Qualities, objects, sorts, and other treasures : gold digging in English and Arabic

In the present monograph, we will deal with questions of lexical typology in the nominal domain. By the term "lexical typology in the nominal domain", we refer to crosslinguistic regularities in the interaction between (a) those areas of the lexicon whose elements are capable of being used in the construction of "referring phrases" or "terms" and (b) the grammatical patterns in which these elements are involved. In the traditional analyses of a language such as English, such phrases are called "nominal phrases". In the study of the lexical aspects of the relevant domain, however, we will not confine ourselves to the investigation of "nouns" and "pronouns" but intend to take into consideration all those parts of speech which systematically alternate with nouns, either as heads or as modifiers of nominal phrases. In particular, this holds true for adjectives both in English and in other Standard European Languages. It is well known that adjectives are often difficult to distinguish from nouns, or that elements with an overt adjectival marker are used interchangeably with nouns, especially in particular semantic fields such as those denoting MATERIALS or NATlONALlTIES. That is, throughout this work the expression "lexical typology in the nominal domain" should not be interpreted as "a typology of nouns", but, rather, as the cross-linguistic investigation of lexical areas constitutive for "referring phrases" irrespective of how the parts-of-speech system in a specific language is defined

The value of anthropogenic sediment to archaeological study

Anthropogenic sediments, particularly those found in constructional contexts, have been used rarely for the purpose of deducing ancient cultural activities, especially at tel sites. Traditionally, for these types of archaeological enquiries, the emphasis has been on studying architectural features such as walls and floors, sealed deposits, or in situ artefact assemblages. In contrast, this thesis examines the potential systemic information that can be derived from anthropogenic sediments. As these sedimentary deposits are formed or allowed to accumulate as a consequence of human activities, it is suggested that they contain similar culturally significant information as other artefacts and features, and thus deserve to be studied as such. In an effort to create an interpretive foundation for the analysis of anthropogenic sediments, a standardised terminology is proposed and a catalogue of materials and formation processes is created. As well, the systemic significance of various elements contained within the deposits, such as pottery shards, bones, the chemical composition of the earthen material, and the physical propenies of the earthen material is examined. To test the applicability of the interpretive foundation, a case study was conducted on a small sample of anthropogenic sediments from the site of Tel Dor, Israel. These sedimentary deposits were derived from a variety of functional and systemic contexts dating from the Persian to Roman periods. It was found that the careful examination of this sedimentary component of the archaeological site provided useful 'added value' to the analysis and interpretation of a number of systemic processes and contexts that related to the occupation of the ancient city of Dor. Information was obtained about construction materials and methods, ancient human activities that had occurred in the excavated area, and dates of construction and abandonment. This thesis shows that anthropogenic sedimentary deposits are valuable features of archaeological sites. It demonstrates that the theoretical and archaeological frameworks that have been developed through this research can enhance significantly the archaeologists comprehension of the systemic reality revealed through the excavation of archaeological sites

Un análisis de parecido familiar de la construcción media: un enfoque funcional-cognitivo

This doctoral dissertation aims at delimiting the lexical-semantic and discourse-pragmatic features that regulate well-formedness in middle expressions and which could legitimate the adscription of a particular nominal, verb, or adjunct to the middle construction in English. The middle construction is here analysed in terms of its prototype effects (cf. Taylor, 1995; Langacker, 2008; Sakamoto, 2001; Goldberg, 1995; and Marín Arrese, 2001 and 2013), hence accommodating not only prototypical instances but also marginal structures largely ignored in the literature. This dissertation examines the prototype effects of the middle construction by exploring the Agent-like features of the Subject entity, the aspectuality of the verb, the role of the implicit Agent, and the nature of the middle adjunct. The structures analysed here conform a family of intransitive constructions that are understood as segments on the Unergative – Middle – Ergative continuum. The idea that the middle construction can actually be considered as a prototype category accommodating central and marginal structures contrasts with the postulates of the projectionist model (cf. Pinker, 1989; Ackema and Schoorlemmer, 1994; Hale and Keyser, 2002; and Fagan, 1992). The projectionist approach cannot account for the process of lexical-constructional interaction of the middle construction in an entirely satisfactory way. This is so because it does not attend to the prototype effects and discourse-pragmatic factors surrounding the middle construction, since it merely focuses on the structural information (cf. Hundt, 2007: 60; and Lemmens, 1998: 4). Therefore, it seems to be pertinent to apply the notions of ‘family-resemblance’ (cf. Wittgenstein, 1958) and ‘prototype effects’ (cf. Taylor, 1995) to the study of the middle construction, following cognitive-linguistic perspectives such as those of Lakoff (1987), Langacker (1987, 1991, 2008), Taylor (1995), and Goldberg (1995, 2006). The theory of prototypes allows for the application of the idea of a family-resemblance relation among different but related structures in order to justify the accommodation of non-prototypical cases into the prototype category. This doctoral dissertation applies a usage-based methodology to carry out a corpus study of contextualised examples. The compilation process has been conducted through the ‘Concordance’ within the Sketch Engine tool. The total sample retrieved and analysed here is 14099 instances, based on colloconstructional schemas which combine ±Animate subject entities with 254 different verbal predicates (cf. Levin, 1993), collocated with middable adjuncts (cf. Davidse and Heyvaert, 2007). The family-resemblance analysis challenges the traditionally accepted restricting features associated with the middle construction, thus demonstrating that both central and marginal structures can be accommodated within the middle prototype category. This is due to the fact that the segments of the continuum share certain commonalities with respect to their syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and cognitive underlying schemas, as well as a functional symmetry in the underlying structure of the subject and the verb (cf. Rijkhoff, 1991, 2002, 2008a and 2008b). In addition, the family-resemblance analysis of the middle prototype category is also based on the similarities and differences found across the family members examined in terms of their processes of Compositional Cospecification (cf. Yoshimura, 1998; Yoshimura and Taylor, 2004). Such process involves the specification of the semantics of the predicate in accordance with the meaning of the nominal and the semantic value of the adjunct in the middle construction. The family of constructions analysed includes: (i) prototypical action-oriented middles; (ii) prototypical ergative-like middles; (iii) the metonymically-motivated extensions of the action-oriented prototype (namely, Locative, Means, and Circumstanceof- Instrument middles); and (iv) metonymically-motivated extensions from the ergativelike prototype (namely, Agent-Instrument and Experiencer-Subject middles). Corpus data reveal that prototypical ergative-like middles are the most productive group (with 6801 instances, 68.24%), followed by prototypical action-oriented-middles (with 3633 examples, 25.77%). Among the metonymically-motivated extensions, the most productive structures are Experiencer-Subject middles (with 1789 instances, 12.69%), followed by Agent-Instrument middles (with 286 examples, 2.03%), whereas the least frequent types are Locative middles (with 48 instances, 0.34%), Means middles (with 60 examples, 0.43%), and Circumstance-of-Instrument middles (with 7 instances, 0.05%). The rest of corpus examples belong to the semantic types of Destiny- and Resultoriented middles (with 1475 instances, 10.46%).El propósito de esta tesis es delimitar las características léxico-semánticas y discursivo-pragmáticas que regulan la formación de expresiones medias y que podrían legitimar la adscripción de un determinado nominal, verbo o adjunto a la construcción media inglesa. La construcción media se analiza en términos de sus efectos prototípicos (cf. Taylor, 1995; Langacker, 2008; Sakamoto, 2001; Goldberg, 1995; y Marín Arrese, 2001 y 2013), acomodando no sólo ejemplos centrales sino también estructuras marginales generalmente ignoradas en la literatura. Esta tesis doctoral examina los efectos prototípicos de la construcción media mediante la exploración de las características pseudo-agentivas de la entidad sujeto, la aspectualidad del verbo, el rol del argumento agente implícito y la naturaleza del adjunto. Las estructuras analizadas forman una familia de construcciones intransitivas que se entienden como segmentos del continuo Inergativo – Medio – Ergativo. La idea de que la construcción media, de hecho, pueda considerarse como una categoría prototípica que acomoda estructuras centrales y periféricas contrasta con los postulados del modelo proyeccionista (cf. Pinker, 1989; Ackema y Schoorlemmer, 1994; Hale y Keyser, 2002; y Fagan, 1992). Dicho modelo no puede dar cuenta del proceso de interacción léxico-construccional de la construcción media de forma satisfactoria. Esto se debe a que el modelo proyeccionista no atiende a los efectos prototípicos y los factores discursivo-pragmáticos de la construcción media, ya que se centra únicamente en la información estructural (cf. Hundt, 2007: 60; y Lemmens, 1998: 4). Por ello, parece pertinente aplicar las nociones de ‘parecido familiar’ (cf. Wittgenstein, 1958) y ‘efectos prototípicos’ (cf. Taylor, 1995) al estudio de la construcción media, siguiendo perspectivas cognitivistas tales como las de Lakoff (1987), Langacker (1987, 1991, 2008), Taylor (1995) y Goldberg (1995, 2006). La teoría de los prototipos permite la aplicación de la idea de una relación de parecido familiar entre estructuras distintas pero relacionadas, justificando así la acomodación de casos marginales dentro de la categoría prototípica. Esta tesis doctoral aplica una metodología basada en el uso para llevar a cabo un estudio de corpus de ejemplos contextualizados. El proceso de compilación se ha llevado a cabo a través de la sección ‘Concordancia’ de la herramienta Sketch Engine. La muestra total analizada aquí es de 14099 ejemplos, basados en esquemas colo-construccionales en los que se combinan entidades de sujeto ±Animadas y 254 predicados verbales distintos (cf. Levin, 1993), colocados con adverbios compatibles con la construcción media (cf. Davidse y Heyvaert, 2007). El análisis de parecido familiar cuestiona las características restrictivas tradicionalmente asociadas con la construcción media, demostrando así que tanto las estructuras centrales como las marginales pueden acomodarse dentro de la categoría prototípica media. Esto se debe a que todos los segmentos del continuo comparten ciertas semejanzas con respecto a sus esquemas subyacentes de naturaleza sintáctica, semántica, pragmática y cognitiva, así como una simetría funcional en la estructura subyacente del sujeto y el predicado (cf. Rijkhoff, 1991, 2002, 2008a y 2008b). Además, el análisis de parecido familiar de la categoría prototípica media también se basa en las similitudes y diferencias encontradas entre los miembros de la familia de estructuras examinadas en función de sus procesos de Coespecificación Composicional (cf. Yoshimura, 1998; Yoshimura y Taylor, 2004). Dicho proceso se refiere a que la semántica del verbo se especifica de acuerdo con el significado del nominal y el valor semántico del adjunto en la construcción media. La familia de construcciones analizadas incluye: (i) medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción; (ii) medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa; (iii) extensiones metonímicamente motivadas de las medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción (concretamente, locativas, de medio e instrumentales de circunstancia); y (iv) extensiones metonímicamente motivadas de las medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa (concretamente, agentivo-instrumentales y de sujeto experimentador). Los datos del corpus examinado revelan que las medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa son las más productivas (con 6801 ejemplos, 68.24%), seguidas de las medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción (con 3633 ejemplos, 25.77%). Entre las extensiones motivadas metonímicamente, las estructuras más productivas son las medias de sujeto experimentador (con 1789 ejemplos 12.69%), seguidas de las medias agentivo-instrumentales (con 286 ejemplos, 2.03%), mientras que las menos frecuentes pertenecen a la clase de locativas (con 48 ejemplos, 0.34%), de medio (con 60 ejemplos, 0.43%), e instrumentales de circunstancia (con 7 ejemplos, 0.05%). El resto de ejemplos del corpus pertenecen a los tipos semánticos de medias orientadas al Destino y Resultado (con 1475 ejemplos, 10.46%)

Further investigations into the nature of phrasal compounding

This collection of papers on phrasal compounding is part of a bigger project whose aims are twofold: First, it seeks to broaden the typological perspective by providing data for as many different languages as possible to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon itself. Second, based on these data which clearly show interaction between syntax and morphology it aims to discuss theoretical models which deal with this kind of interaction in different ways. Models like Generative Grammar assume components of grammar and a clear-cut distinction between the lexicon (often including morphology) and grammar. Other models, like construction grammar, do not assume such components and are rather based on a lexicon including constructs. A comparison of these models on the basis of this phenomenon on the morphology-syntax interface makes it possible to assess their descriptive and explanatory power

The technology learning area as a catalyst of creativity in foundation phase learners

This study on technology in the South African school curriculum investigates the nature and value of this subject as a catalyst in developing Foundation Phase learners’ creative thinking skills Technology as school subject is defined as the use of knowledge, skills and available resources to develop solutions to meet human needs and wants, taking social and environmental factors into account. Central to this subject, is the design process of investigating, designing, making, evaluating and communicating solutions to problems identified in the environment. The notion and nature of creativity as researched by respected psychologists and researchers over the last few decades, with particular reference to Matlin’s theory of problem-solving and creativity, provides a theoretical underpinning with the aim of linking the problem-solving nature of technology with creative thinking. A qualitative case study research project, comprising a sample of six Foundation Phase learners at an independent school, has been conducted. Key characteristics of qualitative educational research such as sensitivity, precision, verification, empiricism, natural setting, inductive data analysis, validity and reliability and triangulation, have been taken into consideration. This study highlights the potential of technology as a school subject that provides learners with the opportunity to solve problems in creative ways and use authentic contexts rooted in real life situations. In addition, learners are afforded the opportunity to work collaboratively with others and engage in meaningful activities in the indoor and outdoor environment. Technology as a school subject in the Foundation Phase catalyzes learners’ creative thinking and problem-solving skills and provides a solid foundation for preparing young citizens for the demands and challenges of the 21st century.Curriculum and Instructional StudiesD. Ed. (Didactics

Ditransitives in germanic languages. Synchronic and diachronic aspects

This volume brings together twelve empirical studies on ditransitive constructions in Germanic languages and their varieties, past and present. Specifically, the volume includes contributions on a wide variety of Germanic languages, including English, Dutch, and German, but also Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, as well as lesser-studied ones such as Faroese. While the first part of the volume focuses on diachronic aspects, the second part showcases a variety of synchronic aspects relating to ditransitive patterns. Methodologically, the volume covers both experimental and corpus-based studies. Questions addressed by the papers in the volume are, among others, issues like the cross-linguistic pervasiveness and cognitive reality of factors involved in the choice between different ditransitive constructions, or differences and similarities in the diachronic development of ditransitives. The volume’s broad scope and comparative perspective offers comprehensive insights into well-known phenomena and furthers our understanding of variation across languages of the same family

Paradigms regained

The volume discusses the breadth of applications for an extended notion of paradigm. Paradigms in this sense are not only tools of morphological description but constitute the inherent structure of grammar. Grammatical paradigms are structural sets forming holistic, semiotic structures with an informational value of their own. We argue that as such, paradigms are a part of speaker knowledge and provide necessary structuring for grammaticalization processes. The papers discuss theoretical as well as conceptual questions and explore different domains of grammatical phenomena, ranging from grammaticalization, morphology, and cognitive semantics to modality, aiming to illustrate what the concept of grammatical paradigms can and cannot (yet) explain

Theoretical and empirical arguments for the reassessment of the notion of paradigm

The volume discusses the breadth of applications for an extended notion of paradigm. Paradigms in this sense are not only tools of morphological description but constitute the inherent structure of grammar. Grammatical paradigms are structural sets forming holistic, semiotic structures with an informational value of their own. We argue that as such, paradigms are a part of speaker knowledge and provide necessary structuring for grammaticalization processes. The papers discuss theoretical as well as conceptual questions and explore different domains of grammatical phenomena, ranging from grammaticalization, morphology, and cognitive semantics to modality, aiming to illustrate what the concept of grammatical paradigms can and cannot (yet) explain

Further investigations into the nature of phrasal compounding

This collection of papers on phrasal compounding is part of a bigger project whose aims are twofold: First, it seeks to broaden the typological perspective by providing data for as many different languages as possible to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon itself. Second, based on these data which clearly show interaction between syntax and morphology it aims to discuss theoretical models which deal with this kind of interaction in different ways. Models like Generative Grammar assume components of grammar and a clear-cut distinction between the lexicon (often including morphology) and grammar. Other models, like construction grammar, do not assume such components and are rather based on a lexicon including constructs. A comparison of these models on the basis of this phenomenon on the morphology-syntax interface makes it possible to assess their descriptive and explanatory power

Paradigms regained

The volume discusses the breadth of applications for an extended notion of paradigm. Paradigms in this sense are not only tools of morphological description but constitute the inherent structure of grammar. Grammatical paradigms are structural sets forming holistic, semiotic structures with an informational value of their own. We argue that as such, paradigms are a part of speaker knowledge and provide necessary structuring for grammaticalization processes. The papers discuss theoretical as well as conceptual questions and explore different domains of grammatical phenomena, ranging from grammaticalization, morphology, and cognitive semantics to modality, aiming to illustrate what the concept of grammatical paradigms can and cannot (yet) explain