The purpose of this study is to give a brief history of the strong verbs in Old English and to trace their development in Middle English and in Modern English, concentrating on the last period. In Modern English two lines of development are of particular interest and importance: the confusion of children and illiterates in using strong verb forms and the treatment of strong verbs in recent grammars. It is hoped that this study will show the pertinence of these verbs and that from this study recommendations can be made as to the simplest procedure for teaching them.

In this thesis, the three hypotheses on the nature of early L2 acquisition (the Full Transfer/Full Access view of Schwartz and Sprouse (e.g., 1996), the Minimal Trees view of Vainikka and Young-Scholten (e.g., 1996), and the Valueless Features view of Eubank (e.g., 1996)), are discussed. Analysis of the early French production by two native speakers of Moroccan Arabic is done to determine if the L1 grammar is transferred onto the L2 grammar. In particular, the phenomena of verb-raising (as determined by the verb's position vis-a-vis negation) and finiteness are examined. The results of this study indicate that the relevant structures of Moroccan Arabic do not transfer onto the emerging French grammar.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 712-718. / by Luigi Burzio. / Ph.D.

The aim of this dissertation is to give a detailed analysis of the Dutch verb komen ‘come' and the Swedish verb komma ‘come' based on a systematic comparison. Focus has been placed on grammatical polysemy and the study is written within the framework of cognitive linguistics. Both verbs can be defined as corresponding to a complex category consisting of a prototypical meaning and other meanings which can be central or peripheral in relation to the prototype. Two monolingual corpora consisting of newspaper texts were used as sources of data: INL 27 Miljoen Woorden Krantencorpus 1995 and Press 95, 96, 97 Concordances in Göteborg University's Bank of Swedish. A sample of 1,490 tokens of komen and 1,518 tokens of komma was taken from the two corpora. When analyzing the two verbs and their context the following ten variables were taken into consideration: 1) physical movement, 2) animate or inanimate subject, 3) adverbial, 4) future reference 5) bounded or unbounded aktionsart, 6) ingressive meaning, 7) accidentality, 8) infinitive marker, 9) predictive and/or intentional meaning, and 10) causativity. The results indicate that komen and komma have the same prototypical meaning. However, the semantic extensions from the prototype differ between the two verbs. If we consider the two verbs in a network, the meanings of komen and komma occupy different positions relative to the prototype. On the one hand, when Dutch komen is a copulative verb and/or occurs in lexicalized verb phrases, the resultative meaning is more central, while the aspectual meaning is peripheral. On the other hand, the temporal meaning of Swedish komma, as a future auxiliary verb, holds a more central position than the resultative meaning which is more peripheral. Nevertheless, Dutch komen, which is not considered a future auxiliary verb, but is rather an aspectual auxiliary verb shows similarities in the present tense (komen te + V2) with the Swedish kommer att construction (a true future auxiliary verb). That is, Dutch komen can have clear future reference, but in a limited context. Whereas Dutch komen is categorized as a copulative verb, the Swedish komma is not considered a copulative verb. Nevertheless, it is clear from the corpus that Swedish komma has a copula-like function, but in a limited context. Finally, it has become clear that komen and komma have undergone somewhat different grammaticalization processes even though both verbs contain similar meanings.

The aim of this paper is to outline the means for encoding information structure in Yucatec Maya. Yucatec Maya is a tone language, displaying a three-fold opposition in the tonal realization of syllables. From the morpho-syntactic point of view, the grammar of Yucatec Maya contains morphological (topic affixes, morphological marking of out-of-focus predicates) and syntactic (designated positions) means to uniquely specify syntactic constructions for their information structure. After a descriptive overview of these phenomena, we present experimental evidence which reveals the impact of the nonavailability of prosodic alternatives on the choice of syntactic constructions in language production.

This thesis investigates L2 acquisition of intransitive verb constructions in Japanese and English. Within the Generative framework, the Unaccusative Hypothesis has been proposed, which divides intransitive verbs into two syntactically distinct classes: unergatives and unaccusatives (Burzio 1986). The sole argument of unergative verbs is an Agent generated in subject position, whereas that of unaccusative verbs is a Theme or Patient base-generated in object position. While the unaccusative/unergative distinction at the level of Deep (D)-Structure holds universally, as derived by a universal principle called the Uniformity of Theta Assignment Hypothesis (UTAH, Baker 1988), languages differ as to where the underlying object of unaccusatives may be positioned at the level of Surface (S)-structure. In the case of English, it surfaces in the subject position where it receives Nominative Case. In the case of Japanese, on the other hand, it has been argued that the argument of unaccusative verbs remains in its base-generated object position and that Nominative Case is assigned within the Verb Phrase. / Experimental studies are conducted to examine learners' knowledge of unaccusativity at the two levels, i.e. D-Structure and S-Structure. It is hypothesized that learners will show sensitivity to unaccusativity at D-Structure, but that they may not acquire the correct representation of unaccusativity in the L2 at S-Structure, at least in an earlier stage. The first two studies present the L2 acquisition of English by Japanese speakers. The next two studies are concerned with the L2 acquisition of Japanese by English speakers. Overall, results of the four studies confirm the hypotheses, and L2 learners appear to have problems where the L1 manifests a different representation from the L2. Nevertheless, it is observed that L2 learners behavior is not random even when difficulty arises, in that the L2 learners are often consistent with one class of verbs, but not with the other. Thus, it is suggested that the L2 acquisition of intransitive verb constructions is constrained by universal principles, such as the Unaccusative Hypothesis and the UTAH.

Minangkabau is an Austronesian, Indonesian-type language spoken in West Sumatra by approximately seven million speakers. Despite its large number of speakers and the spread of Minangkabau people throughout the Indonesian Archipelago, Minangkabau remains under-described when compared to other Indonesian-type languages like Javanese. This study seeks to improve current understanding about Minangkabau by describing its system of voice alternations and verb morphology. This study presents a novel analysis of the forms and functions of voice marking in Minangkabau, incorporating naturalistic data into the analysis as well as taking the findings of recent typological and theoretical studies of Austronesian languages into consideration. The study makes use of naturalistic, conversational and narrative data from a database maintained by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Field Station in Padang. The study also makes use of elicited data collected in Perth and during fieldwork in Padang. Naturalistic and more formal, elicited Minangkabau data reveals different kinds of linguistic patterns, therefore this study makes a distinction between Colloquial Minangkabau and Standard Minangkabau. The study concludes that Minangkabau has a pragmatically motivated voice system encoded by the alternation between active voice, passive voice and the pasif semu construction. In addition, the study concludes that Minangkabau also has a conceptually motivated voice system that is encoded by a series of semantic and lexical/derivational affixes (ta-, pa-, and ba-) which show how the action originates and develops. The Minangkabau applicatives -an and -i are for the most part valency changing devices but operate within both the pragmatic and conceptual domains of Minangkabau voice. The active voice marker maN- also operates in both pragmatic and conceptual domains whereas the use of the passive voice marker di- is primarily motivated by pragmatic and syntactic factors. This analysis is supported by the finding that di- is a morphosyntactic clitic whereas the conceptual voice markers are affixes and have mainly lexico-semantic properties.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to find a representative sample of selected verb-noun constructions involving a concrete noun and to evaluate the syntactical differences and similarities that relate these constuctions to light verb constructions. The thesis consists of the necessary theoretical knowledge of light verb constructions and of a personal research. The theoretical knowledge includes tests for identification of the verb-noun constructions, the main characteristics of ligh verbs and predicative nouns and we also introduce the main differences between verb-noun constructions and fixed expressions. The practical research of verb-noun constructions with a concrete noun has been done with the aid of a French language corpora FrWac. The nouns we received by the corpora research had been further analysed by several tests serving to identify a verb-noun constructions.

This thesis deals with verb-noun predicate with a light verb which occur in the European legislative texts. The first, theoretical part is divided into two chapters. The first one focuses on the predicate and the other covers the linguistic particularities of the legal documents. The other, research part is focused on the detailed analysis of selected verb-noun predicates which are found in the corpus of the European Union legislative texts. In conclusion, a small French-Czech dictionary of the investigated verb-noun predicates is attached.

Submitted by Aline Maria Miguel Kapp null (aline_kapp@hotmail.com) on 2017-10-26T11:03:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 KAPP-BARBOZA, A. M. M. (2017) - USOS DO VERBO SABER E A EXPRESSÃO DA EVIDENCIALIDADE NO PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO.pdf: 2197142 bytes, checksum: 5e2dd5a434b2188e51dc499bf52cdb29 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-10-26T15:45:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 kappbarboza_amm_dr_sjrp.pdf: 2197142 bytes, checksum: 5e2dd5a434b2188e51dc499bf52cdb29 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-26T15:45:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 kappbarboza_amm_dr_sjrp.pdf: 2197142 bytes, checksum: 5e2dd5a434b2188e51dc499bf52cdb29 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-07 / Considerando que a ideia de conhecimento prevê uma acessibilidade entre objetos linguísticos e cognitivos que só ganha sentido mediante a noção de uso, já que o conhecimento não ocorre fora de experiências significativas do sujeito com as referências do mundo ou das ações simbólicas humanas, o objetivo deste trabalho é descrever o verbo saber como um verbo de múltiplas funções no português do Brasil, buscando confirmar a hipótese de que ele pode ser considerado forma de expressão da evidencialidade lexical. Basicamente classificado como verbo de cognição, o verbo saber apresenta outras funcionalidades, como o uso modal epistêmico, em que se avalia o (des)comprometimento do sujeito com relação à proposição que ele apresenta, e o uso modal facultativo, em que se avalia a capacidade em realizar um estado-de-coisas. Verifica-se também um uso evidencial reportativo de domínio comum desse predicado, por meio do qual uma informação é apresentada como um conhecimento compartilhado entre falante e ouvinte. Além desses usos, nossa hipótese geral é a de que o verbo saber serve também à expressão da evidencialidade inferencial e dedutiva, respeitando a hierarquia dos evidenciais proposta por Hengeveld e Hattnher (2015). Assim, tomando como embasamento teórico-metodológico a Gramática DiscursivoFuncional, investigamos os domínios pragmático-semânticos e morfossintáticos que envolvem a multifuncionalidade desse verbo. A aceitação desse aparato teórico direciona para a escolha de um corpus que considere usos reais da língua, aqui representados pelo Banco de Dados Iboruna, pelo Corpus do Português e por ocorrências retiradas da internet. Para analisar os diferentes usos desse verbo, recorre-se à organização em camadas, e seus diferentes níveis hierárquicos de análise, proposta pela Gramática Discursivo-Funcional (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p.13). As análises confirmaram a existência de dois outros usos evidenciais do verbo saber ainda não descritos na literatura: inferencial e dedutivo. Além disso, esta pesquisa traz também como contribuição a distinção entre conhecimento e informação no que se refere às ocorrências com esse verbo. Demonstramos, portanto, ao longo desta investigação, que o verbo saber serve à expressão da evidencialidade lexical em português brasileiro, e, com isso, identificamos sete contextos de uso: cognitivo, informativo, modal epistêmico, modal facultativo, evidencial reportativo, evidencial inferencial e evidencial dedutivo. / Considering that the idea of knowledge provides an accessibility between linguistic and cognitive objects that is only meaningful through the notion of use, since the knowledge does not occur outside the significant experiences of the subject with the references from the world or from the human symbolic actions, the aim of this study is to describe the verb saber as a multiple functional verb in Brazilian Portuguese, seeking to confirm the hypothesis that it can be considered a form of expression of lexical evidentiality. Basically classified as a cognition verb, the verb saber presents other functionalities, such as the epistemic modality, in which the subject's commitment to the proposition he or she presents is evaluated; and the facultative modality, in which the ability of a participant to engage in the state-of-affairs is evaluated. There is also a reportative evidential use of the common knowledge of this predicate, in which the information is presented as shared knowledge between the speaker and the listener. Besides these uses, our hypothesis is that the verb saber can be also used to convey inferential and deductive evidentiality, observing the evidentials hierarchy proposed by Hengeveld and Hattnher (2015). Thus, based on the Functional Discourse Grammar theoretical-methodological approach we investigate the pragmatic-semantic and morphosyntactic domains involving the multifunctionality of this verb. The acceptance of this theoretical approach leads to the choice of a corpus which considers real uses of the language, represented here by Iboruna Database, Corpus do Português and by occurrences taken from the internet. In order to analyze the different uses of this verb, it is used the layered organization, and its different hierarchical levels of analysis, proposed by the Functional Discourse Grammar (HENGEVELD; MACKENZIE, 2008, p.13). In this hierarchical context, the different semantic expressions of the verb saber are classified. The analysis confirmed the existence of two other evidential uses of the verb saber not yet described in the literature: inferential and deductive. In addition, this research also contributes to the distinction between knowledge and information regarding occurrences with this verb. We demonstrate, therefore, throughout the investigation, that the verb saber expresses lexical evidentiality in Brazilian Portuguese, and, hence, we identify seven contexts of use: cognitive, informative, epistemic modality, facultative modality, reportative evidentiality, inferencial evidentiality and deductive evidentiality.