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This article explores the phenomenon of code-switching, specifically focusing on bilingual Arabic-Italian determiner phrases which consist of a determiner, such as an article or a demonstrative, followed by a noun phrase as a complement. The data examined were selected from a corpus of Arabic-Italian spontaneous speech with the aim of (1) comparing and describing the characteristics and differences of the determiner systems of the two languages; (2) illustrating the features of code-switching in determiner phrases and the various types found in the collected data; and (3) studying the mutual influence of the two languages in contact contexts. The data analysis revealed two types of code-switching: switching at the beginning of a determiner phrase, where both the determiner and its complement are in the same language, and switching within a determiner phrase, where the determiner and the head noun are from different languages. This latter category also includes determiner phrases with double determiners, which will be analyzed in detail in this article to discuss the features of this linguistic structure in Arabic-Italian bilingual phrases.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the morphosyntax of ordinal numerals in Jordanian Arabic (JA). I show that ordinal numerals in JA do not belong to a uniform category and argue that they show different syntactic and morphological behaviours depending on their structural position inside the extended nominal projection. In particular, I argue that pre-nominal ordinals are QPs that can merge inside or outside the DP, similar to the quantifier kull (Shlonsky, 1991; Benmamoun, 1999). On the other hand, I show that post-nominal ordinals are adjectives that merge inside the extended nominal projection (Corbett, 2004; Fassi-Fehri, 2018), similar to adnominal adjectives in JA. The findings of this study show that ordinals might belong to distinct syntactic categories within the same language depending on their structural position.

Abstract: This paper analyzes the Brazilian Portuguese adjective mesmo with anaphoric reading (MOLTMANN, 1993; FERREIRA, 2010). Expanding the functional layer of the determiner phrase (e. g., CINQUE, 2010), this analysis proposes that mesmo has “pronominal” properties and that there is a specific position in the functional structure of DP/NP which hosts both possessive pronouns and anaphoric mesmo, at least in the end of derivation, and such a position is in fact a host for adjectives with pronominal properties. In the last sections the article (using tools of formal semantics: e. g. HEIM; KRATZER, 1998) presents a semantic definition for anaphoric mesmo, arguing that it is a sort of implicit comparative item (CARLSON, 1987), with a “comparison function” as part of its very definition. We propose, taking advantage of insights of the pertinent literature (ALRENGA, 2010; HEIM, 1985; LASERSOHN, 2000; among others), that the semantics of mesmo is composed of an assignment function and a function which establishes a contextual equivalence by means of the sharing of relevant properties between the referent or kind introduced by the DP with mesmo and an individual or kind mentioned in previous discourse. In the end of the paper, we briefly speculate on the semantics of what is here called “explicit” comparative mesmo (that includes a comparative CP after the noun), which, as well as the distributive mesmo (CARLSON, 1987, among others), and as this text intends to show in the following pages, is hierarchically lower, in the syntax of DPs, than anaphoric mesmo. Keywords: Mesmo; Determiner Phrase; Adjectives; Comparative Semantics. Resumo: Este trabalho analisa o adjetivo mesmo do português brasileiro com a leitura anafórica (MOLTMANN, 1993; FERREIRA, 2010). Expandindo a camada funcional do sintagma determinante (e. g., CINQUE, 2010), esta análise propõe que mesmo tem propriedades “pronominais” e que há uma posição específica na estrutura funcional do DP/NP que alberga, pelo menos ao fim da derivação, tanto pronomes possessivos quanto o adjetivo mesmo anafórico, e tal posição recebe, de fato, adjetivos com propriedades pronominais. Nas últimas seções o artigo apresenta (usando ferramentas da semântica formal: por exemplo, HEIM; KRATZER, 1998) uma definição semântica para o mesmo anafórico, defendendo que ele é uma espécie de item de comparação implícita (CARLSON, 1987), tendo uma “função de comparação” como parte de sua definição. Propomos, aproveitando insights da literatura pertinente (ALRENGA, 2010; HEIM, 1985; LASERSOHN, 2000; entre outros), que a semântica de mesmo é composta por uma função de assinalamento e uma função que estabelece uma equivalência contextual por meio de um compartilhamento de propriedades relevantes entre o referente ou tipo introduzido pelo DP que contém mesmo e um indivíduo ou tipo mencionado no discurso prévio. Por fim, o artigo especula sobre a semântica do que aqui é chamado mesmo “explicitamente” comparativo (que inclui um CP comparativo após o nome), que, assim como o mesmo distributivo (CARLSON, 1987, entre outros), e como este texto deseja mostrar nas páginas a seguir, é mais baixo hierarquicamente, na sintaxe do DP, que o mesmo anafórico. Palavras-chave: Mesmo; Sintagma Determinante; Adjetivos; Semântica de Comparativos.

In English, a relative clause (rc) follows the head noun phrase (np). Conversely, the rc in Chinese precedes the head np directly before it or is separated by a determiner phrase (dp). This is uncommon in the subject-verb-object order language and results in two types of constructions. For Chinese as foreign language (cfl) learners, this construction alternation is complex to acquire and is dependent on many factors. This study aims to explore the underlying factors influencing cfl learners' outer modifier nominal (omn)/inner modifier nominal (imn) alternation and whether they have multiple interactions. A multifactorial exploration of the significant predictors of the omn/imn alternation in Chinese interlanguage data, taken from the International Chinese Interlanguage Corpus, was conducted. Conditional inference trees and random forests were used to analyse the data. The predictors studied consist of head np animacy (HeadNPAnimacy), head np length (HeadNPLength), grammatical roles of head nps in matrix clauses (HeadNPMatRole), grammatical roles of head nps in rcs (HeadNPRelRole), length of rcs (RCLength), types of native languages (NLType), and learners' Chinese proficiency (CHProficiency). Examinations of omn/imn alternation show predictors' significant effects in descending order of their effect size: HeadNPRelRole, HeadNPMatRole, RCLength, NLType, and HeadNPAnimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the postulation that a noun phrase is headed by a determiner is a widely accepted approach to the analysis of languages across the world, linguists struggle to ascertain the exact elements which stand as functional categories. This is because languages (especially those in the Bantu family) display individual idiosyncrasies in this area of enquiry. This paper, therefore, examines the Structure of the Determiner Phrase in Kɨbhwanɉi using the Minimalist Approach. Specifically, the paper sought to establish the functional categories that head the DP and to examine the order of modifiers in the Kɨbhwanɉi DP. Data were obtained from Makete District in Njombe Region, Tanzania. They were collected through acceptability judgement, document review and focus group discussion (FGD). The findings of the study show that the functional categories that head the DP in Kɨbhwanɉi are: augments, the prenominal possessive formative –nya, and prenominal demonstratives. An augment and the formative –nya occur pre-nominally with their nouns where they function as determiners. The prenominal demonstrative is raised from its original (base generated) position below D. It has also been found that modifiers may range from one to six. This yields the order (DEM)/(AUG)/(DISTR)/(POSS) > N > POSS > QUANT > DEM > NUM > ADJ > REL. The order of these modifiers is not rigid. For the purpose of encoding emphasis or focus, the order may change, thus making the order neutral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effects of the historical language contact of Modern Greek (MG) with Vlach Aromanian (VA) in bilingual speakers of three generations living in Epirus, Greece. We focus on a VA variety spoken in a specific language community, with our study constituting one of the early attempts in this field of research. (1) Background: Given that bilingualism is a dynamic process in which language domains are not uniformly affected by external (i.e., sociolinguistic) factors, the investigation of bidirectional crosslinguistic influence can shed light on the resilience of morphosyntactic and semantic feature changes. MG differs from VA in a number of morphosyntactic properties at the DP domain, namely definiteness marking, positioning the adjective and gender marking. (2) Methods: To examine the language contact effects in VA–MG bilinguals, we elicited spontaneous language production in VA and MG from speakers across three generations with different levels of proficiency in each language. (3) Results: The data analysis showed evidence of bidirectional crosslinguistic influence since (a) MG seems to affect VA in definiteness marking and adjective positioning in younger bilingual groups and (b) VA influences MG in gender marking in older bilinguals. (4) Conclusions: The present study presents original language data from VA–MG bilinguals and provides evidence of bidirectional language contact effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the assignment/checking of genitive Case in determiner phrases (DPs), on cross-linguistic basis. However, none of the mechanisms so far suggested, for the assignment of genitive Case, can adequately account for the assignment of genitive Case in Pashto simple possession DPs. The goal of this paper is to propose a mechanism for the assignment of genitive Case in Pashto simple possession DPs. For this purpose, Chomsky's framework of 'the minimalist program', with its techniques of Merge, Move, Agree, Features, Goal, Probe, and Value, is adopted. While the mechanisms proposed by Adger and Watanabe are unable to account for Pashto simple possession DPs, the mechanism proposed in this study, under the umbrella of the minimalist program, is applied to different kinds of Pashto simple possession DPs, and is able to adequately account for the assignment of genitive Case in them. The overall conclusion for this paper is that agreement in terms of [N] feature between the functional head D and a possession results in assigning genitive Case to the possession inside the DP; thus, it is a continuation of the standard theory that agreement in terms of features between a functional head and a nominal results in checking/assigning structural case to that nominal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the data in early Southern Min play scripts, this paper explores temporal expressions—in particular temporal adverbials—which bear on the issues of their grammatical categories and syntactic placement. Considerable space is devoted to clarifying two kinds of distinctions of temporal adverbials on the strength of attested examples. A distinction is made between deictic temporal adverbials and determiner phrase-derived temporal adverbials. Similarly, durative adverbials are shown to behave differently from punctual adverbials. Finally, I argue that the metonymic semantic shift of deictic temporal adverbials denoting tomorrow and yesterday/the day before yesterday is grounded in the constraint of proximity to the deictic center of today in connection with the backdrop of diachronic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effects of the historical language contact of Modern Greek (MG) with Vlach Aromanian (VA) in bilingual speakers of three generations living in Epirus, Greece. We focus on a VA variety spoken in a specific language community, with our study constituting one of the early attempts in this field of research. (1) Background: Given that bilingualism is a dynamic process in which language domains are not uniformly affected by external (i.e., sociolinguistic) factors, the investigation of bidirectional crosslinguistic influence can shed light on the resilience of morphosyntactic and semantic feature changes. MG differs from VA in a number of morphosyntactic properties at the DP domain, namely definiteness marking, positioning the adjective and gender marking. (2) Methods: To examine the language contact effects in VA–MG bilinguals, we elicited spontaneous language production in VA and MG from speakers across three generations with different levels of proficiency in each language. (3) Results: The data analysis showed evidence of bidirectional crosslinguistic influence since (a) MG seems to affect VA in definiteness marking and adjective positioning in younger bilingual groups and (b) VA influences MG in gender marking in older bilinguals. (4) Conclusions: The present study presents original language data from VA–MG bilinguals and provides evidence of bidirectional language contact effects.

The paper presents the structural evidence for the existence of DP in the article-less language, Magahi. Article-less languages can be divided into two types: class languages and non-class languages. Most of the debate surrounding the treatment of article-less languages as DP/NP languages see only the binary distinction (article and non-article languages). In this paper, it is argued that the class-languages present richer structural evidences for the presence of the functional projection above NP. Along with presenting few structural evidences against the generalization presented by Bošković (2005), language-independent motivation for the functional projection like DP is also discussed. It is also argued that merit of the projection of the DP is also semantically justified. The argument that there can be various functional projections in the extended projection of NP weakens the strongest claim that article-less languages lack DP.

In this squib, I provide evidence of a novel type in favor of the existence of the DP in previously undiscussed articleless languages: I show that a comitative preposition in the Ossetic languages cannot attach to nominal expressions that would be analyzed as DPs in better studied languages. On the other hand, nominal expressions that it can attach to are of the kinds that would be analyzed as bare NumPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology is the property of Speech-Language & Audiology Canada 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.)

Demonstratives and possessives integrate the group of Spanish determiners which can appear before the noun as well as after it. In the post-nominal position, another determiner heading the construction is obligatory. Post-nominal demonstratives differ from post-nominal possessives in that the only determiner which the former can appear with is the definite article. In this paper we aim to get across the relationship between the post-nominal element and the determiner that precedes the construction by revising, in detail, the behavior of these elements in the context of nominal ellipsis. Our approach, framed in Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993), not only lets us recognize the differences in the determiner that heads the constructions in each case, but it also lets us determine a series of properties in demonstratives and possessives according to their relationship with the elliptical gap and their role as remnant.

This paper examines the acceptability of several types of extraction out of the nominal domain (Left Branch Extraction - LBE, deep LBE, extraordinary LBE, double AP LBE, extraction of NP-complements, extraction across a numeral) in Polish and its relevance for the current views on the nominal structure of the "NP"/"DP"- languages. The point of departure is an overview of the abovementioned extraction types. Next, a succinct summary of an acceptability study of these constructions conducted on a population of 183 native speakers of Polish is provided. While the results confirm the cross-linguistic observation that the extractions in question are generally 'discourse-triggered', their acceptability in Polish seems to be relatively low and reveals fairly interesting differences between the specific constructions (e.g., LBE-wh vs. LBE-demonstratives). These may have broader implications for the ongoing debate concerning the optimal shape of the nominal structure in (languages like) Polish, as they seem to provide (at least circumstantial) arguments for a more elaborate sequence of projections on top of the NP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hoava sa and ria have been analysed as pronouns in some contexts, and articles in others, an apparent case of flexibility in functional categories. However, this analysis depends on an assumption that pronouns are NP head. An alternative analysis employing the Determiner Phrase (DP) demonstrates that in all contexts sa/ria occupy the same syntactic position: DP head. They are always pronouns, alternating with articles in D, an analysis supported by evidence that 1st/2nd pronouns behave in an identical way. This unified analysis gives no grounds for positing membership of separate categories. In contrast, in Standard Fijian (SF) articles and pronouns occupy different syntactic positions: SF pronouns are not in D, but in N. The paper concludes that structures such as DP have considerable descriptive power; pronouns behave variably across Oceanic; and Hoava sa/ria are pronouns in all contexts. Their apparent flexibility was an artefact of earlier analyses, not a feature of the grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper combines sociolinguistic and formal syntactic approaches to characterize the constraints regulating gender agreement variation across the Determiner Phrase (DP) in Afro-Bolivian Spanish (ABS). Our results indicate a case of cross-generational change, consisting in the systematic replacement of stigmatized basilectal Afro-Bolivian features with more prestigious Bolivian Spanish ones. In light of recent minimalist models (Adger & Smith 2005; Adger 2006), the variability encountered in the corpus can be accounted for by reducing variation to the specification of uninterpretable features in a derivation.

Monosyllabic place holders (MPHs) have been studied extensively in first-language (L1) acquisition of Spanish and other Romance languages. However, the study of MPHs in second-language (L2) acquisition, both by children and adults, has received much less attention. This study provides evidence for the presence of MPHs in the L2 Spanish of two L1 Moroccan Arabic children living in Spain. The age difference between the children (10;9 for Rachida and 6;10 for Khalid) allows us to address the issue of whether the younger child would use MPHs, as is the case in L1 acquisition. However, what the data show is that both children used MPHs, although Khalid’s MPH rate was slightly higher than Rachida’s. Therefore, based on these findings we argue that MPHs can constitute a strategy available for all child learners of Spanish.

La denominada concordancia ad sensum es uno de los fenómenos más llamativos en español y otras lenguas. En este trabajo nos proponemos demostrar que este tipo de concordancia puede explicarse por medio de mecanismos vinculados con los mismos factores que intervienen en la concordancia general, i. e., la estructura sintáctica y las operaciones morfológicas. Nuestra investigación se enmarca en el modelo de la Morfología Distribuida (Halle y Marantz 1993) y busca dar cuenta de las concordancias alternantes y del bloqueo de tal alternancia en determinados contextos, a partir de un análisis detallado de la estructura del Sintagma de Determinante y de los rasgos involucrados en las proyecciones funcionales del ámbito nominal. The so-called ad sensum agreement is one of the most significant phenomena in Spanish and other languages. In this paper, we attempt to prove that this kind of agreement can be explained by the mechanisms related to the same factors involved in general agreement, i. e., the syntactic structure and the morphological operations. Our investigation is framed in Distributed Morphology (Halle y Marantz ) and it pretends to explain the alternating agreement and the blocking of this alternation in particular contexts, by analyzing, in detail, the structure of the Determiner Phrase and the features involved in the functional projections of the nominal scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research seeks to find, which of NP and DP's models may accurately describe the relationship between the head and its dependent(s), based on minimalism in Persian language. The method of study is descriptive-analytic. This study was performed by comparing English sources with Persian ones. The samples were selected by the intuition of the researcher in a way that aspects of differences between these two models can be shown. We contrasted the data based on two models, the traditional model which takes N as the head of the phrase and the new model in which the head of the phrase is a determiner and NP is a complement headed by “D”. By analyzing of NPs, tree diagrams were drawn by comparing the aforementioned models we concluded that DP model represent a better description of the head-dependent relations, and NP model can be replaced by the DP to draw structural relationships of sentences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Some Italian nouns occur as couples like cavallo-cavalla (horse-mare) showing a systematic relation between their grammatical Gender and the sex of their referents. An aphasia case study by Franzon, Bertocci and Semenza (2013) suggested that in these nouns Gender could be assigned depending on the referential context. Here we study Agreement processes in the Determiner Phrase (DP) with reference to contextually inflected nouns, by contrasting them with nouns whose gender presents the more common inherent inflection for Gender. The study comprises an experiment on normal participants and preliminary observation in two aphasic patients unaffected by agrammatism. Methods Noun phrases made of a noun and an adjective appeared on the screen. One of the two words lacked the ending morpheme (e.g. COLP_ GROSSO). 24 participants were asked to complete the word with either –a or –o (endings for masculine and feminine nouns in Italian). Response times and accuracy were measured. Materials: a) 24 nouns, 12 masculine + 12 feminine, like CAVALLO – CAVALLA (Context Dependent Gender.) b) 24 nouns, 12 masculine + 12 feminine, like COLPO-COLPA, ‘hit’ - ‘guilt’ (Inherent Gender). c) 96 filler nouns Type of Completion (on noun or adjective) and Position (noun first, adjective first) were considered. The same material was administered off-line to one person with transcortical motor aphasia (MM) and to another person with conduction aphasia (DMD). None of these patients showed signs of agrammatism. Results Context Dependent nouns were completed more accurately and significantly (p < 0.001) faster (949) than Inherent Gender nouns (1003). Adjectives were completed more accurately and significantly (p < 0.001) faster (951 msec) than nouns (1001 msec). MA committed 8/48 errors in Context Dependent and 11/48 errors in Inherent Gender nouns. DMD committed 2/48 errors in Context Dependent and 7/48 errors in Inherent Gender nouns. Discussion Results match with theories (Alexiadou 2004; Franzon et al. 2013) that propose two types of gender: a non-interpretable one, set by the lexicon and thus inherent on the noun (as in colpo – colpa); and a variable one (as in cavallo-cavalla), interpretable at a semantic level, assigned in syntax on the basis of the referential context. This latter condition seems to require less processing costs, even if less common; when the morpheme lacks semantic interpretability processing costs are higher. Completion on adjectives is faster because such an operation consists in copying into the higher DP positions the morphosyntactic values of Gender that have already been processed in the noun; conversely, when the noun has to be completed, it has to undergo further processing before rising to the DP to check the agreement in a proper position.

Purpose: The authors examine how adults use linguistic information from verbs, direct objects, and particles to interpret an event description as encoding a logical endpoint to the event described (in which case, it is telic) or not (in which case, it is atelic). Current models of aspectual composition predict that quantity-sensitive verbs combined with quantized objects produce telic predicates. Behavioral results from previous experiments have not unequivocally confirmed this prediction. The study presents a more fine-grained analysis that examines the influence of partitive verbs, resultative particles, and different determiner types on listeners’ evaluations of verb phrases as telic or atelic. Method: Forty-eight English-speaking adults participated in a truth-value judgment task to determine whether they interpreted verb phrases with different types of verbs and direct objects as telic or atelic. Participants viewed short videos and responded to a yes/no question after each one. Results: The presence of partitive quantity-sensitive verbs and the presence of a definite determiner versus a cardinal number in quantized direct objects had a differential impact on listeners’ interpretations of sentences as telic. Conclusion: The results indicate that actual behavioral interpretations of telicity are meaningfully influenced by the presence of partitive verbs, resultative particles, and different types of determiners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sintagma: Revista de Linguistica is the property of Sintagma: Revista de Linguistica 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.)