The subject of this study is language use in a special type of social activity: the exchange of goods, services and information in a commercial setting. The main aim is to gain an understanding of the work that shop assistants perform using language. In the analysis, the focus is on verbal routine work. One part of the analysis thus entails mapping the typical utterances and conversational sequences related to such activities. Another part involves investigating how much non-task-oriented interaction the various activities require or “tolerate”, for instance, in the form of “small talk”. A central theme in the study is the interactants’ conversational rights and obligations, from the perspective of politeness theory, especially Fraser’s theory of the conversational contract. The service encounters are categorised as activity types, according to Levinson’s activity theory. In the comparative parts of the study, the concept of pragmeme is used as a tool to examine different realisations of prototypical situated communicative acts. The empirical material consists of authentic conversations, analysed by methods borrowed from conversation analysis. The conversations were recorded at a supermarket checkout till, a deli counter with manual service and an information desk in a bookshop. It turned out that only a few of the customer conversations were without complications. At the supermarket till, for instance, only one out of four conversations was completely routine and unproblematic. Also presented is a diachronic investigation of the norms relating to service encounters that have been taking place in shops since the 1940s. The main sources here are manuals and study materials for shop employees, together with interviews and material gathered from role playing. In this part of the study, a number of features in the historical change process are described, for instance in the manner of addressing people and the use of politeness expressions.

The Viking Age rune-carvers and their readers used runes as a semiotic resource to convey and structure the messages on rune-stones. An analysis of the ways in which this resource is used together with other resources gives us a deeper insight into the relationship between writers and readers and into the written culture in which the rune-stones were produced. The present study treats runic carvings as multimodal texts in which different semiotic modes produce meaning by visual and verbal means. The roles played by runes in such texts are studied from three different perspectives. The empirical study in chapter 3 investigates how the verbal messages of the inscriptions interrelate with ornamental compositions. The most important convention found is that runic inscriptions usually start in the lower left part of the ornamental band in which they are inscribed. A second result is that there is a certain correlation between the visual and syntactic structure of runic texts. In chapter 4, Södermanlandic inscriptions employing more than one writing system are investigated. These carvings can be tied to a context of high social ambition in which at least two different, socially stratified discourses are expressed by means of the runes as a visual semiotic mode. Chapter 5 is devoted to non-lexical inscriptions, showing that such carvings are indeed runic texts despite their lack of verbal message. Different types of readers can use runic resources in different ways. Firstly, runes carry meaning independent of any verbal message, giving them significance even to illiterate readers. Secondly, literate readers can appreciate certain conventions of runic composition and, thirdly, one and the same runic text can be part of different discourses and hence be aimed at different kinds of readers. / <p>Disputationen sker på norska och svenska</p>

This dissertation concerns oral language tests from a grammatical perspective. Tests today are usually assessed based on a communicative approach to language, so it is interesting to see how great a significance the level of grammatical development of test takers has for their communicative competence in general. The data in the investigation consist of recorded test conversations from a Swedish national language proficiency test, Tisus (test in Swedish for university and university college studies). The general aim of the study is to investigate whether there is a difference between the test takers who passed and those who failed in terms of their level of grammatical development. This is investigated in one main study and two smaller follow-up studies. The theoretical basis for this work is comprised of theories on second language learning and theories on language testing. For the grammatical analysis, Pienemann’s processability theory (PT) is applied. This theory posits that learners acquire certain morpho-syntactic structures in a particular order, something that produces a hierarchy consisting of five levels. In the main study, a quantitative analysis is made of the test takers’ level of grammatical development relative to their TISUS results. The results show a clear correlation between grammatical level and test results. There also seems to be a kind of watershed at level 4, given that most of the test takers who passed have command of this level in the PT hierarchy, whereas those who failed, as a rule, only make it to level 3. The first follow-up study is more qualitative in nature and is focused on the test takers who deviate from the general pattern of results in the main study: those who failed despite their high grammatical level and those who passed despite their low grammatical level. One result of this follow-up study is that, in these cases, it appears communicative competence was critical. Being able to orient oneself to the special conversational situation represented by the test conversation is considered to be particularly important. In a second follow-up study, the problems of applying PT to morphology and syntax are examined. The results of the dissertation suggest that there is a correlation between grammatical competence and communicative competence in general. This means that the grammatical levels in the PT hierarchy may constitute a useful basis of analysis in oral assessments, as a complement to other assessment tools.

In Swedish dialects we find the terms ris,skäver and skärva referring to illnesses in children. The words are also parts of various compounds which refer to variants of the illnesses. The terms are linguistic expressions denoting two folk categories of illnesses, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA. These categories are investigated from a cognitive semantic perspective. The cognitive perspective argues that we organize our understanding of reality by using Idealized Cognitive Models (ICM) based on our physical, mental and emotional experiences of the world. The aim is twofold: to demonstrate the bases on which an experienced illness is placed in a certain category, and to show how a folk conception of illness is reflected in the word formation strategies. The word formation strategies emanate from notions of characteristic symptoms, and from notions of causes of illnesses. Both categories, RIS and SKÄVER/SKÄRVA, are based on a number of ICM's. The category RIS is a radial structure, which means that the category is held together although its members have no structural criteria in common. The category SKÄVER/SKÄRVA is a concentrating structure, meaning that all members share all structural criteria. There is a strong connection between word formation strategies and the structures of the categories. Terms related to symptoms refer to members of a category which are part of a radial structure, while terms related to causes refer to members of a category which are part of a concentrating structure. This can be explained by two of the basic assumptions of cognitive semantics: semantic content is structred and symbolized overtly on the surface form of a language and categories are conventional, based on cultural assumptions about the world. / digitalisering@umu

Faroese is known to lie grammatically between Icelandic and the Mainland Scandinavian languages and dialects. One example of this is that, on the one hand, Faroese is like Icelandic in having a basically intact morphological four case system. On the other hand case-marking in Faroese is linked to clause function to a greater degree than in Icelandic – but to a lesser degree than in the Mainland Scandinavian standard languages. In Scandinavian Linguistics, it has long been an axiom that in the longer term the aforementioned four case system will be reduced in all varieties of the Scandinavian languages. The present thesis investigates if, and if so how, this expected development manifests itself in Senior High School graduation essays in Faroese from the period 1940–1999. A quantitative study forms the core of the thesis. The choice between the dative and other cases is related to eight syntactic variables whose effect on the choice of case is compared using methods from the variationist framework, among others. The results are partly surprising: the dative did not reduce in frequency from the 1940s to 1990s. There certainly is a tendency, however not a statistically significant one, that the dative is more often replaced by another case in contexts where the norm is to use the dative. On the other hand it also seems to become more common for the dative to be used hypercorrectly. Furthermore, the development is not linear, in that around the middle of the investigation period, the dative is used far more according to norms than otherwise. As expected, clause function is an important variable, but by the end of the period under investigation the placement of the nominal phrase within the clause becomes a surprisingly strong factor. It also becomes more important if the phrase takes the form of a first/second-person pronominal or not. The results are theoretically interpreted in the light of, firstly, Generative Grammar, and secondly Construction Grammar. The modification of certain terms is discussed, such as lexical case in Generative Grammar or usage-based model in Construction Grammar. The conclusion is that the linguistic descriptive models of these theories can only partly cover the tendencies to change that are observed. Other parts of the results are best explained using aspects of sociolinguistics. The conclusion is that case studies on a micro-level are valuable in order to evaluate and develop theories of linguistic variation and change at a macro-level.

Deklarationen om nordisk språkpolitik syftar till att stärka grannspråksförståelsen i Norden och i det arbetet spelar skolan en roll genom svenskundervisningen. Trots deklarationen har grannspråksundervisningen i svensk skola kallats svensklärarens dåliga samvete och Sverige har fått kritik för att inte arbeta nog med detta inom skolan för att möta målen. Denna studie undersöker hur fyra svensklärare på gymnasiet arbetar med grannspråksundervisning utifrån kursplanen i Svenska 2. Även lärarnas attityder till grannspråksundervisning samt hur de ser på sin egen kompetens att bedriva den behandlas. Resultatet visar att lärarna arbetar utifrån det som konkret står formulerat styrdokumenten men också att tre av dem även inkluderar moment utöver kursplanen. Den generella attityden till grannspråksundervisning hos lärarna är positiv trots att två av dem väljer att prioritera andra moment i kursplanen högre. Endast en av de intervjuade lärarna anser sig ha kompetens nog för att bedriva grannspråksundervisning trots att allas lärarutbildning har inkluderat grannspråk. Resultatet visar vidare att det finns en diskrepans mellan skolans uttalande roll i arbetet att stärka grannspråksförståelsen och grannspråksundervisningen i praktiken. / The declaration of Nordic language politics aims to strengthen neighbouring language comprehension in the Nordic countries and in that work, schools play an important part. Despite the declaration the teaching of neighbouring languages in Swedish schools has been called “the bad conscience of the Swedish teacher” and Sweden has received criticism for not doing enough within the schools to meet the aims. This study investigates how four Swedish teachers in upper secondary school work with teaching neighbouring languages according to the syllabus for Swedish 2. The study will also deal with the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching neighbouring languages and how they perceive their own competence to teach it. The results show that the teachers work according to what the curriculum says concretely but also that three of them also extend their teaching outside of the syllabus. The teachers’ general attitude towards teaching neighbouring languages is positive even though two of them choose to prioritize other parts of the syllabus. Only one of the interviewed teachers considers themselves to acquire the competence to teach neighbouring languages even though all theteachers’ education included neighbouring languages. Furthermore, the results show there is a discrepancy between the schools outspoken role in strengthening neighbourin

<p>This work consists of two parts: the theoretical and the experimental. In the theoretical part, some general and some language specific theories of tense, aspect and aktionsart are presented, and the temporal systems of Swedish and Polish are compared. </p><p>The theoretical part is not a mere review of the literature on the subject. The comparison of the descriptions of aspect and aktionsart by Slavic researchers with the universal theory of Smith (1991) and (1977) and with description of aktionsart in Swedish in Teleman et al. (1999) has allowed me for some important observations as to the nature of the long-lasting dispute about the differences between aspect and aktionsart.</p><p>The experimental part is a cross-sectional study on the role of the linguistic context on the acquisition of the pluperfect by Polish learners Swedish as a foreign language. The informants are university students studying Swedish as a foreign language. The language samples were collected by means of two types of tests: gap-filling and translation from Polish. </p><p>Twelve linguistic factors, each divided into two subgroups, were hypothesised to have affected the correct use of the pluperfect. All those hypotheses as to which of the subgroups may inhibit and which may facilitate the correct use of the pluperfect are grounded in linguistic theories, i.e. presented in the form of linguistically-based discussions as to what kind of effect, facilitative or inhibiting, each of the linguistic factors may have had, and why. </p><p>The effect of those factors upon the correct use of the pluperfect has been tested by means of a step-wise multiple regression which measured the simultaneous effect of each factor upon the correct use of the pluperfect. This method has confirmed the facilitative effect of the following six linguistic factors: intrasentential indication of topic time (subordinate clause), unbounded verb indicating topic time, agentive meaning of the target verb, specifying subordinate clause, statal pluperfect and location of the time of action of pluperfect clause outside the temporal frame of narrative plot.</p>

<p>I denna uppsats undersöks ett flertal ortnamnsformer som förekommer i olika tyska, slaviska och skandinaviska källor och betecknar ett och samma ställe, nämligen staden Wolin belägen på sydspetsen av ön Wolin i polska Pommern. Syftet med arbetet är dels att fastställa etymologin av två av Wolin-namnen, <em>at Jómi </em>och <em>Jómsborg</em>, dels att förklara hur alla ortnamnsformer som betecknar staden Wolin hänger ihop och bestämma vilka faktorer som orsakade en sådan namnmångfald. Undersökningens material utgörs framför allt av de Wolin-namnformer som förekommer i de skandinaviska och de med dessa relaterade tyska källorna. Materialet analyseras i stort sett enligt den traditionella namntolkningsmetoden. Det visar sig att formen <em>at Jómi</em> sannolikt härstammar från det pommerska naturnamnet <em>*Jǫma</em> (˂ <em>jǫma</em> f. ’grop; dike’) som betecknade Stora bukten, en del av Szczecinbukten. Sammansättningen <em>Jómsborg</em> är en sekundär form som bildats från <em>at Jómi</em> enligt standardmodellen: dat. (<em>at</em>)<em> Jómi</em> > gen. <em>Jóms</em> + efterleden <em>-borg</em>. Alla ortnamnsformer som betecknar staden Wolin i primära källor är relaterade till varandra: vissa av dem är etymologiskt besläktade, vissa endast ”referentiellt”, dvs. de betecknar ett och samma ställe. Uppkomsten av ett så stort antal Wolin-ortnamnsformer kan i första hand förklaras genom att formerna i fråga har olika ursprung, att det fanns olika namnbrukarkretsar som använde olika former för att hänvisa till samma stad och att det uppstod olika stavningsvarianter och sammansatta namn under de primära formernas senare utveckling.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to apply a name user perspective to the street names of Stockholm, with a focus on knowledge and views about names among the city’s inhabitants. On the basis of interview surveys, a picture is presented of the knowledge and views of Stockholmers regarding their city’s street names and the semantic or thematic name categories to which many of them belong; that is, the study seeks to identify general features of the ways in which the people of the city relate to their street names. Surveys were carried out in seven districts: Hedvig Eleonora parish, Hjorthagen, Fredhäll, Norra Ängby, Årsta, Fruängen and Akalla. A separate survey studied the range and associative properties of street names among Stockholmers not living in the vicinity of the streets in question.</p><p>General findings emerging from the surveys are that people are very familiar with the names in their local area; that knowledge about these names contributes to their well-being and sense of identity and belonging; that name categories are appreciated and considered to have an orientating function; that names which are seen as elegant or distinguished are regarded as enhancing the image and perceptions of the environment in which they occur; that long names and those made up of several words may be regarded as unwieldy in practical use; and that people need and create names for more limited park and recreational areas, while formally adopted names for larger green spaces are not used or are felt to be unclear in their reference.</p>

This work consists of two parts: the theoretical and the experimental. In the theoretical part, some general and some language specific theories of tense, aspect and aktionsart are presented, and the temporal systems of Swedish and Polish are compared. The theoretical part is not a mere review of the literature on the subject. The comparison of the descriptions of aspect and aktionsart by Slavic researchers with the universal theory of Smith (1991) and (1977) and with description of aktionsart in Swedish in Teleman et al. (1999) has allowed me for some important observations as to the nature of the long-lasting dispute about the differences between aspect and aktionsart. The experimental part is a cross-sectional study on the role of the linguistic context on the acquisition of the pluperfect by Polish learners Swedish as a foreign language. The informants are university students studying Swedish as a foreign language. The language samples were collected by means of two types of tests: gap-filling and translation from Polish. Twelve linguistic factors, each divided into two subgroups, were hypothesised to have affected the correct use of the pluperfect. All those hypotheses as to which of the subgroups may inhibit and which may facilitate the correct use of the pluperfect are grounded in linguistic theories, i.e. presented in the form of linguistically-based discussions as to what kind of effect, facilitative or inhibiting, each of the linguistic factors may have had, and why. The effect of those factors upon the correct use of the pluperfect has been tested by means of a step-wise multiple regression which measured the simultaneous effect of each factor upon the correct use of the pluperfect. This method has confirmed the facilitative effect of the following six linguistic factors: intrasentential indication of topic time (subordinate clause), unbounded verb indicating topic time, agentive meaning of the target verb, specifying subordinate clause, statal pluperfect and location of the time of action of pluperfect clause outside the temporal frame of narrative plot.