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Passives without actives: Evidence from verbless complement clauses in Spanish
No full textAbstractThis paper proposes a constructionist analysis à la Goldberg (1995, 2003, 2006) of passive verbless configurations in Spanish lacking a felicitous active counterpart, as in (1) below:
(1) Mr John Spencer no era lo que se dic-e un hombre intachableMr John Spencer NEG be.IMPPRET.3SG D E F . N . S G REL PASS say-PRS.3SG INDF man irreproachable‘Mr John Spencer was not what you may call an irreproachable man’ (CREA Corpus, 1980, Anónimo, Los tripulantes de ovnis)
Under the paradigmatic – rather than syntagmatic – view of passives invoked in this paper, configurations of the type in (1) above, attested with a number of verba cogitandi et dicendi, are handled as instances of the Impersonal Subjective-Transitive construction, whose general skeletal meaning is X (NP1) attributed Y (XPCOMP) by Z (NP2) in a direct, categorical way. Moreover, the analysis proposed here also provides a satisfactory account of the distribution of grammatical subjects and the XPCOMPs, while also capturing the commonalities with “regular” passives (i.e. those with a felicitous active counterpart). In addition, Spanish passive verbless complement configurations with se dice (‘is said’) are shown to illustrate a three-point continuum consisting of (i) non-grammaticalized configurations with an active counterpart, (ii) non-grammaticalized configurations without an active counterpart, and (iii) grammaticalized configurations without an active counterpart. From a synchronic point of view, the structural and semantico-pragmatic properties exhibited by the lower-level lo que se dice XPFOCUS construction, involving afocusing/emphasizer subjunct function (e.g. verdaderamente ‘really’) as well as a reformulatory connective use (e.g. o sea ‘that is’, en otras palabras ‘in other words’) appear to point to an early process of grammaticalization, exhibiting decategorialization as well as generalization of meaning in conjunction with a prominent increase in pragmatic function and subjectification (cf. Traugott 1988, 1995a, 1995b, 2003)
Aspects of the Constructional Nature of Agreement
No full textThis contribution is intended to show that agreement is a schematic construction (Culicover & Jackendoff 2005: 192; Steels 2011: 27; Hoffmann 2013: 310), of the core kind (like Goldberg´s argument structure constructions), and that this construction shares with the rest of the constructicon the very same cognitive principles that structure it: categorization, metaphorical extension, metonymy, Gestalt formation and prototypicality effects, usage-based self-structuring, and portions of idiosyncrasy which nevertheless show signs of resting on independently identifiable general cognitive principles. Like all constructions, agreement has a symbolic nature, with a form side (formal co-variance) and a meaning side (‘Unify’). Besides those general dimensions, two particular facts about the grammar of agreement need to be accounted for: the first is the Agreement Hierarchy (Corbett 1979; 2006); the second is the fact that, given vast cross-linguistic differences in the size of the morphological component, which agreement capitalizes on, we should be able to see how languages exhibit different ‘ecologies’, that is, different reflexes of the size (and the frequency) of their agreement systems in the rest of the grammar. Although this work has no serious typological pretensions, agreement operations will be illustrated using English and Spanish, as these two languages show two rather extreme positions in their morphological repertoire. This approach thus assumes that agreement (like transitivity or caused-motion) may be seen as a cross-linguistically valid construction with particular instantiations, and that these instantiations depend to a very large extent on the size of the morphology in a way that will be made precise. Finally, experimental evidence will be used to argue that agreement is very strongly usage-based
The interaction between passive constructions and lexical verb constructions in Swedish
No full textIn this study I approach the question of passive choice in Swedish from a lexical perspective. Swedish has two types of passive, a morphological passive formed with the ending -s and a periphrastic passive formed with an auxiliary and the past participle of the verb. The latter passive has two variants, the bli-passive and the vara-passive with different auxiliaries (bli ‘become’, vara ‘be’). The s-passive is the unmarked passive, whereas the periphrastic passive is subject to restrictions of use. The overall reasons for the choice between the two passives is well known, but a great deal of variation can be detected behind the neat general patterns. Searches in a corpus of about 40 million words reveal that only a few verbs are frequently used in more than one passive type, but even so, there are such verbs. Factors turning up behind the alternation – additional to verb meaning and type of subject – are text type, genre, semantic frame, and the dimension known–unknown for the subject. Moreover, many collocational patterns appear, and to some extent, no clear reason for a choice can be found. On the basis of these variable patterns I discuss the problems of describing constructions. What factors belong to which level of generality of the description? Is the text type or frame, for instance, a general factor or is it verb specific? Do statistical data need to be accounted for? In my study I present more questions than I have answers for. For me, with a background in lexicography, Construction Grammar is an appealing theory since it takes meaning into account; but the ambition to describe “everything” through the same formality and to include all phenomena between syntax and lexicon is a challenge
A constructionist approach to the development of the Spanish topic marker en cuanto a ‘in terms of’
No full textThe diachronic development of topic markers in Romance languages such as Spanish en cuanto a ‘in terms of’ is still a research desideratum. With regard to topic markers in general only the development of French quant à has been investigated extensively so far (cf. Combettes et al, eds., 2003). However, it has never been analysed against the background of Construction Grammar (CxG), as the framework of CxG is still not often applied in Romance linguistics (but see De Knop et al, eds., 2013 and Boas / Gonzálvez-García, eds., 2014). So one goal of this qualitative and quantitative study is to describe en cuanto a as a construction. In detail, the present study asks: How is en cuanto a to be described at both the formal and the meaning level? How can the construction’s use and its restrictions of use be described? And to what extent can the development of en cuanto a be regarded a case of constructional change (cf. Hilpert 2013)
Ordinal numeral constructions in Akan
No full textNumerical thinking is so flexible that it is possible for numbers to be used in a variety of contexts, where they assess properties of empirical objects, and relations between numbers are associated with relations between empirical objects. This is called number assignment (Wiese 2003a) and three basic types are distinguished – cardinal, ordinal and nominal number assignments (Wiese 2007: 759-760). This paper looks at ordinal number assignment, which is the expression of the relative rank or position (first, second, third, etc.) of items in ordered sets, so that a particular element of the set is assigned a place within that fixed order (Stampe 1976: 600; von Mengden 2010: 21). The set of ordered entities that are assigned number in ordinal numeral assignment is referred to as the ordinal space. Focusing on the formal means of expression, it is shown that Akan ordinal expressions inherit their formal structure from verb phrases in the language. This makes them structurally regular, although they constitute constructions some of whose elements are prespecified, making them constructional idioms (Booij 2002; Jackendoff 2002). It is shown that Akan ordinal numerals contain cardinal numeral constituents which identify the relative rank of entities in the ordinal space. It is also shown that there is a class of ordinal-like verb phrases which also identify ranks of ordered entities. However, they are not regarded as ordinal numerals because they do not contain numbers and so they only express successor relations non-numerically, making them incapable of referring to specific positions in ordered items. In the presentation of the data and analysis I employ formalism from Construction Morpholog
Deutsch Deutsch: Deutsch
No full textWährend des gesamten Jahres 2021 wurde die deutsche Politik von der anhaltenden COVID-19-Pandemie und der Debatte über die Einschränkung der persönlichen Freiheiten zur Bekämpfung der Krankheit beherrscht. Vor diesem Hintergrund bereiteten sich die deutschen Parteien auf die Bundestagswahl im September vor. Die Sozialdemokraten hatten bereits im Vorjahr ihren Kanzlerkandidaten Olaf Scholz nominiert und die Grünen nominierten im Frühjahr ihre Parteivorsitzende Annalena Baerbock als Kandidatin für den Regierungsvorsitz. Die Auswahl des christdemokratischen Kanzlerkandidaten war dagegen von einem heftigen Streit zwischen den Spitzen von CDU und CSU geprägt. Am Ende setzte sich der neu gewählte CDU-Chef Armin Laschet durch. Weithin wurde erwartet, dass die CDU/CSU die Wahlen in der ersten Hälfte des Jahres 2021 gewinnen würde, aber ein katastrophaler Wahlkampf und persönliche Fehler von Armin Laschet führten zu einem kontinuierlichen Abstieg in den Umfragen. Die Grünen konnten davon nicht profitieren, denn ihre Kandidatin Annalena Baerbock hatte zu Beginn des Wahlkampfs erhebliche Glaubwürdigkeitsprobleme in Bezug auf ihren Lebenslauf. Am Ende gewann die SPD, deren Kandidat erfolgreich Fehler vermieden hatte, mit knappem Vorsprung und bildete eine Regierung mit den Grünen und den Liberalen.
Throughout 2021 German politics was dominated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the debate over restrictions of personal freedoms in order to control the disease. Against this backdrop, German parties prepared for the Bundestag election in September. The Social Democrats had already nominated their Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz in the previous year and the Greens nominated their party leader Annalena Baerbock as candidate for governmental leadership in spring. The selection of the Christian Democratic Chancellor candidate, on the contrary, was marked by intense conflict between the leaders of the CDU and CSU. In the end, the newly elected CDU leader Armin Laschet prevailed. Still, CDU/CSU was widely expected to win the election during the first half of 2021, but a disastrous campaign and personal mistakes of Armin Laschet led to a continuous decline in the polls. The Greens could not benefit from this as their candidate Annalena Baerbock had run into severe credibility problems related to her CV at the beginning of the campaign. In the end, the SPD, whose candidate had successfully avoided mistakes, won by a narrow margin and formed a government with the Greens and the Liberals
Strukturschwäche und Personalprobleme an der „Wiege der Demokratie“: aktuelle Herausforderungen für die Parteien auf der kommunalen Ebene
No full textDie Politik auf der kommunalen Ebene rückt immer stärker in den Fokus der Politikwissenschaft. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, wie sich die allgemeine Entwicklung der Parteien in Deutschland auf die Gebietsverbände vor Ort auswirkt. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die aktuellen Herausforderungen, vor denen die Bundes-, Landes- und insbesondere Kommunalparteien stehen. In diesem Zusammenhang gehen die Autoren sowohl auf die Mitgliederbestände als auch auf die Personalsituation der Parteien ein, um anschließend konkrete Vorschläge für den Umgang mit den skizzierten Herausforderungen zu unterbreiten und kurz zu diskutieren. Im empirischen Teil fokussieren sie sich aufgrund der vorliegenden Daten teilweise auf die Parteien im Freistaat Sachsen sowie auf ausgewählte Oberbürgermeisterwahlen sowie Landratswahlen (in ganz Deutschland)
Parteienfinanzierung
No full textDie Rubrik Parteienfinanzierung im Spiegel der Rechtsprechung nimmt die im Zusammenhang mit der Finanzierung politischer Parteien oder ihnen nahestehender Organisationen ergangene Rechtsprechung in den Blick. Im Berichtsjahr 2016 ging zunächst die NPD im Wege der Einstweiligen Anordnung vor dem BverfG gegen eine von ihr verlangte Sicherheitsleistung für eine Abschlagszahlung der staatlichen Parteienfinanzierung vor. Das BVerwG hingegen hatte sich mit den Anforderungen an eine Strafbefreiende Selbstanzeige bei Verstößen gegen parteienfinanzierungsrechtliche Vorschriften, bezogen auf die Möllemann-Affäre, zu befassen. Letztlich beschäftigte auch die Finanzierung parteinaher Stiftungen die Gerichte
Koschmieder, Carsten: Partizipation in der Piratenpartei. Die Schattenseiten einer sonnigen Utopie, Barbara Budrich, Opladen 2016
No full textDas Bundesverfassungsgericht und die Politikfinanzierung: Zu den Zulässigkeitsvoraussetzungen eines Organstreitverfahrens
No full textDer Beitrag setzt sich kritisch mit dem nach dreijähriger Bearbeitungszeit vom BVerfG als unzulässig abgewiesenen Organstreitverfahren der ÖDP zur Mittelzuweisung an Fraktionen und politische Stiftungen im Haushalt 2012 auseinander. Nach einer kurzen Vorstellung des Sachverhaltes werden die Erwägungen des Senates dargestellt. Dieser lehnte die Organklage nicht nur wegen Verfristung ab. Vielmehr hätte die ÖDP darlegen müssen, dass der Bundestag schon durch die Bewilligung der Mittel einer missbräuchlichen Verwendung der Mittel Vorschub geleistet habe. Sodann werden die Anforderungen an die Antragsbefugnis gem. § 64 I BVerfGG genauer dargestellt und die Erwägungen des Senates kritisch hinterfragt