguas naturais, já que, geralmente, as línguas apresentam apenas uma estrutura para expressar negação sentencial e, algumas vezes, uma estrutura adicional com função discursiva. Alguns pesquisadores associam essa alternância de formas a um processo de mudança linguística conhecido como Ciclo de Jespersen (Schwegler 1991, Furtado da Cunha 1996), enquanto outros explicam a alternância em termos de estrutura informacional (Schwenter 2005; Cavalcante 2007, 2012). Neste estudo, buscamos descrever a ocorrência das estruturas na língua, através de testes de aceitabilidade e preferência, com o objetivo de formular uma análise dentro do quadro teórico da sintaxe gerativa que considerasse tanto as características distributivas quanto as possibilidades de interpretação dessas estruturas. Na literatura linguística é bastante recorrente a afirmação de que apenas a estrutura [Neg V] é livre de restrições sintáticas, o que tem servido de argumento para caracterizá-la como a negação padrão do PB. As outras duas formas, porém, apresentam fortes restrições sintáticas, não sendo ambas possíveis em perguntas-Qu ou em encaixadas temporais. Em nossa análise, verificamos que, além das diferenças entre forma padrão e formas marcadas, as estruturas [Neg V Não] e [V Não] apresentam distinções quando comparadas, por isso, as consideramos, assim como Biberauer & Cyrino (2009), como fenômenos diversos. [V Não], como observamos, não é possível em nenhum tipo de oração encaixada ou com o preenchimento de sujeitos não definidos ou ainda para veicular informação nova, estando restrita a contextos responsivos. [Neg V Não], por outro lado, não é compatível apenas com infinitivas ou encaixadas temporais e não apresenta restrições quanto ao tipo de sujeito e nem quanto ao tipo de informação, se nova ou dada. Também entoacionalmente as estruturas apresentam distinções, enquanto o não de [V Não] não é prosodicamente proeminente, o não final de [Neg V Não] pode ou não ser prosodicamente proeminente. Uma vez que tanto [Neg V] quanto [Neg V Não] podem veicular informação nova e dada, tratamo-las como negações semânticas. Considerando, entretanto, as restrições de [Neg V Não] em sentenças não temporalmente marcadas ou coocorrendo com conjunções subordinativas temporais, passamos a relacioná-la à categoria T. Tendo em vista, ainda, a incompatibilidade dessa estrutura em contextos narrativos, em que não há proposições, mas o sequenciamento de eventos, definimos essa estrutura enquanto um tipo de negação semântica com escopo sobre proposições em oposição à [Neg V], que teria escopo sobre situações. [V Não], por ocorrer unicamente em contextos responsivos e não ser capaz de licenciar itens de polaridade, é interpretada não como uma negação semântica, mas como uma estrutura com a função pragmática de foco. Do ponto de vista teórico, considerando a proposta de Fases, relacionamos a estrutura [Neg V] à fase V, [Neg V Não] à fase T e [V Não] ao CP, periferia à esquerda da fase T
Abstract: Sentential negation in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) may be accomplished through three different kinds of structures, considering the number and position of the negative particles: [Neg V], [Neg V Não] and [V Não]. This distribution is quite rare in natural languages, which usually feature only one structure to express sentential negation, with an optional structure to convey a discourse function. While some researchers have identified this alternation between forms with a process of linguistic change known as Jespersen's Cycle (Schwegler 1991, Furtado da Cunha 1996), some others explain this variation in terms of information structure (Schwenter 2005; Cavalcante 2007, 2012). In this study, we seek to describe the occurrence of these structures in BP by means of acceptability and preference tests, with the objective of formulating an analysis within the theoretical framework of generative syntax that would consider both distributive characteristics and possible interpretations of these structures. In the linguistic literature, it is frequently claimed that the [Neg V] structure is the only one devoid of syntactic restrictions. Such an idea has been presented as an argument for its character as the standard negation form in BP. On the other hand, the other two forms do have strong syntactic restrictions, once they are not both possible in wh-questions or in embedded time clauses. In our analysis we have noticed that, in addition to the differences between the standard form and the other ones, there is a distinction between the [Neg V Não] and [V Não] structures. Therefore we consider them to be separate phenomena, likewise Biberauer & Cyrino (2009a, 2009b): [V Não], as we have observed, is impossible in all kinds of embedded clause, with undefined subjects or even when conveying new information, as it is restricted to response contexts; [Neg V Não], on the other hand, is only incompatible with infinitive or embedded time clauses, and is unrestricted as to the type of subject or type of information conveyed, that is, whether new or given. These structures also contain intonational distinctions: while the 'não' in [V Não] is not prosodically prominent, the final 'não' in [Neg V Não] may or may not be prosodically prominent. Given that both [Neg V] and [Neg V Não] can convey both new and given information, they are treated as semantic negations. By taking into account that [Neg V Não] is not acceptable either in infinitival sentences or in sentences introduced by temporal conjunctions, we put forth that the second 'não' is merged in the T domain. Besides, given the incompatibility of this structure with narrative contexts in which there are no propositions but rather a sequence of events, we have defined this structure as a kind of semantic negation taking scope over propositions as opposed to [Neg V], which takes scope over situations. And because [V Não] occurs solely in the context of response and does not allow for polarity items, we have defined it not as a semantic negation, but as a structure marking pragmatic focus. From a theoretical standpoint, considering Phase Theory, we have related the [Neg V] structure to the V phase, [Neg V Não] to the T phase and [V Não] to the CP, the left periphery of the T phase
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutora em Linguística

Orientadores: Ruth Elisabeth Vasconcellos Lopes, Charlotte Marie Chamberlland Galves
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T00:21:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Faria_Pablo_D.pdf: 2488292 bytes, checksum: c75ee78601e9b73c790d12ce7e2d414e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013
Resumo: Neste trabalho, o fenômeno de aquisição de uma língua natural é investigado através de uma modelagem computacional. O aprendiz modelado - apelidado de IASMIM - se caracteriza como um modelo computacional integrado de aquisição de primeira língua, visto que integra os processos de aquisição lexical e sintática. Além disso, o modelo foi concebido de modo a atender certos critérios de plausibilidade empírica e psicológica. A perspectiva teórica que norteia a investigação é a da Gramática Gerativa (cf. Chomsky, 1986) e este é um modelo voltado para a competência linguística, não um modelo de processamento ou de performance (i.e., de uso do conhecimento linguístico). O aprendiz modelado é capaz de adquirir um conhecimento gramatical relativamente abrangente e demonstra algum potencial translinguístico, particularmente no que diz respeito a variações de ordem. As simulações para avaliação do modelo permitem observar a emergência de padrões de adjunção e de recursividade na gramática, considerados aqui como as principais evidências de um conhecimento sintático mais elaborado. Finalmente, o modelo incorpora algumas noções caras à teoria sintática no âmbito do Programa Minimalista (cf. Chomsky, 1995b), tais como set- Merge, pair-Merge, "traço seletor" (cf. Chomsky, 1998), em conjunto com assunções sobre a binariedade das representações sintáticas e a hipótese de que a ordem linear não tem papel na sintaxe (cf. Uriagereka, 1999). O modelo incorpora, ainda, uma versão da representação semântico-conceitual proposta em Jackendoff (1990). Nesta modelagem, estas noções e assunções ganham uma interpretação concreta e integrada, interagindo na determinação das propriedades do conhecimento adquirido
Abstract: In the present work, the acquisition of natural languages is investigated through a computer simulation. The modelled learner - dubbed IASMIM - is characterized as an integrated computational model of first language acquisition, in the sense that it integrates the processes of lexical and syntactic acquisition. Furthermore, the model was conceived in order to be empirically and psychologically plausible. The theoretical perspective of this enterprise is that of Generative Grammar (cf. Chomsky, 1986) and this is a model concerned with linguistic competence, rather than language processing or performance (i.e., how the acquired knowledge is put to use). The modelled learner is capable of acquiring a relatively broad grammatical knowledge and shows some crosslinguistic abilities, in particular, the ability to handle languages with distinct word orders. In the simulations for evaluation of the model we can observe the emergence of adjunction and recursive patterns in the grammar, taken here as the main pieces of evidence of a more elaborated syntactic knowledge. Finally, the model embodies some central notions for syntactic theory under the Minimalist Program (cf. Chomsky, 1995b), such as set-Merge, pair-Merge and "selector feature" (cf. Chomsky, 1998), together with the assumptions that syntactic representations are strictly binary branching and that linear word order has no significant role in syntactic phenomena (cf. Uriagereka, 1999). The model also embodies a version of the semantic-conceptual representation proposed in Jackendoff (1990). They take a concrete and integrated existence in this model, interacting with one another to determine the properties of the acquired grammatical knowledge
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutor em Linguística

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'introduire la grammaire générative dans l'étude philosophique de la signification linguistique des langues naturelles, tout en l'articulant à une théorie contextualiste du sens. Nous montrerons d'abord en quoi les procédures syntaxiques sont autonomes de toute contrainte sémantique externe (thèse d'autonomie de la syntaxe), tout en contraignant la construction du sens linguistique (thèse du syntactocentrisme). Nous montrerons également qu'un filtrage contextuel des expressions grammaticales mais pas utilisables s'opère à un niveau post-syntaxique sur le résultat des dérivations syntaxiques. Dans un deuxième temps, nous montrerons que la syntaxe détermine la structure de la signification. Nous commencerons par critiquer les conceptions lexicalistes, selon lesquelles la structure de la signification dérive d'informations contenues dans les items lexicaux. Puis nous montrerons que les formes sémantiques des expressions sont des structures événementielles dont chaque élément correspond strictement à un élément de la structure syntaxique. Dans un troisième temps, nous montrerons que tandis que la structure interprétative est rigidement déterminée par la structure syntaxique, le contenu des termes mobilisés dans les expressions est quant à lui le résultat d'une interaction entre contenu conceptuel, structure syntaxique et filtrage contextuel. Cela s'accompagnera d'une conception des concepts comme entrées encyclopédiques comportant une multiplicité d'informations sur lesquelles s'opère une sélection locale de l'information pertinente en fonction du contexte
The goal of this dissertation is to introduce generative grammar into the philosophical study of linguistic meaning in natural languages, while articulating it with a contextualist theory of meaning. First, we will show that syntactic procedures are autonomous from any external semantic constraints (autonomy of syntax thesis) while constraining the construction of linguistic meaning (syntactocentrism thesis). We will also show that the results of syntactic derivations that are grammatical but not usable are contextually filtered out at a post-syntactic stage. In a second part, we will show that syntax determines the structure of meaning. We will start by criticizing the lexicalist conceptions accordinf to which the structure of meaning derives from data included in lexical items. Then we will show that the semantic forms of expressions are event structures of which each element strictly corresponds to an element in syntactic structure. In a third part, we will show that while interpretive structure is rigidly determined by syntactic structure, the content of terms used in expressions is the result of an interaction involving conceptual content, syntactic structure and contextual filtering. This entails a conception of concepts as encyclopedic entries made up of a multiplicity of data on which a local selection of contextually relevant information operates

Orientadores: Mary Aizawa Kato, Maria Cecilia Perroni
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T21:34:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Xavier_GildeteRocha_D.pdf: 1279433 bytes, checksum: 16b8a9f21d756dac70208dc8ab02e2b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006
Resumo: Este estudo objetiva investigar como se dá a aquisição do sujeito nulo do português brasileiro (PB) como segunda língua (L2) por adultos estrangeiros, falantes nativos de Inglês e Italiano em situação de imersão total. A pesquisa desenvolve-se no âmbito da gramática gerativa, dentro do quadro da Teoria de Princípios e Parâmetros (Chomsky 1981,1986) e do Programa Minimalista (Chomsky, 1993, 1995, 2000). As questões da pesquisa estão relacionadas à questão do acesso à Gramática Universal (GU), por aprendizes de L2. Mais especificamente, procurou-se investigar se os sujeitos aqui analisados têm acesso à GU e, em caso afirmativo, qual seria a forma desse acesso. Os resultados da análise dos dados confirmaram a) a hipótese de acesso direto à GU, através do uso do valor default do parâmetro pro-drop = sujeitos nulos ou preenchidos + a forma verbal unipessoal, nas produções dos falantes de inglês e italiano em fase inicial de aquisição e, b) a hipótese do acesso indireto à GU, via LI, nas produções dos sujeitos falantes de inglês e italiano em fase não inicial de aquisição. Além disso, considerando que as línguas pro-drop não constituem um único tipo, levantou-se a hipótese de que, com base nos dados do input, os aprendizes vão apresentar o pro-drop do PB, a partir da aquisição da concordância dessa língua, o que se confirmou. A tese confirma a hipótese do "bilingüismo universal" de Roeper (1999), não apenas para o estágio inicial, mas para os estágios intermediário e final
Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the acquisition of the null subject in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) as a second language (L2) by native adult speakers of English and Italian in a situation of total immersion. The research was developed within the framework of the Principles and Parameters Theory (Chomsky 1981, 1986) and the Minimalist Program, Chomsky, 1993, 1995,2000). The research attempted to investigate whether the L2 leaders have access to Universal Grammar (UG) and what the form of that access would be. The results of the analysis confirmed a) the hypothesis of direct access to UG, through the use of the prcxlrop parameter's default value = null or overt subjects + the one-person agreement verbal form, in the production of English and Italian speakers in the initial phase of acquisition and, b) the hypothesis of indirect access to UG through LI, in the production of the English and Italian speakers in the non-initial phase of acquisition. Considering that prodrop languages do not constitute a single type, it was hypothesized that, based upon data from the input, the leamers would present the prcxlrop of BP, starting by the acquisition of the agreement in that language, which was confirmed. The analysis confirms the "universal bilingualism" hypothesis (Roeper, 1999), not only for the initial stage of acquisition, but also for the intermediate and final stages
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutor em Linguística

Cette thèse se situe à l’intersection des domaines de la recherche en linguistique et du traitement automatique de la langue. Ces deux domaines se croisent pour la construction d’outils de traitement de texte, et des applications industrielles intégrant des solutions de désambiguïsation et d’interprétation de la langue.Une tâche difficile et très peu abordée et appliqué est arrivée sur les travaux de l’entreprise Techlimed, celle de l’analyse automatique des textes écrits en arabe. De nouvelles ressources sont apparues comme les lexiques de langues et les réseaux sémantiques permettant à la création de grammaires formelles d’accomplir cette tâche.Une métadonnée importante pour l’analyse de texte est de savoir « qu’est-ce qui est dit, et que signifie-t-il ? ». Le domaine de linguistique computationnelle propose des méthodes très diverses et souvent partielle pour permettre à l’ordinateur de répondre à de telles questions.L’introduction et l’application des règles de grammaire descriptives de langues dans les langages formels spécifiques au traitement de langues par ordinateur est l’objet principal de cette thèse.Au-delà de la réalisation d’un système de traitement et d’interprétation de textes en langue arabe, basé aussi sur la modélisation informatique, notre intérêt s’est porté sur l’évaluation des phénomènes linguistiques relevés par la littérature et les méthodes de leur formalisation en informatique.Dans tous les cas, nos travaux de recherche ont été testés et validés dans un cadre expérimental rigoureux autour de plusieurs formalismes et outils informatiques.Nos expérimentations concernant l'apport de la grammaire syntaxico-sémantique, a priori, ont montré une réduction importante de l’ambiguïté linguistique dans le cas de l'utilisation d’une grammaire à état fini écrite en Java et une grammaire générativetransformationnelle écrite en Prolog, intégrant des composants morphologiques, syntaxiques et sémantiques.La mise en place de notre étude a requis la construction d’outils de traitement de texte et d’outils de recherche d’information. Ces outils ont été construits par nos soins et sont disponible en Open-source.La réussite de l’application de nos travaux à grande échelle s’est conclue par la condition d’avoir de ressources sémantiques riches et exhaustives. Nous travaux ont été redirigés vers une démarche de production de telles ressources, en termes de recherche d’informations et d’extraction de connaissances. Les tests menés pour cette nouvelle perspective ont étéfavorables à d’avantage de recherche et d’expérimentation
This thesis lies at the frontier of the fields of linguistic research and the automatic processing of language. These two fields intersect for the construction of natural language processing tools, and industrial applications integrating solutions for disambiguation and interpretation of texts.A challenging task, briefly approached and applied, has come to the work of the Techlimed company, that of the automatic analysis of texts written in Arabic. Novel resources have emerged as language lexicons and semantic networks allowing the creation of formal grammars to accomplish this task.An important meta-data for text analysis is "what is being said, and what does it mean". The field of computational linguistics offers very diverse and, mostly, partial methods to allow the computer to answer such questions.The main purpose of this thesis is to introduce and apply the rules of descriptive language grammar in formal languages specific to computer language processing.Beyond the realization of a system of processing and interpretation of texts in Arabic language based on computer modeling, our interest has been devoted to the evaluation of the linguistic phenomena described by the literature and the methods of their formalization in computer science.In all cases, our research was tested and validated in a rigorous experimental framework around several formalisms and computer tools.The experiments concerning the contribution of syntaxico-semantic grammar, a priori, have demonstrated a significant reduction of linguistic ambiguity in the case of the use of a finite-state grammar written in Java and a transformational generative grammarwritten in Prolog, integrating morphological, syntactic and semantic components.The implementation of our study required the construction of tools for word processing, information retrieval tools. These tools were built by us and are available in Open-source.The success of the application of our work in large scale was concluded by the requirement of having rich and comprehensive semantic resources. Our work has been redirected towards a process of production of such resources, in terms of informationretrieval and knowledge extraction. The tests for this new perspective were favorable to further research and experimentation

by Gu Gang.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-142).
Abstract also in Chinese.
ABSTRACT --- p.v
Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.7
Chapter 2.1 --- Grammaticality and Acceptability --- p.7
Chapter 2.2 --- The X-bar Theory --- p.9
Chapter 2.3 --- C-command --- p.10
Chapter 2.4 --- Barrier --- p.11
Chapter 2.5 --- Government --- p.12
Chapter 2.6 --- The Binding Theory --- p.13
Chapter 2.7 --- Indexation --- p.16
Chapter 2.7.1 --- Lexical Words --- p.17
Chapter 2.7.2 --- Trace --- p.19
Chapter 2.7.2.1 --- The ECP --- p.21
Chapter 2.7.2.2 --- The Overt Trace --- p.23
Chapter 2.7.3 --- PRO --- p.25
Chapter 2.7.4 --- pro --- p.28
Chapter 2.7.5 --- Summary --- p.29
Chapter 2.8 --- The General Control --- p.30
Chapter 2.9 --- Summary --- p.33
Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- THE CLASSIFICATION OF TOPIC STRUCTURES --- p.35
Chapter 3.1 --- The Definition --- p.35
Chapter 3.2 --- Topicalized Topics and Left-Dislocalized Topics --- p.40
Chapter 3.3 --- Pure Topics and Contrastive Topics --- p.42
Chapter 3.4 --- The Topic PP --- p.47
Chapter 3.5 --- Covert Passive Structures --- p.50
Chapter 3.6 --- Summary --- p.54
Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- SOME APPROACHES ON THE GENERATION OF THE TOPIC STRUCTURE --- p.56
Chapter 4.1 --- Ross (1967) --- p.56
Chapter 4.2 --- Chomsky (1977) --- p.59
Chapter 4.3 --- Brunson (1992) --- p.60
Chapter 4.4 --- "Huang (1984, 1987，1989, 1991)" --- p.61
Chapter 4.5 --- "Xu (1985,1986, 1994)" --- p.64
Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.65
Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- The BASE-GENERATION APPROACH --- p.67
Chapter 5.1 --- The Identification of the Gap in the Comment --- p.67
Chapter 5.2 --- Subjacency Effect or Control Failure? --- p.70
Chapter 5.3 --- Free Empty Categories --- p.76
Chapter 5.4 --- The Base-Generated Variable --- p.82
Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.84
Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- THE TOPIC PP --- p.85
Chapter 6.1 --- Disconstituents --- p.85
Chapter 6.2 --- The Order Among PPs --- p.87
Chapter 6.2.1 --- English --- p.87
Chapter 6.2.2 --- Chinese --- p.88
Chapter 6.2.2.1 --- Temporal Adjuncts --- p.88
Chapter 6.2.2.2 --- Locative Adjuncts --- p.94
Chapter 6.2.2.3 --- Relative Position of the Parallel Adjuncts --- p.96
Chapter 6.3 --- Topic PPs and Disconstituents --- p.98
Chapter 6.3.1 --- Topic PPs and V-bar Disconstituents --- p.98
Chapter 6.3.2 --- Topic PPs and Subject --- p.102
Chapter 6.3.3 --- AS for Topics and Disconstituents --- p.105
Chapter 6.4 --- Summary --- p.107
Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- THE RESUMPTIVE PRONOUN IN THE COMMENT --- p.109
Chapter 7.1 --- A Controversy --- p.109
Chapter 7.2 --- Traces and Resumptive Pronouns --- p.111
Chapter 7.3 --- The Binding Constraint --- p.115
Chapter 7.4 --- The Complex NP --- p.117
Chapter 7.5 --- Why Overt? --- p.119
Chapter 7.6 --- Summary --- p.129
Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.130
BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.135

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a new generative grammar, based on the principles of intensional logic. More specifically, the goal is to create a psychologically real grammar model for use in natural language processing. The new grammar consists of a set of context-free rewrite rules tagged with intensional versions. Most generative grammars, such as transformational grammar, lexical functional-grammar and head-driven phrase structure grammar, extend traditional context-free grammars with a mechanism for dealing with contextual information, such as subcategorization of words and agreement between different phrasal elements. In these grammars there is not enough separation between the utterances of a language and the context in which they are uttered. Their models of language seem to assume that context is in some way encapsulated in the words of the language instead of the other way around. In intensional logic, the truth of a statement is considered in the context in which it is uttered, unlike traditional predicate logic in which truth is assigned in a vacuum, regardless of when or where it may have been stated. To date, the application of the principles of intensionality to natural languages has been confined to semantic theory. We remedy this by applying the ideas of intensional logic to syntactic context, resulting in intensional context-free grammar. Our grammar takes full advantage of the simplicity and elegance of context-free grammars while accounting for information that is beyond the sentence itself, in a realistic way. Sentence derivation is entirely encapsulated in the context of its utterance. In fact, for any particular context, the entire language of the grammar is encapsulated in that context. This is evidenced by our proof that the language of an intensional grammar is a set of context-free languages, indexed by context. To further support our claims we design and implement a small fragment of English using the grammar. The English grammar is capable of generating both passive and active sentences that include a subject, verb and up to two optional objects. Furthermore, we have implemented a partial French to English translation system that uses a single language dimension to initiate a translation. This allows us to include multiple languages in one grammar, unlike other systems which must separate the grammars of each language. This result has led this author to believe that we have created a grammar that is a viable candidate for a true Universal Grammar, far exceeding our initial goals.
Graduate
0984
0800
0290
rlittle@uvic.ca

This thesis is concerned with the perception and production of lexical tone. In the first experiment, categorical perception of asymmetric synthetic tone continua was examined in speakers of tonal (Thai, Mandarin, and Vietnamese) and non-tonal (Australian English) languages. It was observed that perceptual strategies for categorisation depend on language background. Specifically, Mandarin and Vietnamese listeners tended to use the central tone to divide the continuum, whereas Thai and Australian English listeners used a flat no-contour tone as a perceptual anchor; a split based not on tonal vs. non-tonal language background, but rather on the specific language. In the second experiment, tonal (Thai) and non-tonal (Australian English) language speaking musicians and non-musicians were tested on categorical perception of two differently shaped synthetic tone continua. Results showed that, independently of language background, musicians learn to identify tones more quickly, show steeper identification functions, and display higher discrimination accuracy than non-musicians. Experiment three concerns the influence of language aptitude, musical aptitude, musical memory, and musical training on Australian English speakers‟ perception and production of non-native (Thai) tones, consonants, and vowels. The results showed that musicians were better than non-musicians at perceiving and producing tones and consonants; a ceiling effect was observed for vowel perception. Musical training per se did not determine acquisition of novel speech sounds, rather, musicians‟ higher accuracy was explained by a combination of inherent abilities - language and musical aptitude for consonants, and musical aptitude and musical memory for tones. It is concluded that tone perception is language dependent and strongly influenced by musical expertise - musical aptitude and musical memory, not musical training as such.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

‘Scrambling’ languages allow arguments in a given sentence to be ordered in a variety of ways while leaving the grammatical roles of these arguments unchanged. West Germanic languages like German, Dutch, Yiddish, and West Flemish exhibit, to different extents, scrambling properties (Haider, 2006; Grewendorf, 2005; De Hoop, 2003). One well established assumption is that a prerequisite for scrambling is a rich (overt) case morphology: Grammatical relations need to be overtly marked on arguments in order for them to freely permute (Haider, 2006; Mahajan, 2003). Afrikaans, like other West Germanic languages, also allows a certain degree of flexibility (Molnárfi, 2002; Biberauer & Richards 2006; Conradie, 2007 Huddlestone, 2010). Generally, however, it is assumed to be much more rigid than a richly inflected language like German, in part because Afrikaans is the most morphologically ‘impoverished’ of all the West Germanic languages (Molnárfi, 2002; Biberauer & Richards, 2006; Huddlestone, 2010). In this thesis, I draw attention to certain double object constructions in Afrikaans that allow German-like flexibility without German-like morphology. Afrikaans allows the indirect and direct object of particular verbs to optionally invert their canonical order in finite embedded sentences without V-raising. I propose an analysis within a minimalist framework that accounts for the flexibility exhibited by these constructions.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This is a study of the broad scope of cognition verbs in Afrikaans. Firstly, the nonmetaphorical cognition verbs [e.g. ken (= know), weet (= know), dink (= think), verstaan (= understand)] are discussed and then the metaphorical cognition verbs which are subcategorized in metaphorical verbs of vision [kyk (= look), sien (= see)] and metaphorical manipulation verbs [vorm (= form), gryp (= grab), voel (= feel), vat (= take) etc.]. The study is embedded in the cognitive linguistic stance of embodiment which inter alia implies that our neurological functioning is based on feeling (which includes our sense of touch), and that the way our bodies are structured also determines the way we express our thoughts. This extensive descriptive study of Afrikaans cognition verbs, metaphorical and nonmetaphorical, indicates that visual lexemes in Afrikaans express subtle abstract thought, while manipulation lexemes express less subtle, yet still abstract result-driven thought. Synthesis is an important factor in this study because the non-metaphorical cognition verbs as well as the metaphorical cognition verbs are linked to the basic cognitive principle of embodiment. Also, the two metaphorical verb types can by seen in synthesis when the stage frame ( = vision) and the workshop frame ( = manipulation) are merged. The synthesis of the stage frame and the workshop frame eventually provides us with another perspective, namely that vision and manipulation (which includes touch and feeling) are in a state of interacting nurturing symbiosis.
Linguistics
D. Litt. et Phil (Linguistics)

Text in English
This study explores the syntax of the substantive phrase, more especially substantive phrase composed of more than one qualificative, in Sesotho. Adopting interviews, questionnaires and documents, the study seeks to investigate the syntactic sequence of qualificatives, their relation to the modified head word and influence of such ordering pattern in the phrase. Structurally, qualificatives comprise two components, namely the qualificative concord and stem. The qualificative serves to give varied information about the implicit or explicit substantive resulting in seven types of qualificatives in Sesotho, be they the Adjective, Demonstrative, Enumerative, Interrogative, Possessive, Quantifier and Relative. From the Minimalist perspective, the qualificative is recursive. The study established a maximum of five qualificatives in a single phrase. The number is generally achieved by recurrence of the Adjective, the Possessive and the Relative up to a maximum of four of the same qualificative in a single phrase. It is observed that the recurrence of the Demonstrative, Interrogative, Enumerative and Quantifier is proscribed in Sesotho. Regarding the ordering of qualificatives, it is also observed that the Demonstrative, Interrogative, Quantifier and Possessive mostly occupy the position closer to the substantive while the Adjective, Enumerative, Possessive and Quantifier mostly occur in the medial position. The Possessive and Relative occur in the outer-border position of the phrase. Such a sequence is influenced by several factors including focus, emphasis, the nature of the relationship between the head word and the dependent element, the syntactic complexity of the qualificative and the knowledge shared by both the speaker and the hearer about the qualified substantive. It can, therefore, be concluded that there are no strict rules of occurrence of the qualificatives in Sesotho.
African Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The thesis deals with second language acquisition (SLA) of Czech in Russian and English students. It presents the main theories of SLA (generative and cognitive approaches) and compares them to the results of author's research into L2 acquisition of Czech morphology and syntax in speakers of two typologically and structurally different mothertongues. It shows that language transfer plays an important role in SLA and that some of the generative assumptions about SLA that are claimed to apply universally cannot be proven for Czech.

The present PhD thesis deals with two kinds of interfaces that have recently become key areas of interest in generative second language acquisition research (GenSLA): (i) linguistic interfaces – the syntax-discourse interface (our main focus of research) and the lexicon-syntax interface in adult second language (L2) acquisition –, and (ii) an interdisciplinary interface – the interface between the domains of GenSLA and L2 pedagogy. The thesis seeks to shed new light on four general questions which are still a matter of debate in GenSLA: (i) Are narrow syntactic and lexical-syntactic properties unproblematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, as the Interface Hypothesis (IH) (Sorace & Filiaci, 2006; Sorace, 2011b) predicts? (ii) Are properties at the syntax-discourse interface necessarily problematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, as the IH proposes? (iii) What are the roles of cross-linguistic influence, input and processing factors in L2 acquisition at the syntax-discourse interface? (iv) Can explicit instruction help L2 learners/speakers (L2ers) overcome persistent problems in the acquisition of syntactic and syntax-discourse properties? With a view to investigating these questions, the thesis focuses on a linguistic phenomenon that has been little researched in GenSLA: subject-verb inversion (SVI) in L2 English. Three types of SVI are considered here: (i) “free” inversion (and their correlation with null subjects), (ii) locative inversion and (iii) presentational there-constructions (i.e., there-constructions with verbs other than be). The first is ungrammatical in English due to a purely syntactic factor: this language fixes the null subject parameter at a negative value. The last two types of SVI, on the other hand, are possible in English under certain lexical, syntactic and discourse conditions. The thesis comprises two experimental studies: (i) a study on the acquisition of the lexical, syntactic and discourse properties of SVI by advanced and near-native L2ers of English who are native speakers of French (a language similar to English in the relevant respects) and European Portuguese (a language different from English in the relevant respects), and (ii) a study on the impact of explicit grammar instruction on the acquisition of “narrow” syntactic and syntax-discourse properties of SVI by intermediate and low advanced Portuguese L2ers of English. The former study tests participants by means of three types of tasks: untimed drag-and-drop tasks, syntactic priming tasks, and speeded acceptability judgement tasks. Their results confirm that, as predicted by the IH, the properties of SVI that are purely (lexical-)syntactic are unproblematic at the end state of L2 acquisition, but those which involve the interface between syntax and discourse are a locus of permanent optionality, even when the first language (L1) is similar to the L2. Results are, moreover, consistent with the prediction of the IH that the optionality found at the syntax-discourse interface is primarily caused by processing inefficiencies associated with bilingualism. In addition to presenting new experimental evidence in favour of the IH, this study reveals that the degree of optionality L2ers exhibit at the syntax-discourse interface is moderated by the following variables, which have not been (sufficiently) considered in previous work on the IH: (i) construction frequency (very rare construction → more optionality), (ii) the quantity and/or distance of the pieces of contextual information the speaker needs to process (many pieces of contextual information in an inter-sentential context → more optionality), (iii) the level of proficiency in the L2 (lower level of proficiency → more optionality), and (iv) the (dis)similarity between the L1 and the L2 (L1≠L2 → more optionality). The study which concentrates on the impact of explicit grammar instruction on L2 acquisition follows a pre-test, treatment, post-test and delayed post-test design and tests participants by means of speeded acceptability judgement tasks. This study shows that explicit grammar instruction results in durable gains for L2ers, but its effectiveness is moderated by two factors: (i) the type of linguistic domain(s) involved in the target structure and (ii) whether or not L2ers are developmentally ready to acquire the target structure. Regarding factor (i), research findings indicate that the area that has been found to be a locus of permanent optionality in L2 acquisition – the syntax-discourse interface – is much less permeable to instructional effects than “narrow” syntax. Regarding factor (ii), results suggest that explicit instruction only benefits acquisition when L2ers are developmentally ready to acquire the target property. As these findings are relevant not only to GenSLA theory, but also to L2 teaching, the thesis includes an analysis of the relevance and potential implications of its findings for L2 grammar teaching.
A presente tese aborda dois tipos de interfaces que se tornaram recentemente áreas de interesse centrais na investigação desenvolvida em aquisição de língua segunda (L2) numa perspetiva generativista: (i) interfaces linguísticas – a interface sintaxe-discurso (o nosso foco principal de investigação) e a interface léxico-sintaxe na aquisição de L2 por adultos –, e (ii) uma interface interdisciplinar – a interface entre os domínios de aquisição e didática de L2. A tese pretende lançar nova luz sobre quatro questões que continuam a gerar muito debate no domínio de aquisição de L2: (i) Serão as propriedades “puramente” (léxico-)sintáticas completamente adquiríveis no estádio final de aquisição de L2, como a Hipótese de Interface (HI) (Sorace & Filiaci, 2006, Sorace, 2011b) propõe? (ii) Serão as propriedades na interface entre sintaxe e discurso necessariamente um locus de opcionalidade no estádio final de aquisição de L2, como a HI prediz? (iii) Quais são os papéis da influência da língua materna (L1), do input e de fatores de processamento na aquisição de L2 na interface sintaxe-discurso? (iv) Será que o ensino explícito ajuda os falantes de L2 a ultrapassarem problemas persistentes na aquisição de propriedades sintáticas e de sintático-discursivas? A fim de investigar estas questões, a tese debruça-se sobre um fenómeno linguístico ainda pouco investigado no domínio de aquisição de L2: a inversão sujeito-verbo (ISV) em inglês L2. Três tipos de ISV são considerados aqui: (i) a inversão “livre” (e sua correlação com sujeitos nulos), (ii) a inversão locativa e (iii) construções com there com verbos que não be (‘ser/estar’). A primeira é agramatical em inglês por um fator estritamente sintático: esta língua fixa o valor negativo para o parâmetro do sujeito nulo. Os dois últimos tipos de ISV, por seu lado, são possíveis em inglês em certas condições (léxico-)sintáticas e discursivas. A tese compreende dois estudos experimentais: (i) um estudo sobre a aquisição das propriedades lexicais, sintáticas e discursivas da ISV por falantes avançados e quase nativos de inglês que têm como L1 o francês (uma língua semelhante ao inglês nos aspetos relevantes) e o português europeu (uma língua diferente do inglês nos aspetos relevantes) e (ii) um estudo sobre o impacto do ensino explícito de gramática na aquisição de propriedades “estritamente” sintáticas e sintático-discursivas da ISV por falantes de português europeu com um nível intermédio e avançado em inglês L2. No primeiro estudo, os participantes são testados através de três tipos de tarefas: tarefas drag and drop não temporizadas, tarefas de priming sintático e tarefas de juízos de aceitabilidade rápidos. Em conjunto, os resultados destas tarefas confirmam que, como predito pela HI, as propriedades da ISV que são puramente (léxico-)sintáticas não são problemáticas no estádio final da aquisição de L2, mas aquelas que envolvem a interface entre sintaxe e discurso são um locus de opcionalidade permanente, mesmo quando a L1 é semelhante à L2. Os resultados são, além disso, consistentes com a proposta da HI de que a opcionalidade encontrada na interface sintaxe-discurso é causada (principalmente) por ineficiências de processamento associadas ao bilinguismo. Além de apresentar nova evidência experimental a favor da HI, este estudo mostra que o grau de opcionalidade que os falantes de L2 exibem na interface sintaxe-discurso é moderado pelas seguintes variáveis, que não têm sido (suficientemente) consideradas na literatura sobre a HI: (i) a frequência da construção na língua alvo (construção muito rara → mais opcionalidade), (ii) a quantidade e/ou distância das informações contextuais que o falante precisa processar (muitas informações contextuais no contexto inter-frásico → mais opcionalidade), (iii) o nível de proficiência na L2 (menor nível de proficiência → mais opcionalidade), e (iv) a (dis)semelhança entre a L1 e a L2 (L1 ≠ L2 → mais opcionalidade). O estudo de intervenção didática compreende um pré-teste e dois pós-testes após a intervenção e testa os participantes através de tarefas de juízos de aceitabilidade rápidos. Este estudo mostra que o ensino explícito da gramática pode resultar em ganhos duradouros para os aprendentes de L2, mas a sua eficácia é moderada por dois fatores: (i) o tipo de domínio(s) linguístico(s) em que propriedade alvo se situa e (ii) o grau de developmental readiness dos aprendentes para adquirirem a propriedade alvo. Em relação ao fator (i), os resultados deste estudo indicam que a área que constitui um locus de opcionalidade permanente na aquisição de L2 – a interface sintaxe-discurso – é muito menos permeável a efeitos de ensino do que a sintaxe “pura”. Em relação ao fator (ii), os resultados sugerem que o ensino explícito facilita a aquisição de L2 apenas quando os aprendentes atingiram um estádio de desenvolvimento em que já lhes é possível adquirir a propriedade alvo. Como estes resultados são relevantes não só para a teoria de aquisição de L2, mas também para o ensino de L2, a tese inclui uma análise da relevância e potenciais implicações dos seus resultados para o ensino da gramática em L2.