in English This thesis focuses on the spatial and temporal prepositional phrases (PP) and their positioning in French and Dutch. Both languages have different sentence structures, and it was therefore presumed that the positions of the PPs would vary in both languages. The purpose of this thesis was to do an analysis in this field, to describe the possible positions of spatial and temporal PPs and to compare them. The research was done within the functionalist theory of André Martinet. This theory is based on the fact that the main objective of language is communication and that people use various strategies to interpret messages on different levels. It also must be taken into account that various principles influence word order. Sentence structure, strategies and principles are factors that create a complex word order system must be considered when forming each sentence. On this basis, the purpose of this thesis is to describe these factors and demonstrate their usage through analysis of concrete, practical examples.

The thesis comprises an investigation of three aspects of sentence structure in Classical Greek (henceforth CG) dramatic poetry: order of the main sentence elements (subject, verb, and object) within the clause, the emphatic position at the start of the clause, and the structure of inter-clausal linking. It is argued that these three features, usually considered separately, are interdependent, and that intra-clausal word order is directly related to the structure of compound and complex sentences. The discussion undertakes a systematic survey of subject, verb, and object order in a corpus of texts, proposes an explanation for the observed order, and develops a model which explains how prominence within the clause is exploited in clause linking to produce the complement structures observed in Homeric and tragic complementation.

The present dissertation is a comparative investigation between the Germanic-like structural phenomena found in the left periphery of Old French (OF) clauses and the syntactic phenomena found in the left periphery of Old High German (OHG). The goal of this thesis is to provide evidence that only a synchronic analysis can explain the presence of Germanic-like structures in OF syntax. The reason for this lies in the similarities between the V2 properties found in OF and OHG. The two languages show V2 properties such as V-to-C movement and XP fronting, but also properties which are not found in Modern V2 languages such as a frequent V1 and V3 word order. The corpus I use consists of four OF texts from the 12th and 13th century which correspond to the late OF period. They are composed in different OF dialects from the northern part of France. The poetic texts chosen for this study are Le voyage de Saint-Brandan and Gormont et Isembart. The prose texts are Le Roman de Tristan en prose and Les Miracles de Saint Louis. I coded these OF documents according to certain criteria: main clause type, embedded clause type, finite verb position, first element preceding the finite verb, etc. The results indicate that OF can be considered a true V2-language that shares a certain amount of properties with OHG, namely V-to-C movement, XP fronting, Stylistic Fronting as well as verb-initial clauses. This thesis illustrates that the OF dialects closer situated to the Germanic language border show a higher frequency in Germanic-like syntactic phenomena than the dialects situated further away. A difference between poems and prose texts concerning the presence and intensity of certain syntactic phenomena can also be observed.

This research aims to find out whether and to what extent the valency of psych-verbs influences the word order in the Dutch sentence. Valency is defined as the ability of a verb to bind a number of elements in order to form a grammatically correct sentence. However, valency has to be seen not only from the syntactic, but also from the semantic point of view. In other words, we are not only interested in the number of elements a verb requires, but also in the semantic features of these elements. It has been noted by a number of linguists that certain verbs allow for the nominal subject to be placed behind the nominal direct or indirect object in the middle field of the Dutch sentence, i.e. between the finite verb and the final verb cluster in the main clause or between the complementizer and the verb cluster in the subordinate clause. This is contrary to the tendency to put nominal subject before the nominal object in the middle field. Most of the verbs described to behave in this manner are called psych-verbs or psychological verbs. These verbs refer to a situation in which an animate entity is subject to a change of psychological state. The analysis of sentences with psych-verbs has shown that animacy is the most important factor to influence word order in the middle field, followed by the...

No description available.

In order to better identify and understand the differences between Japanese and English, the task of giving walking directions was used. Japanese and American public facilities (10 each) were randomly chosen from which to collect data over the phone in order to examine these differences based on the following five communication styles: 1) politeness, 2) indirectness, 3) self-effacement, 4) back-channel feedback (Aizuchi), 5) and other linguistic and cognitive differences in relation to space and giving directions. The study confirmed what the author reviewed in the literature: Japanese are more polite, English speakers tend to give directions simply and precisely, Japanese prefer pictorial information and most Americans prefer linguistic information, Japanese is a topic-oriented language and also an addressee-oriented language. The information revealed from this study will help Japanese learners develop important skills needed for developing proficiency in the target language and also teach important differences between the two languages.

No description available.

L’enjeu de la présente étude est de montrer que l'ordre des mots acquiert un rôle métalinguistique important dans le système des opérations internes de la langue : il connote la manière de penser le monde phénoménal. Pour cette étude sur le coréen, la théorie que nous avons choisie est la systématique énonciative. Cette théorie met en œuvre une analyse qui ne sépare pas le Discours des conditions linguistiques de sa production. Dépassant le cadre d’une systématique des langues, elle rappelle qu’un énoncé n'est jamais isolé du contexte linguistique et situationnel où se trouve le sujet parlant. Nous commencerons par l’observation de l'énoncé fondamental, afin de dégager ses unités constitutives fonctionnelles ; en d’autres termes, nous adopterons la démarche sémasiologique, mais à partir des conditions d'énonciation et de la situation de production de l'énoncé. Nous examinerons ensuite l'ordre interne des éléments de l'unité constitutive fonctionnelle, qui relève aussi bien du domaine morpho-syntaxique que sémantique. Nous verrons que l’ordre à l’intérieur du syntagme et le choix du mot formel en coréen constituent un mécanisme majeur de la syntaxe coréenne, mécanisme qui dépend de la visée d’effet du locuteur. Si chaque langue a sa manière d’organiser les éléments au sein d’une unité donnée, c’est que chaque langue analyse à sa façon la perception du monde expérientiel. Quel est alors l’ordre prescrit par le système linguistique du coréen, au niveau du mot, du syntagme et de la phrase ? Quelle est la liberté de manœuvre du locuteur au moment de la construction de la phrase dans l’acte de langage ? C’est à ces deux questions que ce travail a tenté d’apporter une réponse. La présente étude comporte quatre parties. La première partie propose d’examiner la structure de l’énoncé : de l’énoncé au syntagme. La deuxième partie explique la disposition des constituants dans l’énoncé. La troisième partie étudie l’ordre des éléments au sein du syntagme nominal, en fonction de la place du déterminant. Cela concerne la logique combinatoire du mot matériel et du mot formel qui relève essentiellement de la syntaxe interne d’une unité constitutive fonctionnelle de l'énoncé. Enfin, la quatrième partie se consacre à une syntaxe de l’adverbe, basée sur sa mobilité au sein de l’énoncé, mobilité qui affecte l’incidence adverbiale. / The aim of this study is to show how, in deep structure operations, word order in Korean takes on an important metalinguistic dimension, affecting the way the speakers see the world. Guillaume's psycho-mechanical theory, insofar as it does not cut off the speech act from the speaker and the context of communication is particularly well-equipped to examine this question.The study starts with the identification of the immediate constituents of the simple sentence in Korean (semasiological approach). Next, with a view to highlighting the morpho-syntactical and semantic organization of the language, the variations in meaning obtained by the different internal ordering of each functional constituent unit is examined at word level, at phrase level and at sentence level. To what extent is the speaker free to choose the order in which he arranges the elements of the sentence he instantiates in the speech act? These are just some of the questions that this study tries to answer. This study comprises four parts. The first examines the structure of Korean sentence: from the sentence to the phrase. The second focuses on the disposition of sentence constituents. The third part investigates the order of the constituents within the noun phrase, comparing relative positions of the determinant in the phrase. This relates to the rules governing the combination of lexical words and grammatical words; this sheds light on the internal syntax of each functional constituent of the utterance. Finally, the last part is devoted to syntax of the adverb, based on its mobility and the way that position affects adverbial incidence.

句子的主題具備了串連訊息、引導文句發展的重要功能，然而資料顯示許多外語學習者常因為使用不適當的主題而影響語句的連貫性以及文章的流暢度。本研究透過觀察台灣高中生記敘文的主題類型，分析其在高、中、低分群學生文章中的使用情形來了解主題的選用對文章連貫性以及整體作文品質的影響。 本研究分成初步試驗以及正式研究兩階段，在初步試驗階段我們建立了分析的架構。在正式研究階段，我們採集111位高三學生於課堂上完成的記敘文並交由兩位經過訓練的閱卷老師進行評分，最後結果產生高、中、低分三組學生作文，接著再從每一組的文章中各抽樣10份進行主題類型之分析研究。 分析結果顯示，三組學生作文的主題類型及出現頻率大致雷同，整體而言，學生最喜好使用非標記的名詞主題，卻最少使用標記的分詞+名詞主題。然而進一步分析三組的主題發展情形，卻發現有顯著的組別差異，以高分群為例，其主題多具備銜接上文或有利推進文意的背景資料文字，相較之下，中等或低分群的作文比較容易出現和上下文不相關或中斷文意發展的新主題。 根據本研究的發現，我們建議在英語作文課中介紹句子主題的概念，幫助學生熟悉其類型和功能，期使學生能在記敘文文章中正確使用主題來達到語句連貫，文意流暢的溝通目標。 / Theme plays a significant role in guiding the information flow in text. Nonetheless, there is evidence indicating that many EFL learners often fail to make good choices of theme to secure sentential relationship or writing coherence. Through the observation on the occurrences and distribution of theme types in three levels of student compositions: the high, the middle and the low-rated narratives, the present study aims to investigate the establishment of theme in Taiwanese senior high school students’ narratives in order to gain understanding of theme’s effect on writing coherence and writing quality. The entire study consists of a pilot study and a formal one. The pilot study helps establish the criteria for the main study. In the main study, 111 student compositions were gathered and two raters were recruited and trained for the rating. Based on the rating system, the student compositions are divided into 3 levels. 10 samples from each level were randomly selected for thematic analysis. The result shows that the occurrences and distribution of theme types in the three levels of writing are alike. In general, unmarked NP theme is the most favored by all the students and marked theme Non-fi C + NP is the least desirable. Nonetheless, in terms of the establishment of theme, there are major differences between groups. In particular, the high-rated essays tend to establish a theme that is connected to the theme or the rheme in the preceding discourse or provides background information for the development of the event. In contrast, the mid-or low-rated essays are more likely to establish a theme that is unrelated or disruptive to the progression of the current discourse. Based on the findings of the present study, it is suggested that the notion of theme including its features and functions be incorporated into the teaching of English compositions to help Taiwanese senior high school students identify the characteristics of coherent writing and facilitate coherence in their English narratives.

This study investigates second language (L2) acquisition of word orders and markers of collectivity in Chinese and Thai. One of the differences between Chinese and Thai is that Chinese nominal phrases appear with a “numeral + classifier + noun” word order while Thai phrases appear as “noun + numeral + classifier”. Another difference is that men, the Chinese collective marker, cannot be used with nouns referring to animals or indefinite nouns, while phûak, the Thai collective marker, can do so. Based on the cross-linguistic differences, an empirical study was conducted to answer whether Thai learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Thai would be able to acquire target language (TL) structures that are different from those in their native language (L1) and whether they could reject incorrect TL structures. One hundred and forty-four participants were recruited to complete an acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. It is found that both Chinese and Thai learners could perform native-like in their acceptance of TL word orders since early stages of acquisition. However, it took them until an advanced level to be able to completely reject incorrect TL word orders that resembled structures in their L1. Thai learners also faced difficulty rejecting the use of men with animal and indefinite nouns in their L2 Chinese. In contrast, Chinese learners tended to be successful in their acquisition of phûak. The results are interpreted in terms of roles of positive evidence and form-function transparency. In general, L2 learners tend to acquire a TL structure earlier when they can receive positive evidence in TL input and when a form-function connection of the structure is transparent. Nonetheless, these factors do not have an absolute effect on acquisition outcome since some learners may be able to use a probabilistic learning strategy to successfully acquire L2 knowledge even when positive evidence is unavailable.