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January 1, 2012
Abstract
Signers use their body and the space in front of them iconically. Does iconicity lead to the same mapping strategies in construing space during interaction across sign languages? The present study addressed this question by conducting an experimental study on basic static and motion event descriptions during interaction (describer input and ad-dressee re-signing/retelling) in American Sign Language, Croatian Sign Language, and Turkish Sign Language. I found that the three sign languages are similar in using classi-fier predicates of location, orientation, and movement, predominantly employing an egocentric (viewer) perspective but also a non-egocentric perspective, and using similar mapping strategies regardless of interlocutor positions. However, these three sign languages differ from each other in the effects of location and orientation of the objects in pictures and movies, the descriptions of picture (states) vs. movie (motion events), and describer input vs. addressee retellings in their mapping strategies. This study contrib-utes to our knowledge of how the expressions of spatial relations are conveyed in natural human language.
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January 1, 2012
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In this study, we investigated the language of Hungarian speakers who clutter (PWCs) in four speaking styles (spontaneous speech, storytelling, deliberately slowed-down speech and giving a talk). The aim of the study was to show the effects of the different speaking styles on the linguistic and acoustic-phonetic patterns of the PWCs’ speech. Grammatical complexity was analyzed in the four speaking styles using a language-specific codification system. The duration and the number of silent pauses and hesitations were measured in order to define both the speech and articulation tempi. The disfluencies and the phonological variability of the words were also analyzed in the four speaking styles. The results supported the view that speaking styles affect the linguistic and phonetic characteristics of cluttering. We found differences in all parameters across speaking styles. These results confirmed our assumption that PWCs are able (1) to express their thoughts using the expected grammatical forms and (2) to articulate similarly to normal speakers. Our results provide more information for better and more precise understanding of cluttering.
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January 1, 2012
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In this study, I propose a refinement of Kuroda’s (1972, 1990) claim that the categorical and thetic judgments are realized syntactically in Japanese. Succinctly put, Kuroda argues that sentences with the topic marker wa represent categorical judgments whereas those with the nominative marker ga represent thetic judgments. In the present study, I demonstrate that wa -sentences do not uniformly represent categorical judgments and that ga -sentences do not represent thetic judgments across the board either. In particular, I argue that ga -sentences represent thetic judgments only on the so-called "neutral-description" reading (in the sense of Kuno 1973); on the "exhaustive-listing" reading, they instead involve categorical judgments. In addition, I demonstrate that wa -sentences also require a parallel refinement: thematic wa vs. contrastive wa . I therefore propose a four-way distinction and further demonstrate that the four readings are interrelated through different types of judgments as follows: thematic wa and exhaustive-listing ga involve categorical judgments whereas contrastive wa and neutral-description ga involve thetic judgments.
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Desinences – also known as "noun markers" in the literature – are one of the main issues brought up on the current debates about the relation between idiosyncratic listing and structural aspects of language. Desinences are problematic from a structural perspective because (a) not all languages have these grammatical markers, so they do not seem to be universal; (b) their semantic or syntactic role is not clear and (c) they display different values, but the association between a marker and a noun, at best, follows some tendencies, but (almost) never clear semantic or grammatical patterns. This paper has the goal of determining which aspects of the grammar of desinences are amenable to a structural analysis, and suggesting a possible way of coping with the idiosyncratic and unpredictable aspects which is compatible with the structural account proposed. We argue that it is possible to find one single subjacent structural pattern common to languages with desinences and with noun classifiers and that the structure proposed, alt-hough not enough to avoid listedness, can at least account for which items inside the structure can impose idiosyncratic selection on this marker. The language used to illustrate the analysis is Spanish.
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January 1, 2012
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The article addresses issues connected with the deletion of the glide j in intervocalic contexts and the distribution of the sequences ji and ij in Russian. It has been assumed in generative phonology that the surface distinction between glides and vowels is not encoded in the lexicon, but, rather, is a result of syllabification rules, which ensure that the underlying high vowel is realised as a glide in syllable margins. At first glance, it appears that Russian glides eschew such an analysis, as both [ij] and [ji] sequences are found on the surface and it is unclear which underlying //i// should be turned into a glide. However, the present paper demonstrates that the distribution of high vowel i and the glide j is systematic and there is no need to prespecify j in the lexicon. The basic generalisation is that both the occurrence of the glide in onset or coda position and the deletion of the glide intervocalically are conditioned by the presence of an underlying fleeting vowel, the so-called yer.
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The framework of this paper is Natural Syntax initiated by the author in the tradition of (morphological) naturalness as established by Wolfgang U. Dressler and Willi Mayerthaler. Natural Syntax is a pseudodeductive linguistic theory, and this is its most recent version. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or "axioms") listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in what are known as deductions, the chief components of each being a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignment is distinguished and related to Henning Andersen's early work on markedness. The basic idea is to illustrate how a (pseudo)deductive theory of syntax performs if it insists on avoiding abstract solutions, and in particular on excluding any generative component. Natural Syntax is exemplified here with selected English cases of transitivity. Special attention is given to relative-frequency phenomena.
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January 1, 2012
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Although the need for practice in taken for granted by many learners who view it as an integral part of foreign and second language learning, theorists and researchers are sharply divided on this issue. The proponents of the so-called zero grammar option, such as Krashen (1985), believe that language classrooms should replicate as much as possible the conditions of naturalistic discourse and there is hardly any place for practice. The proponents of focus on form, such as Long (1996), do recognize a contribution of pedagogical intervention, but it should be embedded in communicative activities and mainly take the form of corrective feedback, with the effect that the practice of specific language features is limited. Finally, the proponents of skill-learning theory, such as DeKeyser (1998), view practice as crucial since it is indispensable for the conversion of declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. Given such conflicting opinions, the aim of the paper is to disambiguate some of the controversies and problems surrounding the place of practice in language learning, describe the forms it can take and single out such arrangements which are the most beneficial in the foreign language classroom with a special view to the language teaching context in Poland.
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