Applying basic linguistic theory, a grammatical analysis of Gothic verbs formed with the previously underdescribed quasi-prefix (or preverb) miþ- shows that it forms what could be called an atypical type of applicative, though in two cases it seems instead to mark verbal congruence to an adverbial. Of the possible meanings of the etymologically identical preposition miþ, the comitative seems most salient for the quasi-prefix. An introduced core argument in these constructions do not behave like a typicaltransitive object, as it cannot be passivised, and so is likely rather an extension E (or indirect object) to the core. An underlying transitive object O remains as is, and can be passivised. The construction is only used when E pertains to the topic of the discourse, either an overlapping or a new topic. It is never a background comment, as is attested with peripheral arguments. The dative case of the introduced E seems to be semantically motivated, it being thecombination—comparable to a complex case marking—of the preposition and the quasi-prefix with the dative case that signals the comitative meaning. This construction is formally unrestrained, being applied to intransitive, ambitransitive, and transitive verbs, either with or without vowel gradation. In most cases the introduced E has a human referent, but it can also be a concrete object or an abstract. It cannot be inferred from this investigation whether Gothic allowed more than one applicative construction to be applied to the same verb. It would seem there are indications that this construction might have been a relatively new and developing construction in Gothic. In the verbal template, miþ- occupies the outermost position, in itself an indication of late grammaticalization. The one extant exception to this position could indicate an uncertainty of the translator regarding as to which its proper place was. The two instances with both miþ- and a comitative adverbial suggest—unless an artifact of translation—a possible development from peripheral argument to an atypical E-introducing applicative via verbal congruence.

La cohésion d’un texte repose sur un ensemble de liens syntaxiques et pragmatico-sémantiques entre les unités de discours dont les reprises anaphoriques. Les reprises assurent la continuité référentielle et thématique de phrases successives mais ne suffisent pas à assurer la cohérence des enchaînements. Elles font l’objet d’inférences qui permettent au système cognitif de trouver la relation de cohérence exprimée par l’enchaînement. Dans les cas simples, le système cognitif résout une reprise pronominale en lui attribuant un antécédent contextuellement pertinent, sélectionné parmi les éléments saillants actifs en mémoire. Lorsque la reprise concerne des arguments pluriels, les opérations cognitives sont plus complexes. Rentrent alors en ligne de compte non seulement la saillance de ces référents mais aussi le mode de relation qu’ils entretiennent au sein du prédicat de leur phrase d’accueil. Un prédicat d’accueil collectif tendra à effacer les distinctions entre les référents et facilitera les reprises plurielles au contraire des prédicats distributifs qui faciliteront les reprises de singuliers. Les prédicats réciproques lexicaux, quant à eux, établissent des liens de symétrie entre les entités dont on fait l’hypothèse qu’ils nécessitent des traitements cognitifs spécifiques. Les liens établis entre les arguments de prédicats collectifs, distributifs et symétriques sont étudiés d’un point de vue théorique. L’influence de ces liens sur la résolution de reprises pronominales au pluriel d’arguments dispersés mais aussi au singulier d’un élément d’une pluralité, est examinée expérimentalement (tests psycholinguistiques en production et en compréhension). L’étude théorique permet de mettre en évidence des différences fondamentales entre prédicats réciproques et prédicats symétriques d’une part, et entre prédicats collectifs et prédicats symétriques d’autre part. Les résultats expérimentaux corroborent l’étude théorique et permettent de proposer un pattern argumental pour les verbes lexicalement réciproques. / The cohesion of a text is based on a set of syntactic and pragmatico-semantic links between discourse units, including anaphoric referring terms. These terms ensure referential and thematic continuity in successive sentences, but are not sufficient to ensure the coherence of the chains. They involve inferences that enable the cognitive system to find the relationship of coherence expressed by the chain. In simple cases, the cognitive system resolves a pronominal anaphor by allocating to it a contextually relevant antecedent, selected from the salient elements that are active in memory. When the co-reference concerns plural arguments, the cognitive operations are more complex. In this case, it is necessary to take into account include not only the salience of the referents but also the type of relationship they have within the predicate of their host sentence. A collective hosting predicate will tend to remove distinctions between referents and will facilitate plural co-reference, unlike distributive predicates that facilitate singular coreference. Lexically reciprocal predicates, meanwhile, establish links of symmetry between entities that, are predicted to require specific cognitive processing. The links established between collective, distributive and symmetrical predicates are studied from a theoretical viewpoint. The influence of these links on the resolution of pronominal anaphora whose antecedent forms part of a plurality, or whose antecedents are dispersed in a comitative construction, is examined experimentally (psycholinguistic tests of production and comprehension). The theoretical study points to fundamental differences between reciprocal predicates and symmetrical predicates on the one hand, and between collective predicates and symmetrical predicates on the other. The experimental results support the theoretical study and lead to the proposal of an argumental pattern for symmetrical verbs.

Esta tese se concentra sobre os debates referentes à relação entre as construções locativas, existenciais e possessivas nas línguas do mundo, dando especial atenção para o caso particular das línguas bantas, para as quais o entendimento mais completo da relação entre aquelas construções só se dá se o domínio conceitual do comitativo for levado em conta. A tese se desenvolve na linha de três grandes questionamentos, que constituem três partes. A primeira se ocupa de questões referentes ao trabalho de campo ou o campo da pesquisa, o da descrição de línguas africanas no Brasil, nesse caso, o de uma linguística africana na Diáspora. São apresentados os principais aspectos gramaticais das línguas do estudo, com ênfase das línguas bantas das zonas H, K e R, englobando assim todo o território de Angola. A segunda parte trata das questões teóricas, apresentando as diversas propostas que almejaram analisar as construções possessivas e outras a elas relacionadas, sendo classificadas em duas: (i) as propostas localistas, para as quais o domínio de possessivos e existenciais são em última instância locativos; e (ii) as propostas não localistas, que buscaram identificar outros fatores na relação de possessivos e as demais construções. Apresentam-se também os questionamentos epistemológicos seguindo as reflexões de um anarquismo epistemológico em linguística. Partindo dos pressupostos da Gramática Cognitiva, os domínios conceituais de locativos, existenciais, comitativos e possessivos são analisados a partir do construto da Análise do Ponto de Referência, considerado como a base conceitual comum àquelas quatro construções. A terceira e última parte é devotada às questões relativas à descrição das construções locativas, existenciais, comitativas e possessivas em línguas bantas. Para cada construção, são consideradas as subconstruções que devem receber uma maior atenção dos estudiosos, para que se tenha um quadro mais completo dos estudos sobre possessivos. Por exemplo, para as construções locativas, uma discussão sobre inversão locativa; para as construções existenciais, a questão do efeito de definitude em línguas bantas; para as construções comitativas, a relação delas com o da coordenação entre NPs, por fim, para as construções possessivas, a relação dessas com os diferentes processos de gramaticalização responsáveis pela grande diversidade das construções de posse predicativa, como o processo de transitivização ou Have-drift. Para uma análise conjunta dessas construções, preocupada com a particularidade tipológica das línguas bantas, propõe-se que se faz necessário um refinamento teórico da categoria semântico-gramatical Controle, encarada como o fator que diferencia locativos, existenciais e comitativos de possessivos. / This dissertation focuses on the debates concerning the relationship between locative, existential and possessive constructions in the languages of the world, paying special attention to the particular case of the Bantu languages, for which a more complete understanding of the relationship between those constructions can only happen if the conceptual domain of comitative is taken into account. The dissertation is developed according to three major questions, which constitute three parts of the work. The first part deals with issues related to field work or the field of the research, the description of African languages in Brazil, in this case, an African linguistics in the Diaspora. The main grammatical aspects of the languages of this study are presented, with emphasis to the Angolan languages, Bantu languages of zones H, K and R. The second part deals with theoretical issues, presenting the various proposals that have wished to analyze possessive constructions and related ones. Those proposals are classified into two types: (i) localist proposals, for which the domain of possessive and existential are ultimately locative; and (ii) Non localist proposals, which tried to identify other factors in the relations of possessive to other constructions. The epistemological questions are also presented, following a reflection of an epistemological anarchism standpoint in linguistics. Based on the assumptions of Cognitive Grammar, the conceptual domains of locative, existential, comitative and possessive are analyzed under the construct of the Reference Point Analysis, considered as the conceptual common basis to those four grammatical constructions. The third and last part is devoted to issues relating to the description of locative, existential, comitative and possessive constructions in Bantu languages. For each construction we considered sub-constructions that should receive a greater attention from scholars, for those who wish a more complete study on predicative possession. For example, for discussion locative constructions one should pay attention to issues related to locative inversion, for existential constructions, the question of the definiteness effect in Bantu languages also should be considered; for comitative constructions, one should relate this construction to that of comitative coordination between NPs, and finally, for possessive constructions, the relation of it with different grammaticalization processes responsible for the great diversity of predicative possession constructions, such as the process of transitivization or \"Have-drift\". For a joint analysis of these constructions concerned with typological characteristic of Bantu languages, it is proposed that it is necessary to refine theoretically the semantic-grammatical category of Control, regarded as the factor that differentiates locative, existential and comitative from possessives.

Esta tese se concentra sobre os debates referentes à relação entre as construções locativas, existenciais e possessivas nas línguas do mundo, dando especial atenção para o caso particular das línguas bantas, para as quais o entendimento mais completo da relação entre aquelas construções só se dá se o domínio conceitual do comitativo for levado em conta. A tese se desenvolve na linha de três grandes questionamentos, que constituem três partes. A primeira se ocupa de questões referentes ao trabalho de campo ou o campo da pesquisa, o da descrição de línguas africanas no Brasil, nesse caso, o de uma linguística africana na Diáspora. São apresentados os principais aspectos gramaticais das línguas do estudo, com ênfase das línguas bantas das zonas H, K e R, englobando assim todo o território de Angola. A segunda parte trata das questões teóricas, apresentando as diversas propostas que almejaram analisar as construções possessivas e outras a elas relacionadas, sendo classificadas em duas: (i) as propostas localistas, para as quais o domínio de possessivos e existenciais são em última instância locativos; e (ii) as propostas não localistas, que buscaram identificar outros fatores na relação de possessivos e as demais construções. Apresentam-se também os questionamentos epistemológicos seguindo as reflexões de um anarquismo epistemológico em linguística. Partindo dos pressupostos da Gramática Cognitiva, os domínios conceituais de locativos, existenciais, comitativos e possessivos são analisados a partir do construto da Análise do Ponto de Referência, considerado como a base conceitual comum àquelas quatro construções. A terceira e última parte é devotada às questões relativas à descrição das construções locativas, existenciais, comitativas e possessivas em línguas bantas. Para cada construção, são consideradas as subconstruções que devem receber uma maior atenção dos estudiosos, para que se tenha um quadro mais completo dos estudos sobre possessivos. Por exemplo, para as construções locativas, uma discussão sobre inversão locativa; para as construções existenciais, a questão do efeito de definitude em línguas bantas; para as construções comitativas, a relação delas com o da coordenação entre NPs, por fim, para as construções possessivas, a relação dessas com os diferentes processos de gramaticalização responsáveis pela grande diversidade das construções de posse predicativa, como o processo de transitivização ou Have-drift. Para uma análise conjunta dessas construções, preocupada com a particularidade tipológica das línguas bantas, propõe-se que se faz necessário um refinamento teórico da categoria semântico-gramatical Controle, encarada como o fator que diferencia locativos, existenciais e comitativos de possessivos. / This dissertation focuses on the debates concerning the relationship between locative, existential and possessive constructions in the languages of the world, paying special attention to the particular case of the Bantu languages, for which a more complete understanding of the relationship between those constructions can only happen if the conceptual domain of comitative is taken into account. The dissertation is developed according to three major questions, which constitute three parts of the work. The first part deals with issues related to field work or the field of the research, the description of African languages in Brazil, in this case, an African linguistics in the Diaspora. The main grammatical aspects of the languages of this study are presented, with emphasis to the Angolan languages, Bantu languages of zones H, K and R. The second part deals with theoretical issues, presenting the various proposals that have wished to analyze possessive constructions and related ones. Those proposals are classified into two types: (i) localist proposals, for which the domain of possessive and existential are ultimately locative; and (ii) Non localist proposals, which tried to identify other factors in the relations of possessive to other constructions. The epistemological questions are also presented, following a reflection of an epistemological anarchism standpoint in linguistics. Based on the assumptions of Cognitive Grammar, the conceptual domains of locative, existential, comitative and possessive are analyzed under the construct of the Reference Point Analysis, considered as the conceptual common basis to those four grammatical constructions. The third and last part is devoted to issues relating to the description of locative, existential, comitative and possessive constructions in Bantu languages. For each construction we considered sub-constructions that should receive a greater attention from scholars, for those who wish a more complete study on predicative possession. For example, for discussion locative constructions one should pay attention to issues related to locative inversion, for existential constructions, the question of the definiteness effect in Bantu languages also should be considered; for comitative constructions, one should relate this construction to that of comitative coordination between NPs, and finally, for possessive constructions, the relation of it with different grammaticalization processes responsible for the great diversity of predicative possession constructions, such as the process of transitivization or \"Have-drift\". For a joint analysis of these constructions concerned with typological characteristic of Bantu languages, it is proposed that it is necessary to refine theoretically the semantic-grammatical category of Control, regarded as the factor that differentiates locative, existential and comitative from possessives.

This doctoral dissertation is concerned with the dynamic processes that are at play in the development of the system of prepositions in contemporary Czech. In the first part, I review different treatments of prepositions as a word class in the Czech linguistic tradition. I use available descriptive accounts to discuss the features of two main subtypes of this category, i.e. primary and secondary prepositions, focusing in particular on the process of 'prepositionalization' of secondary prepositions, i.e. the grammaticalization path that leads to their emergence. The primary focus of the first part of the dissertation is the role of meaning and the semantic features of prepositions as function words, as well as the meaning which prepositions contribute to more complex linguistic items, i.e. the interrelation of prepositions and case marking and valency patterns derived from verbs. I also draw attention to prefixed words which are, in the majority of cases, derived from primary prepositions. I approach meaning mainly from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, employing also the view of construction grammar which treats prepositions both as constructions in their own right and as parts of higher order constructions. Chapter three is concerned with the processes of language change with regards to...