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Author: Darcy Sperlich Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3030638758 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 250
Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive picture of reflexive pronouns from both a theoretical and experimental perspective, using the well-researched languages of English, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. In order to understand the data from varying theoretical perspectives, the book considers selected syntactic and pragmatic analyses based on their current importance in the field. The volume consequently introduces the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach, which is a novel theoretical synthesis incorporating a sentence and pragmatic processor that accounts for reflexive pronoun behaviour in these six languages. Moreover, in support of this model a vast array of experimental literature is considered, including first and second language acquisition, bilingual, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic and clinical studies. It is through both the intuitive and experimental data linguistic theorizing relies upon that brings out the strengths of the modelling adopted here, paving new avenues for future research. In sum, this volume unites a diverse array of the literature that currently sits largely divorced between the theoretical and experimental realms, and when put together a better understanding of reflexive pronouns under the auspices of the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach is forged.
Author: Darcy Sperlich Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3030638758 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 250
Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive picture of reflexive pronouns from both a theoretical and experimental perspective, using the well-researched languages of English, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. In order to understand the data from varying theoretical perspectives, the book considers selected syntactic and pragmatic analyses based on their current importance in the field. The volume consequently introduces the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach, which is a novel theoretical synthesis incorporating a sentence and pragmatic processor that accounts for reflexive pronoun behaviour in these six languages. Moreover, in support of this model a vast array of experimental literature is considered, including first and second language acquisition, bilingual, psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic and clinical studies. It is through both the intuitive and experimental data linguistic theorizing relies upon that brings out the strengths of the modelling adopted here, paving new avenues for future research. In sum, this volume unites a diverse array of the literature that currently sits largely divorced between the theoretical and experimental realms, and when put together a better understanding of reflexive pronouns under the auspices of the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach is forged.
Author: Douglas A. Vakoch Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1000920682 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 255
Book Description
Xenolinguistics brings together biologists, anthropologists, linguists, and other experts specializing in language and communication to explore what non-human, non-Earthbound language might look like. The 18 chapters examine what is known about human language and animal communication systems to provide reasonable hypotheses about what we may find if we encounter non-Earth intelligence. Showcasing an interdisciplinary dialogue between a set of highly established scholars, this volume: Clarifies what is and is not known about human language and animal communication systems Presents speculative arguments as a philosophical exercise to help define the boundaries of what our current science can tell us about non-speculative areas of investigation Provides readers with a clearer sense of the how our knowledge about language is better informed through a cross-disciplinary investigation Offers a better understanding of future avenues of research on language This rich interdisciplinary collection will be of interest to researchers and students studying non-human communication, astrobiology, and language invention.
Author: Georgia Fotiadou Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company ISBN: 9027249326 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 254
Book Description
Individual Differences in Anaphora Resolution: Language and cognitive effects explores anaphora resolution from different perspectives, and investigates various aspects of the phenomenon, as contributions include research protocols that combine old and new experimental methodologies as well as theoretical and empirical approaches. A central theme across volume contributions are the multiple linguistic and extralinguistic factors that constrain anaphora resolution, its processing and acquisition by a variety of populations (children and adults, monolinguals, bilinguals and second language learners) as well as the mechanisms underlying anaphora resolution. Anaphora resolution constitutes an ideal environment to test the interaction between domain-general cognitive systems and domain-specific linguistic sub-routines, since variability in referential preferences is not related to binding constraints (an integral part of syntax per se) but is closely tied to processing (functional constraints) modulated by the integration of discourse-filtered information.
Author: Sarah McCarty Publisher: GRIN Verlag ISBN: 3640772601 Category : Foreign Language Study Languages : en Pages : 20
Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (Institut für England- und Amerikastudien), course: Theory of Anaphora in Context , language: English, abstract: In this term paper I will investigate whether the implementation of reflexive pronouns through seventh grade English-schoolbooks is sufficient to let students understand and eventually use this phenomenon correctly. In the first part of this paper, I will begin with introducing the phenomenon. Here, I will give a short overview of how reflexive pronouns developed. Furthermore, I will present two different acknowledged theories (Chomsky and Reinhart & Reuland) and their conditions on reflexive pronouns. I will then show the two different usages of this phenomenon and will give examples of cases which are somewhat different from the common way of using it. In the second part, I will present the explanations and rules as they are given in the three most commonly used schoolbooks here in Hesse to show how reflexive pronouns are implemented. In part three, I will investigate in how far these rules are sufficient to explain the examples given in those schoolbooks respectively. I will furthermore analyze examples given in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost”, which are suggested for the use in seventh grade. Here, I will rather put my focus on somewhat more complex examples in order to find out whether those short rules apply for them as well. I will then conclude, whether my assumption that the explanations in these schoolbooks are not sufficient can be verified.
Author: Elly van Gelderen Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing ISBN: 9789027227607 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 302
Book Description
This book brings together a number of seemingly distinct phenomena in the history of English: the introduction of special reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself), the loss of verbal agreement and pro-drop, and the disappearance of morphological Case. It provides vast numbers of examples from Old and Middle English texts showing a person split between first, second, and third person pronouns. Extending an analysis by Reinhart & Reuland, the author argues that the 'strength' of certain pronominal features (Case, person, number) differs cross-linguistically and that parametric variation accounts for the changes in English. The framework used is Minimalist, and Interpretable and Uninterpretable features are seen as the key to explaining the change from a synthetic to an analytic language.
Author: Roger D Woodard Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 9004674500 Category : Foreign Language Study Languages : en Pages : 144
Book Description
In classical Attic Greek of the fifth century B.C., there are found six distinct forms of the reflexive pronoun: one form for each of the three persons of the singular and of the plural. This morphologically elaborate system is eventually replaced, however, by one in which there is only a single reflexive pronominal stem (-auto- or its variant èuto-). In On Interpreting Morphological Change, Woodard traces the course of this linguistic development through a period of approxi-mately six cen-turies. An analysis of this pr-cess of morpho-logical replacement reveals that the change is motivated by morphological redundancy and is sensitive to a hierarchy of grammatical relations.
Author: Deborah Heinen Publisher: GRIN Verlag ISBN: 3668415218 Category : Literary Collections Languages : en Pages : 23
Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: Prior linguistic knowledge - it seems plausible that the acquisition of a second language can be influenced by the learner’s knowledge of structures and rules of his or her first language . Especially similarities between languages are probably tending to either facilitate the learning process or to impede it (cf. Gundel & Tarone 1994: 87). This cross-linguistic influence is called “language transfer”, which can be described as negative when the application of L1 structures or rules on a L2 utterance leads to a linguistically incorrect expression (cf. Saville-Troike 2012: 19). Given the fact that similarities between languages might impede the learning process of the L2, the work in hand takes a closer look at reflexive pronouns in English and German. As “self-forms” in English and “sich-forms” in German look quite similar but differ in their use, they appear as a possible source of error for German learners of English. Therefore, the leading question of the paper is whether L2 English learners recognize the differences in the use of “self-forms” in English and the use of “sich” in German. The hypothesis is that, based on their L1 knowledge, German learners of English are likely to make use of reflexive pronouns more often than necessary. In other words, it is assumed that a negative language transfer is likely to occur due to the formal similarities between the L1 and L2. Further information on the theoretical basis of the study will be given in the second chapter, followed by the part on methodology that includes information on the informants, the research instruments, and the data collection procedure. In the following two chapters, the results of the study will be presented and, with regard to possible explanations and limitations, discussed. Finally, the main findings of the paper will be summarized. The reason for conducting this study is, in the first place, that the problem of language transfer is of great importance for the learner’s learning process of English as L2. Especially teachers of English should be aware of common sources of error, so they might be able to predict possible linguistic problems and support their students at their best to avoid such mistakes (cf. Odlin 1990: 4). Furthermore, previous studies in the field of cross-linguistic examinations on reflexive pronouns mainly referred to binding conditions and the like, whereas this paper deals with the frequency and correct application of reflexives by learners of English as L2.
Author: Alanah McKillen Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
"This dissertation is concerned with the interpretation of reflexive pronouns and how their interpretation requirements affect the formulation of Condition A in binding theory, with data being collected from English. In Standard Binding Theory, reflexives are as- sumed to be interpreted as bound variables only (Chomsky, 1981; Reinhart, 1983; Büring, 2005). This assumption is explicitly reflected in Condition A, which requires that reflex- ives must be locally bound variables. In this dissertation I question how well motivated this assumption is.To test the bound-variable-only assumption for reflexives, I investigate the readings that reflexives give rise to in VP-ellipsis and focus constructions. It has previously been observed that reflexives are ambiguous in VP-ellipsis, giving rise to both a strict and sloppy reading (Dahl, 1973; Sag, 1976; Hestvik, 1995; Fiengo and May, 1994). Rather than take this as evidence for both referentially interpreted and bound-variable reflexives, as is the case with ambiguities that arise with non-reflexive pronouns (Sag, 1976; Reinhart, 1983; Heim and Kratzer, 1998), previous accounts aim to derive strict readings of reflexives while maintaining the bound-variable-only assumption (Hestvik, 1995; Büring, 2005). However, I argue that these accounts run into problems which could be avoided if reflexives were able to be interpreted as co-referential with their antecedents, and not just as bound variables.The readings of reflexives in focus constructions have received far less attention. Judgements are mixed, with reflexives being claimed to only be interpreted as sloppy, and the strict reading being unavailable or marginal (McCawley, 1967; Heim and Kratzer, 1998; Reinhart and Reuland, 1993), which would seem to support the bound-variable- only assumption. Yet others - such as Dahl (1973), Büring (2005), Roelofsen (2008), and Ahn and Sportiche (2014) - claim both strict and sloppy readings are equally possible. I present experimental evidence in this dissertation which shows that strict reflexives in focus constructions are judged as acceptable to speakers, and argue that these readings cannot be accounted for with the assumption that reflexives are interpreted as bound variables only; and that instead, a binding theory is needed in which reflexives can be co-referential with their antecedents.With the need for co-referential reflexives established, the remainder of this dissertation is concerned with how Condition A can be formulated to incorporate this interpretation option, and how strict readings in VP-ellipsis and focus constructions will follow once it has been incorporated. I follow Sauerland (2013) in adopting a Condition A which is built into the compositional semantics as an argument identity presupposition, which will allow reflexives the option of co-reference, and accounts for strict readings as instances of weakened presupposition projection.Compared to the option of modifying Standard Binding Theory, this presuppositional approach appears to be more insightful, but is not without complications. In order for weakened projection to occur, Sauerland (2013) assumes that a presupposition must be purely presuppositional. I present data which are problematic for this assumption and outline a new direction for the conditions under which weakened projection in focus alternatives may proceed, which is based on the relation the presuppositional element bears to the focus-marked phrase." --
Author: Jacques Moeschler Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG ISBN: 3110218496 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 293
Book Description
This book presents both general issues in pragmatic theories and specific arguments for an inferential approach to pragmatics. At the present time, pragmatics is generally approached from the neo- and post-Gricean perspectives. These perspectives, which stem from philosophical theories of meaning, can be viewed as paradigms, that is, sets of concepts, procedures and results which structure scientific investigations. The main purpose of the book is to defend a new post-Gricean approach to the substantial lexicon and to the functional lexicon (tenses, connectives), and more specifically to explore lexical and non-lexical pragmatics. A precise approach to lexical and non-lexical pragmatic contents will be developed, with special emphasis on non-lexical temporal and causal information. A model for inferring temporal relations in discourse (the directional inferences model based on French data) is developed. This approach to temporal representations and inferences will be completed by a discussion on how causal inferences are triggered in discourse interpretation. The role of conceptual causal relations, as well as causal procedural information encoded in discourse connectives (mainly parce que ‘because’, donc ‘therefore’, et ‘and’), is empirically and theoretically supported. Pragmatic theory can be described as a very powerful interface system which gives access to lexical and functional information, and which contains rich pragmatic enrichment processes, for non-lexical information (quantifier, tenses, connectives) as well as for lexical information (event predicates). The book’s originality stems from its demonstration that pragmatic enrichment is structurally constrained, and occurs at the level of explicature.