Search Results (8)

The occurrence of the term σχήμα in Phil 2:7d is analyzed in comparison with two other crucial Pauline occurrences: 1 Cor 7:31 and Phil 3:21 (here as a semanteme included in the verb μετασχηματίσει). This comparative study aims to provide a revision of the current interpretation of the word as designating the outward, sensory, accidental appearance in which Christ’s human nature was manifested to those who dealt with him. This traditional reconstruction is unsatisfactory in two respects: (1) it is tributary to a substantialist ontology that identifies corporeality as a mere spatial extension, unrelated to historicity and (2) it is fraught with highly problematic theological, potentially docetic, implications. As an alternative, the term σχήμα is here interpreted within the framework of the great Pauline theology of history: as a temporal–eschatological marker designating the peculiar temporal state of transience and suffering corruptibility inherent in physicality and corporeal life. This change also clarifies the conceptual articulation of σχήμα with the parallel expression μορφὴν δούλου. According to this interpretation, contrary to the prevailing view, the locution “slave form” does not designate ‘the’ or ‘one’ ‘human form’ but the ‘creature form’, as cosmic submission to temporal finitude. Full article

Naming decline is one of the most common symptoms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Most studies on anomia in PPA are performed without taking into account PPA variants, especially for action naming. Only limited data are available for the neuroanatomical basis of anomia considering differences in the pathogenesis of PPAs. The aim of our study is to investigate the associations between anomia severity for both noun and verb naming and gray matter (GM) atrophy, as well as accompanying functional connectivity (FC) changes in three PPA variants. A total of 17 patients with non-fluent (nfvPPA), 11 with semantic (svPPA), and 9 with logopenic (lvPPA) PPA variants were included in the study and underwent cognitive/naming assessments and brain MRIs. Voxel-based morphometry was performed to evaluate GM volume. A resting-state functional MRI was applied to investigate FC changes in the identified GM areas. The study shows that different brain regions are involved in naming decline in each PPA variant with a predominantly temporal lobe involvement in svPPA, parietal lobe involvement in lvPPA, and frontal lobe involvement in nfvPPA. Separate data for object and action naming in PPA variants are provided. The obtained results mainly correspond to the current understanding of language processing and indicate that the evaluation of language impairments is preferable for each PPA variant separately. A further analysis of larger cohorts of patients is necessary to confirm these preliminary results. Full article

This diachronic study is a variationist analysis of subject pronoun expression (SPE) in two key Spanish-language Arizonan newspapers, El Fronterizo (1878–1914) and El Tucsonense (1915–1957), following Tucson’s annexation to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase, a period of great social change during which the Spanish-speaking population in the city underwent a gradual process of anglicization. Since some research on SPE in Spanish in the United States suggests that English-Spanish bilingualism increases the use of overt subject personal pronouns (SPPs) because of their almost categorical use in English, this study’s main aim is to track the initial stages of such progression in a period when social bilingualism was steadily extending in Tucson. In this respect, our results show that the presence of overt SPPs does increase over time in the data analyzed; however, lower rates of overt SPPs in contemporary Tucson and Phoenix spoken Spanish raise the possibility that the percentage surge in the aforementioned period is rather due to the offline written nature of the newspapers, which, for instance, weakens the effect of online constraints, such as switch reference, ambiguous TAM endings, and non-reflexive verbs. Even so, regression analyses with the mixed-effects statistical software Rbrul reveal that the linguistic factor groups shaping SPE in the diachronic data are essentially the same ones found operating in contemporary varieties of Spanish. Full article

Languages vary systematically in how semantic information is “packaged” in verbs and verb-related constructions. Mandarin Chinese contrasts typologically with English in its lexicalization of state change. Most Mandarin monomorphemic verbs are moot about or imply a state change, whereas many English monomorphemic verbs (e.g., kill, break) entail the fulfillment of a state change. Recent studies suggest that Mandarin monomorphemic verbs form a continuum in the strength of state-change implicature. State-change verbs have been found difficult for first language (L1) learners. This study reports two experiments that investigate the lexical semantic knowledge of Mandarin monomorphemic implied or moot state-change verbs by intermediate (N = 19, mean age 21) and advanced (N = 12, mean age 21) English-speaking second language (L2) learners of Mandarin Chinese. The results reveal L2 learners’ general preference for the state-change interpretation for the monomorphemic verbs and their limited sensitivity to the nuanced strength of state-change implicature in the Mandarin verbs. Typological differences in the lexicalization of state change are argued to contribute to the difficulties in L2 learning of the lexical semantics in the semantic domain of state change in Mandarin. Full article

The aims of the paper are twofold. First, it provides a systematic qualitative corpus study into differences between Russian and Czech in the use of aspect in chains of single, episodic events, as well as in habitual contexts, which takes into account the role of verb class, aspectual affixes, discourse relations, and other factors contributing to the overall aspectual interpretation in a given sentence. The findings suggest that while Russian makes narrative progression and habituality visible already on the verb forms, by employing exclusively perfective and imperfective verb forms, respectively, Czech relies more heavily on the context itself and uses (im)perfective verb forms mostly to signal duration vs. change of state. The second part of the paper addresses differences in aspect use between the two languages in so-called general-factual contexts (presuppositional and existential). Against the background of the empirical findings of the corpus study, I argue against the received view that Czech makes use of imperfective verb forms to mark existential readings. The presuppositional reading of imperfective forms, which I assume to be related to the process/durative reading of imperfectives, is argued to exist in both languages. Full article

Paraguayan Guarani features a pervasive pattern of aspectual polysemy whereby an underived monovalent predicate conveys both state and change of state senses, such as -o’ysã ‘be cold/get cold.’ The language also allows the derivation of monovalent predicates from causative verbs by the je-/ñe- prefix, yielding two distinct classes. The first one, called Class I, comprises predicates derived from causatives without an underived intransitive counterpart, such as -je-pe’a, from -pe’a ‘open (tr.).’ The second class, called Class II, are predicates derived from causatives with an underived intransitive counterpart, such as -je-jeko and -ñe-moro’ysã, from -jeko ‘break (tr.)’ and -moro’ysã ‘make cold,’ which are associated with the underived intransitives -jeka ‘break (intr.)’ and -o’ysã ‘be cold/get cold,’ respectively. It is shown that the aspectual polysemy pattern extends to je-/ñe-derived predicates, but that its distribution is restricted to Class I predicates. An apparent exception to this are some Class II predicates with a ‘feigned state’ interpretation, such as -ñembotavy ‘pretend to be dumb.’ The evidence reveals, however, that these are not true states, but instead activities. Furthermore, it is argued that the je-/ñe- predicates with this interpretation are not the product of a derivation process but are rather best analyzed as an independent construction. Full article

There are two main approaches to change of state verbs. One adopts an approach in terms of a total change (becomeP, for base predicate P), i.e., a change from not being in the extension of the base predicate to being in it. The other adopts an approach in terms of a relative change (becomemore P, for base predicate P), i.e., a change for a theme in which it increases in the extent to which it holds the property denoted by the base predicate. Different languages have been analyzed using one or the other approach. I argue that both proposals are actually appropriate for analyzing related but not (completely) overlapping phenomena in the domain of derived change of state verbs in the very same language. This proposal is based on the discussion of change of state verbs in Southern Aymara that are derived with the suffixes -pta and -ra. I show that verbs with -pta convey the meaning of total change and that verbs with -ra convey the meaning of relative change. I further discuss how expressions with -pta and -ra interact: expressions with -ra implicate that the theme does not change from not being in the extension of the base to being in it. I propose an account in terms of scalar implicatures in which -pta and -ra are lexical alternatives, thus extending the domain of linguistic phenomena for which the computation of scalar implicatures is relevant. Full article

This paper contributes to our understanding of the grammatical architecture of heritage languages and, specifically, the role of lexical semantics, by examining the syntactic distribution of Spanish psych verbs. Object experiencer psych verbs in Spanish fall into two classes: Class II (e.g., molestar “to bother”) and Class III (e.g., encantar “to love”). Class II verbs allow numerous syntactic alternations, while Class III verbs are more restricted syntactically. The asymmetry under investigation here is attributed to a lexical semantic featural difference—Class II verbs can be [±change of state], while Class III verbs are always [−change of state]. Two groups of HSs, (intermediate (n = 21) and advanced (n = 18)), and a group of Spanish dominant bilinguals (n = 19) completed two judgment tasks, a standard proficiency measure, a vocabulary task, and a biographical questionnaire. Results reveal that the responses of both HS groups are consistent with the Spanish dominant bilinguals in nearly all conditions, indicating that HSs are highly sensitive to this syntactic distribution. These results also highlight the importance of considering the results of individual verbs in studies that focus on lexical semantics, as they not only help us understand aggregate trends, but also reveal, in this case, that even in cases of deviant underlying semantic representations, licensing restrictions at the syntax-lexical semantic interface remain intact, suggesting that this is an area of resilience in the Heritage Spanish grammar. Full article