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This paper studies quantitatively intransitive constructions in Northeastern Neo-Aramaic, and their implications for Neo-Aramaic word order typology (historically, ‘subject-verb-object’). Though not considered previously, transitivity proves to be a significant factor in Neo-Aramaic word order variation. The differences between the intransitive Subject and the transitive Agent in Neo-Aramaic are a product of their divergent information-structural tendencies, as well as, it would seem, their basic syntactic preferences. Unidentifiable (i.e. indefinite, old) Subjects largely follow the verb, which fits with the larger tendency for pre-verbal arguments to be topical. Identifiable arguments, however, have roughly equal pre- and post-verbal frequencies in the corpus, when jointly considered. A deeper analysis considers referential distance and lexical-pragmatic factors. I propose that VS for identifiable Subjects is more likely for functions associated with ‘discourse discontinuity’, being less likely for foreground events. This distribution in Neo-Aramaic hints at a functional versatility of the VS structure, which is thus not restricted to a single construction such as sentence focus. By contrast, in (co-territorial Qəltu) Arabic, transitivity and topicality are less significant for word order variation. Finally, comparative data from Neo-Aramaic varieties of different word order profiles reveal the instability of the VS clause amidst larger word order changes. The cross-dialectal data show that the loss of the VS clause correlates very closely with the ‘verb-object’ to ‘object-verb’ shift. While Aramaic would have started as ‘(Agent-)verb-object’, some Neo-Aramaic dialects show increasing rates of ‘object-verb’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Split conjunction refers to discontinuous coordinate structures in which conjuncts are spread across the clause. In German, split conjuncts show connectivity effects such as plural agreement on the finite verb. This paper argues for an underlying biclausal structure with subsequent deletion of redundant material in the last conjunct – also known as a stripping analysis. We propose that the connectivity effects are caused by multiple dominance of shared constituents, which subsequently move out of the coordinate structure in order to be linearized. Evidence for this proposal comes from word order restrictions with plural agreement and multiply bound pronouns, an incompatibility with collective predicates, lack of sloppy identity readings, and the possibility of cumulative quantifier readings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The line of demarcation drawn between active and passive verbs resides in the direction of the action. The passive voice in standard Arabic can be used when the agent of the sentence is not expressed. The active Arabic sentences are passivized by skipping the agent of the sentence, but without changing the word order. The paper investigates the misuse and abuse of passive voice in Jordanian newspapers. Four cases of Arabic Passive violation spotted in Jordanian written media are analyzed. Three major official newspapers issued in Jordan are chosen for this purpose: Alqhad, Addustoor, and Alrai. It also focuses on violating the Arabic passive rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some recent studies have posed the hypothesis according to which the grammatical stage that precedes the cultured trend of Brazilian Portuguese is Colonial Brazilian Portuguese, not Classical Portuguese. Therefore, there are still few works systematically comparing these two varieties. This is the goal of the present paper, which focuses on word order. By undertaking a corpus-based study using the same textual genre from the contemporary authors Eusébio de Matos and António Vieira, we have looked for all word order patterns while paying special attention to the X*VS order (with one or more constituents preceding the verb and a postverbal subject), given that it is quite typical of Classical Portuguese as a V2-like grammar, unlike the modern Portuguese grammars. We have observed that, although the colonial text follows the general trends of the classical language, it starts to depart from a V2-like grammar because it shows a higher frequency of non-V2 orders and a preference for informationally marked constructions involving internal positions to the clause. From a parameter hierarchy viewpoint, the main conclusion is that such differences represent frequency divergences which are consistent with nano- or microparametric changes which took place later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emojis have become a ubiquitous part of everyday text communication worldwide. Cohn et al. (Cognit Res Princ Implic 4(1):1–18, 2019) studied the grammatical structure of emoji usage among English speakers and found a correlation between the sequence of emojis used and English word order, tending towards an subject–verb–object (SVO) sequence. However, it remains unclear whether emoji usage follows a universal grammar or whether it is influenced by native language grammar. Therefore, this study explored the potential influence of Japanese grammar on emoji usage by Japanese speakers. Twenty adults, all native Japanese speakers, participated in pairs. In Experiment 1, participants engaged in conversations through Google Hangouts on iPads. The experiment consisted of four conversation rounds of approximately 8 min each. The first two rounds involved one participant using only written Japanese and the other using only emojis and punctuation, with roles reversed in the second round. The third round required both participants to use only emojis and punctuation. The results indicated that participants preferred subject–object–verb (SOV) or object–verb (OV) sequences, with OV patterns being more common. This pattern reflects a distinctive attribute of Japanese grammatical structure, marked by the frequent omission of the subject. Experiment 2 substituted emojis for words, showing nouns were more commonly replaced than verbs due to the difficulty in conveying complex meanings. Reduced subject replacements again emphasised Japanese grammatical structure. In essence, emoji usage reflects native language structures, but complexities are challenging to convey, resulting in simplified sequences. This study offers insights for enhancing emoji-based communication and interface design, with implications for translation and broader communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the distributional differences in the use of the partitive object cases in Estonian and Finnish via multifactorial modeling in contrastive research using the European Parliament parallel text corpus. Based on previous contrastive research on Finnic, we expected the principles of object case marking to be similar for Estonian and Finnish (confirmed), and the partitive objects to be more numerous in Estonian than in Finnish (not confirmed, as countable objects with scalar verbs proved less likely to be partitive in Estonian). We hypothesized that multifactorial modeling in contrastive research design could help identify the causes for variation and unfold subtle differences between related language systems. Since preferences related to grammatical voice and constituent order revealed subtle differences between the systems, this hypothesis was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the property of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the property of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explored sentence processing in two typologically distinct languages: Korean, a verb-final language, and Tongan, a verb-initial language. The first experiment revealed that in Korean, sentences arranged in the scrambled OSV (Object, Subject, Verb) order were processed more slowly than those in the canonical SOV order, highlighting a scrambling effect. It also found that sentences with subject topicalization in the SOV order were processed as swiftly as those in the canonical form, whereas sentences with object topicalization in the OSV order were processed with speeds and accuracy comparable to scrambled sentences. However, since topicalization and scrambling in Korean use the same OSV order, independently distinguishing the effects of topicalization is challenging. In contrast, Tongan allows for a clear separation of word orders for topicalization and scrambling, facilitating an independent evaluation of topicalization effects. The second experiment, employing a maze task, confirmed that Tongan’s canonical VSO order was processed more efficiently than the VOS scrambled order, thereby verifying a scrambling effect. The third experiment investigated the effects of both scrambling and topicalization in Tongan, finding that the canonical VSO order was processed most efficiently in terms of speed and accuracy, unlike the VOS scrambled and SVO topicalized orders. Notably, the OVS object-topicalized order was processed as efficiently as the VSO canonical order, while the SVO subject-topicalized order was slower than VSO but faster than VOS. By independently assessing the effects of topicalization apart from scrambling, this study demonstrates that both subject and object topicalization in Tongan facilitate sentence processing, contradicting the predictions based on movement-based anticipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study uses the apparent-time construct to analyze cross-generational variability of word order in unergative and unaccusative constructions in Basque (e.g., negar ein 'to cry' and heldu 'to arrive', respectively). It considers the results of an acceptability judgment as well as elicitation tasks carried out among two generations of Basque native speakers (55–75 years old, and 35–45 years old). Unlike the younger participants, the older participants lack the syntactic focus strategy. It is proposed that this lack among the older participants was conditioned by the socially restricted bilingualism that they experienced during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–1975), while the younger participants appeared to have acquired (i.e. recovered) the syntactic focus strategy because they experienced the legitimacy and vitality of Basque in public life and in formal education following the Normalization Law of 1982. Studies in Basque sociolinguistics have identified language changes through feature loss, dialectal leveling and contact-induced change, but no studies to date have identified the recovery of a previously lost syntactic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A grammatical construction resembling Present-Day English locative inversion has already been found in Old English, with a fronted prepositional phrase prompting V2 word order, both in main and subordinate clauses. It has been demonstrated that several discourse-related factors influence the positioning of objects, fronted locatives, finite verbs and subjects in subordinate clauses. One of the main aims of the present paper is to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the locative inversion construction in Old English subordinate clauses. The Old English data for this study were obtained from the York–Toronto–Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Old English Prose, and they were analysed using Corpus Studio. The results were compared with those for main clauses, and discourse-related factors such as PP anaphoricity or subject type were analysed in order to find the motivation for the existence of this alternation of word orders. PP anaphoricity proved not to be a determining factor in triggering finite verb inversion, while other factors such as subject weight and subject type do seem to motivate finite verb inversion, thus yielding an embedded PP-V-S word order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An OSV word order that deviates from the canonical SVO word order is typically viewed as derived through movement. This theory has been widely supported by psycholinguistic studies showing that the displaced constituents are mentally reactivated at the gap positions. However, some cognitive-functionalists have proposed an alternative account: in a topic-prominent language like Chinese, topic is the basic unit of a sentence that delimits the frame within which the main predication holds. The present study adopts the cross-modal antecedent priming technique to test whether the sentence-initial object is structurally associated with the verb in native speakers' online processing. Results of two experiments show that the sentence-initial object is not associated with the verb whatsoever, neither lexically nor structurally, shedding light on the typological characteristics of Chinese as a topic-prominent language. However, the processing of the antecedent object was shown facilitated at the post-quantifier position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers both a descriptive account and an analysis of the possible consequences of linguistic contact between the Daco-Romanian variety spoken by the Lipovan community and Russian (starting from a fieldwork-based corpus study) regarding (low) verb movement in neutral readings, ultimately reflected in the preference for [adv-v] word order. The situation identified in Lipovan Daco-Romanian will be compared with that of old and standard Daco-Romanian, Moldovan Daco-Romanian, and Russian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to define the featural composition of the complementizers that introduce subjunctive complements in Istro-Romanian, and to identify the internal organization of the subjunctive clause in terms of subject positions, verb movement, clitic placement and constituent fronting. In a nutshell, the observation is that the complementizer neca replaces se within the syntactic pattern of Old Romanian; that is, a pattern that displays intra- and inter-language variation with respect to the distribution of complementizers within the subjunctive CP. Tests of word order also indicate intra-language variation in the parametric settings for clitic placement (either high or low), for the argumental subject position (either in Spec,TP, yielding SVO, or in Spec,vP, yielding VSO) and for constituent movement under discourse triggers (either scrambling or fronting to CP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides highly grammaticalized analytic verb forms that constitute the system's main tense, aspect, and mood forms, Basque has a handful of less grammaticalized periphrases for secondary aspectual and modal meanings. In both older and more recent texts, some of these periphrases have been reanalyzed as monoclausal and readjusted in accordance with the auxiliated verb's argument structure. This readjustment or actualization process involves changes in two respects: case-marking and indexation through auxiliary change. The reanalysis and actualization of theses periphrases seem to be driven by analogy with highly extended and frequent analytic verb forms. With regard to their actualization, it seems to depend on three factors: word order, valency of the auxiliated verb, and plural patient agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether cross-linguistic differences affect how adult second language (L2) learners use different types of verb subcategorization information for prediction in real-time sentence comprehension. Using visual world eye-tracking, we tested if first language (L1) German and L1 Turkish intermediate-to-advanced learners of L2 English make use of categorical and gradient probabilistic selectional information of ditransitive verbs to predict whether the verbs would be followed by prepositional-object or double-object dative constructions. L1 German learners used both categorical ("pay/*donate the woman the money") and gradient ("pay/#send the woman the money") constraints for prediction in a target-like manner. In contrast, L1 Turkish learners were delayed in recruiting categorical verb information and were only selectively sensitive to gradient verb information. We argue that target-like predictive processing across categorical and gradient verb information is attainable for L2 learners, but differences in L1-L2 word order may curtail the utility of prediction by verb subcategorization information in L2 processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops Ramchand's first phase syntax theory by investigating the Mandarin directional serial verb construction. Specifically, the position of the theme argument in these constructions is investigated, and two major word order variants are identified: the VOV type and the VVO type. The former are argued to be accomplishments, whereas the latter are achievements. The analysis embraces Ramchand's spirit that three sub-eventive projections (InitP, ProcP, and ResP) exist universally as the basic building blocks in the first-phase syntax, and it proposes that the surface word order alternation and situation type shift is the consequence of the occurrence/absence of the ResP and the different insertion position of the directional morphemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, many students struggle to construct proper English sentences, particularly in conditional sentences. The teaching methods teachers used failed to engage students. Also, some experts believe that the difficulties students face with conditionals arise from the interaction between meaning and form. So, understanding this relationship and how it frequently appears in conditional sentences is crucial. To address this issue, a study was conducted to assess the proficiency of eleventh-grade students at SMA Negeri 1 Waringinkurung in constructing conditional sentences. The research involved 32 students, and the methodology used was qualitative content analysis, which included test and interview. The students' sentences were coded and sorted using a method called summative content analysis. This method involves identifying and measuring specific words or material in the text to understand how they are used. The researcher used various categories like formula of conditional sentences, main and if clauses, modal verbs, verb tense, and word order for further analysis. This analysis helped the researcher evaluate the students' understanding and proficiency in constructing conditional sentences.The study found that students commonly made mistakes in verb tenses and the use of modal verbs. Interview with the students also confirmed that verb tenses were the most challenging aspect for them. In summary, the research findings demonstrate that students exhibit a good ability to construct conditional sentences, consistent with established classifications in the literature (Arikunto, 2013). Findings showed student challenges with verb tenses and modal verbs, offering valuable insights for educators to enhance conditional sentence proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern Chinese, a Directional Verb Construction (DVC) may contain either two or three verbs. DVCs with two verbs can be represented in three different ways, and DVCs with three verbs can be represented in four different ways. The different positions of the shared internal noun phrase (NP) argument result in divergent word orders of DVCs. Based on the Corpus of the United Daily News, this study discusses the syntax-pragmatic interface in Chinese DVCs within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) with the intention of ascertaining how NP arguments are linked to syntax in DVCs, while at the same time accounting for what pragmatic factors play a role in determining constructional schemas for argument linking. The results show that different patterns of DVCs have different focus domains, and that the differential activation state of the internal NP argument plays an essential role in determining word order. Considering the correlation between activation state and focus domain, a highly activated internal NP tends to be linked to the position following the word b or immediately following V1. In contrast, a least activated NP tends to be linked to the position immediately following V2 or V3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges the view that eventive and stative passive participles are verbs and adjectives, respectively. Instead, I argue that existing diagnostics are sensitive to the eventive/stative contrast and to independent restrictions on word order. I show that both eventive and stative participles in Serbo-Croatian have the external syntax and morphology of adjectives, and propose that passive participles in various languages are adjectives that embed varying amounts of verbal structure. Finally, I contend that agentive phrases are always available with stative participles that entail a prior event in languages that obligatorily express grammatical aspect on the verb stem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes quantitatively the effect of five linguistic features on the position of the object in Early Middle English. Four of them have long been explored in the literature: object type, object length, clause type and type of verbal cluster (±auxiliary). The fifth feature, lability, has so far been given less attention. Lability is the possibility that a given verb alternates between an unaccusative and transitive frame without morphological coding. This makes lability an instance of morphological syncretism. This study tests the hypothesis that, for disambiguation purposes, labile transitive verbs show a more consistent word order (VO in this case) than non-labile transitives. If confirmed, the hypothesis would point to a non-trivial connection between the increase of labile verbs and the move towards a fixed word order in Early Middle English. Such a connection has gone unnoticed in the existing literature, which, as far as the influence of morphological syncretism on word order is concerned, has focused almost exclusively on the effect of the loss of case marking. A total of 961 transitive clauses with labile and non-labile verbs were tagged for the above-mentioned five variables. Their effect on the choice between VO and OV is measured using statistical analysis. The conclusion is that verb lability is a significant predictor of VO in the period under scrutiny, with labile verbs thus spearheading the shift towards a stable word order pattern (VO) in English. The correlation between verb lability and word order rigidification demonstrated for Early Middle English in this article may be relevant for studies on word order from multiple perspectives: language-specific, typological, synchronic and diachronic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we document a so-far neglected case of microvariation involving resumptive pronouns in the left-dislocation construction in Meranese, spoken in South Tyrol, and Mòcheno, spoken in the Fersina valley (Trentino). While in standard German resumptive elements in this construction belong to the class of D-pronouns, the two Tyrolean dialects considered in the paper exhibit, as resumptive pronouns, both (i) D-pronouns and (ii) pronominal usages of the distal demonstrative formed by the definite article (D) and sèll corresponding to 'that one'. We show that in both languages D+sèll forms overlap with German D-pronouns in most contexts, whereas D-pronouns only superficially, but not functionally, correspond to German D-pronouns, and have undergone a weakening process. While the weakening process is in nuce in Meranese, it seems to be nearly completed in Mòcheno, where D-pronouns appear to have acquired a status close to that of subject clitics of Northern Italian varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present discussion proposes that renewal processes in the domain of negation manifest themselves predominantly in the change from bi-morphemic, synthetic negation to analytic negation neg+aux by introducing a new auxiliary verb as verbal head. Some of these new verbs may subsequently be merged with the negator resulting into new bi-morphemic negation. The proposed analyticization process accounts for different kinds of complex negation, including aspectual and modal negation, the copula and negative focus markers. I propose a unified mechanism for the morpho-syntactic processes, which change the system of negation in Chinese. Two morpho-syntactic factors contribute to this particular grammaticalization process of Chinese: (1) the diachronically consistent head initial word order within the functional and the lexical (CP/vP) domains (with the exception of sentence-final particles); and (2) the morpho-phonological rule that negation has to attach directly to aux, i.e., to a weak verbal head. Based on particularly the second constraint, I propose that only the combination neg+auxmod leads to the emergence of new fused negators constituting the head of a Negative/Modal phrase, i.e., a negative phrase (NegP) with modal features. The renewal process of the verbal heads of bi-morphemic negation is caused by semantic bleaching and an increasing intransparency of the negator which triggers the grammaticalization of new (often defective) lexical verbs via upward movement from the lexical to the functional domain. It accounts for the grammaticalization of the aspectual negator wèi 未 , of the (negative) copula of Early Archaic Chinese into focus marker and complementizer, and for the replacement of synthetic by analytic modal negation negmod > neg+auxmod. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper strives to overcome the issues of achieving a VSO word order in negated sentences in Standard Arabic. A possible solution would be to split the Negative projection into two, where the higher head hosts the negative particle, and the lower head has the ability to attract and host the verb, which falls within the scope of the negative particle. Splitting the negative projection proved to be sufficient to maintain the integrity and validity of the other theories available in the Minimalist Program. Moreover, it allows for a distinction between the A-movement operation, where verbs move over the Subject to a higher position resulting in a VSO word order, and the A'-Movement operation of a fronted Determiner Phrase (DP) is moved to the utmost left for focal purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nouns and verbs are unique word classes that can be found in the languages of the world. The actual criteria for definition, according to Evans and Ossada (2005: 367), are:1- Composition, 2- bidirectionality, 3- exhaustivity. The word order (WO) constitutes a determinator class of words. In the Cariban languages of Venezuelan, there are tips different of WO; in Yukpa, the tendency is SOV. However, there is enough flexibility. The WO can transform an operating or an operator; depending on the assumption, O or S will be the theme of the sentence. This paper aims to show that the adjective in Yukpa is not natural classes. I have examined four hundred sentences in Yukpa with the hypothetical-deductive method. I observed that the words indicated quality in affirmative or negative sentences is not naturally so. i- Or kupa takshima (The man is weak). The origin of the - tak is (break) verbal, while that ii- Samak vischo piyin.(The son sonshone), -piyishi (to shine) does not present clitic, but in iii- Or kupa mikipma (He is strong man), -mikipe is derived from strength. I presume that in Yukpa is not possible to speak of an adjective as a prototype of a Word. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a visual world eye‐tracking study on Tseltal (a Mayan language) and investigate whether verbal information can be used to anticipate an upcoming referent. Basic word order in transitive sentences in Tseltal is Verb–Object–Subject (VOS). The verb is usually encountered first, making argument structure and syntactic information available at the outset, which should facilitate anticipation of the post‐verbal arguments. Tseltal speakers listened to verb‐initial sentences with either an object‐predictive verb (e.g., "eat") or a general verb (e.g., "look for") (e.g., "Ya slo'/sle ta stukel on te kereme," Is eating/is looking (for) by himself the avocado the boy/ "The boy is eating/is looking (for) an avocado by himself") while seeing a visual display showing one potential referent (e.g., avocado) and three distractors (e.g., bag, toy car, coffee grinder). We manipulated verb type (predictive vs. general) and recorded participants' eye movements while they listened and inspected the visual scene. Participants' fixations to the target referent were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression models. Shortly after hearing the predictive verb, participants fixated the target object before it was mentioned. In contrast, when the verb was general, fixations to the target only started to increase once the object was heard. Our results suggest that Tseltal hearers pre‐activate semantic features of the grammatical object prior to its linguistic expression. This provides evidence from a verb‐initial language for online incremental semantic interpretation and anticipatory processing during language comprehension. These processes are comparable to the ones identified in subject‐initial languages, which is consistent with the notion that different languages follow similar universal processing principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Linguistische Berichte is the property of Helmut Buske Verlag Hamburg and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Byzantine metaphrasis means reformulating texts in another register, either by upgrading (a common practice with regard to saints' Lives in the tenth century) or downgrading (a phenomenon best known from the fourteenth century). In this paper, a previously unstudied example of upgrading is investigated: the so-called Version B of the Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete. Changes in B as compared to its source text, Symeon's Chronicle, mostly involve case and the syntax of participles, word order and vocabulary. Some explanations for the changes are suggested and wider implications discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution deals with idioms in vernacular Syrian Arabic, focusing on the verbal component, as well as their semantic and grammatical particularities. The corpus of 151 idioms is extracted from seven popular TV series, 91 of these are presented in the paper along with a literal and idiomatic translation. The idiomatic meaning of the most frequently attested verbs is discussed first. This is followed by a grammatical discussion regarding word order, verbal inflection, morphological variation and lexical variation. The paper demonstrates the scarcity of idioms in some of the most important sources of Syrian Arabic. It further reveals grammatical parallels with idioms in other Arabic varieties, as well as in Western languages. The findings provide the field with new data, and will lead to a better understanding of both Arabic idioms in general, and Syrian Arabic in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Philologia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reviews the so-called Lexical Integrity Principle, resting on the assumption that morphology and syntax are distinct components of grammar. In the forty-odd years since its original formulation, this principle has repeatedly come under fire. Phrasal compounds ([[Lexical Integrity]NPPrinciple]N being an example!) are often adduced as counterevidence, but I here argue that phrases generally don't appear inside compounds and that the principle therefore cannot be so easily discarded. The claim that parts of words cannot be syntactically manipulated has remained relatively unchallenged, which is another reason to uphold some aspects of Lexical Integrity. The separability of particle verbs, though, presents a well-known potential problem. I address recent voices that particle verbs, despite neuroscientific evidence of their lexical status, are not words, maintaining they can be items with word status, given for example their occurrence in the [V the Ntaboo-wordout of NP] construction. A constructionist approach to alternation phenomena offers a solution to the separability issue, which consists in having schematic particle verb constructions whose grammatical status (and not just word order) is underspecified. As words, particle verbs stay together; as phrases, their parts can separate. To salvage the Lexical (or, better, Morphological) Integrity of words, this paper proposes a principle –a construction of sorts – that is a generalization emerging from how we use words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the six possible orderings of the three main constituents of language (subject, verb, and object), two—SOV and SVO—are predominant cross‐linguistically. Previous research using the silent gesture paradigm in which hearing participants produce or respond to gestures without speech has shown that different factors such as reversibility, salience, and animacy can affect the preferences for different orders. Here, we test whether participants' preferences for orders that are conditioned on the semantics of the event change depending on (i) the iconicity of individual gestural elements and (ii) the prior knowledge of a conventional lexicon. Our findings demonstrate the same preference for semantically conditioned word order found in previous studies, specifically that SOV and SVO are preferred differentially for different types of events. We do not find that iconicity of individual gestures affects participants' ordering preferences; however, we do find that learning a lexicon leads to a stronger preference for SVO‐like orders overall. Finally, we compare our findings from English speakers, using an SVO‐dominant language, with data from speakers of an SOV‐dominant language, Turkish. We find that, while learning a lexicon leads to an increase in SVO preference for both sets of participants, this effect is mediated by language background and event type, suggesting that an interplay of factors together determines preferences for different ordering patterns. Taken together, our results support a view of word order as a gradient phenomenon responding to multiple biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss remarkable constructions in Icelandic that have the distributive pronoun hvor 'each' in common: the reciprocal construction hvor annar 'each other', and the distributive construction hvor sinn 'each their', which also comes in a sinn hvor 'their each' version. We provide the first detailed description of these constructions, in particular their case and word order properties, which raise recalcitrant puzzles, and then we discuss what they say about the syntax of nonfinite verbs. Specifically, the word order and case properties of these constructions indicate that nonfinite verbs in Icelandic undergo short verb movement within the verb phrase. That is, the evidence indicates that the leftmost element in these constructions, alternatively hvor or sinn, originates inside an object DP and moves, by what we call e-raising, to the base position of an antecedent with which it agrees, before being stranded by that very antecedent. Nevertheless, the verb appears to the left of this element, even when it is a nonfinite verb, showing that it must undergo short movement to the left of Spec,vP. In addition, the interaction of e-raising and case has important consequences for Case theory, as it indicates that case agreement and case marking take place in PF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbs in Bantu languages usually carry an obligatory subject (or S/A) prefix, whereas the presence of a transitive object (or P) prefixes depends on various language-specific factors. A number of such factors is well described in a range of studies mainly based on elicited data. To examine their interplay in naturalistic texts, we conducted a corpus-based case study of object prefixes (or P indexing in the terminology used in this article) in the Bantu language Ruuli (JE103). The corpus of over 15 000 words was annotated for variables such as animacy, identifiability and textual givenness. The statistically relevant factors for triggering P indexing were identified using conditional inference trees. Unsurprisingly, the results show that the strongest predictor for P indexing in Ruuli is word order. Just as P indexing itself, we assume that word order is a differential pattern expressing the argument's semantic and pragmatic properties. Taking only the latter into account, the analyses reveal that firstly, P indexing seems to be strongly predictable by textual givenness. Secondly, if the referent is given, the probability that it gets indexed is significantly higher if it is human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines embedded clauses with adverb/negation in heritage speakers of Norwegian in North America. We ask (a) whether the production of these structures is different from the baseline, (b) how the production is different, and (c) why it is different.50 second to fifth-generation speakers from the Corpus of American Nordic Speech (CANS) are compared with a baseline consisting of 13 first-generation speakers from the same corpus and a large corpus study on verb placement in embedded clauses in European Norwegian.The speakers behave differently from the baseline, as they use main clause word order in embedded clauses, especially when the finite verb is an auxiliary. Furthermore, there is a correlation between main clause word order in embedded clauses and V2 violations in main clauses. We propose a combination of crosslinguistic influence, language-internal drift, differential acquisition, and activation of the heritage language as possible factors affecting the speaker’s production.Whereas several studies have looked at main clause word order in the same and similar populations, not as much work has been done on embedded clauses. We also combine data from the same informants from a previous study to look at correlations between the behaviour in main and embedded clauses.This study illustrates how heritage languages are affected by different factors across speakers; where some speakers seem to simplify the language, others have held on to fine-grained distinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Final-over-Final Condition has emerged as a robust and explanatory generalization for a wide range of phenomena (Biberauer, Holmberg, and Roberts 2014 , Sheehan et al. 2017). In this article, we argue that it also holds in another domain, nominalization. In languages that show overt nominalization of VPs, one word order is routinely unattested, namely, a head-initial VP with a suffixal nominalizer. This typological gap can be accounted for by the Final-over-Final Condition, if we allow it to hold within mixed extended projections. This view also makes correct predictions about agentive nominalizations and nominalized serial verb constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of native syntactic processing often target phrase structure violations that do not occur in natural production. In contrast, this study examines how variation in basic word order is processed, looking specifically at structures traditionally labelled as violations but that do occur naturally. We examined Swedish verb-second (V2) and verb-third (V3) word order processing in adult native Swedish speakers, manipulating sentence-initial adverbials (temporal idag 'today', spatial hemma 'at home' and sentential kanske 'maybe') in acceptability judgements, in simultaneously recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to visually presented sentences and in a written sentence completion task. An initial corpus study showed that the adverbials differ in frequency in fronted position (idag > kanske > hemma), and although all occur mainly with V2 word order, kanske occurs more frequently with V3 in natural production than both idag and hemma. The experimental results reflected these patterns such that V2 sentences were overall more frequently produced and were deemed more acceptable than V3 sentences. The ERP results consisted of a biphasic N400/P600 response to V3 word order that indicated effects of word retrieval and sentence reanalysis. We also found consistent effects of adverbials. As predicted, V3 was produced more frequently and judged as more acceptable in Kanske sentences than in sentences with the other two adverbials. The ERP analyses showed stronger effects for idag and hemma with V3, especially regarding the P600. The results suggest that the naturally occurring word order 'violation', V3 with kanske , is processed differently than V3 with other adverbials where the V2 norm is stronger. Moreover, these patterns are related to individuals' own production patterns. Overall, the results suggest a more varied native word order processing than previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slavic languages pose a challenge to the researchers in the domain of dialogue technology. A relatively free word order with a large degree of inflection, such as conjugation of verbs, and declension of adjectives, pronouns, and nouns are exhibited by the Slavic languages, which has a significant impact on the size of lexical inventories that significantly complicate the design of dialogue systems. This article conducts an empirical study on the state-of-the-art dialogue systems within Slavic languages. Moreover, we review the existing models in recent dialogue systems, pinpoint the current main challenges and identify potential research directions of practical and intelligent systems within low-resourced languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative constructions in several Palaungic languages (Htanaw, Wa, Lawa, Rumai Palaung, Samlong Palaung, and Rucing Palaung), here shown to be participant nominalizations, display striking mutual similarities, while conspicuously diverging from the dominant relativization strategy within the Austroasiatic family. Instead of the common n [rel (s) v (o)] pattern, the Palaungic constructions examined exhibit the following structural features: (a) rel invariably precedes the verb complex directly; (b) internal constituent order is vs(o), with the exception of Htanaw. An unusual functional trait is additionally found in the three Palaung varieties: the construction only performs object relativization. By placing the findings in a diachronic perspective, we propose two new pathways of branch-internal syntactic change that may explain this unusual synchronic status. Among these, the lexical-to-clausal-nominalization pathway in particular offers a plausible alternative scenario to the earlier hypothesis that such verb-initial structures are inherited from Proto-Austroasiatic (Jenny 2020). Furthermore, a tentatively suggested etymological origin of the relativizer, pAA *pa 'place', provides an account of the narrow semantics in Palaung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Language, Interaction & Acquisition / Langage, Interaction et Acquisition is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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The article presents the syntactic phenomenon of discontinuous structures in Dutch, such as separable verbs and pronominal adverbs. They pose many difficulties for Polish students of Dutch. The article explains more thoroughly the types of separable constructions and the conventions that lead to their creation. Special attention is directed towards cases where the discontinuous forms interlock so that they come to a 'clash' of prepositions, e.g. Daar komt het op aan or Jacobs haalt het voorbeeld aan van de academische ziekenhuizen van Nijmegen en Duitsland. This accumulation of prepositions often leads to misunderstandings in the right tone of voice and Polish students' interpretation of sentences. The correct formation of the interlocking structures is one of the most challenging skills with which the students learning Dutch will be confronted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper investigates the significance of word order variation in Iraqw, a Southern Cushitic language found in Tanzania. The paper is based on the communicative approach in analysing the variation of word order beyond the grammatical point of view. By scrutinizing the syntax of Iraqw, this paper hopes to make a welcome contribution to the comparative syntax of Cushitic languages scattered across the northern sub-Saharan area (Sudan, e.g., Beja; Ethiopia, e.g., Oromo; Somalia, e.g., Somali; Eritrea, e.g., Afar; and Tanzania, e.g., Gorwa, Alagwa, and Burunge). The primary data presented in this paper were collected from a sample of Iraqw native speakers living in Mbulu. Supplementary data came from Iraqw documentary materials. The findings revealed new generalizations about Iraqw syntax. Firstly, although the basic word order of the Iraqw sentence is SOV1, this order is not always fixed in that it is affected by the communicative needs of the communicator. Secondly, grammatical agreement between the arguments and the verb enables flexible positioning of elements to reflect their information status in the discourse. Thus, either the subject or object and the verb can be re-ordered. Thirdly, the re-ordering of elements follows the rule that communication always develops from what is known (topic) to what is unknown (comment) in the context. The topic thus tends to occur in sentence-initial position, and the comment is placed in sentence-final position. It could be concluded that permutation of elements in the sentences is therefore determined by pragmatic and informational criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the 'reverse' double object construction in Hakka, where the theme NP precedes the goal NP without being mediated by an adpositional goal marker. I show that the reverse V‐theme‐goal order is sensitive to verb types and argue that this construction takes an underlying dative structure with a non‐thematic null prepositional goal marker. This formal syntactic account is shown to capture the word order alternations and grammatical properties observed in Hakka ditransitives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can native competence be achieved in a second language? Here, we focus on the Language Distance Hypothesis that claims that early and proficient bilinguals can achieve native competence for grammatical properties shared by their two languages, whereas unshared grammatical properties pose a challenge for native-like syntactic processing. We present a novel behavioral and Event-Related Potential (ERP) study where early and proficient bilinguals behave native-like in their second language when processing (a) argument structure alternations in intransitive sentences involving agent vs. patient subjects and (b) subject verb agreement, both of which are grammatical properties shared by their two languages of these bilinguals. Compared to native Basque bilinguals (L2Spanish) on the same tasks, non-natives elicited similar sentence processing measures: (a) in the acceptability task they reacted faster and more accurately to unaccusative sentences than to unergatives and to person than number violations: (b) they generated a larger P600 for agreement violations in unaccusative sentences than unergatives; (c) they generated larger negativity and positivity effects for person than for number violations. Previous studies on Basque-Spanish bilinguals find that early and proficient non-natives display effects distinct from natives in both languages when processing grammatical properties where Basque and Spanish diverge, such as argument alignment (ergative/nominative) or word order type (OV/VO), but they perform native-like for shared properties such as subject agreement and word meaning. We contend that language distance, that is, the degree of similarity of the languages of the bilingual is a crucial factor that deserves further and detailed attention to advance our understanding of when and how bilinguals can go native in a second language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work suggests that when speakers linearize syntactic structures, they place longer and more complex dependents further away from the head word to which they belong than shorter and simpler dependents, and that they do so with increasing rigidity the longer expressions get, for example, longer objects tend to be placed further away from their verb, and with less variation. Current theories of sentence processing furthermore make competing predictions on whether longer expressions are preferentially placed as early or as late as possible. Here we test these predictions using hierarchical distributional regression models that allow estimates of word order and word order variation at the level of individual dependencies in corpora from 71 languages, while controlling for confounding effects from the type of dependency (e.g., subject vs. object), and the type of clause (main vs. subordinate) involved as well as from trends that are characteristic of individual languages, language families, and language contact areas. Our results show the expected correlations of length with position and variation only for two out of six dependency types (obliques and nominal modifiers) and no difference between clause types. These findings challenge received theories of across‐the‐board effects of complexity on word order and word order variation and call for theoretical models that relativize effects to specific kinds of syntactic structures and dependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]