Presentational/Existential Structures in Spoken versus Written German: Es Gibt and SEIN

This article presents a synchronic, corpus-based examination of spoken German with regard to the distribution and function of presentational/ existential es gibt NP and a range of SEIN NP structures such as da SEIN , locative SEIN , es SEIN , and zero-locative SEIN . In particular, the use of da SEIN has been neglected in previous research. While es gibt is equally frequent in the spoken and written data, SEIN structures are typical of spoken German only, with da SEIN being the most frequent. The article concentrates on clauses with indefinite NPs, while the presentation of events with da and wider da-usage in spoken German are also considered

Recording and explaining : exploring the German ditransitive alternation

In this discussion note, we offer some thoughts on the relation between explanation and the extensive recording of data from a ‘moderate’ functional point of view. The paper takes the form of a case study in which we consider the variation in form and function of sentences with the ditransitive verb geben in present-day standard German. This is the subject matter of an ongoing corpus-based research project in the General Linguistics section of the Linguistics Department at Ghent University

Finiteness and children with specific language impairment: an exploratory study

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) are well known for their difficulties in mastering the inflectional paradigms; in the case of learning German they also have problems with the appropriate verb position, in particular with the verb in second position. This paper explores the possibilities of applying a broader concept of finiteness to data from children with SLI in order to put their deficits, or rather their skills, into a wider perspective. The concept, as developed by Klein (1998, 2000), suggests that finiteness is tied to the assertion that a certain state of affairs is valid with regard to some topic time; that is, finiteness relates the propositional content to the topic component. Its realization involves the interaction of various grammatical devices and, possibly, lexical means like temporal adverbs. Furthermore, in the acquisition of finiteness it has been found that scope particles play a major role in both first- and second-language learning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent three German-learning children with SLI have mastered these grammatical and lexical means and to pinpoint the phase in the development of finiteness they have reached. The data to be examined are mostly narrative and taken from conversations and experiments. It will be shown that each child chooses a different developmental path to come to grips with the interaction of these devices

'Should conditionals be emergent ...': asyndetic conditionals in English and German as a Challenge to Grammaticalization Research

The present article examines asyndetic or conjunctionless conditionals in German and English. According to Jespersen’s Model (1940), this construction arose diachronically from a paratactic discourse sequence with a polar interrogative, but more recently Harris and Campbell (1995) have claimed that this model lacks any theoretical and empirical foundation. To demonstrate how asyndetic conditionals may emerge from discourse, this study reframes Jespersen’s Model in grammaticalization terms and adduces several constructional features in order to show that a grammaticalization process has actually taken place. In particular, this is achieved by applying traditional grammaticalization parameters such as bondedness, paradigmatic variability and specialization to synchronic and diachronic variation patterns with regard to clause integration, the finite verb of the protasis and the possible-world categories realis, potentialis, irrealis. The article also explores the relevance of speech-situation evocation to the formation of interrogative-based conditionals

Temporal Inferences in Conversation

Within this article, I explore how coproductions (expansions made by a second speaker upon a previous utterance) and questions regarding prior utterances work to verbalize inferences regarding the temporal information in spoken German conversation. While questions regarding prior utterances and coproductions are traditionally understood to have different communicative functions (signaling understanding/ misunderstanding; turn taking) to coproductions, empirical data shows how these expression types enable the speaker to gradually verbalize different strengths of assumption about details of the previous turn. These two expression types are not a dichotomy, but a continuum

An interdisciplinary, cross-lingual perspective

Multiword expressions (MWEs), such as noun compounds (e.g. nickname in English, and Ohrwurm in German), complex verbs (e.g. give up in English, and aufgeben in German) and idioms (e.g. break the ice in English, and das Eis brechen in German), may be interpreted literally but often undergo meaning shifts with respect to their constituents. Theoretical, psycholinguistic as well as computational linguistic research remain puzzled by when and how MWEs receive literal vs. meaning-shifted interpretations, what the contributions of the MWE constituents are to the degree of semantic transparency (i.e., meaning compositionality) of the MWE, and how literal vs. meaning-shifted MWEs are processed and computed. This edited volume presents an interdisciplinary selection of seven papers on recent findings across linguistic, psycholinguistic, corpus-based and computational research fields and perspectives, discussing the interaction of constituent properties and MWE meanings, and how MWE constituents contribute to the processing and representation of MWEs. The collection is based on a workshop at the 2017 annual conference of the German Linguistic Society (DGfS) that took place at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, German

The role of constituents in multiword expressions

Multiword expressions (MWEs), such as noun compounds (e.g. nickname in English, and Ohrwurm in German), complex verbs (e.g. give up in English, and aufgeben in German) and idioms (e.g. break the ice in English, and das Eis brechen in German), may be interpreted literally but often undergo meaning shifts with respect to their constituents. Theoretical, psycholinguistic as well as computational linguistic research remain puzzled by when and how MWEs receive literal vs. meaning-shifted interpretations, what the contributions of the MWE constituents are to the degree of semantic transparency (i.e., meaning compositionality) of the MWE, and how literal vs. meaning-shifted MWEs are processed and computed. This edited volume presents an interdisciplinary selection of seven papers on recent findings across linguistic, psycholinguistic, corpus-based and computational research fields and perspectives, discussing the interaction of constituent properties and MWE meanings, and how MWE constituents contribute to the processing and representation of MWEs. The collection is based on a workshop at the 2017 annual conference of the German Linguistic Society (DGfS) that took place at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany

Proceedings of the Conference on Natural Language Processing 2010

This book contains state-of-the-art contributions to the 10th conference on Natural Language Processing, KONVENS 2010 (Konferenz zur Verarbeitung natürlicher Sprache), with a focus on semantic processing. The KONVENS in general aims at offering a broad perspective on current research and developments within the interdisciplinary field of natural language processing. The central theme draws specific attention towards addressing linguistic aspects ofmeaning, covering deep as well as shallow approaches to semantic processing. The contributions address both knowledgebased and data-driven methods for modelling and acquiring semantic information, and discuss the role of semantic information in applications of language technology. The articles demonstrate the importance of semantic processing, and present novel and creative approaches to natural language processing in general. Some contributions put their focus on developing and improving NLP systems for tasks like Named Entity Recognition or Word Sense Disambiguation, or focus on semantic knowledge acquisition and exploitation with respect to collaboratively built ressources, or harvesting semantic information in virtual games. Others are set within the context of real-world applications, such as Authoring Aids, Text Summarisation and Information Retrieval. The collection highlights the importance of semantic processing for different areas and applications in Natural Language Processing, and provides the reader with an overview of current research in this field

The ditransitive alternation in present-day German : a corpus-based analysis

The ditransitive alternation in present-day German A corpus-based study Hilde De Vaere The study is a corpus-based analysis of the ditransitive alternation in present-day German with 17 noncomplex and complex verbs, viz. geben, schicken, senden; abgeben, preisgeben, übergeben, vergeben, weitergeben, zurückgeben; einschicken, einsenden, übersenden, zurückschicken, zurücksenden; ausleihen, verleihen and verkaufen. The alternating constructions are the Indirect Object Construction (IOC) and the Prepositional Object Construction (POC). Both alternants contain a trivalent transfer verb in combination with three arguments: an AGENT in the nominative, a THEME in the accusative and a RECIPIENT-like argument. The RECIPIENT-like argument can either be realised as a dative Noun Phrase or as a Prepositional Phrase introduced by an + accusative (or, alternatively, zu + dative with the verbs schicken and senden and their complex counterparts), resulting in IOC or POC, respectively. Statistical analyses of 7400 sentences retrieved from the IDS Mannheim’s DeReKo corpus and taken from German, Swiss, Austrian and Wikipedia sources show that the alternation is associated with multiple factors that are assumed to operate simultaneously. A major conclusion of the investigation is that predictors pertaining to the principle of Harmonic Alignment of the arguments (according to which animate, pronominal, definite, given, short arguments precede inanimate, nominal, indefinite, new and long arguments) play a role in the alternation, but that other predictors are involved as well and, hence, Harmonic Alignment only partly accounts for the German data. Apart from factors such as Case Syncretism and Propernounhood of the RECIPIENT argument, which relate to a tendency towards greater transparency associated with POC, properties specifically pertaining to the verb, the three denotational classes (viz. concrete, abstract, propositional) and various senses turn out to be important factors in view of a comprehensive account of the alternation. The alternation moreover proves to be stongly verb-dependent. The two alternating constructions IOC and POC are thus shown to relate to the semantics/pragmatics interface, which requires a careful analysis of the encoded and inferred meanings that ground the alternation. Apart from the Probabilistic Approach utilised to analyse the data, the theoretical framework in which the study is embedded is an Integrative Approach which takes into account both constructionist and projectionist assumptions in the analysis of morphosyntax and alternating constructions. With regard to the issues of meaning and sense, the analysis is couched in a Three-Layer Approach to meaning, in which a difference is made between encoded linguistic content (semantics proper) and inferred linguistic content (the domain of pragmatics). Importantly, the pragmatic level is further differentiated to account for the partly highly conventionalised variation in form and meaning at the intermediate level of ‘normal language use’, in line with the theories of meaning developed by E. Coseriu and S. Levinson. IOC and POC are thus not considered two encoded constructions in their own right in German grammar, but rather as two pragmatically defined ‘allostructions’ of an overarching general ‘constructeme’, which is termed the AGENT-THEME-GOAL construction. Both the verbs and the AGENT-THEME-GOAL construction contribute to the alternation with their general, underspecified meanings but they are varyingly enriched by encyclopaedic knowledge and a range of factors that pertain to pragmatics. IOC or POC can thus be shown to be associated with a large set of statistically significant factors that interact with each other and with the AGENT-THEME-GOAL construction, i.e. the ‘constructeme’ that underpins both IOC and POC. Samenvatting De studie is een corpusgebaseerde analyse van de ditransitieve alternantie in hedendaags Duits met een selectie van 17 non-complexe en complexe werkwoorden, meer bepaald: geben, schicken, senden; abgeben, preisgeben, übergeben, vergeben, weitergeben, zurückgeben; einschicken, einsenden, übersenden, zurückschicken, zurücksenden; ausleihen, verleihen en verkaufen. De alternantie doet zich voor tussen de zgn. ‘Indirect Object Constructie’ (IOC) en de ‘Prepositioneel Object Constructie’ (POC). Beide alternanten bevatten een trivalent werkwoord dat een transfer uitdrukt in combinatie met drie argumenten: een AGENS in de nominatief, een THEMA in de accusatief en een RECIPIENS-achtig (“ONTVANGER”) argument. Het laatstgenoemde argument kan ofwel in de datief gerealiseerd worden, of door middel van een voorzetselconstituent ingeleid door an + accusatief (of ook zu + datief met de werkwoorden schicken en senden en hun complexe tegenhangers), wat respectievelijk resulteert in IOC of POC. Statistische analyses van 7400 zinnen uit DeReKo (IDS Mannheim), opgevraagd uit Duitse, Zwitserse en Oostenrijkse bronnen en uit Wikipedia, tonen aan dat de alternantie geassocieerd kan worden met een samenspel van meerdere factoren die gelijktijdig de alternantie beïnvloeden. Een belangrijke conclusie van het onderzoek is dat predictoren met betrekking tot het principe van “Harmonic Alignment” van de argumenten (volgens welke animate, pronominale, definiete, gegeven, korte argumenten voorafgaan aan inanimate, nominale, indefiniete, nieuwe en lange argumenten) met zekerheid een rol spelen in de alternantie, maar de analyse brengt ook aan het licht dat andere predictoren eveneens van belang zijn en dat “Harmonic Alignment” de Duitse data slechts gedeeltelijk kan verklaren. Afgezien van factoren zoals Casussyncretisme en Proprialiteit (d.i. eigennaam vs. soortnaam) van de ONTVANGER-rol, die te maken hebben met een tendens tot grotere transparantie in POC, zijn er eigenschappen, meer specifiek met betrekking tot het werkwoord, de drie denotationele klassen (concreet, abstract, propositioneel) en diverse gebruiksbetekenissen (Eng. “senses”), die belangrijk zijn voor een omvattende verklaring van de alternantie tussen IOC en POC. De alternantie blijkt bovendien in sterke mate werkwoordspecifiek te zijn. De studie toont op die manier aan dat de twee alternanten gesitueerd moeten worden op het raakvlak van semantiek en pragmatiek, wat een nauwkeurige analyse van de gecodeerde en geïnfereerde betekenissen vereist waarop de alternantie gebaseerd is. Naast de Probabilistische Aanpak die gebruikt wordt voor de analyse van de data, is het theoretisch kader van de studie een Integrale Aanpak, die in de analyse van morfosyntaxis en alternerende constructies zowel met constructionele als met projectionistische principes rekening houdt. Met het oog op betekenis (Engels “meaning” en “senses”) wordt een analyse volgens drie betekenisniveaus voorgesteld, waarin een verschil gemaakt wordt tussen gecodeerde inhouden (de semantiek stricto sensu) en geïnfereerde inhouden (het domein van de pragmatiek). Belangrijk is dat het pragmatische niveau verder gedifferentieerd wordt om de deels sterk geconventionaliseerde variatie in vorm en betekenis op het intermediaire niveau van ‘normaal taalgebruik’ te verklaren, in overeenstemming met de betekenistheorieën ontwikkeld door E. Coseriu en S. Levinson. IOC en POC worden niet beschouwd als twee op zich gecodeerde constructies in de Duitse grammatica, maar als twee pragmatisch gedefinieerde ‘allostructies’ van een overkoepelend algemeen ‘constructeem’, dat de AGENS-THEMA-DOEL-constructie genoemd wordt. Zowel de werkwoorden als het ‘constructeem’ dragen bij tot de alternantie met hun algemene, ondergespecificeerde betekenissen, maar ze worden op verschillende manieren verrijkt met encyclopedische kennis en een reeks factoren die tot de pragmatiek behoren. Op die manier wordt er aangetoond dat IOC en POC in verband gebracht kunnen worden met een groot aantal statistisch significante factoren die interageren met elkaar en met de AGENS-THEMA-DOEL-constructie, het ‘constructeem’ dat aan de grondslag van IOC en POC ligt