Presented is implementation of algorithm for alias analysis, which was integrated into LLVM framework. Properties and limitations of various alias analysis algorithms are discussed. Demonstrated are different approaches to working with predicates and integration of these principles with LLVM. One of the outcomes of this master's thesis is design and implementation of algorithm for profile guided if-conversion.

Systématiser : tel est le leitmotiv des résultats de cette thèse portant sur trois domaines d'étude en vision et en géométrie algorithmique. Dans le premier, nous étendons toute la machinerie du modèle sténopé des appareils photos classiques à un ensemble d'appareils photo (deux fentes, à balayage, oblique, une fente) jusqu'à présent étudiés séparément suivant différentes approches. Dans le deuxième, nous généralisons avec peu d'efforts aux convexes de R3 l'étude des épinglages de droites ou de boules, menée différemment selon la nature des objets considérés. Dans le troisième, nous tentons de dégager une approche systématique pour élaborer des stratégies d'évaluation polynomiale de prédicats géométriques, les méthodes actuelles étant bien souvent spécifiques à chaque prédicat étudié. De tels objectifs ne peuvent être atteints sans un certain investissement mathématique dans l'étude des congruences linéaires de droites, de propriétés différentielles des ensembles de tangentes à des convexes et de la théorie des invariants algébriques, respectivement. Ces outils ou leurs utilisations reposent sur la géométrie de P3 (R), construite dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle mais pas complètement assimilée en géométrie algorithmique et dont nous proposons une synthèse adaptée aux besoins de la communauté. / Systematize is the leitmotiv of the results in this thesis. Three problems are studied in the field of computer vision and computational geometry. In the first one, we extend all the machinery of the pinhole model for classical cameras to a whole set of cameras (two-slit, pushbroom, oblique, pencil), which were separately studied with different approaches. In the second one, we generalize to convex bodies in R3 the work on pinning lines by or balls, which had so far been tackled by techniques intimately linked to the geometry of the objects. In the third one, we attempt to work out a systematic approach in place of problem-specific methods in order to build polynomial evaluation trees for geometric predicates. Such goals could not be reached without a mathematical investigation in the study of linear line congruences, differential properties of sets of tangent lines to a convex and classical invariant theory respectively. These tools or their uses are mostly based on line geometry in P3 (R). This geometry was designed in the second half of the 19th century but its full power hos not yet been used by the computational geometry community. This thesis therefore also serves as an extended tutorial.

Neste trabalho, retomaremos a questão sobre a existência de construções resultativas no português brasileiro (PB), conforme debatido nos trabalhos de Foltran (1999), Marcelino (2000), e Lobato (2004), inter alia, apresentando evidências teóricas e empíricas contra a afirmação de que existam em PB construções resultativas sintaticamente ou semanticamente equivalentes às construções resultativas presentes em línguas como o inglês, por exemplo. A partir de alguns trabalhos sobre as construções resultativas do inglês, como Hoekstra (1988) e Levin & Rappaport-Hovav (1995), mostraremos que as propriedades básicas dessas construções no inglês se mostram bem distintas das propriedades das construções citadas pelos trabalhos sobre o PB. Com base em um critério que leva em conta as propriedades das construções resultativas no inglês, mostraremos que existe uma diferença semântica quanto ao tipo de modificação que o predicado resultativo exerce sobre a sentença em inglês e em PB, baseados na semântica de eventos neo-Davidsoniana (PARSONS, 1990); enquanto na primeira o predicado resultativo denota o estado resultante da ação, na segunda, o predicado secundário é, na verdade, um modificador do estado resultante, já denotado pelo conteúdo semântico expresso no complexo verbo+argumento interno. Baseados na tipologia de Talmy (2000), estenderemos sua proposta de impossibilidade de amálgama (conflation) de certos elementos semânticos ao verbo em línguas românicas à impossibilidade de formação de resultativas. Incapaz de realizar amálgama de modo ao verbo, o PB realiza, ao invés do modo, a semântica de causa amalgamada ao co-evento no verbo, enquanto inglês realiza a semântica de estado resultante em um satélite, e modo e causa amalgamados ao verbo. A partir dos resultados obtidos pela nossa análise semântica, conduziremos uma análise sintática que explica tanto a restrição de amálgama de modo quanto à impossibilidade de formação de construções resultativas em PB. Baseados na teoria de estrutura argumental de Hale & Keyser (1993, 2002), iremos propor uma estrutura de predicados complexos para as resultativas do inglês a partir da estrutura de verbos deadjetivais, responsáveis pela formação de verbos inacusativos. A restrição de formação desses predicados complexos em PB é explicada pela marcação negativa do Parâmetro de Composicionalidade nessa língua, (SNYDER, 1995), impedindo a inserção de itens lexicais de classe aberta (raízes) em posições marcadas com o traço [+Afixal], condição sine qua non para a formação de predicados resultativos como os do inglês. / In this work, we take up again the discussion of whether resultative constructions exist in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), as discussed in the works of Foltran (1999), Marcelino (2000) and Lobato (2004), inter alia, presenting theoretical and empirical evidence against the claim that there are resultative constructions in BP that are syntactically or semantically equivalent to resultative constructions from languages such as English, for instance. Based on works about Englishs resultative construction such as Hoekstra (1988) and Levin & Rappaport-Hovav (1995), we show that the basic properties of these constructions in English are quite distinct from the properties of the constructions mentioned by the works about BP. With a criterion which takes on the properties of resultative constructions in English, we show that there is semantic difference as for the type of modification applied by the resultative predicate over the sentence when comparing English and BP, considering the neo- Davidsonian event semantics (PARSONS, 1990); while Englishs resultative predicate denotes the actions resultant state, in BP the secondary predicate is, in fact, the modifier of the resultant state already denoted by the semantic content expressed by the complex verb+internal argument. Based on Talmys (2000) typology, we relate his proposal of impossibility of conflation of certain semantic elements to the verb in romance languages to the impossibility of resultative construction formation in these languages. Unable to conflate manner to the verb, BP realizes, instead of manner, the cause semantics conflated to the verbs co-event, while English realizes the resultant state on a satellite, and manner and cause are conflated into the verb. From the results obtained with our semantic analysis, we conduct a syntactic analysis that explains the manner conflation restriction in BP, as well as its inability to form resultative constructions. Based on the argument structure theory from Hale & Keyser (2002), we suggest a complex predicate structure for Englishs resultatives from the deadjectival verb structures, responsible for the formation of the unaccusative verbs. The restriction over the formation of these predicates in BP is explained by the negative setting of the Compounding Parameter in this language (SNYDER, 1995), thus not allowing the insertion of open-class lexical items (roots) into positions marked with the [+Afixal] feature, a sine qua non condition for the resultative predicate formation, such as Englishs resultative predicates.

Neste trabalho, retomaremos a questão sobre a existência de construções resultativas no português brasileiro (PB), conforme debatido nos trabalhos de Foltran (1999), Marcelino (2000), e Lobato (2004), inter alia, apresentando evidências teóricas e empíricas contra a afirmação de que existam em PB construções resultativas sintaticamente ou semanticamente equivalentes às construções resultativas presentes em línguas como o inglês, por exemplo. A partir de alguns trabalhos sobre as construções resultativas do inglês, como Hoekstra (1988) e Levin & Rappaport-Hovav (1995), mostraremos que as propriedades básicas dessas construções no inglês se mostram bem distintas das propriedades das construções citadas pelos trabalhos sobre o PB. Com base em um critério que leva em conta as propriedades das construções resultativas no inglês, mostraremos que existe uma diferença semântica quanto ao tipo de modificação que o predicado resultativo exerce sobre a sentença em inglês e em PB, baseados na semântica de eventos neo-Davidsoniana (PARSONS, 1990); enquanto na primeira o predicado resultativo denota o estado resultante da ação, na segunda, o predicado secundário é, na verdade, um modificador do estado resultante, já denotado pelo conteúdo semântico expresso no complexo verbo+argumento interno. Baseados na tipologia de Talmy (2000), estenderemos sua proposta de impossibilidade de amálgama (conflation) de certos elementos semânticos ao verbo em línguas românicas à impossibilidade de formação de resultativas. Incapaz de realizar amálgama de modo ao verbo, o PB realiza, ao invés do modo, a semântica de causa amalgamada ao co-evento no verbo, enquanto inglês realiza a semântica de estado resultante em um satélite, e modo e causa amalgamados ao verbo. A partir dos resultados obtidos pela nossa análise semântica, conduziremos uma análise sintática que explica tanto a restrição de amálgama de modo quanto à impossibilidade de formação de construções resultativas em PB. Baseados na teoria de estrutura argumental de Hale & Keyser (1993, 2002), iremos propor uma estrutura de predicados complexos para as resultativas do inglês a partir da estrutura de verbos deadjetivais, responsáveis pela formação de verbos inacusativos. A restrição de formação desses predicados complexos em PB é explicada pela marcação negativa do Parâmetro de Composicionalidade nessa língua, (SNYDER, 1995), impedindo a inserção de itens lexicais de classe aberta (raízes) em posições marcadas com o traço [+Afixal], condição sine qua non para a formação de predicados resultativos como os do inglês. / In this work, we take up again the discussion of whether resultative constructions exist in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), as discussed in the works of Foltran (1999), Marcelino (2000) and Lobato (2004), inter alia, presenting theoretical and empirical evidence against the claim that there are resultative constructions in BP that are syntactically or semantically equivalent to resultative constructions from languages such as English, for instance. Based on works about Englishs resultative construction such as Hoekstra (1988) and Levin & Rappaport-Hovav (1995), we show that the basic properties of these constructions in English are quite distinct from the properties of the constructions mentioned by the works about BP. With a criterion which takes on the properties of resultative constructions in English, we show that there is semantic difference as for the type of modification applied by the resultative predicate over the sentence when comparing English and BP, considering the neo- Davidsonian event semantics (PARSONS, 1990); while Englishs resultative predicate denotes the actions resultant state, in BP the secondary predicate is, in fact, the modifier of the resultant state already denoted by the semantic content expressed by the complex verb+internal argument. Based on Talmys (2000) typology, we relate his proposal of impossibility of conflation of certain semantic elements to the verb in romance languages to the impossibility of resultative construction formation in these languages. Unable to conflate manner to the verb, BP realizes, instead of manner, the cause semantics conflated to the verbs co-event, while English realizes the resultant state on a satellite, and manner and cause are conflated into the verb. From the results obtained with our semantic analysis, we conduct a syntactic analysis that explains the manner conflation restriction in BP, as well as its inability to form resultative constructions. Based on the argument structure theory from Hale & Keyser (2002), we suggest a complex predicate structure for Englishs resultatives from the deadjectival verb structures, responsible for the formation of the unaccusative verbs. The restriction over the formation of these predicates in BP is explained by the negative setting of the Compounding Parameter in this language (SNYDER, 1995), thus not allowing the insertion of open-class lexical items (roots) into positions marked with the [+Afixal] feature, a sine qua non condition for the resultative predicate formation, such as Englishs resultative predicates.

Orientadores: Mary Aizawa Kato, Ruth Lopes / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T09:24:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelino_Marcello_D.pdf: 794651 bytes, checksum: 13f0b04e19ffc8fe1aeff46021733ca4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Esta tese investiga o Parâmetro de Composição (PC) conforme formulado por Snyder (1995) e seu papel na aquisição/aprendizagem de inglês por aprendizes brasileiros. A definição positiva do PC [+] permite a uma língua marcar livremente qualquer item lexical da classe aberta como [+Afixal] e conseqüentemente, detonar toda uma série de propriedades relacionadas (cluster), a saber, composição nominal (N+N), estruturas resultativas (ER), construções V+partícula (V+PRT), construções com objeto duplo (DOC) e isolamento de preposição (PrepStr), entre outras. Diante da aparente existência, em PB, de algumas estruturas semelhantes às do inglês, proponho-me a investigar as seguintes questões: (i) através de comparação entre o PB e o inglês, é possível trazer evidências de que todas as propriedades resultantes da definição positiva do PC, ou pelo menos parte delas estão ligadas ao mesmo parâmetro? (ii) se houver tal parâmetro, a aquisição do inglês como L2 apresenta semelhanças com a aquisição de L1 em relação ao comportamento relativo ao mesmo parâmetro? Após comparação e análise das cinco estruturas propostas, descobri que nenhuma delas, nem mesmo as com correlato estrutural superficial, resulta, no PB, da definição positiva do PC. N+N em PB exemplifica um tipo de composição nominal não recursivo com rigidez de significado; as ERs encontradas em PB são do tipo semântico e não correspondem às versões sintáticas licenciadas pelo PC [+]; estruturas V+PRT e COD são inexistentes; por fim, PB apresenta estruturas com ausência de preposição, que resultam de um diferente arranjo de itens especificados na numeração, diferentemente de estruturas com isolamento de preposição, que são exemplos de predicados complexos decorrentes de Reanálise. Em relação à aquisição das cinco propriedades do PC, sugiro, após análise dos dados de um experimento, que a aquisição das propriedades do (PC) em L2 não é semelhante à sua aquisição em L1. Em L2, as propriedades nucleares (resultativas, V+Partícula,) parecem ter sido adquiridas pelos falantes avançados, possivelmente via imersão. As estruturas não nucleares (COD e PrepStr) juntamente com a estrutura nuclear N+N foram aprendidas via instrução formal. Essas últimas parecem permanecer disponíveis na forma de conhecimento lingüístico consciente / Abstract: This dissertation investigates the Compounding Parameter (CP) as formulated by Snyder (1995) and its role in the acquisition/learning of English by Brazilian learners. The positive setting of the CP [+] allows a given language to freely mark any open-class lexical item as [+Affixal] and consequently trigger a cluster of related properties, namely N+N compounding (N+N), resultative structures (RS), V+Particle (V+PRT) constructions, double object constructions (DOC) and preposition stranding (PrepStr), among others. Upon the apparent existence of structures in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) that resemble some of those in English, namely RS and PrepStr, I set out to explore the following questions: (i) does the comparison between Brazilian Portuguese and English offer evidence that all the properties attributed to the positive setting of the CP, or part of them, follow from the same parameter? (ii) assuming the existence of this parameter, are there any similarities between L1 and L2 acquisition as far as the CP is concerned? After the comparison and analysis of the five related properties, I found out that none of the structures, even the superficially identical looking ones, resulted from the positive setting of the CP. N+N in BP is a result of non recursive N+N compounding with lexically rigid meaning; the RSs found in BP are semantic resultatives that do not correspond to the syntactic versions of the CP-positively valued ones; the V+Particle and DOC constructions are nonexistent; finally, BP offers prepositionless structures that result from a different array of items specified in the numeration, differently from the Reanalysis of V+Preposition, which allows the preposition to be stranded in English. As for the acquisition of the five CP properties, I suggest, after analyzing the data of an experimental study, that the L2 acquisition processes differ from those of the L1 in that the non-nuclear properties (DOC and PrepStr) along with the nuclear property N+N seem to have been learned via formal instruction (ordered input, explicit positive and negative evidence) and remain available as conscious linguistic knowledge. The nuclear properties (RS and V+PRT), on the other hand, seem to have been acquired by the highly proficient L2 English speakers, probably via immersion / Doutorado / Doutor em Linguística

Orientador: Charlotte M. Chambelland Galves / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Lunguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T02:59:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrade_AroldoLealde_D.pdf: 2732016 bytes, checksum: 181146f3ff1d64273c27e530923ec335 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: A tese aborda a ocorrência da subida de clíticos na história do português europeu dos séculos XVI ao XX, aliada a uma caracterização formal condizente com os dados observados. O fenômeno consiste na manifestação de um clítico pronominal dependente de um predicado não-finito junto a um verbo regente, normalmente finito, em contexto de predicado complexo. Adota-se a separação entre os conceitos de posição e de colocação de clítico, o primeiro resultante da sintaxe, e o segundo manipulado pela morfologia. Para a descrição do fenômeno, mais de 4.000 dados obtidos em corpora do português europeu moderno e do português clássico foram separados em termos de duas construções com características sintático-semânticas distintas: a "reestruturação" e a "união de orações", uma em que o verbo regente é auxiliar ou semi-auxiliar; outra, um predicado causativo. Defendemos que o complemento infinitivo apresenta um caráter defectivo em ambos os tipos de predicados complexos, pois só tem a projeção da categoria vP, sendo portanto transparente para sofrer a operação de concordância com traços não-interpretáveis em categorias funcionais do domínio superior da sentença, de acordo com os pressupostos do Programa Minimalista. Crucialmente, a subida de clíticos se manifesta mediante a presença de um traço associado a uma categoria da camada flexional cujo efeito semântico é de pressuposição do referente do clítico, não obstante o valor intensional do domínio infinitivo ao qual o pronominal está vinculado. Tal caracterização formal é compatível com os resultados da pesquisa sobre a variação na ocorrência da subida, que recebem uma abordagem unificada a partir da conexão da subida de clíticos com a estrutura informacional: o clítico alçado retoma um elemento saliente no discurso, e assume a função de tópico secundário na sentença. Postula-se que a alteração no padrão de marcação do fenômeno é um reflexo da forma como a sintaxe organiza a informação. Portanto, a não marcação da subida até o século XVII é um reflexo do alto uso de tópicos marcados sintaticamente e de sujeitos nulos, utilizados como estratégia para efetivar a continuidade de tópicos discursivos. A mudança para um padrão não-marcado do fenômeno se manifesta primeiramente de forma gradual a partir do século XVI devido à instabilidade no uso de construções informacionalmente marcadas, expressas sintaticamente em termos do movimento para uma posição de proeminência no início da sentença. A essa alteração no uso é atribuído um papel na alteração dos Dados Linguísticos Primários, que gera uma mudança sintática em torno do ano 1700, identificada como a perda do parâmetro V2. / Abstract: The dissertation addresses the occurrence of clitic climbing in the history of European Portuguese from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, combined with a formal characterization consistent with the observed data. The phenomenon consists of the manifestation of a dependent clitic pronoun on a non-finite predicate together with a governing verb, usually finite, in the context of a complex predicate. We adopt the separation between the concepts of clitic position and clitic placement, the first resulting from syntax, and the second handled by morphology. In order to describe the phenomenon, more than 4,000 tokens from corpora of Modern European Portuguese and Classical Portuguese were separated in terms of two constructions with distinct syntactic and semantic characteristics: "restructuring" and "clause union". In the former the governing verb is an auxiliary or semi-auxiliary; in the latter, a causative predicate. We claim that the infinitival complement has a defective character in both types of complex predicates, once it projects only up to vP; therefore, it is transparent to suffer Agree with non-interpretable features in functional categories of the higher domain of the sentence, according to the assumptions of the Minimalist Program. Crucially, clitic climbing is manifested by the presence of a feature associated with a category of the inflectional layer whose semantic effect is the pressuposition of the clitic referent, regardless of the intensional value of the infinitival domain to which the pronoun is linked. This formal characterization is consistent with the results of research on the variation in the occurrence of climbing which receive a unified approach from the connection between clitic climbing and information structure: the climbed clitic incorporates a salient element in discourse and functions as a secondary topic in the sentence. We postulate that the change in the markedness pattern of the phenomenon is a reflection of how syntax organizes information. Therefore, the nonmarked nature of climbing until the seventeenth century is a reflection of the strong use of syntactically marked topics and null subjects, which serve to obtain continuity of discourse topics. The change to a non-marked pattern of the phenomenon is manifested gradually from the sixteenth century due to instability in the use of informationally marked constructions syntactically expressed as the movement to a prominent position in the beginning of the sentence. Such a change in use is deemed responsible for a change in the Primary Linguistic Data, which causes a syntactic change identified as the loss of the V2 parameter around the year 1700. / Doutorado / Linguística Histórica / Doutor em Linguística

Cette thèse a un double objectif : 1) Étudier le comportement sémantique et syntaxique des verbes simples persans par rapport aux prédicats complexes dans les événements spatiaux respectant la typologie de Talmy sur cadrage verbal ou cadrage satellitaire ; et 2) Analyser la systématicité sémantique dans la formation des prédicats complexes basée sur une approche constructionnelle et expliquer leurs comportements exacts, à savoir leur productivité, la causalité, leur durée, et le comportement syntaxique de leurs pré-verbes en fonction de leurs significations. Dans la première partie de l’analyse, nous parlons du comportement des verbes simples par rapport aux prédicats complexes dans les événements spatiaux. Notre analyse est basée sur un vaste corpus. Les prédicats complexes expriment fréquemment le comportement et d’autres informations sémantiques tandis qu’une fréquence élevée de verbes simples apparaît comme des constructions neutres sans exprimer aucune information spécifique. La distribution syntaxique des prédicats complexes respecte la règle de l’« économie de la langue » étant donné que toutes les informations sémantiques sont aussi encodées dans la construction elles-mêmes. Par ailleurs, les verbes simples exigent, dans la majorité des cas, des clauses dépendantes pour exprimer le comportement. En outre, les prédicats complexes encodent, à la fois, le mouvement et les événements d’emplacement, tandis que les verbes simples sont pour la plupart intransitifs et se réfèrent aux événements locatifs. Les lacunes mentionnées ci-dessus sur des verbes simples ont conduit au remplacement de ces derniers par des prédicats complexes au fil du temps. Dans la deuxième partie de notre analyse, nous traitons les caractéristiques sémantiques de prédicats complexes dans des événements spatiaux à la lumière de la théorie de Grammaire de Construction et des approches fondées sur le corpus. Selon Goldberg, nous considérons des constructions de prédicats complexes à part entière. Kardan, "Faire" ; dādan, 'Donner'; zadan, 'Frapper' ; et bordan, 'Prendre', sont les verbes supports étudiés dans cette thèse. Ces verbes supports sont parmi ceux les plus fréquents ayant le plus de pré-verbes en commun dans notre corpus. Premièrement, nous avons identifié les extensions sémantiques de chaque verbe support. Cette catégorisation nous a permis de révéler un certain degré de productivité sémantique ainsi que la généralisation entre chaque verbes supports et le type de pré-verbes avec lesquels il pourrait co-se produire. Autrement dit, chaque verbe support se combine avec un type spécifique de pré-verbe. Il est à note que même des extensions métaphoriques ont un certain degré de productivité et les locuteurs peuvent ainsi les généraliser. Nous tenons également à noter que les prédicats complexes dans les événements spatiaux font partis de la famille de constructions résultatives. Certains comportements des prédicats complexes, tels que leur causalité et la durée de l’activité, sont expliqués en fonction de leur sémantique, et il est démontré que toute la construction est responsable de tels comportements. La comparaison entre les combinaisons qui ont des verbes supports différents mais des pré-verbes identiques évoque quelques différences sémantiques et syntaxiques, ce qui est la preuve de la systématicité existante dans la formation des prédicats complexes. Grâce à une analyse collostructionnelle, nous parlons du degré d’attraction de chaque verbe support par rapport aux catégories sémantiques. Enfin, le type de fréquences de prédicats complexes révèle le degré de productivité dans chaque verbe support, qui ressemble à: Kardan=Zadan > dādan > bordan. / The purpose of this dissertation is twofold : 1) to investigate the semantic and syntactic behavior of Persian simplex verbs vs. CPs in spatial events with respect to Talmy’s typology of satellite-framed and verb-framed languages ; and 2) to analyze the semantic systematicity in the formation of CPs based on a constructional approach and explain their certain behaviors, namely, their productivity, causativity, duration, and syntactic behavior of their PVs through the meaning of the construction.In the first part of the analysis, we discuss the behaviour of simplex verbs vs. CPs in spatial events. Our analysis is based on an extensive corpus. CPs express manner and other semantic information frequently while a high frequency of simplex verbs appears as neutral constructions without expressing any specific information. The syntactic distribution of CPs follow the ‘economy of language’ rule since all the semantic information is encoded in the construction itself; on the other hand, simplex verbs require dependent clauses to express manner in the majority of cases. Furthermore, CPs encode both motion and location events while simplex verbs are mostly intransitive and refer to locative events. The above-mentioned shortcomings of simplex verbs have led to the replacement of these verbs by CPs over time. In the second part of our analysis, we deal with the semantic features of CPs in spatial events in the light of Construction Grammar theory and corpus-based approaches. Following Goldberg we consider CPs constructions in their own right. Kardan, ‘do’ ; dādan, ‘give’; zadan, ‘hit’; and bordan, ‘take’, are the LVs under the study in this thesis. These LVs found to be among the most frequent ones with the most PVs in common in our corpus. Firstly, we identified the semantic extensions of each LV. This categorization reveals a certain degree of semantic productivity and generalization between each LV and the type of PVs with which it can co-occur. In other words, each LV combines with a specific type of PVs. Even metaphorical extensions have a certain degree of productivity and speakers can generalize about them. We also argue that CPs in spatial events are a family of resultative constructions. Certain behaviors of CPs, namely, their causativity, and the duration of the activity, are explained based on their semantics, and it is shown that the whole construction is responsible for such behaviors. The comparison between combinations that have different LVs but identical PVs reveals certain semantic and syntactic differences, which is evidence for the existing systematicity in the formation of CPs. Through a collostructional analysis we discuss the degree of attraction of each LV with respect to the semantic categories.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der wahrheitsbasierten Bedeutung perfektiver satzeinbettender Prädikate im Polnischen, i.e. mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Aspekt und Wahrheitsinferenz. Den Kern meiner Dissertation bilden sogenannte ‚reveal-type predicates‘ wie ‘beweisen’, ‘zeigen’ oder ‘offenbaren [dass]’. In Abhängigkeit von deren aspektueller Markierung bringen sie entweder eine maximale (bei perfektiven Verben) oder eine partielle Evidenz (bei imperfektiven Verben) für die Wahrheit einer eingebetteten Proposition mit sich. Nur wenn die Evidenz maximal ist, wird der dass-Satz notwendigerweise als wahr interpretiert. Ich habe gezeigt, dass maximale Evidenz einer totalen Affiziertheit eines nominalen inkrementellen Themas (wie z. B. in ‘einen Schrank bauen.pfv’) entspricht (Maximalität von Evidenz = Maximalität vom Schrank). Somit sind reveal-type predicates inkrementell. Außerdem habe ich eine Akzeptabilitätsstudie mit 51 polnischen MuttersprachlerInnen geplant und durchgeführt, die die Veridikalität des Perfektivs und die Neutralität des Imperfektivs bestätigt hat. Die Interpretation der Ergebnisse wurde um eine Korpusuntersuchung ergänzt. Basierend auf den theoretischen Beobachtungen und den Studienergebnissen habe ich eine einheitliche Analyse für inkrementelle Verben vorgeschlagen, die entweder ein nominales oder ein propositionales Objekt verlangen. Die von mir für das Polnische entdeckten Korrelationen gelten auch für andere slawische (Tschechisch, Russisch) und einige nicht-slawische Sprachen (austronesische Sprachen, Französisch, Ungarisch). / In my dissertation, I investigated a systematic interaction between the perfective aspect of a clause-embedding verb and a truth-oriented interpretation of embedded propositions in Polish. I demonstrated that the so-called reveal-type predicates (‘prove’, ‘reveal’, ‘show [that]’) are in complementary distribution with respect to triggering truth-related meaning of their sentential complements. Whereas perfective variants enforce embedded propositions to be true, imperfective counterparts are almost only compatible with false (or neutral) propositions. I further showed that clause-embedding reveal-type predicates exhibit an incremental structure and can therefore be treated by analogy to verbs that combine with nominal incremental themes. In the former case, we have a gradual creation of a proof, whereas in the latter case, we have a gradual creation of an object like ‘wardrobe’ (maximality of evidence = maximality of a wardrobe). I proposed a novel analysis of incremental theme verbs that combine with either nouns or clauses. According to my analysis, one possible realization of a partial-total affectedness of an incremental theme is a gradual creation of a proof for an embedded proposition. In order to obtain empirical evidence for the (non-)veridicality of (im)perfective reveal-type predicates in Polish, I conducted an acceptability judgement study with 51 Polish native speakers. I further conducted a corpus-based analysis of the frequency of investigated lexemes, which completed the interpretation of results. Apart from Polish, I provided evidence from other Slavic languages (Czech, Russian) and some non-Slavic languages (Austronesian languages, French, Hungarian).

Thesis(M.A. (Translation and Linguistics Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The aim of this study was to examine the notion of projection, as underpinned by the Projection Principle, between the subject, the verb, the object, the adjective and the adverb in Tshivenḓa. Data were collected through participant observation, wherein the researcher collected data in the form of clauses and sentences in Tshivenḓa. This study found that verbs and subject prefixes are predicates which project arguments in sentences. These arguments are characterised both linguistically and in the form of word realities. The study further found that Tshivenḓa is a pro drop language because the adjectival argument prefix can locate the subject argument in absentia. In turn, subject arguments and adjectival arguments carry the same class nominal prefix. The projection of elements of a sentence in Tshivenḓa identifies grammatical relations between constituents. Lastly, it is recommended that studies of a similar nature should be conducted in other African languages to establish how elements of a clause or sentence cohere as informed by the Projection principle.

Temporal constructions in Afrikaans are ambiguous with respect to aspectual meaning. The past tense construction with het ge-, for instance, can be interpreted as progressive, perfective or anterior. In the same vein, the unmarked present tense construction can be interpreted as a construction with a progressive or a perfective meaning. This aspectual ambiguity of the Afrikaans verbal system has a significant effect on the way in which Afrikaans grammar is described or understood. The observation by native speakers, linguists, literary specialists and writers that the temporal constructions in Afrikaans are vague or ambiguous with regard to aspectual meaning has led to certain views about the expression of tense in the language. In Afrikaans literature, for example, there is a tradition to write prose primarily in the present tense, because of the perception that the past tense is not adequate to convey particular semantic nuances. Furthermore, certain speakers of Afrikaans and linguists believe that Afrikaans grammar has been simplified and just does not have aspect. However, Afrikaans possesses alternative strategies to specify aspectual meaning. The five prototypical ways of expressing aspectual meaning in Afrikaans are i) lexical constructions (such as adverbs and conjunctions); ii) constructions with affixes, iii) reduplication constructions; iv) passive constructions; and v) periphrastic constructions. Aspectual meaning in Afrikaans is an almost entirely unexplored research field. In my opinion, the literature on the expressions of aspectual meaning in Afrikaans contains two shortcomings. First, Afrikaans aspect needs to be described theoretically. Second, more research is needed concerning the specific ways in which aspectual meaning is expressed in Afrikaans. The scope of this entire research field is too large for a single study. For that reason, the present study aims to reveal the way in which periphrastic constructions are used to convey progressive meaning. As far as temporal meaning is concerned, it is possible to make a distinction between tempus meaning, which stands for deictic temporal meanings (i.e. past, present and future tense), and aspectual meaning, which stands for non-deictic temporal meanings such as duration, point of view and the internal structure of the situation. One can also distinguish between lexical and grammatical aspect. Lexical aspect has to do with the conceptual properties of a situation or, in other words, with the question whether it is static or dynamic, telic or atelic and durative. There are five situation types: states, activities, achievements, accomplishments and semelfactives. Grammatical aspect concerns the point of view from which the situation is perceived. One can make a distinction between perfective and imperfective grammatical aspect. The latter can be subdivided into imperfectives conveying habitual meaning and imperfectives conveying progressive meaning. Grammaticalisation theory is useful and a relevant tool to provide answers to the afore-mentioned research questions. First, it offers insight into the manner in which the ambiguous tempus constructions of Afrikaans came into being. Second, it can be used to show how the alternative aspectual constructions have developed and how they are currently employed in the language. For the purpose of this study, grammaticalisation is regarded as language change in which a construction loses its lexical meaning and comes to express grammatical meaning. Grammatical constructions can be used in more contexts than their lexical counterparts, as grammaticalised uses have been generalized contextually. Grammatical constructions lose the morphosyntactic properties typical of their lexical counterparts and assume grammatical properties. Grammaticalisation is a typological phenomenon and the lexical origin of a grammatical construction is often the same in different languages. Grammaticalizing constructions exhibit an increase in frequency. Afrikaans and Dutch are closely related languages and possess cognate periphrastic progressive constructions, viz. i) the aan het- / aan die- ii) VPOS te / VPOS en-; en iii) bezig- / besig- progressive constructions. To examine the use of periphrastic progressive constructions in Afrikaans from a grammaticalisation perspective, I compare the results of a study of these constructions in an Afrikaans corpus to those of previous studies of the periphrastic progressive constructions in Dutch. The respective constructions are compared on the basis of four criteria, viz. i) frequency; ii) verb collocations; iii) transitivity; and iv) combinatorial possibilities with other aspectual periphrastic constructions. The lexical origins of the various constructions are also considered. The comparison of the constructions on the basis of the afore-mentioned criteria makes it possible to demonstrate how the periphrastic progressive constructions in Afrikaans came into being and how they have developed into grammatical constructions conveying aspectual meaning and in which way the different Afrikaans periphrastic constructions express progressive meaning. / PhD (Afrikaans and Dutch), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012