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Implementation of a notional grammar

John M. Anderson

in The Grammar of Names

This chapter introduces the formulation of notional grammar that is adopted and further developed in this book. Word-classes are differentiated by combinations of (simplex – non-binary) notional ... More

This chapter introduces the formulation of notional grammar that is adopted and further developed in this book. Word-classes are differentiated by combinations of (simplex – non-binary) notional features, and these combinations underlie the differences in the syntax of the word-classes and coincidences in distribution between particular classes. A distinction is made between lexical (noun, verb, adjective) and functional (determinatives – pronouns and determiners; operatives – ‘finite auxiliaries’; functors – adpositions and cases) categories. Names are determinatives in previous notional accounts. Sentence structure is projected from such categorizations and from the valency and modificational requirements of members of these categories. Syntax involves the erection of dependency trees the sequencing of whose nodes is inalterable. Relationships which have been allowed for by ‘movement’ are provided for in terms of argument-sharing, whereby a single element is dependent on more than one mother (governor). Focus is given to aspects of syntax relevant to the behaviour of names — complements and modification.Less

Realism beyond Correspondence

Michael Morris

in Truthmakers: The Contemporary Debate

This chapter questions the view that correspondence theories of truth are a paradigm of realism, and raises the possibility of a non-correspondence account that is more thoroughly realist. The ... More

This chapter questions the view that correspondence theories of truth are a paradigm of realism, and raises the possibility of a non-correspondence account that is more thoroughly realist. The problem is that correspondence theories require an isomorphism between truth-bearers and the world, which is too neat to be easily motivated from a realist point of view: the world has to have a kind of propositional structure, which is hard to understand as anything other than a projection of the structure of sentences. It is then argued that a non-correspondence realism is preferable to an idealism that continues to accept the correspondence theory. The chapter ends by attempting to defend the claim that it is possible to describe the world as it is in itself, even if the world is not in itself propositional.Less

Who's the Subject? Sentence Structure and Verb Meaning

Cynthia Fisher and Hyun-joo Song

in Action Meets Word: How children learn verbs

This chapter argues that once children can identify the subject of a multiargument sentence as structurally prominent, they could assign a default interpretation to sentences containing a novel verb ... More

This chapter argues that once children can identify the subject of a multiargument sentence as structurally prominent, they could assign a default interpretation to sentences containing a novel verb by assuming that the subject referent plays a semantically prominent role in the conceptual relation named by the verb. What counts as prominent will be determined by the situation and by the multidimensional attentional and representational biases of human perceivers.Less

Style (Proust's Sentences)

Joshua Landy

in Philosophy As Fiction: Self, Deception, and Knowledge in Proust

This chapter examines the connections between Proust's philosophy, and his and his narrator's literary style. On the one hand, a set of stylistic features correspond neatly to the theory of self ... More

This chapter examines the connections between Proust's philosophy, and his and his narrator's literary style. On the one hand, a set of stylistic features correspond neatly to the theory of self described in Chapter 3: the inconsistencies of the novel's chronology mirror the imperfections of memory; the shifts in tone translate the self's constant fluctuations; the multiple narratorial voices reproduce the disjointed nature of consciousness; and the syntax of the famously convoluted and multilayered sentences — which often seem to grow from the middle, constantly allowing for revision and reconsideration — imitates the process by which we attempt to shape the total self. On the other hand, and more importantly, Proust's style does something else: by encouraging us to hold a great deal of information in our head at once, to retrace our steps, and to doubt what we simultaneously believe, it offers the opportunity for a kind of training that may ultimately allow us to construct our own total selves, transforming our disorderly lives into works of art.Less

Sense in the Middle: Teleological vs. Cumulative Plotting

Lorri G. Nandrea

in Misfit Forms: Paths Not Taken by the British Novel

This chapter argues that a tendency to equate “plot,” per se, with the teleological plot aimed at closure has obscured the specific capacities of alternative structures. An analogy to periodic and ... More

This chapter argues that a tendency to equate “plot,” per se, with the teleological plot aimed at closure has obscured the specific capacities of alternative structures. An analogy to periodic and cumulative sentence structures helps clarify the architectural and phenomenological contrasts between a teleological or “periodic” plot and a “cumulative” plot. Where the former emphasizes the end as a redemptive locus of meaning, the latter emphasizes the independent value of the middle or process, which may activate interest (as defined by Sylvan Tompkins) rather than desire or suspense. Readings of Robinson Crusoe and Mary Barton provide examples of cumulative structures and their special capacity to represent work (and, hence, the working class). In closing, the chapter briefly explores the relationship between class, capitalism, and teleological patterns in the context of the history of the novel.Less

Not All Subjects Are Born Equal: A Look at Complex Sentence Structure

Eleni Miltsakaki

in The Processing and Acquisition of Reference

This chapter examines antecedent accessibility and salience within the framework of Centering Theory, based on the traditional accessibility/salience hierarchy for referential forms. In particular, ... More

This chapter examines antecedent accessibility and salience within the framework of Centering Theory, based on the traditional accessibility/salience hierarchy for referential forms. In particular, it explores the effects of complex sentence structure on topichood, subjecthood, and pronominal interpretation from an empirical point of view by asking whether all subjects are born equal, whether subordinate clauses establish their own topics, and whether pronominal interpretation is sensitive to complex sentence structure. It also considers whether entities referenced within subordinate clauses interact with those in main clauses. It discusses the results of a number of experiments on adverbial subordinate clauses suggesting that entity topic status is updated sentence-by-sentence rather than clause-by-clause and that entities in subordinate clauses are relatively less available as candidate topics. The chapter also compares the use of pronouns versus full noun-phrase referring expressions to refer to entities within preceding relative clauses.Less

Physics in Language and in the Control of Behavior

John Bolender

in The Self-Organizing Social Mind

This chapter evaluates the self-organization in cognition and the control of behavior. The study of the intricate control of limb movement, and even aspects of language such as speech rhythm and ... More

This chapter evaluates the self-organization in cognition and the control of behavior. The study of the intricate control of limb movement, and even aspects of language such as speech rhythm and syntax, have revealed features that would seem to have physics as their natural home. This chapter illustrates that locomotion exhibits striking symmetries. It shows that gait and speech rhythm involve the coordination of intricate behaviors by the central nervous system. It reveals that sentence structure is a striking instance of magnification symmetry in biology. This chapter also must be restrained in reflecting on higher cognitive processes by a healthy fear of overgeneralizing.Less

Word order and sentence structure; word building: Troggal ny raaghyn as ny focklyn

in Practical Manx

This chapter discusses the following: sentence structure; omission of the relative pronoun; the usual order of elements; position of the object; negative, conjunctive, or interrogative particles ... More

This chapter discusses the following: sentence structure; omission of the relative pronoun; the usual order of elements; position of the object; negative, conjunctive, or interrogative particles precede the verb; interrogative elements precede the verb; conjunctions with the conditional; avoidance of the subjunctive; periphrastic constructions; word order in copula sentences; statements of existence; subordinate clauses; nominal phrases; verbal phrases; and word building with affixes.Less

The Transformation of Plea Bargaining: Control through Middle Level Institutions and Social Welfare

Mary E. Vogel

in Coercion to Compromise: Plea Bargaining, the Courts, and the Making of Political Authority

This chapter examines the transformation of plea bargaining in the U.S.A. during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth, discussing the increase in guilty pleas through the 1870s and ... More

This chapter examines the transformation of plea bargaining in the U.S.A. during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth, discussing the increase in guilty pleas through the 1870s and their decline in the 1890s because of the economic crisis. It explains that exercise of leniency prior to the 1890s involved shifts in the entire sentencing structure as Yankees attempted to ward off Irish political encroachment. The chapter also discusses the issues concerning the struggle for control of socializing institutions, and the changing patterns of social concessions and their incidence.Less

Looking towards Babel

Gerry T. M. Altmann

in The Ascent of Babel: An Exploration of Language, Mind, and Understanding

This chapter examines psycholinguistic efforts to understand how babies learn and use language. It provides a brief history of psycholinguistics and suggests that its main objective is to determine ... More

This chapter examines psycholinguistic efforts to understand how babies learn and use language. It provides a brief history of psycholinguistics and suggests that its main objective is to determine how sound, words, or sentences structures are produced to yield utterance or are analysed to yield meaning. It also discusses some of the ways by which babies learn language and figure out how to use them.Less

Concepts and Discrimination

Wylie Breckenridge

in Visual Experience: A Semantic Approach

In arguing that to have a visual experience with character c is to have a visual experience that is occurring in way w the author has assumed that there is a reading of ‘The patch looks grey to you’ ... More

In arguing that to have a visual experience with character c is to have a visual experience that is occurring in way w the author has assumed that there is a reading of ‘The patch looks grey to you’ on which we mean that you have a visual experience with character c. There is a concern that there may be no such reading. This concern is explained and addressed in this chapter by appealing to the distinction between opaque and transparent readings, and by appealing to a structural ambiguity in our use of ‘to you’ in ‘The patch looks grey to you’.Less

Suetonius the Ventriloquist

Cynthia Damon

in Suetonius the Biographer: Studies in Roman Lives

This chapter surveys Suetonius’ prose style, particularly his tendency to include the emperors’ own words in verbatim quotation. The metaphor of the ‘ventriloquist’ is apt for Suetonius, who ... More

This chapter surveys Suetonius’ prose style, particularly his tendency to include the emperors’ own words in verbatim quotation. The metaphor of the ‘ventriloquist’ is apt for Suetonius, who frequently uses his biographical subject’s own language to display their character. This method is in direct contrast with the custom of Roman historians, especially Tacitus, who rewrites the original material in his sources, including speeches, to fit with the overall tone and texture of his own history. Suetonius permits the diction and rhythm of other writers to intrude in his biographies, but he does this for useful effect, and is not devoid of his own signatures of style and authorial voice. Suetonius’ prose is redeemed as more artful than in previous estimations, which have often found it to be plain and monotonous.Less

French in Auvergne (Centre): A speaker from Clermont-Ferrand

Damien Chabanal, Jacques Durand, and Corinne Ratier

in Varieties of Spoken French

This chapter provides a study of a young female speaker (MM, 22 years old) from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne on the basis of an informal conversation between MM and her mother. MM is particularly ... More

This chapter provides a study of a young female speaker (MM, 22 years old) from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne on the basis of an informal conversation between MM and her mother. MM is particularly interesting from a phonological point of view. Many French speakers who listen to MM initially identify her as a Parisian speaker. On closer examination, her vocalic system is typical of southern speakers, whereas her patterns of schwa presence/absence are in line with Parisian usage. MM therefore exemplifies a transitional system between north and south. On the other hand, her vocabulary and grammatical systems seem to be representative of usage among young students in contemporary France without any indication of geographical origin. Many features, which some would classify as populaire, in her speech are in fact characteristic of colloquial or informal usage among educated speakers.Less