The syntax of manner quotative constructions in English and Dutch

This paper proposes an account of some properties of the manner quotative constructions be like [Quote] in English and hebben (zo)iets van [Quote] in Dutch. We make two main claims about these constructions. First, in the spirit of Rothstein’s (1999) proposal for adjectival predicates of copula be, we propose that eventive direct speech interpretations of these quotatives are derived via a coercion mechanism akin to those that make count readings out of mass nouns in the nominal domain. Second, adapting a proposal for be like originally made by Kayne (2007), we propose that some exceptional syntactic properties of be like as a quote introducer in English are explained by the presence of a silent something quantifier, which takes a like-headed PP as its complement. We compare English be like quotatives with innovative (zo)iets van quotative constructions in Dutch, which contain an overt something quantifier and behave similarly

Kvotatiivsusindeksid soome-ugri keeltes (komi, udmurdi, ungari, soome ja eesti keeles)

Väitekiri keskendub kvotatiivsusindeksi kategooriale ja selle tänapäevasele kasutusele viies soome-ugri keeles: udmurdi, komi, ungari, soome ja eesti keeles. Kuigi kvotatiivsusindeksite kirjeldusi leidub ka varasemates uurimustes, pole seda teemat veel põhjalikult käsitletud ühegi siin uuritud keele puhul ega soome-ugri keeleteaduses üldisemalt. Varasemad uurimused (nt Buchstaller ja Van Alphen 2012) on näidanud, et mõned tüpoloogiliselt sarnased ja erinevad keeled kasutavad kvotatiivsusindeksina nii eri grammatilisi kategooriaid kui ka võrreldavaid kompleksseid konstruktsioone. Vaatamata geograafilisele kaugusele uuritud keelte vahel, kasutatakse samasuguseid semantilisi klasse kvotatiivsusindeksina ka nendes keeltes. Ei ole üllatav, et kõikides keeltes kasutatakse kvotatiivsusindeksina kõne (nt ütlema) ja episteemilisi verbe (mõtlema), kaudse kõne allikat kodeerivaid nimisõnafraase (minu sõber, sõnum), sidesõnu (et) ja demonstratiive (nii et). Otsesemat keeltevahelist vastavust võib näha nende keelte puhul, mis on tihedalt seotud. Niisiis on soome ja eesti keeles sama tüüpi elemente ja neid kasutatakse kvotatiivkonstruktsioonides sarnaselt. Komi ja udmurdi keeles leidub märgatavaid sarnasusi omakeelsete kvotatiivsuspartiklite kasutuses ja demonstratiivide valikus. Vaid mitterefereerivate elementide valiku ja vene keele mõju tõttu on udmurdi keele kvotatiivsusmarkerite arsenal suurem kui komi keele oma. Ungari keel kui kaugem sugulaskeel kasutab omakorda rohkem omakeelseid vahendeid ja seal on vähe sarnast teiste soome-ugri keeltega. Seda võib seletada keeltevahelise kontakti puudumisega pika aja jooksul ja iseseisvate arengutega. Seejuures on siiski võimalik soome-ugri keelte kvotatiivkonstruktsioone võrrelda. Lisaks sellele leidub uuritud keelte põhjal vastavusi ka tüpoloogiliselt mitte-sarnaste keeltega, nt nii soome ja eesti kui ka inglise keeles on olemas kvotatiivsusväljendeid olema-verbi ja sarnasuse markeriga: mina olin nagu, et vs. mä olin niinku, et vs. I was like. Vastavaid markereid leidub ka udmurdi keeles, mis kasutab nii omakeelset (kaď) kui ka vene keelest (ťipa) laenatud sarnasust väljendavat markerit nagu-tähendusega kvotatiivsusindeksina.This dissertation concentrates on the category of quotative index and its contemporary use in the five Finno-Ugric languages: Finnish and Estonian in North-East Europe, Komi and Udmurt in Russia, and Hungarian in Central Europe. Although brief descriptions of quotative indexes are found in previous studies, this topic has received relatively little attention both language-wise, as well as in Finno-Ugric linguistics in general. Previous studies (e.g. Buchstaller & Van Alphen 2012) have shown that even typologically different languages tend to share similar quotative markers or more complex grammatical constructions. Despite the geographic distance between the five languages, the same semantic classes are used as quotative indexes in the languages. It is of no surprise that in the five languages one can find speech (say) and epistemic (think) verbs, nouns encoding the source of reported discourse (my friend, a notification), conjunctions (that) and demonstratives (so). A more exact correspondence can be observed between the closely related languages. Thus, in Finnish and Estonian not only the same type of elements can be observed, but they are also used in identical structures. In Komi and Udmurt, a correspondence can be observed in the use of the indigenous quotative particles and the choice of demonstratives. Only the choice of non-reportative elements and Russian influence make the arsenal of Udmurt quotatives broader compared to Komi. Hungarian, in turn, as a distantly related language, shows similarity with the other languages only to a certain extent, which can be explained by the lack of the contact between the languages and independent developments in Hungarian. In addition, correspondences can also be observed between typologically different languages, e.g. both Finnish and Estonian, and English use as quotative indexes combinations of be-verb with the similative markers: mina olin nagu et vs. mä olin niinku et vs. I was like. Corresponding markers are also found in Udmurt, which uses both indigenous (kaď) and Russian (ťipa) similative markers with the like-meaning as quotative markers.https://www.ester.ee/record=b528140

<i>‘Je sais et tout mais...’</i> might the general extenders in European French be changing?

This paper addresses contemporary trends in the use of general extenders in two recent corpora of spontaneous French stratified by age. In these corpora, certain variants (e.g. et tout) are highly prevalent in the speech of young people compared to older speakers, while others are not. Other studies have shown that general extenders’ form as well as frequency tends to vary with respect to speakers’ age, while some extenders may also undergo grammaticalisation. The present study includes a comparison with a late 20th-century corpus of spoken French, and finds that not only age grading but also generational change might be occurring. This conclusion is supported by qualitative and quantitative analysis of the contemporary data, showing that the forms most frequent among young people appear to have acquired new pragmatic functions

Evaluating the impact of electronic voting systems on university mathematics teaching and learning

This thesis presents an evaluation of the impact of the use of Electronic Voting Systems (EVS) on mathematics teaching and learning, based on the research question: What are the views of academic staff on the impact of EVS use on their mathematics teaching; and how has EVS use influenced student engagement and learning approach to mathematics? To answer the question, a descriptive survey of academic staff, and semi-structured interviews with students were conducted; data from these studies were supplemented by classroom observations of EVS use, relevant documentary evidence, and preliminary studies conducted. Survey data was analysed via quantitative techniques; while the annotated interview transcripts were analysed via thematic analysis, and the application of an integrated theoretical framework. The validity, reliability and replicability of both studies were also established. The findings show that feedback is viewed as the single, most beneficial impact of EVS use, as it enables instructors, through formative assessment, to identify student misconceptions, which then helps instructors to focus on the identified problem areas. EVS has also positively impacted student emotion, behaviour, and cognition. EVS use helps focus student attention, enhances participation and interactivity, and enables students to cognitively engage with learning material. The adoption of an integrated theoretical framework helps to characterise, and to reveal qualitative differences in student learning approaches. Also, the use of specific EVS question types tends to induce specific learning approaches in students. Implications of the findings include the need for EVS-using instructors to have clearly defined pedagogical objectives and well-designed questions, and for learners to re-adapt their mathematical ideas in response to EVS feedback. Findings also show the need to incorporate instructional measures that would promote both procedural and conceptual learning approaches in students, and to perhaps rethink the role of calculator usage and guesswork in student approaches to learning. The requirements for technologies that may replace EVS, the need to align assessment with instructional practices, and for instructors to undergo further EVS training and/or form mathematics-specific support group(s) are also highlighted

Insertion and Deletion in English: A Phonological Approach

Optimality theory has spent the past three decades attempting to construct a new framework for phonological considerations. Even if it has not been able to propose a ‘perfect’ theory that fits most data and makes accurate predictions, it has still steered conceptual understandings of phonology and has provided fodder for intense theoretical debate. Essentially, OT has proposed that the underlying representations of sounds/words are input, that are then processed and evaluated until an ideal surface form is found and pushed out (as output). The mode through which these evaluations occur is “constraint-based analysis”. Throughout the process, OT offers an informative display alongside the surface realization form. OT came into discussion as a descriptive-analytical model. This paper attempts to show the basic procedures of how OT works, especially in case of insertion and deletion, and how OT provides an ideal surface form considering the competing candidates who have also the possibilities to surface. This paper also emphasizes that OT is not here to take the place of SPE. However, it has the potential to act as an advanced process in phonological analysis. This paper looks at the bigger picture which will allow readers to understand that OT does not just provide the surface form but quench our thirst to know why and why other competing candidates do not deserve to be surfaced. This research paper will help to understand that even with the limitations, OT offers more information about the phonological process and this framework is very much open for further development. OT is a bigger field to work on. This paper will be a resource to the interested who wants to take OT to the next level working on its limitations

The Quotative System of Nigerian English

This thesis explores the ways speakers of Nigerian English (NE) re-create their own speech and the speech of others in narrative discourse using different quotatives. Research on English quotatives largely concentrated on the spread of quotatives in native varieties (e.g. American English, Barbieri, 2007; British English, Buchstaller, 2006; Scottish English, Macaulay, 2001; New Zealand English, Buchstaller & D’Arcy, 2009; Australian English, Winter, 2002; Canadian English, Tagliamonte & D’Arcy, 2004), whereas non-native varieties have received notably less attention. Therefore, this thesis presents an account of the acquisition and spread of quotatives in NE, which is a non-native variety. The study is based on naturally occurring data collected from 180 participants during sociolinguistic interviews conducted at different locations in Nigeria. The primary focus is on be like, say, tell, and zero quotatives on the grounds of their high frequency in my data. The study adopts Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes to examine the emergence and development of NE, and Variationist Sociolinguistics (Labov, 1963, 1966; Trudgill, 1974; Tagliamonte, 2012) for the analysis of the quotatives. The analysis is based on a mixed-methods approach that relies on both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis was conducted using Rbrul (Johnson, 2009). The discourse analytic qualitative method was employed in the qualitative analysis mainly to address the question of how and why different quotatives have specific discourse-pragmatic functions in performed narratives. While investigating how users of NE differ from other varieties of English in their use of quotatives, the study explores how the speaker’s choice of the different quotatives is conditioned by both linguistic (the content of the quote, grammatical person of the quotative, and tense/time reference of the quotative) and social (age, sex, regional origin, and social class) factors. The findings from this thesis show that there is a change in the development of quotative expressions in NE, which has a strong place in the way Nigerians recreate speech in narrative conversations. The findings demonstrate that a marked change in NE with respect to quotatives lies in be like use and how this quotative form offers an alternative way of introducing direct speech, which seems on the same model as say, tell, and other traditional quotative forms. In sum, this thesis offers insight into understanding the mechanisms of linguistic change and how the English quotative system has been adapted in NE.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Finiteness in South Slavic Complement Clauses

This paper shows that the distribution of (non‑)finiteness in the South Slavic languages reflects an implicational scale along an independently attested semantic complementation hierarchy (e.g., Givón 1980). We suggest that in the South Slavic languages, finiteness is triggered by clausal agreement features associated with different syntactic heads. Building on a complexity approach to the complementation hierarchy, we propose that cross-linguistic variation in finiteness and variation across different types of complements are the result of language-specific differences in the distribution of agreement features. More broadly, we conclude that there is no (universal) semantic correlate of (non‑)finiteness and, contra cartographic approaches, that finiteness is not confined to a particular domain in the clause. Following Adger (2007), we argue that finiteness can be distributed over all clausal domains