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The verbs expressing motion+path and locative verbs in Wichi/Weenhayek (Mataguayan language family) contain two arguments in their lexical meaning: the entity acting as the Figure and the Ground with respect to which the location, path, or orientation of the Figure is conceived. However, they differ in the way this semantic structure is syntactically expressed. The entity acting as Ground is mandatorily explicit in locative verbs, whereas it is never expressed in predicates with motion+path verbs. This paper discusses these syntactic differences between the two groups of verbs. Likewise, since the syntactic expression of the entity acting as Ground is formally similar to that of the object of transitive objects, we also analyze syntactic tests for the recognition of these two types of complements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on original fieldwork, presents an analysis of locative morphemes in the Bantu language Mushunguli (Somalia). This is the first formal analysis of locatives in any Bantu language. The Mushunguli data motivate the claim that points of view, abstract entities consisting of a location and an orientation, are arguments of some spatial expressions. Incorporating such points of view in analyses of the meanings of English spatial expressions is shown to improve their empirical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expletives have been argued to be merged in Spec, TP, Spec, vP, or within DP. This paper argues that this line of thought does not apply to the existential expletive fii of Jordanian Arabic. The arguments presented in this paper rest on the assumption that merge of fii in any of those proposed merge sites cannot be empirically substantiated since it does not account for data from Jordanian Arabic. It is argued instead that, in an existential construction, fii heads its own projection, an expletive phrase, with the associate projected as complement of the expletive. Further, the expletive phrase is argued to merge in the specifier of a predicate phrase, whose head is a null adjectival predicate. Therefore, the view of fii as a syntactic dummy is reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an overview of post-verbal negative marking in Bantu languages. It shows that, although Bantu studies tend to concentrate on negation marked on the verb itself, post-verbal negative markers are well represented within the Bantu domain and high concentrations can be found in zones B, C, H and L. It is argued that locative pronouns, possessive pronouns and negative (answer) particles are recurrent sources of negative markers in Bantu languages. It is claimed that they take part in what is generally known as a Jespersen cycle: they initially reinforce the original negator and eventually become obligatory for the expression of negation resulting in a double negative construction. It will be shown that in Bantu languages a new Jespersen cycle can set in before the original negator has been lost, yielding triple negative constructions, which are much more rarely attested world-wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines the restriction on argument fronting in English adverbial clauses, as in "While I was revising last week, I suddenly thought of another analysis," this in contrast with the fact that Clitic Left Dislocation (CLLD) patterns are allowed in the Romance analogues. An analysis is elaborated which explores the hypothesis that adverbial clauses are derived by movement of an operator to their left periphery. Intervention effects are thus predicted in English because the movement of the operator interacts with the movement of the fronted argument. No such intervention effects will arise with Romance CLLD as the latter is independently known not to give rise to the same intervention effects. Some cross-linguistic consequences of the proposal are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and discourse correlates of left-dislocations are discussed and compared with those that have been identified in Present Day English. Significant factors in Old English are shown to be the animacy and quantificational status of the dislocated nominal; complexity is an additional factor. Several functions considered important in Present Day English such as reintroduction of a referent after a long gap, contrast, and licensing of topic continuity are not characteristic of Old English left-dislocations. Suggestions are made about how work on contemporary English left-dislocations and on comparative studies of information structure might be informed by the characteristics of Old English left-dislocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linguistics studies on full inversion in French do not clearly state a difference between locative inversion (LI) and absolute inversion (AI) in independent clauses. In this corpus-based study, I demonstrate the relevance of drawing a line between the two word-order phenomena. I first outline the different formal constraints shared by the two inversions, and then show that some properties typical of LI — which have been put forward in previous work- do not apply to AI. In a final section, I relate the formal properties of both inverted structures to two different deictic functions in written discourse. Both inversions imply a deictic reference to the on-going discourse, but whereas LI refers directly to the situation that is represented, AI refers to the discursive strategy of the discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A locative inversion (LI) sentence is a distinct construction characterized by the presence in clause-initial position of a locative or temporal complement (which is either subcategorized by the verb or operates as an adjunct) followed by the verb itself followed by the subject . The discourse function of such a construction is to establish the spatial or temporal setting of a discourse-new entity (represented by the subject) within the framework of a more general context already presented in a preceding discourse. The verb is there only to provide and denote a specific manifestation of the existence, localisation or state of this entity, but the information it conveys can be often reduced to a minimum (to be, to be found) or even omitted. On the contrary, the subject in clause-final position is assigned a predicate-focus function (“presentational focus”) from which the following discourse is generally bound to develop. In this study, only LI constructions with spatial complements are given a description of their most salient syntactic properties and of their discursive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the conceptualisation and expression of topological relations in Surinamese creoles with that of Gbe languages (which were part of the substrate) and English (the superstrate). It investigates the components of the Basic Locative Construction (BLC), i.e. the most neutral construction that is used to code topology, and the type of situations for which the BLC is used in the languages. It shows that the BLC in the creole and Gbe languages has a locative phrase which is made up of a noun phrase that expresses the Ground and a spatial element that expresses the Search Domain i.e. the specific part of the Ground where the Figure is located. The locative phrase in the creoles also has a preposition but this does not contribute to its spatial meaning. By contrast, English has a locative phrase which is made up of a preposition that expresses the Relation between the Figure and the Ground, and the Search-Domain information. The paper concludes that the Suriname creoles display a strong substrate influence in this spatial domain. There are some differences, which can be attributed to gradual Dutch influence and generalisation on the part of the creoles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper deals with the semantics of locative expressions. Our approach is essentially model-theoretic, using basic geometrical properties of the space-time continuum. We shall demonstrate that locatives consist of two layers: the first layer defines a location and the second a type of movement with respect to that location. The elements defining these layers, called localisers and modalisers, tend to form a unit, which is typically either an adposition or a case marker. It will be seen that this layering is not only semantically but in many languages also morphologically manifest. There are numerous languages in which the morphology is sufficiently transparent with respect to the layering. The consequences of this theory are manifold. For example, we shall show that it explains the contrast between English and Finnish concerning directionals, which is discussed in Fong (1997). In addition, we shall be concerned with the question of orientation of locatives, as discussed in Nam (1995). We propose that nondirectional locatives are oriented to the event, while directional locatives are oriented to certain arguments, called movers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]