173 research outputs found

    Pragmatic borrowing between English and Chinese: A comparative study of two-way exchanges

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    Through centuries of cross-cultural communication, English has been enriched by elements from other languages around the world, including Chinese; meanwhile, English has also exerted considerable influence on the Chinese language. Lexical exchanges between the two languages have been studied in previous research, and yet are mostly restricted to the lexical items themselves. This thesis particularly explores the pragmatic aspect of this language contact, examining items that are used to convey attitudinal or interpersonal meanings. I conduct a series of case studies on bi-directional pragmatic borrowing between English and Chinese, using a variety of data sources, which include dictionaries, corpora, social media data, and other online resources. I take a broad view of what constitutes pragmatic borrowing: I not only investigate the borrowing and integration of discourse-pragmatic items that are transferred between the two languages, but also examine the pragmatic motivations for the borrowing of other lexical items and even grammatical units. The items discussed in the thesis range from parts of words, specifically affixes, to individual words to longer structures, and contextual analysis shows that all of these have been used to achieve pragmatic effects. The study demonstrates the important role of cultural context, speaker creativity, and sociolinguistic factors in the borrowing, integration, and innovative use of linguistic items

    Chinese Numeratives and the Mass/Count Distinction

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    This study investigates the mass/count distinction for lexical nouns, and how this is formalized morphosyntactically in language. English is one language in which a grammaticized mass/count distinction can be seen--though there are varying explanations regarding what this distinction actually signifies. Chinese, on the other hand, is a language which might appear to be missing a formalized mass/count distinction. However, I postulate that Mandarin Chinese does in fact have a syntactic-distributional diagnostic available for teasing apart mass nouns from count nouns. The diagnostic that I propose for finding a mass/count distinction among lexical nouns in Mandarin lies in the distribution of two measure words, xie and dian. More specifically, I hypothesize that the partitive measures xie and dian have different distributions with lexical nouns. The first one, xie, is postulated to be compatible with all nouns, regardless of mass or count status. The second one, dian, is hypothesized to be more selective, being compatible with mass nouns but not with count nouns. Thus, one might say that English realizes the mass/count distinction in a much more elaborate formal system than does Chinese, but both do nonetheless manifest the distinction. The results of my study suggest that there are grounds for claiming that xie and dian adhere at least in part to the distribution patterns that I have hypothesized, though the distribution was not as strong in some cases as I had originally thought; in fact, there are possibly other variables--notably size of the referent--that influence the acceptability of these measure words with nouns. I believe that follow-up research, with more tightly-controlled stimuli, is needed in order to find out how reliable the xieldian diagnostic truly is as a means toward illuminating a mass/count distinction among lexical nouns in Mandarin Chinese

    Fundamentals of Prinmi (Pumi): a Tibeto-Burman language of northwestern Yunnan, China

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    This thesis presents a fundamental description of Prinmi, a little-known Tibeto-Burman language of southwestern China. It deals with all the core aspects of the language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Major issues addressed in describing the language include: vowel lowering in Chapter 2; the suprasegmental system of Prinmi, which is identified as an accentual, or word-based, system (Chapter 3); the overlap between open lexical categories — verbs, nouns, and adjectives — in Chapter 4; compounding in Chapter 5; the fluid system of grammatical functions (Chapter 6); relative clauses in Chapter 7; the subtle distinction in terms of controllability/volitionality found in perfective, modal, and evidential clitics (Chapter 8); a variety of auxiliary verbs (Chapter 9); ‘clause-chaining sentences’ in Chapter 10; ‘Double-verb Predicate’ (verb serialization) and causativity in Chapter 11; and information structure in Chapter 12.Two linguistic theories are adopted in parts of the description: Natural Semantic Language (see e.g. Wierzbicka 1996) and Role and Reference Grammar (see e.g. Van Valin & LaPolla 1997). However, the description is not set in any theoretical framework and does not concern testing of any theories. In the course of this study, several important linguistic concepts are clarified with explicit definitions. Working definitions are proposed for the following: accentual system, sentence, verb serialization, and topic-comment construction

    Degree Gradation of Verbs

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    New Advances in Formosan Linguistics

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    The present volume is a festschrift in honour of Lillian M. Huang, who, in a very few years, became a leading figure in Formosan linguistics after she obtained her PhD degree in 1987. Over the past twenty-eight years, she has been involved in important groundwork, in both academia and indigenous language policies in Taiwan, as we will show below (sections 3 and 4). She has been engaged in the development of both through her pre-eminent role in projects relating to typological studies on Formosan languages in the early 1990s, and on language teaching materials and proficiency tests since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Lillian may retire in a few years. Before she does, we thought it would be most appropriate to honour her by putting together papers by a number of scholars and students who have benefitted from or have been in contact with her in one way or another (e.g. through collaborative work, teaching, supervising, advising etc.). The idea of such a volume was conceived by Elizabeth Zeitoun in the autumn of 2009. Further plans were initially worked out with Stacy F. Teng, soon joined by Joy J. Wu. The three editors have been close to Lillian since the early and mid 1990s. Of the three, Zeitoun, who has been working with her on diverse projects for over twenty years, is her closest collaborator on the academic level. Both Wu and Teng were Lillian’s MA supervisees. Through her fieldwork courses, she introduced Wu to Amis and Teng to Puyuma, languages on which they are still working. The title of the present volume, New advances in Formosan linguistics, reflects our pursuit of publishing cutting-edge, provocative, and thoughtful papers that explore new directions and perspectives on Formosan languages and linguistics. It is worth noticing that this is the first collected volume on Formosan languages that has not issued from a workshop or a conference—the papers included in this volume are thus varied in terms of topic coverage—and the first that specifically deals with (and covers nearly all) the Formosan languages, a grouping understood in its broader context, that is, including Yami, a Batanic (Philippine) language spoken on Orchid Island under the political jurisdiction of Taiwan. (Note: first three paragraphs of foreward)

    Analyzability and semantic associations in referring expressions : a study in comparative lexicology

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    This thesis is a sample-based typological study of formal and semantic patterns in terms for a selection of referring ("nominal") meanings. Languages differ considerably in that in some, unanalyzable, monomorphemic terms dominate in the lexicon while in others analyzable items formed by language-specific means of word-formation (which one this is is a typological variable in itself) abound. The thesis attempts to establish the variation and limits in this variable and to explain why languages vary. Another major concern are semantic associations found in analyzable items as well as in the conflation of several meanings into one lexical item, both from an areal as well as a universal point of view.LEI Universiteit LeidenMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, GermanyDescriptive and Comparative Linguistic

    Proceedings of the 2010 Annual Conference of the Gesellschaft für Semantik

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    Sinn & Bedeutung - the annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Semantik - aims to bring together both established researchers and new blood working on current issues in natural language semantics, pragmatics, the syntax-semantics interface, the philosophy of language or carrying out psycholinguistic studies related to meaning. Every year, the conference moves to a different location in Europe. The 2010 conference - Sinn & Bedeutung 15 - took place on September 9 - 11 at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, organized by the Department for German Studies

    Space and nominals in Hong Kong sign language.

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    Yim-Binh, Sze.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-235).Abstracts in English and Chinese.AcknowledgementAbstractTable of ContentsList of TablesChapter Chapter 1 --- : Introduction PageChapter (1.1) --- Research questions --- p.1Chapter (1.1.1) --- Space and spoken languages --- p.1Chapter (1.1.2) --- Space and sign languages --- p.4Chapter (1.1.3) --- Nominals in Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.8Chapter (1.1.4) --- Research focus: interaction of space and nominals --- p.11Chapter (1.2) --- Thesis outline --- p.12Chapter (1.3) --- A brief note on the transcription convention --- p.13Chapter (1.4) --- Sociolinguistic background of Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.15Chapter (1.5) --- Documentation of Hong Kong Sign Language and Chinese Sign Language --- p.17Chapter Chapter 2: --- Space and Grammatical RelationsChapter (2.0) --- Introduction --- p.21Chapter (2.1) --- On the grammatical relations 'subject' and 'object' --- p.21Chapter (2.2) --- Literature review --- p.28Chapter (2.2.1) --- Grammatical relations in American Sign Language (ASL) --- p.28Chapter (2.2.2) --- Grammatical relations in Chinese Sign Language (CSL) --- p.35Chapter (2.3) --- Experiment 1: Picture description and selection task --- p.36Chapter (2.4) --- Results: --- p.39Chapter (2.4.1) --- Non-reversible sentences --- p.39Chapter (2.4.2) --- Reversible sentences --- p.52Chapter (2.4.2.1) --- Linear representation: S V O --- p.52Chapter (2.4.2.2) --- "Spatial representation: the use of loci, inflecting verbs and classifiers" --- p.54Chapter (2.4.2.3) --- Reversible and non-reversible data: a further discussion --- p.64Chapter (2.4.3) --- An extension to dative constructions --- p.71Chapter (2.5) --- Chapter summary --- p.77Chapter Chapter 3: --- Space and NP Referential PropertiesChapter (3.0) --- Introduction --- p.78Chapter (3.1) --- On the various referential properties --- p.78Chapter (3.2) --- Realization of referential properties in spoken and sign languages --- p.79Chapter (3.3) --- Specific NPs: indefinites and definites --- p.89Chapter (3.3.1) --- Experiment 2: picture story description and picture reordering --- p.89Chapter (3.3.2) --- NPs in subject positions --- p.90Chapter (3.3.2.1) --- Specific indefinites --- p.91Chapter (3.3.2.2) --- Specific definites --- p.96Chapter (3.3.3) --- NPs in object positions: specific indefinites and definites --- p.106Chapter (3.4) --- Non-specific indefinites and generics --- p.118Chapter (3.5) --- Chapter summary --- p.121Chapter Chapter 4: --- Space and Referential Loci --- p.123Chapter (4.0) --- Introduction --- p.123Chapter (4.1) --- Literature review --- p.1 24Chapter (4.1.1) --- Frame of reference in sign languages --- p.1 24Chapter (4.1.2) --- Nature of space and loci --- p.129Chapter (4.1.3) --- Shift of loci/ frame of reference --- p.133Chapter (4.2) --- Observation of Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.138Chapter (4.2.1) --- Localization of referents in narrative discourse --- p.138Chapter (4.2.2) --- Shift of loci / frame of reference in HKSL --- p.150Chapter (4.2.2.1) --- Role-play/ locus shift in HKSL --- p.150Chapter (4.2.2.2) --- Three more types of locus shift --- p.153Chapter (a) --- Loci contrast exaggeration --- p.153Chapter (b) --- Shifted focalization --- p.157Chapter (c) --- Token-surrogate alternation --- p.162Chapter (4.3) --- Chapter summary --- p.170Chapter Chapter 5: --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.171Appendix 1: Notation conventions --- p.176Appendix 2: Picture stimuli for experiment1 --- p.179"Appendix 3: Topic, Comment and Topicalization in HKSL" --- p.181Appendix 4: Picture stimuli for experiment2 --- p.190Appendix 5: Illustrations --- p.203References --- p.22
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