Agreement, case and locality in the nominal and verbal domains

This book explores the Agree operation and its morphological realisations (agreement and case), specifically focusing on the connection between Agree and other syntactic dependencies such as movement, binding and control. The chapters in this volume examine a diverse set of cross-linguistic phenomena involving agreement and case from a variety of theoretical perspectives, with a view to elucidating the nature of the abstract operations that underlie them. The phenomena discussed include backward control, passivisation, progressive aspectual constructions, extraction from nominals, possessives, relative clauses and the phasal status of PPs

Chinese DE constructions in secondary predication: Historical and typological perspectives

This dissertation investigates the history of Chinese DE [tə] constructions in light of the typology of secondary predication. A secondary predicate, such as hot in He drank the tea hot, is a predicate that provides subsidiary information to a substructure (the participant tea) of the more salient primary event (drank). Mandarin DE features in two strategies: (i) a DE-marked primary event elaborated by a predicate following it, and (ii) a DE-marked secondary predicate preposed to the primary predicate. Focusing on Late Medieval Chinese (7th to mid-13th c.), the study examines the evolution of the DE-marked strategies from three distinctive constructions: resultative [V DE1 VP] by DE1 (得), nominal modification by DE2 (底/的), and secondary predication by DE3 (地). The first theme concerns the interactions between DE2-marked nominalization and DE3-marked secondary predicate constructions. Results show that DE2 and DE3 developed from opposite poles of the attribution vs. predication continuum, overlapping in categories intermediate between prototypical restrictive modification and secondary predication. Their distinctive information-packaging functions are consistently mapped to different construals of a property’s time-stability, which are reflected in their collocational preferences. The second theme of the study deals with the merger of DE1 and DE2 constructions and the creation of the [V DE Pred] topic-comment schema, where [V DE] represents an event as the topic, and Pred makes an assertion about a substructure of V. The discussion focuses on the structural and semantic changes of the [V DE1 VP] construction that facilitate its alignment with the DE2-marked topic-comment construction. The development of DE constructions mirrors semantic shifts between temporally anterior vs. simultaneous relations and conceptual fluidity between event- vs. participant-orientation, parameters that feature in the encoding of secondary predication crosslinguistically (Verkerk 2009, Himmelmann and Schultze-Berndt 2005, van der Auwera and Malchukov 2005, Loeb-Diehl 2005). The findings also suggest a reevaluation of the typology. Notably, semantic orientation is not crucial to whether a semantic relation is encoded by a DE construction, or which DE construction is selected. Instead, it is information-packaging functions, construals of time-stability, and iconic principles that play a dominant role

A gravel-sand bifurcation:a simple model and the stability of the equilibrium states

A river bifurcation, can be found in, for instance, a river delta, in braided or anabranching reaches, and in manmade side channels in restored river reaches. Depending on the partitioning of water and sediment over the bifurcating branches, the bifurcation develops toward (a) a stable state with two downstream branches or (b) a state in which the water discharge in one of the branches continues to increase at the expense of the other branch (Wang et al., 1995). This may lead to excessive deposition in the latter branch that eventually silts up. For navigation, flood safety, and river restoration purposes, it is important to assess and develop tools to predict such long-term behavior of the bifurcation. A first and highly schematized one-dimensional model describing (the development towards) the equilibrium states of two bifurcating branches was developed by Wang et al (1995). The use of a one-dimensional model implies the need for a nodal point relation that describes the partitioning of sediment over the bifurcating branches. Wang et al (1995) introduce a nodal point relation as a function of the partitioning of the water discharge. They simplify their nodal point relation to the following form: s*=q*k , where s* denotes the ratio of the sediment discharges per unit width in the bifurcating branches, q* denotes the ratio of the water discharges per unit width in the bifurcating branches, and k is a constant. The Wang et al. (1995) model is limited to conditions with unisize sediment and application of the Engelund & Hansen (1967) sediment transport relation. They assume the same constant base level for the two bifurcating branches, and constant water and sediment discharges in the upstream channel. A mathematical stability analysis is conducted to predict the stability of the equilibrium states. Depending on the exponent k they find a stable equilibrium state with two downstream branches or a stable state with one branch only (i.e. the other branch has silted up). Here we extend the Wang et al. (1995) model to conditions with gravel and sand and study the stability of the equilibrium states

Possessive classifiers in North Ambrym, a language of Vanuatu: explorations in Semantic classification

North Ambrym, an Oceanic language spoken in Vanuatu, exhibits the two common Oceanic possessive construction types: direct and indirect. This thesis focuses on the indirect construction which occurs when the possessed noun refers to a semantically alienable item. In North Ambrym the indirect possessive construction is marked by one of a set of possessive classifiers. The theory within Oceanic linguistics is that the possessive classifiers do not classify a property of the possessed noun but the relation between possessor and possessed (Lichtenberk 1983b). Thus, it is the intentional use of the possessed by the possessor that is encoded by the possessive classifier, such that an ‘edible’ classifier will be used if the possessor intends to eat the possessed or the ‘drinkable’ classifier will be used if the possessed is intended to be drunk. This thesis challenges this theory and instead proposes that the classifiers act like possessed classifiers in North Ambrym and characterise a functional property of the possessed noun. Several experiments were conducted that induced different contextual uses of possessions, however this did not result in classifier change, which would be expected in the relational classifier theory. Each classifier has a large amount of seemingly semantically disparate members and they do not all share the semantic features of the central members, thus an analysis using the classical theory of classification is untenable. Instead the classifier categories are best analysed using prototype theory as certain semantic groups of possessions are considered to be more central members. This hypothesis is supported by further experimentation into classification which helps define the centrality of classifier category members. Finally an analysis using cognitive linguistic theory proposes that non-central members are linked to central members via semantic chains using notions of metaphor and metonymy. All languge data from this project has been deposited at the Endangered Language Archive (ELAR) at SOAS,University of London

Fracture in the modern movement : a study of Robert Mallet-Stevens' work and critical fortune from the Paris-Vienna exchanges

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, leída el 05-05-2022En la historiografía de la arquitectura moderna producida en la segunda mitad del siglo XX la obra de Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945) fue desplazada a un plano secundario. En un relato dominado por el racionalismo funcionalista, su sentido de la forma arquitectónica fue considerado peyorativamente decorativo, y su defensa de la belleza le alejaba irremediablemente del arquetipo de la arquitectura moderna y de la sociedad en la que estaba inserto. Esto contribuyó a crear una disonancia en la recepción e inclusión de su práctica arquitectónica dentro de la historiografía y, en especial, si se compara con la recibida por otros nombres del periodo. Esta tesis doctoral tiene como principal objetivo el contribuir a la restitución de la figura y práctica profesional de Mallet-Stevens más allá de los límites narrativos y malentendidos que han prevalecido en el relato crítico e histórico. Para ello, se desarrollan distintas líneas de análisis e interpretación centradas en sus primeros años de práctica entre 1903-23. Es decir, el periodo en el que Mallet-Stevens, aunque no llega a construir ningún edificio ––al menos del que tengamos constancia––, desarrolla una importante práctica arquitectónica desde la proyección y el dibujo, además de acumular toda una suerte de experiencias trascendentales, tanto en la consolidación de sus ideales, como en la creación de su arquitectura posterior. Para alcanzar tal objetivo, nos hemos centrado en aquellos aspectos menos referenciados, como sus abundantes escritos publicados en revistas especializadas o el material gráfico producido en esta etapa; se trata de una vuelta a las fuentes primarias como medio para reivindicar un nuevo protagonismo para Mallet-Stevens y evidenciar, así, aquellas cualidades que definieron su aportación original a la arquitectura y cultura modernas...The work of Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886-1945) in the historiography of modern architecture, produced in the second half of the twentieth century, was relegated to a secondary plane. In a narrative dominated by functionalist rationalism, his sense of architectural form was seen as pejoratively decorative, and his idea of beauty as something that separated him from the archetype of modern architecture and the society in which it was embedded. This contributed to a dissonance in the reception and inclusion of his architectural work within this historiography, particularly when compared to other modern architects. The main aim of this doctoral thesis is to contribute to the restitution of the figure and professional practice of Mallet-Stevens beyond ideological stances and misunderstandings that have prevailed in critical and historical accounts. To this end, different strands of analysis and interpretation are developed, focusing on his early years of practice between 1903-23. That is to say, the period in which Mallet-Stevens developed an important architectural practice without building a single architectural project (at least none that we know of today). In order to achieve this objective, this thesis focuses on aspects of Mallet-Stevens’ oeuvre which are less referenced, such as his numerous publications in specialised and cultural journals or illustrations for unrealised projects. In other words, my research returns to primary sources as a means of claiming new prominence for Mallet-Stevens, in order to emphasise those qualities of his work that defined its original contribution to modern architecture and culture...Fac. de Geografía e HistoriaTRUEunpu