Antecedent (grammar)

About: Antecedent (grammar) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1392 publications have been published within this topic receiving 41824 citations.

The Case of Competing Back-Referencing Pronoun Variants with Information Structural Functions in Hungarian

Abstract: This paper aims to reveal the entire system of profiles of pronominal distribution (PPD) in sentence-internal back-referencing to singular entities in Hungarian. In this language the following three types of pronoun are in competition: the distal demonstrative pronoun az ‘that’, the third person personal pronoun ő ‘(s)he’, and a pronoun which can be regarded as the weak variant of the latter. Although the basic division of labor among the three forms is that the demonstrative pronoun refers to an entity with a [–HUMAN] feature and the two versions of the personal pronoun to a [+HUMAN] entity, the opposite ways of back-referencing are not excluded either (Pleh and Radics, Altalanos Nyelveszeti Tanulmanyok XI:261–277, 1976; Pleh, Hungarian linguistics. Linguistic and literary studies in Eastern Europe 4. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 1982; Kenesei, The syntactic structure of Hungarian. Syntax and semantics 27. Academic Press, San Diego-New York, 1994:329). We discuss the following factors deciding PPD with respect to acceptability in complex-sentence-internal back-referencing: (i) the oblique versus non-oblique case marking of the pronoun, (ii) the [±HUMAN] character of the antecedent, (iii–iv) the information structural function of the antecedent and that of the pronoun (including topics, foci, also-quantifiers and postverbal non-operators), and (v) the specificity of the antecedent. It will be demonstrated that quantifiers behave radically differently from the other three information-structural functions. An exact rule system exhaustively deciding the PPD’s will also be provided.

The Retrospective Sentence Pattern ‘shàngqiě p,hékuàng q’

Abstract: The paper is a study of the compound sentence pattern of ‘shangqiě(尚且) p,hekuang(何况) q’ in modern Chinese in terms of syntax marker,antecedent p and consequent q,the semantic relations,which is accompanied by an analysis of its status as a sentence pattern,pragmatic value and discourse context. shangqiě p,the antecedent p,is a typical marker for concessive relationship and hekuang q the consequent q,is correspondingly a basic marker for progressive relationship. Such sentence pattern reflects the inference process of ‘proving something profound with a plain example’,which is realized through the concession in the former clause and the retrospective deduction in the latter. The ‘profound’ and ‘plain’ refer to the syntactic meanings of p and q due to their positions,but not their property. Such sentences usually appear at the intersecting point of progressive sentences and deductive sentences. Compared with the clause introduced by jiran(既然),the shangqiě clause gives prominence to its nature of truth-proving,which,more often than not,makes it to play the role of a connector.

Spanish Relative Pronouns and Adjectives

Abstract: To many teachers, as well as to pupils, Spanish "Relatives" cause constant confusion. In the pages of HISPANIA during the last few years, considerable debate has gone on over the best way of simplifying for students the differences between ser and estar. Now that problem has been considerably clarified. In order to open a similar discussion about relatives, I offer the following outline, acknowledging that there are differences of opinion about which relative to use in a given circumstance, but feeling that, in general, the practice here suggested can be followed with safety, though it may not be the only possible way of expressing the idea. A. QUE 1. The most common relative pronoun is que, which immediately follows its antecedent, either a person or a thing. When used with prepositions, it usually refers to things. Este es el hombre que viene This is the man who is coming. Estos son los libros que me gustan These are the books that I like. 2. Que may be used as the object of verbs, referring to both persons and things. Las personas que veo aqui ... The people that I see here ... Los libros 'que compre ... The books that I bought ... 3. When referring to things, que may be used as the object of short prepositions, like a, de, and en. With por and para, and sometimes with con, the longer form, el que, la que, etc., is usually used to avoid confusion with porque, conque, etc. 4. Que must follow its antecedent closely, even if the sentence has to be recast.

Teaching French Conjunction and Text Grammar

Abstract: The intention of this paper is modest. It aims to demonstrate a possibility of characterizing a connector "et" in French in a logical and semantic point of view and to make a modest contribution to teaching French conjunction. The sentences or propositions are connected when the coherence is assured in the sequence of sentences in which they take part as an element. The most general restriction on the linear coherence. connexion, is that facts denoted by propositions be chained such that the antecedent constitutes a condition for the consequent. This relation of dependence is a crucial factor for the conjunction to hold true. Of course. this truth is relative and valid in a given universe of credence. What is true for one is not necessarily true for another. The truth itself being relative. the truth condition for the relation of dependence has general validity; one proposition is a condition for another when they are connected to the same topiC of discourse. This topic determines the semantic range in which the conjunction can be valid and its connexton is thereby assured.