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Introducing the Special Issue: Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars

by Ji Young Shim, Tabea Ihsane and M. Carmen Parafita Couto

Languages 2017, 2(4), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2040028 - 21 Dec 2017

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Abstract

To introduce this Special Issue entitled Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars, we begin by explaining what originally motivated this Special Issue [...]
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

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336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determiner Asymmetry in Mixed Nominal Constructions: The Role of Grammatical Factors in Data from Miami and Nicaragua

by Jeffrey Blokzijl, Margaret Deuchar and M. Carmen Parafita Couto

Languages 2017, 2(4), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2040020 - 6 Oct 2017

Cited by 42 | Viewed by 6546

Abstract

This paper focuses on the factors influencing the language of determiners in nominal constructions in two sets of bilingual data: Spanish/English from Miami and Spanish/English creole from Nicaragua. Previous studies (Liceras et al. 2008; Moro Quintanilla 2014) have argued that Spanish determiners are [...] Read more.

This paper focuses on the factors influencing the language of determiners in nominal constructions in two sets of bilingual data: Spanish/English from Miami and Spanish/English creole from Nicaragua. Previous studies (Liceras et al. 2008; Moro Quintanilla 2014) have argued that Spanish determiners are preferred in mixed nominal constructions because of their grammaticised nature. However, those studies did not take the matrix language into account, even though Herring et al. (2010) found that the language of the determiner matched the matrix language. Therefore, we hypothesise that the matrix language is the main influence on the language of the determiner in both mixed and unmixed nominal constructions. The results are consistent with our hypothesis that the matrix language of the clause provides the language of the determiner in mixed and unmixed Determiner Phrases (DPs). Once the matrix language is controlled for, the Miami data show a greater tendency for Spanish determiners to appear in mixed DPs than English determiners. However, in the Nicaragua data, we found only mixed DPs with an English creole determiner. This suggests that bilingual communities do not always follow the same pattern, and that social rather than grammatical factors may be at play. We conclude that while the language of the determiner is influenced by clause-internal structure, that of its noun complement and the matrix language itself depends on extralinguistic considerations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

4383 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A View of the CP/DP-(non)parallelism from the Cartographic Perspective

by Christopher Laenzlinger

Languages 2017, 2(4), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2040018 - 21 Sep 2017

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6167

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reconsider some aspects of the so-called clause/noun-phrase (non-)parallelism (Abney 1987 and much subsequent work). The question that arises is to find out what is common and what is different between the clause as a Complementizer Phrase [...] Read more.

The aim of this paper is to reconsider some aspects of the so-called clause/noun-phrase (non-)parallelism (Abney 1987 and much subsequent work). The question that arises is to find out what is common and what is different between the clause as a Complementizer Phrase (CP)-structure and the noun as a Determiner Phrase (DP)-structure in terms of structure and derivation. An example of structural parallelism lies in the division of the clause and the noun phrase into three domains: (i) the Nachfeld (right periphery), which is the thematic domain; (ii) the Mittelfeld (midfield), which is the inflection, agreement, Case and modification domain and (iii) the Vorfeld (left periphery), which is the discourse- and operator-related domain. However, we will show following Giusti (2002, 2006), Payne (1993), Bruening (2009), Cinque (2011), Laenzlinger (2011, 2015) among others that the inner structure of the Vorfeld and of the Mittelfeld of the clause is not strictly parallel to that of the noun phrase. Although derivational parallelism also lies in the possible types of movement occurring in the CP and DP domains (short head/X-movement, simple XP-movement, remnant XP-movement and pied-piping XP-movement), we will see that there is non-parallelism in the application of these sorts of movement within the clause and the noun phrase. In addition, we will test the respective orders among adverbs/adjectives, DP/Prepositional Phrase (PP)-arguments and DP/PP-adjuncts in the Mittelfeld of the clause/noun phrase and show that Cinque’s (2013) left–right asymmetry holds crosslinguistically for the possible neutral order (without focus effects) in post-verbal/nominal positions with respect to the prenominal/preverbal base order and its impossible reverse order. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

342 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Outlook of Complementizers

by Ji Young Shim and Tabea Ihsane

Languages 2017, 2(3), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2030017 - 4 Sep 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4563

Abstract

This paper investigates clausal complements of factive and non-factive predicates in English, with particular focus on the distribution of overt and null that complementizers. Most studies on this topic assume that both overt and null that clauses have the same underlying structure and [...] Read more.

This paper investigates clausal complements of factive and non-factive predicates in English, with particular focus on the distribution of overt and null that complementizers. Most studies on this topic assume that both overt and null that clauses have the same underlying structure and predict that these clauses show (nearly) the same syntactic distribution, contrary to fact: while the complementizer that is freely dropped in non-factive clausal complements, it is required in factive clausal complements by many native speakers of English. To account for several differences between factive and non-factive clausal complements, including the distribution of the overt and null complementizers, we propose that overt that clauses and null that clauses have different underlying structures responsible for their different syntactic behavior. Adopting Rizzi’s (1997) split CP (Complementizer Phrase) structure with two C heads, Force and Finiteness, we suggest that null that clauses are FinPs (Finiteness Phrases) under both factive and non-factive predicates, whereas overt that clauses have an extra functional layer above FinP, lexicalizing either the head Force under non-factive predicates or the light demonstrative head d under factive predicates. These three different underlying structures successfully account for different syntactic patterns found between overt and null that clauses in various contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

2251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Functional Heads in Code-Switching Evidence from Swiss Text Messages (sms4science.ch)

by Aurélia Robert-Tissot and Etienne Morel

Languages 2017, 2(3), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2030010 - 13 Jul 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4961

Abstract

This study aims to test two principles of code-switching (CS) formulated by González Vilbazo (2005): The Principle of the Functional Restriction (PFR) and the Principle of Agreement (PA). The first states that a code-switch between the morphological exponents of functional heads belonging to [...] Read more.

This study aims to test two principles of code-switching (CS) formulated by González Vilbazo (2005): The Principle of the Functional Restriction (PFR) and the Principle of Agreement (PA). The first states that a code-switch between the morphological exponents of functional heads belonging to the same extended projection of a lexical category (N° or V°) is not possible. The second claims that inside a phrase, agreement requirements have to be satisfied, regardless of the language providing the lexical material. The corpus on which we tested these hypotheses consists of 25,947 authentic text messages collected in Switzerland in 2009 and 2010. In our corpus, the PA is maintained. The PFR also seems to hold, even if data is limited. Interestingly, contradicting examples can be explained by phonological principles or the sociolinguistic background of the authors, who are not native speakers. Overall, the evidence found in spontaneously written non-standard data like text messages seems to confirm the validity of the two principles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

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1248 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Code-Switching by Phase

by Luis López, Artemis Alexiadou and Tonjes Veenstra

Languages 2017, 2(3), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2030009 - 12 Jul 2017

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6888

Abstract

We show that the theoretical construct “phase” underlies a number of restrictions on code-switching, in particular those formalized under the Principle of Functional Restriction (González-Vilbazo 2005) and the Phonetic Form Interface Condition (MacSwan and Colina 2014). The fundamental hypothesis that code-switching should be [...] Read more.

We show that the theoretical construct “phase” underlies a number of restrictions on code-switching, in particular those formalized under the Principle of Functional Restriction (González-Vilbazo 2005) and the Phonetic Form Interface Condition (MacSwan and Colina 2014). The fundamental hypothesis that code-switching should be studied using the same tools that we use for monolingual phenomena is reinforced. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Clausal Subordination and the Structure of the Verbal Phrase

by Marcel Den Dikken

Languages 2017, 2(2), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2020005 - 3 May 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4150

Abstract

In his first approach to recursion in clausal embedding, Chomsky (1957) postulates a proform in the matrix clause linked to an independently constructed clause that, via an application of the generalised transformation, eventually becomes the matrix verb’s complement. Chomsky (1965) replaces this with [...] Read more.

In his first approach to recursion in clausal embedding, Chomsky (1957) postulates a proform in the matrix clause linked to an independently constructed clause that, via an application of the generalised transformation, eventually becomes the matrix verb’s complement. Chomsky (1965) replaces this with a direct clausal embedding analysis, with clausal recursion in the base component of the grammar. I argue here that, while direct clausal recursion is certainly needed, an update to the Chomsky’s (1957) approach (minus the application of the generalised transformation) deserves a prominent place in syntactic theory as well. The discussion is based on data from Dutch, German, and Hungarian. This paper addresses the role of presuppositionality in the context of clausal coordination, the analysis of the so-called wh-scope marking construction, and the importance of Agree in connection with a subordinate clause’s transparency or opacity to extraction. Central in the analysis is a perspective on the structure of the verbal phrase which accommodates two discrete structural positions for the object. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

1758 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Language Mixing and Diachronic Change: American Norwegian Noun Phrases Then and Now

by Brita Ramsevik Riksem

Languages 2017, 2(2), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages2020003 - 20 Apr 2017

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5092

Abstract

This article investigates the diachronic development of language mixing within noun phrases in the heritage language American Norwegian. By comparing data collected in the 1930s and 1940s with recently collected data, I present and discuss patterns showing systematic changes, specifically concerning the categories [...] Read more.

This article investigates the diachronic development of language mixing within noun phrases in the heritage language American Norwegian. By comparing data collected in the 1930s and 1940s with recently collected data, I present and discuss patterns showing systematic changes, specifically concerning the categories number and definiteness. Moreover, I propose two potential analyses of these patterns based on an exoskeletal approach to grammar. This theoretical framework crucially separates the abstract syntactic structure from its phonological exponents, and the analyses that are discussed consider both the structure and the exponents as the origins of the change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clausal and Nominal Complements in Monolingual and Bilingual Grammars)

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