Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.109
SunYoung Park
A number of second and third language acquisition studies have been conducted on the acquisition of articles in order to examine the learnabilities of the feature from various L1 backgrounds, such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Turkish among many others. Numerous studies have revealed ongoing difficulties of acquiring (in)definite articles by L2 and L3 language learners even at the most advanced stages of acquisition. Considering the issue of learnabilities of articles, it would be interesting and meaningful to investigate how (in)definiteness is realized in natural languages and figure out whether using articles to denote (in)definiteness is a predominant phenomenon or not. Therefore, the current paper examined the typologlogical database—World Atlas of Linguistic Structures and presented descriptions of (in)definitenesses in natural languages. It was shown that more than half of existing natural languages do not have (in)definite articles and it is realized in other linguistic means. The current study also reviews article uses in artificial languages, such as Esperanto and Unish, concluding that in order for the language learners to be able to acquire a linguistic feature most efficiently, it should be as typologically neutral as possible.
{"title":"Typological Analysis of Articles in World Languages","authors":"SunYoung Park","doi":"10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.109","url":null,"abstract":"A number of second and third language acquisition studies have been conducted on the acquisition of articles in order to examine the learnabilities of the feature from various L1 backgrounds, such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Turkish among many others. Numerous studies have revealed ongoing difficulties of acquiring (in)definite articles by L2 and L3 language learners even at the most advanced stages of acquisition. Considering the issue of learnabilities of articles, it would be interesting and meaningful to investigate how (in)definiteness is realized in natural languages and figure out whether using articles to denote (in)definiteness is a predominant phenomenon or not. Therefore, the current paper examined the typologlogical database—World Atlas of Linguistic Structures and presented descriptions of (in)definitenesses in natural languages. It was shown that more than half of existing natural languages do not have (in)definite articles and it is realized in other linguistic means. The current study also reviews article uses in artificial languages, such as Esperanto and Unish, concluding that in order for the language learners to be able to acquire a linguistic feature most efficiently, it should be as typologically neutral as possible.","PeriodicalId":231529,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Universal Language","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121164083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.147
Lysander Schleh
Diminutives, long an area of interest for researchers in phonology and morphology, are typically formed by the suffixation of a diminutive affix onto a root word and denote the smallness or youthfulness of whatever is referred to. In Yangxin Gan, a dialect of Gan spoken in southern Hubei, China, diminutive forms are highly variable. They may be formed by the addition of a diminutive morpheme, the insertion of a high-rising tone, insertion of a nasal or change in vowel quality. The latter three processes may simultaneously apply in cases where the diminutive is monosyllabic, in which case a high-rising tone is obligatory, although the phonological realization of the nasal and nucleus is variable. While these sound change processes are seemingly unpredictable, this paper seeks to account for them through an Optimality Theory analysis in which feature spreading is partially determined by the underlying feature specification of vowels and partially by language-specific constraint rankings. Outlier examples are suggested to present evidence of contrast preservation and different diminutive forms are argued to be different phonological realizations of a single diminutive morpheme.
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Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.77
A. Ogunsiji, Isaiah Aluya
This paper examines lexical repetition and syntactic parallelism in selected political essays of Niyi Osundare and Ray Ekpu, which have been relatively underexplored, in order to determine how they have been deployed to represent Nigeria’s socio-political concerns as well as the points of convergence and divergence in the use of these devices by both writers. M.A.K Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar served as the framework. Eighteen (18) essays were purposively sampled; 9 each from Osundare and Ekpu’s publications in Newswatch where they both published between the Second and Fourth Republics (1979–1999). The study shows that lexical repetitions underscore argument, expand the thematic range and create lexical links between words in the discourses. Syntactic parallelism creates a multidimensional representation of discourse themes such as deprivation, anarchy, civil unrest, moral decline, government’s harsh economic policies and intimidation of the press. These themes are situated within a specific context in order to reinforce their gravity. Osundare’s essays deployed the mhq patterns for effective description and thematic projection. Conversely, Ekpu’s essays use the mhq and hq patterns for effective description and thematic projection. The essays of Osundare employ the SPC 1 structure to foreground the blatant disregard for human rights while Ekpu’s employs the SPCA and SPA structures in projecting the breach of the judiciary. These devices contribute to the structure of the selected essays and create room for according emphasis and explicitness to the discourse themes. Osundare and Ekpu draw on lexical repetition and syntactic parallelism to unveil and denounce socio-political ills in the country. They employ these devices to underscore their political stance.
{"title":"Lexical Repetition and Syntactic Parallelism in Selected Political\u0000 Essays of Niyi Osundare and Ray Ekpu","authors":"A. Ogunsiji, Isaiah Aluya","doi":"10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.77","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.77","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines lexical repetition and syntactic parallelism in selected political essays of Niyi Osundare and Ray Ekpu, which have been relatively underexplored, in order to determine how they have been deployed to represent Nigeria’s socio-political concerns as well as the points of convergence and divergence in the use of these devices by both writers. M.A.K Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar served as the framework. Eighteen (18) essays were purposively sampled; 9 each from Osundare and Ekpu’s publications in Newswatch where they both published between the Second and Fourth Republics (1979–1999). The study shows that lexical repetitions underscore argument, expand the thematic range and create lexical links between words in the discourses. Syntactic parallelism creates a multidimensional representation of discourse themes such as deprivation, anarchy, civil unrest, moral decline, government’s harsh economic policies and intimidation of the press. These themes are situated within a specific context in order to reinforce their gravity. Osundare’s essays deployed the mhq patterns for effective description and thematic projection. Conversely, Ekpu’s essays use the mhq and hq patterns for effective description and thematic projection. The essays of Osundare employ the SPC 1 structure to foreground the blatant disregard for human rights while Ekpu’s employs the SPCA and SPA structures in projecting the breach of the judiciary. These devices contribute to the structure of the selected essays and create room for according emphasis and explicitness to the discourse themes. Osundare and Ekpu draw on lexical repetition and syntactic parallelism to unveil and denounce socio-political ills in the country. They employ these devices to underscore their political stance.","PeriodicalId":231529,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Universal Language","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134031837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.1
R. Habib
This study explores metathesis in Syrian Arabic (SyA). The data reveal two types of metatheses. Type-I is phonologically conditioned, involving at least one of the four root consonants, ʒ , f , ʕ and ћ with the fricatives (z, s), liquids (l, r) or gutturals (q/ʔ) in specific positions within the root regardless of word derivation. Type-II is morpho-phonologically conditioned, involving Standard Arabic reflexive Pattern VIII, ( ʔ i)fta ʕ al , that resulted historically from generalized metathesis of reflexive- t with C1 of the original Proto-Aramaic reflexive Pattern ( ʔ i)tfa ʕ al . It occurs in SyA as a reversed metathesis of Pattern VIII with doubling of C2, tfa ʕʕ al . This reverse metathesis occurs when the root consonant adjacent to reflexive- t is the fricative (s), pharyngeals (ʕ, ħ) or liquids (l, r). While metathesis results from strictly ranking the Optimality Theoretic L INEARITY constraint lower than L EFT -A NCHOR (t), geminating C2 is explained in terms of prosodic weight of the syllable to maintain stress assignment of the input and verb grammaticality and/or semantic correspondence with the input. Thus, the constraints I DENT (Stress), W EIGHT -B Y P OSITION must dominate I NTEGRITY and *C ODA to allow gemination that contributes moriac weight to the penultimate syllable to receive priority stress over final bimoriac heavy syllables.
{"title":"Metathesis in Syrian Arabic: Types and Conditioning\u0000 Factors","authors":"R. Habib","doi":"10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores metathesis in Syrian Arabic (SyA). The data reveal two types of metatheses. Type-I is phonologically conditioned, involving at least one of the four root consonants, ʒ , f , ʕ and ћ with the fricatives (z, s), liquids (l, r) or gutturals (q/ʔ) in specific positions within the root regardless of word derivation. Type-II is morpho-phonologically conditioned, involving Standard Arabic reflexive Pattern VIII, ( ʔ i)fta ʕ al , that resulted historically from generalized metathesis of reflexive- t with C1 of the original Proto-Aramaic reflexive Pattern ( ʔ i)tfa ʕ al . It occurs in SyA as a reversed metathesis of Pattern VIII with doubling of C2, tfa ʕʕ al . This reverse metathesis occurs when the root consonant adjacent to reflexive- t is the fricative (s), pharyngeals (ʕ, ħ) or liquids (l, r). While metathesis results from strictly ranking the Optimality Theoretic L INEARITY constraint lower than L EFT -A NCHOR (t), geminating C2 is explained in terms of prosodic weight of the syllable to maintain stress assignment of the input and verb grammaticality and/or semantic correspondence with the input. Thus, the constraints I DENT (Stress), W EIGHT -B Y P OSITION must dominate I NTEGRITY and *C ODA to allow gemination that contributes moriac weight to the penultimate syllable to receive priority stress over final bimoriac heavy syllables.","PeriodicalId":231529,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Universal Language","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133915193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.129
Vladimir Pericliev
A word is said to be iconic if there is a perceived similarity between its form and its meaning. Research on lexical iconicity has shown that it pervades most sections of vocabulary structure but is scarce in regards to mimicking abstract properties of referents. In this paper, we propose the abstract property of symmetry as iconic, illustrating it with the lexicalizations of the meaning ‘(woman’s) breasts’ in world languages. Statistical analysis shows that the frequency of symmetric lexemes corresponding to the symmetric notion ‘breasts’ in the world languages by far exceeds the frequency that could be expected by mere chance. We also adduce further evidence from specific languages, of phonological and semantic nature, that further supports our proposal of the existence of symmetric iconicity. In particular, some languages violate a regular sound change just in order to preserve the iconicity of the original word, others develop by analogy symmetric synonyms, and still others may falsely reanalyze a symmetric form in two identical parts just in order to reflect their perception of the meaning as symmetric. The presented arguments make a strong case for the proposed notion of symmetric iconicity.
{"title":"Symmetry as Iconicity: The Lexicalizations of\u0000 ‘Breasts’","authors":"Vladimir Pericliev","doi":"10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.129","url":null,"abstract":"A word is said to be iconic if there is a perceived similarity between its form and its meaning. Research on lexical iconicity has shown that it pervades most sections of vocabulary structure but is scarce in regards to mimicking abstract properties of referents. In this paper, we propose the abstract property of symmetry as iconic, illustrating it with the lexicalizations of the meaning ‘(woman’s) breasts’ in world languages. Statistical analysis shows that the frequency of symmetric lexemes corresponding to the symmetric notion ‘breasts’ in the world languages by far exceeds the frequency that could be expected by mere chance. We also adduce further evidence from specific languages, of phonological and semantic nature, that further supports our proposal of the existence of symmetric iconicity. In particular, some languages violate a regular sound change just in order to preserve the iconicity of the original word, others develop by analogy symmetric synonyms, and still others may falsely reanalyze a symmetric form in two identical parts just in order to reflect their perception of the meaning as symmetric. The presented arguments make a strong case for the proposed notion of symmetric iconicity.","PeriodicalId":231529,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Universal Language","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121777037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-01DOI: 10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.35
John Nyame, Charles Ebule
The paper examines the structure, classification and functions of the Nzema noun phrase (NP). The data that have been analysed in this study include a collection of told stories, extracts from the Nzema Bible, a grammar text, a novel and a drama text. The paper shows that the NP in Nzema is made up of the head (H), which could be a 36 The Structure, Classification and Functions of the Nzema Noun Phrase noun, a pronominal and several elements such as nouns, adjectives, a determiner and numeral which serve as modifiers. Modifiers can come before or after the head noun. NPs in Nzema can be classified as simple, compound and complex based on their structure. The items that occur as head of the NP are: noun only, pronoun only or adjective only. The items that optionally occur as pre-modifiers in the NP are pronoun and noun. Items that can occur as post-modifiers in the NP are numeral, quantifier pronoun, determiner, adjective and relative clause. Nzema NP can function as subject, direct object, indirect object or complement. The present study is carried out within the framework of descriptive linguistics.
{"title":"The Structure, Classification and Functions of the Nzema Noun\u0000 Phrase","authors":"John Nyame, Charles Ebule","doi":"10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.35","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2022.23.1.35","url":null,"abstract":"The paper examines the structure, classification and functions of the Nzema noun phrase (NP). The data that have been analysed in this study include a collection of told stories, extracts from the Nzema Bible, a grammar text, a novel and a drama text. The paper shows that the NP in Nzema is made up of the head (H), which could be a 36 The Structure, Classification and Functions of the Nzema Noun Phrase noun, a pronominal and several elements such as nouns, adjectives, a determiner and numeral which serve as modifiers. Modifiers can come before or after the head noun. NPs in Nzema can be classified as simple, compound and complex based on their structure. The items that occur as head of the NP are: noun only, pronoun only or adjective only. The items that optionally occur as pre-modifiers in the NP are pronoun and noun. Items that can occur as post-modifiers in the NP are numeral, quantifier pronoun, determiner, adjective and relative clause. Nzema NP can function as subject, direct object, indirect object or complement. The present study is carried out within the framework of descriptive linguistics.","PeriodicalId":231529,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Universal Language","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128198363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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