1,720,990 research outputs found
Expressing multiplicity in Ktunaxa : groups, sentience, and the structure of number
No full textA correlation between degree of sentience and number-marking is seen across languages (Corbett 2001), where some or all number-marking in a language is restricted to more sentient referents. It has also been observed that while number-marking typically tracks an atom/plurality contrast, some forms of number-marking seem to track a meaning distinct from cardinality based plurality (Moravcsik 2003). In this thesis, I propose that the two phenomena are linked: that sentience restrictions are fed by the structure and meaning of number, organized according to what I call group number. Where cardinal number is evaluated relative to a one-place property of atomicity or plurality, group number is true relative to a two-place relation which holds between members of a group. In so doing, it tracks whether an atomic or plural entity is an unassociated set, or organized under a group relation.
Ktunaxa, an isolate spoken in the the Columbia River Basin, provides an ideal case study: its number-marking is restricted to sentient-referring predicates, forms groups rather than cardinal pluralities, and includes morphology which introduces relational meaning. By demonstrating that Ktunaxa number is a group number system, I account for the interpretation and distribution of number-marking in the language. Further, I show that sentience restrictions arise as a consequence of that structure: since groups are defined according to a relation which must hold among their members, the truth conditions of that relation may impose restrictions on the group it forms. I propose that Ktunaxa number-markers introduce an intentional group relation (as in Ritchie 2013), which only sentient entities are able to participate in.
Besides providing a first in-depth analysis of Ktunaxa number and valency, this research gives a new framework for understanding number systems which show similar sensitivities. This has relevance for languages with restricted number-marking, especially ones with associative or collective meaning. It also provides a new way to interpret sentience restrictions in number-marking cross-linguistically. Rather than directly mapping number marking to sentience, group number allows intention or perception to mediate between the two domains.Arts, Faculty ofLinguistics, Department ofGraduat
Use of number and gender features in the interpretation of Spanish noun ellipsis
Full text linkVarious studies have investigated the formal properties of Spanish noun ellipsis (Saab 2010, Depiante & Masullo 2001, among others). The theory developed by Saab (2004, 2010) proposes that noun ellipsis in this language is licensed by matching two components between the elided noun and its antecedent: the gender feature and the lexical root. Crucially, there is no constraint requiring the matching of number features between these two elements. This study presents an experimental approach to investigate if Spanish speakers\u2019 online and offline interpretation of noun ellipsis reflects this theoretical distinction. A between subjects, combined eye tracking and picture selection task asks participants to identify the referent of an elided noun. The elided noun phrase matches or mismatches the antecedent in number or gender. While the test phrase is played, participants\u2019 gaze patterns are monitored before they point to the referent of the ellipsis at the end of the phrase, thus providing an online and offline measurement. This task was completed with both adult and child participants to see if the interpretation of ellipsis develops over time. The results provide evidence that for adults, gender mismatches are more difficult for participants to process than number mismatches, which is reflected in slower reaction times and fewer looks to target on gender mismatching trials. We also show that this pattern in adults is also reflected in the children\u2019s pointing data. Additionally, children\u2019s reduced performance on number items involving plural markers is interpreted as a reflection of the delayed acquisition of plural morphology that has been previously documented in Spanish-speaking Chilean Children.Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Linguistics, 2015Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-99
Complement coercion and the semantics of aspectual verbs
No full textThis thesis investigates the semantics of complement coercion (CC). The most prominent account of this phenomenon is due to Pustejovsky (1991, 1993), who essentially argues that it can be explained via a type-shift in nominal complements. However, this analysis suffers from two major empirical drawbacks. For one, it incorrectly predicts the ungrammaticality of certain sorts of coordinate constructions. It also overgeneralizes, predicting that the full range of aspectual verbs (AVs) in English should allow CC. It turns out, however, that only a subset of these verbs do. This thesis develops a theory of complement coercion which can account for the coordinate structure data and for the pattern of CC availability in AVs.This thesis advances a type-based analysis of CC in AVs. Specifically, it is proposed that AVs which allow CC differ in their type from those that do not. This analysis also captures the insight that the coercing verb, rather than the complement, is responsible for CC via an operator which shifts intransitive verbs that modify properties of times (such as AVs) into transitive verbs. Due to the proposed type difference between the two AV subclasses, it turns out that only certain AVs will allow CC. What emerges is a theory of CC which can account for data that eluded previous analyses and also makes novel predictions about the relationship between CC and other facets of tense and aspect in English.Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Linguistics, 2012Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-75
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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