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There are languages in which the irrealis domain is split up into situations that may potentially occur and counterfactual situations. In these languages, one marker is only used for expressing potential situations (weak irrealis) and another marker is only used for expressing counterfactual situations (strong irrealis). Moreover, there are languages that only have either weak or strong irrealis markers. For languages containing both weak and strong irrealis markers, it has been demonstrated that the use of weak irrealis markers in counterfactual conditionals is blocked by strong irrealis markers. Based on a sample of 51 languages, the present study lends support to this theoretical claim. However, it is also shown that there are other blocking effects. First, there are languages in which the use of strong irrealis markers in counterfactual conditionals is blocked by specialized clause-linking devices (e.g., devices only used for expressing counterfactual conditional relations). Second, for languages that only contain weak irrealis markers, it is shown that the use of weak irrealis markers in counterfactual conditionals is blocked by a specialized clause-linking device. The paper further investigates whether the results obtained for counterfactual conditionals can be generalized to other counterfactual constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the variation in information structure of Estonian -des, -mata and -maks constructions, and analyzes the factors influencing this variation. The paper describes information structure via the categories of information status and information role. Information status, which refers to the general pragmatic status of a linguistic unit, has two possible values: an information unit or an element of an information unit. Information role refers to the pragmatic status of an element in the information structure of a larger information unit. Information role has five possible values: focus, background of the comment, topic, frame or prominent element. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, this article gives an account of the variation in the information status and information role of Estonian converb constructions. In addition, this paper discusses the way in which the relevant explanatory variables relate to the information status and role of converb constructions. This analysis gives an overview of how the information status of converb constructions relates to the presence of punctuation, the position of the converb construction relative to the main clause, the number of words in the converb construction, the semantic function of the converb construction, the position of the converb within the construction, the morphological form of the converb, and the number of modifiers of the converb. This analysis also discusses how the information role of converb constructions relates to the position and semantic function of the construction and the presence of a lexicogrammatical prominence marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the constructional categorization of multi-predicate sentences in Saisiyat. This type of complex sentences simultaneously involves features of serial verb construction and complementation in Saisiyat, which give rise to indeterminacy in constructional categorization. In order to solve this problem, the current study probes into the categorization between serial verb construction and complementation regarding Aarts' (2007) constructional gradience and semantic relations (Van Valin & LaPolla 1997). The investigation demonstrates a discrete boundary between the two constructions with convergence on each other, while subtypes of multi-predicate sentences are aligned on the convergence based on intra- and inter-categorical relations. Two structural dependencies are proposed to carry out a taxonomy of Saisiyat complex sentences. A theoretical implication derives from this study that Saisiyat multi-predicate sentences are manifestations of formalized morphosyntactic configurations with a pairing of particularized semantic relations instead of coinage based on analogic conventionalization (Fillmore 1997; Goldberg 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation offers an analysis of crosslinguistic variation in the expression of clausal negative concomitance (e.g. 'he slept without using a pillow') in a sample of 65 languages, showing that most languages in the sample tend to use conjunctions and converbs for indicating clausal negative concomitance. The discussion of clause-linkage patterns reveals that most languages have monofunctional devices for signaling clausal negative concomitance. Intriguingly, even when languages employ a clause-linking device for conveying clausal negative concomitance, negative markers may play an important role in that they may be obligatory, optional, or disallowed in the 'without V-ing' clause. It is proposed that whether the clause-linking device is semantically monofunctional or polyfunctional is the key to this puzzle. The paper also shows that most languages in the sample tend to signal clausal negative concomitance and nominal negative concomitance (e.g. 'you took a basket without holes') in the same way. This indicates a diachronic connection between these constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as its field of observation the transition period from classical to modern French, this study attempts to show how the evolution of cataphoric relations is related to the changes that led to the "complex sentence" of modern and contemporary French. Adopting a broad definition of cataphora, we consider not only constructions that have anaphoric forms, but also constructions that contain underlying anaphora, with, in particular, the case of secondary predications. Changes in the degrees of shared knowledge are examined, showing how the cataphoric relation is increasingly exercised on referents with a low degree of salience, which must be reactivated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the problem of functioning of complex sentences in the text. The author investigates complex sentences in the connection with their communicative role in the organization of the text considering that the sentence in isolation cannot show the communicative intention of the author. Nowadays, the idea that a sentence is the smallest communicative unit has become more and more widespread. Although a sentence has all the necessary properties to serve as a unit of verbal communication and express human thoughts, human speech is not limited to individual sentences. A person expresses his thoughts, transforms them to other people in the form of an utterance consisting, in most cases, of a chain of interconnected sentences that form a superphrase unit or a text. A superphrase unit is a unit of speech combined and distinguished rhythmically, melodically, phonetically, syntactically, phraseologically, etc., the integrity of expression and / or content, uniting various linguistic units and ensuring their combined semiological functioning; a composite (complex) unit of speech. In this work, the author analyzes only those superphrase units that contain complex sentences with the causal subordinate clauses. When analyzing complex sentences with the subordinate causal clauses the author proceeds from the assumption that the structure of a superphrase unit is isomorphic to the structure of a complex sentence, thus the position of the causal clauses in the text influences the communicative role of this clause in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clause chains are sequences of clauses with under-specified verbal predicates, plus a single clause with a fully-specified verbal predicate. Clause chains represent the morpho-syntactic demarcation of a speech unit greater than a single clause, but the precise length of this unit is rarely assessed. Clause chain length, distribution, bridging linkage, and non-canonical forms are evaluated in a sample of 64 texts, containing over 1742 clause chains, in the Papuan language Nungon. In the 49 narrative texts, unlike in other genres, total clause chains per text increases as text duration increases. The average clause chain in the sample is 3–4 clauses long; the longest has 22 clauses. Average clause chain length decreases as text length increases. The longest narrative texts have similar average clause chain length, proportion of bridging clauses, and proportion of non-canonical clause chains, and feature a leisurely rhythm: half of their clause chains are minimal, two-clause chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines complex sentences [in Russian] formed using the connector word "аÐ?Ñ,Ð?рыÐ?" - which conveys different semantic relationships, especially multiple prepositions in the sentence are involved. It also analyses the difficulty of translating these types of sentences from Russian into Turkish, and provides examples of such. Such a construction mainly exists in written Russian only, and requires its normative usage. As it is prevalent in Russian business writing and journalism, we've also briefly touched how it is used in both contexts. The subordinate part of such a construction - with the help of the connector - contains information about the main sentence. Thus, it contributes to the integrity of the expression. In Russian linguistics, these traditionally referred to as linking sentences. However, many studies on Russian syntax refer to them under a different guise. There are a number of reasons why these sentences are difficult to translate into Turkish: One, the main elements of the main sentence performs a different function in the subordinate clause. Two, the continuation of the sentence becomes more difficult. Three, you have to take the connector and the meanings of various prepositions into account. This will analyse these difficulties of translating such sentences. Our objective is to compare/contrast how such sentences take shape in both languages and present possible ways to approach translating them. We have also attempted to identify problems that students of Russian as a foreign language ought to pay attention to when they encounter similar sentence structures and guide them through how to translate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the research was to determine the development of grammar and the use of grammatically complex sentences in stuttering and non-stuttering children, and to determine whether there are differences in the above abilities between these two groups of respondents. The sample of respondents consisted of a total of 64 children aged 56-83 months. Respondents are divided into two groups. The experimental group consisted of 32 stuttering children, of whom 19 were male and 13 female. The control group consisted of 32 children who did not stutter, and who compared with age and gender, were equal with the respondents of the experimental group. The research was conducted in preschools and elementary schools in the area of the Tuzla and Una-Sana Cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The results of the study showed that stuttering children show statistically lower abilities during repetition of sentences, as well as recognition, understanding and use of common morphological forms. However, it is important to point out that children who stutter, regardless of significantly lower results than their fluent speaking peers, have shown above-average grammatical abilities. Also, the results showed that both children who stutter and children who do not stutter in their spontaneous speech use complex sentences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional sentiment analysis of micro-blog often ignore the influence of sentiment words without sentimental color on micro-blog sentiment, and lack of analysis for complex sentence. To solve the problem, this paper proposed a method of cross-grained sentiment analysis based on conditional random filed and complex sentence, which fused complex sentence and semantic dependency features on the basis of CRF. It could identify sentiment elements by analyzing microblog sentiment in fine-grained. It used the method of coarse-grained sentiment analysis based on complex sentence analyze sentimental tendency of student microblog. Finally, the experimental results show that the accuracy on sentiment elements can reach 88%, furthermore, the accuracy of microblog sentimental tendency can reach 87%. Compare to traditional method, the proposed method has higher accuracy and better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Section 4 is the analysis of the constructions at both semantic and syntactic levels. [•] Section 5 is the discussion of the role of the “bi-functional constituent”. [•] The research findings are summarized in Section 6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the peculiarity of the syntactic transformations while translating complex sentences in the Slavic-Turkic literary translation. The study is based on comparative analysis of the published Azerbaijani translations of the Ukrainian belles-lettres. The main syntactic difference between Slavic and Turkic languages is related to the word order models, as Slavic languages have a free word order with the prevailing SVO model while Turkic languages have a fixed SOV-type word order. This determines wide use of the syntactic transformation type which substitutes the subordinate clause in the original Ukrainian text with a participle construction or another proper non-predicative construction in the Azerbaijani translation. However other syntactic transformation types are widely used aswell: division of one complex sentence into two or more simple ones, and substitution of subordination with coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of generic verbs of speech in functions not related to their primary meaning, such as to introduce complements or adjuncts, is cross-linguistically widespread; it is also characteristic of some languages of Siberia. However, the distribution of non-canonical functions of generic verbs of speech among the languages of Siberia is very uneven, with striking differences even between dialects of one language. In this paper we attempt to elucidate whether shared inheritance, parallel independent developments, or areal convergence are the factors determining this distribution, using fine-scaled investigations of narrative data from a large number of Siberian languages and dialects. This enables us to uncover a wide range of non-canonical functions that the generic verb of speech has acquired in some of the languages investigated, as well as to highlight the very complex historical processes at play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is extensive documentation of the morphological limitations of children with specific language impairment (SLI), few studies have reported on complex syntax acquisition in children with SLI. This case study examined the development of complex syntax in a child with SLI between 3 and 7 years. Twelve conversational samples were analysed to describe emergence of complex syntax types, proportional use of complex syntax, and complex syntax production errors. Earliest emerging complex syntax types were catenatives and let's clauses, not always considered true complex syntax, as well as simple infinitives. These three types accounted for 88% of complex syntax tokens through age 4;8 (MLU?=?3.12). A diverse range of complex syntax types was produced consistently at age 5;9 (MLU?=?4.27), including wh clausal complements, relative clauses, and full propositional clauses. Production errors on complex syntax included omissions of infinitival to , omissions of wh pronouns in wh clausal complements, omissions of obligatory relative markers, and an omission of a complementizer. Production errors continued to be prevalent even in the last language sample at 7;10 (MLU?=?5.46). Documentation of complex syntax development in children with SLI is critical to the clarification of linguistic deficiencies that characterize specific language impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]