This study is about the structure of the noun phrases used with with signalling nouns, which are abstract nouns that are hard to understand without a context. The inspiration for the study comes from work by John Flowerdew. The aim is to investigate in what type of noun phrases (NP) the signalling nouns are used by L2 English students and if the structures of these NPs tell us something about the meaning of the nouns. The material of the study is from the pioneering learner corpus the International Corpus of Learner’s English (ICLE). In general, it was found that the chosen signalling nouns thing, argument, possibility, chapter, kind and fact, are frequently used in complex NPs. There were some differences in the distribution of nouns, with thing, kind and fact having rather high frequencies in comparison to the other nouns. For this reason, samples of these nouns were selected for the analysis. The findings indicate that these signalling nouns rarely appear alone but are most often used in complex NPs. Furthermore, the results also show that a large proportion of these nouns is used in fixed phrases.

Chan Kun-Chung Timothy. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Outline of Thesis --- p.3 / Chapter 2 --- Background --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Chinese Noun Phrase Structure --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- Literature Review --- p.6 / Chapter 2.3 --- Observations --- p.10 / Chapter 2.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.11 / Chapter 3 --- Maximal Chinese Noun Phrase Extraction System --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- Background --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Part-of-speech Tagset --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- The Tagging System --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Chinese Corpus --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Grammar Rules and Boundary Information --- p.17 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- Feature Selection --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2 --- Overview of Our Chinese Noun Phrase Extraction System --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Training --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Testing --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3 --- Chapter Summary --- p.21 / Chapter 4 --- Preliminary Noun Phrase Extraction --- p.23 / Chapter 4.1 --- Framework --- p.23 / Chapter 4.2 --- Boundary Information Acquisition --- p.24 / Chapter 4.3 --- Candidate Boundary Insertion --- p.26 / Chapter 4.4 --- Pairing of Candidate Boundaries --- p.27 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Conditional Probability-based Model --- p.28 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Heuristic-based Model --- p.29 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Dynamic Programming-based Model --- p.30 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Model Selection --- p.31 / Chapter 4.4.5 --- Revised Dynamic Programming Model --- p.32 / Chapter 4.4.6 --- Analysis of the Impact of the Revised DP Model --- p.35 / Chapter 4.4.7 --- Experiments of Dynamic Programming-based Model --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4.8 --- Result Analysis --- p.42 / Chapter 4.5 --- Concluding Remarks on DP-Based Model --- p.47 / Chapter 4.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.49 / Chapter 5 --- Automatic Error Correction --- p.50 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.50 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Statistical Properties of TEL --- p.54 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Related Applications --- p.55 / Chapter 5.2 --- Settings of Main Components --- p.57 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Initial State --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Transformation Actions --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Triggering Features of Transformation Templates --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Evaluation of Rule --- p.62 / Chapter 5.2.5 --- Stopping Threshold --- p.62 / Chapter 5.3 --- Experiments and Results --- p.63 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Setup and Procedure --- p.63 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Overall Performance --- p.63 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Contribution of Rules --- p.67 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Remarks on Rules Learning --- p.69 / Chapter 5.3.5 --- Discussion on Recall Performance --- p.70 / Chapter 5.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.73 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.74 / Chapter 6.1 --- Summary --- p.74 / Chapter 6.2 --- Contributions --- p.76 / Chapter 6.3 --- Future Work --- p.76 / Bibliography --- p.79 / Chapter A --- Chinese POS Tag Set --- p.84 / Chapter B --- Algorithms of Boundary Pairing Models --- p.88 / Chapter B.1 --- Heuristic based Model --- p.88 / Chapter B.2 --- Dynamic Programming based Model --- p.89 / Chapter C --- Triggering Environments of Transformation Templates --- p.91

by Li Wenjie. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-226). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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A cross-sectional study of the performance of groups of Vietnamese learners is reported with focus on how they deal with the expression of number in English (singular/plural; definite/indefinite) through a cloze exercise and a translation excercise. This research investigates the hypothesis that some NP environments facilitate the distinction between singular and plural, count and mass, and that the context in which a noun is used can provide positive clues to the choice of number in nouns. It has been found that transfer of Vietnamese NP structures into English occurred where the NP environment was not obviously countable or uncountable, i.e., it has no conspicuous structural signals for number determination. Transfer was also found where an NP was taken from its context. The analysis of learners' errors gives some insight into ways in which the teaching of the number expression can be made more effective and beneficial for Vietnamese learners. A number of activities were suggested, which enable the teacher to exploit the advantages of NP environments to convey the syntactic-semantic properties of number to learners. Communicative practice of NP structures (e.g., in a conversation or a role play activity) can make learners aware of different aspects of the number expression in English. It is argued that the pragmatic aspect of the number expression is most important as in use, the syntactic and semantic properties of the category of number are unified to achieve communicative purposes.

When translating from English into Swedish long sentences may be a problem. In this paper an academic text with long sentences and an abstract content is translated and adapted for a larger target reader group. The strategies used in this process of translation and adaptation to make the text more readable are analysed regarding changes in sentence structure, noun phrases and connectors. The terminology of Vinay and Darbelnet’s theoretical model for translation strategies is used to describe some of the changes found. Transposition, such as changes from nouns to verbs and modulation, such as changing from abstract to concrete are frequently used strategies in the process of making the translation adapted for new readers. Furthermore, long sentences have been broken into two or more shorter ones and in this process the importance of connectors has increased to keep the information together. To see the effects of the changes LIX and the ratio between number of nouns and verbs have been used. The LIX value decreased from 64 till 56 for the whole text and the noun verb ratio decreased in all the sentences analysed.

This dissertation studies leftward dislocation of object Noun Phrases in Mandarin Chinese within the framework of Government and Binding theory. Although the canonical word order in Chinese is S(ubject)-V(erb)-O(bject), it also exhibits OSV and SOV word orders. After an introduction in Ch. 1, I discuss OSV constructions in Ch.2. I argue that the S-initial object NP is moved there, since its association with a gap in the canonical object position obeys the subjacency condition. Based on several diagnostic tests, I propose that Chinese has two kinds of short-distance NP fronting: one is A’-movement and the other is A-movement. Adopting the Split Infl Hypothesis, I postulate a fully articulated clause structure for Chinese. In particular, I propose that the fronted NP in A-movement lands in [Spec AgrOP] as a kind of overt raising, while the one in A’-movement further leaves that spec position and is CP-adjoined. I also examine long-distance NP fronting, showing that it is invariably A’-movement. In Ch. 3, I investigate object shift, which yields SOV constructions. I argue that this syntactic process represents a type of A-movement, not A’-movement as concluded in previous studies. Specifically, I propose that the subject NP and the object NP in this construction overtly raise to [Spec AgrSP] and [Spec AgrOP] respectively. In Ch.4, I examine the interactions between an object wh-NP and dou, the adverb of universal quantification. I propose that wh-phrases, like indefinites, can be either presuppositional or existential. If they are within VP (i.e. remain postverbal), they are subject to existential closure and get an existential/interrogative reading. If, however, they are outside VP (i.e. shifted to the left of dou), they define the range of the quantifier dou and obtain the presuppositional/universal reading. The conclusion is that there is a strict correlation between the S-structure positions of the wh-phrase and its interpretations. The exhaustive list reading of the in-situ wh-object associated with the interrogative reading is derived from the fact that it is in the scope of dou at S-structure. In Ch. 5, I summarize the major findings of this dissertation and raise several issues for future research.

Recent developments in linguistic theory carried out within the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995; Adger 2003;) provide a functional and concrete framework for an analysis of noun phrases in the Indonesian language, a Western-Malayo Polynesian sub-branch of the Austronesian language family. An analysis of Indonesian noun phrase structure within this framework demonstrates that the head noun occurs in a base-generated position, at the bottom of a DP, while pre- and post-nominal modifiers are contained within a number of additional projections that merge above the head noun. In this thesis, the proposal is made for a relatively unrestricted adjunction analysis, whereby head adjunction via Merge allows for the direct expansion of the head N at various levels of the Indonesian DP. Evidence is presented to show that the adjoined status of attributive nouns and adjectives, a plural feature [PL], and the feature [DEF] generates a complex hierarchical structure in which there is no predefined order between a specifier or complement and the head noun. In addition, it is argued that bare nouns are neutral with respect to number and, given that number-marking, possession and (in)definiteness are optional, all projections that merge above the head N are optional and context is needed to accurately interpret an Indonesian bare noun.

Recent developments in linguistic theory carried out within the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995; Adger 2003;) provide a functional and concrete framework for an analysis of noun phrases in the Indonesian language, a Western-Malayo Polynesian sub-branch of the Austronesian language family. An analysis of Indonesian noun phrase structure within this framework demonstrates that the head noun occurs in a base-generated position, at the bottom of a DP, while pre- and post-nominal modifiers are contained within a number of additional projections that merge above the head noun. In this thesis, the proposal is made for a relatively unrestricted adjunction analysis, whereby head adjunction via Merge allows for the direct expansion of the head N at various levels of the Indonesian DP. Evidence is presented to show that the adjoined status of attributive nouns and adjectives, a plural feature [PL], and the feature [DEF] generates a complex hierarchical structure in which there is no predefined order between a specifier or complement and the head noun. In addition, it is argued that bare nouns are neutral with respect to number and, given that number-marking, possession and (in)definiteness are optional, all projections that merge above the head N are optional and context is needed to accurately interpret an Indonesian bare noun.

<p>This essay deals with the issue of readability, the term <em>readability</em> referring to what it is that makes a reader perceive a text as difficult or easy. Some factors are related to the reader but there are also those which depend on the text as such, one such factor being style which is the one that will be focused on in this essay.</p><p>The investigation is based on the analysis and comparison of a complete version and an abridged version of Charlotte Brontë’s <em>Jane Eyre, </em>and the questions to be investigated are whether the author of the abridged version has succeeded in making it less complicated, and<em> </em>if he or she has done so by considering stylistic features said to be affecting readability.</p><p>Further, this essay is divided into four chapters. The first chapter contains the background for the analysis and is divided into 4 parts dealing with the following aspects: the definition of readability, early research on readability, later research on readability, and difficult and easy language. Chapter two describes the limitations made and the method used for the analysis which involves looking at the noun phrase, the verb phrase, and the clause. Chapter three gives a detailed description of the corpus investigated. Moving on to chapter four, this is where the results of the investigation are presented. This is done by dividing it into four different subchapters, each of them dealing with issues related to the different areas described in the method. Each of the subchapters then begins with the presentation of the results for each edition which is then followed by a comparative discussion. The essay ends with a conclusion part where conclusions regarding the four areas presented in the analysis are made along with the answering of research questions.</p>