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Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude de trois faits de langue du créole martiniquais (CM) et aborde ainsi certains aspects de l’interface syntaxe-sémantique/pragmatique. Le premier fait de langue concerne la périphérie gauche nominale du CM pour laquelle nous proposons de scinder la projection fonctionnelle DP en deux projections, Def(initeness)P et Specif(icity)P. La première de ces couches encode la définitude, tandis que la seconde marque la spécificité. Cette analyse permet de rendre compte de deux des propriétés des propositions relatives restrictives du CM. Il s’agit en l’espèce du fait qu’elles comportent deux occurrences du déterminant défini et que la présence ou absence de sa seconde occurrence résulte en une lecture spécifique ou non spécifique. Bien qu’ils ne puissent comporter qu’une seule occurrence du déterminant défini (motivée par une haplologie), les DP simples sont soumis à la même analyse. On peut ainsi rendre compte de leurs différentes interprétations. Le second fait de langue concerne les interrogatives partielles définies (IPD). Ces constructions se distinguent des interrogatives canoniques par les conditions de leur légitimation. Elles nécessitent l’inclusion dans le common ground d’une proposition existentielle qui partage avec l’IPD sa restriction et sa portée nucléaire. De ce fait, on ne peut ni commencer une conversation par une IPD ni y apporter une réponse du type rien. Les IPD se caractérisent donc par une présupposition forte que nous attribuons à la présence en position finale d’un déterminant clausal. Ce dernier est engendré dans la périphérie gauche de la phrase et prend pour restriction une proposition. En raison de son homophonie avec le déterminant défini nominal, nous suggérons qu’il est la réalisation d’un trait acatégoriel [+DEF]. Autrement dit, nous apportons ici de nouvelles preuves au point de vue selon lequel la définitude n’est pas une propriété exclusivement nominale. Le troisième fait de langue concerne l’interaction des verbes modaux du CM avec le temps. Qu’ils soient épistémiques ou radicaux, les modaux du CM sont des verbes à montée. Quelle que soit leur lecture, ils participent donc à des structures biclausales et sont sous la portée du temps. On observe cependant que l’interprétation temporelle des épistémiques est soumise à des contraintes qui ne s’appliquent pas aux radicaux. Ce contraste trouve son origine dans une différence d’orientation. Les radicaux sont orientés vers le sujet, alors que les épistémiques sont orientés vers le locuteur (ou le Siège de la Connaissance). Cela se traduit par une dépendance interprétative des épistémiques vis-à-vis de la couche fonctionnelle abstraite Sen(tience)P située dans la périphérie gauche de la phrase. Nous proposons un trait [sen] pour traduire cette dépendance. Les conséquences interlangagières de cette analyse sont évaluées. Les trois faits de langue à l’étude confirment l’importance capitale de la périphérie gauche nominale et phrastique dans l’interface syntaxe-sémantique/pragmatique., This dissertation investigates three linguistic phenomena in Martinican Creole (MC) and addresses some aspects of the syntax-semantics/pragmatics interface. The first phenomenon concerns the nominal left periphery. I argue that the MC DP layer should be split into two distinct functional projections, Def(initeness)P and Specif(icity)P. The former projection encodes definiteness, while the latter marks specificity. This analysis accounts for two properties of MC restrictive relative clauses. First, they manifest determiner doubling. Second, the presence/absence of the second occurrence of the definite determiner is correlated with a specific/nonspecific reading. The proposed analysis can be applied to simplex DPs even though, owing to a haplology, they cannot feature more than one occurrence of the determiner. This allows for a straightforward account of their interpretational properties. The second phenomenon concerns definite wh-questions (DWQs). These non-canonical wh-questions are characterized by their peculiar licensing conditions. They can only be uttered if the common ground includes an existential proposition which shares its restriction and nuclear scope with the DWQ. As a result, they cannot be uttered out of the blue and do not tolerate nothing-type answers. In other words, DWQs are associated with a hard presupposition triggered by the clausal determiner which appears in the final position of DWQs. This determiner is base-generated in the left periphery of the clause and takes a proposition as its restriction. Because of its homophony with the nominal definite determiner, we suggest that it spells out an acategorial [+DEF] feature. This can be adduced as further evidence for the view that definiteness is not restricted to the nominal domain. The third phenomenon under study concerns the interaction of MC modal verbs with tense. Whether they receive a root or an epistemic reading, MC modals are raising predicates. Both epistemic and root modals are inserted in biclausal structures and are under the scope of tense. Nevertheless, the temporal interpretation of epistemic modals is subject to constraints which do not apply to their root counterparts. This contrast correlates with a difference in orientation. Root modals are subject-oriented, while epistemic modals are oriented toward the speaker (or the Seat of Knowledge). This results in their interpretational dependence on the abstract Sen(tience)P functional layer. To reflect this dependency, I argue for a [sen] feature. The cross-linguistic implications of this proposal are evaluated. The three phenomena under study confirm that the nominal and clausal left periphery plays a crucial role in the syntax-semantics/pragmatics interface.

The purpose of this study was to explore the function of English restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses in discourse cohesion and also intended to examine the possible differences between comprehension and production of restrictive relative clauses and non-restrictive relative clauses and their sub-types. Centering Theory was adopted as a framework to evaluate the coherence of discourse. To this end, 200 Iranian EFL language learners (112 females and 88 males) majoring in English as a foreign language, selected based on convenience sampling from Marvdasht and Shiraz Islamic Azad universities. They did two researcher-made tests, namely a 20-item reading comprehension test and a writing test. The reading comprehension test required the participants to read sentences containing a main and subordinate relative clause and choose the correct choice from 3 proposed answers. Likewise, to analyze their writing and productions in terms of relative clauses, the participants were asked to read 20 sentences consisting of a main clause followed by a blank in which they needed to create a sentence using a relative clause. algorithm was utilized to analyze the data. The results suggested that the participants understood and produced restrictive relative clauses better than non-restrictive relative clauses. Moreover, Identifying restrictive relative clauses and Continuative non-restrictive relative clauses were understood and produced better than Classifying restrictive relative clauses, Subjectivity, and Relevance non-restrictive relative clauses, respectively. The results of this study carry crucial pedagogical implications for teachers, language learners, and syllabus designers.

The paper proposes an account of asymmetries in agreement patterns that obtain in restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses headed by hybrid agreement nouns d(j)eca ‘children’, braća ‘brothers’, and gospoda ‘gentry’ in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS). We note that relative clauses headed by hybrid nouns display different possibilities of agreement morphology on the relative pronoun koji/a/e ‘which’, depending, on the one hand, on whether the relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive and on the other, on the case of the relative pronoun. We argue that the observed differences are the result of a conspiracy of the following factors: (i) hybrid number-agreement nouns introduce a null plural pronoun unspecified for gender (Postal 1966; den Dikken 2001; Torrego and Laga 2015), (ii) all plural case forms of the relative pronoun except for nominative and accusative show full gender syncretism (Alsina and Arsenijević 2012b), and (iii) non-restrictive relative clauses involve a null definite pronoun and attach to the head noun higher than the restrictive relative clauses (Postal 1994; de Vries 2002; 2006). We maintain that the facts discussed in the paper argue against analyses which derive the differences between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses from their LF representations, rather than from their overt syntax.

The paper proposes a classification of restrictive relative clauses. The term is argued to have been misapplied to designate contrastive restrictive relative clauses exclusively.

Research in language learning is an area not only affecting researchers but also the teachers who make use of research findings or conduct research themselves. This paper focuses on the issue of reliability and validity of data collection instruments and the effect they have on the final results of a study. It briefly outlines three research designs which aim at answering the same research questions via different structure elicitation instruments targeted towards the same structure, relative clauses. The instruments include; a translation task, a sentence combining task, and a grammaticality judgement test. It demonstrates the drawbacks and misleading factors involved in using only one instrument, even though these instruments have proven valid and reliable in the literature in other studies. Finally, it suggests data triangulation for more reliable results., Dil öğretimi alanındaki çalışmalar yalnızca araştırmacıları değil, aynı zamanda bu araştırma sonuçlarından yararlanan veya kendileri de araştırma yapan dil öğretmenlerini yakından ilgilendirmekte ve etkilemektedir. Bu çalışmada, araştırma yapma, veri toplama ve verilerin yorumlanması açısından çok önemli olan ölçme aracının geçerlik ve güvenirliği üzerinde durulmuş ve özellikle veri toplama araçları incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, aynı yapıyı hedef alan üç farklı veri toplama aracıyla (Cümle bazında çeviri, Cümle Birleştirme ve Dilbilgisel Doğruluk Saptama Testi) nasıl farklı sonuçlara ulaşıldığını ortaya koyarak, tek tip veri toplama aracı kullanmanın bilimsel çalışma açısından sınırlılıklarını tespit etmektir.