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Volume 43 Issue 6

Issue of Linguistics

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October 13, 2005

Existential sentences with preposed locative phrases and postverbal determinerless subjects in Spanish

Carmen Conti Jiménez

Page range: 1079-1104

Abstract

In this article, I will deal with sentences consisting of preposed locative phrases and postverbal determinerless subjects. Most generative grammarians have analyzed these sentences as examples of unaccusative or unaccusativized predications, in which the postverbal determinerless phrase is characterized as an internal argument. I will claim, however, that these agreeing determinerless phrases are nominative constituents inherently predicative, which get referential content and argument status, thus triggering a proper agreement relation with the verb inflection, its extensional nucleus. In addition, I will argue that the sentences in focus, headed by intransitives (unaccusatives and pure intransitives), but also by transitive verbs, are complex existential predications composed of a locative main predication modified by an activity or accomplishment secondary predication. I will explain also why the preposed locative phrases are obligatory and must fill the topic. Complex existential predication sentences in Spanish will be compared with ne-cliticization in Italian and there-insertion sentences in English. The semantic representation is based on Van Valin and LaPolla (1997).

October 13, 2005

Diachronic change and pronoun status: Italian dative loro

Verner Egerland

Page range: 1105-1130

Abstract

From a historical perspective, personal pronouns in Romance languages display a tendency to undergo changes in syntactic status in a particular order, namely; strong > weak > clitic. This article discusses the possible reasons behind the final step of this sequence of development, that is, that from a weak form to clitic status. It will be argued that the external trigger for this kind of diachronic change has to be a morphophonological one; if a weak pronoun is morphophonologically reduced over time, language learners may at some point come to analyze the pronoun as a clitic. A number of syntactic properties are expected to change as a consequence of the switch from weak form to clitic. This view gives support to Cardinaletti and Starke’s (1999) approach which argues for a principled link between the morphophonological make-up of pronouns and their syntactic status. Furthermore, it is shown that the Italian dative pronoun loro ‘to them’ during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries underwent changes that corroborate the above hypothesis in an interesting way. Originally, loro was a weak pronoun but in some central Italian varieties, above all in the town of Siena, a reduced form lo’ emerged, which had clitic properties. Arguably, the phonological change preceded the syntactic one. For a period, both loro and lo’ are attested in rather free distribution. Later on, however, the Sienese grammar makes a clear distinction between them, analyzing lo’ as a dative clitic and loro as a strong pronoun.

October 13, 2005

Contrasting contrastive demonstratives in Tiriyó and Lavukaleve

Sérgio Meira, Angela Terrill

Page range: 1131-1152

Abstract

This article explores the contrastive function of demonstratives in two languages, Tiriyó (Cariban, northern Brazil) and Lavukaleve (Papuan isolate, Solomon Islands). The contrastive function has to a large extent been neglected in the theoretical literature on demonstrative functions, although preliminary investigations suggest that there are significant differences in demonstrative use in contrastive versus noncontrastive contexts. Tiriyó and Lavukaleve have what seem at first glance to be rather similar three-term demonstrative systems for exophoric deixis, with a proximal term, a distal term, and a middle term. However, under contrastive usage, significant differences between the two systems become apparent. In presenting an analysis of the contrastive use of demonstratives in these two languages, this article aims to show that the contrastive function is an important parameter of variation in demonstrative systems.

October 13, 2005

On knowledge and development of unaccusativity in Spanish L2 acquisition

Silvina Montrul

Page range: 1153-1190

Abstract

Many studies have reported that L2 learners have persistent problems with unaccusative verbs in English, Japanese, Italian, French, and Chinese. Oshita (2001) proposed the ‘‘unaccusative trap hypothesis’’ (UTH) to account for the observed developmental trends crosslinguistically. According to the UTH, initially, L2 learners assume that all intransitive verbs are unergatives. At intermediate and advanced stages, learners realize that unaccusative and unergative verbs have different representations, and typical errors become common. Depending on the robustness of the target language input, advanced L2 learners may or may not reach native-like knowledge. This study tested the UTH with 71 English-speaking learners of Spanish of advanced, intermediate, and low-intermediate proficiency using a grammaticality judgment task. Results partially support the UTH: the lower proficiency group did not discriminate between unaccusatives and unergatives in most constructions; intermediate learners distinguished between unaccusatives and unergatives with most constructions, but also incorrectly accepted passives with unergative verbs, while advanced learners behaved like the native speakers. Analysis by semantic subclasses of unaccusative and unergative verbs indicated that the low level learners were not sensitive to lexical semantics either. Such sensitivity appears to emerge at the intermediate level, a result that lends further empirical support to Sorace’s (2000) ‘‘unaccusativity hierarchy.’’

October 13, 2005

Book reviews

Page range: 1191-1197

Abstract

Suzanne Romaine The Handbook of Historical Linguistics , edited by Brian D. Joseph and Richard D. Janda N. J. Enfield Laughter in Interaction , by Phillip Glenn

October 13, 2005

Author index to Linguistics, volume 43

Page range: 1199-1201

October 13, 2005

Notice

Page range: 1203-1203

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Linguistics publishes articles addressing research questions of current or general relevance that make a significant contribution to our understanding of human language as a system of communication or a cognitive, social and historical phenomenon. This includes aspects of grammatical organization (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax) as well as questions of meaning and use (semantics, pragmatics, discourse). Studies may deal with linguistic systems as instantiated in speaking, signing, writing and other modes of communication, as well as the language users themselves and their communities (e.g. psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics). The focus may be on one or several languages, the perspective may be synchronic or diachronic, the methodology may be qualitative or quantitative, and the approach may be exploratory or confirmatory. Linguistics publishes up to two special issues a year in these areas, for which it welcomes proposals.

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