Indian Journal of Language and Linguistics
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A Diachronic Hypothesis about Imperfective unnu in Malayalam
Get PDFAcross languages, the imperfective is associated with three distinct readings－“event in progress”, “habitual or generic” and “continuous” with stative predicates. In Malayalam, the suffix unnu had been identified as the imperfective suffix in linguistic literature. However, it has been noted in subsequent studies that the “generic or habitual” reading with unnu is distinctly different from a typical generic reading and that such ‘typical generic’ readings are obtained by the modal um in Malayalam. This has also led to the claim that unnu is not an imperfective marker, but an iterative pluractional bundled with progressive aspect. This paper attempts to deal with this puzzle differently, arguing that unnu is a progressive marker in the process of becoming an imperfective in Malayalam. A description of the properties of unnu-sentences, contrasting them with sentences that use the progressive marker uka and sentences that use the modal/generic marker um, is attempted. The paper also explores the role of uND(ə), the existential copula, in obtaining habitual and episodic readings with unnu. This alternative account for unnu is shown to be supported by opinions of traditional grammarians in history as well as theories of grammaticalization in diachronic semantics. It is also hypothesized that this process is blocked or halted in Malayalam by a suffix devoted to generic constructions and previously unexplored in the literature
Multiple Determiners in Magahi: A Case Beyond Agreement
Get PDFThe paper proposes that Magahi, a modern Indo-Aryan language, presents the phenomenon of multiple determiners in the syntax of modification and argues that the phenomenon is not a simple case of agreement in definiteness in the noun phrase whereby the additional determiner carries a similar semantic feature. I present examples that contest the possibility of it as a case of concord or agree. For the semantic motivation of the phenomenon, following Plank (2003) & Kumar (2020), the paper claims that the definite determiner /-wa/ in Magahi is not an exclusively dedicated definiteness morpheme, and therefore, the language needs an additional linguistic element. I claim that the additional determiner weakens the definiteness of the definite determiner /-wa/, creating a projection problem in the overall referentiality of the NP. By further describing the individual semantics of the determiner on the noun and the adjective, the paper claims that the determiner on the adjective exudes the semantics of specificity that can co-occur with the numeral. However, the determiner on the noun has the semantics of familiarity or identifiability. The paper further provides an exhaustive account of semantic and structural description and motivation of the phenomenon
Development of The English Language in Parallel with the Changing Socio-Cultural Trends in India
Get PDFThis paper explores several political and historical events intersected with concepts from sociology to examine the growth and development of the English language in India during the pre-Independence and after independence eras. This development is viewed in parallel with the changing societal setup by utilising concepts like westernisation and modernisation that helped facilitate education and promote social equality among the people by shrinking the persisting barrier of caste system to a profound extent and diminishing the role of indigenous concepts of social upliftment like Sanskritisation. After foreseeing the number of speakers of English that gives rise to the standard variety of English in India, i.e., Indian English, its potential in a socio-cultural context, and the interest among subsequent learners of the language, the paper concludes that the growth prospects for English appear to be vital, and it will continue to emerge as an essential language in the coming generations in India
A Study on Topicalization and Focalization in the Zanjani Dialect
Get PDFTopicalization and focalization are syntactic issues studied in a variety of languages. Topicalization is defined as the proposing of a constituent to the beginning of the sentence. It has the old information and the rest of the sentence is about it. Focalization, on the other hand, is a process in which a constituent may stay put in its canonical position represented by a relativizer or may be preposed, but bearing the new information. To study these issues, we studied the Zanjani dialect, an offshoot of the Azeri language. We analyzed sentences in a number of film scripts and found that the minimal program may not be able to deal with these issues in this dialect, and that information structure theories may be used to consider topicalization and focalization in this dialect
Using PPT as an Effective Cutting Edge Tool for Innovative Teaching-Learning
Get PDFOne of the fundamental purposes and goals of learning and teaching around the world has been the active participation of students in higher education institutions. The teacher's knowledge alone is insufficient to ensure that the students understand the subject during the curricular transaction. The manner in which the lecture is delivered is equally important. As a result, in addition to the conventional method, PowerPoint presentations are being used on a larger scale. Furthermore, it enhances students' sense of pleasure and commitment and assists the teacher in attaining its objectives. It can also play an important part in creating a dynamic environment for teaching and learning when deployed as an efficient cutting-edge tool. In this paper, the focus is given on understanding using PPT as an effective cutting edge tool for innovative teaching-learning and impressive presentation through a questionnaire-based online survey of 915 students and teachers from 20 different states and 2 Union Tertiaries of India and 6 overseas countries too. The analysis of the collected data confirms that using multiple modalities in PPT might bring together all types of learners, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual and provide them the opportunity to be active learners and increase their interactivity
ki and naki - Alternative Question Particles in Bangla
Get PDFThe primary discussion of the paper is centered on two polar question particles in the Eastern Indo-Aryan language Bangla. One is ‘ki’ and the other one is ‘naki.’ These two polar question particles also appear as interrogative disjunction morphemes in alternative questions. This further leads to the argument that there exists a disjunction operator in both polar and alternative questions and the polar question particle is the lexical realization of that disjunction operator
Prosodic Experimentation in Hopkins’ Poetry
Get PDFThe paper aims to explore prosodic experimentation and musical sensibility designed for limning the dynamism observed in the Victorian world by the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins in his poetry, especially, in “The Windhover”, “God’s Grandeur”, “Pied Beauty”, “Inversnaid” and “Spring”. Through a close reading of the prosody, rhythm, rhyme, metrics, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia in Hopkins’ poems from the theoretical paradigms of the prosody, and sprung rhythm, propounded by Hopkins himself, and some other theorists, the study is an attempt to prove how Gerard Manley Hopkins exploits the rhythmic novelty to give each poem a distinctive design to capture his apprehension of dynamism, the intense thrust of energy in nature. The finding is that it was the Victorian culture and milieu evoked by the Second Industrial Revolution, technological advance, and Hopkins’ conviction that God manifested in the material world that influenced him to use innovative rhythmic patterns in his poetry so that we could perceive how the universe is characterized by a distinctive design that constitutes individual identity. It is expected that researchers intending to observe the prosodic techniques in poetry in general and Hopkins in particular can take the paper as a reference
Demonstratives in Arabic: Evidence from Taizi Yemeni Arabic and Hodeidi Yemeni Arabic
Get PDFThis study aims at exploring demonstratives in two dialects: Hodeidi Yemeni Arabic and Taizi Yemeni Arabic, and comparing them to Modern Standard Arabic. The description of the demonstratives in the two dialects along with Modern Standard Arabic focused on tracing the syntactic and semantic evidence they are like to exhibit. The model used to undertake the analysis follows Diessel (1999). Although demonstratives attracted considerable scholarly attention, the literature reflects a scarcity of research on the two dialects chosen for this study. The findings reveal that the two dialects somehow differ from Modern Standard Arabic. It is concluded that the differences between Modern Standard Arabic and the two other dialects are confined to a semantic aspect. As for the similarities, the study evidences that demonstratives in Modern Standard Arabic, Taizi Yemeni Arabic, and Hodeidi Yemeni Arabic syntactically belong to two categories (demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adverbs) and they can occur in more than one syntactic context. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that Taizi Yemeni Arabic and Hodeidi Yemeni Arabic almost share similar linguistic features as far as demonstratives are concerned. The study ends up recommending further research on more Yemeni dialects
Teaching L2 Listening in EFL Large Classes of Mixed-Ability University Students
Get PDFThis paper attempts to summarize what is known about the nature and process of listening. It also tries to relate theoretical issues to classroom practices. Teaching L2 listening in EFL large classes is not a passive process but an active one which assists students construct meaning in their mind. The paper then introduces listening types and different strategies that teachers can select to suit their listening teaching at language schools in general and in university in particular in which activities viewed from top-down, bottom-up, and interactive approaches are recommended. The paper focuses on activities and strategies such as lecturing, teacher talks and student talks that mainly occur at university settings. Web-based resources, online listening training with technology, and online assessment tools are also introduced. The paper ends with limitations and conclusion that encourage teachers and educators to further investigate related issues of this listening topic
Translation between register analysis and critical discourse analysis
Get PDFIn the present piece of research, we argue that translation cannot be effective unless the purpose and the audience are clearly identified. One of the main lessons we have learned during this journey is the need for a thorough register analysis of the source text before translation, in addition to the necessity of embedding the target text in its immediate cultural environment within a critical discourse analysis. In this respect, an analysis of the article “Asymmetric struggle for the hearts and mind of viewers: Can the media actually trigger sympathy towards terrorists? (Maoz, 2010), which was translated by Badia Elharraki (2012), will give the reader an idea about the difficulty of translation because this article, if translated without some modifications at the lexical level, will have huge undesirable effects on the Arab/Muslim audience