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Non-finite verbs in Turkic are typically categorised as participles, converbs, and sometimes infinitives, with multiple uses of a form within one category considered to constitute multiple functions. This multifunctionality approach predicts that all non-finite verb forms within each of the categories should have the same range of syntactic functions. We show that this is not the case. Based on analysis of a representative set of Turkic languages (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Sakha, Tatar, Turkish, and Tuvan), we propose a categorisation based on morphological and syntactic properties of non-finite verbs, resulting in four categories: verbal nouns, verbal adjectives, verbal adverbs, and infinitives. Under this approach, forms that are typically labelled as participles end up categorised as verbal nouns, verbal adjectives, or both, and forms that are typically labelled as converbs end up categorised as verbal adverbs, infinitives, or both. Some forms even span these two divisions. When a non-finite verb form appears to exist in multiple categories, we consider this to be a case of syncretism; this is, there is a member of one category that has the same form as a member of another category. We propose historical trajectories that may have led to the types of situations that are attested, examine the limitations of this approach, and discuss its wider implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines aspectual cognate objects in Hungarian. Its main contribution lies in the syntactic and semantic analysis of three classes of accusative pseudo-objects, which are literally not cognate with the prototypical unergative verb they accompany but are demonstrated to be non-subcategorized and non-thematic elements that have the same role and the same syntactic and semantic properties as aspectual cognate objects in languages where these nominals are both semantically and morphologically related to the verb. In addition, the paper fills a typologically unexpected gap, considering that Hungarian, as a strong satellite-framed language, is predicted to have aspectual cognate object constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Univerbation is the syntagmatic condensation of a sequence of words recurrent in discourse into one word, as when the Spanish combination a tras (to back) becomes atrás 'behind'. It affects both lexemes and grammatical formatives. Unlike processes of word formation, including conversion of a syntactic construction into a word, as in forget-me-not, and compounding, as in Spanish lavaplatos 'dishwasher', univerbation is a spontaneous process. There are two main types of univerbation: phrasal univerbation downgrades a phrase to a word, as when Latin terrae motus 'earth's movement' becomes Spanish terremoto 'earthquake'. Transgressive univerbation coalesces a string of words which do not form a syntagma into a word, as when French par ce que becomes parce que. A set of univerbations may share structural features and may therefore evolve into a pattern of compounding. Thus, blackbird originated by univerbation, but may now provide a pattern of compounding. As a consequence, univerbation and compounding are not always easily distinguishable. The discussion uses empirical evidence adduced in earlier work, mostly from Romance and Germanic languages. Its aim is not to present novel phenomena but to provide a theoretical background for the phenomenology and improve on available analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In line with the traditional pronouncement that the weak (definite) forms of adjectives in Germanic follow the definite determiner, the Gothic weak-only adjective sama 'the same' (no indefinite form *sams, with the strong inflection -s, occurs) is determined (sa sama 'the same') in the majority of its attestations. However, contrary to the traditional description, occasionally it also occurs on its own, without a determiner. An examination of the syntactic distribution of the adjective and a comparison of the Gothic translation of the Bible with the Greek and Latin texts uncover a double semantic nature of sama. Specifically, when determined, sama conveys a definite/particularising force of 'the same'. In the absence of the determiner, however, it conveys the semantic value of 'one; of one kind'. The results of this investigation contribute to our understanding of the conditions that govern the distribution of strong vs. weak adjective inflections in early Germanic. In particular, they confirm the contention that the occurrence of the weak form of the adjective is not simply a matter of whether or not a definite determiner precedes it. Instead, the definite value of the adjective inflection is realised cumulatively (periphrastically), via the co-occurrence of the definite determiner and the weak adjective inflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of ad hoc categories ranges from discourse-level to syntactic and morphological strategies. Considering derivation in particular, it has been observed that also collective suffixes can be used for the identification of context-dependent sets. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relation between collectives and ad hoc categories by focusing on the Italian suffix -aglia and by discussing its diachronic relation with the Latin neuter nouns ending in -ālia. The discussion concerning the notion of collective will take into account a recent proposal that distinguishes between collective nouns, aggregate nouns, and superordinates. As will be shown, aggregate nouns are of particular interest for interpreting some Latin pluralia tantum in -ālia that denote sets of heterogeneous entities with similar properties. The same possibility to derive aggregate nouns characterizes the suffix -aglia that, when attached to proper nouns, can also convey associative meanings, or denote categories including persons and situations that share the named exemplar as a common denominator. As the analysis will show, the development of these functions correlates with the mechanisms of (inter)subjectification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a corpus-based analysis of child-directed speech during Flemish family dinner table interactions. Specifically, we study parents' style-shifts, that is, their alternation between Standard Dutch and Colloquial Belgian Dutch, a non-standard supraregional variant of Dutch, when interacting with their children. By integrating insights and methods from variationist and interactional sociolinguistics, we pay attention not only to macro-social categories (such as the age of the children), but also to the micro-social and pragmatic context (e. g. frames) of the style-shifts. The fact that this study focuses on a single case-study is a consequence of opting for this combination of course-grained quantitative analyses and fine-grained qualitative analyses. We rely on detailed transcriptions of three hours of recordings for one Flemish household with four children (age nine months, and four, five and seven years old). Our results reveal significant variation in the style-shifts of the mother (age 35) and the father (age 39) with respect to the four children. These results were interpreted against the background of comments made by the parents during a sociolinguistic interview that followed the recordings. Generally, our analyses allow us to provide a nuanced insight into the social meaning of the two language layers (Standard Dutch and Colloquial Belgian Dutch) as they are distributed across the speakers and situations in this family, thus revealing a link between the attested patterns of child-directed speech and the acquisition of sociolinguistic norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of subjective and objective nouns and noun phrases in discourse using the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus. It expands upon an earlier study, where I showed that subjective adjectival premodifiers are typically used with the indefinite article in corpus data (e. g. an interesting conclusion), and that further modification (e. g. a very interesting conclusion) results in an even higher likelihood of indefinite marking (Vartiainen 2013, Subjectivity, indefiniteness and semantic change. English Language and Linguistics 17(1). 157-179). In this paper, I focus on three research questions: (i) does the correlation between subjective meaning and indefinite marking also obtain when demonstrative and possessive determiners are included in the data, (ii) does the correlation depend on adjectival modification, or are subjective nouns also used more often in indefinite structures, (iii) are there qualitative differences (in terms of syntactic roles) between the use of indefinite subjective and objective NPs? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been various approaches in the literature to the questions of whether the English subjunctive is a separate mood (conceived of as an inflectional form), and whether subjunctive verbs and/or clauses should be regarded as finite or non-finite. In this article I discuss these issues, and I will argue that the properties of the English subjunctive can be accounted for by recognising a subjunctive clause type, characterised by a number of distinctive syntactic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the surface-structure problems of restrictive and non-restrictive constructions. It has been noticed several times that one of the differences between German and English is the high versus low degree of complexity of prenominal modifiers allowed by these languages. It is important to note that the relation "subject of" plays a crucial role in both languages throughout the transformations. A universal syntactic base component which generates hierarchically stratified but linearly unordered sets of syntactic constituents followed by language-specific rules introducing either abstract morphological case markers or prepositions or strings of formatives or a combination of these can provide the formal framework for reflecting how the deletion of constituents restricts the possibilities of occurrence of the structures containing them and for representing the interdependence between morphological markedness and linear order. The analysis of certain non-restrictives as deriving from underlying full subordinate clauses and the various restrictions on the linear position of reduced relatives with respect to their subject can be better accommodated by a universal grammatical model.