Showing papers in "Linguistics in 1972"

Clauses of saying and the interpretation of because

Abstract: This paper is intended as a reaction to some specific claims advanced by Rutherford's 1970 paper on subordinate clauses in English. Expanding on a remark in Ross 1970, Rutherford discusses sentences like (1) Jenny isn't here, because I don't see her. By his analysis, the reason adverbial because I don't see her, which cannot be understood as rationalizing the sentence Jenny isn't here, gives the reason for SAYING that Jenny isn't here. This semantic observation is then claimed to be evidence for Ross's 'performative hypothesis' concerning declarative sentences, which derives all such sentences from underlying representations of the form I say to you S. Accordingly, ex. 1 would derive from (2) I say to you that Jenny isn't here because I don't see her. Perhaps the major spin-off benefit of this approach is that it makes possible a single interpretation of because both in sentences like 1 and in cases like (3) Jenny isn't here because she's sick. The reason adverbial in 1 is then said to be 'non-restrictive' (as opposed to restrictive in 3), the distinction being formally manifested by the presence or absence of comma intonation. In spite of its superficial attractiveness, I think the performative analysis of this construction is suspect. There are problems concerning the semantic interpretation of say-clauses which the analysis ignores, but which turn out to be of critical importance. There is also an alternative explanation, according to which because is in fact said to have two interpretations; and this allows us to explain some otherwise puzzling exceptions to the predictions of the performative hypothesis. These two issues will be taken up in turn below.

Psychological dimensions of case in sentence processing: action role and animateness

Abstract: A series of four experiments aimed at comprehension processes in language supported the psychological validity of two types of semantic units: action role, äs defined by W. Chafe's 'agent' and 'patient', and case, äs defined by C. Fillmore's 'agentive', 'instrumental', 'dative', and Objective' cases. Psychological validity was assessed with the 'question technique' which measures time taken to process various elements of a sentence. Adults reliably differentiated both types of units, with agent role and agentive case being processed most rapidly. Children reliably differentiated action role units (again favoring agent) but not the case units. Generally, there was no interaction between the processing of semantic units and surface Structure features of a sentence. Les dimensions psychohgiques du cas dans le traitement des phrases: le role de V action et ranimation Une serie de quatre experimentations consacree aux processus de comprehension linguistique a soutenu la validite psychologique de deux types d 'unitos somantiques: le role de l'action, defini par W. Chafe comme 'agent' et 'patient', et le cas, d fini par C. Fillmore comme 'agentif', 'instrumental', 'datif' et Objectif. La validite psychologique est soulignoe par la 'technique question', qui mesure la duroe necessaire pour traiter les Elements differents d'une phrase. En traitant le role 'agentif ' et le cas 'agentif ' tres rapidement, les adultes ont distinguo les deux types d'unito d'une facon digne de confiance; les enfants, en favorisant 48 GEORGE J. SUCI AND JANE H. HAMACHER leur tour le r le 'agent', ont distingue les unites de r le de l'action, mais n'ont pas distingue les unitos de cas. En general, il n'y avait pas d'interaction entre le traitement des unites semantiques et le traitement des traits de la structure de surface d'une phrase. PE3K3ME Hcuxo/ioeiwecKue pasjuepHocmu nadexca Bo6pa6omKe npefaomem : Po/ib de cmeua u odyoicee/ieHHOcnib neTbipex 3κοπβρΗΜ6Ητοβ πο npoueccaM ΑΒΜΚΟΒΟΓΟ noHHMaHHfl o ocHOBaHHocTt Byx ΤΗΠΟΒ ceMaHTHiecKHx CAHHHU: ΡΟΠΗ H, *areHca' H 'nauneHca' B onpefleneHHH HIa'a, H na^enca, ' ΉΗςτργΜβΗΤ3ΐΗ»ΗθΓθ', * aTejn>Horo* H ΌοιβκτΗΒΗΟΓο* Β onpefleneHHH ^BonpocHTeJibHae TexHHKa', H3MepmomaH HyjKHyio BpeMeHHyio HOCTb AJIH O pa6OTKH paSJIHHHblX φρ33ΟΒΒΙΧ 3JICMeHTOB, yCTaHOBHJia 3Ty ΠΟΗΧΟjioriwecKyK) o ocHOBaHHocrb. OKaaanocb, HTO Bspocjiwe Hafle Ho pasninaioT o6a THna CAHHHU, OHCHL 6biCTpo o6pa6aTbiBa« porn» arenca H zieficrByiomHii naziOK, a HTO CTM, ΧΟΤΛ Ha^OKMO pa3JIH4aK)T eAHHHUbl pOJIH Ae CTBHfl (onHTb B HOJIbSy areHca), ne pasnanaior nafle»cHbix € HHHU. B o meM, BsaHMOfleKcrBim MC ^y o6pa6oTKoii ceMaHTHHecioix e HHmi H npH3HaKOB noBepxHOCTHo CTpyKTypw He HJIO.

On the relation between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics

Abstract: There is yet much confusion over the relation between syntax and semantics. From the clear assertion that \"grammar is autonomous and independent of meaning\" (Chomsky, 1957: 17), transformationalists have waivered to the position that \"the syntactic and semantic structure of natural languages evidently offers many mysteries, both of fact and of principle, and any attempt to delimit these domains must.certainly be quite tentative\" (Chomsky, 1965: 163). The related domain of PRAGMATICS has only recently begun to arouse interest among linguists and psycho-linguists. Just where it should fit into a theory of language is even less clear than the relation of syntax and semantics. It is the purpose of the present paper to attempt to define the notions SYNTAX, SEMANTICS, and PRAGMATICS and to show how they interrelate. It has become abundantly clear in the psycho-linguistic research of recent years that the process of human communication is far more intricate and varied than was once thought. Studies of the physical form of the Speech signal, for instance, have revealed far less consistency than had been anticipated with the advent of the spectrograph early in the 1940's. High hopes for an efficient voice typewriter, or reading machines for the blind soon dwindled, äs the enormity of the problems began to emerge and obstacle after obstacle was encountered (Liberman, et #/., 1967). It is clear now, that automatic Speech perception will require a good deal more than a simple pairing of speech Signals and words. Also, at the cognitive end of speech processes, applied linguists have tun afoul of numerous difficulties in trying to discover the psychological underpinmags of language.

ARABIC /žiim/. A SYNCHRONIC AND DIACHRONIC STUDY

Abstract: l .0 One of the most vexing problems in comparati ve Arabic dialectology and, for that matter, in comparative Semitic linguistics is the consonant /jiim/ Arabic script ^ «j», i.e. [j]; IPA [ds]; [dz] or [g] in other transcription Systems. This has troubled the Student äs well äs the teacher of Arabic. American students of Classical Arabic (i.e. Fu$hä or PAlluyah PAl-FastKaK), for example, are taught very early in their course of study to pronounce [j] whereas their teachers may pronounce [z] or [g], or both, or indeed all three (or even other phones, e.g. [dy], [gy], etc.), depending on certain criteria which are very difficult to define. Why do these

Producing complex sentences by applying relative transformations: a comparative study

Abstract: The authors investigate the performance of French speaking subjects — adults and children — required to produce complex sentences involving a relative transformation. This production is obtained from pairs of kernel sentences selected in a 4 3 treatment factorial design according to common noun phrase Position and verb type. The distribution of production type frequencies, computed in t wo different ways, reveals marked differences äs a function of embedding type (self-embedding or rightbranching) and pronoun type (Qui, Que, A qui 'who, that, to whom'). The selection of matrix sentence, together with error responses, points to a prevalent strategy: search for the most available production type. This economy strategy induces heuristics imequally fitting and proves to be more rigid in adults. An analysis of production types frequencies äs a function of general production level confirms these tendencies and sheds light on genetic evolution. RßSUMfi Production dephrases complexespar application d'une transformation relative: etude comparative Les auteurs etudient la performance de sujets francophones — enfants et adultes — ä qui on de mande de produire des phrases complexes comportant une transformation relative. Cette production est obtenue ä partir de couples de phrases noyaux choisis selon un plan factoriel ä 4 3 traitements suivant la position du syntagme nominal commun et le type de verbe. La repartition des frequences de types de production, calculee de deux manieres differentes, fait apparaitre de nets decalages suivant le type d'enchässement (autoenchässement ou derivation ä droite) et le type de pronom (Qui, Que, A qui). Le choix de la phrase matrice et les erreurs commises indiquent comme Strategie dominante la recherche du type de production le plus disponible. Cette stratogie de facilite induit des heuristiques plus ou moins bien adaptees et se developpe avec davantage de rigidito chez l'aldulte que chez Tenfant. PRODUCING COMPLEX SENTENCES 67 Une analyse des fre*quences de types de production en fonction du niveau global de production confirme ces tendances et oclaire Involution genotique. ΡΕ3ΪΟΜΕ Hpouseodcmeo cAOMCHonodHUHembix npedaoMcenu nocpedcmeoM παβορα omnocumeAbHbix mpancc opMaiju : cpaemmeAbuoe ucc/iedoeanue B AaHHo cxaTBe aBTOpbi ncejieAyioT peieeyio AeHTenbHOCTb ΗβκοτορΒίχ ΓΟΒΟρΗΙΐρΐΧ Ha φραΗΙ^30ΚΟΜ Α3ΒΙΚβ — B3pOCJIbK H ΑβΤβΟ —. HdlblTyeMblX ΠΟnpOCHJIH npOH3BeCTH CJIOXCHOnOAHHHeHHbie ΠρβΑΗΟ3Κ6ΗΗΗ, Β KOTOpLIX BKJIK)HHJIHCb oTHOCHTejn>Hbie TpaHCopMaimH. 3xo HPOHSBO CTBO nojiyHHJiocb H3 napnwx OTQ eHH , BbiGpaHHbix H3 4 χ 3 HcnbiTaHH ΠΟΜΟΠ^ΒΙΟ MOAejrapoφακτορα πο nosmiim HapmiaTeJibHbix ΗΜΟΗΗΒΙΧ φρα3 Η THny rnaronoB. PacnpeAeneHHe nacroTHOCTH ΤΗΠΟΒ nponssoACTBa, BBiHHCJiaeMoe yMH pasmiHHblMH CpeACTBOMH o6Hapy>KHBaeT SHaHHTeJIbHbie paSJIHHHH COFJiaCHO HX THΠΟΒΒΙΜ ΦΥΗΚΙΙΪΜΜ BKJiK>?emiH (caMOBKiQOHeHHH HJiH npaBocxopOHHero pasBcpTBiBaHHJl) H MeCTOHMeHHH (KTO, ΗΤΟ, KOMy). Bbi6op npe Jioaceiffla-MaTpHicbi, BMecie c onm oHHbnii TBexaMH, noKasbrnaer, HTO npeo JiaAaiomeit CTpaTeraeS ΑΒΗΛΟΤΟΗ HOHCK caMoro OCTyiraoro xmia npons. 3τα 3KanoMHHecKa CTpaferHH no y Aaex κ HepasnoMy npHMeHenmo H OKasbiBaeTCH y BSpocJiBix cTpo»ce HCM y Aexefi:. AHaJIH3 HaCTOTHOCTH ΤΗΠΟΒ npOH3BO£CTBa K3K ^yHKUBM O mCFO ypOBHH ΠΡΟΗ3noTBepacAaer STH naKHOHHOCTH H ocBemaex po^oeoe

The communication system of the speaker-actor and his culture a preliminary investigation

Abstract: 0. If this was a lecture and I tried to make the audience laugh a couple of times before introducing my topic, I would be doing something quite appropriate in North-American oratory, for that is pari of culture this side of the Atlantic, and part of what, for some years now, has been fascinating me: that is the many possibilities in the analysis of the Speaker of a language äs a member of bis culture, much more if we contrast him with a member of a different culture.

Toward a classification of southwest spanish nonstandard variants

Abstract: Although Black and Appalachian English have been receiving increasing attention in this day of heightened interest in 'social dialects', Southwest Spanish has been seriously neglected. Virtually the only complete description of any of its varieties, El espahol de Nuevo Mejico (1930; 1946), was completed by Espinosa and Rosenblat a quarter century ago, while a brief study by the writer furnished evidence of fairly striking differences, both lexical and grammatical, between the Spanish spoken north and south of Socorro, New Mexico (Ornstein, 1951). Not surprisingly, New Mexican Spanish, particularly in its northern New Mexico-southern Colorado form, has come in for the lion's share of linguistic attention, representing as it does a more or less direct reflex of the speech of sixteenth century conquistador es, developing in isolated rural surroundings, and exhibiting a considerable number of archaisms. Post's Southern Arizona Spanish Phonology (1934), completed almost forty years ago, is reliable and informative as far as it goes, while more up-to-date linguistic treatments of the Spanish of different localities of the area are mostly limited to unpublished theses and dissertations. No comprehensive study, then, exists of the Spanish spoken from

Some functions of the initial vowel in nkore-kiga

Abstract: Bantu languages may be divided into those like Swahili which have no initial vowel in indigenous noun forms and those like most other Northern Bantu languages in which nominals normally appear with the initial vowel (hereafter referred to äs IV). Nkore-Kiga is of the latter type, and some of its characteristics are held in common with more widely used languages, such äs Ganda, though not all the characteristics have been traced in neighbouring languages. Nkore-Kiga is a more or less homogeneous language spoken by about one million people living in the south-western corner of Uganda, just over half of whom call themselves Abanyankore, and the rest Abakiga. It belongs to that sub-section of Northern Bantu usually known äs InterLacustrine. As in similar languages, the IV in Nkore-Kiga appears äs a regularly distributed vowel at the beginning of noun-forms, which is determined by and varies with the class-prefix vocoid (I use this term from Pike to cover vocalic nasals). The Schema is äs follows:

Linguistic research in australia, new guinea, and oceania

Abstract: Australia and the insular world adjacent to it in the north and east contain about one-third of all the languages in the world — the New Guinea area alone around one thousand, and Australia about two hundred and sixty. Linguistic work in these areas has not been carnmensurate with the magnitude of the challenge — in many parts large-scale work has only started a few years or at best a decade or two ago, and the immensity of the task still facing linguistics concerned with the areas is quite staggering. Nevertheless, quite an impressive amount of work has been carried out to date, and some of it will be reviewed in brief below.

Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics — separate or integrated?

Abstract: The present paper deals with certain relations between psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. A basic assumption of the author is that the separate development of these two disciplines might be replaced by an integrated study combining both psycholinguistic (individual) and sociolinguistic (social and contextual) aspects of the functioning of language in human society. The first part of the paper surveys some newly developed research fields s social psychology of language, ethnography of communication, etc., which represent a connecting link between psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. The second part is devoted to the theory of functional stylistics providing linguistic prerequisites for a postulated 'psycho-socio-linguistics*.

Substitutes as 'replacements'

Abstract: Standard definitions of such terms as 'pronoun' and 'substitute' are quite vague, but the central notion to which they appeal is that of 'replacement'. 'Pronoun' is usually defined as a word that replaces a noun, 'substitute' as 'a linguistic form or grammatical feature which, under certain conventional circumstances, replaces any one of a class of linguistic forms'. But there has been little discussion in the literature concerning the proper interpretation of 'replacement' in these definitions. The definitions as they stand will hardly distinguish pronominalization from commutation, or substitution from transliteration or synonymy, much less indicate whether they are related, and if so, how. Despite the vagueness of the definitions, however, their boundaries have never been very seriously tested. True, there have been a few little skirmishes, in traditional treatments, over whether to admit such forms as one and other as pronouns, and the structuralists added a few more items, most notably the parallel substitutes. Generative treatments have not addressed themselves directly to the problem of determining the boundaries of such processes as pronominalization. The results of generative 'pronominalization' are, after all, the 'pronouns' of traditional grammar, with only minor adjustments. The very interesting work that has been done concentrates on other problems, e.g., whether pronouns should be introduced directly or by transformation, how constituents are to be indexed for reference, whether pronominalization is cyclical or not, when pronominalization can proceed backward, etc. Curiously, then, there remain, largely uninvestigated, two very fundamental and preliminary questions: (1) What sort of'replace-

Czech deictics: pronouns and articles?

Abstract: In a previous study it was suggested that Czech, usually classified as a language lacking definite or indefinite articles in the conventional sense, exhibits extensive marking of definiteness and indefiniteness. This marking is accomplished in various ways, for instance by the deictic ten (ία, to). Additional markers in this functional area are, of course, known in Czech as they are in languages which do exhibit articles; thus, nounphrases with demonstratives or possessives, or consisting of pronouns or proper nouns, are definite in English as well as in Czech. Deictic-definite signaling has received bibliographic emphasis at the expense of other devices, presumably since, where occurring, articles appear to descend from deictics. Perhaps the strongest expression of this emphasis on ten as an exponent of definiteness is found in Vachek and Firbas (1962: 68; translation mine): \"... in translating from modern English to modern Czech, we are able to replace the English definite by the Czech pronoun ten, ta, to in most cases.\" It seems then appropriate to describe, below, the functions of Czech deictics, with special consideration of ten, in particular as definitizers, and to examine the possibility that they might function as articles.

The concept of latency in contact language borrowing

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of latency in relation to contact language borrowing äs advanced by Roman Jakobson and elaborated by Uriel Weinreich. Latency should be understood to denote a structural predisposition in the source language to the acceptance of the units of the target language which accord with the evolur tionary tendencies of the source language but which are not the determinants of the direction in which the source language evolves. According to Jakobson, \"a language accepts foreign structural elements only when they correspond to its tendencies of development\", while Weinreich maintains that language contact and the resulting interference \"could be considered to have, at best, a triggering effect, releasing or accelerating developments which mature independently\", since, according to him, \"such latent internal tendencies by definition, exist without Intervention of foreign influence\". We shall put this concept pf latency to the test in the language contact Situation äs it exists between Mexican Spanish and the Maya of the Yucatecan Peninsula of Mexico and äs it relates to the interinfluences of these two languages on their respective segmental phopological Systems. Prior to an examination of this concept, we wish to outline briefly the background against which Jakobson and Weinreich framed their hypotheses. The linguistic atmosphere in which these hypotheses were formulated was readily accepting of them for two reasons: (1) they were in accord with the structural thinking of the day concerning language change, and (2) they went counter to the increasingly unpopulär thinking

Transfer and Interference as Special Cases of Induction and Substitution.

Abstract: A theory of first language acquisition based on the principles of induction and substitution is proposed. It is assumed that language is pragmatic in nature, and that the use of language is governed by probabilistic rules. Within this framework, transfer and interference are defined s special cases of induction and Substitution based on similarities of elements and contexts. Experimental data from first and second language processing are discussed and some implications for foreign language teaching are explored briefly. It is concluded that contextual differentiation of similar structures is necessary to maximize transfer and minimize interference.

Multilingual speakers’ problems in decoding in a second language

Abstract: EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Communication (Thought Transfer); *Communication Problems; Comparative Analysis; Educational Experiments; English; *Error Patterns; Language Research; *Learning Difficulties; Linguistic Competence; Monolingualism; *Multilingualism; Phonology; Psycholinguistics; Second Language Learning; *Second Languages; Semantics; Suprasegmentals; Surface Structure; Syntax; Thought Processes

Position and affrication in northumbrian old english

Abstract: In 1947 John W. Watson, Jr. stated that the affrication of Germanic k had not taken place in non-initial, especially absolute final, position in Northumbrian Old English, basing himself on a study of place-names in the six counties of original Northumbrian territory. This theory, which in effect reestablishes the existence of the so-called fc-dialect in English, has not been disputed to date. The present study refutes Watson's position on the following grounds: (1) that there are place-names with /c/ in both final and medial positions, in the sense of Watson; (2) that, owing to inflection and compound formation, there can be no certainty concerning the 'final' position of a stem-ending k; and (3) that the Separation of voiced and voiceless affricates in the consideration of the Ä>dialect is phonologically unsound.

Seven substitution exercises for studying the structure of discourse

Abstract: In the Summer Institute of Linguistics, we have felt the lack of pedagogical devices which would make it easy and feasible to introduce beginning students — in the first week of their exposure to linguistic theory — to the practical analysis of discourse, with exercises comparable in difficulty to those used, say, for phonemics. We wanted these exercises, furthermore, to introduce the students to the theory of translation — not just to an approach to the internal structure of the syntagmemes of some one language. The exercises by way of re-workings of discourse, such as we are reporting here, have been the most effective introduction to the theory of translation which we have so far devised, since each story re-worked in the required manner suggests comparable readjustments which are sometimes necessary in passing from one language to another.

The english absolute construction

Abstract: 1.0. The English absolute construction is of rather significant rhetorical importance, and it contains certain grammatical features that are especially interesting, from the point of view of 'universal grammar'. It shall be the purpose of this paper to give a succinct statement of certain permissible absolute structures in English, and to put the constructions in their place within the wider context of constructions without overt surface marking of the copula.