University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Portuguese

Desde el punto de vista de la tipología lingüística, el chino-mandarín es uno de los idiomas más alejados del castellano, dado que en cualquier nivel de descripción gramatical presenta su peculiaridad en comparación con el español: escritura, fonética y fonología, morfología, léxico, sintaxis o semántica. En este estudio, nos concentramos en una de las diferencias que más singularizan a ambas lenguas: el artículo, una partícula totalmente desconocida para la lengua asiática. La investigación se lleva adelante con los siguientes objetivos: a). encontrar los procedimientos que emplea el chino para realizar las funciones que presenta el artículo en español; b). Obtener una visión global de la situación de conocimiento del artículo por parte de los alumnos chinos en diferentes niveles, detectar los errores más frecuentes que cometen los estudiantes y comprobar la influencia que ejerce la lengua materna en su proceso de aprendizaje a la hora de utilizar este tipo de determinantes: los errores no siempre se deben a la influencia de la L1, pero una buena parte de los errores se explican por ella. c). Describir y explicar las causas de los errores y tratarlos elaborando una propuesta pedagógica dirigida especialmente a los futuros profesores chinos de ELE. La investigación se realiza dentro de varios marcos teóricos y metodológicos: las explicaciones y síntesis del uso del artículo se hacen de acuerdo con la teoría del funcionalismo; los apartados de comparación y análisis, así como la propuesta didáctica, se apoyan en las teorías de tipología y lingüística aplicada y se emplean los métodos de análisis contrastivo y análisis de errores. Esta tesis se organiza en ocho capítulos, además de la presente introducción. Estos capítulos se estructuran en tres partes principales: una parte teórica (Aspectos Teórico-metodológicos), una parte aplicada (el análisis de errores) y una parte complementaria (Anexos y Bibliografía). / The Castilian is gaining importance in China. Therefore, it seems necessary to develop research in teaching of ELE, especially to students of Chinese origin. In this thesis, we just see the article, a particle completely unknown to the Asian language. The research was carried out with the following objectives: a). Explain the values found in Spanish article and find the methods used by the Chinese to perform the same functions. b). Get an overview of the situation of dominance of the article by Chinese students at different levels, detect the most common mistakes and check the influence of the mother tongue in the learning process. c). Describe and explain the causes of the errors and try to develop a pedagogical grammar aimed specifically at prospective Chinese teachers of ELE. This thesis is organized into eight chapters, in addition to this introduction. These chapters are structured into three main parts: a theoretical part (Theoretical and methodological issues), A applied part (error analysis) and a complementary part (Appendices and Bibliography).

Over the last few decades, the interpersonal dimensions of academic writing have received growing attention in the field of applied linguistics. As an important concept in academic writing, engagement has been a topic of interest to reveal how writers interact with readers to, for example, guide reasoning through arguments and to abide by conventions of politeness. Previous research has suggested that the higher students’ academic level is, the more similar their use of engagement elements in writing will be. Previous research has also suggested that for non-native speakers, cultural factors as well as interlanguage, influence how engagement features are used in written English. The primary aim of this study was to investigate which engagement patterns could be found in L1 Swedish and L1 English students’ academic writing in English, with the focus on linguistics as a subject. Using the methods of corpus linguistics, this project also strove to identify the ways patterns of engagement differed between L1 Swedish and L1 English students, and in what ways patterns of engagement varied between the students at B-levels and C-levels in written English of linguistics studies. The data for the study came from SUSEC, which is a corpus of written English that consists of texts collected at Stockholm University in Sweden and at King’s College in England. In line with previous research, the results indicate that the L1 Swedish students use more elements of engagement than the L1 English students. Results also suggest that C-level students use fewer reader pronouns than B-level students, and that Swedish C-level students use more directives than Swedish B-level students. Overall, the comparison of students with two different first languages revealed several differences on how engagement is used, which can serve to inform future research on academic writing.

No description available.

Text in Hebrew with English Summary / This research describes nominal patterns with prefixes m and t as appearing in Parma A in comparison with other traditions viz. Kaufinan, Paris and Y emenite manuscripts. This research has 3 aims: 1. To describe all relevant evidence in Parma A 2. To compare evidence with data in other traditions, including the Bible and Mishnaic Hebrew and Aramaic sources 3. To elaborate on those unique forms in manuscripts which represent genuine Mishnaic Hebrew / Classics and Modern European Languages / D. Litt et Phil. (Semitic Languages)

This thesis is a comparative study of Pai and Swati. The Pai language is spoken in the easten1 parts of the Mpumalanga Province of the Republic of South Africa. The study concentrates on the correspondences and differences of the speech sounds of these two languages and reference is also made to the morphology. The previous comprehensive work on Pai was by Ziervogel (1956) where he classified the Pai language as one of the three dialects of Eastern Sotho. He also considered the Swati elements present in Pai to be merely borrowings. The present investigation into the history of the Pai people indicates that Pai may have had links with languages other than those belonging to the Sotho group and, from the evidence, an Nguni connection has become a distinct possibility. The speech sounds of Pai are described in detail in chapter two and corresponding speech sounds in Swati are included. The vowels of both languages receive special attention because Pai apparently has a seven-vowel system and Swati a five-vowel system. The corresponding consonants in these two languages soon points towards a relationship that is based on more than just borrowed items. In chapter three the Ur-Bantu sounds of Meinhof and their reflexes in Swati and Pai are described and compared. The wide variety of attestations in Pai and the instability of some phonemes are indicative of a language that has been subjected to many outside influences and that is at the moment in a state of flux. In chapter four some aspects of the morphology are described in order to highlight the peculiar characteristics of Pai as an individual language. The relationship with Swati is again emphasized by the findings in this chapter. A statistical analysis of the speech sounds of Pai and Swati in chapter five indicates that an Nguni core of sounds exists that is shared by both these languages. A re-classification of Pai within the language context of that area may therefore be necessary. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

L’écriture joycienne se distingue par la conscience aiguë dont elle témoigne de l’histoire des mots. Cette tendance est le produit de l’émergence de la grammaire comparée et de la sémantique historique au XIXe siècle, disciplines qui avaient bouleversé le concept d’étymologie et légitimé, en apparence, la prise en compte du passé de la langue dans son emploi. Pourtant, quand Joyce écrit, cette approche est irrémédiablement dépassée, et ses nombreuses contradictions critiquées. Aussi les œuvres de l’écrivain, loin de constituer un reflet fidèle et stable du discours sur l’étymologie du siècle où il naquit, en mettent-elles à nu les paradoxes et les partis pris. La stratégie d’écriture de Dubliners, si elle repose sur une exploitation fréquente des données mises au jour par les comparatistes et les sémanticiens, prend ainsi le contrepied de toute démarche transcendantale et tire profit de la nature subjective et aléatoire de l’activation des potentialités étymologiques des mots par le lecteur. La volonté affichée par Stephen dans A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man de trouver une justesse supérieure dans la motivation directe puis indirecte des noms fait place, dans le roman suivant, à un rejet amer de « l’imposture des sons ». Mais Ulysses éclaire également les failles des théories linguistiques de son époque : sa mise en lumière du rôle joué par l’étymologie populaire dans le fonctionnement de la langue implique une critique du positivisme saussurien et s’inscrit dans une dénonciation plus large de toute conception pseudo-rationnelle et supra-individuelle de l’histoire. / One of the hallmarks of Joyce’s prose is the acute consciousness it reflects of the history of words. This tendency is the product of the emergence of comparative linguistics and historical semantics in the 19th century, both of which had revolutionized the concept of etymology and seemed to make the history of words relevant to their use. Yet that approach soon became irremediably outdated and its numerous contradictions had been subjected to severe criticism by the time Joyce wrote his books. Accordingly, his works, far from giving a faithful and stable image of the etymological discourse prevalent in the century of his birth, reflect its biases and contradictions. Although the writing strategy of Dubliners relies on a constant exploitation of the data unveiled by linguists, it opposes any transcendental philosophy and makes much of the subjective and random nature of the activation of words’ etymological potentialities by the reader. Stephen’s attempts at finding a superior meaning in the direct and then indirect motivation of names in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man evolves, in the next novel, into a bitter rejection of the “imposture of sounds”. Ulysses, however, also brings into relief the inconsistencies of the linguistic theories of its own time: in highlighting the role played by folk etymology in the use of language, it constitutes an implicit criticism of Saussure’s positivist claims and calls into question any pseudo-rational and supra-individual conception of history.

Not available

This thesis is a comparative study of Pai and Swati. The Pai language is spoken in the easten1 parts of the Mpumalanga Province of the Republic of South Africa. The study concentrates on the correspondences and differences of the speech sounds of these two languages and reference is also made to the morphology. The previous comprehensive work on Pai was by Ziervogel (1956) where he classified the Pai language as one of the three dialects of Eastern Sotho. He also considered the Swati elements present in Pai to be merely borrowings. The present investigation into the history of the Pai people indicates that Pai may have had links with languages other than those belonging to the Sotho group and, from the evidence, an Nguni connection has become a distinct possibility. The speech sounds of Pai are described in detail in chapter two and corresponding speech sounds in Swati are included. The vowels of both languages receive special attention because Pai apparently has a seven-vowel system and Swati a five-vowel system. The corresponding consonants in these two languages soon points towards a relationship that is based on more than just borrowed items. In chapter three the Ur-Bantu sounds of Meinhof and their reflexes in Swati and Pai are described and compared. The wide variety of attestations in Pai and the instability of some phonemes are indicative of a language that has been subjected to many outside influences and that is at the moment in a state of flux. In chapter four some aspects of the morphology are described in order to highlight the peculiar characteristics of Pai as an individual language. The relationship with Swati is again emphasized by the findings in this chapter. A statistical analysis of the speech sounds of Pai and Swati in chapter five indicates that an Nguni core of sounds exists that is shared by both these languages. A re-classification of Pai within the language context of that area may therefore be necessary. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

MA (Xitsonga) / Senthara ya M. E. R. Mathivha ya Tindzimi ta Afrika, Vutshila ni Ndhavuko / See the attached abstract below