Zugl.: Koblenz, Landau (Pfalz), Univ., Magisterarbeit, 2004

University, Diss.--Regensburg, 2004.

Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2009

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2002.

Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2002.

Augsburg, Univ., Magisterarbeit, 2005.

Postpositives (in particular, aut-, u-, av, tls) , which do not stand in initial position, have a strong traditional tendency in early Greek word-order to stand in 'peninitial' (second) position; but by classical times this has been modified by frequent 'deferment' to later positions. The thesis is a preliminary to a study of the causes of deferment through comparison of peninitial and deferred instances in which the author has free choice between different word-orders, i.e. is constrained neither by rules associated with his dialect or period nor by habitual formulae. Rules, which reduce the number of 'possible' positions, are listed, and their exceptions studied, in Chapter Two, and Formulae, which may explain, by attraction to the position following particular words, individual cases of both peninitial position and deferment, in Chapter Three. In Chapter One, possible causes of deferment are discussed: 'unit-formation', 'colon-formation', 'formulaism', Comparison of passages in Homer and Herodotus suggests that in many cases these overlap, different causes reinforcing each other; this will make it difficult to eliminate the possibility that further causes may exist. Despite grounds for doubting that grammatical relations determine word-order, there are many cases where a deferred postpositive follows its most closely-related verb; it is revealed that the change from prevalence of peninitial position in Homer to deferment in Herodotus is accompanied more than anything else by an increase in the order verb--postpositive. This theme is continued in Chapter Two with the discovery in Rules XXIV ff. that not only does av not come later than directly after its verb but the others studied are similarly influenced by elements, verbal or substantial, to which they 'belong'; thus the problem of relations with the verb reduces in normal usage to two possibilities, either somewhere before or directly after; the latter is a primary phenomenon compatible with peninitial position but often causing deferment. The tables proving Rules XXV ff. reveal interesting patterns which may be stylometrically useful. In Chapter Four, the conclusions are summed up, and some applied to textual problems in the texts mainly studied (Thucydides, Plato, Demosthenes) and tentatively to detecting discrepancies of style in the spurious and suspected works of the Platonic corpus.

The thesis begins an exploration of the way in which Japanese visual semiotics works. In this it focuses on the formal representations of visual elements: visual syntax. Specifically, this thesis examines the way in which visual representations are realisations of three types of semiotic metafunctions: the Ideational, Textual and Interpersonal. In order to gain a clear idea about Japanese visual semiotics, I compare them with British counterparts in a relatively minor way. There is some consideration of Japanese and British cultural value systems as revealed through an analysis of the visual. It is widely accepted that language is rule-governed, and that the rules of this system are closely related to the social and cultural environment in which they are produced. This is the basis of most work in sociolinguistics, of a very wide variety. The same assumption, however, is not normally made of other semiotic modes such as the visual. This study uses advertisements as the data; and it is through that data that the issue of visual semiotics is considered. Advertisements are examples par excellence of the connection of cultural values and visual semiotics; they are also a rich source for the study of visual communication, and are widely available and comparable across Japanese and British cultures. To some small extent it shows how similarly and differently they are manifested in Japanese and British examples. The findings of the thesis point to quite specific organizations of visual representations in Japanese culture, and to differences between the two cultures. Such differences give rise to different kinds of reading with different meanings, and are therefore of great significance in a cross-cultural semiotic environment.

abstract: This thesis argues for the utility of syntactic cartography in representing and analyzing the disputed language of legal statutes. It presents an analysis of two appellate court cases, Flores-Figueroa v. United States (2009) and In re Sanders (2008). Each case involves a difference of opinion with respect to the position and function of prepositions found in 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) and 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f), respectively. Informing the tree structures are Merlo and Ferrer's (2006) six diagnostics for PP attachment: head dependence, optionality, iterativity, ordering, copular paraphrase, and deverbal nouns. In Flores-Figueroa, the analysis yields a conclusion that affirms the court's decision, as does the analysis in Sanders, although it only concurs in part. Implications of the study and the overall cartography approach are discussed, including how it could impact the drafting of jury instructions and future legislation. The paper also addresses the unique heritage of legal language, the ways in which it contrasts with civic, non-legal English, and how its characteristics give rise to ambiguity and vagueness, two suitable phenomena for linguistic analysis. Further, it discusses the potential for providing linguistic input on active cases to the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2017

M.A. (African Languages) / In this dissertation the copulative in Tsonga is analyzed in all its aspects. The treatment of copulatives in literature on Tsonga is discussed in detail and views of authors on other South African languages compared with it. A theoretical framework for the description of copulatives is offered, including such aspects as the definition of the word, the verb categories of the language, and the terminology needed for the subject. A principled basis for the classification of types of copulatives is then given, after which the identification, descriptive, stative and inchoative copulatives of Tsonga are analyzed in detail.