Showing papers in "Lingüística in 2007"

Natural syntax : English interrogative main clauses

Abstract: Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory, a branch of Naturalness Theory. The naturalnessjudgements are couched in naturalness scales, whichfollow from the basic parameters (or «axioms») listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in deductions, whose chief components are apair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignments are distinguished, in complementary distribution. Chiastic alignment is mandatory in deductions limited to unnatural environments. The paper deals with English interrogative main clauses. Within these, only the interrogatives containing wh-words exclusively insitu constitute an extremely unnatural environment and require chiastic alignment. Otherwiseparallel alignment is used. Earlier publications on Natural Syntax: Kavcic 2005a,b, Oresnik 1999, 2000a,b, 200la-f 2002, 2003a-c, 2002/03, 2004. This list cites only works written in English.

Two key concepts of language endangerment : language obsolescence and language death

Abstract: In the contemporary context of world-wide language endangerment, of linguistic imperialism and regression of minority languages, it is of vital importance to take initiatives for the maintenance and protection of linguistic biodiversity. Languages that become extinct are a major loss, not only for the communities concerned but also for humanity in general. The role of linguists should not be confined to documentation and recording of threatened languages, but should be extended to policies aimed at the revitalization of languages in the process of obsolescence and extinction, and to programs for stimulating language awareness and language cult. Although practical work and immediate political interventions remain the most urgent tasks, there is also need for a theoretical discussion on the value of language maintenance and preservation. It is important to define adequately the basic concepts to be used in discussions, as well as in scholarly and "bureaucratic" writings in the field of language endangerment. The aim of the present paper has been to clarify the concepts of 'language obsolescence' and 'language death', with an eye at offering a general characterization and typology of both phenomena. Accurate information on the causes and contextual factors involved in language obsolescence and language death can help to elaborate a theoretically coherent frame for construing open-minded language policies and for arousing a widespread feeling of respect for the linguistic rights of speech communities, however small and unprotected they may be.

EFL students' use of grammatical information in five leading British learners' dictionaries

Abstract: Grammar is one of the elements of lexicographic description. In order to find out whether dictionary users use their dictionaries to retrieve grammatical information, we carried out a research-based study investigating their skills. This article presents and discusses the results of a study into the use by EFL students of grammatical information included in five leading British learners' dictionaries. The ability of students to use dictionary entries was tested by means of 33 sentences. Some of the sentences were grammatically correct; others contained a grammatical mistake. The students had to detect mistakes with the help of enclosed dictionary entries. The aim of the study was to find out whether there were any great differences among the dictionaries used and how successful the test subjects were in finding and using grammatical information.

Teaching the uses of Italian verb forms to Slovene speakers

Abstract: Goethe's paradoxical aphorism concerning our knowledge of complex phenomena could be used to identify the feelings which may prevail at two different stages oflearning a foreign language, at an early and at an advanced one. So, for example, it is not surpris­ ing when our students, back from an exchange visit abroad, complain about having felt blocked by their thorough structural language awareness, noticing at the same time that some other foreign students showed off their fluency and richness of vocabulary, while calmly violating certain grammatical conventions. 1 Such self-conscious learners seem to miss their past lack of inhibitions, when they still naively thought oflanguage differ­ ences principally as neatly observable dissimilarities in language forms, feeling that their present awareness of more hidden foreign-language properties is rather a disadvantage in communication; so much so that they wonder whether it would not have been better to have invested all that time and energy into the acquisition of the lexicon instead.

Tienen ventajas cognitivas los bilingües sobre los monolingües

Abstract: Desde comienzos del s. XIX hasta aproximadamente los anos 60, se creia entre los investigadores que el bilingiusmo resultaba perjudicial para el pensamiento, ya que provocaba la reduccion por la mitad no solo del desarrollo intelectual sino tambien del espiritual. Esta ideologia se ha extendido ampliamente en los EEUU en el s. XX: el bilinguismo trae consigo mas desventajas que beneficios en terminos de cognicion. El bilinguismo se presenta como una carga sobre el cerebro, provocando confusion mental, inhibicion de la lengua mayoritaria, e incluso division de la personalidad.

Fachsprachliche Kollokationen : Schwerpunkt Deutsch-Slowenisch

Abstract: ,,Fachsprache hat zwei Dimensionen, das Einzelwort, der Terminus, der meist im Zentnun der Terminologie steht, und die ebenfalls fachsprachliche Kontextualisierung des Terminus in seinen Kollokationen" (Hausmann 2003: 83). Die Suche nach aquivalenten Termini in der Zielsprache ist bei juristischen Texten nicht selten eine anspruchsvolle Aufgabe. Wer Rechtstexte ubersetzt, hat es namlich nicht nur rnit einem Sachgebiet in zwei verschiedenen Sprachen zu tun, sondem rnit zwei Rechtsordnungen in zwei unterschiedlichen Sprachen. Nicht nur die Auswahl entsprechender Termini stellt eine grose Herausforderung dar, sondem auch die Auswahl entsprechender Verben, Adjektive und Prapositionen, die sich mit Termini verbinden, z. B.: einen Vertrag schliej3en/ aujheben = skleniti/razveljaviti pogodbo, unter Verwendung einer Wajfe = z uporabo orozja, das Gesetz verabschieden = sprejeti zakon... Solche festen Wortverbindungen konnen selbst erfahrenen Ubersetzem oft erhebliche Schwierigkeiten bereiten, weil sie eiine Ubersetzungseinheit bilden und daher nicht einzelsprachlich ubersetzt werden konnen. Beim Fachtextubersetzen bereiten sie Schwierigkeiten nicht nur beim Hin-, sondem auch beim Herubersetzen. Der Grund dafur ist zum einen die Tatsache, dass jede Fachsprache meist Wortverbindungen enthalt, die in der Gemeinsprache nicht zu finden sind; und zweitens: Viele dieser spezi:fischen Wortkombinationen sind in verschiedenen Nachschlagewerken (Glossaren, Lexika, Worterbuchem ...) nicht kodifiziert.

Definiteness strategies and word order in existential-locatives and locatives in Late and Vulgar Latin

Abstract: § 1The parameters which began to undergo a profound change in Late Latin include the marking of definiteness and the gradual fixation of a different word order1 These two phenomena are brought into connection by M Durante's observation (1981, 62) that article development2 is one of the main agents involved3 in the emergence of a fixed order of constituents § 2 The two parameters are still subject to investigation The discussion of definite­ ness markers focuses on how and when precisely the article appeared, but it has yielded contradictory conclusions: while some scholars acknowledge the existence of articles in Late and Vulgar Latin texts, such as Egeria's Peregrinatio, 4 others deny it5 Inaddition, there are some less extreme views arguing for an intermediate stage in the long evolution from demonstratives to articles in Late Latin texts6 The research on word order, especially in Late Latin, frequently focuses on the posi­ tion of the elements considered basic in the language;7 thus, generally speaking, almost everyone is agreed on the SOV > SV08 change, although an alternation of the two orders can be established for the Classical as well as for the Late period ([S]OV/[S]V0)9 § 3 With regard to Late and Vulgar Latin, however, there are only a few specialised papers dealing with potential historical changes in the position of the verbs which present special difficulties in the language, not only with their complex semantic content but also with their ability to form multiple constructions 10 This is the case with the verb sum in structures expressing a semantic notion of location The relationship between word order and definiteness in these structures has been examined by scholars attempting ing to explain the difference between the so-called 'locative' constructions (Loe) and 'existential-locatives' (ExL), 11 both containing the verb sum: while the former typically front the location-encoding term (p) with a definite subject, the latter display the opposite distinctive features (a S[-Def]12 appearing in the pS sequence)13