Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-127). / xiii, 127 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (M.H.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. "May 2008" Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. (African Languages) / Various sets of nouns have been established as noun classes in Setswana as well as in other African languages. Generally speaking, a class of nouns is made up of words that have a specific prefix and are in turn linked with a unique set of concords which are morphophonemically related to the prefix. Each class is regarded to contain nouns sharing certain semantic features. However, these semantic characteristics are by no means clear-cut for every class. The purpose of this study is to analyze the semantic characteristics of the noun classes of Setswana. An approach different from that which is customary in describing the semantics of noun classes will be followed, in that I will attempt to establish those semantic features which uniquely characterize each class and distinguish it from other classes rather to list the various types of nouns occurring in it. The concept "core meaning" will be employed in this. regard. (See Section 1.7). In this chapter an overview will be given of the numbering and grouping of noun classes in publications on Setswana (1.2.1) as well as the prefixal morphemes employed (1.2.3). This will be followed by a discussion of the views of different authors on the semantics of the noun classes of Setswana (1.3) and of Bantu languages in general (1.4), the relation between noun classes and number (1.5), and semantic typologies of noun classes that have been suggested (1.6). The chapter will be concluded with a restatement of the aim of the research and of the method followed. The arrangement of the chapters that follow, is eclectic. Where there is a fairly simple singular-plural relation between two semantically similar classes, they will be grouped together for the purpose of discussion. Cf. Chapter 2 (CI 1, Ia, 2 and 2a), Chapter 3 (CI 3 and 4), Chapter 4 (Cl 7 and 8) and Chapter 5 (CI 9 and 10). Classes 5, 11 and 14 are grouped into one chapter (Chapter 6) because of their complex number relation to plural classes. A special chapter (Chapter 7)...

Uit Inleiding: Hoe belangrik is die aanleer van woordeskat by die verwerwing van 'n vreemde taal? Indien dit van besondere belang is, kan met reg gevra word: watter beginsels moet in ag geneem word by die opstel van metodes en tegnieke om die aanleer van die woordeskat met optimum effektiwiteit te laat plaasvind? Wat is die teoretiese basis vir sulke metodes en tegnieke? Hierdie is enkele vrae wat in hierdie ondersoek aan die orde sal kom. Die begrip "semantiese velde" of "betekenisvelde" is 'n idee wat in die jongste tyd heelwat aandag geniet by linguiste. Die konsep "betekenisveld" veronderstel twee kenmerke van die leksikon: 1. Dat die betekenisaspek van elke individuele leksikale item, kragtens kontras bestaan en dat hierdie kontras tussen betekeniskomponente van leksikale items in die leksikon teregkom, veral binne 'n betekenisveldsiening. 2. Dat die leksikon kragtens die relasies tussen die leksikale items 'n georganiseerde en gestruktureerde versameling is. In ons ondersoek sal dit dus hoofsaaklik gaan oor: 1. Bestaande metodes en tegnieke om woordeskat te onderrig. 2. Bestaande toerieë oor die gestruktureerdheid van woordeskat. 3. Die moontlikhede wat hierdie teorieë inhou, om die onderrig van woordeskat meer effektief te laat plaasvind.

The bei construction has often been identified as a passive construction. This thesis uses Davis's (1983) semantic framework and Hsueh's (1989) descriptive corollaries to account for the various characteristics of the bei construction and proposes that the bei construction is not a passive construction but a more general Focus device.

No description available.

Nous avons étudié les deux structures concessives en français moderne si p, q et même si p, q. Dans le premier chapitre, nous avons résumé certaines études antérieures sur divers sujets. La section sur la concession montre qu'il y a sous-entendue a une phrase telle que même si Jacques est la, je vais partir un rapport du genre si Jacques est Id, je ne vais pas partir; autrement dit, même si p, q implique si p,~ q (Moeschler & de Spengler, Martin, Ducrot). Par contre, une phrase telle que s'il est intelligent, il est brouillon se glose mieux par la paraphrase de Nguyen certes p, mais q: certes il est intelligent, mais il est brouillon. Dans la section sur la valeur de base des phrases en si p, q (concessives ou non concessives), on voit que si est le marqueur d'une supposition, et cette supposition sert comme cadre pour l'énonciation de q qui suit. La section sur même montre que ce mot est le marqueur d'une échelle argumentative (Ducrot), et qu'il est limite par le contexte et« ce à quoi on s'attendrait» (Lycan). Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous avons décrit notre corpus, et nous avons déterminé si les diverses structures proposées au chapitre précédent étaient présentes dans les exemples du corpus. La section sur si concessif montre que la paraphrase certes p, mais q peut toujours paraphraser les phrases concessives de la structure si p, q. Cependant, la structure si p,~ q est aussi présente, mais indirectement. Finalement, nous avons fait certaines observations sur le temps des verbes dans les deux propositions/? et q, et nous avons étudié les combinaisons présent/présent, imparfait/imparfait, passé composé/présent, et plus-que-parfait/imparfait. Les deux premières combinaisons montrent une opposition—par rapport aux si non concessifs— au niveau des temps verbaux, les deux dernières au niveau de l'aspect. La section sur les cas de même si révèle d'une part que toutes les phrases de cette structure possèdent la structure sous-entendue si p, ~ q, et d'autre part que certains exemples acceptent aussi la paraphrase de Nguyen. Ceci correspond à la distinction qu'Eriksson fait des phrases en même si portant sur des faits réels et non réels (virtuels). / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation examines how information structure is represented in the different components of Japanese grammar. Each chapter investigates how topic/comment structure and focus/background structure are manifested in a given component of the grammar; that is, in phonology, syntax, and discourse/semantics. In chapter 2,1 investigate the interaction of syntax and prosody. I introduce the End-based analysis proposed by Selkirk &Tateishi (1988, 91) and propose certain revisions in order to accommodate a broader range of empirical facts than has previously been discussed in the literature. I show that presentational focus and contrastive focus are phonologically distinct and that contrastive focus overrides phonological phrasing. I then demonstrate that the system of focus projection proposed for stress languages such as English and German applies to Japanese. I show that focus projection takes place in the syntactic component, prior to mapping into prosodic structure, from the head of the phrase to its sisters (cf. Rochemont 1996) In chapter 3, I establish the discourse function of wa-marking in Japanese, extending Buring's analysis of sentence topics. I demonstrate that the discourse function of wa-marking parallels that of the L H * contour (B-accent) in English, and claim that wa-marking is equivalent to T-marking in the model of Biiring (1998). As such, wa-marking can be viewed as one of the discourse strategies available in Japanese for ensuring that a given assertion is congruent - that is, appropriate - to the question under discussion. In chapter 4,1 investigate the representation of information structure in syntax. I propose a phrase structure for Japanese based on a universal hierarchy of functional categories. I then divide the syntactic structure of Japanese into two major syntactic domains, which I call the topic domain and the comment domain. I show that both sentence topics and contrastively focused constituents must not be inside IP, which is identified as the comment domain. I further argue that subjects outside IP must be wa-marked unless contrastively focused. I conclude that syntactic structure is discourse-configurationally based. To conclude, I discuss the architecture of the grammar that emerges from the proposal defended in each chapter of this dissertation. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

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No description available.