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Cognitive linguistics: a selected bibliography
Zadanie pt. âDigitalizacja i udostÄpnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu ĆĂłdzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet ĆĂłdzkiâ nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostaĆo dofinansowane ze ĆrodkĂłw MNiSW w ramach dziaĆalnoĆci upowszechniajÄ
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Number and plural semantics: Empirical evidence from Marori
This paper presents new empirical evidence from Marori (a Papuan language of Southern
New Guinea) for the semantics of number in a complex number system. Marori has a basic
three-way number system, singular/dual/plural. Marori is notable for showing distributed
number exponence and constructed number strategies, in sharp contrast with familiar twoway, morphologically simpler number systems in languages such as English. Unlike in
English, the reference of plurals in Marori in many contexts is to a group of three or more
individuals. While Maroriâs number system is typologically quite different from English, it
shows an intriguing similarity in that in certain contexts, plural/nonsingular forms allow an
inclusive reading (i.e. reference to any number of individuals, including one). The paper also
presents evidence that all number types, including constructed dual, can be used for generic
reference. The paper concludes with remarks on the theoretical significance of our findings
Usage Effects on the Cognitive Routinization of Chinese Resultative Verbs
The present study adopts a corpus-oriented usage-based approach to the grammar of Chinese resultative verbs. Zooming in on a specific class of V-kai constructions, this paper aims to elucidate the effect of frequency in actual usage events on shaping the linguistic representations of resultative verbs. Specifically, it will be argued that while high token frequency results in more lexicalized V-kai complex verbs, high type frequency gives rise to more schematized V-kai constructions. The routinized patterns pertinent to V-kai resultative verbs varying in their extent of specificity and generality accordingly serve as a representative illustration of the continuum between lexicon and grammar that characterizes a usage-based conception of language
Predication and equation
English is one language where equative sentences and non-equative sentences have a similar surface syntax (but see Heggie 1988 and Moro 1997 for a discussion of more subtle differences). In this paper we address the fact that many other languages appear to use radically different morphological means which seem to map to intuitive differences in the type of predication expressed. We take one such language, Scottish Gaelic, and show that the real difference is not between equative and non-equative sentences, but is rather dependent on whether the predicational head in the structure proposed above is eventive or not.
We show that the aparently odd syntax of âequativesâ in this language derives from the fact that they are constructed via a non-eventive Pred head. Since Pred heads cannot combine with non-predicative categories, such as saturated DPs, âequativesâ are built up indirectly from a simple predicational structure with a semantically bleached predicate. This approach not only allows us to maintain a strict one-to-one syntax/semantics mapping for predicational syntax, but also for the syntax of DPs. The argument we develop here, then, suggests that the interface between the syntactic and semantic components is maximally economicalâ one could say perfect
Middle voice marking in Tibeto-Burman
Middle voice marking is very rarely recognized as such in the grammars written on Tibeto-Burman languages. It is often simply treated as a normal direct reflexive or as an intransitivizer. In order to draw the attention of scholars to the existence and function of middle voice marking in Tibeto-Burman languages, the present paper discusses the form and function of middle marking in several of these languages. We will first discuss key facts about middle marking in general, then discuss the individual Tibeto-Burman examples
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