Auxiliary Verbs and Structural Case Assignment in Korean

This paper investigates diverse case marking patterns in auxiliary verb constructions (AVCs) in Korean, and provides an account in terms of a general mechanism of structural case assignment within the framework of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). It is first shown that the complicated case marking patterns which arise from various combinations of auxiliary verbs posit problems for both transformational analyses based on head movement and previous HPSG analyses in which the final auxiliary verb solely determines the case marking property of the whole complex predicate. This paper argues that auxiliary verbs are different in their way of "inheriting" case marking property of the preceding predicate, and case alternation in siphta construction can be explained by the dual "inheritance" property specified in the lexicon. Drawing upon a complex predicate analysis of AVCs, this paper proposes that complicated case patterns in AVCs can be accounted for by classification of verbs/auxiliary verbs via distinct feature values and by the mechanism of structural case resolution.This work was supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2001-003-A00006)

A Constraint-Based Approach to Alternative Questions in English

This paper deals with alternative questions m English, and proposes an analysis employing an alternative operator. I claim that the alternative question interpretation is not obtained by such syntactic processes as movement or gapping, but by scoping of an alternative operator that originates from the conjunction or. Accordingly, while the syntactic forms of alternative questions contain nothing more than a coordinate structure, their semantic component will be analyzed as including an alternative operator. Yes-no interrogatives in English may exhibit ambiguity between an alternative question reading and a polar question reading, and in the proposed analysis, this is accounted for by the optional nature of the alternative operator associated with a disjoined phrase. In representing questions, I provide a 'multiple inheritance' type hierarchy of clauses, in which the relationship between alternative questions and other types of questions is manifested. With respect to embedded alternative questions, this paper also examines the status of the introducing words whether and if, and argues that their distribution is restricted by matrix verbs

A Lexical Approach to English Floating Quantifiers

This paper investigates how the syntactic and semantic characteristics of floating quantifiers (FQ) in English can be explained within the framework of the Head Driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Previous analyses treat FQs either basically as NP quantifiers (Postal 1974, Maling 1976, Sportiche 1988, Mccawley 1998), or as VP quantifiers that are syntactically and semantically distinct from NP quantifiers (Dowty & Brodie 1984). In contrast, this paper proposes an analysis in which FQs are base-generated VP modifiers as in Dowty & Brodie, but their logical (or semantic) contributions are made analogous to that of quantificational determiners, through a precise lexical description of FQs that specifies the information on "storage" and "retrieval" of the quantifier meaning. The proposed analysis is "lexical" in its nature in the sense that the syntactic and semantic properties concerning distribution and scope interaction are encoded as part of the lexical information that the FQs have

Effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation During Hemiplegic Arm Reaching in Individuals with Stroke: An Exploratory Study

SummaryObjective/BackgroundThis study investigated the effects of rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) on muscle activity and elbow motion during arm reaching with hemiplegic arm in participants with stroke.MethodsSixteen adults with stroke who resided in a community were recruited in this study. The RAS consisted of sound emitted from a digital metronome. While sitting upright in a chair, participants reached their arms towards a target (a switch on a table) both with and without RAS. The three-dimensional motion analysis system and surface electromyography system were used for measurements during the reaching tasks.ResultsWe found that RAS elicited better performance in reaching movements than those movements performed without RAS. RAS shortened the movement time (p = .002), reduced the change in acceleration (p = .001), increased the elbow extension range of motion (p = .001), increased muscle activation of the triceps brachii (p = .024), and reduced the co-contraction ratio (p = .015) of the affected arm.ConclusionRAS might be a useful technique to facilitate improvements in motor function of the affected arm in patients with stroke

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis in an 18-year-old male with prolonged nephrotic syndrome

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare disease characterized by prominent eosinophilic tissue infiltration of the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we report a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis in an 18-year-old patient with prolonged nephrotic syndrome who presented with abdominal pain and peripheral hypereosinophilia. During the previous 2 years, he had visited local Emergency Department several times because of epigastric pain and nausea. He had been treated with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome since 3 years of age. Tests ruled out allergic and parasitic disease etiologies. Gastroduodenoscopy with biopsy revealed marked eosinophilic infiltration in the duodenum. Renal biopsy findings indicated minimal change disease spectrum without eosinophilic infiltration. The oral deflazacort dosage was increased, and the patient was discharged after abdominal pain resolved. To our knowledge, this is the first report of eosinophilic gastroenteritis in a patient with minimal change disease